Preface
Animam QuaererePosted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/8127470.
Rating:
General Audiences
Archive Warning:
Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category:
M/M
Fandom:
Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Relationship:
Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Character:
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, Hannah Abbott, Dumbledore's Army (Harry Potter), Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan
Additional Tags:
Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hogwarts Eighth Year
Stats:
Published: 2016-10-16 Words: 9436
Animam Quaerere
by MalfoyIsOurKing
Summary
The Soulmate finder Charm brings a lot of people together, but what will happen when Harry's wand takes him to the least expected person?
Animam Quaerere
The only thing keeping Harry awake in Charms was Flitwick squeals. He was dozing off when Flitwick was explaining the wand movement.
"...It's important to do exactly this-" Flitwick moved his wand in a circle and the stabbed the air with it, "Swish and jab. Repeat!"
"Swish and jab," The class was filled with bored voices, but the tone of them didn't stop Flitwick from carrying on.
"Yes, now, the incantation is Animam Quaerere. Repeat!" The class filled with voice with the same bored tone as before. Flitwick walked over to the blackboard and stood on a stall so he could reach the middle of it. He wrote on it 'An-IM-am Que-RARE-ey'. He looked back at the class and pointed his wand towards the words, "This is the pronunciation. An-IM-am Que-RARE-ey!" He said it in a slow voice, pointing to the letters on the blackboard, "Repeat!"
The class repeated. Harry decided that he wouldn't get out of detention this time if he dozed off, so he kept his attention on his wand that he was rolling back and fro on the table. He just wasn't interested in todays class, this whole 'soulmate' thing didn't interest him.
He doesn't believe in soulmates. Yes, maybe a spell that finds your soulmate proves that they do exist, but Harry doesn't care. He doesn't believe that you are destined to be with one person. That there is only one perfect person for you. What if you don't like your soulmate? If you are completely different? If they aren't interesting? Harry didn't think that he should listen to these things. He can be with whoever he wants to be with. So what if the universe made someone specially for him? He died and came back, Harry says fuck you to the universe. The universe can kiss his sorry arse.
So, no, Harry doesn't want to know who his soulmate is. If he finds out, so does the press, and the whole Wizarding World will expect him to end up with the person. So when Flitwick told everyone to stand up and do the spell, he felt like groaning.
He stood along with everyone, but didn't do anything. He turned towards the rest of the class and watched what was going on.
The first person to do it was Luna (The Seventh and Eighth years were having lessons together this year. Now it was Gryffinfors and Ravenclaws.) After she cast the spell, it was like an invisible force pulled on her wand hand. She started running forward, giggling. Harry saw Ginny running, too, her wand hand pulled. The two girls met each other in the middle and collapsed on the floor, laughing.
"Why isn't it working?" Hermione's voice came from next to Harry. He looked over to see her doing the wand movement over and over, shouting the incantation.
"I don't know, but it isn't working for me either," Ron said, jabbing the air.
Hermione's eyes lit up and she ran to the other side of the class, repeated the charm and was pulled back into her place. She fell right into Ron's arms.
Harry directed his attention to the huddle of people at the door. There was Neville struggling to get his hand back in control. Michael Corner jut cast a 'Finite' and went back to his seat. There were more people there, but they were all bunched together and it was hard to tell who was who.
Padma Patil was just walking from the door when she was sandwiched between Seamus and Dean, whose wands were drawn towards each other. She managed to waggle out of the trap, and the boys bumped into each other, grinning. Surprise surprise, Harry thought, the Gryffindor power couple are each others soulmates.
Harry sighed as he himself cast the Charm, feeling his wand hand get pulled towards the door. He ran with his hand stretched out and bashed into the people around the door, squashing them. He got a pained groan from the crowd as he cast a Finite and went back to his place.
"You went to the door?" Hermione asked as Harry sat back down.
"Mhmm," Harry hummed in responce, "It's fine, though. I don't want to know who my soulmate is anyway."
"Why not?" Ron asked.
"I don't believe in this. There can't be just this one person I have to be with. It's just stupid."
"Well, maybe your right. But it does feel good knowing that someone like that exists. And actually being in a relationship with the one makes it really special," Hermione said.
"Yeah, mate, maybe you should give it a try after class?" Ron agreed, "I mean, aren't you a tad bit curious as of who it would be?"
"Not really," Harry tried getting the idea out of Ron's head, "what if it tries to take me out of Hogwarts?"
"Just cast a finite and live on with the mystery of your soulmate looming over you," Ron said dramatically. Hermione smiled but shook her head.
"It's usually someone you already know. I read up about it a bit in Sixth year, muggles know the theory of a soulmate but don't know they actually exist. The whole thing behind the soulmate idea is that when you meet someone, your soul decides if it's the right person. When it finds the person, your and their soul get attached. It's all in Theory of Magic by Matilda Perdesse," Hermione explained.
"Yeah.." Ron agreed, but he didn't seem like he knew what he was agreeing to, "Anyway, what if you actually like her?"
Hermione gave him a look.
"Or him..."
Harry told his friends about his discovery a few weeks into the school year. They were fine with it, but Ron needed a little time to adjust to it. Sometimes he'd ask if there's a 'special girl' and after he got a glare from Hermione, he'd add 'or boy!' The whole this was quite funny to Harry.
"Okay, how about this: I will do it, and try to get to know the person if I don't already. If I don't like them, I was right. If I do, you were," Harry said, he just wanted to stop the conversation.
"Deal," Hermione said, grabbing Harry's hand and shaking it.
Harry could cheer when he heard Flitwick dismiss his students. Harry walked out with his friends, hoping to get back to the comfort of his bed, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, come on then!" Ron shouted. He was in front of a group of people which consisted of Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Seamus, Dean and Neville.
Harry sighed. Why did he agree to this? He grabbed his wand and swished and jabbed, "Animam Qaerere!"
He felt himself being pulled down the corridor instantly. The footsteps of his friends echoed through the corridors. He was about to round a corner when he crashed into something.
