Chapter Text
Harry Potter is going to be crushed to death.
There are entirely too many people at King’s Cross Station, a cacophony of voices surround Harry. He’s being squished between Ron and Hermione, and some other family he doesn’t know is behind him. Granted, Harry knows nothing will happen but that doesn’t stop the slight panic in his voice when he asks Hermione, “Why are there so many?”.
Hermione looks slightly annoyed at the family jostling them further. Her response is snappy, “Harry I don’t know everything”. She winces at her tone and continues, “Sorry, we just need to keep moving and get to the platform before one of us gets seriously hurt!”. Harry, slightly put out by Hermione’s beratement, nods then pushes through the crowd. Ron towered over everyone and didn’t seem as worried. The trio eventually made their way through to get to the barrier, and they all ran through one by one without a hitch.
The three Gryffindor’s simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief.
“Merlin! I’ve never seen so many muggles at once! Wizards too!”, Ron exclaimed looking entirely too calm on the matter.
“I know I honestly thought I was going to suffocate to death”, Harry laughed feeling less panicked now that he wasn’t shoulder to shoulder with strangers.
Ron grinned and punched his shoulder chuckling as well. Hermione just shook her head fondly and ushered them towards the train. Harry and Ron followed suit, feeling much like ducklings trailing after their mother.
Harry smiled to himself but also felt his stomach in knots. He was happy to be going back to Hogwarts to finish the year that had been stolen. He worried about what it will be like to face the memories of the war then thought about his meeting with McGonagall earlier this summer. He was ecstatic, at first, when Professor McGonagall arranged a meeting to talk to him about how he was doing, where he’s been, and to propose the idea of an eighth year. Her eyes still held a sort of strength that Harry wished his did and she was still stern as ever. However her tone began to soften when she looked at Harry, and her eyes held a wet gleam. He’d listened intently and her words started to ease some of the anxiety he’d felt about the idea of returning. After many funerals and many Ministry hearings, maybe what Harry needed was a just a boring, normal year at Hogwarts.
When they rounded a corner and passed a wizarding family saying goodbye to their children, one of them looked especially nervous.
Probably a first year Harry thought to himself.
They passed the family and Harry started to feel a little better. That is, until he spotted a flash of white-blonde hair and he felt his stomach do a strange sort of lurch. Standing in front of one of the entrances to the train was Draco Malfoy. His blonde hair fell carelessly around his face but somehow, he managed to make it seem purposeful. Harry noticed his face was absent of any sneer that was permanently painted on back then. Instead, his mouth was set into a thin line and shoulders tense, resting high enough to reach his ears. He was, surprisingly, wearing clothes that could pass for muggle. He wore an expensive looking dark grey button-down shirt and black slacks, paired with what Harry thought were funny looking loafers.
Harry must have been staring as long as Malfoy seemed to be hesitating, because he saw an out of focus hand wave in front of his face and he blinked once then Hermione’s hand came into view. He snapped his focus to her and she gave him a funny look. He grinned sheepishly as she had probably been talking to him and he’d been ignoring her for hopefully not an embarrassingly long time.
“Honestly,” she started, sounding exasperated, “we need to board quickly! He is going to be there all year Harry, so you’ll can deal with him then, but we need to go now!”.
Harry felt his face heat up and was about to squawk out a rebuttal, but Ron nudged him and shook his head quickly. The redhead took a quick glance at Malfoy and frowned, then gestured his head towards the train and the three picked up their belongings and boarded the train.
The ride to Hogwarts was quiet and peaceful. Luna and Neville joined them in their compartment and Harry smiled at Luna’s explanation of nargles and how Harry’s head was still full of them. Harry saw Hermione roll her eyes and Ron failing to hide his laughter. He chuckled at Neville, being the only one listening to Luna with reverence. His mind drifted away and he looked out the window, watching the scenery, flashes of the blues and greens. His stomach no longer in knots, Harry began to think that this might just be his first normal year at Hogwarts. He fell asleep, the sound of Hermione’s soft laughter filling his ears and blonde hair filling his dreams.
