Tsuyuno: I'm glad you like this story. You wanted a new chapter soon; well, here it is. I hope you like it just as much if not more than the others.
Jani-chan: Sorry about the cliffie but I hope you like the direction I took things in.
Tsukiyono: I hope you didn't go crazy without the update right away. I'm glad you liked it.
Cosmic: I don't fully get how the Dursleys sent him presents either, but they do, and so I obliged. One of the great mysteries in Ms. Rowling's world of Harry.
DoubleL27: Thank you for your comments. I hope this was soon enough for you. J
Da-xia Nariko: You aren't the only one to cry. My sister was in tears as well. I'm flattered someone was actually moved that much. *blushes*
Stella: *runs from twapping*
Anyone else who read or reviewed, thanks for taking the time to check out the story and now:
ON WITH THE SHOW!
DISCLAIMER: I am not JK Rowling and the world of Harry Potter does not belong to me. I wish it did, but it doesn't. I am making no money off this trifle of a story.
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It was just after breakfast on a Saturday morning, only the day after Harry's fight with Draco, and Hermione was sitting in the busy common room, waiting on Ron. Not wanting to see Draco this morning, Harry had skipped breakfast and Ron went with Hermione to the kitchen instead of the Great Hall. Dobby and the house elves had been more than happy to oblige with their requests and now Ron was upstairs finishing food with Harry.
She put aside her Arithmancy book when Ron came back down into the common room. Harry was getting dressed and would be down soon, she was told. His mood, according to Ron, was not the best, and he was silently brooding in the best description possible. They interlocked fingers, snuggled close together on the couch, and speaking in hushed whispers as they expressed concerns over Harry and his well being.
A loud knock came from the portrait hole and voices could be heard out in the hall. All Gryffindors in the packed common room stopped to listen. Anyone who needed them should already have the password.
"I will not have you banging on me," the shrill voice of the fat lady could be heard saying.
"If you'd let me in, I wouldn't have to bang on you," came another voice.
"If you had the password, I'd let you in."
"I don't remember the password," the voice argued and all eyes turned to Neville, already inside the common room. Hermione could feel her face going pale as she recognized the voice and she looked to Ron, seeing that he has also lost his color. "You've seen me here before," the voice came again. "Why can't you just make an exception and let me in."
"If you don't have the password, I can't let you in," she argued again.
"But this is important," the voice said, angry and desperate.
The Gryffindors seemed to be frozen, waiting for someone to make a move, and Hermione could wait no longer. Pitying the boy out in the hall, she slipped from Ron's arms and walked toward the portrait hole. Opening it up, he muttered, "finally," and brushed past Hermione into the common room, leaving the Gryffindors more stunned than before. He turned around as if no one were there but Ron, Hermione, and himself.
"Malfoy?" she said, trying to sound hateful and angry to have Draco Malfoy standing in her common room. "What are you doing here?"
"Anyway, Malfoy," Ron said, joining Hermione. "Don't you have enough problems to cause as is? Now you need to bother us in the privacy of our own common room as well?"
Ignoring Hermione's confusion, Ron's rage, and everyone else in the room, he glanced around before turning to face them again and say, "Where's Harry? I need to speak to Harry."
"I don't think he wants to see you right now, Malfoy," Ron sputtered.
"Look," Draco said, seizing him by the shoulders, "I know that I screwed up and I was cold and heartless and don't deserve to see him, but I need to talk to Harry. It's important."
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked, grabbing everyone's attention. He stood just at the bottom of the stairs, arms wrapped around his body and eyes narrowed.
"Harry, I really don't need that right now," Draco said, rushing over to him. "Can we please, for just a second, forget that I'm a Malfoy?" Harry's expression softened at Draco's pleading, genuine concern washing over him. "It's over, Harry," he said, shaking his head. "It's all over."
"What's over?" Harry asked, trying not to look panicked but his stomach was doing belly flops and he felt he was about to be sick. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"What? No! My life. It's over. Everything is over for me."