He was expecting to fall on the hard stone floor, but instead it was quite soft. And smelt good. And was now pushing him off.
"Potter! Watch where you're going!" Draco Malfoy's voice shouted. Now Harry did fall on the hard stone floor. He saw Malfoy on the floor on his back and concluded that he fell on top of him.
"Sorry, Malfoy," Harry got up, quite surprised that Malfoy even said anything to him. He was avoiding him since they saw each other at Kings Cross.
Malfoy was awfully quiet this year, but the way he told Harry to watch it had a bit of his old self. Harry could see that he himself was surprised at the words that came out of his mouth.
He stood quickly, and after nodding at the group, he walked away.
"That was weird," Harry said, sitting up on the floor, "He sounded a bit like the 4th year Malfoy."
"Yeah," Ron agreed, but he wasn't surprised, he was quite disgusted that Malfoy even dared show his face around here.
"Wait, Harry, the spell stopped working!" Ginny exclaimed, "That means-"
"Malfoy's your soulmate?" Neville asked, having a mortified look on his face.
"What? Of course not.. I just, I stopped concentrating on the spell. That's it," Harry got up and brushed his robes off.
"But, Harry, the spell only stops when you reached your soulmate or cast a Finite. You surely didn't cast a finite in all that fiasco," Ginny said, she wasn't looking mortified, just confused.
"Obviously Malfoy isn't my soulmate. I'll do it again later, okay? Just to show you guys are wrong! But now I'm tired, so if this interrogation is over, may I leave?" Harry was getting frustrated. How could they think that Malfoy is his soulmate?
Harry was sitting in the middle of the group in this common room, his friends were insufferable, but he didn't want to get angry.
"Come on, Harry! Don't act like you're not interested by it, you have to be at least a bit curious," Neville said, making Harry sigh. Why won't they just leave him alone?
"Okay, I am a bit curious!" Harry shouted, he only said it so they'd stop pestering him, "But I don't know why you are."
"How about this," Ginny said, (her and Luna spent quite a lot of time in the Eighth year common room), "You do it again, and then Neville will do it to find out who his soulmate is. Neville went to the door, remember?"
"Yeah, but, no offence, I'm not really interested in who his soulmate is. It's his business. I don't see why you lot won't let it go," Harry said.
"Because we want to know," Hermione said, "I want to know Neville's as much as I want to know yours. We all found ours except you two."
"I will do it now," Neville said. He stood up and whipped out his wand. He did the wand movement and said the charm and automatically ran at a group of Hufflepuffs in the corner, landing directly on the lap of Hannah Abbott.
"Longbottom!" Hannah shouted, pushing Neville off her lap. Instantly, she helped his up and apologised, "Sorry, you startled me."
"It's okay," Neville replied, but he didn't seem like he was paying much attention.
"Okay, this is nice, but why exactly did you just run into Hannah's lap?" Susan Bones asked, looking quite interested.
"Oh, it's this charm.. it's.. um," Neville looked like he didn't want to admit that Hannah was his soulmate.
Luna stood up from beside Harry and made her way over to them, humming some song Harry never heard before, "He used a Soulmate Finder charm and it got him here."
"Luna.." Neville said, quite embarrassed. He looked like he was expecting Hannah to start screaming at him, but instead, she whispered for a second with Susan before turning back towards Neville.
"Maybe you'd want to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?" Hannah asked, Neville smiled shyly and nodded. Luna took his hand and together they came back to their friends.
"That went well," Dean said, then slapped Harry's knee, "Maybe you'll get a date too, if you try it."
"I don't know," Harry said as he took his wand out. Maybe he really was a little curious? He just wanted to know. And he did promise Hermione that when he finds out he'll try to get to know the person. He sighed as he stood up.
"Animam Quaerere," He said as he swished and jabbed his wand. He was instantly pulled towards the fireplace on the other side of the common room.
He was running, bumping into people until he reached the sofa. He thought he'd stop, but instead, he hit the back of the sofa, fell onto it and then on the floor. He heard his friends laughing as he hit his head on the coffee table. His feet were still on the sofa. He saw two people looking at him in shock. Parkinson and Malfoy. Parkinson looked like she wanted to laugh, but held it back. Malfoy just had his mouth open and stared at Harry.
"Hey," Harry said, trying to act like he didn't just do a front flip on the sofa and landed on the floor.
"Can we.. help you?" Malfoy asked, raising an eyebrow, looking quite amused.
"No.. I'm fine," Harry smiled awkwardly as he got up. Suddenly, he felt his wand pull him again. He let out a yelp as he collapsed into Malfoy.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" Malfoy shouted, standing up so Harry would fall on the floor. The only sound in the common room was Harry's head hitting the wooden floor and Ron's hysterical laughter.
"Sorry.. Hit my head.. lost balance.." Harry tried forming a sentence as he stood, ignoring the growing pain in the back of his head as much as he could.
"He's bleeding..." Parkinson whispered to Malfoy as Harry tried to walk away from them. His vision went dark for a second and he quickly sat down on an armchair, "You should take him to Pomfrey."
"Why me?" Malfoy whispered back, hoping Harry couldn't hear, but he did, "Can't Weasley take him?"
"Weasley looks like he's dying himself, and he would just make up some story about us hitting him or something" Parkinson replied, "Plus, I know you want to-"
"Shut up, Pansy," Malfoy quickly cut in, then walked over to Harry. Harry reached a hand behind his head. His fingered came back wet and dark red.
"Okay, Potter, let's get you to the Hospital Wing," Malfoy said, helping Harry up.
"Wait, everythings going dark.." Harry said as his vision became blurred.
"Helping you is so much harder when you're being an idiot," Malfoy said, Harry was up and leaning on Malfoy, who had an arm around his waist to keep him up, "Obviously everything is going dark. You're head is bleeding, for Merlin's sake."
