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“Mate I can’t wait! I’ve never carved a pumpkin before!” Ron said excitedly, bouncing up and down on the heels of his foot while waiting for Hagrid to finish setting up the tables for this year’s Pumpkin Carving activity.
To be frank, Harry hadn’t either, of course. It’s a given that he’s lost a lot of “normal experiences” a child should have had given the way he grew up with the Dursley’s, but he’s over that now. Now, he’s only thankful that his Muggle Studies professor, Professor Darby, is giving him the chance to experience that. The professor spent the year after the war introducing fun activities to his studies such as going to amusement parks, walking around London, and even small D.I.Y. activities using Muggle equipment that Harry was sure was meant for children. However, much to McGonagall’s delight, Professor Darby’s mundane Muggle activities were a hit for inter-house unity. All the houses have started to bond over the new discoveries in the Muggle world, and the purebloods (majority of which come from Slytherin) were the most surprising bunch. They’ve adapted Muggle culture and style beautifully, Harry thought. So much so that they’ve taken to wearing Muggle clothing every chance they got, going so far as to petition the abolishment of uniforms completely—it wasn’t successful, of course. But the thought was there, and Harry was impressed.
Not to mention, it succeeded in bringing the Slytherin crowd to Harry’s merry band of friends. Pansy Parkinson now regularly spoke to Hermione, giving her the latest gossip and messing about with her hair—trying out new styles every day, always making Ron’s jaw drop in surprise with every new hairstyle. Blaise Zabini was now Ron’s second favorite opponent in chess, with the first being Draco Malfoy. Luna and Ginny regularly tried to keep Gregory Goyle in the loop, since his shyness after Vincent’s death increased ten-fold. And Draco… How could Harry even begin to explain his relationship with Draco?
If anything, Harry had grown unbelievably fond of the blonde git—they were close in a way that was different from Ron and Hermione, although the latter pair still held extremely special places in his heart—irreplaceable, really. They still fought, but it was playful banter instead of cutting remarks. They would study together, take their meals at the same time, and sit next to each other when in front of the group. This closeness only sped up the inevitable—where Harry would fall in love with Draco. He’s fallen heads-over-heels, and he fully admits that. He sometimes feels like Draco feels the same, but he can’t be sure.
Because even if sometimes Draco lays his head on Harry’s shoulder in the eighth year Common Room, or he occasionally seeks Harry out in his personal dormitory (All eighth years had their own room—they deserved it after all) in the middle of night, or he even falls asleep next to Harry when they’re all outside on a warm day, Harry can’t be sure. Because despite doing all that, sometimes Draco pushes him away, isolating him from the rest of the gang. Sometimes Harry starts a day with a Draco that suddenly doesn’t want to talk to him or even look at him, and at that point Harry just has to wait it out because he knows better than to push him. Sometimes Harry encounters days where he still can’t break through Draco’s barriers, and he’s met with his usual icy glares and scathing remarks. And sometimes, very rarely, Harry has days where he can’t find Draco. Where Draco runs away to new places and Harry’s left anxious and worried and desperate to see him again. On those days, Harry runs himself ragged running all over Wizarding Britain (and one time, Wizarding America) looking for the one he loves, even if he can’t be sure he’s loved back. He doesn’t know what Draco’s spontaneous actions mean, but none of it encouraged Harry to do anything about the way he feels.
Today, fortunately, was a good day.
Not that all days aren’t good days with Draco, of course. Even the bad days are good, because Harry got to have Draco in any capacity possible.
“—Mate? Harry, are you lost in thought again?” Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by what seemed to be Ron’s hands waving in front of his face.
“Sorry Ron,” Harry said sheepishly. He did always get lost in his thoughts when it came to Draco.
“It’s alright. I’m used to it really.” Ron said teasingly. “Where’s Hermione and Draco and the rest?”
Harry looked around the grounds outside Hagrid’s Hut, the cold air nipping at his ears. Scanning the small crowd of students waiting around for Hagrid to finish setting up the tables, Harry couldn’t find any sign of shocking blonde hair anywhere.
“Boo!”
Both Harry and Ron startled, with Ron letting out an embarrassing yip that resembled that of a puppy.
Hermione’s laughter answered Ron’s question, as the girl in question slipped her arm around his waist while her laughter faded to chuckles.
“Honestly, Ronald.” Draco said, who appeared from somewhere behind Harry, a smirk tugging up at his lips. Pansy, Blaise, Ginny, Luna, and Greg in tow behind them.
“Sod off, Malfoy.” Ron said, grumbling while wrapping his arms around Hermione.
“Alright students!” Professor Darby said, his Sonoroous cutting Draco’s retort off. “On this lovely day, we will allow ourselves to indulge in a popular Muggle tradition—thanks to Hagrid—known as Pumpkin Carving!”
