Chapter Text
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Don’t smirk at me like that, Potter. You heard me.”
“It’s just… you’re almost thirty. You’ve been an auror for seven years. My partner for the last three of those. How did I not know until now that you never learnt to cast a patronus charm?”
Draco’s face was impassive, but Harry knew from spending a considerable amount of the last three years in his company that he was less than impressed.
“It might surprise you,” Draco began, his tone even, “that it wasn’t really deemed essential knowledge for people on my side of the war.”
Harry flapped his hand. “That’s bullshit. The dementors may have been on your side but they must have been hanging around. Are you telling me no one bothered to teach you how to repel them?”
Drack shook his head then, and Harry narrowed his eyes. He was beginning to feel something unpleasantly akin to pity. “So – what? You just had to put up with them?”
Draco shrugged, and the knot in Harry’s stomach twisted.
Draco looked over Harry’s shoulder and spoke evenly, directing his words to the bare wall. “There wasn’t much happiness for them to suck out, anyway. I doubt it made much of a difference.”
Harry felt the knot in his stomach intensify, and, even less pleasantly, a painful tightening in his chest. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and had just raised his hand to give Draco a comforting pat on the shoulder when Draco cleared his throat rather aggressively.
Harry dropped his hand and Draco, having finally wrenched his gaze away from the wall, cocked his head at the sight of Harry’s cheeks turning pink.
“So, anyway,” Draco began, clearing his throat again, “Are you going to teach me, or are you just expecting me to stay by your side throughout this whole mission? I rather think we both need to be able to cast it, don’t you?”
Harry’s smirk was back. “As much as you know I love being the – what was it you called me the other day – ‘gallant protector’?”
“Foolhardy protector,” Draco interrupted, but Harry just flashed him a grin and continued.
“You’re right, we both need to cast it. But, shit, Draco, this isn’t something that’s usually learned in a day.”
“Lucky we’ve got two then,” Draco joked, and Harry laughed.
~*~
They’d gone straight to Harry’s flat after work, stopping to pick up some noodles on the way. Harry had barely finished his last mouthful when Draco pushed back his chair and stood. “OK, let’s get started.”
“Right,” Harry said, flicking his wand and sending his sofa, coffee table and armchairs to stack themselves neatly along the walls. “The first thing you need to know about the patronus charm is that it uses happiness. Specifically, a happy memory. The happier the memory, the stronger your patronus will be.”
Draco raised his eyebrows, but nodded. Harry couldn’t help remembering his comment from earlier about the dementors not having much happiness to suck out of him and wondered if he’d had a chance to build up enough happy memories to draw on since the war ended.
“Got one?” Harry asked.
Draco nodded, tightly.
“So the incantation is ‘Expecto Patronum’. You need to concentrate on your happy memory while you say it. Give it a go now.”
Draco held his wand high, and, frowning, repeated the incantation. A wisp of white smoke puffed from his wand-tip and dispersed into nothing almost immediately. He blew out an impatient breath.
“I know it was only your first try, but I’m going to hazard a guess that it wasn’t a strong enough memory. Got anything else?”
Draco nodded and gripped his wand tightly. “Expecto Patronum,” he said, his voice clear and strong.
This time, what looked like a white shield emanated from his wand tip. It remained there for a good twenty seconds, Draco moving his wand this way and that to direct the shield, finally giving his wand a little shake and dispelling it.
Harry grinned, and clapped him on the back. “Great work, Draco. Your second time round. Amazing.”
“That’s not what it’s supposed to look like, though, is it?” Draco said, frowning.
Harry gazed at him, feeling a bizarre urge to reach out and smooth the creases from his forehead. He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. “Well, no. A corporeal Patronus takes the form of an animal and can be used to send messages to other witches or wizards. But, honestly, that shield-type one would hold off about 3 or so for a couple of minutes. Probably all you need to be able to do for this mission, at least. They’re not even sure we’re going to encounter any.”
But Draco was shaking his head before Harry had even finished talking. “It’s not good enough.”
“Do you mind sharing the memories you’ve picked? Maybe I can help you choose something stronger.”
Draco stared at him for a moment. “I’d rather not,” he said tightly.
Harry felt himself deflate. “Oh. Well, that’s OK,” he said.
Only it wasn’t, because after three years working together – two and a half of them on good terms, no less – he’d thought they were…
Friends, Harry realised with a jolt. He’d thought they were friends.
“Sorry,” Draco said, clearly uncomfortable. “It’s just a bit personal.”
“Yeah,” Harry said quickly, trying to fight back the blush he could feel creeping up his neck. “Yeah, no problem, it’s fine.”
Draco didn’t say anything, and Harry fought to get himself under control. How embarrassing. All this time he’d been working with Draco, telling stories of their missions to Ron and Hermione, even occasionally sharing a firewhiskey in the office after a particularly hard one or when faced with too much paperwork… Harry couldn’t even remember the last time they’d exchanged an insult that had any real bite to it; they’d slipped so easily into the sort of ribbing he got from Ron or Seamus or George. And yet, Harry hadn’t once realised he’d begun to see Draco as a friend.
Though perhaps that was for the best because clearly Draco didn’t feel the same way.
And there was that tightness in his chest again, and suddenly Harry was finding it harder than it should be to breathe. “I’ll – I’ll be right back,” he said, and fled to the bathroom.
Harry splashed some water on his face and then cast a mild cheering charm on himself. Well, he tried to cast a mild one, only remembering after his face split into a wide grin for no reason at all that he’d completely failed cheering charms in third year and subsequently avoided them at all costs.
“Fuck,” he muttered. He attempted a sobrietus charm but, not being drunk, it had no effect whatsoever.
Draco took one look at his face when he returned to the living room and burst into laughter. “Potter, did I upset you so much that you had to cast a cheering charm on yourself?”
Harry, still under the influence of the charm, started to giggle even as he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“Honestly, Potter, you need to toughen up. Just because we’re friends now it doesn’t mean I want to share everything with you.”
And just like that, Harry felt everything was right with the world again. He grinned, a little too widely, and Draco snorted and said, “Well, looks like you’ve had enough for one night, anyway. Can we practice again tomorrow after work?”
Harry nodded and ushered Draco out, still grinning.