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The summer before sixth year was probably the worst few weeks ever for the two Hogwarts pupils, both of them not being able to get the other off their mind, relaying the events from the final weeks of term in their minds.
Draco had thought everything over and was positive that he hated every single fibre of the Gryffindor’s being, even so that he felt if he saw the green-eyed boy, he would not be able to hold himself back from starting a fight, and so to overcome this, he was one of the first to get onto the Hogwarts Express and into a compartment, Pansy and Blaise following close behind, curious as to what was behind his peculiar behaviour.
“This is to avoid Potter, isn’t it?” Blaise enquired as they sat down. Draco chose not to reply.
“Draco, you’re being ridiculous.”
“Mind your own business, Pansy.” Draco snapped back, feeling successful when she made a noise that displayed her disagreement perfectly before moving away from him, dragging Blaise with her. If Blaise hadn’t told Pansy already, he probably was doing so now. Unless he really did live up to his word of never speaking of it again.
Draco enjoyed being sat on his own the whole ride to Hogwarts. No one was there to interrupt his thoughts and yet again, acted swift in exiting the train and getting in a carriage, rolling his eyes as Crabbe and Goyle joined him this time. But it wasn’t too bad; they weren’t prone to questioning Draco on his life and most of the time understood when not to talk to him.
However, Draco couldn’t avoid the issue forever and he knew for a fact that he would see the boy that was the cause of his problems in the great hall for the feast.
Draco could feel eyes on him from the other side of the hall, but didn’t risk looking up. Instead, he focused solely on his plate, completely ignoring Pansy’s attempts to get him to look up and at least pretend to pay attention to Dumbledore. He, of course, acted he didn’t hear her and continued with what he was doing.
Complete avoidance had gone well for him, that was until Potions with the Gryffindors. He knew at some point that he’d have to stop blocking out everything but he still hoped to keep it up as long as possible. He wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on, which was his downfall as instinctively he looked up when someone had started talking, and mentally cursed himself when he locked eyes with none other than the one person he was trying to ignore.
“What are you doing?” Crabbe had whispered in his ear as the Professor was droning on about something Draco had deemed pointless.
“I’m getting what I want.” He smirked back before signing his name on the parchment with a flourish of his quill.
“Meet me outside after this?” Crabbe idiotically read aloud, earning himself a jab in his ribs on ‘accident’ as Draco was folding up the parchment. He knew his message would go undetected if he picked his moment right, so when the Professor had turned their back, he charmed it to fly and gave it a little blow to help on it’s way, right onto Harry Potter’s desk. Draco was proud of his aim.
As Potter looked at him, he gave him a grin he hardly gave to anyone, pleased when he received one back and for the rest of the class, couldn’t wipe the smug smile off his face.
Soon as they were dismissed, Draco grabbed his bags quickly and exited the room. He only had a few minutes, if that, to do what he had planned. He was a man on a mission.
Reaching their spot under the tree, he climbed up quickly, leaving his bag on the ground as a clue that he had not stood him up. Now, in position, all he need do was wait.
“Malfoy?” He heard the familiar boy ask, almost sounding like a lost puppy. It made Draco want to just kiss him there and then, but no, baby steps were needed in this situation.
“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” He made himself known by calling down, pleased with himself as Potter laughed at this, looking up at the blond. Potter’s reaction to Draco’s quote was good, better than expected even. If all went well, today could be the day.
Jumping down from the tree, he smiled gleefully at the Gryffindor as he started to stride over, but felt his happiness fall when two large hands rested on his shoulder.
“Draco?” Pansy had nudged him in his side, snapping him out of his vision and realising that he had been staring at Potter for Merlin knows how long. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” He practically shouted with too much frustration that required, grabbing a fair amount of people’s attention. Grunting angrily, he picked up his bag and stormed out of the class, ignoring anyone who called after him.
He did that a lot, when he felt his emotions would get the best of him, he would take his mother’s advice and remove himself completely from the situation until he had calmed down. It had earned him a considerable amount of detentions, though. Whenever Potter was around, he usually would take one look for him and then head for the nearest exit, making any confrontations impossible.
It was only until Christmas when he had a proper encounter with Potter since the incident , as Draco would refer to it as. He didn’t even mean to have an encounter with him, it was Potter’s fault for causing all the trouble from being a nosy git, in Draco’s opinion.
He was out with his parents, much to his dislike, and was following them through Knockturn Alley after their trip to Diagon Alley. His father had said he was required to meet with someone in one of the more dodgier shops, not that they were all dodgy. Draco wasn’t even aware that Potter was in the area, let alone following them, until he had idiotically made himself known to not only him but his father as well.
“Potter.” His father had spat out, striding forward to get closer to him just as Granger and Weasley, also idiotically, joined him by his side. Lucius paused for a brief moment, as if he was expecting something to happen before abruptly turning to Draco. He realised that he had been expected to call the Dark Lord and hand over Potter, but made no attempt to roll his sleeve up, and instead, he pulled out his wand.
