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“Salazar’s balls, Crabbe! This is basic magical history, next you’re going to ask me which muggle king Merlin served,” Draco barked out and was then instantly filled with regret when Crabbe furrowed his brows in confusion. He, Crabbe and Goyle had been in the library for at least three hours now, Draco had finished all his potions and transfiguration homework whereas the two boys opposite him were still stuck on the Great Wizarding Purge of the Tudor era. It wasn’t his ideal Saturday by any means but Draco’s original plans to practice with the Slytherin Quidditch team had been impossible since that prat Oliver Wood decided to book the entire stadium until midnight for ‘intense, grewling and completely necessary extra training’. At least he was being productive.
Draco was just about to hex Goyle for asking whether Queen Mary was a protastant when he heard some familiar voices.
“Come on Harry! I don’t even understand why we’re lurking here,” Oh, Draco knew the owner of that insufferable voice. So the golden gits were spying on him again, he wasn’t even surprised. It was no secret to Draco that Potter had gotten it into his head that every single transgression against him was the blond’s fault, honestly the amount of attention he was giving Draco was rather flattering. Maybe he could have a bit of fun with this.
“You know what, I’m getting a bit sick of Potter lately,” Draco said to Crabbe and Goyle (neither seemed to have noticed they had company), “Honestly I feel like every step I take there he is! It’s like he’s stalking me or something.” Draco had made a point of saying the last part partially loud. Goyle looked up at him with his usual lost expression but Draco didn’t really care if he understood what was going on or not.
“Oh look at me, the great Harry Potter! I’m so amazing with my impeccable Quidditch skills and my emerald eyes and soft black hair that’s always messy but never in a bad way. He’s so infuriating.”
Draco waited to see if Potter would react in any way, maybe he would jump out from behind the bookshelves and hex him for what he had said or maybe he would run out of the library, distraught from hearing Draco make fun of him. But neither of those happened. The only reaction Draco got was a small gasp and a stifled giggle from the bookshelves.
“Odd,” he thought. And after a few minutes with no further interruptions he decided to return to the Slytherin dorms.
*
The next few days for Draco were… peculiar to say the least. On Sunday at breakfast Granger had waved to him across the hall whilst aggressively elbowing Potter and on Monday the Weasley boy smiled at him when they passed in the corridors. But the one that really confused him was in potions. He was halfway through brewing a basic growing potion when someone tapped him.
“Um, Malfoy,” It was Potter looking honestly worse for wear; his hair was messier than normal like someone had run their fingers through it about a thousand times and his eyes were darting about as though any minute He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named himself would jump out and attack him, “I was wondering if you would, well, you know… help me with my potion?” Draco looked at him apprehensively. Part of him was certain this was a trap, the Great Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, was not actually asking him to help him with his potions. Of course not… but there was another part of Draco that wanted so desperately to be wrong about that.
With a quick glance around to check for watching classmates (and teachers) he nodded. Harry brought Draco over to his desk where a rather pathetic start of a position bubbled in Potter’s cauldron.
“It’s orange,” said Draco.
“I know,” said Harry.
“A growing potion is supposed to be a translucent green colour, Potter.”
“I know,” sighed Harry, “please just… fix it.” Draco rolled his eyes and began to fix Harry’s mess.
Not much else happened in that potions lesson, the two boys kept up scarce but friendly conversation and that was it. When he was leaving Draco heard Granger telling Harry how brave he had been and though he wanted to listen in more Draco was already late for Transfiguration.
*
Since when had Gryffindors been this nice? It was honestly freaking Draco out a bit, being smiled at, offered quills and ink when he forgot his own, Ron Weasley even told him he was welcome to sit with ‘the gang’ during potions. It was very unsettling.
“Hey, Malfoy!” said a booming voice to Draco, on his way to Charms. Spinning around to find the owner of said voice he came face to face with two identical looking redheads.
“Weasleys, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Come on mate!” said one.
“Don’t be like that!” said the other. “We’ve come here-”
“To give you-”
“And if you want some of your slithery friends-”
“An invitation.” Draco stared at them.
“An invitation to what?” He asked.
“To a party in the Gryffindor common room!” replied both the boys, they’re ability to speak at the same time really was impressive.
“We’re having one for ‘inter-house unity’ as Dumbledore put it.”
