A/N: A continuation of the last chapter, obviously :). This is another fluffy chapter and we get to see a bit of jealous Draco. Enjoy!
Draco settled in on the couch while Hermione fussed over him, preparing some tea and biscuits. He tried to insist that she didn't need to, but she wouldn't listen. "I feel awful for not realizing what was happening. Please, just let me make up for it now," she begged for the third time.
Draco sighed. "Alright, but it doesn't change how I feel about the whole thing," he reminded her. He didn't blame her. He should have known something would happen to him. Rule number one, never be alone.
She hung out in the sitting area with him even though Ron wasn't there. Ron had been busy talking Quidditch strategies with some Gryffindors for the upcoming Quidditch game.
Around three, a quiet knock sounded at the door. Hermione got up and opened it, but saw no one. She was about to shut it when she realized it was probably Harry. She stepped to the side and waited a few seconds before she closed the door again. Once it was secured, Harry was out from under his cloak and making his way to Draco without even saying hello to Hermione. She frowned after him, but once she saw the look that Draco was giving Harry, she was much less offended.
She watched them thoughtfully as Harry greeted him, kissing him carefully. He talked to him in whispered words that she couldn't hear, but as she watched them she wondered just how deep their connection went. They seemed much more deeply connected than she previously thought. Harry and Draco were obviously in love, but there was so much more than that between them. It made her wonder about bonds that people could have and what kind of bond that Harry and Draco would have.
She walked over to them and sat down in a chair. Draco finally acknowledged that she was there. "Hermione has been taking good care of me," he said in a sweet voice. Hermione rolled her eyes, but laughed. Harry turned to look at her and smiled.
"I appreciate that, thank you," he said.
She frowned. "Harry, I'm sorry I wasn't there," she said realizing that she hadn't actually apologized to him for breaking his unspoken request.
Harry shrugged and looked over at Draco again. "It's not your fault," he said quietly. She watched them for several moments and was soon feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way he was staring so much at Draco. Draco started to look the same.
"What's the matter?" he asked, breaking Harry out of his thoughts.
Harry shook his head. "Sorry, I was just thinking. Um, so I talked with McGonagall today and I'm going to be at dinner tonight," he apologized, looking away from Draco.
Hermione lifted her brow. "You're always at dinner. You hang out there while we eat and come back and eat here. How is that different?"
"Tonight? So soon?" he asked in surprise.
Harry nodded. "I'm not waiting anymore. The question is, do you want me to tell them you're the boyfriend I was referring to?"
Hermione looked between the two in confusion. "Hold on, what are you talking about, Harry?" she asked.
"I'm not going to be invisible anymore," he replied as he looked over at her. Her eyes widened considerably.
"Because of what happened last night?" she asked quietly.
Harry sighed. "Because of a lot of things. What do you want me to say, Draco?"
Draco frowned as he thought about it. He knew that Harry would support his choice either way, but Harry was being quite intense and it made him a bit nervous. He hadn't seen him wound up this much since he came to see him over the summer. "Let's just keep me out of it, okay? I already have a target on me. I don't want to throw being Harry Potter's boyfriend into the mix as well," he replied.
Harry sighed and sat back. He nodded reluctantly. "Alright, I understand," he said quietly.
"Are you mad?" Draco asked in concern.
Harry shook his head. "No, I'm just focused on what the next step is. I'm going to head down to Hogsmeade and come up that way. I have to think about what I'm going to say and I need some air anyway. I'll see you later, okay?" he said. He leaned forward and kissed Draco tenderly before he stood and put his cloak on. Hermione stood and opened the door for him. She closed it after he left and looked over at Draco in concern.
"He's acting strange," she commented as she sat down again. Draco nodded and frowned.
"He hasn't been that wound up since he came to my house this summer," he replied quietly.
"He'll be okay. He's just been cooped up and he has a hard time sorting through his emotions when that happens. He'll be fine once he returns for dinner," Hermione assured him.