“Obliviate.” He spoke, aiming straight at his father who looked at Narcissa, baffled as to what just happened. He knew his mother would say nothing, not wanting to risk Draco getting hurt. Draco glanced to Potter, who was still standing behind Lucius, looking at him with a confused look. He wasn’t the only one, Draco was confused too. His head screamed for him to just hand over the boy there and then, releasing all his anger on him, but clearly his body did not want to conform to his demands.
Granger had taken Potter’s hand and dragged him off away from the potential threat that was Lucius, Draco closing his eyes as he was leaving and, when he thought it was safe, opened his eyes again, only to lock eyes with Potter right before he turned a corner. Narcissa saw everything unfold before her eyes, and Draco knew he had a hell of a lot of explaining to do.
Draco had been furious when Crabbe and Goyle had decided it was appropriate to follow Draco and see what he was up to, and then interrupt him at the most critical moment, setting him back weeks. However, Draco didn’t let this affect things and continued in his mission, unfortunately this time he had to work against his own friends and Potter’s, who had got wind of their newly found friendship and attempted to put an end to it at any given moment.
Draco was preparing himself for another boring, pointless class when he felt someone brush past behind him, catching his attention and forcing him to turn round. Draco was thrilled when he saw Potter sitting down behind him and later in the lesson when everyone was supposed to be getting on with their own work, he leaned back and poked Potter to get his attention.
“Oi, Potter.” He turned round to face him and smiled kindly.
“Hey.”
“Meet after this? Usual spot?” Potter was about to reply when Weasley glared at Draco and turned Potter around so he was facing the opposite way again.
“Shove off, Malfoy.” Draco was annoyed at the redhead for getting in the way, but was proud when Potter didn’t look pleased either. There was still hope.
Draco made his way to their usual meeting spot, by the tree and the Slytherins following him just set him back further in his mood. At this rate, Draco was surprised that he hadn’t cursed someone. All was not lost though, as Potter approached the group, his own crowd of Gryffindor followers joining him.
“Look at that, Potter has a group of stalkers.”
“Same can be said for you, Malfoy.” Draco let out a slight snigger as he noticed the offended look on the Slytherins’ faces, matching the ones he himself had caused on the Gryffindors’.
Potter gave Draco a knowing look before walking off, glancing back at Draco often. He liked the way the boy thought and slung his bag at Crabbe before marching off confidently after Potter.
“What was it you wanted?” Potter asked innocently, looking up at the taller blond.
“Oh, you know…” Draco started as he stepped closer to him, a smirk on his lips. He needn't put much effort into wooing the Gryffindor, as he didn’t hang around. Grabbing the front of Draco’s robes, he pulled him even closer and planted a kiss on his lips. Draco had not expected this so soon, but soon kicked into action and kissed him back, one hand resting on his lower back whilst Potter’s cupped Draco’s face. It was just as he imagined, perhaps better even. Potter did not disappoint.
The only downside was when Potter pulled away. He felt like his lips were bruised from the kissing but he missed the warmth against his lips, the feeling inside when Potter’s tongue brushed his lips, the erection he was getting…
“I’ll see you around.” Potter now was the one smirking, and gave Draco a small kiss on the cheek, nothing compared to what they just shared but it still made Draco feel diddy. Was this really happening?
Everyone noticed the change in Draco’s attitude, probably because no one was used to him being constantly happy but Merlin if someone didn’t notice his happy attitude, they definitely noticed the angry, upset one.
“Draco, can I have a word?” Blaise had asked in the common room as soon as he came into the room. Draco furrowed his eyebrows but let him lead him into their dormitory. “You’re not going to like this, but Potter isn’t loyal. Perhaps if you invest in a Hufflepuff you’d be safer.”
“What are you talking about?” Draco didn’t appreciate Blaise’s way of swerving the issue by stupidly suggesting things that will gloss over the important factor.
“I saw him kissing Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley, on separate occasions of course.” Draco could not believe what he was hearing. Potter wouldn’t do that to him, would he?
“I don’t believe you.”
“I know you don’t. I didn’t trust him and rightly so. It seems stalking him to find out his motives did reveal some home truths.” He was taking everything Blaise was saying into account. Come to think of it, he did find it weird how Potter wasn’t as friendly with him as he was before the kiss…
“Don’t tell anyone what you’ve seen.” He ordered before turning on his heel and storming off, knocking over a first year as he did. When he made it to the Gryffindor common room, he had already jinxed two people for getting in his way and knew he wouldn’t stop there. If at any point he saw Chang or Weasley, he would not hesitate in showing them what happens when you mess with a Malfoy.
“I want to speak to Potter.” He angrily snapped at the fifth year girl who had opened the portrait hole for him. The fury could be seen straight away, as the girl quickly scurried off and a few moments later Potter was stood in her place.
“Draco?” Potter speaking his first name only filled him with sadness, instead of anger. In any other situation, he would have been over the moon at this development.
“That’s Malfoy to you.” Potter’s face fell at the tone of his voice. “Is it true?” Potter’s confused expression only made him yell the question louder and harsher. “Is it true?!”
“Is what true?”
