Chapter Text
Harry sat there, head propped on his elbow, and bored to death.
After Parvati had run off to dance with a boy from Beauxbatons a few hours ago, the evening had turned into a dull haze of boredom. Not that he held it against her or anything, in fact, he was glad that she and Padma had left him and Ron. They would have more fun this way and maybe make something out of this evening after all.
He had been left with nothing but a Butterbeer in his hand and Ron at his left, who wasn’t helping much with Harry’s boredom either, staring silently at Hermione from across the room.
Speaking of Butterbeer, he realized that he should probably get a refill if he wanted to survive the rest of the evening, and got up from his place next to Ron, who didn't even notice him leave.
His stomach growled at the sight of the food on the tables, and although he had eaten more than enough before the dance, he sighed and added a snack to the list as well.
So as he was making his way to the end of the table, a sudden kind of dizziness overwhelmed him, the room turned before his eyes and he was stumbling violently towards one of the nearby tables to prop himself up. It seems like he wasn’t so sure on his feet as he had first thought, and that he probably shouldn’t have stood up so fast after sitting there for several hours.
“Merlin, can’t you watch your feet, Potter?!”
Harry’s head flew up and he glanced warily towards the direction of the voice. Malfoy was standing before him, ever-present sneer plastered on his face and wearing black robes with a high collar. Harry thought they made him look like a pompous git.
“Shut up, Malfoy,” Harry said tiredly and straightened up. It was a low comeback, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with him just now.
“My, aren’t you in a bad mood. Are you upset because that foul Gryffindor girl has left you by yourself?”
“And you? Shouldn’t you be swirling off with your date right now, whoever it is?”
Malfoy pulled a face. “I’m sure Pansy will excuse me if I go grab a drink for a minute.” He stared Harry in the eyes, “Because unlike some, I have a partner that didn’t run off the moment they finished dancing with me.”
Harry glowered at him. “I’ll have you know I could be an adequate dance partner if I want to try, Malfoy.”
He snorted. “Anyone who witnessed the dance before would disagree. Especially someone with actual dancing experience.”
Harry wrinkled his nose and stepped forward away from the table. “You think you could do better, Malfoy?” he growled and sighed inwardly. Malfoy always found a way to wind him up over the worst sort of things.
It was a challenge, and judging by the mischievous smirk on his face, Malfoy had realized it too.
“Oh, please. Is that even a question?”
Suddenly Draco's eyes twinkled mischievously and Harry didn't realize what was happening until they were standing an arm's length apart and Malfoy had put his hand on Harry's waist. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed furiously.
Malfoy smirked at him, “Obviously I’m leading, what do you think I’m doing?”
Harry grumpily scowled back at him and surrendered to his fate. Malfoy’s hand grew painfully firm, and Harry yelped.
“Oi! Watch yourself, Malfoy!” he cried out, and surprisingly, his grip grew slightly less painful
Malfoy's other hand snatched Harry's, and Harry had no more time to think about the sudden change in Malfoy’s behavior.
Reluctantly Harry latched onto the competition again. He glared at Malfoy one last time and pressed his hand on his shoulder, so much he was sure it had to hurt.
“I’m sure you know the basics of dancing, right? Malfoy said and added: "Though, on the other hand, it didn’t seem like it during your dance before.”
“Of course I know the basics. I’m not stupid!”
“I’m not quite sure I believe that.” And then, without any second warning, started moving. Harry was taken aback by the abruptness and stumbled inconspicuously after him. Though, if Malfoy’s irritated expression was anything to go by, not successfully.
“Just don’t trip over my feet, Potter, it can’t be that difficult.”
"You try to keep up with this ridiculous pace." Harry grumbled, but he was more focused on not stumbling at the moment than on anything else.
Still lagging behind him, Harry started to slowly adjust to the movements of the dance and relaxed somewhat. He felt Malfoy’s hand on his waist tugging him along and guiding him, intentionally or not, and, although he didn’t want to, Harry felt glad about it.
It was then that he looked up from their feet up to Malfoy for the first time since the dance began. He looked at their interjoined hands and his own uselessly laying on Malfoy’s shoulder. He glanced from his shoulder up to his face, and only noticed at that moment how close the two of them were standing to each other. Actually, it was the first time Harry had ever been this close to Malfoy outside their fights before, and he took this opportunity to really look at his face for the first time. He presumed he wouldn’t look all that bad if wasn’t for that nearly ever-present sneer-
All of the sudden, Malfoy’s sneer turned into a teasing smile and Harry had only a millisecond to proceed what he was about to do before he dipped Harry right then and there.