"Why did I listen to them.." Harry whispered as Malfoy helped him make his way to the portrait hole. Behind them, Harry heard Seamus shout, "I knew it was him!".
"He ran into the sofa, fell on it, then on the floor and hit his head on the coffee table," Malfoy explained for the 5th time.
"Okay... Why did he run into the sofa?" Pomfrey asked.
"How should I know?" Malfoy said, "Potter always has stupid ideas."
"And where were his friends when this happening?" Pomfrey asked. Malfoy was about to hex her. She never asked anyone else so many questions.
"In the common room, laughing at him."
"That doesn't seem like something they'd do..."
"Well, go and ask them!" Malfoy snapped. He will not be accused of this because of Potter's stupidity!
"I think I will.." Pomfrey said, "You can go now."
Malfoy nodded and walked away. Pomfrey walked back into the Hospital Wing where Harry was waiting for her to treat him.
Malfoy sighed. For how long will he be treated like a criminal? He was cleared of all charges, he wouldn't be here if they thought he was a criminal! Well, that maybe isn't true.. Potter did speak for him on his trail, and he did have to have above Acceptable for all his N.E.W.Ts to get all his charges cleared. But he was back at Hogwarts, so he obviously wasn't seen as a threat!
"How did it go with Potter?" Pansy asked after Draco sat back next to her in the common room.
"Pomfrey practically accused me of doing it, but I don't know how Potter is. Just left him there and walked away," Malfoy said.
"You didn't kiss your baby goodbye?" Pansy asked, poking his ribs with her quill.
"It's a wonder I'm still friends with you," Draco said, looking at Pansy with a deadly look, but she smiled innocently.
"You should have let him stay in your lap," Pansy said.
"You're deluded," Draco said.
"I'm concerned about your sex life," Pansy patted his knee.
"My sex life is perfectly fine and none of your concern."
"Don't tell me you're going to continue the 'I don't like Potter!' game you started in 6th year. It's obvious, babe, don't strain yourself in trying to hide it."
"Like I said, you're deluded," Draco smiled at her. He slammed his book shut.
"And you're a bad liar," Pansy said, "I'm sorry for pushing you, but you've been acting like this for years now. It's time to admit it and go rescue Potter on your white horse, Prince Charming."
"Prince what?"
"Muggle thing," Pansy said. She got quite into Muggle things in the past year. Movies, books, she was even wearing jeans and a shirt with some Muggle band on it. At first, Draco was sure that it was all an act to show people that she changed (and it probably was), but after some time it was obvious she was enjoying all those things.
"Whatever, I'm not going to admit it, and I'm not going to be Potter's Prince.. Whatshisface. Drop it, Pans," Draco sighed. How much longer is she going to be pestering him about it?
"If you want to live in eternal doom and loneliness from not having any balls and going after what you want, go right ahead. I'm just trying to save my friend from dying a virgin," Pansy replied, putting her palms up defensively.
"I'm not going to die a virgin!" Draco whispered, making sure that no one heard him say it.
"Well, you're a virgin now and you're 18."
"What did you expect me to do? Go seduce Wormtail as he cleaned Voldemort's shoes? I didn't have time for getting laid."
"Wormtail? I'd personally go for Yaxley, but whatever floats your boat," Pansy snorted.
"Floats my-? Whatever! You know what I'm trying to say."
"Yes, I do. But, Draco, darling, those days are over. You can go and get the man you want, all that's stopping you is your... balllessness. Grow a pair and get laid," Pansy shrugged like it's something casual.
"Pansy, I know you're trying to help. And your advice is probably useful and I'm going to regret not following it like I always do, but please," Draco said, and slammed his book on the coffee table, making everyone in the common room look at him, "DROP IT!"
He got up and turned away from Pansy, he wanted to walk away but instead got trapped by Potter standing right in front of him.
"Malfoy.. I just wanted to thank you for.. you know," He was acting more awkward than usual, scratching the back of his neck and looking at his feet. Somehow, for whatever reason, that annoyed Draco.
"Whatever, Potter. Just make sure to actually use that small brain of yours and not do flips on furniture in the future," Draco sneered, "Or is that too hard for you?"
He pushed Potter out of the way and stalked off to his dorm. Why does Potter always have this effect on me?
"Was it something I said?" Harry asked Parkinson, who was quite surprised to see Malfoy shouting at Harry.
"Something I said," Parkinson admitted, "Don't worry about it, he's just being dramatic."
Harry nodded and walked back to his group of friends, who, Harry suspected, were all waiting for him to get back so they could shoot their questions and 'I told you so!'s at him. However, they were weirdly quiet for a minute, until Harry asked, "Nothing to say?"
It was Luna who spoke up first, "Do you want me to ask him to Hogsmeade for you? You seemed awfully shy around him."
"No.. I think I'll be fine.." Harry responded.
"But Harry!" Hermione said, "You said that you'll get to know whoever it is. You promised, remember?"
"Yeah, but I know Malfoy! I know he's a stupid and narcissistic prat. I don't want to get to know him," Harry said.
"You don't really know him, Harry," Ginny spoke up, "You know who he was to the guy who rejected and humiliated him. Maybe if you showed him that you want to be friends, you'll see what he's really like."
"Whoa, Ginny, really getting into the inter-house unity, I see," Ron said, "But I agree. Yeah, he was a git, but it seems like he changed, doesn't it? Like, when was the last time he made a joke about my family? Last year? That's really something."
"Listen, Harry," Ginny said, "He's your soulmate, so obviously it means that you're made for each other. Or had some special connection, according to Hermione. Your souls chose each other, so you clearly have some connection. You're practically destined to get along, it just never happened because you didn't try. You're just being a stubborn prat now. Just try and see what happens."
"Will you guys shut up if I spoke to him?" Harry asked, hoping they wouldn't try to get him to do more.
Some looks were exchanged and Hermione finally said, "Yes."
"You should go to his dorm," Dean said.
"Nah, that's just weird," Ron said, "Just wait here until he decides to show himself."
