Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, everything belongs to J K Rowling. The song 'Have You Seen My Childhood?' belongs to the wonderful Michael Jackson, whose angelic voice has always brightened up my school days.

Warning: some OOC and some shounen ai (male/male relationship) This story is inspired by a song by Michael Jackson called 'Have You See My Childhood?'

1/4/2013: Formerly known as Have You Seen My Childhood. I've decided to reedit this story since this is one of my favourites to write when I was still stressed in school. I hope you guys don't mind :) Of course much of my creativity for Harry Potter was put on a standstill after reading and watching all of the volumes but this doesn't stop me from coming back to my old stories and see what improvements I can make. And who knows...I may even make a sequel to this story if I get enough motivation :)

Verse of Inspiration:

Have you seen my childhood?

I'm searching for the world that I come from

'Cause I've been looking around

in the lost and found of my heart...

No one understands me

They view it as such strange eccentricities...

'Cause I keep kidding around like a child

But pardon me...

People say I'm not okay

'Cause I love such elementary things...

It's been my fate to compensate

For the childhood

I've never known...

Beautiful Serendipity

Harry sighed wistfully as he inhaled the fresh air, hearing the sparrows' chirpy melodywaft in his ears. He favored going for walks whenever he was alone. It became a habit since the war ended...

He could remember vaguely what had happened...dead bodies scattered about and the ash remains of Voldemort's body and wand. That day was the bleakest the wizarding and muggle worlds ever existed. Innocent wizards and witches died on that day to set things right and many also were injured. Ron, Hermione, the rest of the Weasley clan, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Goyle, Crabbe, Pansy, Blaise...the hospital wing list went on. But he could never forget one young man who had helped make the defeat of the Dark Lord possible. The one who had been acting as Dumbledore's spy alongside Professor Snape and brought light and hope on the whole of the campus. The one Slytherin by the name of Draco Malfoy.

Draco was his fiercest rival and arch-nemesis but he didn't act like it since fifth year. He became more secretive, having more personal meetings with Dumbledore more than he could remember. The platinum-haired young man didn't sneer at him but instead he acknowledged his presence with a nod and a strange soft look he had never seen before. He was polite and civil to him but it bothered Harry. It wasn't that he didn't like it. It was just different, he felt like Draco was hiding something...

His thoughts were interrupted when he stopped walking to see where he was. He was at the Great Lake. He watched the Giant Squid lazily raise its tentacles, basking under the warmth of the sun. His emerald green eyes caught sight of someone sitting near the lake's banks. A handsome young man with platinum blond hair and silvery blue eyes. Draco Malfoy. It was then Harry noticed that Draco was holding something tenderly in his hands and tears clung to the edges of his eyelids. The sight made the dark-haired young man feel unconditional compassion and empathy towards him. So Draco had someone precious in his heart. His feet automatically drove him forward until he was about several feet behind the back of the Slytherin. Not wanting to break the tenderness of the scene, he decided to watch a little longer.

Draco sighed as he cradled the precious round locket in his shaking hands. His saddened eyes gazed at the wizard photo nestled inside of it. The moving image contained his mother who was carrying him when he was new to the world. A woman with flawless ethereal beauty carrying a sleeping platinum-haired baby in her arms smiled sweetly at him.

He felt tears burning inside his eyelids and the ache building up inside his heart. But he made no attempt to wipe them away, nobody was there to see him. The delicate chain weaved elegantly among his long fingers and the golden metal surface sparkled in the sunlight. His eyes never tore from the photo. It was the only thing that reminded him the only joy of his childhood: his loving mother.

He never showed this in public. No one. The teachers...his housemates and the other students...even Harry Potter. They knew nothing about it. He always wore his locket, but only underneath his many layers of school robes...keeping it close to his heart.

No one would know that Draco Malfoy had a breaking and fragile heart. He yearned for someone to see him who he truly was. To see beyond than being a spy for Dumbledore like his mentor and father figure, Severus Snape or a disgraced pureblood wizard disowned by his father shortly after his mother's untimely death.

He choked and covered his eyes, sobbing softly. Why did his mother always come to him in his mind? His father killed the only person who mattered to him. She was distant yet she was so close to him...she died protecting him...and it was all his fault..