Draco nodded and leaned back on the couch. He closed his eyes as he pushed away his concern for Harry and honed in on the way he felt when Harry came into the room. It had felt like everything around him disappeared and all that was there was Harry. His look had been intense and his whispered words of affection had been thoughtful and appreciated, but Draco couldn't shake the tingle that he felt at his touch and the way his green eyes bored into his own. He didn't know what had changed since the hospital wing, but he felt unbelievably connected to him and he wondered briefly what that meant for them.
He spent the afternoon sleeping and near dinner time, Hermione woke him. He groaned, but got up and showered and dressed in clean clothes. Hermione had filled in Ron as to what Harry had planned for that night which led them to sticking close to Draco and making sure that he was in good company.
They walked down to dinner in silence. Each of them experiencing different levels of anxiety. None of them knew how it would play out and whether or not Harry was ready for it or not.
Once they arrived at the Great Hall, Draco sat next to Hermione and Ron was on her other side. They looked up at the professors' table anxiously. Professor McGonagall looked like her usual self, but they could see apprehension in her eyes. The food was served and the three went through the motions of getting food. Draco looked up at one point and caught Neville staring at him. He gave him a questioning look, but Neville simply blushed and looked away.
Fifteen minutes later, the Great Hall doors opened and as the three looked up, the hall erupted in gasps and cheers. Harry was there. Draco's breath caught as he looked him over. He looked less intense and better than he had before. He looked amazing and he found himself wanting to drag him away and have his way with him, injured face or not.
Harry walked up to the table and met each professor's startled expressions. Hagrid was overjoyed at seeing him, of course as were some of the other teachers that Harry had spent more time around. Callum Reid gave him an assessing look, but didn't acknowledge him. Professor McGonagall smiled at him and gestured towards the podium that she gave her speeches on. Harry felt his stomach flip flop as he stepped up, remembering the many times that Dumbledore had stood on that very podium.
Harry scanned the Great Hall and saw mostly encouraging looks. He came across Evan, Jesse, and Patrick and all three looked paler than they should. Finally, his eyes settled on his friends and Draco. He wanted to smile broadly because Draco looked amazing, but he knew he couldn't draw attention to him that way so he settled for a friendly smile. Luckily for them both, sitting by Ron and Hermione allowed the smile to not be interpreted as one for Draco.
Harry cast a sonorus charm and began to speak. "Hello, I'm guessing that many of you are surprised to see me," he began. Mostly everyone nodded. Harry smiled slightly. "Well, I had intended to stay out of the spotlight for longer, but I decided that it was time for me to just face things like the adult that I am and step back into reality. I can't lie to you and say that I'm not scared. I hate the press and I hate attention. I always have. I've been in the spotlight since I was eleven years old, sooner actually, but that's when I became aware of it. I don't want your praise or thanks for doing what I had to do. I was an integral part to Voldemort's demise, but I wasn't the only one. I had help. Lots of help. Help from people that you would never expect. I was lucky. I plan on finishing up Hogwarts and venturing out into the world like everyone else, but I'd like a favor. I don't necessarily deserve it, but I would appreciate everyone giving myself and my friends privacy. Ron and Hermione are too polite to ask you to bugger off," he laughed and many others did as well. "But I'm not as polite as that and I am asking for privacy. You can ask us questions, but if we tell you no comment, please accept it. I want to have a normal life. I want to be like everyone else. Thank you," Harry finished his speech and was about to cancel the charm when someone spoke up.
"What about your boyfriend? Does this mean you're not together anymore?" they asked.
Harry laughed and shook his head. "I'm sure that confession threw you all for a loop. Um, my boyfriend and I are still very much together. He's not quite ready to share the spotlight with me which I don't blame him at all," he replied.
"Not a looker, eh?" someone else said.
