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Draco watched Harry enter the Great Hall with the other champions, the Patil girl on his arm.
It’s wrong, he thought as they walked past, it should be me on his arm.
He watched as Harry led her to the dance floor, taking her hand in his and placing an arm around her waist once they reached their place. The music started, and they began to dance. This part was slightly less painful as Harry danced so clumsily it made Draco smile to himself. It was honestly adorable, because he could tell Harry was really trying to remember the steps. For someone so gifted at moving on a broom, he was terribly uncoordinated.
The night carried on, with more couples taking to floor as the music shifted from a gentle waltz to more upbeat songs.
Draco spent the evening sitting at a table near the edge of the hall, a very put-out Pansy sat next to him. She had made more and more obvious hints about wanting to dance with him, but Draco didn’t move, he just sat in silence and drank his punch. Eventually Pansy had given up and stalked away, clearly upset. He had started to feel a bit guilty about it, but then he had seen her dancing with Blaise Zabini, looking like she was having the time of her life. So, hopefully she would forgive him. He had had to ask someone to the dance, it wouldn’t do for Draco Malfoy to turn up without a date, and Pansy had been the obvious choice. She had practically clung to him non-stop since the Ball was announced, and she didn’t even feign surprise when he asked her.
Still, Harry was the one he had really wanted to ask, but of course that was impossible. No one knew about them. No one could know about them; it was just too dangerous. He thought about what would happen if people found out, if his family found out. Draco shuddered and shook the thought from his head before it could make his mood any worse. Just focus on tonight, he thought. Just a little bit longer, and then he and Harry could be together.
He waited until the night was coming to an end to make a move, when the dance floor was almost empty, and people had been stumbling off to bed or into a dark corner with their date. There was the odd person crying, usually a girl, surrounded by a group of consoling friends. There was always going to be some broken hearts on a night like this. But not his.
Draco decided to wait outside the Great Hall, standing near the door to the main courtyard. He tried to look like he was just getting some air. He stood there until he saw Harry come out of the Hall, looking around tentatively for Draco. Draco had seen the relief on Harry’s face when Harry spotted him by the door, but he had quickly hidden it, trying to look nonchalant instead. Draco tipped his head towards the courtyard as a way of signalling Harry to follow him, then walked into the night air.
He walked through the covered corridor that lined the perimeter of the courtyard, trying not to feel too nervous. He stopped when he got to a doorway, quickly looking back to see if Harry was coming. Harry had clearly waited a few moments before following Draco into the courtyard. He was hoping Harry had just done this to avoid attracting attention, rather than spending the time genuinely deliberating whether to follow Draco or not. But soon he appeared, slowly walking the path Draco had walked just moments ago. Draco waited until he was sure Harry could see where Draco was headed, then walked through the door into a corridor.
They did this little routine for a while, Draco leading the way through twisting corridors, pausing every now and then to make sure Harry was following. They kept their distance, just in case anyone happened to pass by, but no one did.
Draco eventually stopped when he arrived at the small courtyard he had found whilst wandering the castle a few weeks ago. He had been surprised he’d never seen it before; but Hogwarts was so vast, there were probably a hundred rooms he’d didn’t know about. Either way it didn’t matter, he knew it was perfect for what he had planned.
He walked into the middle of the snow dusted courtyard, turned towards the door, and waited.
----
Harry was feeling incredibly anxious.
He hadn’t been able to spot Draco when he entered the Great Hall with Parvati, and he wasn’t able to look for him whilst he was dancing with her as he had to completely focus on not stepping on her foot or falling over. But once he and Parvati had danced for a few songs, he had asked if she wanted a drink. She had nodded, saying she would wait at a nearby table with Padma and Ron while Harry went and fetched them.
Harry had walked to the drinks table, scanning the Hall for Draco, but it was only when he was on his way back that he spotted him. Draco was sitting on a table in the far corner with some other Slytherins, looking absolutely miserable. Harry tried to catch his eye but in doing so had almost walked into a huge Durmstrang boy. Thankfully, he had swerved just in time and made his way to the table where Parvati was sitting, chatting excitedly to her sister.
