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Snape was gonna have their necks, they were late again. For the third time this week! Ron and Harry gave each other worried looks as they halted their run as they approached the door.
“I hope we get fancy coffins for our funeral.” Harry tried his best to keep his laugh in at Ron’s word, he really shouldn’t find it funny when they really were probably going to get murdered.
Ron reluctantly turned the handle, walking through as Harry followed. The class didn’t immediately look up, way too immersed with what they were brewing in their cauldrons.
“Well boys, late for the third time this week. 10 points from Gryffindor.” That’s when they had eyes on them, the Gryffindor’s groaning and scowling at the two whilst the Slytherin’s chuckled at their misfortune.
Harry tried to hold in his annoyance, knowing that Snape would very gladly take more points if he felt like it. The boys shared a look as Ron rushed to his seat, luckily near the front so they wouldn’t have to do the walk of shame to the back.
Before Harry could even take a step, he paused - a strong smell crawling up under his nose. He recognised it instantly, Malfoy’s cologne. No matter what, it seemed he couldn’t get rid of the blonde haired git.
“Why does the room smell like it’s drenched in Malfoy’s cologne? And hair gel. Damn, that vanilla’s ruining my nose.”
He hadn’t meant to say it loud, his intention was for only Ron to hear. That didn’t happen, goddamn for him not realising how loud his voice was. He should know how to whisper after all this time.
Silence, even Snape’s angry stare had faltered. Harry didn’t understand why there was so much silence, he hadn’t said anything bad or offensive. When he caught Hermione’s stare he knew something was wrong, Draco’s eyes were also cemented to him.
“Harry…” Oh no, this was not good. His friends voice was slow and careful, at first not knowing whether to carry on with her sentence or just try forget. Harry felt the eyes of everybody boring holes into him, the attention making him want to curl in on himself. He hated attention.
“This is Amortentia, Harry. It smells differently to everyone according to what attracts them.”
The whole room was so silent that if a pin were to drop, it would make everybody jump. Harry felt the heat rush to his face, he was positive that the rest of the class could see it too. His throat had gone dry, unable to get any words of defence out.
Nobody had spoken, Harry was honestly just shocked at how he’d managed to make Snape speechless. No longer looking angry, but smug. A slight grin starting to appear on his face. The look on Ron’s face, however, was a lot different. One of pure shock.
It felt like he had been standing there for hours, not daring to meet eyes with Malfoy. Harry could only squeak out the word “fuck” before bolting for the door, he would’ve feared his teacher’s reaction to him swearing if he hadn’t just exposed a crush he didn’t even know he had!
“That was interesting.” Professor Snape finally let the grin show on his face, momentarily shocking the students that their teacher was almost smiling - in a way. Hermione was squirming in her seat, wanting to go check on her friend.
“What do you smell, Malfoy?” Ron couldn’t help but ask, turning around in his chair.
The blonde boy was honestly in shock himself, Potter had a crush on him? He tried his best to keep the blush off his cheeks. If he had to say so himself, he had done an extraordinarily good job at hiding his own crush. Rather than showing the affection he wanted, he made snide remarks and gave rotten stares. Having Potter act the same way back stopped any signs of feelings bubbling over, that worked in the beginning anyway. Then Draco found himself straight back in his predicament, his crush on the one and only Harry Potter.
“Draco.” He was nudged by Goyle next to him, cursing himself at how he jumped.
“Am I really gonna be forced to answer.” He rolled his eyes to show his annoyance, exhaling loudly as Snape stared him down.
“Well, I was gonna go round the room anyway and ask everyone what they smelled. Might as well start with you.” Draco hated the smug smirk on Snape’s face right now.
Hermione’s hand shot up, temporarily distracting everybody for a moment. Snape nodded towards her, a way of silently saying ‘yes’. Nobody would’ve thought Snape’s behaviour would change in this way, now they were sixth years - he showed more affection. Kinda. Very rarely, the class still appreciated it.