"Oh," Harry said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Harry. You do know that if I died, that would be over too, right?"
"Well - What's wrong? Why is your life over?"
"He knows, Harry," Draco said, flailing his hands about. "He knows and now it's all over for me. You too, maybe."
"Who knows what, exactly?" Harry asked, walking further into the common room. Draco was pacing around dazed, weaving between shocked Gryffindors without even registering them. From all the commotion, more had arrived and it seemed to Harry that everyone in his house was watching the exchange. He could have sworn Colin Creevy just took a picture. Draco kept pacing, muttering the words, "he knows" under his breath. "Draco!" Harry practically shouted to get him out of his daze. "Who knows what?"
Draco stared at Harry for a long while, reflections of light shimmering off his dull, grey eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and shut it again only to reopen it a moment later. Dropping to his knees, Draco, though not crying, was sobbing loudly into his hands. Harry would call them screams if they weren't so shattered and hopeless. Crossing the room, Harry pushed aside any worry of what the Gryffindors would think as Draco had caused enough of a spectacle already, and wrapped his arms around Draco's quivering shoulders.
"What happened, Draco?" Harry asked him, voice soft. "Who knows what?"
"Fudge told him," Draco said, his voice shaking. "Hagrid told me this morning. Was at the Leaky Cauldron last night." Draco hiccupped and took a breath before continuing. "Fudge told him. Walked right up to him and said, 'Strange about your son and Harry Potter, isn't it?' Said it like he knew. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out my father didn't know." Harry felt his throat go dry, limbs weak, but he wouldn't let go of Draco. "Hagrid wanted to warn me that he knew. I don't know what to expect. I'll get off lucky with a howler. Pull me out of school maybe."
"We won't let that happen," Harry said, hugging Draco tighter.
"My father isn't going to want a queer son, much less a queer son dating the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Stop calling me that," Harry commanded. "Look, it can't be that bad. We'll work something out. Now come on. Get off the floor."
Draco stood up, his body quivering in Harry's arms, and he looked around to finally see all the Gryffindors staring at him. "Harry," he whispered as Harry led him over to the couch to sit down by the fire, arm still around Draco's shoulder.
"What?" he asked, sitting down next to Draco.
"Everyone is staring at me," he whispered, looking at the gaping Gryffindors. "I fear I may have said too much."
"Never mind that. Now that your father knows, there's no need to hide. I was sick of sneaking around, anyway."
"Does this mean you aren't mad at me anymore?"
"I was never mad at you. I was hurt and defensive. You said you were going to leave me."
"I'm sorry," replied Draco, bowing his head. "Forgive me?"
"Of course," answered Harry, placing a light kiss to Draco's lips.
"No," Draco said and Harry furrowed his brows.
"What?"
"I said no. You asked me that if it made my father proud, would I have killed you. The answer is no. I could never do that to you."
Just over Draco's shoulder, Harry caught sight of Hermione with tears in her eyes and Harry fought with himself not to form his own tears. "Let's not fight for at least a week, okay?"
Draco nodded, laughing. "Okay." He looked around at the common room and shrugged. "I guess everyone's going to know now. First Gryffindor, and then the world. I'm going to get laughed out of my common room. Can I hide with you?"
Harry laughed. "Sure, but maybe we should try the school before the world."
"Okay," he said, nodding. "Fuck 'em all. Let them think what they want to think. My father already knows. There isn't much worse that they can do to me."
"We already support you," Hermione pointed out, "though you might want to apologize to the fat lady."
"Why is it that everyone is always wanting me to apologize to someone? First, Weasley. Then it was Granger. Now that hideously obese woman? I'm not apologizing to that dumpy lump of lard," Draco spit out. "After the morning I had? Thinking Harry hated me. Feeling guilty and deciding that maybe I shouldn't be so quick to assume I'll become a Death Eater even though everyone else does." Harry smiled. "Harry missing from breakfast and then finding out Fudge spilled all the sordid details he overheard. The last thing I needed was a fight with a portrait. She's bloody lucky I didn't tear her apart."