“I’m not sure that I or my slithery friends would be welcome,” said Draco. It really would be a spectacular dumpster fire if Slytherin students somehow made their way into the Gryffindor tower, he could just imagine the chaos that would occur. Draco started to leave but before he could one of them (he had a slightly longer nose than the other Draco noticed) grabbed his arm.
“Come on mate, it’s supposed to be fun! Besides no one will hurt you or anything,” a sly smile played on his face, “not when Harry Potter himself said he wanted you there.” He made a very pointed look at his brother.
“Oh yeah, you’re the only reason Harry even wanted this party in the first place! He’d be so disappointed if you didn't come and we can’t have that you know. The Boy Who Lived sat in the corner not enjoying his own party.”
“It would be unjust Draco.”
“So really it’s only fair for you to come!” Draco wasn’t really sure what they were saying. He had assumed Harry would consider it a weight off his shoulders once he found out his arch-enemy wasn’t coming. Draco wanted to think it over, weigh up his options but both boys were watching him and really, he did know what his answer was.
“I’ll come,” said Draco and the twins both beamed.
“You won’t regret it!”
*
Draco did regret it. Standing face to face with the Fat Lady all he could feel was regret. This could be a trap, some ploy the Weasley twins had created to humiliate him, he should turn back, turn around, go to the dungeons and never come back.
Draco’s back was already to the painting when it flung open. Draco looked to see Ron Weasley leaning against the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
“Oi, Malfoy you coming in or what?” Draco stared at him for a second before responding, “yeah,” and stepping through the entrance.
The common room was nice, warm and cozy nothing remotely like his own. It was probably a lovely place to sit by the fireplace and read or do homework but of course Draco couldn’t test that theory now with two year sevens pracitically fucking there on the couch. “Oh” Draco thinks, “It’s that kind of party.” He’s not sure what to do, he doesn’t know anyone here since all the Slytherins had refused to come to the party with him and it’s not like he’s exactly friendly with the other houses so he just, sorta, stands and observes. Apart from Slytherin there’s a good show from all the houses, all the Huffelpuffs seemed to have brought snacks and the Ravenclaws were probably the reason over a thousand board games could be found scattered around the room. It looked like everyone was having fun except him. There was no sight of Potter, seemed the most famous of the golden trio had better things to do than attend his own party.
“Hey, Draco!” Said one of the Gryffindor boys, waving at him (Dean? That must be it), “come on man, don’t just stand there like a numpty.” He was grinning at him and despite what Draco expected there was no ill-intent behind the smile. Next to him was a kind of scruffy looking boy and a curly hair girl. “Draco this is Lavender and Seamus, Lavender and Seamus- Draco.”
“Hi, want some butterbeer?” the girl, Lavender asked.
“Sure,” and just like that the conversation continued.
*
The party had been going on for a few hours now and most of the younger students had called it a night, probably sensing they weren’t wanted. Now it seemed things were going to get interesting. Dean suddenly got up and announced everyone should join his game of ‘Never Have I Ever’.
“Come off it, Dean! You know none of us Wizard-borns have a clue what that is.” Seamus laughed, grabbing the other boy's arm and squeezing it affectionately (“Ah so those two are an item then.”).
“I’m well aware of that, which is why I will be explaining all the rules and, to avoid this being to muggly for certain wizards and witches, there will be abit of magical intervention,” Dean had been looking at only Seamus when he was talking but now he turned to the rest of the room. “Here’s the rules: we go around the room and each person says something they’ve never done, if you’ve done it you take a shot of this,” Dean produced a bottle of a simmering purple liquid. “This amazing potion was a collaboration between Hermione and myself-”
“Dean you did absolutely nothing!”
“As I was saying, it’s a combination of firewhiskey and… something or other,” Draco could hear Hermione sighing behind him, “point is it turns orange if you're lying so you lot better be honest!” This definitely seemed like a great time to leave for Draco, he knew he had enough secrets about him and his whole family for this to be a disaster. Besides it probably wouldn’t be fun anyway. He started looking for a way to slither off without anyone noticing but the common room was pretty packed and he was standing right next to Lavender. A circle of people had formed near the fire and suddenly Lavender started making her way to join it.