“When can I go check on Harry, sir?” Snape thought for a moment, a thought fleeting across his head as he almost chuckled.
“As soon as Malfoy answers my question.” Hermione had a relieved expression on her face, glancing over at Draco - as she muttered a ‘hurry up’.
“But. You must bring him back, he can’t be missing out on anymore lessons now, can he?” Ron gave the other a slight worried look, knowing Harry would not wanna come back into the classroom after this. Nobody had laughed though, but if anybody could persuade him it was Hermione.
“Now, Draco, please answer. What do you smell?”
He let out a defeated sigh, moving over his cauldron to inhale. His senses were filled instantly, for a second he considered lying but knew that somehow Snape would probably figure it out.
“I smell a scent of bubbles, treacle tart and a woody scent - like from a broomstick handle.”
In an instant, Ron and Hermione’s eyes locked again. Unless they were imagining it, they were sure that Harry smelt like that.
“Hermione, you may go now. You can tell the class what you smell after you get back.” The girl nodded, jumping out of her seat and jogging to the door. As soon as it was shut she began frantically looking, knowing all of his hiding spaces it definitely wouldn’t be hard.
“Harry!” She heard some slight banging, storage closet. Of course. She ran over to the door, muttering ‘Alohmora’ as the lock clicked.
She pushed the door open to see Harry sitting on the floor, head between his legs.
“Oh Harry.” Hermione sat down along with him, wrapping an arm around him.
“I can never go into that class ever again. Fuck that, I can never look at Malfoy again.” Finally lifting his head, his heart still hammering. His self loathing was cut short, however, when he heard his friend sniffing him.
“Hermione, what on earth are you-“
“Oh my god, Harry.” Her eyes sparkled, igniting the curiosity in Harry. As he gave her a questioning gaze, hoping the look explained his question.
“Snape asked Draco to say what he smelled, he smells you!” Immediately, Harry put his head back down - cradling it with his hands.
“You’re just lying to make me feel better.”
Then with a blink, he felt a pain in his ear. Hermione had tugged him off the ground by his ear.
“Ouch Hermione! What the f-“
She only rolled her eyes, grabbing his bag and dragging him out of the closet. Ironic.
“I promise, I wouldn’t lie to you about that. That bubble body wash you use that somehow smells like bubbles, I can explain all sorts of spells but I cannot even start on that. How bubbles have a smell.” Hermione giggled, going on a small tangent.
“Nox.” Quickly shutting the door after extinguishing Harry’s wand, they weren’t too far from the classroom. Hopefully, Snape was still in his decent mood. She didn’t miss Harry’s worried gaze around them, as if the whole class was gonna jump out and poke fun.
“He also smells treacle tart and the wood smell from a broomstick handle.” Harry’s cheeks darkened once more, he did smell like that. Hermione chuckled softly, pushing his unruly hair from his eyes.
“I don’t think I can face him, or them. Even if it is me that he smells, what if everybody makes fun.” Hermione couldn’t hide the sympathy from her face.
“Harry, nobody laughed or made fun. They were just, shocked. It’s not everyday that rivals accidentally admit their love for each other.” Harry couldn’t help but match his friends chuckle.
“Now come on, Ron will be worried.”
They ran back to the classroom, stopping as they came to the door. Harry peaked through the window before slamming himself back against the wall.
“Hermione, I can’t.” Harry half shrieked, making the other pull a shushing gesture at him.
Inside the classroom, Ron whipped his head towards the door at hearing his friends voices. Draco also looked, equally as nervous as Potter to face him. There were a few hushed whispers going around the room.
The rest of the class had already said what they had smelled, there were now many more blushing faces now. Some realising that maybe Draco and Harry weren’t the only ones to figure out their crushes.
“Shush! Quiet!” At first, the class just thought Snape was being how he normally was - strict. Then they saw his face, he was eavesdropping. Encouraging the class to do the same, that hadn’t changed.
