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Harry stepped slowly down the staircase leading to the Grand Hall, hair unbrushed and old clothes just thrown on, eyebrows drawn into a frown at Hermione's voice.
"Harry, you're doing brilliantly", she assured him, her hand tucked into his to let him know she was right beside him, squeezing gently as he took another few steps, "We're almost there, Harry, don't worry" she added softly, deliberately keeping her voice low and gentle for him.
He dimly felt a squeeze on his fingers and swore he could feel his chest constrict at the memory of his hands doing the same, causing his eyes to sting and his throat to itch slightly. He didn't want to be doing this, would much rather go back to his bed and sleep the rest of Summer away until classes started again, but Hermione wouldn't let him, which meant that Ron wouldn't either.. They were his best friends, and he lo- appreciated them, but he could do without them acting like they knew what was best right now. He knew what was best for him, he needed to sleep for a month until the pain stopped and he could walk around the school without being terrified of running into him.
He stumbled slightly, not realising he'd reached the end of the staircase, and felt Hermione and Ron grasp him tightly to keep him from falling forward. With a grunt, he shook them off and straightened up to actually glance at his surroundings, once again fearful of seeing him.
The entrance to the Grand Hall was fairly empty, only a few students wandering back and forth, and even fewer who watched him with understanding and pity written on their faces, making him want to bare his teeth and snarl at them. However the coast was clear, apart from idiotic students he had no time for, it was safe. He was safe. He wasn't here yet, maybe.. He sighed heavily, maybe he could have breakfast with his friends for the first time in 2 weeks without running into him again.
With Ron and Hermione flanking him protectively, he slunk into the Hall and his gaze instantly snapped over to the Slytherin table, pained but hopeful at the same time, he was unprepared to deal with the crushing disappointment coursing through him when he realised Draco wasn't there yet.
"Where is he?", he murmured softly, oblivious to the look his friends shared behind him, "Hermione? Where.. Why isn't he here?" he asked again, wanting to sit down but finding he was utterly unable to look away from Draco's usual seat across the hall. Absently, he started scratching at the crook of his elbow, nails scraping against the already raw skin which elicited a minute flinch from the boy.
"Nobody's seen him since.." Ron coughed quietly, shaking his head at her, "We think he went home for the Summer, Harry, you're not going to run into him, don't worry" she finished sadly, trying to tug his hand away from his elbow without much success.
There were only, on average, close to 30 kids sitting at each table since the majority were home for the holiday. This resulted in a low hum of chatter that would normally be pleasant, but today it grated on Harry's last nerve and he just wanted to escape. He could feel his blood itch with the desire to leave, to escape back to the common room, when he felt Hermione's hand let his go, heard her gasp and Ron's "...git, what's he doing here?" and didn't that get his attention?
He twisted to see what Ron was talking about and looked towards to Hall's doors in muted interest coupled with a lingering dread because, surely not, surely he wasn't here, right? He couldn't be, he was supposed to be at home for Summer.
His jaw dropped slightly as he caught sight of a shock of white hair that appeared to be as equally ruffled as his own, as opposed to its trademark, sleek style.
"No fucking way.." he moaned brokenly, staring at Draco with wide, shining eyes, "Her- Hermione, tell me it isn't him. You promised me" he hissed, hand flailing blindly for hers, praying that Draco wouldn't notice him, and also praying that he would. Bloody hell, when did he turn into such an emotional headcase? He couldn't stop staring, please look at me Dray, I can't bear it any longer, worrying his lower lip as his friends watched him nervously, both hoping Draco wouldn't come anywhere near them.
Such luck wasn't with them, of course, as Draco turned around and saw them. His silvery eyes widened as they latched onto Harry's and he started to tremble, his own friends quickly grasping the situation with groans and attempting to tug Draco away from the Hall. Draco, however, was determined to act normally,to rise above such emotions as was proper for a pureblood Malfoy, so he had to walk past the Golden Trio to get to his seat. He tried to do so as quickly, and calmly, as possible, but he faltered a few feet away from Harry, his face twisting ever so slightly.
"Li-" he viciously bit the inside of his own lip to stop the word from escaping, before schooling his features back into a mask of apathy, "Potter, Weasley, Granger" he amended, his voice cold to all who could hear, yet Harry knew he could hear a thread of sadness run through the words.
Hermione could see the pain on her friend's face and it felt like porcupine quills were piercing her heart, she couldn't understand why Draco had done what he did, there just wasn't a reason! "Draco", she replied softly, polite enough but refusing to meet his eyes after everything he had put Harry through two weeks prior, "We thought you'd gone home for Summer, since you've been missing the last few weeks." Nobody could fail to notice the pale red that bloomed under Draco's eyes at this fact, but they were all tactful enough to ignore it, well, almost all of them.
Harry lifted his head and let his own green gaze wash over the pale boy, "Where were you, Dra- Malfoy?" he whispered, voice cracking as he switched to his surname halfway through, pleading for an answer. He'd been happier than he could ever remember being, everything had been falling into place and he was content with his life, and then Draco had taken that and turned it inside out. He'd taken Harry's happiness and decided he didn't deserve it, leaving him in a custom made Hell this past fortnight. He was hardly aware of Draco gripping his elbow, not his hand anymore, and steering him out of the Hall and down a secluded corridor, all of their friends left shocked and sputtering behind them, trying to stop this train wreck before it could get any worse. The next thing he was aware of was a wall pressing into him, its cold biting into his skin through the robes, and Draco's face resting in front of his, looking pained and anguished. "But that's not right..", whispered Harry, his own brow burrowing in confusion even as his stomach roiled and he fought the urge to cry or throw up, potentially both, "Why are you sad, Dray?" he questioned, flinching away as the blonde attempted to find his hand, resulting in an almost stricken noise from Draco.
