'Potter.' Draco Malfoy spat out as Harry walked past. Recently, Harry had been actively doing his best to avoid the blonde in the halls of Hogwarts, and he had managed to succeed for a few blissful weeks. Obviously, his luck had run out today. Harry forced himself to bite his tongue and not say anything, not wanting to stop on his way past the Great Hall and onto the grounds of Hogwarts. He was already late meeting Hagrid.
'Potter!' Malfoy tried again, sounding frustrated. Harry slowed without fully come to a stop and glanced over his shoulder with one eyebrow raised. He was surprised Malfoy called out to him without any of his Slytherin buddies to back him up.
'Where are you off to in such a hurry, Potter?' Malfoy sneered as soon as he saw he had Harry's attention. Harry finally stopped and turned to face Malfoy. It was the day before Halloween and Harry simply wasn't in the mood for Malfoy's antics. Draco Malfoy wasn't worth his time; Harry had decided on this before returning to Hogwarts this year. He had defeated Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy was in Azkaban for life. Draco Malfoy was not a threat.
Especially when it was just the two of them alone like this.
'What's it matter to you, Malfoy?' Harry asked coolly, already beginning to turn his back on the boy. Malfoy stared at Harry with silver eyes cloudy with confusion. Malfoy had no comeback, no retort, and Harry continued on his way to Hagrid's hut. He had promised Hagrid he would help feed the school's herd of Thestrals. Helping Hagrid occasionally eased Harry's guilt for not taking his class.
'I-' Malfoy hesitated. Harry paused with a sigh and looked over his shoulder once again. He was really getting frustrated now.
'You what?' Harry growled. Malfoy gaped for a moment before closing his mouth and arranging his face into his best sneer.
'Precious Potter. You better watch yourself, don't want anyone getting the wrong idea.' Malfoy gave a faint smirk as Harry frowned. Harry turned and closed the distance between himself and the Slytherin.
'What are you implying?' Harry asked with a dangerously low voice and his fists clenched.
'Don't want anyone to think you're slacking off or skipping class.' Malfoy replied, his tone lacking its usual amount of scorn. Harry didn't notice this though, giving a harsh laugh.
'Malfoy.' Harry drawled and shook his head. He quickly glanced around and saw they were alone. He stepped closer to Malfoy so that he was right in his personal space. Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that he was slightly taller than Malfoy now and could look him square in the eyes.
'I defeated Voldemort. I stopped a war. I can do no wrong. You on the other hand…' Harry stepped forward and gave a cocky grin when Malfoy stepped back involuntarily, his eyes widening.
Gorgeous silvery eyes that turned icy when they caught the right light.
'Malfoy, you need to worry about your image far more than I do.' Harry was stalking Malfoy now, talking conversationally, but his body was tense. Malfoy couldn't tear his wide eyes away from Harry's and was unconsciously matching Harry step for step, keeping the boy who lived at a physical arm's length.
'I am not the one with an ex-Death Eater dad locked up in Azkaban for life.' Harry continued to taunt. 'I am not the one in Slytherin with friends who are Death Eaters kids. I am not the one who has a family known to be associated with anything and everything to do with the Dark Arts.'
Malfoy's back hit the stone wall and he gave an almost inaudible yelp that made Harry's heart clench. Malfoy still hadn't taken his eyes off Harry's and seemed to be tongue-tied. Harry knew everything he was saying was hitting home for Malfoy. There was nothing Malfoy could hold against him.
Except for his body.
Harry cast away the thought and casually put his left hand on the wall above Malfoy's shoulder, moving his body close enough that he was almost touching Malfoy's. Harry grinned his cocky grin when he heard Malfoy's breath hitch.
'Stay away from me, Malfoy. You've got nothing…' Harry trailed off, his voice almost a whisper. Harry wasn't known for being the most observant person but being this close to Malfoy even he couldn't miss Malfoy's eyes dart to his mouth as he spoke. And stayed there.
The boys stood there so long they lost track of time. They couldn't drag their eyes away from each other and neither could seem to take a proper deep breath.
The sound of footsteps broke them out of their spell. Harry shook his head slightly and gave Malfoy one last cocky grin before he pushed himself away from the wall - but not before he pressed the length of his body against Malfoy's, making Malfoy's breath hitch again.
'Leave me alone.' Harry said with an air of finality and he stomped away, wondering what the deep feeling in the pit of his stomach meant.
The rest of the day had passed uneventfully.
As did Halloween.
As did every day until Christmas break.
Harry most definitely didn't spend most of his time reliving that encounter with a certain blonde Slytherin in his head.