There was an awkward silence and then Fred interrupted, saying, "Right then. Guess this means we better remove the Filibuster fireworks from the Slytherin dormitories."
Laughter broke out and rang through the Gryffindor common room.
A week had passed with Draco and Harry openly acting as a couple. The teachers were on hand for any situation that looked like it was going to get out of control. There weren't many problems except for the Slytherins who had suddenly turned very icy toward Draco. Neither Crabbe nor Goyle seemed to be keen on wanting to follow Draco around anymore and he was left to handle his own fights. Slytherins only spoke to him in cool tones and when necessary and Draco found himself spending most nights in Gryffindor. Most of the school except for the Slytherins and a few stragglers in Ravenclaw were supportive.
No word had come for Draco, positive or negative, from Lucius. He, in fact, hadn't received any mail at all and Draco was beginning to worry. Harry had been busy with Quidditch practice, preparing for the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw this Saturday. Draco's anxiousness was obvious and Harry tried to derail his thoughts the best to his ability. He even pulled Draco over to the Gryffindor table a few times so that he couldn't be left to brood on his own.
The following Saturday, Harry had barely eaten breakfast despite Hermione's request before he stood with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and headed to the locker room. Dressing in his scarlet Quidditch robes, he listened to Angelina give the team a pep talk while his thoughts remained on facing down Cho for the Snitch. Ron seemed to be ready to explode from the excitement and anticipation; all the nervousness from the game against Hufflepuff seemed to have vanished. As they walked to the stadium, Harry was glad to see the weather was in perfect condition for Quidditch. Skies were clear and there was hardly any wind.
Walking onto the field, the crowd burst into applause for their respective teams and Harry searched the stands until he found Draco in Gryffindor with Hermione, cheering him on. The Ravenclaw team was already in the middle of the field and Harry marched to his position, Firebolt grasped tight in his hand. He could see Cho staring at him, her broom by her side, and Harry briefly wondered what it was going to be like when it was Draco he was standing opposite of.
"Shake hands, captains," said Madam Hooch, breaking Harry's thought process. Angelina grasped the hand of the Ravenclaw captain. Players of both teams mounted their brooms and Harry tightened his grip around the handle. "On my whistle. Three. . .Two. . .One."
The whistle sounded and Harry kicked hard off the ground. Fourteen Quidditch players clothed in their respective house colors rose into the air. As Harry urged his broom forward, he could hear Lee Jordan's commentary. Harry did hope that Lee would be as entertaining as usual as he often found it hard to remain impartial and thus receiving reprimandation from Professor McGonagall. So far, Lee was not disappointing.
"And they're off," he could he Lee Jordan say in the commentary. "Gryffindor is in position. Katie Bell passes to Alicia Spinnet who passes it back to Bell. Watch out Katie, that was a Bludger! Bell passes to Angelina Johnson and Johnson is heading for the goal. Looking lovely as usual, may I add."
"Jordan," Professor McGonagall warned. "Stop with the flattery and get back to the game."
"Right then, Professor. Sorry about that. Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor is still in possession as she heads for the goals. She aims and she scores! Ten points for Gryffindor by Angelina Johnson, the Gryffindor captain and a beautiful chaser."
"Jordan."
Harry zoomed past Alicia Spinnet, his eyes scanning the Quidditch pitch as he searched like mad for any small flick of gold that would lead to the Snitch. From the commentary, he could hear Lee Jordan yelling at the Ravenclaw team who had just scored, leaving the score tie. As he dove down, Cho followed close behind, thinking that he had seen the Snitch. Lee announced that Gryffindor had pulled ahead by Katie Bell, scoring the second goal for Gryffindor. Forging his Firebolt ahead, all of Harry's concentration was now on the game and Lee's commentary, and he continued to search. In a sharp turn upward, he almost knocked Cho off her broom.