He didn't. For the rest of the afternoon, Harry was staring at the stairs to the Boys' dorms, but not a sign of Malfoy. Not that he wanted there to be. He didn't, obviously. But he just wanted his friends to stop buggering him. Finally, Harry got tired of all the questions and the suspense of whether or not Malfoy will show up. He decided the answer was no and made his way up to his own dorm, which he shared with the same people as he did in the Gryffindor dorms, so was he really free from their endless questions? He figured that it'd be the best if he went to sleep before they showed up and wanted more from him.
Unfortunately, sleep just wouldn't come easy to Harry as his mind swam with his own questions. What will I say to Malfoy? Hey, you're my soulmate, wanna hang out? Will he not want to talk to me? How do I feel about him being my soulmate?
That last question made Harry confused. He came to terms with his sexuality, and must admit, Malfoy is quite good looking. He has a nice jawline, and his white-blond hair really suits his paleness. He is really slim, and Harry found himself looking at his arse quite a lot when figuring himself out. His personality, however... that's another story. But how much of his personality did Harry actually see? He saw what Malfoy shows his enemies. Is there a side to Malfoy that Harry hasn't seen? A nicer, friendly side of him? There was a possibility.
Harry did see him laughing with his friends quite a lot this way. That has to mean he is a nice person to be around. Unless all those times they were laughing at someone's expense, then Malfoy really is just a cold, rude person. Somehow Harry didn't believe that. Ron was always rude and cold to Malfoy, but with Harry he was always supportive and funny and friendly. No one is just stone cold like the person Malfoy was to Harry. There has to be another side to him, and Harry was determined to see it.
The next day was Saturday, so Harry slept in. Or tried to. He was awakened by Dean, who was smiling from ear to ear. Behind him, Seamus shouted, "Wake up, Harry, love doesn't wait."
"What?" Harry groaned, completely confused.
"Malfoy is downstairs already. Go down and find your future husband. I was looking for some entertainment, seeing him sass you would be enough for me," Ron said, grinning like an idiot.
Harry groaned and shoved his face in his pillow. He wasn't ready for public humiliation so early in the morning. If he was lucky, Malfoy would let him sit on the same sofa and make eye contact before going on a rant about 'The Saviour needing our attention'. Well, Harry didn't really know that, since he didn't speak a word to Malfoy since the start of the school year, so he didn't know how he will react.
Harry rubbed his eyes as he stood from his bed and got some fresh clothes. He stepped into the bathroom as the dorm filled with cheers of joy that Harry with entertain them with his misery. But will he be so miserable?
Harry was getting anxious as he stepped downstairs and saw the white-blond head at one of the revision tables in the far corner of the common room. He felt a slight push, which was meant to be harmless but, with Harry not paying attention to anything, he nearly fell over. He looked back to see Hermione next behind him with his friends. She smiled and made a shooing gesture.
Reluctantly, Harry made his way to the lone person sitting at the table. He took a deep breath and looked at Malfoy, who was making a point of ignoring him.
"Malfoy," Harry said, hoping it'd at least make the Slytherin look up, but he had no such luck.
"What?" His voice was dripping with the same sarcasm as of a previous Potions Professor. Harry's undying hatred for Snape resurfaced, but he pushed it down.
"I um.. Can I sit down?" Harry asked, not wanting to sit just so he was rushed away.
"Why, someone as famous as yourself shouldn't have to ask," Malfoy said as he noted something down on his parchment. From the looks of it, it wasn't in English.
"For Godric's sake, Malfoy," Harry sat down without invitation. He was starting to get quite angry, "I'm trying to do something here, can you at least act like you don't want to skin me alive?"
"Well, that's quite graphic," Malfoy said, but he put down his quill and finally met Harry's eyes, "What?"
"I want to start over," Harry said before he could change his mind, "leave the whole rivalry thing behind us. It's childish and stupid. Can we do that?"
Malfoy raised an eyebrow and studied Harry's face, probably looking for any sign of mockery, "I guess."
Malfoy went straight back to his parchment.
"Malfoy," Harry snapped. Can't Malfoy keep his eyes on Harry for more than a split second? "I'm still here. If you want this to work, you have to actually treat me like I'm a person."
"I do. I'm treating you like I treat everyone else. I'm keeping my head down and ignoring everyone," Malfoy said, Harry frowns at that.
"You don't ignore Parkinson. Or Zabini," He said.
"That's because they're my friends, Potter," Malfoy sounded exasperated.
"Then I'm your friend now," Harry declared, making Malfoy snort.
"You can't just say you're someone's friend. You have to be accepted by them," Malfoy said. He flipped a page in his book.
"Alright. Do you want to be my friend?" Harry stretches out a hand to Malfoy. He puts down his quill and examines it for a second.
Harry felt like he was going to reject it, but before Harry retreated it, Malfoy grabbed it and shook.
"I'm your friend. Now what do you want?" Malfoy asked again.
"I want to.." Harry realised he didn't have a plan. What did Hermione even want him to do? Get to know his soulmate.. "Get to know you."
"Get to know me?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah.. Maybe you'd want to go with me and my friends to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Harry asked, pointing his thumb at the group sitting around the fireplace. He noticed Luna and Ginny joined them already. Seamus waved at Malfoy and winked.
"Yeah, whatever," Malfoy said, then narrowed his eyes at something, "Are Lovegood and she-Weasley together?"
Harry looked at Malfoy's expression, "Yes.."
"How..." Malfoy started looking for the right word. Harry started to worry that he's going to start being homophobic, which wouldn't work well seeing as his soulmate is a boy, but in the end he said, "predictable."
"Predictable? How? I never saw it coming," Harry asked. He noticed how he already got comfortable with speaking to Malfoy.
"You never see them apart really, do you? Plus, Lovegood is crazy. In a good way. In a way Weasley always seemed to appreciate," Malfoy said. Harry observed him as Malfoy inspected Harry's friends. Malfoy really is observant... And he can have positive views about people. Harry noticed that he can examine people and know quite a lot about them. That made him smile for some reason.
