Harry had been right about Neville and Draco getting along. Unfortunately, he'd also been right about them spending hours talking and hypothesising about the uses of plants. Harry didn't mind so much though — it was fun to watch Draco when they got into conversations like that.
He'd get so into it, and start reeling off facts like an encyclopædia, using his hands to describe things. Harry loved the fanatical gleam Draco would get in his eyes when he started listing reasoning for a new hypothesis about a certain preparation for thistleberry, or some other thing completely beyond Harry's realm of understanding. It was still September, so whilst it was chilly, it was still comfortable for the three of them to sit and talk outside most evenings.
Harry loved how the sun would set over the forest, and the flickering colours would reflect off of Draco's hair.
~*~
Neville pulled him aside after lunch one day.
"Harry, is there something going on with you and Draco?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you two...seeing each other?"
"What? You too?" Harry sighed. "Apparently everyone thought that last year too."
"Well do you want to start seeing each other?"
"No. I mean, we're just friends. I really don't understand what everyone's talking about."
"Harry, you have to— the way you look at him sometimes, it's like you used to look at Ginny when you first started dating. And the way you two act around each other...it's strange. You two are probably some of the most guarded people I know, and yet you're so comfortable with each other. You don't find that strange?"
"Well, no. I mean he's...Draco," he finished lamely, unable to find the words to describe what he meant. Actually, he wasn't even quite sure what he meant.
Neville gave him a look.
"See, that's exactly what I mean. He's just special to you, he's different, in his own category. Even when you're just talking about him you get the look on your face."
"What look?"
"It's all fond, and like you're trying not to smile."
Well, Harry guessed that made sense, since that was the way Draco made him feel most of the time. Still, so what?
"Okay, I'm fond of Ron and Hermione, and they make me smile; does anyone think I want to snog either of them?"
"It's different, and you know that Harry. Just...do some thinking. Come and talk to me when you have."
Harry wondered sarcastically when Neville had become an expert on feelings.
'Probably,' his brain told him, 'when he became part of a loving, successful marriage.'
There was really no need for that.
It was a good job Harry had a free period, because apparently he needed to do some thinking.
~*~
Harry was in the middle of having his Fifth Years practise a revealing spell one by one on a journal he had hexed, when a student called out.
"Professor Malfoy!"
Harry's heart fluttered, and he looked up with a radiant smile.
"Is there a reason you're interrupting my class?"
Draco gave him a look.
"Yes, actually. Minerva found this object in one of the store cupboards in the dungeons." He held up an oddly shaped glass figure, wrapped in cloth to keep Draco's skin from coming in contact. "Don't ask me why she was there, but it's radiating dark magic, and she figured you would be the best person for the job. I'm afraid I couldn't remember all of the necessary identification and nullification charms."
Harry went over to him, and spoke quietly: "You could have looked them up."
"Ah yes, but why would I do that when I could come bother you and disrupt your lesson?" Draco responded in hushed tones, smiling wryly.
Harry chuckled and turned back to his students (all of whom seemed very intrigued by their quiet conversation).
"Alright guys, you get a demonstration today."
~*~
Later, when Harry was continuing to fulfill his Neville-prescribed pondering requirement, he realised something. That heart flutter. That was not good.