----
“This cannot be happening”
“What do you mean we have to share with everyone!?"
“Then what’s the point of having houses?”
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table, Ron and Hermione flanking him, while everyone else was loudly complaining to each other about Head Mistress McGonagall's announcement. Apparently, she deemed it beneficial to have all the returning Eighth years all stay in the same common room, separate from the rest of the school. She talked about Inter-House unity and how it could bring everyone closer together. She’d also mentioned the fact they are all of age and how she wanted to prevent parents from complaining about being uncomfortable with the thought of freshly young adults sharing a room with their children. Hermione was the only one who seemed excited about the notion. She immediately dived into the societal and sociological benefits that all but fell to deaf ears.
The Head Mistress silenced the Hall with a Sonorous charm.
“While I know that the notion of this has never been executed before here at Hogwarts, you will do well to get comfortable with this as this is not something to be negotiated”, McGonagall sent a dangerous look towards a group of Eighth years that were still complaining. They snapped their mouths shut.
The rest of the evening went by smoothly, the sorting hat ceremony cheered up most people and by the time the feast began, everyone stopped talking about the living arrangements. Ron still seemed grumpy but less so when a giant roast chicken appeared in front of him. Harry grinned at his best mate but picked at his own plate. He was feeling a bit nauseous as his anxiety had spiked ever since Ginny sat down a few people away from him.
After the war, Harry had done a lot of self-reflection and came to the hard realization that he loved Ginny, but it wasn’t romantic like he thought it was. He hasn’t told her or really spoken to her at all. Neither Ron or Hermione know about this either, he can’t seem to find the time or the bollocks to have the discussion. He’s not very good at talking about tough topics like his feelings or the fact that he pretty much led his best mate’s little sister on. When the war was raging on, it was kind of hard to find the time to actually think, let alone figure out what his affections towards people really meant.
He knew she was trying to get his attention, could feel her amber eyes set on him. But he didn’t dare to look her way, fearing she would see what he just couldn’t return. Instead, he started looking around the Great Hall, his eyes eventually landing on the Slytherin table. There were not many returning Eighth year Slytherins. Harry only saw Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Millicent Bulstrode, and Draco Malfoy.
The blonde was sat a little further from the rest, but Parkinson did keep sending him pointed glances. He seemed tired and his grey eyes were unfocused. Harry wondered how the Slytherins felt about sharing a common room with everyone else that was returning. They might have the hardest time adjusting, as Parkinson did try to hand Harry over to Voldemort, but Harry holds no malice towards her as she was just a kid, scared for her life and did the only thing she thought she had to do to survive. He doesn’t know the others very well, but Zabini is the only one who doesn’t seem bothered, by anything really, and has a bored look on his face.
Harry turns his attention back to Malfoy and studies him. He noticed that Malfoy had grown into his pointy features, and now looks more like a young man, with chiseled features and unfairly good hair. Yet he still looks like a stuck up ponceHarry's eyes narrow in distaste. He wonders if he made the right choice at the Ministry hearings, hoping he doesn't get his face stomped on again like in Sixth year.
Harry remembers testifying for Malfoy and his mother at the Ministry. One of the Ministry officials interrogating him pissed Harry off with the way he kept trying to turn everything back on them. Harry, with much held restraint, politely urged the official that they were just victims of the war and how Malfoy and his mother saved his life twice. He did not testify for Lucius, knowing he was the reason his family had suffered in the first place.
After the interrogation ended, and Harry emotionally exhausted, the Ministry pardoned the Malfoy family (save Lucius) and that was that. Harry saw Malfoy afterwards, being walked down by two Auror’s and awkwardly walked up to them. The Auror’s gave Harry a stern look but didn’t say anything to him as he was the one who saved everyone’s bloody arse in the first place so he could talk to Malfoy if he wanted to. The blonde looked worse for wear back then, skinnier than he should’ve been and dark circles under his eyes with his hair hanging limply on his head. As much as he disliked the blonde, Harry scowled at the thought of the Ministry's treatment towards Malfoy.
