Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.
No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –
Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!
Chapter 1
All his life he'd followed his father's directions.
All his life he'd believed that the world indeed was black and white.
No greys in between.
Then his father got arrested and sent to Azakaban.
Nothing better than that to make you rethink your lifelong beliefs.
And that rethinking brought him to some staggering places.
Going to Hogwarts had meant a lot to him. After all, he was a Malfoy and he would be one of the important ones from his year. Or so his father had told him. But, as he got off the boat and stood in the hallway waiting for the Sorting Hat to get on with the programme and put him in Slytherin (no sorting needed when you're a Malfoy, thank you very much!), it turned out that that wasn't exactly true. There was another new student who got all the glory: Harry Potter. Potter wouldn't be his friend; Potter had turned down his gracious offer of friendship and guidance. He had chosen a Weasley over him, and then later, a mudblood, Granger. And on top of all that, Potter had turned out to be aces at Quidditch.
Draco spent the first years at Hogwarts loathing Harry Potter. Then, one year, he didn't know which, but it could've been after the TriWizard Tournament, his feelings had started to change. After a while he no longer seemed to mind so much when Potter got a break. Eventually he even started to look forward to the classes he shared with the Gryffindor and the Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch matches. And then he started looking forward to…seeing him.
After Draco declined to take the Dark Mark, he'd changed his behaviour as well. He stopped insulting the Weasel and Granger as much as before, and he even started being polite to Potter. Actually, he was so overly polite that people thought that he was up to something. He wasn't, it was just his way of being more civil. Draco hoped he'd kept up appearances, but he wasn't sure whether he'd succeeded. He'd gotten some strange looks from both Blaise and Pansy.
He had also slowly started to get interested in Muggle things, even if only to annoy his father in Azkaban. He'd seen some Muggle things lying around the library or the Great Hall and slowly he grew interested in them. To annoy his father, he picked up this new "hobby" with a vengeance. His ultimate act was to get a subscription to a new magazine called "Wizards in Muggle land". The magazine explained Muggle things and also had features one would find in a regular Muggle magazine. He loved it.
All of this went through his head while he was packing his things to go to Hogwarts to start his 7th and last year there. It was with mixed feelings that he looked back at the last year and thought about the choices he had made.
He'd decided he didn't want to serve Lord Voldemort. That had given him problems within Slytherin, and cost him the company of people he had thought of as friends. Some had stayed loyal, especially Blaise and Pansy and he was happy to be around them.
Consequently, he'd decided that he wanted to fight for the light. That decision had come much later and the only people who knew were Dumbledore and his mother. She hadn't been as surprised as he'd imagined.
Of course, he'd kept his other big surprise from her. He wasn't ready to tell her yet. He hadn't been ready to confess it to himself until halfway through last year.
He was gay.
He was in love with a boy.
He was in love with Harry Potter.
That had been a major shock.
That had also been the moment that he'd decided to subscribe to the Muggle magazine and he'd even ordered a magically enhanced "radio" so that he could listen to Muggle music. He was still waiting for the radio to arrive so that he could take it with him to Hogwarts. Being a Prefect did have its advantages, especially having his own room.
Since August, the magazine had run a small column: i How To Find Your True Love /i . Upon reading the title all he could see was Harry Potter's face. He read on.
Each issue a new column would offer one tip that would help you get closer to your goal: finding your true love. Draco conveniently striked the words with his quill and instead wrote: "How to become Harry Potter's boyfriend."
Draco had been thinking about his approach a great deal. It wasn't, after all, as though he could just walk up to Potter, corner him in a hallway and say "Look Potter, I'm gay and I think you are too. I can't get you out of my head so how about you and me, Hogsmeade, next weekend?"
And why not? Because:
1) It would send Hogwarts into a frenzy
2) It would send Blaise and Pansy into a frenzy
3) It would send the Weasel and Granger into a frenzy
4) He's Harry Potter
Come to think of it, he didn't mind numbers 1 and 4, but 2 and 3 were an entirely different matter. He'd like to keep the few friends he had left. So that would mean telling them first. He could do that the first night at Hogwarts, so that that would be cleared.
But The Weasel and Granger…now that was an entirely different enterprise. Normally he wouldn't mind ruffling Gryffindor feathers, but he had already decided that if he wanted to seriously woo Harry Potter, that would mean getting along with The Weasel and Granger. Damn. He had to be honest. He never had given them a chance just because Granger was a mudblood and Weasel…well Weasel was a Weasley. Draco hadn't needed any other excuse.
But as last year got underway, he finally understood something he hadn't before.
As all his so-called friends left him, he came to value the meaning of friendship. Those three had been friends since first year. Of course their friendship had sometimes been shaky, but in the end they had always stuck together, whereas his "friends" had left him.