Not only that, but Harry was starting to feel itchy. He had no other word for it. He wasn't accustomed to only having his studies to worry about, and he was bored.
He was also beginning to truly appreciate how phenomenally Hermione had worked over the past six years to help keep his and Ron's grades up. He had no idea how he'd managed to get to his seventh year with how little time he had previously put into his studies.
During Christmas, Harry found himself spending less and less time with the Weasley's, opting instead to spend his days outside practising his flying or coming up with new tactics for the team. He and Ginny broke up after Ginny called him out for it. He had tried to explain his itchy feeling to her, but she hadn't understood. Somehow, their conversation came around to him admitting to her he was feeling a bit lost without knowing why, and a fiery light had sparked in Ginny's eyes. Harry had thought for a terrifying moment that she had been about to fly off the handle at him, but instead, she had hugged him tightly around his middle.
'I'm here for you, Harry. If you ever need to talk, or if you need anything more. Don't forget me, alright?' She had told him, holding his gaze until he had mutely nodded. He mumbled a thank you that she brushed off with a wave of her hand and an offer for some Quidditch practice.
They didn't tell the rest of the Weasley's, yet Harry still found himself gravitating towards her over the Christmas break. He didn't want to do anything romantic with her, he just liked knowing she was near. She didn't seem to mind, so over the remainder of the break, they stayed close to one another.
Their first breakfast back at Hogwarts, Harry found himself craning his neck to look over the house tables. Ginny was sitting next to him; Ron and Hermione were in the library. Ron had "forgotten" to finish his assignment for Potions that he was meant to hand in this morning in second period. He had confided in Harry the night before that he'd already finished it but wanted to spend some alone time with Hermione before the school year got stressful again.
'Looking for someone?' Ginny asked nonchalantly. Harry caught himself and quickly busied himself with filling his plate full of whatever food was within reach.
'No. Who would I be looking for?' Harry said, forcing himself to keep his eyes on his plate. Ginny leant over to whisper in his ear.
'How about a certain Slytherin who just walked in?'
Harry's head snapped up so fast his glasses nearly fell off his face. His breath caught in his throat.
Finally. There he was. Malfoy was making his way over to the Slytherin table with the other seventh years. Harry's breath didn't return to normal, but he felt his body relax, even though Malfoy didn't even so much as glance in his direction.
'So that's why you're feeling lost?' Ginny asked, just quietly enough that no one else would hear her. Harry looked to her in alarm, his mouth gaping like a fish's as he desperately searched for an explanation for her. But she held his gaze with a smile on her face.
'It's fine, Harry. I saw you two in the hallway before Halloween.' She said.
'Saw us? We didn't – there was never-' Harry sputtered incoherently.
'Merlin's balls, Harry. Calm down. What I saw was hot. You should definitely take a chance while you can. God knows I wouldn't mind a chance with a certain Ravenclaw.' She said as her eyes trailed over to the Ravenclaw table.
'Luna?' Harry asked, a little shocked. Ginny's eyes were like fire when they turned back to him.
'Malfoy?' she countered. Harry conceded defeat. Ginny could do a lot worse. He probably couldn't.
'What am I going to do, Ginny?' Harry moaned, burying his face in his hands.
'Do you have any classes with him?' Ginny asked thoughtfully after a few moments of silence.
'Yeah, Potions.' Harry grumbled.
'Why don't you ask Slughorn to pair you two up for a few lessons. Slughorn will do anything you ask, he adores you.' Ginny said.
'Then what? We make a few potions together in class, argue like we always do, and then never speak again? That's taking a chance for sure.' Harry said sarcastically, lifting his head from his hands. Ginny shot him a look that said he was being an idiot.
'Don't argue with him, you git. Be nice to him. Flirt a little.' She made it sound so incredibly simple. But Harry was staring at her with a blank expression.
'How do I flirt with him?' Harry asked, feeling his face grow hot. Ginny rolled her eyes.
'Well, you can't exactly pin him to the wall during class. Try a less obvious approach, "accidentally" touch his hand or arm, let him "catch you" looking at him. Stuff like that.' Ginny said as she poured herself a Pumpkin Juice. Harry mulled this over.
'Wait, you did all of that to me!' He exclaimed, nearly causing Ginny to spit out her Pumpkin Juice. She didn't say anything, but her giggling was all the response Harry needed. He stood up to leave. He had Potions second period and thought that asking Slughorn for a favour well before class started was the better option.
'See you later.' Harry waved to a still giggling Ginny.