Harry looked around at his friends, taking in their reaction. Ron and Ginny were practically bouncing with excitement, Hermione had a determined look on her face, Pansy and Blaise looked indifferent, Luna had her usual look of wonder, and Draco looked both anxious and determined. He was unconsciously biting his lip, an action Harry knew to signify that he was thinking or worried about something, eyebrows slightly drawn, staring at the pumpkins laid on each table determinedly. It was endearing, and Harry’s heart skipped a beat at the adorable sight.
“Please take a spot amongst the tables, and you may begin! Remember what I’ve taught you in the last class! For those of you with questions, please do not hesitate to approach me.” With that, Professor Darby walked off and took his own position in front of a pumpkin.
The group headed for one rectangular table, occupying almost all the space. Harry placed himself across Draco with Ron on his left and Pansy on his right.
“How about we make this a little interesting?” Ginny said, a mischievous glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. “A competition amongst us at this table?”
Draco, ever the competitive one, piped up immediately. “What are the terms? What do we win?”
“Seeing as none of us at this table have ever done this before, I say we have a competition on who can make the best—or the most creative even. Winner gets exclusive access to The Desk for a full month.”
Harry’s jaw dropped. The Desk was a secret space amongst them that they’ve found amongst the stacks of the library. It almost worked the way the Room of Requirement did, with its sole purpose to get the occupant to study successfully for hours on end. Somehow, the occupant of the room was able to focus on whatever they needed to, with the flow of information steadily registering in their brain. It was baffling. Ron had stumbled across the room in search of Hermione, and had come out hours later knowing more about Transfiguration theory than Hermione did. It pissed her off to no end, and she’d forced Ron to show her the book where he’d learnt everything, thinking it was another Half-Blood Prince type book, but instead Ron showed her the room with the single desk and stacks of bookcases lining the wall. Once Hermione walked in, the door had slid shut, leaving Ron out. It turned out that only one person at a time could enter, only allowing another person in after the former had exit. Harry had spent a couple of hours there whenever Potions was proving to be too difficult, and was now knowledgeable enough in theories that he was sure he’d ace his NEWTS. Imagine what more he could learn if he had full access to it for a month?
Everyone at the table looked more determined, a competitive streak running through all of them—Hermione and Draco most of all. An array of tools Harry wasn’t familiar with was suddenly laid out on their table, and everyone seemed to snap out of their shock, hurriedly grabbing at the tools, desperate to ensure that they’d have an edge over the others.
Harry wasn’t that concerned. He was good enough in Transfigurations and Charms, excellent at DADA, and fairly confident in his average skills in Potions. He didn’t need the room for a month, just a couple of hours at most.
As he calmly picked up a slim pumpkin carving knife, he briefly watched Draco as he worked. His face was a look of dedication, his tongue peeking out the corner of his mouth as he carefully traced around the top of his pumpkin. Harry found him so endearing, it was then that he found his idea for his pumpkin. It wasn’t going to be the most creative in terms of art, per say, but it was creative.
He started haphazardly carving the top of his pumpkin. The cleanliness didn’t matter for what he planned to do after all.
“Do you not plan to win at all, Harry?” Draco drawled after looking up briefly at Harry’s work-in-progress. “I know Gryffindors are reckless, but I highly doubt that’ll help you win this.”
Harry glanced up at Draco, a sly smile tugging on his lips. “Oh Draco, just you wait.”
Draco looked slightly worried at his comment, pausing from his work. “Why? What are you making?”
“Like I’d tell you,” Harry scoffed. His heart was pounding, because it was a crazy idea after all.
Draco scowled, returning to his work.
Pansy nudged him in the ribs, “What are you going to make, Potter?”
“Something,” Harry said vaguely. He was now scooping out the inside of his own pumpkin, laying it aside in a conjured bowl for the elves to use later. We’ll have pumpkin soup for ages, Harry thought.
Pansy returned to her work, shrugging.
Harry could only hope this would work.
-*-*-*-*-*-
“Oh my God Potter!” Pansy shouted gleefully. “That is amazing!”
“Yeah, mate!” Ron said merrily. “A win, for sure!” Harry heard some seriousness in Ron’s tease. Almost everyone in the group knew about how in love he was with Malfoy, and the subtle encouragement was very welcome.
“What is it? Pansy! What is it? Tell me!” Draco said anxiously. “How come you’re both joyful about the fact that Harry could win The Desk? Shouldn’t you be winning it for yourself?” It was a silent rule that no one was allowed to leave from their place, so only Pansy and Ron were able to see his work, seeing as they were both seated next to him.
“Oh this is unique in its own way, Malfoy.” Ron said teasingly, loving having one up over Draco.
“Sorry, darling, no can do. Just trust in my opinion. It’s amazing.” Pansy said with a wicked grin, moving back to her own work.
“I’m sure Harry’s work is very creative,” Luna said, who was seated on Ginny’s right—who was seated on Draco’s left.
“How would you know Luna?” Greg asked, curious.