“You coming, Draco?” She looked at him expectantly and all Draco could do was nod.
He found a reasonable comfortable seat on the floor next to Seamus and Lavender (it seemed like they had unofficially adopted him as a friend for the party) and the game was about to start when someone entered the common room. Running his hands through his stupidly nice hair was Harry Potter.
“Hey guys,” Harry said, “is the party still going?” He must not have seen Draco yet or else he’s sure Harry’s tone wouldn’t have been that light.
“‘Course it is! Come join us we’re playing ‘Never Have I Ever’ magical edition,” Dean called. Harry smiled and came to join them, sitting directly across from Draco. Harry’s eyebrows shot up but it seemed he got over the surprise quickly and just sort of, looked Draco up and down.
“How come you’re the only Slytherin here?” He asked.
“None of the others wanted to come,” Draco shrugged, “how come you’re late to your own party then Ha-” Draco caught his mistake and blushed, “Potter?”
“Well, Wood was insisting I needed even more training for our up-coming game.”
Draco laughed, “you shouldn’t tell your secrets to the enemy, Potter.”
“No, I shouldn’t.”
Probably sensing the tension in the air Dean decided to pour the drinks and start the game. No one could hide since they had only given out clear glasses to drink from. “Fuck,” thought Draco, “they are so going to blackmail me.”
It wasn’t interesting at the start, a lot of tame things like ‘never have I ever skipped class’, thanks Hermione, but things started to heat up when Ron said, “never have I ever given my boyfriend a handy when the rest of the dorm was very much awake,” and two particalar boys wearing guilty expressions took a shot.
“Disgusting!” Lavender screamed. Everyone was pissing themselves laughing including Draco.
“You’re gonna regret that Lavender,” Seamus said, “Draco, mate, mind if I take your turn?”
“Go for it.”
“Thanks,” Seamus had a wicked glint in his eye as he began, “never have I ever… had a crush on Pavarti.”
“Seamus!” Lavender gasped, her glass turning orange as she neglected to take her shot. Now this was the kind of drama Draco could appreciate. Pavarti was looking stunned and Draco noticed Ginny taking a subtle sip of her drink. Pavarti cleared her throat and looked at Lavender, “Seamus only said that ‘cus he knew I liked you too.” Lavender grinned.
“You do?”
“Yeah,” Pavarti’s voice was small but she seemed happy. Lavender quickly got up and moved to sit with Pavarti leaving Draco now next to Longbottom, the boy gave him a very awkward and very nervous smile which Draco hesitantly returned. The game seemed to have been paused and he wasn’t sure why until Hermione turned to him and told him it was his go.
“Oh,” he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, really. It had to be good, he was representing the house of Slytherin after all, but what? Maybe something about cheating on tests? No that was to Hermione-esque. Crushes were mundane. Maybe…
“Never have I ever questioned my sexuality,” Draco said. It was technically true since he had always known he was gay, but he’s sure no one else would think of that. Practically everyone took a shot, not many of them were surprises honestly except Longbottom, who when asked about it said he thought he was on the ace spectrum, and… Harry. The Boy Who Lived took a long, long chug of his.
“Might wanna slow down there mate,” Ron told him, concern in his voice.
“Whatever,” Harry muttered. He seemed significantly less happy that he had been when they started. On the other side of the green eyed boy Hermione was giving Draco ‘a look’.
The game continued and still Draco hadn’t had one shot. Needless to say, it was going well. Until Hermione. With the tone of the game having shifted it appeared Hermione had adjusted her approach, for her next go she said, “Never have I ever had more than friendly feelings towards Harry Potter.” Harry himself seemed both shocked and slightly scandalized about the amount of people who took a shot but Draco thought it was hilarious. He was almost in stitches frankly.
“Draco, I wouldn’t get so cocky mate,” said Ron and sure enough when he looked down Draco saw his own drink was a bright, obnoxious, terrible, orange. No, that wasn’t possible because Draco didn’t have feelings for Harry. Come on, sure he liked men but he definitely didn’t like him! He couldn’t. Even if things were getting friendly they were still rivals. No he did not like Harry Potter despite what that drink said.
Draco leapt from his seat on the floor, needing to be out the room as quick as he could.
