A/N – So, here's chapter 3! Not sure how the UK school references are going to translate in other countries, so a few examples – primary school is for children aged between 4-11 years old, with Draco teaching year 2 which would be for children aged 6/7yrs. There are references to religion in this chapter that may offend some, I just want to say that its not my intention at all! It's religion viewed by a pure-blooded wizard whom sees god the way muggles would see Merlin. Please don't yell at me.

Don't let the sun go down on me

Chapter 3

Draco's head thumped; his stomach churning unpleasantly with each beat, and he swallowed convulsively to stop the vomit that laid in wait from travelling up his throat. He was hanging. Harry Potter certainly had a lot to answer for, he thought tersely as the sound of children's laughter drifted in through his classroom window.

Draco very rarely drank alcohol, especially on a school night, so he'd never really felt the need to be prepared for it's after-affects. He rummaged around in his bag and found a stray strip of painkillers at the bottom and sighed at the prospect of the coming relief.

As he pulled the tablets out of his bag, Draco noticed the small light at the top of his phone flashing, signalling a notification, and he smiled at how convenient this piece of muggle technology was. Muggles really were the most resourceful of people. His father had literally been so far off the mark when he had dubbed them 'trolls with jobs'.

Deciding to quickly check it out before his students entered the building, Draco flicked his fingers across the screen with one hand whilst extracting the pills from the packaging with the other.

The phone dropped to the table with a reverberating clunk as it slipped from his fingers, and Draco scrambled to pick it back up again.

The name across the front of the screen caused his stomach to churn for a completely different reason that it had moments before, and a smirk tugged at his face at the word in brackets beside it.

Harry Potter (Scarhead)

Draco chuckled under his breath as he remembered adding his nickname for Harry at school against his contact, and he closed his eyes as the movement caused a pain to shoot across his forehead.

Draco reached across his desk and picked up his water bottle, uncapping it as he opened the message from Harry.

Are you suffering as much as I am today? You'll say no just to spite me, won't you.

Draco snorted at the text, rolling his eyes as he imagined Harry writing it. It was such a self-righteous Gryffindor message, he could almost hear the brunette saying it. The warmth in Draco's stomach that he'd experienced the evening before ignited again as he thought about Harry, and he shook his head feeling ridiculous. The pain in his head presented itself again, and Draco threw the painkillers into his mouth along with some water, gagging a little as the pills grazed the back of his throat, before he began to compose a reply.

Fresh as a daisy. Sorry. He smirked, knowing full well Harry would call him out, but he couldn't resist the pull of sparring with the other man.

Thought we were being honest… Came Harry's immediate reply, and Draco shook his head at the former Gryffindor's predictability. A trickle of guilt entered his consciousness as he recalled calling Harry out for the very same thing, and with a smile he replied honestly.

Okay, maybe the daisy is missing a few petals!

Ha! Knew it! Draco smiled as he realised Harry was obviously waiting for replies to be responding so quickly, and his Slytherin roots considered waiting a while to maintain a little dignity. His curiosity won out, however.

Did you want something, Harry?

Harry's reply didn't come immediately, and Draco swore under his breath, wishing he had listened to his instincts. As changed as he was, he still had his pride. He glanced at the clock, knowing he had little time left before the school day would begin, when his phone lit up again. A rush of excitement hit, which he chose to ignore.

Last night was…interesting; I'd like to do it again.

The excitement rushed unimpeded, I'm still undecided if you're on drugs or not… he replied, desperately trying to play it cool whilstthe warmth in his stomach spread through his body.

Ha! No drugs, Auror's honour!

Draco read Harry's reply and felt as though a plug had been pulled in his stomach. He'd been so swept away by the thrill of sparring with Harry in muggle circumstances, he'd forgotten the other man was still a part of the magical world. A misery he didn't quite understand extinguished the warmth within him leaving a chill in its wake, causing goose bumps to erupt over his skin.

I don't know if it's a good idea, Harry. He typed, hitting the send button and dropping his phone on the table. He glanced around his classroom and wondered if he could allow magic back into his life. His phone flashed ridiculously quickly with Harry's reply, however Draco waited to open it. The sound of the morning bell ringing filled the air, and he winced as it invaded his reverie, his still tender head throbbing in rhythm with it.

Cursing under his breath, Draco pushed his phone off his desk and into the waiting open drawer, before closing it with a thud. Taking a deep breath and rearranging his face into a warm smile, Draco greeted his students as they filed into his classroom, and he realised with glance towards his desk that hid his phone, that he wouldn't give up his muggle life for the world. Including Harry.

Why not? Harry's fingers flew across his phone screen, the goofy smile he'd been wearing sliding from his face. The text exchange had been going better than Harry could have hoped until it had just stopped.

