IWSC Summer Camp 8- Don't get burnt! Write about a late night beach party
Word count: 3234
Cabin: Weasley
Warnings: implied PTSD
Author's Note: This was written with the amazing support of the rest of the Weasley cabin (Charbo2567, DrarryMadhatter, and Hummus and Peeta). We each incorporated a phase of the moon cycle into our stories this time so go check them out to see if you can spot them all!
Retaking his seventh year, or rather taking it for the first time, had been as surreal an experience as Harry had ever had. After so long living like a fugitive and having the weight of his destiny on his shoulders, the time to stop and take a break had thrown him. While Hermione settled right back into studying with a zeal that Harry could scarcely imagine for himself, and Ron had found himself being sucked in with her, Harry hadn't been able to settle back into the mundane routines of life without a war. He did wonder sometimes when the idea of magic had become so normal to him that it was mundane and he missed that childish innocence he'd first had with an ache so powerful it threatened to overwhelm him.
With parts of the school off limits for the first term while repairs were still underway and the loss of so many staff and students it turned out that Hogwarts no longer felt safe to Harry. It didn't feel like home anymore. Harry spent months trying to reconcile this new version of Hogwarts with the one he had loved so dearly. He would run his hand along the walls to try to feel some kind of affection, some familiarity, but he would come up blank. Even as Christmas rolled around and the castle lit up with festivity and warmth, Harry had never felt so cold or lonely.
Sparking a friendship with Draco Malloy had certainly not been on his list of things he wanted to do with his regained final year at school. Keeping his head down and having a year without a near death experience was on the list, though, and it had been going quite well until he went to the lake. A patch of dark ice and the shock of falling into the freezing temperatures had Harry immediately gasping when he fell into the water. He struggled to find the right direction to get him to the surface but ended up tangled in his cloak.
Draco had plunged in after him, with a quick warming charm, having seen an unknown student slip under. If it hadn't been for his own insomnia then Draco would not have been there to do anything.
"Malfoy?" Harry gasped through coughs when they broke the surface.
"Yes, Potter, good to see you memory hasn't been dulled."
"Merlin, you're a prat."
"Takes one to know one. I did just save your life."
"Yes, um, thank you." They stood in a tense silence for a while trying to avoid each other's gaze. "Uh, can't sleep?"
"No, not for a while. You?" Draco returned with an awkward half shrug.
"No, too many nightmares." Draco nodded in understanding.
"Should, uh," Draco cleared his throat, "we could just sit? Together, I mean, since neither of us are sleeping."
"I wouldn't hate that." Draco gave Harry a small smile. "I wouldn't hate a fire right now either."
From there the friendship grew as they found solace in each other. They found someone they could talk to without too much judgement and they found someone who was more similar to them than either had ever thought.
Which was how, eight months later, they found themselves at an end of summer party together. The party lasted well into the early hours of the morning under the crescent moon and its ethereal glow.
Harry hugged his knees into his chest and dug his toes into the sand. "It still doesn't feel real." He was watching the rest of the seventh and eighth years dancing around one of the larger fires with cups of firewhiskey or butterbeer or something Harry didn't recognise. The no-longer-students were well stocked with muggle and wizard alcohol and most people were well on their way to being drunk if they wanted to be.
"What?" Draco dropped down beside him and handed over a bottle of cider. "Being proper adults? Can't believe anyone trusts us enough to let us graduate." He laughed and took a swig from the bottle. "Living life and being independent. Making mistakes and getting the hell away from everything."
"You're really not going to miss Hogwarts at all?" Harry asked. He knew Draco was planning to go travelling for a while. Not to find himself, the blond said, to experience life in a way his parents hadn't let him as a child.
"No." Draco shrugged. "I could never think about going back. Too much bad blood there for me. You know?"
"Yeah, I think I do." Harry nodded and pushed himself back to rest on his elbows. He stared off towards the horizon and the shivering reflection of the moon. The sea was an inky black, reflecting the celebrations on the shore as a mirror would. Harry could only imagine what was swirling around in the ocean. Something about it tugged at his chest and his light mood dropped. Draco turned at the sudden silence of his friend and frowned.
"Not feeling like dancing? Don't get all sad on me now. This is meant to be a celebration. We survived the shitstorm that was Harry Potter at Hogwarts!" Draco crowed and nudged Harry. "Not a year without a near death experience. Quite an achievement really." Harry gave a half hearted smile at Draco's attempt at cheering him up.
"Yeah." Harry said with no enthusiasm. He took another drink from her bottle in his hand and half buried it in the sand to keep it upright.
"All right, I refuse to be sat with the saviour moping around on our graduation celebration." Draco stood up and held his hands out to Harry.
"I'm not moping." Harry protested but took Draco's hands and let himself be pulled up.
"Fine, you're being miserable, then." Draco said it so matter-of-factly that Harry couldn't even protest that he was not, in fact, miserable, he was merely contemplative. "We are getting drunk, and dancing, and not getting home till 3am."
"Hermione will kill me. We're leaving at 5."
"All the more reason to do it." Harry rolled his eyes but let Draco drag him toward the sea.
