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It was no secret that Harry Potter was in love with Draco Malfoy. Well, at least to everybody but Draco Malfoy.
When Pansy Parkinson pointed out the single red rose delivered by a blushing Potter on Valentine's Day, Draco simply responded that Potter was hoping Draco would prick himself on the thorns and bleed to death. A Malfoy Must Be Always Vigilant.
Blaise Zabini countered by pointing out the way Potter insisted on fetching Draco's ingredients for him during Double Potions. No, Draco explained, Potter, in his conniving ways, was only waiting for the moment Draco let his guard down so Potter can laugh when the caldron blew up in his face. A Trick Must Never Fell a Malfoy.
Even Crabbe and Goyle had tried to convince him using their own limited vocabulary. Hadn’t Potter offered to carry his books all the way down to the dungeon after the day's classes were cancelled due to a newt infestation? Draco sighed long suffering, and replied that Potter was a thief and would run off with Draco's belonging. Thieves Are Not to be Tolerated.
(And Draco didn’t want to lose his favorite quill. Sure, it was missing a few feathers, and didn’t hold ink as long as it used to, but he had earned his first “Exceeds Expectations” with it. It was special.)
Crabbe asked why Potter wanted Draco's books since he already had his own. Well. Draco never said he was a smart thief.
It seemed Draco was in a constant state of denial. Potter smiled at him across the Great Hall because he had a bit of food on his chin.
Potter said his hair looked nice on the day Draco had woken up late and hadn’t had time to gel it down.
Potter asked Draco to visit Hogsmeade with him so that he could lure him to a dark corner and attack. Draco knew this for a fact.
Which made the fact that he answered yes all the more bewildering.
Pansy snickered when he asked her what to wear, and Blaise glared when Draco hogged the bathroom for two hours.
Goyle scratched his head and asked why Draco cared so much about his appearance around someone he hated. Malfoys Do Not Appear in Public Looking Less Than Their Best, but he wouldn't expect Goyle to understand.
Draco left the gel out of his hair that day despite Potter’s sarcasm.
He arrived at The Three Broomsticks ten minutes early because A Malfoy Is Always Punctual. He was not, in any way, shape, or form, eager. And the reason his breath caught in his throat when Potter entered the shop wasn’t due to the wind tousled hair, or the rosy cheeks, or the slow smile, but the fact that Potter was one minute, and twenty-three and a half seconds late. A Malfoy Waits for No Man.
(Not that Draco was counting.)
“Hello, Draco.” Potter grinned at him as if he were a nicely wrapped present on Christmas morning. "Your hair looks fantastic." He pulled out a single rose (devoid of thorns) and handed it to Draco.
Draco wondered who cast a warming charm on the shop because Malfoys Do Not Blush.
Draco responded with a mumbled “Thanks, you look nice, too,” before averting his eyes and picking at his napkin. He heard the sound of footsteps and Potter’s deep rumble ordering two Butterbeers and a few strawberry scones.
It was surprisingly easy to talk to Potter. They chatted about schoolwork and Professor Snape and Quidditch. There was even a delightful moment when Draco had a bit of scone on his chin that Potter reached over and lightly brushed it off with the pad of his finger. (His smile seemed to be deliberately non-mocking.)
They finished, and because there was an hour or so before they had to report back to Hogwarts (where had the time gone?), Draco suggested they walk around a bit. They wandered into Honeyduke’s and Harry brought Draco a large box of chocolates (un-poisoned), then into Zonko’s because Draco wanted to give Harry a snitch that zapped whoever caught it. Harry smiled.
The hour passed before Draco had realized, and the two boys begin to walk back towards the path leading to Hogwarts. Harry stopped, then, casting furtive glances around, pulled Draco into the nearest alleyway.
Draco swallowed in disappointment. Ah, yes. He thought. Here it comes. Draco squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the hex, gripping his chocolates to his chest.
“Draco?” The blond boy looked up into intense green eyes and blinked.
“You can’t have my chocolates!” He blurted before clamping his mouth shut. Malfoys Must Be Calm, Collected, and Aloof During Periods of Distress.
Harry tilted his head to one side and gazed at Draco with a hint of amusement. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
A moment passed where Draco absolutely refused to meet Potter’s eye. Then, a soft presence below his chin gently persuaded him to lift his head again and he was rocked by the intensity of Harry’s gaze.
“I would really like to kiss you, now.” A soft inflection made the words a question, and there was no denying Harry when he asked in that tender way because, Malfoy or not, Draco was only human.
Their lips met and Draco could not stop the sigh from escaping his lips. Harry tasted of strawberry scones and chocolate, a mixture that was deadly addictive, and when Draco felt a tongue begging entrance to his mouth, he didn’t hesitate to grant permission. The slick slide of their lips drove Draco crazy with need, and he brought both hands up to place on Harry’s shoulders for anchorage, his chocolates spilling onto the ground.
After a dizzying minute (hour? day? week?), Harry pulled away, and Draco had to steel himself from following; instead, he looked up and saw Harry gazing into Draco’s eyes with an expression of utmost adoration. His cheeks were flushed, but that was okay, because Draco expected he was blushing as well.
“Are you pouting?” The lower lip immediately was sucked back in. Malfoys Do Not…Harry leaned in and whispered, “I stopped because what I have planned next shouldn’t be done in the middle of an alley.”
Draco let out a bark of laughter, and, together, the two boys took off in the direction of the castle. Draco glanced over at Harry, the wind staining his cheeks pink, and mud splattering his shoes and grinned wide. It was then that Draco realized that maybe his friends weren’t as daft as he had previously believed. Well, with the exception of Crabbe and Goyle.
It was no secret that Harry Potter was in love with Draco Malfoy. Especially to Draco Malfoy.