"Yeah. I think it's good that we broke up. Luna's really good for her. It's like, they were made for each other. Like soulmates..." Harry laughed, getting a weird look from Malfoy, "well, they are soulmates, really. We did the charm in class. They ran right into each other. So did Seamus and Dean. And Hermione and Ron. Quite funny, really."
"Funny?" Malfoy asked, clearly not seeing the humour.
"Well, more interesting. How they managed to find their soulmate without any help. They were all together before they found their souls were linked. Just shows how the universe maybe does push people together," Harry said. He was thinking aloud now, nearly forgetting that Malfoy was there.
"Huh. Maybe you're not that much of an idiot," Malfoy said. Harry chuckled.
"Whoa, first compliment I got from you. I should write it down," Harry smiled and got up from his chair, "well, see you tomorrow, then."
He walked away, leaving Malfoy quite satisfied. Not that he'd admit that to anyone.
He still didn't know Potter's motives, so he was going to be careful not to give it all, but he was planning to enjoy himself. Being asked out by the Chosen One doesn't happen very often, now, does it?
As Harry approached his friends, they sat in silence waiting for Harry to tell them if it was a success or not. As he silently nodded, they all cheered and dragged Harry down on the sofa Luna and Seamus were sitting on. He sat between them and waited until Seamus stopped patting him on the back.
"So, what happened?" Ginny asked Harry with curious eyes.
"I asked him to Hogsmeade. He said yes. I asked him to be friends," Harry said, very aware that Malfoy was still there, probably watching their every move to work out what Harry really wanted to get out of that spontaneous request. Harry, however, wasn't worried that Malfoy was going to find a 'deeper meaning' as there wasn't any. He was more scared that Malfoy is going to see how his friends were cheering when he asked him out, like Harry just asked his crush on a date, which Malfoy 100% wasn't.
"Hogsmeade? I thought you're going to go with us, mate?" Ron said, looking quite disappointed.
"Well, um," Harry said, he didn't know how his friends are going to react to Malfoy joining them, he asked him without confiding in them first, "I asked Malfoy to join us.."
"Oh.." Ron said. Harry knew he was fighting through the rivalry, per Hermione's request (or constant bickering about how the war was over), so he tried to put a good face on and added, "I guess that's fine. If that's what you want, mate, I'm all for it."
"Yes," Luna said, "The more the merrier."
She stood up before Harry could see what she was doing. She started walking over to where Malfoy was sitting, sat on the chair Harry did and started talking to Malfoy. Harry couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but they both had smiles on their faces. When did Malfoy and Luna get friendly? The question slipped out of Harry's head as Malfoy tipped his head back and laughed. He looked so free, not like his uptight self. He didn't look sad and angry and like he usually did. Harry even let himself think that Malfoy looked cute without a frown on his face.
"Well, I'm really glad you're going with us to Hogsmeade, Draco. See you tomorrow," Luna said, and walked back to her group. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for an explanation.
"What was that?" Dean asked, speaking everyone's mind.
"I was talking to Draco."
"We figured that much, Luna," Harry said, smiling. Luna had that effect on people, "I think Dean means, when did you and Malfoy become friends."
"I sat with him on Hogwarts Express," Luna said, looking at everyone, "He apologised for keeping me captive, or rather his family keeping me captive, and we just started speaking. He really is nice, Harry. You're lucky that he's your soulmate."
Harry nodded, looking at Malfoy from across the room. He was imagining all the things he didn't know about him yet. He knew, now, that he could be friendly and nice. He witnessed it when Luna spoke to him. His frown disappeared and he was relaxed. Maybe he is always so uptight because he's expecting an attack? But being with someone like Luna makes him relaxed, because who would want to hurt him when being with an innocent Ravenclaw?
Harry got torn away from his thoughts when he saw grey eyes looking back at him, questioningly. Harry saw this as a sort of challenge, so he kept his stare. Malfoy raised and eyebrow, challengingly, and stood from his seat. Harry could have sworn he saw a small smile on Malfoy's face before he walked up the dormitory stairs.
"Dude," Dean said, clapping Harry's back, "You finally have a date!"
"It's not a date!" Harry exclaimed, "It's just.. two friends hanging out."
"Okay, but at least make it a good time for him," Hermione said, "He's going to be out with a group of people that he previously hated. I think we should all try our best to make him feel comfortable."
"Yeah, you're right, Hermione," Ginny said, "Unless he starts acting like a prat. Then I don't think I can keep that promise."
The next day, Draco found himself walking with an unlikely group to Hogsmeade, a place where he hasn't been to in months. Mostly because he wasn't allowed in The Three Broomsticks. He realised he forgot to mention that when they were halfway there.
"Potter!" He burst out and stopped walking, mentally punching himself for even getting his hopes up. How can he, Malfoy, the Former Death-Eater, even think to have a good day?
"Call me Harry," Potter- Harry- said, turning around to look at Draco.
"Harry. I forgot to tell you something," Draco said. He was already preparing himself to go back to Hogwarts by himself, reaching into his pocket to get his wand and cast a Disillusion Charm so no one sees him, "I'm not allowed in the Three Broomsticks. I reckon I should jus-"
"Oh, that's fine," Harry said, giving Draco a 'don't-worry' smile, "Rosmerta's gonna let you in. I owled her yesterday. I kind of expected you to be banned."
"Oh," Draco let go of his wand and started walking. His hopes were already rising, Potter really did mean this whole friendship thing, or this was all a big plan to humiliate him.
"So, where else are you banned?" Harry asked, walking beside Draco like they never stopped. The rest of the group was a bit further away.
"Madam Malkins, Honeydukes, Weasley's joke shop, and some shops in Diagon Alley," Draco admitted. He didn't like opening up to people, but if Harry was serious about this, he should at least try.
"Do you want to change that?" Harry asked, Draco was a bit confused before he explained, "I don't like using my name to get things, but if it helps people, I usually do it. I can just go inside and say you're with me and they'll be fine with it."
"Whoa, Potter, always so noble," Draco said without thinking, but he realised his usual sneer and insulting tone were gone. They were replaced with a small smiling and a teasing tone.
"Old habits die hard," Harry said. He was smiling, then looked a bit confused and set his face straight. That confused Draco somewhat, but he decided not to question it.
"We should catch up with the others," Harry said, "C'mon," He ran away. Draco was a bit startled, but ran after him.
"Well, they would be a nice couple," Hermione said, "I have to admit, I was thinking that a lot throughout the years, but I would never tell Harry."
"You're right, the sexual tension was very visible," Luna agreed, "The Wrackspurts flying between them two when they're around each other, it's unmissable."
"Yeah. It's unmissable," Ginny agreed with her girlfriend, looked at her fondly and squeezed her hand.
Footsteps grew louder behind them. The group turned around and saw Harry and Malfoy running towards them. Harry stopped a few feet away and waited for Malfoy to catch up before walking again.
"I'd be thankful if you never made me run again," Malfoy said, "My hair gets messy and I look horri-"
"You look good, just hurry up," Harry said as he fast walked to his friends. Malfoy's blush was unmistakeable.
The group reached the Three Broomsticks in less than 5 minutes. They were led to a booth right after Madam Rosmerta told Malfoy that he was welcome in the Three Broomsticks again. He thanked her, but kept his head low whenever she was around, like he was ashamed. They sat around the table at the booth and ordered 10 Butterbeers.
Neville and Hannah were quite blushy around each other, but they soon grew more comfortable and started talking about Herbology. Luna and Hermione were talking about their future as Seamus, Dean, Ginny, Ron, and Harry were in a heated conversation about Quidditch.
"The move Valmai Morgan did in the semi-finals wasn't anywhere near as good as Joey Jenskins did! The Harpies might have won, but the Cannons were always better!" Ron shouted at Ginny, who just laughed in response, like it was the most absurd thing she ever heard.
"The Cannons haven't won a tournament since 1987! Glynnis Griffiths did a perfect Wronski Feint last summer-,"
"I did a perfect Wronski Feint in first year! Seriously, Ginny, if you want to say a team is good, have some proof," Harry argued, "What about the Sloth-Grip Roll that Dragomir Gorgovitch did? The last time anyone from the Holyhead Harpies tried to do that, they fell from their broom. Chudley Cannons have the most skilled players, Ginny."
"I have to agree with Harry here, Ginny," Seamus said. Dean nodded along, "What about you Malfoy. Who do you support?"
"Er- Chudley Cannons, of course," Malfoy said like it was obvious.
"Yes!" Ron exclaimed, "You're making it so easy to like you," He added, without thinking.
"Thanks.." Malfoy mumbled, not knowing what to say to that, but he finally got the courage to join into the conversation, "However, Gwenog Jones did do the Sloth-Grip Roll correctly in their last match, and a nice Bludger Backbeat."
"I thought you supported Cannons!" Ron's moaned as Ginny beamed.
"I do, but I can appreciate good moves from other teams."
And the conversation carried on, this time, however, Malfoy was getting more confident.
Harry found himself working with Draco quite a lot in lessons since the day in Hogsmeade. They were working together in DADA, having a duel. Harry cast Levicorpus on Draco, who squealed (though he denied that ever happened) and shouted for Harry to put him down.
"Liberacorpus," Harry said and Draco fell back on the floor. He looked quite concerned, "You okay?"
"Yeah, it's just.. I can never beat you," Draco admitted. He readied himself for another duel. Harry was thinking of a curse to cast as Neville screamed from the other side of the room; Zabini cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx at him. As Harry was looking at Neville, who fell on the floor, he felt a pain in his leg, making him fall too.
"Stinging Hex?" Harry said, holding his leg in pain, "That's not fair, I wasn't paying attention."
"Not my fault," Draco smiled. Harry stood up and cast a nonverbal Stupify, which Draco blocked.
"Why do you need to beat me anyway?" Harry asked as he cast Protego at Malfoy's Bat-Bogie Hex.
"I need to pass all my classes or I'm getting... you know" Draco said, Harry did know. Or he gets thrown in Azkaban.
"That's shit," Harry said, he lowered his wand, "They shouldn't count your grades in this. You should have been cleared of all charges."
Draco saw his opportunity and cast a nonverbalExpelliarmus at Harry. His wand flew from his hand and landed in Draco's.
"I know, it's shit. But the only chance I have, so I won't fuck it up," Draco said. He threw Harry his wand and they started again.
The next half an hour, Harry spent it to perfect Draco's skills. He told him everything he knew himself, some new spells that he didn't know. He felt like he was back in the Room of Requirement with all those people taking advice and lessons from him.
The next week, Harry naturally found Draco and asked if he's ready to go, in return getting a confused look.
"I did ask you to go Hogsmeade with me this week, right?" Harry asked, getting quite embarrassed by his forgetfulness.
"No, you didn't. But I did make plans to go with my friends," Draco said, feeling quite disappointed that he couldn't go with Harry.
"Maybe they'd like to join too?" Harry asked, getting his hopes up as he saw Draco look back at Parkinson and Zabini, who just gave Malfoy a look.
Draco turned back around and smiled, "Yeah, they'd love to."
The 3rd time the group went out, they were once again joined by Zabini and Parkinson. Sitting with two more people, the group split into their own conversations. However, Harry was only concentrating on one conversation; Draco, Parkinson and Zabini were talking in their corner about potions.
"So what if he doesn't like you? Slughorn isn't going to be the examiner," Parkinson said to Draco, who gave her a exasperated look.
"Yeah, he isn't going to be the examiner, some Ministry baffoon is, so what are my chances? I either get the professor who won't look at me, or the Ministry person who is hoping on seeing me fail. Face it, Pansy, I'm probably going to get an A and they'll say it's not good enough," Draco replied.