"You'll take any reason to piss Hermione off. You might actually get along if you stopped doing that."
"Granger and I get along just fine, thank you very much." Draco shot Harry a look over his shoulder that Harry knew read as Draco was being a little shit on purpose. Harry couldn't help the smile that tugged at his cheeks. This was pure and unfiltered Draco, a born trouble maker with mischief built into his DNA. The Draco that he hadn't let show for so long that Harry had been shocked when he had first seen it. He had been the person who had gotten Harry into trouble over the past year, but he had also dragged him out of it when Harry had stumbled into it all by himself.
Draco kicked his shoes off near the edge of the water and ran in. Harry watched him go and shook his head. They were going to freeze, he knew they were going to freeze, he knew this was an utterly awful, terrible, idea. But when he looked back at their little fire, at the bottles of cider left on the beach and the celebrations of their classmates, he couldn't help but follow along.
The instant his toes hit the water, Harry felt a shiver that seemed to shoot up his whole body. The Scottish coast was not a place to go swimming at any time other than, well, ever in Harry's opinion and he questioned again why he was doing this. A few metres away Draco was knee deep in the water and getting deeper. Harry braced himself for a moment to collect his thoughts and question why it was that he was going to do this. Then he charged straight at Draco and knocked them both into the water, head, shoulders and all.
When they broke the surface again Draco's hair was falling into his eyes and Harry assumed he looked mostly the same. They grinned at each other, neck deep in the water and freezing cold, and couldn't have been happier. The still silence of the night hung around them both as they stared up to the moon, shining in its full glory and leaving a trail of white across the top of the water. They bobbed on the water in time with the gentle waves.
"I'll miss you." Harry broke the silence with a sad smile. He looked as if he almost hadn't meant to say it but now that he had he ploughed on. "Won't be the same without you."
"I'm going miss you too." Draco pushed a piece of hair out of Harry's face and went to lean in. At the last moment he whipped his arms out in front of him and splashed water into Harry and swam away.
"Merlin!" Harry spluttered. "What the hell?"
"Too many emotions. It's undignified in such a public place." Draco tilted his chin up.
"We're halfway into the ocean!" Harry yelled in protest and swam after Draco.
"Really, I think that's an exaggeration- oh." Draco's eyes widened when he saw Harry coming and started swimming for shore.
"Get back here and let me take my revenge!" Harry shouted after him.
"Never!" Draco scrambled to get his feet under him and run along the sea bed back to the fire. Unfortunately, Harry had always been the stronger swimmer and caught up from behind. He knocked them both down to the sand at the edge of the water. He pinned Draco beneath him and watched as the waves moved Draco's hair around him.
Draco had always had fascinating eyes. Harry had thought so since they first met when they were 11. He hadn't thought much of it in Madam Malkins and it only crept into his head occasionally afterwards, but recently he had been thinking about it a lot. He liked just spending time listening to Draco talk and staring at his eyes.
Their noses were impossibly close as the fog of their breaths mingled. Draco wrapped his fingers around the back of Harry's head and closed the gap. The tips of their noses brushed against each other. They had been doing this dance for eight months, getting close and pulling away at the last minute. Tonight, though, Draco decided enough was enough.
Their kiss was short. A tentative experiment between the two. When Harry pulled away he saw Draco grinning.
"You taste like salt." Draco said.
"Likewise." Harry huffed out a laugh. "Why have you never done that before?" Draco shrugged in response. He was too concerned with the ghost of Harry dancing on his lips. "Do it again."
"Yeah." Draco ran a hand through his hair and brought it round to rest on his cheek. This kiss was longer, more confident. Draco brought them up so they sat with the water lapping around their legs. Draco braced them both with his hands buried in the sand behind him while Harry moved his hands to Draco's neck.
When they broke apart Draco's heart was racing and Harry was breathless. Harry buried his forehead into Draco's shoulder and wrapped his arms around Draco.
Draco flicked his eyes towards their fire on the beach. The rest of the students had started to fall into small groups as the dancing was dying down.
"We should go back to the fire." Draco said. "Someone might notice we've disappeared." Harry grumbled into Draco's shoulder in response. "And you're freezing."
"Your fault."
"Mm hm. Fire. Warmth. Dry."
"Warmth sounds nice."
"Then get up." Draco laughed. Harry stood up grumbling all the time.
Sand clung to their feet as they walked across the beach. Harry picked up his drink and finished the last half of the bottle before dropping himself down a few metres away from the closest group of students. Draco grabbed his own bottle and took a seat next to Harry. Harry rested his head on Draco's shoulder and smiled into the fire. For a while, at least, he could pretend that he wasn't leaving in the morning. Draco wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close.
Draco remembered the last time they had been on the beach this late at night. Harry had been staying at Hogwarts into the summer while he figured out a place to live. The two had had brief conversations about what Harry was going to do now that he didn't know where the Dursleys were, and nor did he want to. But really Harry had been avoiding the topic completely because it meant so much more than just having somewhere to live and he hoped that Draco wasn't pressing it because he knew that.