“Hey, just look at me. We either stay out here or have our entrails hanged on the outside of Hogwarts for not coming back quick enough!”
This caused some students to chuckle, including Snape.
“Jesus! That’s way too descriptive.”
“I just need a moment, fuck. I have the worst luck ever. First Voldemort and now this!”
“Come on, Harry. One of those things is most definitely worse than the other.” She rolled her eyes at his dramatics, a fond smile on her lips.
“I didn’t even know I was gay.” That made her serious up for a moment.
“Really?” Harry caught her eye instantly, a suspicious speck in his eyes.
“Why really? Am I that obvious? How could I not know?” Harry was genuinely shocked. Well now the longer he thought about it, the more it started to make sense.
“The girlfriends, Harry. All they wanted to do was makeout and you always had an excuse. I can’t believe to avoid bedding that girl you said your scar hurt and that Voldemort was coming, that was awful!” Her words were strong, yet she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.
“Hey! You don’t know how insufferable it is to try get turned on by a girl! It’s incredibly frustrating!” The look he received from Hermione made his mouth stop running. “Okay, maybe I’ve been questioning and experimenting for a while…”
“Yeah, I know.”
The class was silent, Snape had tried to go back to talking but the rest of the room were just too damn nosy. He had told the ones who hadn’t completed the potion evaluation work to do so now, he had tried to busy himself with some paperwork as this was done but the rest who had finished listened closely. Ron turned around.
“Isn’t this a very personal conversation for everybody to hear?” An uncomfortable look on his face, feeling bad. When Pansy stood up, he honestly thought he was gonna get decked. That was until she waltzed over and sat on his table.
“Hey. Let’s not lie here, most of us in this room are probably curious - sexuality wise - so we all understand. Right? Even if you’re straight, you don’t say anything rude about it or I’ll beat you to a pulp.” Pansy smiled brightly, contrasting highly to her previous threatening words.
She smiled down at Ron warmly, usually all they’d do is make snide remarks and faces at each other so this was nice. Maybe the whole Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry could stop for a little, the whole class was also glad that Snape was choosing to ignore them.
“I just wanted to say, when Potter comes in. Anything homophobic comes out of any of your mouths and I’ll shove my fist so far down your throat that-“
“Parkinson.” Snape looked up to her, there wasn’t malice in his tone though. Just a slight warning, she could see that there was no anger in his eyes.
“Sorry Professor, just letting them know.”
“There’s nothing to be nervous about, Harry. The worst thing that could happen is you and Draco have a duel in there, or that could be the best thing - depending on what kind of duel.” Hermione winked, revelling in the blush that dusted Harry’s cheeks. He gave her a nudge.
“‘Mione! They can probably hear you!” He stopped for a moment, before a horrified look grazed his features.
“What if they’ve heard everything…”
The class, once again, went silent.
“Oh fucking god, what if they heard every single word! You just had to bring up the shit to do with sex and Draco!” Harry panicked, the other tried her best not to laugh.
“Oh come on, we know that you aren’t the only one that likes guys in that room.” For some reason that settled him slightly, sending an apologetic glance at his friend for his words. Hermione didn’t even have to reply, she understood.
As soon as Hermione opened the door, the rest of the class pretended to be immersed in their work whilst trying to subtly sneak glances. Harry just hoped his cheeks weren’t as red as he imagined they were, his face so hot it felt scolded. He whispered to his friend, quietly asking. Incredibly relieved when she said that he looked fine.
When Harry had the heart to look up, he saw Pansy Parkinson sitting on his table. God, he didn’t think he could use his voice right now. All she did was smile, warmly at him? Before winking towards Hermione, which made the girl blush slightly, as she made her way back to her seat. She was instantly sent a questioning look from Harry.
“How nice of you to join us again, Potter.” Harry sat down, full of nerves. He could once again feel the eyes of everyone on him, what he didn’t realise was that Draco also had eyes on him.
