Throughout the last month Draco and Harry found themselves sneaking off to the Room of Requirement for their little sexual encounters.
It was almost every night. Harry didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, the sex was good, but it was all there was. Just mindless hate sex.
On the other hand, he was far from a reconciliation with Hermione. She knew of his 'Malfoy Escapades' and she wasn't in any way willing to accept them. She felt as if she had been betrayed.
Ron was kept in the dark when it came to their fall out, but he had had enough of watching the two most important people in his life grow apart for no apparent reason, so that early December morning at breakfast he decided it was time for them to tell him why they were acting so ridiculously.
"Will you two please tell me what's been going on in this past month?" he asked. Not that he expected a response right away.
His girlfriend turned around to face him and with a death stare she finally spoke. "Ask him, if you want to know."
So he asked him.
"Let it go, Ron. Your girl here doesn't understand." Harry replied. It was clear she didn't.
That was when Hermione began fuming. "OH I don't Understand? Tell me, what's there to understand in such betrayals?"
Now Ron was more confused than ever. "Guys-" he tried to say, but the other two kept interrupting him. "If you're not fine with it, then it's your problem! You're too busy criticizing and judging that you don't see that people do change!"
The girl scoffed. It was true, though. She wasn't willing to change her mind on Draco, and she wasn't even trying. "I'm just looking out for myself and you! You're such a fool, Harry! Do you really want to ruin a friendship because of that piece of trash? So much for being a Gryffindor! You should have ended up in Slytherin!" It was Harry's turn to scoff. Ron didn't know what to do, he was going a little crazy as he couldn't keep up with all their fighting. "You know damn well that I need this to know who I am! And it's merely physical!" Harry shouted. Now Ron was done. "What the hell is going on?" He finally snapped. The two seemingly ex friends stopped their ruckus and looked at him. They were both panting. "Our 'friend' here has been shagging none other than Draco Malfoy! And he's taking this so lightly!" Hermione said in a bitter tone, puffing a little. Ron's eyes widened. "What? You said you wouldn't!" He was angry. Of course he was, Harry thought. He had to agree with his girlfriend if he didn't want trouble with her. Grow a mind of your own, mate.
"I thought you'd get this, out of all people! You're supposed to be my best friend! And it's not like we're dating or anything." Harry said. Was it really so hard to understand that he was just exploring?
"If it's just for the sex you could do it with anyone, no? Not necessarily with Malfoy!"
Ok now Harry wasn't so sure that he was just exploring. "I could end this right now, but I like him!" He shouted.
Both his friends were undoubtedly appalled. Hermione took a deep breath. "Look, Harry... You're inevitably going to fall in love with him, I know you. But don't come running to me when he breaks your heart in two." She said calmly. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but then changed his mind. He simply got up and then went to sit at the Ravenclaw table next to Luna.
"You'll regret it!" Ron shouted at him as he sat.
Luna was confused at the sight of a pissed off Harry sitting next to her. "Oh hi, Harry, why are we glaring at Ron and Hermione? Are the nargles behind it?" She asked him in her usual dreamy voice. He simply nodded.
That night Harry went to the Room of Requirement as he'd done those past nights. As soon as he and Malfoy entered the room, the blonde boy was already trying to remove his clothes. Harry stopped him. "Wait, I don't know if I feel like it tonight." He said, looking down. Draco looked at him with widened eyes. "Don't tell me you're still thinking of Weasley?"
Harry shook his head. "No, it's just.. Hermione found out about us... and she's giving me shit for it."
"She knows? How? Oh God, she's not gonna tell on us, is she?" The pale boy was now panicking. "Oh she saw us once... she's not gonna tell anyone, don't worry. It's just... She's getting under my skin!" Harry let out a frustrated sigh.
"To be honest, I'm surprised she even knows how to use magic, given her background..." Draco said with a shrug. Harry gave him a look. Oh, of course he would use one of his 'mudblood remarks' now. "Please, Draco. Don't. I know that this whole mudblood hater thing was just a charade that you had to keep up for your father."
Draco just looked down. It wasn't a lie, all his life he'd always had to do things that would please his father. His family background was responsible for his bullying and taunting throughout his Hogwarts years. All he wanted was to make his father proud. It's not like he had a choice, whatsoever. He didn't feel like digging deep into the intricacies of his family life, not in that moment. So he changed the subject. "The point is, she doesn't accept this thing between us, so what? It's not like we're married. But if you think I'm not worth it, well, you can leave and go find some other guy to screw."
Harry didn't leave the room. He was really, really falling head over heels for this boy. His arch enemy. He wasn't really able to process this without having an internal panic attack.
"I do think it's worth it... Draco, you're so different now, after everything that went down last year and...I feel like I'm growing attached to you...I like you and I wish I could do more with you than just meaningless sex." Draco was a bit taken aback at this. "Potter, I told you. I'm not the boyfriend type."
This wasn't what they had established. Draco mentally shivered. He had never been in a relationship before, he had always opted for friends with benefits.
But he had to admit that being with Potter wasn't so bad, after all.
"Because you're afraid. But you shouldn't care. Fear is what turned you into a death eater in the first place. You have to react! I'm almost giving up a friendship for this, because I want to be with you! I always felt something strange for you... now I know that there was a lot more behind our rivalry ."