“Um, here”, Harry said quietly, pulling Malfoy’s wand out of his robe.
Dull grey eyes sparked to life and Malfoy took his wand back wordlessly. He glanced warily at the Auror’s but they both just grunted and looked away.
“It uhh-I thought I should give this back. It never liked me much anyway”, Harry uttered while scratching at his arm.
Malfoy stared at him, something shifting in his once lifeless eyes. Then he gave Harry a curt nod, walking away with the Aurors.
The sound of Ron’s laughter broke him out of his recollections. He refocused back to the Slytherin table and Harry watched curiously as the blonde was scowling at Parkinson, who flicked a pea at him snickering with Nott. He might have been staring for too long because Malfoy frowned then looked up, his grey eyes widened comically when they met Harry’s. Malfoy blinked rapidly, dropping his fork and quickly looked away. Harry felt his cheeks darken, cursing himself then snapped his gaze away and started to push the food on his plate around. The rest of the feast Harry's line of sight kept moving toward the Slytherin table but noticed that Malfoy was deliberately not looking towards Harry. He wasn’t sure why that annoyed him, but he stored that thought away for another time.
----
“Oh thank Merlin it’s you and me mate”, Ron said dramatically grabbing Harry’s shoulders and shaking them.
Harry gave him a small grin and gave his own dramatic response, “How could I ever survive without you!”. Ron pushed him away, snorting while he walked towards the other side of the room.
“Reckon McGonagall will put anyone that’s not in the same House together?”, the redhead asked while haphazardly unpacking his belongings that were already in his and Harry’s shared room.
Harry shrugged while unpacking his own luggage. “Dunno, but I’m not going to complain now”. Ron nodded his head, then looked at Harry curiously. He seemed to be thinking hard before a dark look shadowed his freckled face. “Who do you think she paired Malfoy with?”
Harry froze and fumbled with his trousers wanting to have something to do with his hands while he answered, “I-erm don’t know. Don’t really care. It’s not really our problem. Who cares about Malfoy?” Ron’s eyes narrowed at Harry’s rambling. Harry could feel eyes boring into the back of his head and his cheeks started to heat up. He frantically tried to think of something to change the subject. “Uhh, the real question is what are we going to do now since Eighth Years aren’t allowed to join the Quidditch team?”. That seemed to distract Ron from the interrogation he was about to perform because that dark look disappeared, and he immediately started ranting about how unfair it is. "Why can’t McGonagall just let us play?", Ron groaned plopping himself on his own four poster bed. Harry grinned at his best mate and chimed in "You're right, I mean we did fight in a war. You'd think they would let us play some bloody Quidditch!" Ron vehemently agreed while sitting up and started changing into his pajamas.
Harry let a quiet breath of relief to himself because he wasn’t sure how he would answer any of Ron’s questions because Hary doesn’t know the answers himself. Why he’s weird about Malfoy right now or why he suddenly stopped talking to Ginny. He will try to make some time to sit down and have a talk with her. She deserves that much at least. Thinking about it all, he started to feel like the room was too small, too hot, and he gave Ron a halfhearted excuse about needing to go the loo. Before Ron could respond, Harry rushed out of the room and into the shared Eighth Year common room. Luckily, it was late enough that no one was in there but even that wasn’t enough, and Harry rushed out the door.
The staff had to expand the castle to be able to fit the returning students as there wasn’t an actual common room meant for Eighth year students. It was in the Astronomy Wing, a strong concealment charm hiding the expansion as it was closest to the Astronomy tower, expanding slightly on the side of the castle. You could easily access the seventh floor from here and that’s where Harry’s legs started to take him before his mind could register. He walked; thankful he grabbed his Invisibility cloak in his haste.
