Petra: Well! Here it is! The next one in what is quickly becoming a many parter... --;
Kati: Yeppers...
Petra: For those of you who have read these authors notes before, you'll notice that I changed them...
Kati: Believe it or not, there is a reason for this.
Petra: Previously, I discussed the idea of turning this fic shonen-ai. I got lots of lovely responses, telling me actual reasons why I should or should not follow the idea, along with their own likes and dislikes.
Kati: Yeppers!
Petra: So, I decided that I'll just see where my writing leads me and you, dear readers, will just have to sit and way for the surprises as well.
DEDICATED: To everything that might have been but never was.
WARNING: Nothing much; perhaps slight angst.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did it would, first off, be very different. Second off, would probably be not as popular due to the fact that it wouldn't have started out so light and happy and there would probably be shoenen-ai.
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Ten Minutes of Peace
"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world." -Leo Buscaglia
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TIME: Harry and Draco's 7th year, around early November
Draco Malfoy sat by the lake, leaning against the tree, half-asleep in that way that people who are waking slowly are; the kind that lets the person waking know everything going on around him, but unable to respond to it. He was silently watching the lake through half-lidded eyes, his brain slowly beginning to realize that it was, indeed, the lake, when he was startled by a body sitting down next to his. His eyes, now fully opened, turned to look in surprise at Harry.
"Harry?" he questioned, surprised when the other boy scooted closer and then, without any warning, leaned against Draco's right shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"You don't mind, do you?" Harry asked, veiled hurt showing in his eyes even as he made to move. "I mean, I had ten extra minutes and you looked lonely…"
"No!" Draco said, a little too vehemently because Harry gave him a strange look. "I just… wasn't expecting it, that's all."
Harry let a small smile slip across his features as he rested himself fully back on Draco. "What are you doing out here?"
"Getting some peace," Draco replied. "I guess I fell asleep 'cause next thing I know, I'm staring out the lake and it takes me three minutes to figure out that what I'm staring at isn't blue grass but a lake."
Harry chuckled softly and they fell into a comfortable silence, Draco's thoughts returning to what he had been thinking about before he'd fallen asleep... Harry. If any one had told him, a year ago, that he would be more comfortable in Harry's presence than any other person's, he would have laughed in that person's face. Yet, here he was, more relaxed around Harry then he was around any of his fellow Slytherins. However, that made him think of something else that had been bothering him for a while now.
"Hey, Harry…?" Draco asked, rather hesitantly, "You haven't told either Granger or Weasley about our friendship, have you?"
Draco felt Harry stiffen against him. "Well… I didn't know whether what we had could be called a friendship…" Harry stopped, apparently waiting for Draco to say something, but Draco didn't. "I mean, I consider you a friend but I didn't know if you thought of me as one. Friendship has to be a two way thing… and I guess I was afraid that you would say no if I asked you…"
Draco nodded in understanding. "Now that you know, though, will you tell them?"
Harry turned slowly toward Draco, still partially leaning against the slightly smaller boy. "Why do you want to know, Draco?" he asked, peering at Draco as though to peer into the blonde's soul.
Draco couldn't help the flush that spread over his cheeks. Why did he want to know? Why did he even care if those two knew he and Harry were friends? … Why did he so desperately want them to like him, simply because they were important to Harry?
However, as had become common between the two boys, Harry seemed to know exactly what Draco was thinking and smiled, a smile that hinted a touch toward sadness, though not in a bad way. "Thank you, Draco."
Draco felt a spark of anger at the fact that Harry was able to read him so well, when he still found it difficult to tell if Harry was truly happy or not. "What are you talking about?"
Harry smiled again and Draco lost the anger that had so briefly been there. "Thank you for caring what my friends think." He grabbed hold of Draco's hand, which was squished between the two of them, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It means a lot to me that you want them to know; that you want to get along with them just because I care about them."
Draco felt a slight flush spread across his cheeks. "What about my friends? Would you mind if I told them?"
Harry cocked his head and said, as he gave Draco's hand another gentle squeeze, "I never really thought of Crabbe and Goyle as your friends."
To anyone else, Draco would have sneered at them and then made some rude comment. With Harry though, Draco did something he'd only do around Harry and admitted, "I don't think of them as friends, either."
Another squeeze as Harry commented, "It must have been very lonely."