"Or," Harry cut in, "You'll get an O because you're the best at potions in the whole school and the examiner can go fuck himself."
"Thanks, but it's not going to happen."
"The examiner isn't going to be examining your family, he's going to be examining your skills. If someone gave me straight O's for being the famous Harry Potter, I'd start a riot," Harry said.
"He's right, if the examiner's going to be biased, he's not doing his job correctly. You can report him," Hermione said, she was clearly silently listening to the conversation.
"Somehow you can't report Aurors when they are biased," Draco mumbled.
"Well, that's going to change when I start working there," Harry said, he frowned when he saw Draco roll his eyes, "What?"
"You're insufferable, Potter," Draco said. When Harry asked why, he continued, "You're still going on about becoming an Auror. It's clear you don't really want to."
"What do you mean? I do," Harry was confused. Draco was the first person to question his choice.
"You don't want it," Zabini said, "You're expected to."
"Everyone is expecting you to become the best Auror there is," Draco said, "But you wanna know what I think? I think you're a great professor."
"A professor?" Harry repeated.
"Yeah. Last lesson, you taught me more than that old hag Maiden could ever teach me," Draco said, referring to their new DADA teacher, Professor Maiden, "Plus, you led a whole class back in 5th year. Your a natural, but the expectation of the Wizarding World is blocking your path. Think about it, do you really still want to track down Dark Wizards?"
The answer was no, and Harry knew that deep down. Draco really was observant. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing? What else did he figure out?
"So," Hermione said as she sat next to Harry in the common room, "What have you found out about Malfoy, then."
"Well, I found out what shops he's banned from. I also plan to change that," Harry started.
"He's banned from shops?" Asked Ron, he was sitting on an armchair, doing his Charms assignment.
"Yeah, some in Hogsmeade and some in Diagon Alley," Harry said, then turned to Hermione and carried on, "I found out that his grades are basically his Get Out Of Jail Free Card, so he's focused on-"
"Get Out Of Jail what?" Ron asked, looking really confused.
"It's a Muggle thing," Harry quickly explained, "He supports Cannons-"
"Muggles have a card to get out of jail?" Ron pestered on, looking more confused by the minute.
"It's from a board game," Hermione said, "I'll explain later, okay?"
"I didn't really go into the war part of 'Getting-To-Know', but I know we have to someday," Harry said after Ron agreed to Hermione's request, "I'm trying to stick to the easy topics."
"That's smart. So, what do you think about him?" Hermione asked.
"What do I think? He's interesting. He's clearly interested in me, he's always eager to hear about whatever I have to say. It's like I'm meeting a completely different person than the one I known for all these years. But he still has his usual insults, but they're more teasing. It's nice, spending time with him," Harry said, Hermione just smiled at Harry like a proud mum, making Harry slightly uncomfortable.
"How do you feel towards him?" Hermione asked. Harry went red, much to his dismay.
"He's a nice person. I feel happy to have him next to me. I don't really know what you want me to say, Hermio-"
"Does he seem like boyfriend material?" Hermione asked, she was getting quite impatient.
"If the answer is yes, which it may or may not be," Harry answered, getting quite impatient with Hermione himself, "That doesn't mean I want him as a boyfriend."
"Yes or no?" Ron asked, clearly a bit interested.
"He's nice, okay? And he's caring, and he does things with everything he's worth. He's just... it's hard to explain. He's imperfect, clearly, he has a lot of emotions and a guilty conscience that obviously eats him away, but he's still-" Harry stopped himself. The words that were going to make their way out of his mouth were 'perfect to me', but he did want to open himself up like that. He also only now realised what he actually felt. When he spoke without thinking, he found what he really thought. He stood and left to the common room without a 'goodbye' to his friend. If he turned around, he would have saw Hermione's knowing smile.
"How's Potter?" Pansy asked when Draco got back from his lesson and sat opposite Pansy, who was studying on a round table in the common room.
"Why don't you ask him?" Draco shot back, jerking his way towards the sofa next to the fireplace where Harry was sitting with Granger and Weasley.
"You know what I mean," Pansy rolled her eyes.
"He's great. Wonderful, really. The love of my life," Draco nodded obnoxiously, "Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Yes. But with less sarcasm," Pansy smiled.
"Okay, I admit, which really pains me, that he is.. attracting my interest," Draco said, already regretting his words as Pansy's face lit up.
"I knew it!" She said, "When's your next date?"
"It's not a date," Draco said.
"Whatever, when is it?"
"Tomorrow," Draco couldn't help himself, he felt a smile appear on his face.
"You guys are cute," Pansy said.
"Shut it," Draco said, but smiled.
Harry then stormed out of the common room, looking a bit confused. He looked back at Pansy, who was smiling.
"Worried boyfriend?"
"I said, shut it," Draco said and retreated to his dorm.
Every week Harry found Draco in the Entrance Hall, waiting for Harry to appear and go to Hogsmeade with the usual group. Parkinson and Zabini joined them sporadically. It was the 5th week since the first time they went out together and Harry appeared at the Entrance Hall. He looked quite awkward, but Draco decided not to question. When Harry wanted to go without the rest, Draco asked why.
"Because they're not going to be joining us..." Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck, "They all wanted some 'couple time'."
"Oh.." Draco said, "Okay, let's go, then."
Harry seemed to relax a little as they started walking.
"You said that Luna and Weasley ran towards each other when they cast the Soulmate charm.." Draco remembered, he wanted to ask him about it for some time. He was always interested in Harry's opinion. However, when the words left Draco's mouth, Harry tensed. Draco ignored it, "What do you think about soulmates?"
"If you asked me a month ago I would have said I don't believe in them," Harry said, "But opinions change."
"What do you mean?"
"Er- You know, being around Luna and Ginny, and 'Mione and Ron. You can see that they're made to be together," Harry said. Draco nodded.
"So you believe in them now?"