He didn’t see any students or professors wandering about but Harry didn’t want to risk it. He eventually made it up to the seventh floor and rounded the corner almost tripping over his feet as he came to a dead halt. Heart racing, Harry saw familiar white blonde hair and he put a hand over his mouth as his breathing sounded thunderous in the quiet of the night.
Draco Malfoy stood in front of a seemingly plain wall. He had a pained expression on his pale face and he reached a shaky hand out, running it over the cold stone. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, wondering what Malfoy was doing. Harry knew what lied behind the wall, but he also knew that there was nothing behind it anymore. The magic died in the fire that consumed it. Malfoy pulled out his wand, whispered something then frowned. Harry watched the way the moonlight made Malfoy’s hair seem to glow, soft hues of blue danced across the blonde’s face making him look younger, softer. Draco Malfoy is not a soft person, Harry grits his teeth remembering how callous and rude the git could be. He looks back, watching as Malfoy continued to feel around the stone wall. He wondered why Malfoy would come here, sneaking away from everyone else. Ignoring his own hypocrisy, Harry was about to turn around and head somewhere else when he heard a loud clatter. He jumped and saw that his wand fell from where it was tucked, apparently not securely, into his back pocket. Cursing softly to himself, Harry quickly snatched his wand back and when he looked back, Malfoy was gone.
---
Harry felt like a walking corpse.
When he’d got back to his and Ron’s shared room last night, the redhead’s snoring filled the room and Harry quickly finished unpacking his belongings and pulled out an old pair of shorts to wear to sleep.
He tried to, he really did, but sleep did not come to him that night. He tossed and turned all night, but he could not get the thought of Malfoy standing in front of the Room of Requirement out of his head. He doesn’t want to ponder why the sight of Malfoy in the moonlight caused a tightness in Harry's chest. Harry pulled out his map and saw Malfoy’s dot, but it was not on the seventh floor. Harry sighed when he saw the dot in the Eighth-year common room and in his shared room with Zabini.
Frowning to himself, Harry had stowed his map away under his pillow and unsuccessfully tried to fall asleep. Thoughts of pale skin and soft moonlight filled his head.
Harry had put a silencing charm around his four-poster bed, then turned over and yelled his frustrations into his pillow.
“Mate you look awful”, Ron told him with a mouthful of toast.
“Thanks Ron, really helps boost my confidence”, Harry laughed listlessly.
Ron just shrugged and continued eating his breakfast. Hermione was sitting next to Ron reading her Arithmancy textbook, but glanced up at Harry and gave him a sympathetic wince.<
“You do look awfully tired Harry. Did you not sleep well last night?”
Harry pushed his breakfast away because no, he did not sleep very well or at all last night because of a certain blonde Slytherin, but he couldn’t very well announce that. “No, I-uhh just had a lot on my mind”.
Hermione smiled at him and patted his hand, “Well, if you ever need to talk about anything you know I’ll always be here. Ron too”. She glanced at Ron who was not paying attention and smacked him with her textbook, and he choked on his food and shook his head frantically in agreement, “Ow! Bloody hell, yeah Harry we’re here. Merlin Hermione!”
Harry gave his best friends a large smile, he loved them a lot, “Thank you guys"
They both returned a smile and went back to their respective morning routines. Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of red hair appeared, and Ginny was sat a few people away from Harry. He sighed, Soon, I will try to get her alone so we can talkhe sighed, trying to ignore her for now without the other's knowledge. He glanced across the hall at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was sitting with Parkinson and Nott, talking about something interesting, it seemed, as he was waving his hands around animatedly. Nott laughed and Parkinson patted Malfoy on the shoulder with what looked like sympathy. The blonde glared at them both then promptly stood up and walked quickly out of the Great Hall. Harry perked up at that, and glanced at Ron and Hermione to see if they were paying attention. He ignored Ginny once again, when it looked like she was going to ask Harry something, then excused himself saying he wanted to grab something from the dorms then rushed out after Malfoy before anyone could say anything.