“Sorry sir, I just-“
“Needed a moment? That’s fine, we all do.” Harry was suspicious of Snape’s words, Ron’s smile made him realise that maybe he was just being nice today.
“It’s okay, by the way. Liking guys, I do too. Nobody in here cares either and Pansy threatened that if any of them were to say something, she’d fuck them up - to put it simply.” Harry could barely believe it, Pansy would stick up for him?
He turned around, searching for her. Smiling as he caught her eyes, she reciprocated the smile. That made him feel a lot better. Then Draco caught his eye, for a moment he couldn’t breathe before he managed to turn back around.
What if Hermione had lied, what if the other boy hadn’t said that at all. His panic was soon forcefully erased by Snape’s voice.
“So I think I forgot, Draco, could you please repeat what you smelt?”
Draco’s incredibly pale complexion did nothing to save him from the dusting of red covering his cheek, goddamn Snape.
“I already read mine out though, sir.” Snape held back a grin.
“We didn’t have a full class then, Malfoy.” He made sure to glance at Harry. Either he was the best matchmaker in the world or it was his goal to embarrass him until he died. Draco groaned in response, the potion not being the main source of smell anymore. Now, he could smell it directly on Harry. Fuck, it was intoxicating.
“A bubble scent, wood from a broomstick handle and treacle tart.” He had barely mumbled the words audibly, everyone had heard them though.
Harry’s heart pounded in his chest at the audible confirmation, he still had many doubts though. Surely he wasn’t the only student to smell like that, he was probably just confusing him for someone else. Malfoy’s scent was now starting to burn his senses in a really good way, his mind was starting to go fuzzy.
“Usually, I’d ask for you all to take a sip. But in this case, I think I’m just curious as to what will happen without them.”
“Class is dismissed, I hope you enjoy your free period. I can’t wait to see you in 2 days time.” The class all shared a puzzled look, Snape had never looked so excited for them to come back. Usually, he was having to hold back from cursing them.
Everyone started gathering their belongings, standing up and heading to the door.
“Granger, Potter, Weasley-“
“God what did we do this time?” Ron whispered to Harry, as the other shrugged his shoulders. Hoping it wasn’t about his and Hermione’s talk outside, damn these walls were thin.
“-Parkinson and Malfoy, please stay behind.” Harry gulped. The remaining class stared at them all, a fog like whisper hitting the rest like waves. Unable to do anything but discuss what the fuck had just happened.
The 5 sat back down, until Snape motioned for them to all sit at the front. Hermione made her way over to Harry and Ron whilst Draco and Pansy sat at the table beside them.
Harry rubbed his eyes before shoving a hand through his hair, doing everything he could to just not look at his enemy. Well, former enemy? He had no fucking idea. It was difficult though, Malfoy was rather good looking.
Shit, he was staring. Instead of being met with the face of certain death, he was met with a blushing Draco. Unexpected, certainly not a bad thing though. Their moment was interrupted as Snape moved to the front.
“I just wanted to say, Harry. Maybe try cut down the cursing, I understand the circumstances. Plus, you’ve caught me on a good day. So a warning is all you’re getting.” Hermione smiled happily, glad he wasn’t getting in trouble like usual.
“Please refrain from talking outside the door though, you know how thin these walls are.” Harry visibly cringed.
“You heard everything?” He gulped as Snape nodded. Well, there goes officially coming out.
“I’m not done with you just yet, we’ll talk about this again but not today. Now I’d like to go to Pansy for a minute.” For a moment she thought she might’ve been in trouble but after seeing Snape’s eyes, she knew she was fine.
“I’m not supposed to say this but I would like to thank you for what you said today. I’m legally not allowed to endorse shoving a fist down somebody’s throat, however, you made those with “not socially normal” sexualities feel comfortable. That’s admirable. I wish that growing up we would have had someone like you around.”
