This is for the Procrastination Thread: Truth or Dare game over at The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition forum. I chose the following from the two prompts that Cheeky Slytherin Lass proposed.

Truth: Write a fic inspired by your favorite song

(Sorry this is so late. I was writing another fic for the "dare" prompt: write a fic which features a funeral and a wedding. I started writing it and quickly realized that it was going to end up being a multi-chapter fic. So… I switched and wrote this little one instead.)

My favorite song right now is "Lemon Boy" by Cavetown. This was where my brain went.

Words: 922


There once was a bittersweet man and they called him Lemon Boy,
He was growing in my garden and I pulled him out by his hair like a weed,
And like weeds do he only came and grew back again,
So, I figured this time I might as well let him be.


No one could get under Harry Potter's skin better than Draco Malfoy. There was just something about that boy that enraged Harry to no end. It had been seven awful years he'd spent with Malfoy, and Harry desperately wanted to be rid of him. And after the war, Harry thought he'd never have to see Draco Malfoy again.

But unfortunately Harry had to make sure Malfoy and his mother wouldn't be sent to Azkaban. He spent two long months with their solicitor, making sure he had the perfect words to say when he was called as a character witness at their trial. Malfoy would sometimes be in attendance during those meetings, sitting in the corner of the room, silent and solemn. All Harry had to do was get through the trial and he'd never have to Draco Malfoy again.

But, while they had won the trial, they had done so with conditions. The Malfoys were placed on house arrest and the use of their wands was revoked. Harry couldn't have that. If a rogue Death Eater decided to seek revenge, the Malfoys would be helpless to defend themselves. Harry volunteered to watch the Manor as part of his auror training. He worked diligently for three weeks with Minister Shacklebolt to permit the Malfoys the use of magic again. Once they were granted their right to carry, Harry presented Draco's old wand to him. The blond had blinked at the stick for a long moment, bewildered. When Harry left a little while later, he was smiling from ear-to-ear with the knowledge that he'd never have to see Draco Malfoy again.

But on September 1st, Hermione made a comment on the train to Hogwarts that some of the Slytherins weren't permitted to return to school to retake their seventh year. That thought burned in Harry's stomach for the next couple weeks. He'd stare at the almost empty Slytherin table in the Great Hall until he felt like he'd burst with the injustice of it all. It didn't feel right that children should be punished for the crimes of their parents. They were children after all, and if they were shut out of the education system, how could they learn to be different? He finally marched up to the headmistress's office and demanded letters be sent out to those students who were missing. One of those letters included Malfoy. That was no problem. Harry only had to spend the rest of this school year with the irritating blond, and then he'd never have to see Draco Malfoy again.


Lemon Boy and I started to get along together,
I helped him plant his seeds and we'd mow the lawn in bad weather,
It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him,
So, I got myself a citrus friend.


But then Harry and Draco were partnered in Herbology. Draco was still a sarcastic arse, but Harry had stopped caring. And when the boy you loathed for most of you childhood made you laugh at the way he narrowly avoided venomous tentacula spikes by jumping and flailing around like a madman… Well, one couldn't help but grow fond of that boy.

He was supposed to never want to see Draco Malfoy again.

Wasn't he?

It was graduation day and the class was double the size it normally was with both the new and returning seventh years in attendance. They were seated in alphabetical order by last name. Ginny and Ron were in the back row bickering with each other, like normal.

A familiar blond blocked Harry's view of Hermione's Head Girl speech. He found he didn't really mind as he bored holes into the back of Draco's head.

After the Weasley clan hugged Harry and congratulated him on his six NEWTs, he headed down to the lake. He looked up at the cloudless summer sky, ran his fingers through the grass blades, dipped his toes in the cool water.

He wondered if he'd ever see Draco Malfoy again.


But what if I run out of fertilizer?
What if the clouds run out of rain?
What if Lemon Boy won't grow no longer?
What if beaches dry of sugarcane?
Oh well.


Harry startled as Draco settled on the grassy knoll beside him. He watched as the blond Slytherin toed off his shoes and socks and rolled up his trouser legs. He sunk his feet into the murky water next to Harry's.

Draco tilted his head back and scowled.

Harry scowled, too.

This would probably be the last time he'd ever see Draco Malfoy again. Harry had run out of excuses to keep this bitter man in his life. And he could feel his reasons for wanting Malfoy around drying up and slipping away. Certainly it wouldn't take long for the Slytherin to return to his old ways, anyway. People stopped mattering eventually. It happened all the time.

"The ministry accepted my auror application," said Draco

Harry blinked. Harry shook his head. Harry slowly smiled.

"I was really looking forward to never seeing you again," said Harry.

Draco snorted. Draco glanced at Harry. Draco rolled his eyes.

"No, you weren't."

No.

He wasn't.


Lemon Boy and I,
We're gonna live forever.