Harry laughed and shook his head. "Quite the opposite actually. He'll probably kill me when I tell him what I am going to say now and it's not a word that is typically used to describe a man, but handsome just doesn't cut it to describe him. He's beautiful and he's amazing. I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for him," Harry's gaze flickered over to the eighth years' table and saw Draco blushing deeply and hiding a beaming smile behind his hand. Harry smiled slightly and looked away from him.
"Thank you," he finished before he cut the spell, gave Professor McGonagall a grateful look, and stepped down, making his way to the eighth year table. He received high fives from many people along the way, a few hugs from Ginny and Luna specifically and some more manly pats from Seamus, Neville, and Dean. The Neville acknowledgement was a bit awkward, but Harry had to save face and pretended that this was the first time he had seen him. Draco watched him make his way towards them and caught the uncomfortable look that Harry made at the hug from Neville. It made Neville's awkwardness from before all the more disconcerting.
He finally made it to their end and accepted a hug from Hermione and Ron. Draco stood as well and it seemed that the entire Great Hall quieted down and all eyes turned to them. Harry extended his hand. "Malfoy," he said trying very hard not to smirk.
Draco took his hand. "Potter," he replied. They shook and then Harry sat down and Draco sat down. Immediately their feet touched underneath and their connection solidified. The Great Hall stared at them in surprise, expecting fireworks or something. It was common knowledge that he testified at their trial so it would seem that if someone bothered to testify that they didn't have a problem with the person anymore.
The Great Hall returned to normalcy and the conversations returned to discussing who his love interest was. Seamus was leaning across the table trying to ask Harry a million questions. Neville finally pushed him back and rolled his eyes at him. Harry tucked in and glanced up at Draco who was studying him. He gave him a questioning look, but Draco just shook his head once and looked away.
"So how does it feel?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked over at her and smiled. "It feels, good. I feel more grounded. We'll see how long that lasts though," Harry replied.
"It's good to see you, mate," Ron offered.
Harry grinned at him. He flicked his wand under the table and cast a silence bubble around them as well as the stasis spell. Draco looked over at him in relief to get a moment to show how pleased he was to see him sitting there.
"Beautiful you say?" he teased with a wink.
Harry blushed. "It's the only word that can remotely describe you, even then it's not enough," Harry whispered despite the silence.
Draco blushed deeply again and grinned broadly. "You can call me beautiful anytime you want," Draco replied while batting his eyelashes. Harry laughed and shook his head.
"Are you sure you want to keep it a secret that you're my one and only?" Harry asked again, wishing he would change his mind.
Draco nodded. "For now. We can pretend to be friends, right?"
Harry frowned. "It's going to be ridiculously hard, but I'll do it for you," he replied.
Draco reached across the table and squeezed his hand in thanks. His eyes flicked over to Neville who was looking in their direction. All he would be able to see was Draco eating and Harry looking around the Great Hall. "Not to ruin this moment right now, but what's Longbottom's deal? He's been looking over at me all evening and every time I look he looks quickly away," Draco asked.
Harry glanced over at him and shook his head. "I'll tell you later. Let's just say that I think you were right," Harry replied sheepishly.
Draco's gaze narrowed and he looked over at Neville again with the harsh look. He nodded once at Harry and he cancelled the spells around them. Harry and Draco talked together as well as with Hermione and Ron. Harry kept their conversations fairly generic as to not rouse suspicion that they knew exactly what he had been up to the past month and a half. He and Draco laughed at something the other said a few times so their 'friendship' seemed to be progressing well enough.
At one point, Harry looked over at the Ravenclaw table and caught Evan staring at Draco. Evan saw that he was caught and Harry simply lifted his brow in a questioning look. Evan blushed deeply and looked away. Harry wanted to smirk in satisfaction that Evan was afraid of him even though he didn't know he was the one to threaten him.
As dinner was ending, the four of them started heading out of the Great Hall and up to their tower. "Hey mate, listen, Mione and I are going to walk outside for a bit. I figured that you'd want some time to settle in, get to know our roommate and all," Ron said casually.
Harry laughed quietly. "Sure, mate. It might be easier to hex each other without risking someone else," Harry teased.
