Chapter Text
Harry Potter had very little to do after the Battle of Hogwarts. After all his best friend Ron had abandoned him and Hermione had practically gone into hiding.
Considering all of his extra free time he bought a laptop (and his own flat near the train station), a muggle item he’d always been interested in. As soon as he had bought his computer he set it up and began to play around with it. He discovered a website in which you talk to strangers. After a few days on the website he met somebody who seemed very interesting to him, presumably a muggle.
They agreed not to reveal information about themselves though. They did not know each other’s names, where they were from, their birthdays, or anything that could give clue to their real identities. They only knew one thing and that was the fact that they were british.
Of course they did share information that no one knew about them. Secrets. And even though they did share secrets Harry never told the boy that he was a wizard.
The night before Harry returned to Hogwarts for an eighth year he had to say goodbye, for Harry knew that Hogwarts did not have a single wifi connection.
Hey...
Hi!
I have to tell you something.
What is it?
I don’t think I’ll be able to talk to you for a while. I mean I would love to but unfortunately the boarding school that I leave for tomorrow doesn’t have wifi.
Wow! Strange! Tomorrow I leave for boarding school, too. It doesn’t have wifi either.
Oh! How weird. I guess we’ll have to wait until the Holidays to talk then.
Yeah, I guess so...
So what boarding school do you go to?
Nope! No personal information!
Gah! Fine. But as a going away gift would you allow me your name??
Absolutely not. But I guess I could give you my initials.
Yeeeeees, tell me.
Okay. D.L.M.
...
What?
Well I guess now you’re gonna want my initials as well.
Obviously you idiot!
Fine, er, H.J.P.
Hm. Well, then. I guess this is goodbye... for now.
I guess it is...
I’ll speak to you later.
--
Harry ran through the wall to Platform 9/4. There waiting for him was the red Hogwarts express gleaming in the bright lights. Harry quickly piled in and searched for a compartment. He passed Hermione’s. Locked. He passed Ron’s. Locked. Soon he was at the last compartment dreading having to step in, because there sitting alone, was one Draco Malfoy.
Draco looked up from his book to see the curly-haired figure who had opened his compartment door. There stood Harry with a hopeful yet awkward look on his face.
“Can I, er, sit here?” A smile came across Draco’s face.
“Can’t exactly stop you can I?” he said in a joking manner.
“Uh, no, I guess not.” Harry smiled weirdly and shuffled to place his trunk above him before he sat down.
Draco closed his book and stared at Harry confused.
“What?” complained Harry exasperatedly.
“Why aren’t you sitting with Granger and Weasley, or Weaslette?” For the first time, Harry had heard genuine interest coming from Malfoy. He decided he should answer truthfully due to that.
“Well, Hermione has practically talked to no one since the battle, and Ron decided he would be a prat thinking he was better than everybody,” Draco raised an eyebrow.
“And Ginny?” Harry sighed as if bothered by Malfoy but answered anyway.
“We broke up.”
“Poor Potter,” he said audibly opening his book again.
The train started moving a few minutes after that. Harry looked out the window as they passed many parents waving goodbye to their children and a few crying, presumably for their first year child leaving.
The Trolley Witch slid open their door about an hour later and the boys looked up from their books.
“Would you dears like anything?” she asked in a raspy voice. As Harry began to answer with a yes Draco interrupted him by saying no thank you.
“What was that for, I wanted some chocolate!” whined Harry as the witch closed their door and moved along. Draco shook his head and stood up. He stretched above him and grabbed a small briefcase from next to his trunk.
“I’ve got better stuff, come along Potter.” Draco sat down on his knees and motioned to his bench for Harry to sit. As soon as he was sitting across from Malfoy with the briefcase in between them Draco tapped his wand to it and it opened up.
Harry’s eyes widened at the sight. There was a whole tray of chocolates spiraling down the case with little golden wrapped beneath each of them. His mouth watered at the sight.
“For Merlin’s sake Potter just take one.” He moved to smack him on the head but Harry grabbed his wrist and shoved it back towards him.
“I do not appreciate you trying to hit me,” stated Harry matter-of-factly before laughing slightly to himself. They both grabbed a chocolate and leaned against the walls behind them.
“So, why are you being so nice all of a sudden?” asked Harry through bites. Draco smiled.
“Well, I moved into my own flat in the muggle world and went to a wizard therapist over the Summer.” Harry just about choked on his chocolate as he said this.
“You are living in the muggle world?”
