Change In A Star's Alignment

Chapter 28:

Draco's POV:

As he and Harry left Sev's quarters, he knew that Harry was wondering why he had them leave. All he knew was that he didn't want his Godfather to see what he was going to do. Both boys walked silently side by side as they made their way back to their apartment. Once there, Draco led the other boy to their bedroom and carefully un-buttoned Harry's shirt once again.

"What are you doing Dray?" Harry asked, but made no move to stop him.

"I'm putting the salve on your scars, of course." He said nonchalantly, already knowing how the raven-haired boy was going to react.

He watched as panic rose in the green eyes he'd come to know and love. The other boy soon started to back away from him, attempting to re-button his shirt with his trembling fingers.

"No… You-you can't." Harry stuttered.

"Why not?" he asked, confused.

"Be-because… They're… hideous and I don't… want you to have to touch them…" Harry said, sounding utterly defeated.

Draco quickly grabbed the retreating boy and pulled Harry into his arms tightly. He's afraid that I'm not going to like him… he thought sadly.

"Harry," he started, "Raven… you are beautiful with or without your scars, please do not feel like you must hide them from me." He pleaded.

He felt Harry sag slightly in his embrace. "Alright Draco…" he said.

Draco slowly moved the raven-haired teen towards his bed and had him lie down with his shirt off. He then grabbed the salve Severus had given him and sat on the bed next to Harry. He put a decent amount of the salve onto his finger tip and gently began applying it to Harry's chest. He worked his way down Harry's chest slowly, not just wanting to be sure he didn't miss any scars, but also wanting to cherish this rare moment in which he was allowed to intimately touch Harry. He wasn't expecting to get this chance ever again.

He looked to Harry's face every once in a while to find that those green eyes were locked onto his face. After the third time he noticed this, Draco couldn't help but blush slightly from the intensity in the green eyes.

He knew that Harry was showing and extreme amount of trust by letting him touch the scars. He was glad that that he was the one Harry trusted so much. As he looked into Harry's green eyes for a fourth time, he silently vowed to never betray that trust for as long as they lived.

Once he reached the final scar, he put all of his focus into getting the salve into the scar properly, wanting to be absolutely sure that he had covered all of the letters as best as he could. He was so focused in fact, that he hadn't realised that Harry had begun to reach up towards him until he felt the other boy's hand touch his knee. He looked at the hand on his knee and then to the boy whom it was attached to. Harry had tears in his eyes and he found himself having to look away from the pain and sadness he found there.

As he finished with the salve and set the salve aside, Harry finally spoke, "Do you think the salve will make it go away?"

Draco looked back towards the raven-haired boy and realised that the teen had been crying because he hadn't thought the salve would work fully.

"I'm not sure Raven…" he said gently, not wanting to get the other boy's hopes up for no reason.

Harry slowly sat himself up, taking his hand off of Draco's knee. He didn't have time to be upset about the lack of Harry's touch however, when the green-eyed teen placed his hand onto Draco's cheek instead. Draco closed his eyes as the raven-haired teen slowly and gently ran his thumb from just below Draco's ear, to his jaw.

"Thank you for everything Dray" Harry said passionately.

He opened his eyes to find Harry staring back at him intently. He watched as the other boy blushed and went to take his hand back. Before Harry could do that however, Draco put his own hand on top of Harry's, effectively stopping him.

"For you, I'd do anything Harry" Draco said with a bright blush.

Harry smiled brightly at him in response, and he couldn't help but smile back, still blushing slightly, but not particularly caring in that moment. All he could think of was how beautiful the other boy looked and how easy it would be to just lean forward a little bit more and-. But he knew that now wasn't the time since Harry needed his support as a friend right now, not to be confused by Draco's wanting them to be something more. So instead, he moved to put away the salve and then lay on the bed next to Harry, noticing that the other boy had put his shirt back on. He gently ran his fingers through the other teen's unruly hair, knowing that it soothed Harry and helped him fall asleep most nights.

Harry then rested his head against Draco's shoulder, not able to cuddle up against him tonight because of the salve on his chest.

"You're my everything Dray… Don't forget that." Harry whispered as he was falling asleep.