The stress from the war had drained him. He had so many problems. Loneliness was his worst. Truth to be told, he hated being alone. But he never showed it because people had many expectations for him. The professors expected him to be a consistently high scoring student in his year like Granger. His housemates and the rest of the student body expected him to be a typical Slytherin tormenting all the other three houses and be filled with hatred and sneer to keep in tradition with the Malfoy family name. There were rare moments when he could be himself as a child at heart. But as it goes, his cold mask could readily slip back on at the slightest change.

He managed to partially break the image when Dumbledore appointed to be a spy.

There was another problem that troubled him: Harry Potter.

There were times when he thought what would had happened if the raven-haired boy had accepted his handshake when they were in Hogwarts or joined Slytherin. Things would've been different...he could've be his friend. But it never happened and he blamed Harry with all his heart. He placed illusions in his mind that Harry Potter was the cause of all the trouble he experienced. He spat poisonous words at him and his friends, trying to get them into trouble. But he could never ever truly hate Harry and it pained him so. He wished that one time they could get along like he did with Weasley and Granger. He wished that he could just hold him and feel his warmth even for a few seconds. But most of all, he wished to be a friend to him and vice versa. But it was all a fantasy and his heart would carry the hidden pain and burden behind a cold exterior he was trained to put up.

Over time, he was getting tired of the charade. He wanted to let go of his mask and be normal. His heart yearned for something or someone to ward off his personal demons of loneliness.

He pulled back slightly and found his hands and face blotched with tears.

"Malfoy..."

He tensed when he heard a soft voice behind him. He clenched the locket tightly in his fist, his silvery eyes glinting dangerously. He hated it when he was sneaked up from behind and the intruder was going to get a serious punishment. He quickly swiped his face free of his tears and turned to glare at the intruder.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE-" Draco's tirade was abruptly cut short when he saw Harry staring back at him with a shocked expression.

"Geesh, Malfoy," Harry held up his hands in surrender, "Calm down..."

Draco sighed, feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders. He turned his back on the Gryffindor.

"Malfoy-"

"I'm sorry..." Draco's apology was soft but clear, "I just need to be alone. Please...just...leave me..."

It pained Draco to say those last words...in truth, he really didn't want to be alone...it hurts...

Luckily Harry wasn't fooled. He sensed that the other boy's nonchalant voice was Draco's tired plea calling him to stay. A tense silence followed. He paid no heed to Draco's request to leave him alone and sat next to him. Harry cocked his head to one side to look at his rival. He vaguely noticed the shiny dampness on the pale cheeks and the red sore eyes. He also saw something glittering hidden in his hands.

"You've been crying, haven't you?" Harry commented.

"How very perceptive of you, Potter," Draco cynically said, "Do you expect me not to have any emotion?!"

"Malfoy, that's not what I was thinking. It's just that-"

Draco faced Harry abruptly, staring at him eye to eye, "Just what do you want?! Do you want to mock me?! Go ahead!"

Harry cringed slightly at Draco's harsh tone.

"Malfoy...please. I'm not here to mock you and you won't do the same to me. Don't I have a right to sit where I want to?" Harry asked softly. He watched as Draco moved away slightly yet still kept a close distance.

"No one understands me, Potter," Draco's voice softened, "I'm not who you and the others think I am."

The blonde sighed and brought his knees to his chest. At this point, Harry could see his profile clearly. The chiseled pale handsome features seemed to radiate more in the sunlight...and on top of that, Draco had grown taller and stronger in stature...

"Malfoy...I..."

"Stop it..." Draco whispered, clenching his eyes tightly, "I hate that name. Why do people always call me that? What am I! Something named to be evil?! I'm a person, for bloody Christ! My name's Draco!"

Harry's heart tightened painfully. He steadied his breathing and waited patiently for the tension in the atmosphere to lessen. Draco turned to look at him again. Harry saw the exhaustion lacing on the other's face...he looked almost older and worn than he should be...

"I'm sorry...Draco," Harry apologised. He thought that he noticed a strange but comforting glint in the silvery orbs but it was gone before he saw it fully.

"Why are you out here?" Draco asked, "Aren't you supposed to be with the mud- I mean...bookworm and the weasel?"