“Because of all the Creers in his head. They’re a signal for creativity, you know.”
Of course they were.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Finally, Harry was done. Almost everyone had cheated despite the silent rule and had looked over at Harry’s work, except for Draco. When it came to him, Harry had bodily protected his work despite the other man’s attempts to take a look at it, going so far as to huddling his whole body around the pumpkin to keep it out of sight at one point.
Everyone had taunted Draco about their newfound knowledge, teasingly saying that Harry was definitely going to win. Draco had grown indifferent to the taunts, but broke when even Hermione quietly admitted that she hoped Harry was going to win.
The entire time Harry was working, he grew more and more nervous. He wasn’t sure he wanted Draco to see his work, and even considered scrapping the whole thing entirely. He didn’t know how he’d take it. Unfortunately, everyone else was done as well, which meant that it was time for Harry to show his work.
“I think Harry should show his last,” Ginny said loudly. Everyone nodded, smug looks on their faces.
Feeling relieved, he summoned up the nervous energy to smirk at Draco, who was pouting after realizing he wouldn’t be able to see what everyone had been talking about.
One by one, everyone showed their work. Luna had gone for a carving of a cute kitten face, Blaise had boldly attempted to recreate through carving Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Ron’s pumpkin looked like someone who got punched in the face—literally, Greg’s work was impressive, looking like a massive flower, and finally, Draco’s work looked like the forbidden forest—it looked amazing.
“Are you going to show me now, Potter?” Harry blanched a bit. He was only called Potter when he was in trouble, and he didn’t want all of this to be for nothing.
Everyone leaned forward in anticipation, excited to see Draco’s reaction. It only made Harry more nervous than ever.
Slowly, Harry turned the pumpkin around so the designed side faced Draco, looking intently at Draco’s face.
From what started out as an annoyance, Harry watched as Draco went through a range of emotions. From slow suspicion, to astonishment, and finally—to disbelief. His eyes widened the more he saw the carving, eyes flicking from Harry and the pumpkin.
I love you to the moon and back. Be mine? It said.
The longer the silence reigned, the worse Harry felt. He should’ve known that it was all one-sided, he should’ve known that he’d be rejected. Why did all his friends make him feel otherwise? Why did they say—
“Harry? What does this mean?” Draco asked softly, eyes full of hope and hesitation.
“I—“ He didn’t expect that he’d actually have to say the words out loud. Harry looked around, not noticing that the rest of the group had left, no doubt providing them their much needed privacy.
“I—I love you,” Harry blurted out quietly. “I have for a long while. I just never did anything about it because sometimes you’d push me away and I’m not sure but I saw you earlier and you had your tongue out and I just fell in love with you more and I couldn’t help myself but this made me so nervous and I wasn’t sure and I didn’t know if you’d accept it and I wanted—“
“I love you too, Harry.” Draco said tenderly, cutting him of from his babbling.
Harry’s eyes snapped up to grey ones, full of surprise. His heart was bursting, knowing that his love was reciprocated and that it wasn’t one-sided this whole time made him feel like he was on top of the world. He quickly rose up and around the table, yanking Draco up from his seat.
“Harry—what are—“ Draco asked in surprise before Harry covered his lips with his.
Harry’s world quieted down to nothing except Draco’s lips. They were soft and warm—gentle against his own. The kiss was slow as it was intense, the two boys hesitantly enjoying their first kiss—tasting, feeling, getting to know each other in ways they couldn’t have before. Hands around each other’s waist, under their shirts, roaming.
After a while they broke apart for air, foreheads against each other. Breaths soft and slow against their lips.
“What are we now, then?” Draco asked, eyes closed.
“Well I did ask you to be mine…” Harry trailed off.
“Yes, Harry. Yours.”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
“Pansy look!” Hermione said excitedly, tugging at her arm and pointing at two boys in the distance who were wrapped in each other’s arms.
“Did they finally do it?” Ginny butt in, grinning largely and wrapping her arms around both girls and looking at the view in question.
“It looks like it,” Luna said softly, smiling.
“About bloody time!” Ron exclaimed. “I was so tired of them pining after each other!” he added, whining a bit.
“Oh stop whinging, Weasley.” Blaise snorted. “You think it won’t get worse from here on out? They’ll be cuddling and snogging everywhere now. Just you wait.”
Ron groaned, leading to the rest of the girls giggling at his predicament.
“At least Draco will be happy now, no more pushing Harry away.” Greg said solemnly.
Everyone agreed. No more pushing Harry away.
“Ginny, how did you know that would get Harry to finally do something about his feelings?” Hermione asked curiously. Everyone swiveled their heads to look at Ginny, also curious about her knowing.
She shrugged, “I didn’t. I just wanted a chance to have The Desk all to myself for a month. I need it, you know. For NEWTS.”
“Speaking of,” Ron said thoughtfully, “Who won?”
“Harry and Draco did,” Luna said airily.
Nobody disagreed with that.