"Don't let her tail you, Harry," he could hear Fred call, or maybe it was George. Just as he called out, Harry ducked as one of the Bludgers skirted past his head and the Weasley twin hit it toward a Ravenclaw chaser.
"That Bludger almost took our Gryffindor Seeker off his broom! Be careful, Harry," Lee warned. "None the less, an excellent shot by George Weasley. Almost took off Cho Chang, the Seeker for Ravenclaw as well. Teach her to follow Potter. She's just sore because she knows Potter's Firebolt can wipe away her broom easy and she won't win if she doesn't tail him."
"That's enough, Jordan," Professor McGonagall interrupted.
"Sorry, Professor. Teach her to tail the best Seeker Gryffindor's ever had."
"Would you focus on the game, Jordan?" McGonagall nearly shouted.
"Sorry, Professor. Katie Bell of Gryffindor has the Quaffle and it's intercepted by Ravenclaw. And Ron Weasley saves leaving the score at seventy to thirty, Gryffindor. Nice save, Ron!"
As Ron prevented the Ravenclaws from scoring on Gryffindor, Harry caught sight of a flick of gold from the Snitch toward the Gryffindor end as he applauded Ron. He accelerated his Firebolt and Cho, knowing he saw the Snitch, followed close behind. Lee hadn't been kidding when he said about how superior Harry's broom was, however, and he was pulling ahead fast.
"And Potter's accelerating toward the Gryffindor end. I think he sees the Snitch! Cho Chang for Ravenclaw is close behind. Come on, Harry! Be careful! She's still sore about your sudden attraction to men!"
"That was uncalled for, Jordan," McGonagall reprimanded.
Harry's broom swerved slightly, but he regained control and forged ahead. Standing up on his broom, Harry reached out as far as his arm could stretch as he tried to grab the Snitch.
"Sorry, Professor, but she is. Harry used to like her and now she's sore. Get it, Harry, before she knocks you off your broomstick for snogging with Malfoy!"
Harry was finding it difficult to keep his balance and grab the Snitch with Lee's commentary. He leaned forward, reached as far as he could go, and his hand closed around the ball. Golden wings from the snitch fluttered softly against his palm, cheering and shouting sounded, and Lee had barely announced Harry's capture when everything went black.
Black. Everything was black and when Harry opened his eyes, he decided he liked things better when they had been black. Colors meshed into other colors creating a myriad of watercolors blended by raindrops and smeared together. Light infiltrated his senses in powerful rays, clouding the corners of his eyes and blocking his peripheral vision. He was vaguely aware of voices and he shut his eyes again, trying to make out the words.
"Madam Pomfrey!" the first voice shouted and Harry winced at the immense volume. "Sorry, Harry. Didn't mean to be so loud. Madam Pomfrey!"
Who was that? Ron? No, didn't sound quite like Ron though the attitude was the same. Scream, apologize for being loud, and then scream again. That was quite like Ron. He opened his eyes again, looking for the owner of such a loud voice. Madam Pomfrey was mentioned and that meant the infirmary. Reaching out a blind hand, he grabbed his glasses and pulled them on to see he was indeed in the hospital wing. His bed was right by the window and the light coming in through it was giving him a headache worse than the one he already had. Nice view, though. Would be nicer once his head stopped pounding, anyway. Now where was that voice?
"Madam Pomfrey!" he heard it say again down the hall. "He's awake. He opened his eyes and everything."
"That's wonderful but your incessant shouting has probably given young Mister Potter another headache," a second voice scolded and Harry figured that it must belong to Madam Pomfrey. "Honestly, if you weren't so persistent about being with him, I'd have sent you away ages ago."
"You already tried that," the first voice teased. "I'm not going anywhere. I need to be with him." The corners of Harry's mouth turned up into a smile as he placed the voice to Draco. "What if he woke up and I wasn't there? He probably doesn't know what happened and then he'd be upset because I'm not there with him. It has been three days."
