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Harry did not want to be here. He sighed. Ron just wouldn’t let him stay in the dorm tonight. "Everyone'll be there!" was the selling point for too many of these parties. Harry knew what 'everyone' meant. It meant Draco Malfoy. His... What? Not-quite arch-nemesis, not-quite friend? They had made up a bit after the war, but it wasn't like they were on friendly speaking terms. Harry took a deep breath and stepped into the Hufflepuff common room where he was immediately wrapped up in a familiar embrace.
"Cedric!"
"Harry! It's been too long!"
Harry and Cedric had bonded during the Triwizard Tournament. When Cedric insisted they both grab the cup at the same time and nothing bad had happened afterword. They had been fast friends ever since. Harry had insisted Cedric keep all the winnings, of course.
Cedric pulled Harry over to a group of his friends, and less than an hour later he was, well, not all that drunk, really. Harry disliked drinking, and he absolutely hated getting drunk. Draco however, was sloshed. He had staggered in a few minutes after Harry had arrived, totally out of it, with Pansy and Blaise in tow. They weren’t completely sober either but holding it together better than Draco was.
Cedric's group of friends had, at some point, expanded to include all the guests. There was about an even split of all the houses, which Harry liked to see. They had gotten closer after the war, and it helped that Slytherin house hadn’t abandoned them during the battle of Hogwarts. But now the group was all seated in a circle, playing truth or dare.
"Harry, truth or dare?" Cedric asked.
Harry thought for a second, "Truth."
"Aww, you're boring, mate.” Cedric thought for a moment, "did you really want to keep some of the money from the Triwizard Tournament?"
Harry shook his head, "I told you, you deserve it more than me."
Cedric nodded solemnly, "I still have your half if you want it."
Harry smiled and shook his head good-naturedly. Then Harry asked Pansy to kiss the prettiest person in the room (she kissed herself on the hand) and she loudly, and drunkenly, announced that this game was boring and they should play something else. An empty bottle of Firewhiskey was produced from somewhere and they began a game of 7 minutes in heaven.
After Pansy spent 7 minutes in a broom closet with a girl from Hufflepuff that Harry was pretty sure had asked him to the Yule Ball, she passed the bottle to Harry. He spun and it landed on Draco.
The room went silent. After a few seconds, Draco drunkenly stood up.
"Well, let's get this over with." He grabbed Harry by the hand, yanking him up and into the broom closet.
The closet was large enough that two people could stand together relatively comfortable, but three would have been a squeeze. They stood silently, facing each other in the dark closet.
After a few seconds, Draco broke the silence. “Why aren’t we friends?”
“I, uh-”
“Why didn’t we become friends after the war? After I… got better.”
“You never reached out.”
“Neither did you,” Draco shrugged.
Harry paused, thinking about his answer.
"You make me nervous," Harry said.
"Why?"
"You're just so..." he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Intense."
When Draco didn’t respond after a few seconds, he opened one eye and peered up at him.
"Good intense?" Draco asked.
Harry paused again. "Malfoy intense.”
Draco frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Harry sighed and closed his eyes again. “You care very much about your family, and your family doesn’t care for me at all. Not that I care for them much, anyhow. I always assumed you’d pick your family over me.”
“I probably would have…” Draco said, not meeting Harry’s eyes, “But not so much anymore. Can’t I choose both? I don’t have to believe everything my parents tell me, you know.”
“Ok, so, do you want to be friends?”
Draco nodded, but Harry could see he was avoiding eye contact.
“Draco?” Harry said into the dark.
“Yeah?”
“I’m gay.”
“That makes two of us, then.” He still didn’t meet Harry’s eyes.
Silence.
“Draco?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to be more than friends?”
At this, Draco finally looked up. “Is that an option?”
Harry shrugged. “We just became friends, let’s not rush it.”
Draco nodded.
Silence.
“Can I kiss you?” Draco asked.
“You’re drunk.”
“‘M not!” Draco protested.
“Ech, I can smell it on you, Draco.”
Draco pouted, but they stood in amicable silence until Cedric knocked on the door to let them out.
When they left the closet, the room was silent, and all eyes were on them. They sat back down in the spots they had vacated, and Harry slid the bottle to Blaise, who was sitting next to him. He heard him mutter something under his breath, as he spun, and the bottle landed on Ginny.