Ron was there as well, also looking miserable. Harry tried to give him an encouraging smile when he sat down. After all, it wasn’t very fair to Padma if Ron was going to be sulky all evening. Ron caught his smile and seemed to break out of his mood for a bit, trying to engage in the twins’ conversation.
They were talking about people’s outfits and who everyone had come with. Mostly Padma and Parvati talked, Ron and Harry just added the occasional comment. Honestly, Harry didn’t really care about the discussion until heard Padma mention Malfoy.
“He asked Pansy, of course.” Padma said. “I mean, it was so obvious she wanted to go with him. Usually guys don’t pick up on hints girls give them, but I think even he noticed how desperate she was”.
Padma and Parvati giggled.
“Yes”, Parvati added, “though she might be regretting that now.” She nodded towards the table where Draco and Pansy were sat, Pansy looking incredibly bored beside a sullen Draco.
Harry felt a bit sorry for Pansy, he knew Draco had to ask her to the dance, to keep up appearances and all that, but Pansy didn’t deserve to get her heart broken.
Better her than me though, a dark part of Harry thought.
The night carried on, with Parvati dragging him to the floor for a few more dances, though she stopped after a while, choosing to bring her sister or another boy instead. Harry had to admit he wasn’t great company tonight; his thoughts were only on Draco and if they would get a chance to see each other before the night was over.
‘Meet me after the Ball’ was all Draco’s note had said when he had subtly passed it to Harry during Potions that day. Harry had thrown it away after the lesson just to be safe, but now he was beginning to think he should have kept it. What if there had been more to the message and Harry hadn’t seen it? What if Draco had written a location in invisible ink or something, just in case the note was intercepted? He would just have to keep an eye on Draco throughout the night and try to slip away when no one would notice.
This ended up being much later than he expected, when people were starting to head off to bed. Parvati and Padma had abandoned their sorry excuses for dates and had gone to enjoy their night with some other friends. Harry didn’t blame them. Ron’s mood had gradually grown darker as he watched Hermione dance with Viktor Krum for song after song after song. Ron eventually muttered something about being tired and stomped off to bed. He has no one to blame but himself though, if Ron had wanted to go with Hermione he should’ve just asked her. Harry was sad to see his friend so upset of course, but he was happy Hermione was having a good time. She deserved it, and she did look beautiful.
He was thinking this when he glanced over to Draco’s table, only to see Draco was gone. Harry shot up, panicking. Oh no, did I wait too long? Did he get fed up and leave? Harry quickly glanced around the Hall, scanning the last groups of party goers for that distinctive platinum hair, but Draco was nowhere to be seen.
As casually as he could, Harry walked towards the Great Hall doors and out into the entrance hall, hoping he would see Draco. For a brief moment he genuinely thought Draco had gone, but then he saw him, leaning against the doorway to the school’s main courtyard. He hoped the utter relief he felt had not been too obvious on his face. He watched Draco gesture outside with his head, then walk into the cold night air.
Harry had wanted to follow him immediately, but thankfully he stopped himself.
Remember, he thought, anyone could be watching.
He subtly glanced around at the other people in the entrance hall, but thankfully no one seemed to notice or care that he was there. When he felt it was safe, he started to follow Draco.
After following him for a while, he had begun to wonder if Draco was ever actually going to stop. Then he finally arrived to where Draco had been leading them.
Harry gasped.
It was a small, private courtyard, lit by candles attached to the walls, with snow gently falling from the night sky above. A pair of footprints led into the centre, where Draco was standing. He looked stunning.
Draco held out his hand.
“Dance with me?” he said.
Harry didn’t remember walking towards Draco, but suddenly he was there, taking his hand and holding him in his arms. He assumed the same position he had with Parvati, with his right arm around Draco’s waist, but this time, there was no awkwardness or stumbling. This time, he felt confident, the same way he felt when flying his broom. They began to slowly sway and turn, waltzing to music only they could hear.