Draco stopped his hand for a moment in surprise. He could not believe that Harry had just told him that, that it could even be true. He quickly continued stroking Harry's raven-hair at the other boy's protests and allowed himself to smile fully to the darkness of their room. I'm his everything! Draco mentally rejoiced.

He watched the sleeping teen for a while, content with just having the boy in his arms. Merlin, I like him so much it hurts. He thought to himself. He wondered if Harry meant what he had said as them being friends, or more than that… He figured that, given everything that had happened, the raven-haired boy had some feelings for him beyond that of friendship. He lets me hold him and take care of him and he even holds me back… he reasoned.

"You're my everything as well, Harry." Draco whispered as he too slowly started to drift to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry's POV:

Harry woke up the next morning feeling extremely loved and cared for as he had woken up in Draco's warm embrace. He opened his eyes and couldn't help but smile at the sight before him. At some point in the night, the blonde had wrapped himself around Harry who had his head still pressed lightly to the blonde's chest. From where he was lying, Harry could hear each and every beat of Dray's heart and hear each and every breath the blonde took. It was the most beautiful thing Harry had ever experienced. He suddenly felt terrible for those in the world who had never woken up exactly like this with the person they loved more than anything else…

Harry's brain finally woke up at that last revelation, as he had known he had feelings for Draco, but he hadn't realised how significant those feelings were until now. He wasn't exactly sure what had changed, or when his heart had made that decision for him, but he knew that there was no denying it anymore. Harry Potter loved Draco Malfoy. He almost laughed aloud at the thought, seeing as how utterly ridiculous that statement would have but a year ago.

Suddenly, Harry remembered that he would have to check to see if the salve had completely healed his wounds or not. He desperately hoped so, but he couldn't be sure if they were gone. He looked back towards the blonde, knowing that he would have to wake the other teen up if he was going to do this. He didn't think he could do it alone if it turned out the scars were still there.

He was terrified that if they were there still, that Draco would realise that he didn't want to be around him and that Harry was no longer beautiful. However, he was more terrified of facing it himself and he only trusted Draco to be there for him. See, he knew that Draco would never stop being his friend because of the scars, but he didn't think anyone, not even Dray, could love someone with such disgusting scars.

Harry looked down at the blonde and decided that the scar dilemma could wait, as he saw how peaceful Draco looked in that moment and didn't want to ruin it. He figured that he would just wait for Dray to wake up by himself. As he waited, he absently trailed his fingers along the blonde's bare arm and thought about the night before.

Harry hadn't understood at first why the blonde was taking him away from Snape's quarters so soon. Especially since Draco had been the one who had wanted him to see Severus so badly in the first place. He didn't complain however, simply deciding to allow the blonde to drag him back to their rooms without protesting. Once they were in their room, Draco startled him by turning around quickly and unbuttoning Harry's shirt.

At first, Harry hadn't realised what was going on, but he soon caught on to the fact that Draco had wanted to put the salve on him. Once he realised this, he had started to back away, not wanting Draco to have to touch his scars. He tried buttoning his shirt back up, but he failed greatly as his fingers trembled too much. He had tried to plead and reason with the blonde, but Draco was as stubborn as always. Then, Draco had said something that had pierced him right through the heart, "Harry," Draco had started, "Raven… you are beautiful with or without your scars, please do not feel like you must hide them from me."

It was such a simple thing to say, such simple words used in such a simple fashion, yet it was the loveliest thing he had ever been told in his lifetime. The fact that Draco didn't wish for Harry to hide his scars broke a large chunk of the ice that had been growing around his heart his whole life.

Harry then allowed the other boy to continue, unable to say no when told such wonderful things from such a beautiful blonde, from Draco. He hadn't even realised that he was in the blonde's arms until Draco started to move him towards the bed. He lay down as told and waited with baited breath for the blonde to begin. Harry had been surprised at the look of sheer concentration on the other boy's face as he applied the salve.

Harry tried to relax as best as he could, closing his eyes for a minute. He opened his eyes, however when he started thinking of the blonde and how close the two of them had gotten in such a short amount of time. It seemed odd to Harry, since he hardly let anyone in and yet had managed to open up to Draco after only speaking with him for less than a year. As he thought about this, he suddenly realised that the ice around his heart wasn't as strong and intact as he thought it had been. He knew that he now had a chunk of it missing from Draco's earlier comment, but he hadn't noticed until now that there seemed to be holes in the ice that Draco had somehow created, giving him passage to little bits of his heart at a time.