“Well very sorry to do this but they’re probably wondering where I am in my dorm so I really should be going,” he trying to hide his panic but the pace at which the words left his mouth and his quickening steps towards the common room exit gave him away, “really must dash! Thanks for inviting me-”
“Draco wait!” Potter called.
“Goodbye!” And just like that he was back in front of a now sleeping Fat Lady, breath strained and mind racing. He wasn’t actually that keen on getting to his dorm, especially knowing how much everyone would interrogate him (he really hated his house sometimes) so he decided to take his sweet time walking. Of course the problem with that was time spent walking was time spent thinking; specifically it was time spent thinking about Potter. Sure, Draco could acknowledge he was attractive, everyone in Hogwarts knew Harry Potter was a looker, but that didn’t mean he had a crush on him. Potter was insufferable, he was famous and annoyingly good at everything he did and recently he had been flashing Draco that idiotic smile whenever he saw him. His eyes were always gleamed in Defence Against The Dark Arts lessons because of how much he enjoyed the subject.
“Fuck,” Draco thought, “I have a crush on Harry fucking Potter.” His feet had stopped, frozen with the realisation. He liked Potter. He liked the boy he had just run away from. What was he supposed to do? Obviously Harry knew, the drink had been right in front of him, but that didn’t mean anything. Loads of people liked Harry, this probably wasn’t new to him. Merlin! Harry probably- no- definitely didn’t care and he definitely didn’t reciprocate Draco’s feelings. If he had he wouldn’t have let Draco leave. No, the best thing now was for him to go back to his own dorm, his own bed and never leave it.
Just as Draco had finalised his plans of eternal slumber he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. He knew he should try to hide but even if it was Filch or any other teacher coming to punish him for being out of bed he didn’t really care. He turned around ready to explain his rule breaker but stopped. Unless Harry Potter had become a member of the Hogwarts faculty since ten minutes ago it looked like he wouldn’t need to explain himself, at least for that.
“Draco,” Harry sighed, apparently out of breath.
“Why are you here, Potter? Come to make fun of me? Gloat? Go ahead it’s not like I give a damn.” Draco, did in fact, give many damns.
“No!” Harry exclaimed, “no. Draco look, I was confused when you left and it took me a second to grasp what was happening. If I had realised I would have...”
“What? Told me your sorry then rejected me? I didn’t know I felt that way about you and to have my feelings shot down before they’ve even properly developed, it’s horrible.” Draco could feel tears nudging to the front of his eyes but he refused to cry in front of the other boy. A mumble came out of Harry’s mouth, far too quiet for Draco to understand it.
“What?” Said Draco.
“I said I wouldn’t have rejected you!” Harry repeated, almost a shout this time, “Merlin’s arse, Draco! How can you be such an idiot! I’ve had a crush on you for months now. Why did you think all the Gryffindors were being so nice to you? Why did you think I asked for your help in potions? Why did you think you were the only Slytherin to get a personal invite to this party? It’s because I fucking like you!” His voice was broken and cracked and in the moonlight corridor Draco could see the tears on his cheeks. Cautiously he raised his hand and wiped them away. Harry leaned into the touch.
“I’m sorry,” Draco whispered. He started stroking his thumb over the light brown of Harry’s cheek, “I think I’ve liked you for a long time Harry, I just never really let myself realise it.”
“And now that you have?” Harry asked.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back,” the blond smiled. “Not sure if I’d even want to.”
Harry looked up at him, those same emerald eyes he’d always had somehow even more beautiful than before.
“Kiss me, Draco.”
And Draco did. He knew as soon as their lips met he’d never be able to stop this, to stop him and Harry. No matter what his family or friends or anyone wanted, Draco would stay with Harry and he hoped Harry would do the same.
*
Years down the line Draco Malfoy-Potter would be eating breakfast in the kitchen as his husband made coffee, he would turn to Harry and ask, “do you remember our first kiss?”
“How could I not,” Harry would respond, “moonlight corridors, declarations of love-“
“Slight exaggeration.”
“They may as well have been,” laughing he continues, “we were such dramatic dumbarses!”
“You’re missing a key thing, Harry dear,” Draco would tell him, “we were two dumbarses in love.” Harry would take a sip of his coffee and continue to giggle.
“That we were,” walking to Draco and placing a kiss on his forehead, “that we were.”