“That you kissed Chang and Weasley?!” Potter lowered his head in guilt, perfectly answering his question. “You disgust me.” Draco would have thrown a number of curses his way, but was too busy holding back his tears. Malfoy’s don’t cry. At least not in public.
He couldn’t have gotten out of their faster, practically running to the prefect bathroom and broke down in tears. How could he be so foolish? Not only did he fall in love with a Gryffindor, but a cheating one at that.
Draco had thanked Salazar multiple times that the next day was the end of term and he couldn’t wait to get out of there and away from Potter. Blaise attempted to question him briefly, asking why Potter wasn’t sporting any battle wounds inflicted by Draco. To be honest, Draco was wondering the same thing. He hated the boy and wanted to take his anger out on him so badly but hadn’t. He had the chance to when everyone was getting off the train, as Draco unwisely had exited at the same time as everyone else. He could hear Potter calling his name from the further down the platform and turned to face him, giving his best glare before storming off the other way, not a single curse flying Potter’s direction. Oh how he wished he could use all the hexes in the world on him.
Draco’s eyes flicked open. He hated that he still dreamed about the events with Potter, as if it was bad enough that he had flashbacks whenever he looked at him, now he was plaguing his sleep. His roommates were still asleep so no one noticed as he got up and silently left the room, in need of a breather. It was the one thing he hated about the Slytherin dungeons, there was no access to fresh air.
Careful not to be spotted by any professors, he made his way outside and sat down, breathing in the cold air as it blew his hair all over the place, having no gel keeping it in place. Draco was certain that he looked a wreck, and just hoped no one else had the same rebellious streak he did.
It only took about two minutes for Draco to feel too cold and return back inside, yet he didn’t want to go back to bed, so instead, wandered the castle. It gave him excitement for breaking the rules and was so satisfying to walk around with no one there, taking in the true beauty of the school. He stopped by a window, looking out in awe at the bright moon and the stars that surrounded it in the sky. Being in the dungeons really did have it’s downsides, he could never see the sky from down there.
“Draco?” He immediately snapped into alertness at the sound of someone else’s voice, and felt the anger bubble inside when he saw none other than Potter stood behind him.
“Go away.” Draco wished so much that he had his wand on him, but he had never expected to need to curse someone at this time of night. “How come you’re always there when I want to avoid you? Explain that to me.” He muttered, almost to himself, not expecting an answer but he got one anyway.
“I saw you on the Marauder's map and wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He explained. Draco had no idea what this map was but just took his word for it, really wanting this conversation to be over.
“I’d appreciate it if you left me alone.” He leaned back on the window sill, looking back up at the night sky, fully expecting Potter to walk away, but the sound of footsteps were never heard.
“I wanted to apologise.”
“Go on then.”
“I’m sorry.” Draco rolled his eyes and looked down at his nails, extremely bored at this conversation. “Don’t just force me out.”
“Why not?” His question rendered Potter speechless, pleasing Draco. “I’m done with this.”
“No, let me explain. And don’t roll your eyes!” Potter knew exactly what Draco wanted to do, and this fact made him want to roll his eyes even more. “I haven’t told anyone about this, because I’m embarrassed and confused…”
“Oh, boohoo.” He earned himself a glare for his mocking which shut him up for the mean time.
“I was confused about liking you. It’s not an excuse, it’s an explanation, which you are entitled to. I thought I liked girls by entire life, and then you come along and I’m a mess.” Draco watched as he explained, using multiple hand gestures and most often running his hands through his messy hair, making it messier, if that was even possible. “And I kissed Cho. It didn’t feel the same as it did with you, so my confused closet self just assumed I didn’t like her and that I like Ginny instead, but that wasn’t the same either.”
“Why not just speak to me?” He interrupted, being confused at Potter’s actions. He pushed off of the window sill and faced Potter properly. “Or ask Granger or someone? Not just kissing any old girl to check. How would you feel if I snogged Pansy? As if it wasn’t bad enough that you kissed one girl, you have the cheek to go kiss another!” His emotions were starting to show and there was no way to take his mother’s advice and just walk off. He was unprepared for this confrontation and had no way to avoid talking about his feelings, the one thing he hated.
“I know. I’m a horrible person and I don’t expect you to forgive-”
“That’s the problem. I think I already have.” The look of surprise and shock on Potter’s face perfectly pictured how Draco felt for saying such a thing. He couldn’t stop himself from releasing everything. It was like he had kept it bottled up for too long and now he was exploding. “I love you, Harry Potter. There, I said it. You’re a cheating bastard and I hate everything about you but I love you.”
“I love you too.” Potter stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
“No, you don’t have the right to say that! You have to prove it to me, Potter. Prove to me that they aren’t just empty words so you can worm your way back into my life and ruin it all over again.” He looked down at the Gryffindor, watching as he blinked slowly, his long eyelashes perfectly framing his emerald eyes.
“I will, I promise.” The corner of Draco’s mouth twisted into a smile. He watched as he leaned in to kiss him, and closed his eyes, praying that this time, it would be everything he dreamed.