"Knock it off! They're my best friends!" Harry chastised briefly, "They're in the library. They needed time alone and I do too. That's why I'm out here."

Harry shifted his body so that he's facing Draco. The Slytherin looked uneasy at the close contact but he said nothing and gazed back at him.

"That's also where I saw you out here," Harry's eyes were glowing mysteriously, "I saw you crying. What's wrong?"

Draco's grip around his knees tightened at the concern he sensed in Harry's voice. The aching pain in his chest spasmed. He wasn't used to showing his true self to anyone...

"I...I..." Draco sighed and stretched out his hand which contained the locket, "This...this is what made me cry."

Harry stared at the glittering piece of jewelry on Draco's open palm. He took it hesitantly, feeling the solid golden weight in his hands. It looked so magnificent and so fragile. He saw the wizard photo inside. He took a closer look, finding a beautiful woman carrying Draco's appearance, gently cradling a baby in her arms and smiling at him sweetly. The raven-haired man felt warm when he gazed at the photo.

"She's very beautiful...and very loving...who is she?"

"That's my mother..." Harry looked up to see Draco staring distantly out to the lake, "She was the only one who made my life worthwhile. She was the joy of my childhood and livelihood before...the Dark Lord did her in to punish me for joining your side and send a warning to my father for his failures on his missions. Apparently, my mother didn't fight back and my father never did anything to stop it from happening. This is stupid, isn't it, Potter?"

Draco bitterly chuckled. Harry swallowed the dry lump in his throat upon hearing that chuckle.

"Love eventually kills, doesn't it? You ultimately lose people you care for. I never had and known a real childhood like many people thought I had. At least, when being a spy for the light, while it puts my life in danger countless times, it makes me feel alive. More than school and Quidditch. Then people won't care about my existence when I'm gone. It's to compensate for the life I'm not worth living in."

"Draco...just stop right there," Harry vehemently said as he gripped the locket, "Stop it. If it weren't for you, we would've never known about Voldemort's final battle plans. Stop burdening yourself. Your mother would've been very disappointed."

"Why should I?! Since when do you start caring for others who are not supposed to be in your circle of friends!"

"I don't know, honestly. But I do know how you feel."

"How would you know, Potter?! You don't know anything about me!"

"It's true I don't know anything about you but I just felt it inside you. That feeling of self-resentment. I sometimes feel it too."

"Potter..."

"Harry..."

"What?"

"Call me Harry. You wanted me to call you Draco so I ask you to do the same. It would be a better chance for us to be more civil with each other."

"Harry..." Draco whispered, testing the name out. It sounded and felt good saying it.

"You're lucky, Draco," Harry murmured, fingering the locket gingerly, "To have a mother who cares. I knew my parents loved me but I hardly knew them because they died protecting me. I have a void that no one could replace, not even Ron and Hermione. I'm still hoping that someone could replace that void to complete me...my soul."

Harry smiled slightly at Draco and handed back the locket to him.

"In a way, I guess we are on the same boat."

"Harry, this is crazy..." Draco scoffed, "How can you look on the positive side on things? I have nothing, you have nothing. What's there to go for?"

"I honestly have no idea...I too never had a real childhood. But I feel like when I look back on the things my parents may had done for me in the past, I feel like I'm searching something worthwhile. Those are probably the times I can imagine me with them when I'm alone and dreaming. Like you are right now, Draco. I feel like a child in some ways but as The Boy Who Lived...the Chosen One...I'm not expected to carry that image. No scratch that...I'm not allowed to. I can't afford being a child..."

At that point, Draco could see the turmoil boiling inside the emerald gems that were Harry's bespectacled eyes. The green depths were filled with pain and sorrow he witnessed in the war.

"I'm supposed to be a messenger of hope. But I can't see myself in that way."

The aching pain in Draco's heart developed further. Harry was so open to him that it was tearing down his defenses. His mind clicked as one troubled question that had haunted him for many years passed through his lips.

"Harry, why didn't you accept my offer...my friendship...back in our first year in Hogwarts?"

"What?" Harry whispered. Draco nervously cleared his throat.

"Harry, be honest...do you really hate me?" Harry looked at his companion incredulously, "I mean, since the day we first met, all I can remember is us fighting like cats and dogs, never a moment when we can talk civilly."