Three days? What in bloody blazes could have happened to land him in the infirmary and unconscious for three day? Their footsteps were coming very close now and Harry heard Madam Pomfrey in reply say, "Don't you have classes to attend to?"
"I do go to my classes. They aren't all day, you know," Draco answered.
"Mister Malfoy, I doubt that Mister Potter would be terribly upset to not see you when he first wakes up."
"You say that now but you don't know Harry like I do," replied Draco. Harry smiled.
They rounded the curtains and Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to smile or frown at the sight of Draco. He looked thinner than usual, dark circles were under his eyes, and his skin looked more of a sickly pale than a healthy white glow that it usually held. "Hi," Draco said, sitting down by his side.
"I tried to get him to leave but your boyfriend is a very persistent pain in the arse. How are you feeling?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"My head feels dizzy but otherwise I'm fine," Harry answered.
"Take this," Draco said, holding out a small bottle. "I was supposed to give it to you for you head when you woke up but I forgot in all the excitement.
Harry took the container from Draco, tipped his head back and swallowed the contents. "Would it be alright if I had a bit of time alone with Draco to talk?"
She sniffed loudly, clearly displaying her disapproval, and looked between Harry and Draco. "I suppose but make sure you get some rest. I don't want you staying up all night and I'd send him away but he's like a parasite."
"Thank you," Harry said as she left. Turning to Draco, Harry said, "You've been worried. Is it me or your father?"
"What makes you say I'm worried?" Draco replied.
"You have dark circles under your eyes and you look like you haven't eaten in days."
"I'm slim and off-color. It's a Malfoy thing."
"Draco," Harry warned.
"Both," he admitted, not wanting to hear Harry lecture him. "I still haven't heard from my father and you've been out cold for three days now."
"What happened?" Harry asked, his voice groggy.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Harry thought long and hard. "Qudditch. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. The Snitch. And Lee Jordan saying something about Cho knocking me off my broom for snogging with you but I could've dreamt any of that."
"No, that all happened," Draco explained and a light tinge of pink came into his face. "You caught the Snitch and just after you did, you took a Bludger to the head."
"I really caught the Snitch? I was too busy listening to Lee talking about us snogging. It made for a difficult time to concentrate."
"That's all I could think about too until you caught the Snitch and the Bludger hit you.
"I must have been so distracted by the commentary that I didn't even hear it coming right at me."
"I was really scared," Draco whispered, avoiding Harry's eyes. "It hit you and you fell from your Firebolt and everyone thought you were dead. For that moment when I thought I lost you, none of that shit with my father mattered. You matter so much more to me, Harry. I'm just sorry it took a trip to the infirmary to realize that."
"Me too," said Harry, chuckling. "It's a nice trip to the infirmary, though. Wonderful view."
"Isn't it?" Draco said, moving to the window. "You come here so often that I thought we'd try and reserve this bed for you or at least get you your own personal assistant. A preferred customer type of thing."
"How very inventive of you, Draco. I can't believe you've been sitting here with me for three days. You need sleep and you need food."
"I've been eating and sleeping. I've just been very worried about not hearing from my father and you were unconscious from the Bludger. Gryffindor won, though, if that makes you feel any better. The game versus Slytherin should be quite the adventure."
"Don't think I'll be a gentleman," replied Harry. "I want the Qudditch Cup this year and I won't hesitate to knock you off your Nimbus Two Thousand and One with my Firebolt."
"Getting egotistical about that Firebolt, are you? Not that I should expect one any time soon. I'll consider myself forewarned."
They were quiet for sometime. Draco stared out the window at the sky as it began to turn to dusk before he returned to sitting on Harry's bed. Slipping his fingers into Harry's, he stared down at their interlocked hands and half whispered, "I love you, you know that?"
Harry blinked twice, each long and done in shock. "Actually," he stammered, "I didn't but it was nice of you to tell me." An awkward silence filled the air and then Harry said, "I thought you didn't believe in love."