“What is this place?”, Harry asked. “And why am I not freezing?”
“No idea” Draco replied. “I found it when I was walking the castle. As for the cold, I put a heating charm around us, so we can dance for as long as we like”.
Then Draco laid his head on Harry’s shoulder, and Harry closed his eyes.
---
Snape had had a miserable evening.
There had not been many teachers willing to volunteer for tonight’s watch duty. Snape hadn’t been surprised. The only thing worse than teenagers, were drunk teenagers. There hadn’t been any alcohol in the drinks provided at the Ball, but students had snuck Firewhiskey in somehow.
So now it was Snape’s job to find these idiotic students before they did anything, well, idiotic. Most of them were in dark alcoves being … intimate with one another. Snape had quickly separated the pairs he found, ordering them to bed and deducting plenty of house points. He had just caught another couple, thankfully neither in Slytherin, in one of the carriages parked outside in the courtyard. He had sent them off to be with 20 points deducted from each of their houses. It was difficult with students from the visiting schools, he didn’t have the authority to punish them, he just had to give a stern warning and send them scuttling away. He was about to start his rounds of the dormitories when he spotted Harry Potter, sneaking out of the courtyard into a doorway. He knew Potter was up to no good, because Potter was always up to no good. Snape could feel a 50-point deduction coming for Gryffindor, hopefully his little friends were with him, he could deduct 150.
He carefully followed Potter, making sure he wasn’t seen. After a while he thought he had lost the boy, unsure which way he'd gone, until he heard voices coming from the end of a corridor.
Snape slowly approached the voices; he was sure one was Potter’s, but he couldn’t hear what was being said. The voices stopped and Snape froze. Had they heard him? He listened intently. He didn’t hear any frantic whispering or footsteps running away, so they mustn’t have. He quietly crept towards the door and then quickly rounded into the doorway.
Snape stood there, stunned.
If he had been given a million guesses as to what he would see in that courtyard, he would never have landed on the truth.
In the middle of this small courtyard, dancing in the snow, was Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. He wouldn’t really call it dancing, it was more like they were just shifting from foot to foot while slowly turning in a circle. Their arms were wrapped around each other, Malfoy’s around Potter’s neck, and Potter’s around Malfoy’s waist. Malfoy’s head was on Potter’s shoulder, with Potter’s head resting gently against it. Both had their eyes closed.
Snape quickly stepped back into the corridor before they noticed he was there. He put an arm against the wall to steady himself. Potter? And Malfoy? He wouldn’t have believed it had he not just seen it with his own eyes. How on earth had this happened? How long had it been happening?
Snape had to admit he had started to suspect Draco might not be interested in girls. He had never seen Draco show any kind of interest in them. Not that he knew everything about Draco’s life, but still, you have an instinct with these things. But Potter … now that was surprising. Snape had thought Potter liked the Weasley girl, but clearly not.
He should probably break them up like he had all the other couples he’d discovered that night. What if someone else saw them and word made its way back to Draco’s father? Merlin, Snape didn’t even want to contemplate what Lucius’ reaction would be. But surely Draco must have considered this? Why would he take such a risk if he didn’t seriously like, or even love, Potter. As awkward as the conversation was going to be, he would need to talk to Draco about this, for the boy’s own safety.
But what to do right now? As much as he despised Potter, he did care for Draco. He thought about the way they had been holding each other, so intimate and tender.
Snape decided to quietly walk back down the corridor. He would let them be, just for tonight.
---
“I love you, Draco”, Harry whispered in his ear.
Draco felt like he was about to cry. He loved Harry too and he wanted to say it back, but all he managed was “What are we going to do? My father …”
“Don’t think about that” Harry said calmly. “Just focus on being here, with me”.
Draco took a deep breath and followed Harry’s advice. He focused on the feel of Harry’s arms around his waist, the warmth of their bodies pressed together. He breathed in Harry’s scent and felt a sense of calm and contentment wash over him.
“I love you too, Harry” he whispered.
---
The End