Harry gulped, not knowing how to answer this question. He inhaled deeply before gazing into the questioning silvery orbs.

"I..." Harry sighed shakily, "Maybe it's because of your atrocious attitude and the way you made fun of Ron at the beginning of the year and insulted Hermione in our second year, You're a snob, always tormenting the other students, getting us into trouble and resorting to selfish means to get what you want."

Draco frowned and turned away. His cold exterior did make him lose the possible friendship he would have with Harry. He felt his heart shatter and disintegrate as Harry's words were absorbed in his brain. He willed his eyes to stop burning and tearing up...he deserved this...this was his punishment...

"But I could never find it easy to hate you," Harry finished, his voice so soft and gentle. Draco looked back with shock.

"What did you say?" Draco hoarsely whispered back.

"I never hated you...never..." Harry said truthfully, feeling more certain of his heart's emotions, "You are a bully, a jerk and a git. You make me feel angry more than I feel towards the Dursleys. You make me want to throw curses at you. But I never hated you."

"Why?!" Draco asked incredulously as he grabbed Harry's shoulders, "After all the horrible things I put upon you?! How can you be so forgiving?!"

"It pained me, Draco," Harry's fringe obscured his eyes as he made another confession, "It pained me to put up with the pretence but I guess my Gryffindor pride is something I treasured. It's a part of me. I was stubborn. I was too proud. But then, when I'm around with you, I feel alive...whether there are fights, duels or Quidditch matches. You lit up something inside of me. It's like you're my burst of energy. And...I never knew you have such a painful past...I could see it in your eyes."

Draco gasped softly and loosened the death grip on Harry shoulders but still keeping a firm hold. When Harry finally looked up to lock eyes with him, Draco averted his gaze, tearing away from the beautiful green eyes that seemed to strike deep into his soul. He had allowed Harry to see his true self- almost...the raven-haired young boy could read him like a book.

"Draco...look at me...please..." Harry's voice was firm yet encouraging. Draco felt his heart beat faster and he thought that he was in a furnace on a winter's day. He turned his head and gazed back at Harry who was looking quite shy, almost vulnerable. He flushed slightly as Harry shifted closer, "I always thought you have metal steel eyes. But they look more like silver blue diamonds. Your eyes are so beautiful."

The two young boys were now kneeling in front of each other. Like a true Gryffindor, Harry made the first move. He finally closed the distance between him and the Slytherin by wrapping him a comforting hug as he snaked his arms around the taller boy's waist. Draco immediately tensed at the close contact but he truly wanted this happen. It was a dream...it had to be...Harry was embracing him willingly in his arms. He slowly relaxed in Harry's hold and returned the hug, burying his face in Harry's hair. Harry felt warm like a sunbeam shining in an angelic aura that made his heart burst. Draco closed his eyes delicately and began to sob and whimper, releasing the pent up sorrow he kept within his soul. Harry just hugged the taller boy even tighter. He didn't care that he was in the arms of his rival who tormented him and his fellow students for years. The Slytherin was in need of comfort and Harry made sure that he was to receive the care he possessed in his heart. Draco softened his sobs, feeling his tears slipping onto Harry's head. The tears adorned the ends of the hairs like dewdrops on blades of grass.

"Shhhh...it's okay, Draco," Harry felt Draco loosening his embrace slightly but still keeping a hold on him, not wanting to release him.

"My mother loved and cared for me but she was gone. Even with my father, I thought that I was alone. I thought it was better that way," Draco confessed softly, "I don't want to be surrounded with pity."

Harry just continued to hold him, offering silent solace in the embrace.

"My cold mask was to hide my vulnerability. I don't want people to know that I'm weak like a child. I just let them assume that I'm a Slytherin who's rich, smart and live to torment the weak and oppressed. I can't even act as myself. I'm sick of it. I'm a like a muggle puppet."

"I feel the same way too," Harry agreed, "Everyone thinks I'm lucky to have all the fame...having the bloody scar on my forehead and at times, I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I'm not a saint."

Draco looked down at Harry who looked so tired from the stress of the war's aftermath. He could see the red outlines of the scar burning angrily like an inferno above his right eyebrow under his fine black fringe. He gently brushed the fine hairs aside and looked at it. It made Harry look...strong...and beautiful...to match his emerald green eyes.