"I lied. . .Remember that one day before Potions when Ron said he loved Hermione but I must not understand that because I don't know anything about love?" Harry nodded. "Well, the reason I started to tear was because he was right. I don't know anything of love or at least I didn't think I did. I love my parents, Harry, but they never loved me. Not the way they were supposed to. I believed that love was real, it existed, but I wasn't worthy to have anyone ever love me. I wasn't worthy to feel the emotion."
"Draco -" Harry said but Draco cut him off.
"I don't need sympathy, Harry, and I don't need your pity either. I learned that love isn't perfect. It isn't about moonlit walks or candlelit dinners or holding hands," Draco said with a laugh as he held up their interlocked fingers. "Love isn't perfect just like people aren't. Love is a way you feel inside when you know that when you're with that person, you truly feel happy. When you love someone, they make you want to be a better person. It knows no age, gender, or even house because love can cross all boundaries. There's no where else that you'd ever want to be because they're the only person in the universe, and when I realized that, I realized that I love you.
"Love used to be a fairy tale to me. I didn't know what love meant. My parents didn't love me just like their parents didn't really love them and I know you're right when you say that you're parents loved you. Sometimes I wish they'd just disappear. I know I'd do better without them but then I feel so guilty because your parents are gone and while I have mine, I want them to go away. I'm nothing to them, Harry, but a nuisance and just another wizard to add to the Death Eaters." Draco paused and a shy smile formed on his face as he turned his eyes up to lock with Harry's. "Harry?"
"What?"
"It would be nice if you loved me back."
Harry's jaw dropped. "Oh! Draco-" he started laughing, "I do! I love you, Draco. You should know that."
"Actually, I didn't but it was nice of you to tell me," he replied, leaning in and kissing Harry's lips. "I do. I love you so much even if you are that annoying Potter Boy-Who-Lived."
"Well I love you even if you are unfortunate enough to be a Malfoy," Harry replied. "We're going to be okay. Even if your father does know, we're going to be okay."
Draco nodded, kissing Harry again before crawling into bed beside him and spooning against Harry's back. "I know, Harry. It's so strange, though, to not have heard from him yet when he's known for over a week now. I can only imagine what he's going to spring on me after things going for this long without word."
"He doesn't know that you know he knows," Harry pointed out and Draco chuckled at his choice of words. "Well he doesn't. Maybe he's waiting for proof. Doesn't trust Fudge or something. Man is a git at times. Or maybe he's waiting for you to make the first move."
"Or maybe he's setting up arrangements to transfer me to Durmstrang and away from you."
"Don't be so negative about it," Harry said, rolling over to press his stomach flat against Draco's. He could hear Draco's breath hitch and feel his chest shudder against Harry's own. Placing a gentle kiss on his lips, Harry whispered, "Go to sleep. You need the rest."
"You do too."
"Okay then."
They laid together in silence, bodies pressed against each other and mouths so close they were sharing the same oxygen as their limbs and minds gave in to slumber. Draco went first and Harry spent a few solitary hours afterward running his index finger along the planes of Draco's pale, pointed face, listening to him breathe. His heart would swell in his chest just thinking of Draco's voice and his mind flashed to the irony of the situation. Just when he was ready to throw in the towel, he discovered a warm body beneath the icy exterior. There was actually a real person in Draco, a person that needed to be coaxed out of his shell and put aside all the silly preconceptions to show his true colors.
The real Draco loved Harry and Harry wouldn't deny loving Draco in return. Love, indeed, knew of no gender or even house and Draco couldn't have spoken truer words. So strange that only a few months ago, Harry had hated the boy who now lay in front of him, asleep, and Harry thought Draco was the most beautiful vision he had ever seen. Draco and Malfoy were two different people and it was unmistakable that Harry preferred the former. Draco was hidden inside Malfoy and Harry thrived on having broken through that shell.
He had almost cried during Draco's speech about love. Maybe they weren't the picture perfect couple and everything dreams are made of, but they were together and for Harry, that was enough.
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