Draco gave him a sidelong glance and rolled his eyes. "I'm a mature adult now. I don't need to result to hexes to get my point across," Draco replied.
They all laughed and then stopped abruptly to exchange looks with one another. That was the first time they had acted like real friends. Ron cleared his throat and looked slightly embarrassed. Hermione just smiled. Harry and Draco exchanged pleased looks. They parted ways before heading up the stair case to the tower.
"Are the rooms nice?" Harry asked as a group of fifth year Gryffindors went by. They were all staring at Harry and Draco with wide eyes. Harry smiled politely at them and Draco gave them an assessing look. They giggled nervously before passing them completely. Harry rolled his eyes.
Draco chuckled quietly. "Yes, I'd say they're almost nicer than the Slytherin dorms," Draco replied.
"Or the Gryffindor?" Harry questioned.
"I've never seen Gryffindor in its full glory so I couldn't give you an honest answer," Draco replied remembering the only time that he had been in the Gryffindor tower. The time that he and Harry shared their first kiss. They both blushed deeply at the memory.
"The Slytherin dorms are okay, but it was too damp in there," Harry replied.
Draco stopped and looked at him. "How do you know what the Slytherin dorms look like?" he demanded.
Harry grinned. "Second year," was all he said before he continued walking up the steps. Draco went after him. As they approached their tower, he reached out and grabbed Harry's arm to stop him.
"How do you know what it's like down there?" he asked again. He acted as if this was pertinent information.
Harry lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "I'll tell you inside, I guess," he said in a confused tone. Draco frowned, but followed him inside. They walked through the common room, Draco leading since Harry had 'never been there before.' They walked into their room and Draco instantly locked and silenced the door. He shed his cloak and shoes and went into the sitting area.
Harry frowned as he followed him. "I've never seen the dorms, if that's what you're hung up on," Harry said as he walked over and sat down next to Draco. Draco had his knees pulled up and his arms wrapped around them. He was staring into the fireplace. Harry reached out and touched his hand.
"It just surprises me that you have been in there. How did you get in there?" he asked quietly.
Harry frowned again. "I'm not sure you'll like it," Harry warned.
Draco's eyes widened. "That doesn't make me feel any better," he replied quietly.
Harry sighed. "You're probably imagining far worse things. So you remember in second year when the chamber was opened?" Draco cringed and nodded. "Well, I was determined to find out if you were the one who opened it so Hermione brewed polyjuice potion and she took hair from Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent. We knocked out Crabbe and Goyle with a sleeping potion and Ron and I turned into them. Hermione was supposed to be Millicent, but she grabbed the wrong hair so she didn't come with us. Anyway, we went in there and we asked you about it and we found out that you weren't the one," Harry explained.
Draco furrowed his brow as he tried to remember that day. It came into focus and he laughed quietly. "I remember thinking that they were acting stranger than usual, but I didn't think anything much else about it. That's very sneaky of you three," Draco replied looking relieved.
Harry laughed quietly. "Why else would I go down there?"
Draco blushed. "I don't know, maybe you were testing out the snake den for any people to snog," he said with a shrug.
Harry snorted and shook his head. "There is only one Slytherin who has ever warranted my interest enough and I'm looking at him," Harry assured him.
Draco closed his eyes and shook his head. "I swear, sometimes I feel like such a girl. I'm sitting here getting jealous about something that happened well before we were friends. Plus, I'm a damsel in distress most of the time," he said in a dramatic tone.
Harry leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of Draco's head. Draco looked up at him looking ashamed of himself. Harry pried his arms open and moved his knees apart so that he could press himself against Draco. Draco sighed and laid his head back on the armrest. Harry leaned forward and kissed along his still tender jaw lovingly, caressing the bruise with his tongue. Draco gasped and shifted so that he could be more fully against Harry. Harry moved up to Draco's ear and kissed him gently. "I love you, damsel in distress and all," he whispered.