Though that thought scared him greatly, as he looked intently at the blonde, he calmed greatly. Harry realised that if there was ever someone to show his heart to, it's Draco. The blonde never judged him like he knew others would and yet he never pitied him either.

As he looked at the blonde and contemplated his feelings, he would feel his heart flutter each time those grey eyes connected with his green ones. He noticed as well, that the blonde flushed after the fourth time. Harry allowed himself a small smile as the blonde looked away, happy to know that he seemed to affect the other boy as well, even if only in such a small way.

Finally, the blonde had reached the scar Harry hated the most. He watched Draco as the blonde concentrated as best he could, obviously not wanting to miss anything. Harry couldn't help it as his eyes started to water at the thought of Draco touching the scar. He hadn't let anyone touch it and he felt terrible that Draco would have to touch such a disgusting thing. He found his eyes tearing up more however, at the thought that the salve may not even work, meaning that he would never be able to allow the blonde to touch his chest ever again…

At this thought, Harry brought his hand up and touched the blonde's knee, needing to ground himself and also just wanting to touch the blonde in some form. The blonde looked at him then and Harry couldn't help but feel embarrassed due to the tears shimmering in his eyes in that moment. The blonde looked away quickly for whatever reason and soon finished with the last letter of the scar.

Once the blonde had but the salve aside, Harry asked, "Do you think the salve will make it go away?"

"I'm not sure Raven…" Draco had said, obviously not realising that he had called Harry by his nickname.

Harry slowly sat himself up, not wanting to mess up the salve on his scars, taking his hand off of Dray's knee in the process. Immediately thereafter, he placed his hand onto Draco's cheek instead. He watched, fascinated as Draco closed his eyes when Harry gently ran his thumb from just below the blonde's ear, to his strong, masculine jaw. Though it was a simple touch, Harry felt like it was much more than that.

"Thank you for everything Dray" he said passionately.

Harry stared intently as the blonde opened his beautiful grey eyes. Harry couldn't help but blush at the intensity of the other boy's stare and went to take his hand back, only to be stopped by Draco. The other boy had placed his hand on top of Harry's effectively stopping Harry from moving away. "For you, I'd do anything Harry" Draco said with a delightfully bright blush.

Harry smiled brightly at him, as he was so happy not only that Draco had said such a wonderful thing, but also because the blonde looked absolutely lovely while he blushed. He watched, entranced, as the blonde then smiled back at him while still blushing lightly. All Harry could think of in that moment was of how beautiful the other boy looked and how easy it would be to just lean forward a little bit more… But he knew that now was not the time. He had just gone through an emotional rollercoaster ride and he knew that a kiss would just confuse him and make him even more worried and scared than before. Luckily, Draco chose that moment to get up and put the salve away properly. Harry put his shirt back on while Draco was busy finding a spot for the salve.

He had been afraid that Draco would choose to sleep alone tonight, but he wasn't disappointed when the blonde climbed into the bed beside him. He felt like he was in heaven as Draco started to run his fingers through Harry's hair. Soon, Harry rested his head upon Draco's shoulder, not wanting to cuddle up to the blonde in case it messed up the salve on his scars.

As he relaxed under Draco's touch, he whispered, "You're my everything Dray… Don't forget that."

He had startled himself with that statement, not knowing why he had said it aloud. However, he realised then that it was the absolute truth. He realised in that moment that ever since he became friends with Draco, the blonde had been chipping away at the ice around his heart without his knowledge. It wouldn't be long, he knew, before the blonde had completely thawed that ice, giving him complete access to everything about he had previously tried to keep hidden.