He jogged a bit down the halls and wondered how the hell Malfoy was so fast. He spotted that familiar glare of blonde and slowed his pace, hesitating then coming to a complete stop.
What was he doing? This felt a lot like déjà vu and Harry mentally slapped himself because he was once again, becoming rapidly obsessed with Draco Malfoy.
He took a deep breath, no, this was different. He was just curious as to where Malfoy was going and what he was doing, and...
Harry exhaled shakily. I can’t believe I’m doing this again.
His legs carried him up to the seventh floor again, but this time it was during the day, and anyone could spot him. His heartrate picked up slightly and he slowly rounded the corner of where he knew Malfoy would be.
Except no one was there.
Harry frowned and walked towards the empty stone wall. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the stone was charred in some spots and that it was not as cool as Harry originally thought. He touched the stone as Malfoy did the other night and it felt like a there was a heartbeat under his palm, warm and steady. His breathing was shaky and he almost felt like crying. It was as if there was something there. As if the castle still had something left to give in that room, like the magic was still alive and trying to hold on.
He jumped when a door started to appear in front of him.
“How-”, Harry started and reached a shaky hand towards the handle but snatched it back quickly as it started to open.
He bolted.
Harry ran as fast as his legs could carry him and made it all the way back to the common room. He was out of breath and heaving, receiving a funny look from Neville and a faraway look from Luna, who were both sitting by the fireplace.
“Alright Harry?”, Neville asked, his tone laced with concern.
“I’m...fine-just needed to grab something”, Harry gasped out.
Luna smiled at him knowingly, then got up from her chair touching Harry’s shoulder as she passed him. “I would check the door at 10. He likes to go around that time” Then she glided across the room and up to the girl’s dorms.
Harry gaped after Luna, his heart not having a chance to slow down and having picked right back up after hearing the information she just casually shared with him. How she came about this information, he’ll have to ask about later.
“What was she talking about?”, Neville frowned.
Harry’s mind started racing, a million thoughts and plans for visiting the room swarming in his head.
“No idea.”
----
Harry wasn’t able to go back to the room that night but formulated a plan in his head for when and how he would return. Over the course of the rest of the week, he noticed that Malfoy would disappear in the morning right before everyone finished breakfast, after Potions, and on the weekends it seemed like Harry never saw him.
Harry spent most of his time memorizing Malfoy's schedule, trying to come up with more ways to avoid Ginny, and think about his feelings towards her. He knows his absence will come to head, and groans internally. Ginny is wonderful, Harry thinks she is beautiful and a wonderful person to be around. At one point, he was attracted to her. He loved the strength in her arms, the freckles dotting her face, and the way she would grab onto you when she found something particularly funny. Despite his initial attraction to Ginny, Harry couldn't tell you when it started to dissipate and turn platonic.
Sighing to himself, Harry thinks the reason he is currently 'not stalking' Malfoy again is because he is trying to distract himself. He shakes his head and starts to develop a plan.
----
It was the next week and Harry was in the courtyard with Seamus, they were supposed to be trying to hone in on their charm work, but Harry was far too distracted to help Seamus who accidentally cast the tickling charm on himself instead of the charmed practice doll they were given. There were others in the courtyard as well, a few students scattered about in small groups and some by themselves.
Malfoy was sitting across the courtyard alone, reading a book and jotting something down every so often. Harry tried not to make his staring too obvious but even Seamus in his struggle getting off the ground while laughing noticed Harry’s mind was elsewhere.
“Ha! Agh, Harry please. Malfoy is a git so ignore him and help me!”, Seamus laughed out painfully.
Harry jumped and smiled apologetically while muttering the counter-curse.
Seamus finally stopped laughing and then glared at Harry, saying he’s going back to the common room to find someone that doesn’t abandon his fellow Gryffindors to stare at Slytherin gits.