A sad smile crossed Draco's features as his eyes switched from looking at Harry to looking out onto the lake, not really seeing the smooth water that spread out before him. "Yes… it was." He turned to Harry and smiled, showing Harry what he meant by that without words. Harry smiled back at him and then leaned back again, using Draco to lean against. They both stared out across the lake for a long time before Draco broke the silence by saying, "Y'know when I found out that Ron was your most precious person, I was jealous."
Harry shot him a confused look. "Of what? Of who?"
Draco sighed and noticed absently that Harry had let go of his hand. "Of both of you… of your friendship. Did I have anyone that I would be down there for? No. You could have gone through every person and I wouldn't have been down there. That's actually when I really started wondering… y'know, about what it would have been like to be your friend, instead of your enemy. I couldn't help but wonder if we would have had that kind of friendship…" He whispered, "If I had been chosen by some strange, random chance of fate, it would have been you down there."
"What?" Harry asked in surprise, again turning so that he could look at Draco.
Draco shrugged, his cheeks slightly pink, embarrassed. "My father and mother don't mean much to me, and we've already covered my so-called-friends. You were my enemy, but you were…" Draco's brow furrowed as he thought. "What's it called…? You were…" He smiled as it came to him and he finished, "You were 'my beloved enemy'." Then he blushed again as he realized how that could be taken.
However, Harry just nodded as his gaze turned back out toward the water. Quietly, he murmured to himself, " 'My beloved enemy'… How fitting…" They sat for a short moment more before Harry yawned and said, "I should probably being going. Ron will be looking for me, he's freaking out about the fact this is our last year. Suddenly, we have to spend every breathing moment together." Draco smiled slightly at that. "Good-bye, 'my beloved enemy', I will see you tomorrow," Harry said with a soft smile as he got up before leaving.
It wasn't until the warmth and feeling was gone that Draco realized that Harry's left hand had been on his leg, his thumb tracing circles through Draco's robes… 'My beloved enemy'…? Draco sat there for a long time, the cool November air gently brushing through his hair, as he remembered to that night so long ago in September, and he remembered that Harry had said, "We never would have been enemies. We would have been friends…"
" 'My beloved enemy'," Draco whispered, staring out across the lake, his thoughts filled with a boy who could do anything, even make Draco feel loved.
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IMPORTANT NOTE: For those of you that wish it, DUE TO MY SPORADIC postings, I am offering you, the readers, A MAILING LIST to sign up to. When I finally UPDATE, I will SEND OUT AN EMAIL informing those of you that are on the list that I have finally updated. I need you to EMAIL me, telling that you wish to sign up, and whether it's for ORIGINAL FICTION or FANFICTION. I WILL NOT accept those people that ask to be up on it in a review because I can't be sure that email is real. The mailing list will ALSO OFFER the TITLES of those works that I am posting, the COUPLES (if any) that are in it, which FANDOM it is from, and whether it is a SEQUEL to anything.
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Kati: So, what'd you think? Sorry you guys didn't get to see that much of me...
Petra's an attetion hog!
Petra: I am not!
Kati: Well, now that that's over, thanks to:
CIRITH: Thanks! I really like the way these fics are coming out!
MISTAL, AUTUMN PRIESTESS: Weird? Is it really that weird? Is it all that hard to see? They are powerful enemies, I believe that they would have been even more powerful friends. Sadly, though, as life goes, they were pitted against each other from the start.
MARIDALE3: I really like this story too! laugh Good idea! I didn't do it in this one, but I'll definately be sure to add in some bits that they haven't been able to spend as much time together. I'll make sure to do that in my next one! Oh! And Harry'll be telling Ron and Hermione some time soon... -
ZAHRAH RADCLIFFE: Eep! I didn't mean to make you cry! I'm sorry! sniffle Now I'm sad... (Kati: Oh shape up you weakling!) Bitch! ... Not you, Zahrah-san.
DREAM KEEPER: They already are friends, at least in each other's hearts, and that's all that matters. Couple, ne? Be looking for it soon, girly! I will write more than this. I have at least four more fics planned out... probably more! This arc... thingy... whatever it is, is one of my favs! sniffle I just hope that I don't scare away a bunch of people with the fact that it's leaning toward shoenen-ai...
"I dream of a day when I can open my eyes, and my dreams won't disappear."
-Rose Marie Ledam
Petra Megami Assari
The Gentle Tiger Goddess