Chapter One

"Can you stop that, please?" Draco was scowling at Harry. It was late on Friday night, and both boys were stuck in the dungeons serving detention for Slughorn.

"I'm not doing anything, Malfoy," Harry retorted, shifting his head on the table so he could look at Draco.

The pair had never got on during their time at Hogwarts, but since returning for their seventh year—now that Voldemort was gone—they had decided to make a truce so they could receive their N.E.W.T.S in peace and move on with their lives. The harmony had lasted about two weeks.

The boys were made to pair up in potions and brew the Draught of Peace; they had argued about which order to put some of the ingredients in and managed to cause a small explosion in the process. Slughorn, trying not to show favourites anymore, had given both boys detention.

"Your leg, Potter! Your leg!" Draco snapped, pointing down to Harry's shaking leg. "Please stop fidgeting your leg before I hex it off!" He moved his face back to facing the front of the classroom and sighed heavily.

"How is this affecting you? I can't help fidgeting; I'm bored!" Harry groaned.

"Do you not think I'm bored too? I could be in the common room right now, spending time with my friends, but no, I have to be stuck here with you—of all people—since you insisted on putting the frog leg in before the fresh leaves because, for some reason, you are incapable of reading instructions properly!" Draco refused to turn around to face Harry while he insulted him. Before Harry could respond, the dungeon door creaked open, and Slughorn entered the classroom, then swept past Harry and Draco.

"Even though I told you both that there would be silence in my classroom, I could hear you squabbling from down the corridor. So, unless you would like to receive another detention with me, I suggest you be quiet. Now, I have some of the first year's homework for you to grade for me because I simply don't want to. I assume you brought a quill and ink? If you have any struggles—and I pray you don't—you may ask each other, but other than that, no talking. Do you understand?" The boys nodded without saying a word, clearly not wanting another detention. Harry and Draco both reached for their bags to retrieve their quills while Slughorn dumped several pieces of parchment in front of them and quickly left the room again.

With a sigh, Harry picked up the first roll of parchment and saw that it was on the Peppermint Potion. "Easy enough," Harry mumbled. The boys started marking in silence. The room was quiet, the only noise being the scratching of quills over the parchment and the sighs of Draco Malfoy. After 45 minutes of marking, Harry could no longer take it.

"What are you bloody sighing at every 5 seconds?!" Harry said, sounding irritated, which made Draco smirk.

"I just can't believe how stupid some of these students are. Like, come on, they're getting the simplest things wrong! Have they ever heard of a book?" Draco was staring at Harry now, and somehow Harry couldn't believe that he never realised how grey Draco's eyes truly were. Harry shook his head, getting the sudden thought out of his head as quickly as it entered.

"Come on, Malfoy, they're 11, I'm sure you were just as stupid." Draco gave a small chuckle at Harry's remark, making Harry grin. He felt happy he had made Draco laugh, even slightly. Which confused Harry, he had never wanted to see Draco happy. Literally ever.

The boys went back to marking the homework for another 15 minutes before Slughorn entered the room again.

"You got through more than I thought you would. Congratulations, you're not as stupid as you look. You are dismissed." Harry sprung up and started putting his quill and ink back into his school bag. Draco got up slower than Harry did, but you could still see the excitement on his face to finally leave and spend the rest of his Friday night with his friends.

Once they had left the classroom, Draco gave a small smile to Harry and turned to walk to the Slytherin common room. For some reason, Harry felt compelled to say something to the silver-haired boy.

"Draco, wait." Harry didn't know why he felt like he needed to call out to him. Draco slowly turned around to face the boy who lived, with one eyebrow raised.

"Potter, did you just call me Draco?"

"Fuck, I guess I did. You know, you can call me Harry; it could be part of the truce? If you want, anyway… Look, I just wanted to say sorry for getting you detention with Slughorn — it probably was my fault." Harry had his eyes glued to the floor, so he wouldn't see Draco's reaction, but he could still hear the over-the-top gasp coming out of his mouth.

"Did Harry Potter just say to his arch-enemy that he was wrong? Oh, how I wish someone witnessed that!" Draco started laughing, and again it made Harry grin, which again, confused Harry. He waved Draco goodbye and headed toward the stairs when he heard quick footsteps coming toward him.

"Harry, wait," Draco said, closer to Harry than he was mere seconds ago. Harry turned around to see the blond boy facing him, a small pink tinge on his cheeks.

"You did get the potion wrong, like really wrong. How you managed to pass your O.W.L is actually beyond me."

"You're a prick."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I thought I'd be nice and offer to help you… Like with potion work. I know you have Hermione, but it may be nice to work with someone new and not in your weird threesome thing."

"I mean, I'd call it a trio, but okay…" Harry murmured. "Urm, let's do it. Monday? Meet you in the library at 7?" Harry couldn't figure out why he felt so nervous; it was just studying.

"Okay, sounds like a plan. Bye." Draco was smiling this time, which in turn made Harry want to smile too. Both boys turned to leave for their own common rooms, and Harry felt like something good was going to come of this.