"You can say that, yeah," Harry said. Draco had the weird feeling that he wanted to say more, but didn't mention it.
"You were doing the Soulmate Charm then? Who did you get?" Draco asked. It was a question he wanted to ask for ages.
"W-Why?" Harry stopped.
"Everyone wants to know, don't they? You're the Boy Who Lived. Your soulmate would be treated like, the new Merlin or something," Draco said. Harry relaxed and started walking again.
"I, um, I didn't find out," Harry mumbled.
"Really?" Draco didn't believe that for a second. He did some thinking about it, and after having the lesson himself, he couldn't stop thinking about certain things.
"Yeah," Harry said, getting more confident in his story, "I told you. I didn't believe it a month ago, so I didn't see any reason to find him- them," Harry said. He hoped to Godric that Draco didn't acknowledge his mistake. He did, but decided to not mention it.
"But you believe in them now," Draco went on, he was a logical person, and he needed his theory to be proven. Right or wrong, he just wanted an answer.
"I do," Harry said, "But I don't really want to find out. I'm fine without the knowledge."
"Or," Draco risked himself being a bit nosey and pushing Harry to answer his theory, "You already found out who it is and don't like the person?"
"I- What- No!" Harry stumbled through words, "I just don't want to know."
"See, I don't believe you," Draco smiled, "I have this theory, would you like to hear it?"
"I, um, I don't... okay, go on," Harry said.
"Okay. See, on Wednesday I had charms with the Hufflepuffs, which was torture, by the way. We were doing the Soulmate Charm. I went straight to the door, along with many others. However, I did observe some people, as I usually do. And I couldn't help but recognise their movements as familiar," Draco explained, Harry was nodding along, but looked kind of scared, "And I was racking my brain, I was asking myself, where have I seen this before? And then I remembered. You ran right into me that day in the corridor. And you fell on me in the common room. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't just randomly run into sofas, do you?"
"Um," Harry said, trying to think of something to say. He noticed they were already at the door to the Three Broomsticks, "Let's go inside."
Draco rolled his eyes, but opened the door for Harry.
They were halfway through their first beer, when Draco bought it up again.
"You didn't answer my question," He said, Harry looked at him and sighed.
"No, I don't just randomly run into sofas," Harry answered and look a sip of his beer.
"So, you know what my next question's going to be?" Draco asked, Harry nodded.
"Can this wait? I want a nice day out before I ruin everything with one word," Harry sighed.
"That word isn't going to ruin anything."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Just answer my question: Am I your soulmate?" Draco asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes.."
"Nice," Draco said. He took a sip of his beer as Harry stared at him in shock.
"Nice? Is that all you have to say?"
"Yeah. I don't control who my soulmate is. It could be someone much worse," Draco said, smiling.
"Whoa, thanks," Harry laughed.
"In all honesty, I'm glad," Draco admitted, "You're not as bad as I thought you were."
"Same goes to you," Harry smiled, then raised his beer, "To soulmate?"
"To soulmates."
They drank. After they finished their first beer, they figured they had enough for the night, and decided to go back to Hogwarts.
They were halfway back, walking through some woods. It was getting somewhat cold, and they could see their breath. They were walking in comfortable silence, both thinking heavily on the same topic, though neither knew that. Harry started getting annoyed at the silence. It was annoying that he couldn't say what he wanted to for the whole journey.
Then Draco stopped walking. He took out his wand and looked at Harry, who started to tense.
"Don't worry, I'd be an idiot to attack the Chosen One. Just want to see something," Draco took a few steps back, waved his wand around and said, "Animam Quaerere."
Instantly, he ran into Harry's arms. They were so close together they were sharing the same breath. When Draco didn't step back, Harry raised his hand to Draco's cheek and cupped his chin. He leaned in a little before whispering:
"Is this okay?"
Draco nodded.
That was all Harry needed. He closed the small gap between them. Their cold lips touched and suddenly they were both warmed up. The kiss was slow and sweet, and everything Harry ever wanted. It felt so right he was wondering why he ever doubted the fact that Draco was the one for him. He felt Draco push him slightly, and felt a bit dejected, but their mouths were still together. Harry was moving backwards and Draco followed, until he hit the bark of a tree.
The kiss became more forceful. Their tongues met. Harry was putting all his emotions into the kiss as Draco pressed him against the tree. Unfortunately, they had to part for air. They just stared at each other for some time before Draco said:
"We should get back,"
"Yeah," Harry agreed. Even though he didn't want to, they did have a curfew.
They started walking back in silence. Harry had so many questions he wanted to ask Draco, but Draco was faster.
"Does this mean we're..?"
"Do you want to be?" Harry asked. He imagined this moment so differently, but his head was still buzzing with the kiss.
"Yeah.. Yeah, I do," He answered. He reached out and grabbed Harry's hand.
Harry gave his hand a squeeze, and didn't even try to conceal the big smile on his lips.
They walked into the Eighth year common room together, still holding hands. Not a lot of people were awake, but their usual group was by the fireplace. When they stepped in, all the eyes went straight to their hands. Seamus cheered.
"About time," Shouted Ron. Hermione shuffled a little to make space for the new couple. They sat next to each other on the sofa as the other people in the common room started gossiping.
"Are they together-?"
"-Well, they were holding hands-"
"-but they hate each other-"
"-They were getting along in the past few weeks."
All conversation stopped and everyone stared at the pair.
"So," Ginny said, looking at Harry, "How did this happen?"
"He's more observant than I thought," Harry said.
"Well, I would question it too if someone fell on my lap," Parkinson commented.
"So basically, he found out," Dean said.
"Yeah," Draco said.
More people started coming in the common room, probably coming back from Hogsmeade. Draco leaned over to Harry and whispered:
"Want to give them a heart attack?"
Harry nodded and turned to his boyfriend. He leaned in and kissed him. The common room erupted into gasps and whispers.
Maybe this whole soulmate things wasn't bullshit after all?
Afterword
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