Harry had checked his phone for a reply so often it was almost like a compulsion, and he shook his head each time, feeling stupid for putting his intentions out there so quickly. He wasn't even sure what Draco's deal was in reference to sexuality as he'd had a string of girlfriends at school, but there was no denying there was a spark between them.

By mid-morning, Harry was in a foul mood. He walked into his office in the ministry like a morose child, ignoring his secretary and slamming the door behind him. The stack of paperwork on his desk wobbled ominously, and the paper plane memos whizzing around the ceiling bumped into each as the breeze from the door rippled through the room.

Harry threw himself onto his desk chair and summoned the pepper-up potion that sat inside one of his filing cabinets, uncapping it and swallowing a mouthful in one movement. This had been a standard procedure for years; Harry turning up late for work, hiding out in his office and treating the after-effects of the alcohol he had ingested the night before. It was a cycle Harry had found himself locked in.

He glanced once again at his phone and scowled as he noted the blank screen. Resisting the urge to throw a curse at it, Harry shoved the offending technology in his pocket and summoned the memo planes to his desk, deciding that the only way to stop himself going crazy waiting for a reply from Draco was to actually get some work done.

The day passed agonisingly slowly, and Harry was beginning to miss being shut off from the world as he had been before bumping into Draco. He wondered when he'd become so disillusioned with his life that he'd actively stopped participating in it altogether and was surprised when he realised it was since he'd left Hogwarts.

By the end of the day, the pile of paperwork on Harry's desk was significantly smaller than it had been when he'd started, and he'd still received no reply from Draco. His foul mood had morphed into a weird hybrid of misery and grief as he considered the tentative friendship the two men had started the previous night being over already. With one more filthy look at his phone, Harry decided to go home, stopping by at an off-licence on the way to buy the strongest bottle of whiskey they sold.

As the bell rang signalling the end of the school day, Draco waved his students off with a tired smile which fell to a frown as soon as the last child left the room. He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at Harry's last text again. He'd spent his whole lunch hour trying to think of a response and had given up when he had 5 minutes left to eat his lunch.

He spent the journey home to his flat thinking about what it was he actually wanted to tell the brunette. He didn't want to say no to going out with Harry again, but he didn't want the resulting magic invading his life either.

He made his way into his flat, kicking his shoes off at the front door and dumping his bags in an uncharacteristic display of sloth. His mind was so consumed with thoughts of Harry that he moved around the small space on autopilot. He placed a plate of leftovers in the nifty microwave and stood back whilst it rotated. He remembered the first time he'd used a microwave; it had taken him over an hour to put the kitchen back in order after the waves emanating from the contraption had sent his magic haywire, causing all the kitchen cabinet doors to fly open and jars and tins to fly out across the room. Since then he always made sure he had control of himself and took a step back as a precautionary measure.

With his meal and a glass of water, Draco made his way into the lounge, switching on the tv and letting the sounds it made fill the room as he settled into the couch. He ate slowly, his mind still firmly on the reply he needed to construct, and he decided he just needed to take his own advice and be honest with Harry.

I've left magic behind, Harry, and you're the embodiment of it.

The speed of Harry's reply caused an ice cube of guilt to settle in Draco's stomach, and he wondered if the brunette had been as apprehensive about receiving it as Draco had been about sending it.

There's more to me than magic. Give me a chance to prove it. Please.

Draco's eyebrows flew up and an almost hysterical laugh escaped his mouth. He was almost sure his previous message would have been the end of their new friendship. Alas, Harry's reply made Draco feel as though he was floating. He smiled as he remembered the job he needed to carry out the following day, and figured it was the perfect situation to find out if there was more to Harry than magic.

Meet me outside 's primary school at 10:30am tomorrow, wrap up warm, we'll be visiting a church.

Draco smirked at how vague the message was and wondered if Harry's Gryffindor roots would make him try and fight against the command. He smiled when the resulting reply simply read You won't be disappointed, and deep down Draco pleaded to every imaginary deity that Harry was right.

Draco nervously ran through his class's schedule with the supply teacher who would be covering his class whilst he went to risk assess the church they'd be using for the annual nativity performance. He adjusted and readjusted his sweater every few minutes, wondering if he should have gone with something a little more smart before scoffing at himself; he'd be wearing a coat the whole time he was with Harry anyway, but he couldn't shake the need to be as polished as possible. He kept his hands away from his hair considering it was, for once, behaving, though he did keep checking his reflection in the mirrored 'feelings and emotions' display at the back of the room to ensure it was still in place.

The closer to 10:30 the clock crept, the faster Draco's heart thrummed in his chest. He wasn't sure what exactly he was hoping to accomplish on this little excursion with Harry, but he was ridiculously excited, nonetheless.

When the time came, Draco shrugged on his coat and scarf, and with a warning to the class to be on their best behaviour, he left the room and headed towards the driveway with the mantra Be cool! Chanting in his head.

As he made his way down the driveway, Draco spotted Harry, casually leaning against the gate with his back to him. He smiled as he took in the woolly hat with a pom-pom sat snuggly over his head, hiding his mop of dark hair, and chuckled that Harry had taken his warning of 'wrap up warm' completely seriously.

At the sound of Draco's approach, Harry stood straighter and turned, a dazzling smile on his face. In his hands were two take away coffee cups with steam spiralling out of the spouts on top. Draco's mouth watered at the prospect of hot coffee, and he smiled back.

"Hi!" Harry welcomed, his smile growing even wider, showing his perfectly straight, white teeth. He held out one of the coffee cups, "I figured hot coffee is a commodity as a teacher, so…" he trailed off with a shrug.

Draco laughed, accepting the cup with a grateful expression, "You have no idea, thank you!" Draco laughed, lifting the cup as though to emphasise his point.

Harry shrugged again before looking past Draco in the direction of the school behind him, "So, this is your school? It's cute; nothing like the hell hole I went to," Harry said, his face scrunching up as he remembered the primary school where Dudley and his friends would torture him.

Draco turned, glancing at the building he knew better than his own home, and he smiled warmly, "I'm sure the kids wouldn't agree, but I like it." He chuckled, "So, are you ready? It's a bit of walk." Draco explained, apologetically.

Harry turned back to the blonde and pointed to his hat, "I'm wrapped up; let's do this!" he agreed, stepping forward. He then glanced at Draco, "Which way?" he asked with a laugh.

Draco rolled his eyes at Harry's Gryffindor eagerness before pointing to the right and shifting his body to show he was setting off. Harry fell into step on his left hand side, sipping at his coffee with his smile still very much in place. Draco eyed him surreptitiously and wondered if the other man was making a point of being upbeat to counteract the sullenness he'd displayed during their drinking session. He couldn't deny that Harry's face was really something to look at, even if he was doing it sneakily.

"So, were you being serious about the church?" Harry asked, confusion evident in his tone. Draco laughed and glanced at the other man, and found the confusion also painted across his expression.

"The children do a nativity performance for their parents at Christmas, and I managed to convince the Head teacher to do it at the local church." Draco explained, looking at Harry shyly. "I just think it's more aesthetically pleasing." He added with a shrug, "Anyway, I need to walk the route there and check the building out to make sure it's safe and accessible, and all that."

He went on to explain how surprised he'd been when he'd learned the muggles worshiped an imaginary man in the sky, and how he had to work out what it all meant when he was told he had to have his class perform their own show. Harry ducked his head to hide the fact he was grinning as the blonde would probably take it the wrong way.

"I was a donkey in my nativity." Harry laughed, remembering the itchy costume he'd be forced to wear. "My cousin, Dudley, had been a king and my aunt petunia had made sure his costume was as majestic as an actual king's. She used an old potato sack for mine. Reckon she searched for the itchiest one, too." He explained, shaking his head at how petty the woman had been.

Draco stopped walking and gazed at Harry, who realised a few steps later that the other man was no longer beside him and turned to see why he'd stopped. "What?" Draco's small voice asked, a line appearing between his eyebrows as he frowned.

Harry dithered, unsure of what he'd said wrong, and he bit his lip uncertainly, "What?" he countered.

"Why would your aunt do that?" Draco asked, continuing to stare at Harry as though he'd grown another head.

Harry smiled sadly and glanced away, breaking eye contact. He shrugged stiffly, fiddling with the coffee cup he still held in his hands, "Because she hated me. They all did. I was 'the freak' who encroached on their nice, normal lives. They tortured me at every opportunity." He explained, picking at the cup's carboard sleeve. "My bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs, for Merlin's sake!"

Draco's eyes widened and he pressed his lips together to form a hard line, before he began walking again. Harry was unsure if he'd upset the other man which worried him because he had no idea how to fix it if he had. Harry caught up to the other man and made a show of trying to look at Draco's expression, and when the blonde refused to acknowledge him, Harry caught his arm and pulled him to a stop.

"Did I offend you?" Harry asked, genuine confusion in his tone. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and chewed on it anxiously.

Draco's mouth dropped open in disbelief, "You think you offended me?" he asked, wondering if Harry was making fun of him, "For real?" he added.

Harry swallowed, realising he still held Draco's arm in his hand, and he felt bolstered by the fact Draco hadn't pulled away. "You're mad." He whispered, "I don't know why."

"I'm sad, Harry. No child should be treated like that." Draco breathed, his grey eyes, fierce. He took a deep breath and shook his head, "We need to keep moving, I need to be back at school by lunch." He added, his eyes sliding down to look pointedly at Harry's hand still on his arm.

Harry cleared his throat, lifting his hand to scratch at the back of his neck, before turning and pointing down the street, "Right, let's go." He mumbled.

They walked in an awkward silence the rest of the way to the church, and once there Harry watched Draco as he gazed around in awe. He seemed fascinated by the religious objects and artwork scattered around, and he touched everything, even the things labelled Do Not Touch. Harry laughed each time the blonde did this, especially as he'd glance around to see if anyone was watching before he did it. He was like a naughty schoolboy himself instead of the teacher.

Harry drew up next to Draco as he was inspecting a collection of candles, some lit and some not. Draco was frowning as though trying to work out why it was there. Harry leaned around him, picked up a taper and lit it with one of the other candles.

"They're prayer candles," Harry murmured softly, close to Draco's ear; he was close enough that the brunette felt the other man shiver in response. "lighting a candle signifies a prayer." Draco watched intently as Harry lit 4 candles, naming them as he did so. "Mum, Dad, Sirius, and Remus."

"So, the person you're praying for has to be dead?" Draco asked, watching the candle's flames take hold. Harry held the taper out as though asking Draco if he wanted to light any candles. "No, they don't need to be dead, you can pray for anyone."

Draco didn't say anything as he lit his candle and Harry made no mention of it.

The two men stood in silence for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Draco whispered. He felt Harry shift as though trying to look at his face, "For the way the muggles treated you, the way I treated you, the way the entire world has treated you."

Draco glanced at Harry's face and found him a breath away from his own. Harry's gaze dropped to Draco's lips and he unconsciously licked his own; Draco felt his stomach explode with desire. "I need to get back to work." He breathed.

During the walk back to the school, the two men discussed muggle religion, with Draco asking Harry questions at a quick-fire rate. Harry did his best to answer as many of the questions as he could, however, joining the wizarding world at the age of 11 had halted any further religious education for him.

Upon Draco asking Harry how muggles could just blindly believe in something, he answered with the only analogy he had, "Well, I guess it's like when Hagrid came to tell me I was a wizard. I had no idea! I mean, of course, I'd had magical outbursts but I didn't realise that's what it was; Like I said earlier, I was branded a freak and I believed it." Harry said, castling a sideward glance at Draco whose jaw was clenched tight. "I blindly trusted Hagrid because I wanted to believe that there was something better beyond the awful life I had. I suppose it's the same for people with their religion. Maybe."

Draco considered what Harry had shared, his mind filing away the information of Harry's past until he could properly process it, and tried to make a connection between magic and religion, "Maybe the miracles and passages from the bible are just muggles witnessing magic and having no other explanation for it than associating it with their god?" Draco pondered with a frown pulling his silver brows together.

Harry, who had been watching the blonde from the corner of his eye, smiled softly, "Yes, that's what I think too."

Draco begrudgingly thought about magic and how it seemed to follow him around. He wondered what it would be like to be a muggle; how the idea of magic would be something to marvel at rather than cringe away from, and how it would be something to obtain, to wish for. He looked at his hands and thought of the magic flowing within them.

"Do you miss it?" Harry asked softly, appearing to know exactly what Draco was thinking. He didn't sound hopeful or mocking, just curious.

Draco dropped his hands, the walls he'd erected around his past sliding back into place, "It doesn't matter if I miss it or not." He breathed, trying to keep the annoyance he felt at himself from leaching out at Harry, "It caused nothing but pain for me, and I'm happier without it." He added, glancing at the brunette, his expression willing the other man to understand.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. As they reached the gates, Draco turned to Harry, his expression apologetic, "Sorry." He said simply, and Harry smiled.

"I do understand, you know." Harry breathed, a small frown wrinkling his forehead, "I said there was more to me than magic and that I'd prove it. I haven't done a very good job of that so far, by keep mentioning it." He watched Draco's expression which remained clear, and decided to make him a promise, "I won't speak of it again. You have my word."

Draco's gaze flickered over Harry's face. He heard the distant lunch bell ring from within the school and knew he needed to get back to work. He took a step backwards, his eyes still locked on the other man's, "I lit my candle for you." He breathed, and Harry's eyebrows jerked up with surprise. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…I'm choosing to believe in you."

Before Draco could witness Harry's reaction to his admission, he turned and began walking up the drive. Harry watched him, gobsmacked.

"Don't let me down, Potter!"

To be continued…

A/N – Please review xxx