All 5 of them couldn’t but softly smile at his words, it was rare that Snape opened up or even just complimented them. Spoke nicely, it was very reassuring and just nice.
“I appreciate your approach to it. I don’t like to say this very often, but I’m proud of you.” Okay, Snape must’ve been replaced or something. The quick flash of a stern look that he gave showed that he hadn’t though, he was still the same Snape. Just a good day.
“Hermione and Ron, the way you care for your friends is wonderful. It’s very nice to see your support and how you’ve grown together.” He flashed them all a genuine smile, they couldn’t help the slight happiness they felt.
“I also know that none of you would want to be known as “snitches” but if anybody ever shit talks you for something you can’t change, tell a te- never mind. Tell Pansy.” That was the first time they’ve seen the professor smile properly in a long while, it was strange to see. They knew he had a heart but his behaviour in their previous years had made them try think of him as a monster. Now they were older, everything was a lot less cloudy. They also were all kinda shocked that he had just swore in front of him.
Pansy looked at the three, once again smiling towards them. It was a different feeling. Instead of dread that another argument was brewing, it now felt much more calm and relaxed.
“We had a stupid feud, all of us. Can we just, move forward?” Instantly, they nodded. Snape bit back a smile too, not wanting them to think he was too nice.
“My words for Malfoy and Potter, take a hint.” He then motioned towards the door, excusing them.
They all grabbed their bags and walked towards the door, sharing small glances with each other. Hermione had Harry’s hand within hers tightly, feeling good after the talk.
“Hermione, Ron?” The two looked at Pansy after hearing their names, sending her a curious glance. Grinning when she nodded her head towards Harry and Draco.
“You wanna come hang out with me and study for a bit?” They caught what she meant straight away, Pansy gently pulled their robes towards her and they started to walk off.
“Are we not invited?” Draco’s stomach was filled with very aggressive butterflies, he didn’t know whether to thank or be mad with Pansy for leaving them alone.
“You are, just after you’ve talked.” She shared a glance with the other two, waving as she tugged them both along.
“Potter.”
“Malfoy.”
They jumped when they heard tapping at the window, it was Snape ushering them away. Draco sighed, getting ready to speak.
“Storage closet?” Harry beat him to it, surprising himself at how calm his voice was despite his nerves.
“Sure.” He paused a minute before finally locking eyes with his former rival, his stomach swirling. “We’re gonna talk, aren’t we?” Dreading it whilst also thankful, it had been way too long.
The two began walking as Harry led the way, taking the other to the closet where he was not long ago hiding. Hermione, Ron and Pansy who were hiding behind the wall all grinned. Finally deciding to give them their privacy as the walked away.
“Hagrid gave me a key, whenever I have a panic attack. It can also be used for hiding me, you know, Voldemort.” Draco cringed slightly at the use of his name, Harry’s enemy always gave him immense creeps.
Harry turned the key, quickly pulling him inside and shutting the door. Actually turning on the light this time instead of using his wand. As soon as the door shut, Draco dropped his bag to the floor - as did Harry. Neither knowing who was gonna find the courage to speak first.
“Our rivalry is stupid.” Harry spoke first, his eyes meeting Draco’s grey ones. He’d always found them beautiful, he tried to shake the thoughts and focus. Preparing himself to get majorly rejected.
“I agree. It only started because I was a stubborn little child who lashed out when I didn’t get what I wanted.” Draco felt guilt run through his veins, the regret showing on his face.
“Hey, I wasn’t any better. I could’ve put a stop to it.” Harry placed a comforting hand on the other’s shoulder, he smiled.
“Now that we agree on that, we should stop beating around the bush.” Harry could tell Draco was about to speak so interrupted, looking down to the ground.
“I like you. There’s no point denying it, you now know from earlier. I always questioned why I could never get you out of my head. I just thought that’s what enemies were like, obsessing every moment. After speaking to Hermione I realised, I’ve always liked you. I always pushed those feelings to the back because I was too stupid to realise that it wasn’t normal and that I wasn’t straight, I guess you’ve already heard the story thanks to those shitty thin walls.”