Harry waved him away distractedly and kept his focus in front of him. Malfoy looked up from his note taking and caught Harry’s eye. He flinched slightly and looked behind him, as if thinking that Harry was staring at someone else. Then, when no one was behind him, he turned back around. He seemed uncomfortable and was shifting a lot on the stone bench he was perched on. Harry bit back a smile, not really knowing why this amused him so much. He gave Malfoy a painfully awkward wave and the blonde quirked an eyebrow at that. The sunlight made Malfoy’s white blonde hair shine and his cheeks pink from the warm rays, or something else entirely Harry wasn’t sure, but he noticed the other did not return his wave.
Malfoy started packing up his books and parchment, and Harry tensed knowing that his plan was about to be set into motion. Once the Slytherin packed his things, he took one more glance at Harry, furrowed his eyebrows then left. Harry watched him disappear then quickly shoved his things into his bag then sprinted up across the courtyard and up to the seventh floor.
Once he reached it, he quickly looked around to make sure no one was there before pulling his invisibility cloak out and throwing it over himself. He slowly rounded the corner and felt his pulse quicken at the sight of black robes and pale skin. He saw Malfoy hadn’t entered the room yet, which was good for Harry as this made his plan of entering without Malfoy knowing a lot easier. He walked slowly and carefully, making sure not to stomp about like he normally does, to lessen the sound of his feet hitting the stone floor. He got dangerously close to Malfoy and had to make sure his breathing was slow and controlled.
Malfoy was rummaging through his bag and pulled out a small journal. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deep and slowly. Harry saw Malfoy hold his hand out to the stone wall then the same door that appeared last time for Harry materialized. The door swung open without Malfoy having touched it and Harry reflexively bolted inside before thinking. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, hoping Malfoy didn’t hear him and exhaled quietly when he noticed Malfoy walked in looking like nothing happened and he cast a temporary floating light charm. This lit up the room slightly and it was then that Harry could finally look around the room and his stomach dropped. The room was giant, vast, and empty. The walls were charred, and some corners blackened so much so that Harry felt like it led somewhere magic couldn’t reach. His heart squeezed painfully at the thought of so many students and teacher's trinkets and heirlooms, now lost forever, their memories in the ash it left behind. Though, there were some areas that looked like the fire never even touched it and Harry’s eyes widened when he realized that it looked like someone had restored them.
His green eyes turned to look at the boy in front of him and he felt his heart lurch again, but for a different reason this time. Malfoy unclasped his robe and threw it on the ground along with his bag. He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and Harry’s eyes snapped to the motion and he watched as slender, but strong forearms appeared. Harry swallowed, frowning to himself and felt beads of sweat form on his forehead.
Malfoy was trying to restore the Room of Requirement.
Harry watched as Malfoy pulled out his journal from where his bag lay on the ground, read something, then nodded once to himself. He looked in awe as Malfoy’s grey eyes brightened with determination. The blonde starting muttering softly to himself and Harry watched in rapture as golden strands of light shot from Malfoy’s wand, swirling in the air around him. The other boy was waving his wand around, his movements fluid, almost like a dance. He spun and muttered an unintelligible spell, more golden light bursting out and around him. The blonde’s smile was melancholic, and long, slender legs carried him gracefully to the music that wasn’t there. The way the light danced around the blonde, and the strong and swift movements of his body, Harry couldn’t help but become entranced.
He felt something shift inside him. Malfoy? The boy who was a bully and blood purist, doing something selflessly of his own accord? Harry didn't understand how someone who used to be so mean and quick to tear others down, secretly trying to fix a part of the castle he had a help in destroying. Coming to this understanding, Harry suddenly wanted to run to the blonde and...what? What did he want to do? Hug him? Help him? This terrified and confused him, because this is Malfoy. The same git who bullied Harry’s best friends, called them nasty horrible names, and made Harry’s life at Hogwarts a living hell. But Harry had already gone through a real living hell and Malfoy said he couldn’t be sure it was Harry back at the Manor.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the floor beneath him start to rumble, and panicked for a second before noticing that Malfoy was continuing his wand movements as if this were normal. So Harry stayed put and watched. He noticed that the wall to the right of him glowed with such intensity that he had to squint to see what was happening. Then the glowing stopped, and Harry sucked in a breath as the wall looked like it had never been burned in the first place. He looked around some more and noticed that most of the walls had been restored and his heart leapt into his throat when a single armchair materialized. Malfoy must have noticed it too because his movements halted and he walked swiftly up to the chair and smiled. It was small, but it was still the first genuine smile Harry has ever seen on the blonde. He watched as the other boy sat gingerly in the chair then nearly jumped out of the chair and whooped in victory.