"Why would I be upset?" Draco muttered, seemingly to himself, "What possible reason would I have to be sad just now? Oh, my Lion.." He turned his face up to face the dark boy, his own scrunched with emotion, he lifted a hand and gently brushed Harry's fringe from his face with a wistful sigh, "Why haven't you been dealing with this better, hm?"
The corridor was quiet around them, as if nothing wanted to interrupt them during this crucial moment in their lives. Even the few paintings dotting the walls had nodded respectfully before moving on to frames in other areas of the castle for a while, giving them the privacy they so desperately needed. Muted chattering wafted through to them from the Hall, dust swirled lazily in the air and, if you listened carefully, you could hear the hammering of two broken hearts staring into each other. Harry felt like his world was evaporating in that stare, "D-dealing?" he repeated breathlessly, "You left me, Draco!" he cried suddenly, eyes welling up as he pushed the other boy away from him, his own face harbouring a wretched expression.
"Gone, Draco! I didn't.. I couldn't.." Tears started tracking wayward patterns down his cheeks, breath coming in tiny gasps as he spilled his heart for the boy before him, "I would have given you everything, I tried so.. So hard" he wrapped his arms around his own waist and started walking back down the corridor, ignoring Malfoy as he followed him, ignored him pleading in that sweet, familiar voice.
"We had so much, had shared so much, you threw me away and you wouldn't even tell me why!" Harry finished with a scream, whipping round to glare at Malfoy, cheeks thoroughly tear stained as he slumped against the chilled wall. Unable to control himself, sobs started to gently fall from his lips, ending in whimpers as his body shook with the frightful emotion.
Draco could only stare in shock as he was punched in the face by Harry's emotion, and his own. He had honestly thought Harry was going to be okay! If he'd known the boy would be so distraught over this, he would never have- No, he had to do it, but he would have done it differently for sure. Oh Merlin, but his entire body hurt just watching Harry scream at him, folding into himself and losing everything that made him shine, and Draco had to stand there knowing that he'd caused this and that only he could fix it again, he hoped..
"Harry, I..", the words fell on deaf ears as Harry sobbed brokenly against the wall, "Harry!" The boy jumped, staring at Malfoy in shock and trying to wipe the tears off his face. After a few minutes, he looked up and fixed Malfoy with a watery, yet steely, gaze.
"You're listening now?" he waited for Harry's tight nod before continuing, "I didn't.. Mean to hurt you" he continued lamely, praying Harry would let him finish. He could feel his own throat threatening to close up, the tears pricking at his own eyes but Malfoys don't cry, Draco, especially not over half-blood Gryffindors. His father would always be in his head, he thought sadly, taking a shuddering breath to continue and ignoring Harry's furious stare.
"I didn't think you would hurt so strongly over this, Harry" he admitted quietly, looking away to stare at the wall opposite him, "My father, well.. A Malfoy shouldn't be dating a half-blood" he spat acidly, palming his eyes in exhaustion. Harry gaped at him, he'd figured Lucius Malfoy had something to do with this, but.. That was no excuse, Draco should have just told him the truth and saved the unnecessary pain of thinking he'd failed somehow!
Draco could feel the tears starting to slide down his cheeks which were now burning with embarrassment, he could ignore it though, all of it, for Harry. He deserved the truth and Draco needed to be brave enough, ironically, to give him that truth.
"This past year has been, quite frankly, the best of my life" he started, the tears falling freely as he struggled to breathe, "You are, oh God, you were my Lion, my fire, my dream. I never thought I'd have somebody as brilliant as you in my life, could never have foreseen that I would be so gifted as to snatch such a beautiful heart." His voice hitched several times as he sunk to the floor, curling his knees up against his chest and trying his utmost not to break out in full bodied sobs, "I never wanted to lose you, Lion, not for one day. My father, he.. Didn't agree with it, he'd been trying since Day 1 to make me see sense, I just.. Gave in" he finished sadly, raking nimble fingers through his hair and leaving it standing on end in his despair.
Harry knelt down in front of him, the slightest smile tugging the corners of his lips as he bore witness to Draco's distress, he chuckled darkly, "I'm glad you're hurting as much as I am, you prat", ignoring every instinct that Hermione would destroy him for this transgression, he reached a hand out to replace the one attempting to tear lumps out of Draco's hair. He ran his fingers through the silken hair with a soft sigh, having thoroughly missed affectionately petting the boy over the past fortnight.
"You are everything to me, Dragon" he whispered, doing his best to calm the boy down, "but bloody hell, you should have just told me why you had to do it, I wouldn't have been happy but I would have understood, and I could have, we could have both been saved this extra heartache of not knowing..", gripping Draco's chin between his thumb and index finger, he forced the blonde to look up at him, albeit reluctantly, "You are my Dragon, do you understand that?", pressing their foreheads together, they both sighed at feeling what they had been missing, "We'll not deal with your father, because it shouldn't be our problem if he has trouble with us, okay? He can deal with himself, you and I will deal with each other, however. Agreed?"
He pulled back slightly to gauge Draco's reaction, which was a brief nod and a whispered, "Okay, Lion", after which he surged forward to crash their mouths together for the first time in a fortnight. A kiss that encompassed all of their problems, their issues, the pain they had inadvertently caused each other over the years. They pulled back again a few minutes later for breath, during which Draco nuzzled his forehead against Harry's with a mewl of contentment, "I love you, my Lion", "I love you too, my Dragon". The boys would have many obstacles to face, but they would be okay.