Draco thought he saw Harry blushing at the contact. The silvery-eyed Slytherin gazed at the young boy in his arms and time stilled. It was only him and Harry. Unlike the other previous occasions, his throat constricted to prevent him from spitting words and curses of venom, he was speechless. Draco felt that he could reveal himself to Harry. He felt like he could tell the younger boy his darkest secrets and not be judged harshly by him. The more he thought about it, he found that they may share some similarities that they failed to notice for these long excruciating years. But most of all, he felt warm just by looking and talking with him.

"I think it's time that we forget all that happened...it's all in the past," Harry said, looking at the sun now setting over the hills of the lake, "It's time to look ahead."

Draco pulled Harry close, "What's the point? There're so many things I wished for. I don't know how to achieve them...I'm lost."

Harry could clearly see the despair inside the eyes of the Slytherin in front of him. Draco had no hope inside of him. He indeed looked lost.

"I want to be friends with Granger and Weasley. I wish there is a time where I can just express how I feel without my mask on. I want to see how the muggle world functions. I wish that-" Draco's rambling was cut short when Harry soothed him by gripping his fingers softly and a nuzzle against his collarbone. Draco sagged with a sigh, "Thanks, Harry..."

"It's not too late," Harry said with confidence, "You just have to try."

"I'm not capable of expressing what I feel. I only know how to be angry and fill with hatred. My mask readily comes back on. Even loving someone dear to me..." Draco had his eyes downcast, "I've forgotten...I've forgotten how to love, Harry."

"Well, you've proven me wrong when you allowed me to comfort you. You can learn to love," Harry whispered with a growing smile on his face, "I can learn too. We can do it as we go along. We can quell the pain together. It takes time. I'll even let you get reintroduced to my friends. And then perhaps...when the time is right, you can introduce me to your lot."

Draco went quiet.

"I don't know about that," Draco sighed, "The Gryffindors hate me, remember? I'm a Slytherin. Every one of my housemates hate you."

"Is it because I'm a Gryffindor? Come on, Draco. We don't know how they'll react until WE try, Draco," Harry said, emphasizing each word, "I told you, we're in the same boat. I'm sure they'll understand."

Harry's gentle words melted away the last defenses of denial and Draco found himself smiling wistfully. He felt light, like the burden simply washed away like water off a duck's back. Harry caught the sparkle in the other's eyes and smiled too. He was right about one thing: Draco was indeed warm and by Merlin...Draco simply looked...beautiful...

"Harry? Can...can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Once we're better acquainted, I want to know everything about you. No holding anything back. I just want a personal one-on-one conversation. Just you and me."

"It sounds good, Draco. I want to know everything about you too," a nod from Draco was Harry's response.

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Harry..." Harry pulled away to see Draco's eyes shining softly like fine rings of silver and a thin but beautiful smile adorning the pink lips, "It...it feels good that somebody understands me, thank you...really."

"You're welcome, Draco..." Harry whispered back quite shyly.

It was then Draco felt a strong protectiveness building inside of him as he gazed at Harry who was lightly smiling at him. The Slytherin tenderly cupped the back of Harry's head, brushing the soft dark tendrils of his fringe with his nose. His eyes laid a latent gaze on the lightning shaped scar. The taller boy bent slightly forwards and gave a soft kiss on the mark on Harry's forehead. Harry stilled and sighed, blushing scarlet red but leaned further in Draco's embrace. The raven haired boy never felt this secure in Draco's arms. He felt complete when he was with him. Draco tenderly went back to holding the other boy in his arms.

"It's a good start, Draco."

"Hmmm, is it? I'm glad to hear you say that..." Draco hummed contently as Harry pressed further into his warmth.

"Let's go back," Harry pulled Draco up and gazed up at him.

"Harry...it's together, right?" Draco's grip on Harry's hand tightened.

"Yes, Draco. Together," Harry affirmed by squeezing his hand back, "Let's start over."

Draco truly smiled from his healing heart, looking down at their linked hands. Together, they walked away from the lake in a companionable silence basking around them. The two young former enemies had filled the voids in their souls by crushing the feud between them. They were starting over to form an encouraging start of a new blossoming friendship.

And there was something beautiful and hopeful about it...

The End