“Ha! I knew it. Bloody Pansy, I told her there was still something here”, he said aloud to himself.
When Malfoy jumped out of the chair Harry had to quickly jump back so the blonde wouldn’t run into him. But what he didn’t account for was the ash on the floors to be so damn slick mixed with the stone and Harry fell onto his arse, reflexively letting out a loud grunt. Malfoy inhaled sharply while quickly drawing out his wand.
“Who’s there!? S-show yourself!”, the blonde snarled but his voice was laced with panic.
Harry’s heart was pounding against his chest and he slowly, reluctantly removed his invisibility cloak. When his green eyes met Malfoy’s harsh grey ones, he gave him a pathetic smile.
“Potter!?”
“Erm-yeah”, the bespectacled boy answered lamely.
Malfoy stared at Harry for a beat, then his face hardened, and he spat his next words out.
“Stalking me again Potty? What, couldn’t resist seeing what sorts of evil doings I would be up to this year?"
The other flinched at the harsh words thrown at him.
“What? No! I wasn’t stalking you...I just-uhh seeing what you were erm-you would always...”, Harry started off saying but realized that there was no way that this wasn’t the exact same thing he was doing to Malfoy two years ago.
Malfoy gave him a bored look, but Harry could see that his hands were shaking slightly either out of anger or adrenaline. Probably both. He sighed and started again, “Look Malfoy, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong or ‘evil’. Honestly! I just-you would disappear a lot and I know a lot of people here don’t really uhh like that you’re here” this made the blonde chuckle darkly “so I just wanted to see where you were always going off to...just in case”, Harry finished.
After a few beats of silence and Malfoy looking like he was having an internal battle, he responded.
“I don’t need your protection oh great savior of the wizarding world”, he snapped sarcastically but the malice it once held was weakened by the tiredness in his voice. Harry frowned and anger filled his voice, “I’m not-ugh don’t call me that. I just wanted to see where you kept disappearing off to, yes okay I might have been following you around-” Harry quickly continued at the raise of the blonde’s eyebrows “but I wasn’t stalking you! I’m uhh glad I came actually, because as weird as this is to say, this is amazing Malfoy!” Harry smiled at him cautiously and saw Malfoy’s pale cheeks flush.
He stared at Harry for what felt like a long time, considering. Harry squirmed under his sharp gaze; his grey eyes cool like the stone that surrounded them. He still hasn’t gotten up from the ground where he’d fallen, afraid any movement might run Malfoy off.
The other boy exhaled slowly and rubbed at his temples. He looked around the semi-lit room, the golden lights fading away, and with the temporary floating light charm gone, it slowly made the room darker each passing second.
“What do you want Potter?”, he finally asked turning back to face the other boy.
Harry couldn’t respond right away because that was what he’d been trying to figure out ever since the war ended. What is it? A boring year at Hogwarts? To finally build up the courage to break up with his girlfriend? To try and become...friends with his childhood bully? He bit his bottom lip anxiously and glanced around the room as Malfoy had done. The Slytherin started tapping his foot either out of anxiety or impatience and this prompted Harry to quickly blurt out the first thing that came to mind, he turned back to face the other.
“I want to help you!” and seeing the blonde’s pale face harden Harry continued, “With the room. I want...to help you restore the Room of Requirement”.
