Title: When No One Hears
Author: mintapotter
Overview: Draco finds Harry in the saddest of positions, and something inside him changes forever.
WARNING: SLASH and references to self harm & abuse. Guy/Guys! If you no likee, you no readee.
It is now July 8th
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Chapter 21 – Shopping Therapy
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"Harry. Haarrry. You awake?" Harry awoke slowly the following morning, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and yawning forcibly before he was able to comprehend anything of importance.
"You know what today is?" Draco smiled at this question, like he is bestowing a great gift upon Harry just by telling what today was.
You know what a great gift would have been? Another 4 hours of sleep…
"I don't know… sleep in day?" Harry shrugged, going to grab for his glasses and realizing quickly that they were still not there.
"No silly," Draco stood dramatically and rolled his eyes, "today is… shopping day!" His whole face lit up as if this is the biggest thing since sliced bread.
"Oh, Wow. Shopping day. Yippee." Harry managed this much before yawning again, sending Draco's happy mood over the edge and into angry.
"Well, even if you're not looking forward to it I won't let your bad mood rub off on me. I am looking forward to it and therefore, so should you." He grabbed the blankets from the bottom of the dingy cot and swiftly ripped them off and dropped them into a heap at the foot of the bed.
"Hey! I was using those! Now I'm cold…" Harry rolled over to exaggerate his point of not getting up, if not only to piss off Draco further.
"Get up you lazy sack of nothing, we have a full day ahead. Ron's even up already, and I made coffee. With my own hands, and no help." He smiled again, cheerful at this the way a four year old is about making a macaroni tie. "And trust me," he took a swift look at the door before bending down and kissing the back of Harry's neck, "it is sinfully delicious coffee." He kissed the same spot again, making Harry shiver against his own wishes.
"Well…" Draco held his breath expectantly, "if you made the coffee I might as well get out of bed and have a cup. And then I also might as well go shopping all day…" Draco ripped him from bed before he could even take back the promise, forcing him down stairs while still in his pajamas.
Has Draco ever been so happy, in the entirety of my entire knowing him? I might as well keep him this way as long as possible, seeing as how few days are this great…
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"I told you I could get him out of bed this early. 5 Galleons, right there." Fred and George give Draco scathing looks but handed over the coins silently, the bet settled without any more arguing.
"So, what exactly is the agenda for today?" Harry poured himself a cup of coffee in a goblet, twice the size of a normal mug.
"Well, school supplies in the morning, clothes after lunch and extras and frivolities in the evening. We have to stay out all freaking day because exactly how often have we been out of this house in the past while? One happy occasion? We need to milk today for all it's worth." Draco turned to Harry with a bright smile, the happiest he seemed to have been in weeks.
Maybe I won't ruin this. I'll let the whole shopping thing go just to see him happy. Just this once.
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The closer Harry got to the stringy crowds inside of Diagon Alley the more he began to realize how difficult this simple shopping trip would be. No one had yet registered that he, Draco or anyone else was there but he knew that the moment they did, the atmosphere would change.
Draco was still overly cheery and for the first time Harry could see through the veneer of happiness and down much deeper into how he really felt. He could tell that Draco was once again acting as though it was all fine, that today would still be normal.
"Draco, can I talk to you for a second?" Ron turned around, wondering why they were splitting up so early. "We'll catch up in a second." Thankfully, Ron and Hermione turned and continued down the street, a conversation being struck up without any questioning of what Harry and Draco were doing.
"Why are you still pretending to enjoy this? We both know that everyone here knows about all of our… past problems now." Draco's smile faltered and fell, looking defeated at Harry's blunt questions.
Is it better to have the fake Draco around when he pretends to be cheery, or the depressing Draco who's real? Why do I even have to choose?
"Can't I just pretend to enjoy this for the sake of everyone else? Every storekeeper and customer here is going to look at us funny, ask questions, feel sorry. Can't I pretend to just be ok with everything, make it seem as though I'm really fine?" Harry had pulled Draco into a small alley between 'Dashers Dastardly Dung' and 'Ira's Ice Cream', both of them ignoring the mingling stench created between the two shops. They still spoke in low tones, trying not to attract any attention from passers by.
"No Draco, you can't. Look people in the eye when they stare, don't smile when you don't mean it. Don't fake things around me, I can't take it when I don't understand you. Just… stop acting and take it as it comes. Ok?" He nodded, taking a deep breath before stepping out into the street before being joined by Harry. They walked slowly along in silence before remembering they're promise to meet up with Ron and Hermione, catching them a few minutes later in a new robes shop a few small blocks down.
"Find anything yet?" Draco asked Hermione casually, the both of them ambling down the aisles, checking prices and feeling the cloth of hundreds of various robes. Harry and Ron followed less enthusiastically, wanting to simply buy them and leave.
Every robe we look at is black, so what's the difference? Only Draco could possibly fully understand all the fabrics and labels… this is his best element."Can I help you… oh my!" the store owner seemed to pop out of nowhere, the look on the old witches face transforming from genial to surprised the moment she spotted Draco and Harry both there.
"No thank you, we're doing just fine." Draco continued walking along the aisle, the storeowner turning to walk away while still throwing glances over her shoulder. She actually left the store completely, walked right out and stopped the first passerby that she met. Harry watched with a tinge of horror as she pointed through the glass at his group, talking animatedly, no doubt about how she had the famous Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy shopping within her very walls.
"And there goes the entire day." Harry muttered to Ron. Draco shook his head, Hermione trying to see if there was an exit nearby at the back of the store. They all started towards the emergency exit, leaving Harry still in the aisle.
I am NOT letting other people ruin my day. From now on I won't run away, and I won't let them either.