After Harry had been holed up in Hogwarts for two weeks, though, Draco had decided enough was enough and he was going to drag Harry to live with him in the Manor kicking and screaming if he had to. Anything was better than letting Harry waste away in Hogwarts for a second longer.
When the door had opened in front of Draco he had gotten his first look at Harry since the end of the school year. Harry's eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks looked hollowed out making Draco wonder if Harry had been eating or sleeping at all. Harry looked unsurprised that it was Draco at his door and sighed to step aside so that he could walk in.
"We're going to the beach." Draco had announced and held up a bottle of scotch from his liquor cupboard. Harry had blinked and looked confused as he processed the statement rather than question. Harry had then looked over her shoulder towards his bed and thought for a while about crawling into it.
"I can't, I have… work to do?"
"It's Saturday." Draco deadpanned and looked completely unimpressed. "And your only work right now is house hunting which I'm sure you're not doing at nine o'clock at night." It had stung Harry to know that what Draco was saying was true. Draco had seen Harry's face fall and knew he had said the wrong thing, not that Harry would ever have said that. "Sorry," Draco cleared his throat and tugged at his collar. "I shouldn't have come unannounced. I'll come by tomorrow." Draco had reached in pull the door shut for Harry but Harry pushed him back. Draco had frozen and taken a minute to take in the sight of Harry ducking his head. It was a quirk of his, one that Draco had noticed when it started when in February and Harry hadn't quite sure what to do. It was also a sign that Harry was probably about to be persuaded into doing whatever it was that Draco wanted.
They had ended up on the beach, without a fire since a heatwave had hit and it was still over 20 degrees at night. Draco had conjured fireworks and music and eventually the two ended up sat wrapped in each other's arms and staring out to the ocean.
Staring into the fire, though, Draco hoped that the loss and hopelessness that Harry felt that night was the furthest thing from his mind. He wasn't sure he had accomplished his goal. Harry pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on top of them.
"Something's on your mind." Draco said.
"Yeah." Harry acknowledged but he did not move from his spot in the sand. Instead he curled into himself tighter and buried his face into his knees.
"Wanna talk about it?" Harry mumbled something unintelligible and shook his head. "Ok." Draco waited for Harry to raise his head, like he had done so many times before when he had pulled into himself over the past few months. Draco knew that he just had to wait for Harry to gather the words and force them through his mouth.
"I-" Harry choked on the word. Too many thoughts were running through his head. Too many things that he had been through over the years that were weighing down on him and felt like they were crushing any part of him that was still Harry. "Sorry."
"You've got nothing to apologise for." Draco had said because he knew exactly what Harry had been thinking about just as he knew the days of the week or the ten times table. It was a kind of intrinsic knowledge but he could not pinpoint when or where he had learnt it. Somehow, over their time together, Draco felt like he had a little piece of Harry all to himself. A little piece that only he knew and understood. "I think you should come live at the Manor with me. Just until you're ready."
"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea."
The feeling of this party was different, though Draco wasn't sure that it all together meant better. There was still something playing on Harry's mind, just like there was something always playing on Draco's mind as well.
"Hey, Harry! There you are!" Ginny picked her way over the shells with Luna trailing behind her.
"Gin! Hi!" Harry slapped on the fakest smile Draco had ever seen him wear. "Luna! Are you both enjoying the party?"
"Oh it's lovely." Luna smiled. "Are you having fun, Harry? Draco?"
"Loads. It's great." Harry said.
"Saw your little dip in the ocean." Ginny smirked. "Nice one."
"Don't be so vulgar, Ginerva." Draco rolled his eyes. Ginny glared at him and Harry laughed. Luna caught Ginny's arm as she swayed.
"We're going to play some games if you boys want to join us. Drinking games, apparently."
"Mm, yeah, you don't have to drink though." Ginny rushed to say. "Harry is not good at holding his liquor so might be best if he doesn't." She giggled. No one moved for a second and Ginny got impatient. "C'mon, c'mon, let's go!" She waved her hand frantically and led Luna away.
"Time for some games then?"
"Yeah, why not." Harry shrugged.
"Eyyyyyy! Potter! Get over here and settle this bet would ya?" Seamus shouted.
"Seamus! What's going on?" Harry jogged over. Draco was sad that the rest of their classmates didn't see that Harry was still hurting, and probably would be for a while, but there was a spark of real happiness in Harry's eyes tonight that Draco had only seen a dozen times since the day at the lake.
Draco watched from the sidelines as Harry joined in the drunken revelry and was eventually dragged into it himself.
The party lasted into the early hours of the morning. Sunset was only an hour away when the last stragglers left the beach. When, finally, it was just Harry and Draco remaining.
"Another trip to the ocean?" Draco smirked.
"We've barely dried off from the last one!" Harry laughed.
"Yes but that time we were both drunk enough to forget about using magic, if that's even possible."
"All right. Let's go."
Somehow the water was colder than Harry remembered, but the sight of Draco's hair plastered to his face by sea water was just as endearing. The newly formed couple ended up watching the sunrise with Harry sat in Draco's lap.
"I like your hair." Draco twirled a piece of Harry's hair around his finger. Harry turned around to smile at Draco.
"I like your eyes." Harry returned with a kiss.