Harry held his breath because what? It’s not like he was opposed to helping restore a part of Hogwarts, but why the hell did he just blurt that out? This means spending time with Malfoy, alone, and in a giant room that was burned down by a fiendfyre. The same room Harry had saved Malfoy from dying in. One that the other was courageously trying to fix.
Malfoy looked at Harry like he’d just grown three heads. His face quickly switching between anger, annoyance, and something else Harry couldn’t decipher.
After what felt like an eternity the blonde sighed and said, “Why? Wouldn’t you rather spend your free time with Weasley or the mu-Granger?”. Harry's eyes widened a fraction after he heard Malfoy catch himself.
“Just...because I want to?”, Harry answered lamely. It was the truth but he’s not a wordsmith.
“Eloquent as ever I see”, Malfoy deadpanned as if hearing his thoughts.
The room suddenly turned completely black and both Harry and Malfoy uttered a lumos.
Harry got up slowly off the floor, the stone starting to hurt his backside. “Look Malfoy, I know we’ve both said and done things to each other that we regret”, Harry began, scratching the top of his head feeling awkward, “but after everything that’s happened, I'm tired. Okay? I want to try to start over. A truce”.
The light emanating from Malfoy’s wand made the blonde’s features look soft and his eyes almost silver. Harry looked away trying not to think too hard about that.
“A truce”, Malfoy responded flatly.
“It'll be like resetting a video game”, Harry said forgetting that Malfoy definitely has no idea what that is.
“A what?”, Malfoy’s nose crinkled adorably.
Harry shook his head, “Nothing, it’s a muggle thing. Yes Malfoy, I want a truce. There’s no sense in being horrible to each other and this is our last year here. I want to spend it not trying to rip each other’s throats out”.
The other boy gave him one last withering glare, then exhaled sharply through his nose, “Fine, if we must”.
That was enough for Harry, and he gave the blonde a blinding smile while extending his hand out. Malfoy’s eyes shot towards the movement and for a second Harry was worried he was going to brush him off like he'd done when they were eleven. But the other just shook his head, the corner of his mouth twitching and grabbed Harry’s hand. He noticed that Malfoy’s hands were cold, smooth like marble compared to Harry’s most likely clammy and warm ones. They shook, the blonde pulling his hands away quickly and Harry dropped his slowly.
Clearing his throat to fill the awkward silence, Harry was the first to speak, “Brilliant. Uhh when did you want to come back?”
Malfoy was staring at his hand, and the sound of Harry’s voice made his grey eyes snap back to him. Harry suddenly worried if Malfoy wanted to do this alone as he hadn’t actually agreed to let Harry help him. He hoped that wasn’t the case and his heart clenched at the thought.
“Oh, is that alright? I mean, me helping you? Did you want someone else to help? I could get others to come in and we-”, Harry started but Malfoy cut him off harshly.
“Potter, why in Merlin’s beard would I want help from your idiotic fanclub? I decided to do this by myself and if you want this so-called truce to work then you are going to keep your pretty little mouth shut. Not even your Weasley and Granger can know about this”, he snapped.
“So does that mean I can help?”, Harry attempted but failed to keep his smile at bay trying hard not think about how strange it was that Malfoy called his mouth pretty.
Malfoy rolled his eyes, and it was almost playful.
“You had better. You just set me back a couple of weeks after you interrupted a very complicated spell and it will also make up for you stalking me again prat”, the blonde looked like he was trying very hard to seem annoyed.
“One, I wasn’t necessarily stalking you. Two, done. I am here at your service, anything you want.”, Harry responded half sarcastic, giving a dramatic bow.
Malfoy’s eyebrows quirked up at that and he smirked viciously, “Well, I will hold you to that”. Then he walked towards the exit and when a door appeared, he inclined his head back to the other boy.
“I’ll see you later...Potter”
Then Malfoy was gone, and Harry was standing in the middle of a dark room with only the light of his wand, smiling like an idiot.
“Maybe I am one”, he voiced aloud, and his stomach swooped.