His hand moved to Harry's back to prop him up and he leaned down to Harry. " Admiring my looks, are we?" he taunted under his breath before pulling him up again.
Slightly disorientated, Harry smirked right back at him. “You wish.”
Malfoy scoffed opposite to him and stayed silent. Then he maneuvered Harry out of the little spot they had been staying in before and Harry decided that he’d had enough. No longer needing to stare at his feet to watch his steps anymore he full-on stared Malfoy right into the eyes and steered against his lead. It was then that their dance turned into something a little more reminiscent of their usual interactions, each of them tried to overpower the other to get the lead. They moved across the dance floor rapidly, making odd little circles, more fighting than dancing with each other.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was surprised they hadn’t crashed into some other couple already and looked away from Malfoy at his surroundings, and his blood ran cold. Many of the students had stopped dancing and in the whirlwind of their movements, he saw the shocked and surprised faces of the crowd spin around them.
Suddenly he had to close his eyes from the flickering lights and brought his eyes back at Malfoy again.
“Doesn’t this bother you at all?” Harry spoke up softly.
“What? The audience? Or the fact that I’m currently making a decent dancer out of Harry bloody Potter?” he looked contemplative for a while, “The second one definitely bothers me more.”
Harry couldn’t help but snort. “I actually meant the first one, but thanks.”
“Oh, the only ability you have to dance is only because of my being here, Potter,” he retorted.
“Very reassuring,” Harry muttered under his breath, which earned him a glare from Malfoy.
“… but to answer your question, I for one certainly enjoy being the center for attention.”
Harry snickered and rolled his eyes. “Yes, we all know you’re very dramatic.”
Malfoy stared at him in silence for a few seconds and then the most unexpected thing of the entire evening happened as if the whole rest of the evening hadn't been bizarre enough.
He laughed, actually laughed at Harry.
Not one of the smiles of before, the smirks or the sneers, the ones he had mocked him with, or the ones he put up to accessorize his words. No, it was an actual laugh, and at that moment something akin to understanding settled in Harry’s stomach. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
At that moment, the world seemed to only consist of them, as the lights spiraled around them as the music hit its peak. The hand on his waist and the other in his own, grasping it firmly, was the only thing he was feeling, heck, even his feet didn't seem to touch the ground anymore, almost as if they were floating. Sweat ran down Harry's face. But he didn’t mind. He didn’t feel the exhaustion at all.
He felt weightless.
Malfoy made a little twirl, but Harry didn’t stumble, didn’t even break out of the strange feeling that was surrounding them, he just followed Malfoy’s lead and for that one time, giving control to someone else felt comforting, not frustrating. The lights of the feast twirled around them as they spiraled faster and faster and made turn by turn, step by step, more and more quickly, and Harry was firmly convinced his feet had left the ground by now.
And then…
It stopped.
And then they were standing there, gasping for air, the exhaustion finally having caught up with them. The music had suddenly stopped, and all that Harry could hear was the sound of people speaking and whispering.
It was then that Harry remembered that they were still in the Great Hall and that there were still people surrounding them, watching them, and he finally broke his gaze away from Malfoy and looked around.
There were barely any couples left on the dance floor anymore, and the stares of the people on him felt uncomfortable, even though he should be used to all the attention at this point in his life, it felt overwhelming. And when he couldn’t bear their stares anymore, he looked back at Malfoy again, and what he saw there was an odd reflection of his own feelings.
He saw the conflict, the confusion, and something else he easily identified as self-hatred, because oh, how well Harry knew that look. Then something changed again, and Harry saw how sadness overcame Malfoy, just for one short moment, before it was swiftly replaced with a mask of Malfoy’s well-practiced sneer.
Because Harry recognized it as a mask now, and he saw the different emotions swirling beneath it. So, instead of being offended he just smiled at Malfoy, turned away, and walked back to his seat next to Ron, who looked just as confused and shocked as Harry felt himself. New couples slowly filled the dance floor and the evening continued, although Harry still heard the whispers in the back of his mind and felt their eyes on him.
And when he eventually stood up again and walked to the table to finally grab some food, Malfoy was nowhere to be found.