Draco's fear was, indeed, what usually pushed him to make the worst decisions. "I'm not afraid, I just don't like you in any way other than physically, you're arrogant-"
"I know, but our rivalry is what brings us together! When I look at you, I see myself. All this repressed anger... I've been through that. Feeling like you don't belong... but with you it's different. With you I belong." Harry interrupted him. There wasn't much Draco could say to this. It was beautiful. Maybe he was right, he could have just dived in this new thing, for all that mattered. But he was Draco Malfoy, after all. He couldn't just fall in love... or could he?
"During this past month," Harry continued. "I found myself letting go of that ancient hate I felt for you. I guess it was there because we'd never got to resolve the sexual tension between us..."
Draco kept silent, still. Harry had a point. "I need you, Draco. Like you need me. Not just physically."
Harry was definitely waiting for the blonde boy to say something. He thought about it for a few seconds and then decided to fall head first into this. "Potter, I wish I could say that I want to end this, but I don't. I feel so scared because everyone here hates me...And I'm not good at relationships, as I am toxic. But I feel so many things for you now and... I hate myself for it. So much."
"Then let's do this!" Harry said, quite excitedly. He reached for Draco's hands and held them in his own. "I'm messed up, too. See, we complete each other."
"I'll warn you, though. I'm not gonna use those pet names Gryffindors are so fond of. Clear?"
Draco looked at their hands. He stroked the other boy's back of his hand and gave him a smile.
"Clear." Harry responded. They both felt incredibly ecstatic as they dived right into their first official boyfriends kiss.
"Oh, Luna, it's been a month and I still have no answers..." Ginny gave an exasperated sigh. She was with her best friend, Luna, in the library to study for a project, but she couldn't focus on it as her brain was haunted by the possible reasons for her break up with Harry. Plus it was getting quite late and she started feeling tired.
"Maybe it's the nargles that made him change his mind about you..." Luna said in her absent tone. "Maybe it is them... I really don't have a clue... He was so distant..." Ginny said, she then buried her face in her hands.
"Ginevra, I think the nargles might have made him fall in love with someone. But I don't think it's a girl." Luna murmured.
"So you're telling me he's gay? It would make sense... I mean we never did anything uh... special... in almost two years of dating...But... who?" Ginny stopped to think. Who could have stolen her man? Maybe Neville? "Might it be... Neville? Oh, Luna, we need to get to the bottom of this." Ginny said. She swore to herself that she would find out who had corrupted Harry's mind into breaking up with her, but there were so many guys in Hogwarts... she just didn't have a clue as to who that might have been.
The morning after Draco woke up in Harry's arms. He was confused at first, but then recalled what had happened the night before. He had agreed to a relationship with none other than Harry Potter. If a year ago anyone had told him that he'd ever become his boyfriend, he would have laughed in their face. But there he was, all cuddled up with him. He couldn't believe this. After years of this crush that had made him hate himself so much, he was finally with him.
But what would father say, if he ever found out? He thought. He'd probably disown me. And Blaise... he'd make my nights a living hell. I wonder if this is the right thing...
His trail of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of Harry's light snoring. As he turned his head to look at him, he wondered if there was anything cuter than that in the whole world.
What was he doing, thinking Potter was cute? He had said it himself: they wouldn't be a cute couple. But what could he do about it? He was still incredulous, he thought that maybe it had just been a dream and it played tricks on his mind, making him think that he had woken up while he was still asleep...
His now boyfriend opened his eyes slowly and Draco squealed a little internally.
"Good morning, Draco. I see you're awake." Harry said with a smile. "Good morning, Harry."
The green eyed boy gasped a bit. "What?" Draco asked. He turned his head to see if anything was off throughout the room. "You just called me Harry! Oh God!"
Oh. Draco formed an 'O' with his mouth at the realization. This was the first time, ever, in which he had called him by name. And it felt kind of weird. But a good kind of it.
"Well, you're my boyfriend now."
"Boyfriend." Harry repeated with a smile. He really liked the sound of the word, it seemed.
"Oh Crap! What time is it?" Draco said. He sat up suddenly. "Tempus!" He muttered and gasped as he read '10:00am'. "Oh no, Draco! We missed our first classes! And we'll be late for potions!"
They must have slept in. Harry face palmed and Draco did the same, just mentally.
"They can't see us coming in together... they'll get suspicious."
"I don't think so. Last time I checked it, people saw us as two deadly enemies. They'll just think we had one of our duels, if anything." Harry said. Well, that much was true. So they hurried to the potions class. Hungry and with their hair unkempt, but there was not much time. Not that Harry minded the hair part, anyway.
As they reached the classroom, they were greeted by a smiling Slughorn.
"Let me guess, you two engaged in one of your morning duels?" Harry and Draco just looked at each other. "Take a seat, now. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, or I would have removed a bunch of points."
They didn't sit close to one another. Blaise looked at Draco quizzically and the blonde boy simply shook his head. Harry didn't go sit with Ron and Hermione, he sat next to Neville.
His best friends looked at each other in a knowing look. Hermione shook her head. "They were totally shagging." Ron said in his girlfriend's ear. She nodded. "He didn't sleep in our dorm, this totally confirms it." He added.
"Draco, what's up with you? Being late for potions? And also, where were you all morning?" Pansy asked the blonde boy. "Nowhere you should care about." He responded. She gave him a look that expressed that maybe she knew more than he thought. He froze in his tracks as she said: "I know what you did. And soon everyone else will know."