He felt Draco's hand freeze in his hair as the blonde no doubt realised what Harry had said. The stroking quickly continued however, leaving Harry to wonder what the blonde was thinking. He felt those beautiful grey eyes staring at his face.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Harry heard the blonde whisper, "You're my everything as well, Harry."

~~~~~~~
Harry was jerked out of his thoughts from the night before by Draco stirring. He watched shamelessly as the blonde woke up, smiling when the blonde simply cuddled closer, seeing as he was still half-asleep.

"Morning Dray" Harry said quietly, continuing to stroke the blonde's arm.

He heard the blonde sigh contentedly before he opened his eyes.

"Morning Raven" Draco responded just as quietly.

Harry gave the blonde time to wake up fully, waiting for the moment when Draco would move out of their embrace. That moment never came however, as the blonde instead hugged him tighter.

"How about we lie here a little longer before we look, okay?" Draco whispered into Harry's hair.

Instead of responding, Harry simply lay there, listening to the blonde's heartbeat. He wanted to stay like this forever, in Draco's arms. He never wanted to move away from the blonde's warm, comforting, and safe embrace. He knew however, that he would have to face reality soon enough, even if he didn't particularly want to.

Finally, Harry sighed and started to move, forcing the blonde to move with him.

"I'm ready" He said as they sat up facing each other.

"Are you sure Harry?" Draco asked, brushing a piece of hair out of Harry's eyes. Harry hesitated slightly, making Draco say, "I'll be there for you Harry, before and after… No matter what."

This gave Harry the boost he needed. He stood up and started to walk towards the bathroom, stopping at the door to turn around to face the blonde. Draco seemed surprised by the action, but Harry didn't care as he flung himself into the blonde's arms, in need of the support at that moment. Once they parted, Harry turned around and reached for the door. Draco placed his arms on Harry's shoulders, for support.

Harry took a deep breath and opened the door and used his magic to light the room up completely. He then stopped in front of the full-length mirror, Draco still close behind him. Harry attempted to undo his the buttons on his shirt but found that just like last night, his hands were trembling too much to get anything done.

Just as he was beginning to get worked up over it, Draco gently put his hands on Harry's waist to get his attention. Harry looked at the blonde in the mirror to find him giving Harry an encouraging look. The blonde then started to unbutton Harry's shirt for him from behind so that Harry could see the skin appear. Harry found that he wasn't looking that his skin however, he was instead watching the blonde to see his reaction. He watched Draco's face and allowed himself to enjoy the feel of the other boy's slender fingers brush against his bare skin.

Finally, the shirt was fully unbuttoned and he decided to look as the blonde was smiling brightly at him. He looked in the mirror to find that all of the scars were gone. The only thing left was a small outline of the work Freak on his stomach.

"One more application of the salve and it will be gone entirely." Draco assured him.

Harry smiled brightly at his reflection. He had never been happier in his life than in this moment. He then felt Draco's arms go around his waist and he had to correct himself. Now I've never been happier! He thought. Looking in the mirror, he took in everything he could of that moment. He saw himself, smiling and scar-less with the most beautiful person in existence behind him. The blonde chose that moment to place his head upon Harry's shoulder, completing the beautiful picture they made.

Looking into that mirror, Harry almost couldn't believe what he saw. It felt so real, yet he couldn't believe that he could be so happy, that he could have his dreams come true. For a moment, he remembered the Mirror of Erised and how real it had seemed. He had to be sure then, that this was actually happening and so he turned in the blonde's embrace to look up at the other boy.

Harry reached up with both hands and placed them on Draco's face, making sure he was physically there.

"What are you doing, Raven?" Draco asked gently, smiling at him and in no way complaining about the touch or by their proximity.

"I'm making sure this is real." Harry answered truthfully.

Draco smiled brightly at him then, pulling him closer so that they were nose to nose, Harry's hands still on the blonde's face.

"This is most definitely real." Draco whispered. "If it's not, then I will be very upset…"

Both boys stood there, neither making any more of a move, knowing that there was no need to yet, that this wasn't the time nor place. But for once, both boys were hopeful that there would, in fact, be a time and place for them. They both knew that it was only a matter of time and only a matter of waiting a little longer. And both knew that they would wait forever.

Harry, as he turned around once again to look at their reflection in the mirror, realised that if he could look into the Mirror of Erised again, he would see exactly what he was seeing in this regular mirror in this moment: He would see himself with Draco Malfoy's arms around his waist and the blonde's head on his shoulder, both happy to be exactly where they are and wishing they could stay there forever…