Draco could not believe his ears, he thought the other would be a lot more shy and unwilling to share his feelings. For some reason, he just accepted that he was the one to get rejected. This, this was music to his ears.
“So I just wanted to say that yes, I really like you. But I hate the way that you smell so good and I never thought I’d be admitting this but here we are. If you don’t like me back, that’s fine.” Harry let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding.
He was terrified to meet his gaze again, the only sound was their breathing and the shoes of people outside hitting the ground. It felt a lot longer than it was as he looked up, once again making eye contact. His worries were slowly starting to melt away, just from the gaze coming from Draco.
“I like you too. I’ve liked you for a long time, it’s weird to know you like me too. For a while, I know this is no excuse, I was terrified of my father.”
Harry frowned at the mention of Lucius, whilst Draco dumbed it down, Harry knew how awful a father he was and blamed him for a lot of what went down between him and Draco.
“He always drilled in me to be perfect, the best at everything. My mother helped a lot, butting in when he went too far. But many times, she got scared and didn’t.”
Harry couldn’t help the look of sympathy on his face, his heart ached at the thought. The Dursley’s and Lucius must’ve shared some traits, just slightly different.
“Most importantly, he wanted me to marry. A woman. So when he found gay porn magazines he was not happy.”
He laughed a little humorously, Harry confided in the other laughing at trauma. Hopefully now instead of using that to cope, they could confide in each other.
“My mother wasn’t mad, only scared of his reaction. I started acting out at school, he was trying to force me to be a person I didn’t want to be. I didn’t and still don’t want to be an evil person, I want to be good. He hated that. I’m not blaming him for it all though, I was a prick.” Harry laughed softly.
“You kinda were.” For a moment they got lost in each other’s eyes, never having been this close unless they were fighting. As cliche as it is, it felt like they were looking into each others souls.
“I just wanna say sorry for it, what I did and said. To your friends too, they didn’t deserve it.” He looked down to the floor, a guilty expression once again on his face. Harry decided he hated the look.
He tucked a finger under Draco’s chin, pulling his face up to look at him. Draco couldn’t help but blush at the gesture, his heart hammering in his chest.
“I’m sorry as well, I was a dick too.” Malfoy smiled, as Harry moved his hand to the side of his face. The touch so gentle.
“As harsh as it sounds, I’m just glad he’s dead. Mother seems so much happier and I can finally be who I want to be.” Harry smiled back, not faulting him for being happier now that Lucius was gone.
“Draco?” Harry stepped closer, his eyes dropping down to his mouth.
“Yeah?” He was melting under Harry’s gaze, the butterflies were back. He could barely breathe at how warm and inviting his hand was.
“Can I kiss you now?”
This was incredibly cliche but Draco couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as Harry stepped even closer, his hand snaking up to the back of his blonde hair.
“Absolutely.”
Instantly, they both leaned in. Their mouths moving together in a perfect rhythm, almost like their bodies were made to be together. The hand that Harry had snaked into Draco’s hair was now pulling, succeeding in deepening the kiss.
Malfoy’s arms were wrapped loosely around the other’s neck, his entire body full of warmth. Still in a little shock that he was kissing Harry Potter, the one he used to hate, used to be his enemy, now their lips were moving together in sync. So close that they couldn’t possibly be any closer.
Harry’s tongue licked across Draco’s bottom lip, he gave him access immediately. The blonde was melting into every touch, the way Harry sucked on his tongue before going back to nipping his lip made him moan contently.
Their lungs were burning for air as they finally pulled back, their lips slick with each other’s spit in a way that should be gross but was obscenely amazing. Even after that kiss, they looked at each other shyly. Still wrapped up in each other.
Harry leaned his forehead against Draco’s, the both of them smiling.
“I’m never letting you go.”
“Please don’t.”