"I didn't mean that we had to leave. I still need robes, and every single store we go into will have it's share of staring people. Let's just ignore them, all right? We can't run away everytime someone sees us. Let's just get on with the day as normally as possible."
"Sure mate. You're right anyway." Ron turned back and rejoined Harry's side, still eyeing the price tag of the robes.
"And as a catch for the day, I am getting you robes Ron. No ifs, ands or buts about it." Ron opened his mouth to combat this but Harry raised a hand to shush him. "Hey, consider it a… birthday present from me."
"OH MY GOD! We didn't get you anything! With everything that came up, Harry, I am so sorry, it's not that I forgot it's just that… oh I am so sorry!" Hermione looked as though the third world was had descended because of her and Ron completely missing Harry's birthday.
"Sorry mate… and your logic is completely fucked. How can you get me something for your own birthday, when I didn't get you anything?" Harry shrugged, pointedly ignoring the whispers of hidden faces within the neighboring aisles.
"It's makes me happier to get you something than it does for you to get me anything. So just pick a few and then let's… get some new glasses? Or… ice cream? Books?" Harry smiled slyly as at every suggestion he made a new wave of whispering began behind him, people fervently trying to decide where to head to next to catch them again.
"This can be fun…" Draco was beginning to see the fun in messing with nosy people, messing with they're minds and planting false information at every turn.
The foursome shared a single knowing smile before going wild with the minds of the whispering groupies.
"So Hermione, how far along are you?" Draco said this completely strait, not a hint of a smile on his face. Hermione was much less composed, having to breath for a moment before responding.
"Pretty far along, but I'm still not sure if it's Harry's, yours or Ron's. Or maybe none of you…" She could barely keep in the giggles, causing Harry's façade to crack. He turned away and stared a few new robes, smothering his face in them to keep from breaking completely.
"It's not mine Hermione, we all know that I'm going out with Draco." Draco's face fell in the most horrible of ways, and he was more than lucky that Hermione and Ron were too busy biting they're lips from keeping from laughing to notice. Harry felt a prickle climb up his spine, fear of Draco bursting out with something more incriminating than his 'joke'.
Please Draco, don't let them think that I'm serious. Please, don't say anything…"Oh yes, I forgot completely. Actually, I might not be pregnant at all. Maybe it's my twin alter ego you're thinking of…" Ron's face was bright red from holding his breath, Draco's still white as a sheet. Harry was comforted first by the thought that Draco wouldn't say anything too incriminating, then connected the dots enough to tell that Draco's silence wouldn't last forever.
He might not let it out that that was a fact, but I am in for a lashing later, I can already tell…"Maybe that's it… come on, let's get out of here." The only space in the store now not inhabited by eavesdroppers was the aisle in which they stood. Harry grabbed a few of the basic black robes from the rack beside them and left a small stack of notes on the floor (seeing as how it would be impossible ton reach the cash register.)
"Thank you very much, but we'll be leaving now… the moneys all here." He turned and strode out of the store without looking into the eyes of every gawker lining the exit's path. Ron, then Hermione followed with a very disgruntled Draco taking up the back.
"How about we split up for a minute? We'll go and find glasses, and you guys could pick up your books. We'll meet you in 'Flourish and Blotts' a little later." Harry suggested this simply to get away and apologize to Draco as soon as humanly possible.
"Sure, but do you really want to split up? If a mob occurs, at least we're backup." Ron asked, secretly hoping that they could so he could spend a few hours alone with Hermione.
"Yah, you'll have a better time without the fan club. We'll catch up later." They waved goodbye and started in opposite directions, Harry and Draco running through criss-crossing alleys before stopping in the same one they began in.
"Why… did you… stop here?" Harry asked breathlessly. Draco was turned away from him, checking that the coast was clear on both ends of the alley.
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"What in the flying bloody fuck did you think you were doing back there? What if that gets printed, what if they had believed you, or they look for us more often?" Draco exploded at Harry as hugely as possible without screaming, as that would attract too much attention.
If he doesn't have a fucking great answer in the next few seconds, so help me god…"It the perfect cover up plan. I said it like a joke, so they won't believe it at all. To them it's the most ridiculous thing for me to say, so it worked. And who cares what the papers print? It's all a bunch of bullocks anyway."
Wrong. Answer.
"So, now this is all a huge joke is it?" Harry looked stunned at Draco, making him not angrier but sadder. "This is all a great huge joke to you if they think we aren't together, and you don't give a rip about how I feel with the papers! What if I care what they print about me? What if I'm not used to being the front page boy of scandal?" Draco's voice had risen dramatically and he was doing his very best not to cry or get over emotional about the entire situation.
A Malfoy does not cry or lose his composure generally. They are always in control and never show fear. If they feel it, it is expressed as outrage instead.
Shut. Up. Father.
The internal battles still raged in Draco's head, the part of him the Harry's still couldn't see. Harry thankfully was quick on the uptake and still managed to penetrate Draco's thoughts enough to try and make him the least bit happier.
"I didn't mean to hurt you Draco, promise. And I want them to think it's a joke until we're ready to tell them the truth. I can't bear to lose them before I'm well prepared." He tugged Draco into a chaste hug, careful of the lurking paparazzi still following the duo. "And I'm used to being front page boy, as much as I hate it. I'd rather give them the information to use against me rather than let someone else make it up. And I'm sorry I didn't think of you, of how you felt when I said that." Draco turned away, arms crossed and still steaming over Harry's bad judgment.
"I guess I'll have to get used to it. Being with the Golden Boy and all." Draco allowed himself a little smile, signaling to Harry that all was well again.
"So… still up for buying me new glasses that 'flatter my face' as you put it?" Harry grabbed Draco's hand and squeezed for only a second before leaving the alley again, crossing the road and beginning they're day of shopping mania together.
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