So, the column seemed like a good idea. He could use any and every piece of advice that he could get! Luckily the writer of the column also had a Letters section where readers could write in and have questions answered. Good, he might get some extra information from those as well, or when he was really desperate – although, Malfoys and desperate? – he could write a letter to the magazine. Anonymous of course. Malfoys have a reputation to protect.
The first column read as follows:
Make New Friends
If your social circle hasn't yet provided you with the connection you're hoping to make, it could be time to broaden the circle, or step outside it. Ask your friends to introduce you to their friends, introduce yourself to the person on the next mat at your yoga class or in the morning latté line. Start accepting invitations to concerts and picnics, even if your regular crowd won't be there. Invite friends of friends to your next New Year's Eve bash. Cast a wider net. You might be delighted to find something, or someone, new and interesting in it.
That's when the idea struck him. He shivered when he thought it properly through, but then decided that there was just no other way. He'd write to the Weasel and Granger. He'd apologise for the past and would explain that he wanted to be friends.
All he now hesitated about was whether or not to mention that he was head over broomstick in love with their best friend and would be wooing him this school year. After thinking it over all day, he finally decided that there just wasn't any other way. The letters he wrote them were quite similar:
Granger / Weasley,
No doubt you'll find it strange to receive an owl from me, but I can assure you that I find it equally strange to be writing one to you.
The reason I write this is to apologise for the things that were said and done in the past.
Since my father has been an inmate at Azkaban, I've done quite a lot of thinking and I've decided that I do not want to be like him.
Please accept this letter as a first step. Maybe we can be friends, but if not that, then I hope that we can at least be civil when in each other's company.
Especially since I am madly in love with Harry Potter and will be wooing him this schoolyear.
Regards,
Draco Malfoy
He looked them over. He couldn't help but surpress a grin when reading that last sentence. At least now he'd be sure to get at least one of them to respond. He'd bet that Granger would want him to prove it first. Weasley would probably send him a Howler.
Oh well...the price he was willing to pay for love.
He sighed, staring dreamily into nothing, when suddenly he snapped out of it. What was he doing? He wasn't even sure if they'd help him or not and besides that, if Potter was gay as well and would even consider going out with him- He suddenly calmed. Since he didn't see another way, he went on as planned.
After sending the letters off he got undressed and went to sleep.
3 weeks later
As expected, Weasley's letter had been filled with disbelief, but thankfully hadn't been a Howler.
Malfoy,
Quite frankly, I don't believe a word you say. No doubt this is some sick joke, meant to cause more harm than good.
Madly in love with Harry????? Again, hard to believe and therefore in need of proof… We'll talk after I've seen it.
In the meanwhile I'll think about it.
Ron Weasley
Granger's letter had a totally different tone
Malfoy,
You'll excuse me that I don't immediately believe all that you've said. I do believe however, that having your father sent to Azkaban will make you start to think about your future. If you truly mean it, I'll accept your apologies. Let's just take things from there and not get ahead of ourselves.
You, madly in love with Harry? Hmm that would explain all those stares from you during the last half year at Hogwarts. I was wondering about that. I do hope that you are sincere in your feelings, Malfoy, because if you're not, I'll hex you to the ends of the earth.
We'll see you on the train I take it. If you are serious, I'd like to see some proof of it.
Regards,
Hermione Granger
Draco was most surprised by Granger's letter. He hadn't expected his apologies to be accepted that easily. Then again, that showed what he'd discovered last year: Things weren't the way his father had always been telling him. Well, he'd started thinking for himself. Now he would see where that would take him.
He decided to write them back right away.
Weasley,
Quite frankly, I don't really care what you think. However, I can tell you that this is no joke.
You want proof of my feelings for Harry? How about: I think he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I LIKE his messy hair (yes, this came as a shock to me too)! I even sort of don't mind it so much anymore when he beats me at Quidditch (although, if you repeat that to anyone except Granger and Harry (after I've talked to him) you will regret it! I'll deny everything!
Fine, I'll see you on the train then.
Draco Malfoy
His letter to Granger was a better one to write.
Granger,
What is it with you Gryffindors and wanting proof? Ok, I'll tell you exactly what I told Weasley.
How about: I think he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I LIKE his messy hair (yes, this came as a shock to me too)! I even sort of don't mind it so much anymore when he beats me at Quidditch (although, if you repeat this to anyone except Weasley and Harry (after I've talked to him) you will regret it!. I'll deny everything.
The threat goes for you too, by the way. Other proof will have to wait until we're at Hogwarts again.
You saw me looking at him? Well, yes, I have been doing that. A lot.
I hope to hear from you regarding your help.
Regards,
Draco Malfoy
He sent them both off with his grey, eagle owl, in anticipation of their reactions.
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Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat –