Sorry this is late, i've been busy and my mental health has gotten worse again

xx

"I told Harry about Liam," Draco told Blaise, once they had some time alone without other Slytherins listening in. Blaise's eyes widened.

"Why?" he asked, incredulously. Draco shrugged.

"He wouldn't stop bugging me about it. And – If you laugh or make a joke at this I will hex a cat tail and ears on you for the next month – I actually wanted to. He's okay when you get to know him, really." Blaise smiled, biting his lip in an obvious attempt to not make some remark about Draco fancying Harry yet again. He eventually schooled his features into something more serious.

"So how do you feel about him?"

"I like him. I like spending time with him." Draco smiled at Blaise. "Don't worry, I won't replace you." Blaise grinned.

"You wouldn't dare. I know too much." Draco laughed at the very Slytherin nature of that. Blaise grinned at him, resting his chin on his hands.

"What?" Draco asked him, eyeing up his expression which could almost be described as fond.

"You seem happy," Blaise told him. Draco did feel happy. Accepting himself a little more and telling Blaise and Harry about it had felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulders.

"I guess I am," Draco said, more to himself than Blaise. "But just because I told you and Potter it doesn't mean you can tell anyone else," he snapped at Blaise. Blaise smiled and mimicked zipping his mouth and throwing away a key.

Draco rummaged in his bag, pulling out the things he didn't need for next lesson.

"You got your watch back, then." Draco looked at his exposed wrist happily.

"Yeah."

"Where did you find it?" Blaise asked, nose crumpling.

"Potter had it!" Draco exclaimed. Blaise's eyebrows raised in surprise. "He gave it back yesterday."

"Potter? Why?" Blaise asked, obviously very confused, as confused as Draco was.

"Apparently, he found it when I lost it. And then kept it for weeks." Blaise looked at him questioningly. Draco shrugged. "I don't know either."

"Wow, he really is obsessed with you." Draco snorted, choosing to ignore Blaise's cheeky grin.

"He was going to give it back but we had that fight so that's probably why." Blaise hummed in protest. "Unless you're going to ask him, don't put ideas in my head," Draco snapped.

"Sorry." Draco gave Blaise a glare but it dissolved into a smile. "C'mon let's get to transfiguration," Blaise said, pulling Draco out of their bedroom by his sleeve. "I bet you're excited to see your new best friend!" Draco glared at him for speaking so bloody loudly in front of the other Slytherins and Blaise smirked.

Draco didn't really know what he was expecting when he sat down next to Harry. He thought he would maybe react to him differently but he couldn't decide whether it would be good or bad. Nerves fluttered in his stomach when he saw Harry but they dispelled quickly when the Gryffindor gave him his usual friendly smile in greeting.

"Okay?" Harry asked conversationally, but Draco knew by the concern in his eyes that Harry meant after yesterday.

"Yeah, though I still kind of hate you for having my watch for so long." Harry was nice enough to look sheepish. Draco hit him gently on the shoulder. "I'm joking, Potter." Harry grinned at him. "Though Blaise has some interesting theories about why," Draco teased, capturing Blaise's attention from his table in front. Blaise twisted around to join the conversation. Draco smirked at the blush creeping up Harry's face as he was stared at by the two Slytherins.

"so, Harry, explain." Blaise raised an eyebrow at him, waiting.

"I just – I didn't know when the right time was," Harry offered. Blaise laughed.

"Relax, Potter. I'm sure you have a very normal, non-obsessive reason." Blaise grinned at him wickedly. Harry just blushed and looked down at the table. Blaise turned back to his work, laughing. Draco almost smiled at the glare Harry gave him.

"What?" he asked innocently. Harry huffed at him and roughly pulled open a book. Draco liked to see Harry blush. He did wonder why Harry found the reason behind keeping his watch so embarrassing. He'd get it out of him one way or another.

At the end of the lesson Professor McGonagall spoke to the class.

"Next lesson will be our last on this project. You will need to hand it in in three weeks' time. Before you leave, make sure you copy down the essay plan I will be putting on the board. You will need to put all your research into this essay. Yes, Miss Granger?" Draco rolled his eyes at the hand that had shot up before McGonagall could finish her sentence.

"Do we need to have an essay each or one between us?" Okay, maybe that was a good question, Draco thought in mild annoyance.

"You only need one between the two of you but please make sure you both contribute. If I think that one of you hasn't contributed, you will get 'poor' for the work. I'm sure you have all contributed, you won't be able to answer the essay questions in the exam otherwise."

"Great, I have to allow you to scrawl all over our nice essay," Draco told Harry, grumbling. It was partly teasing but Draco really didn't like Harry's chicken scratch handwriting. At least after seeing it so much he could actually read it.

"Hey!" Harry objected, before noticing Draco's smirk and hitting him on the shoulder. "You'll just have to teach me cursive then, won't you?" Draco groaned.

Once they'd copied down the essay plan, which was horribly detailed and long, Draco left the classroom with Blaise.

"I'm so glad this is nearly over," Blaise told him happily. He nodded, agreeing, but feeling apprehensive at the same time. Once the project was over Harry wouldn't be forced to spend time with him and would probably stop talking to him. Draco's stomach twisted at this prospect. He was more than a little excited about having a new friend, particularly one that knew all the shit he'd done and didn't hate him for it. He only really had Blaise, Theo and Pansy, and his mother, of course. Deep down, all Draco really wanted was to have people around him that cared about him and not the stereotypes surrounding him. That'd been all he ever wanted, really.

xx

This chapter was written approximately two years later so apologies if the writing style is a little disjointed but hopefully that's not too noticeable. Let me know if it is.