“Always a tone of surprise. And yes you blithering idiot, why else would I be sitting alone on the ride to Hogwarts?” He sneered, but for the first time, playfully.
“Technically you’re not sitting alone.” Draco threw a chocolate at him. “Hey!” they both laughed.
It was possibly the strangest thing that had ever happened. There was Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter sitting together, and laughing together, and eating Draco’s chocolates together, and being nice for a change. If there were onlookers they would have fainted at the sight.
“You know, you’ve really changed.”
“Potter, I really have not.”
“Yeah, you have.”
“Um no, do you actually think I ever wanted to be mean? To actually be a death eater and stuff like that? No. It’s just what I was forced to be since I was born.”
“Well when you put it like that...”
Suddenly the compartment door slammed open. Pansy Parkinson stood there with an enraged look on her face.
“Draco Lucius Malfoy! You told me you were going to sit with me! Do you know how long I have been waiting for you? Do you know how long it took to find you?” She didn’t even seem to notice Harry.
Until Draco glanced at him.
Then Pansy turned and saw him. Fury danced in her eyes as she looked back at Draco.
“You are sitting with Harry bloody Potter and not with me!” she screamed at him. “We,” she motioned between them, “are over! Congratulations on being single, Draco.” She stormed away banging the door closed. Draco sat there with a stunned look for a second before breaking out into laughter. Harry stared at him as if he was turning into a bloody unicorn or something.
Draco fell off the bench and was practically crying with laughter.
“What is happening?” shouted Harry at last. Draco just continued laughing.
Harry whipped out his wand and cast a Silencio charm on him. Draco glared at him and continued to do so even after Harry lifted the spell.
“Would you care to explain that?”
“It was on purpose Potter don’t get your underwear in a jumble.”
“Purpose?”
“Yes, I certainly don’t want to date her!”
“Why?” Harry was completely confused.
“You really are stupid aren’t you?” Harry shrugged with the same expression on his face. “Oh my god could it be more obvious?”
“What?!”
“This is why you are not in ravencl-”
“Oh my god, what?!”
“Merlin Potter I’m gay you complete moron.” Draco stood up and successfully smacked Harry on the head, for Harry was to bewildered to move, or even flinch.
“What?”
“Jesus do I have to repeat it I’m-”
“No I know. But why? You are like the straightest person I know.” Draco gasped dramatically.
“I am duly offended. That’s like me calling you completely straight.”
“But I-”
“Please.” Draco held his hand up.
“You are so impossible you know that?”
“Hey, I am just calling you out on your bisexualness.”
“Pansexual, actually.”
“Okay, whatever, let’s move on now.”
They both sat against their individual walls on the opposite side of the compartment. Almost at exactly the same time they said,
“Accio laptop.”
They stared at each other as their laptops landed in their laps. Then they turned to their screens.
They stayed this way in a comfortable silence until the train approached Hogwarts. They were the last ones off and caught the last carriage.
As the students all gathered in the Great Hall the eighth years were stopped outside of it. Headmistress McGonagall addressed them all. All 37 of them.
“Hello returning eighth years! There are many things I must tell you before you can retreat to the Great Hall. As you are aware there are not many of you. Therefore houses are disbanded in your year.” Complaints and murmurs coursed through the group. “Yes I know, I know. You will all be placed in the east tower that has been renovated for dormitory use. You will also notice a fifth table in the center of the Great Hall behind me in which you will be placed. After the Welcoming Feast you will shown to your dormitories and given roommates. It is two to a room this year. Please follow me.” She led them into the Great Hall and she proceeded to take her place at the Head of the staff table.
Harry gave a little wave to Hagrid as he sat at the very end of the table with Draco closest to the giant double-doors.
McGonagall soon stood and cleared her throat. Everybody fell silent. Then she began her speech.
“Welcome back to returning students and hello to our new ones. Here at Hogwarts we have had issues. This year we plan to change that and in doing so we have created many new things at Hogwarts. The first thing of order, to our students who are aware of muggle technology, we have installed wifi all throughout the school. And yes, it is free.” Whispers and excited murmurs and even happy shouts rang throughout the hall. Harry noticed the confused looks upon a few Pure-blood faces.
Then he looked over at Draco, who was smiling widely at the idea.
Harry felt elated. With wifi he could go and talk with-
Well no. His heart fell. His online friend did not have wifi at his school.
But he could try.
Later that night they were assigned dorms and roommates. Out of luck he was placed with Draco.
Their room was sort of small. There were two twin beds with curtains that could be drawn around it and they both had a bedside table with a lantern next to it. At the end of their beds lay their trunks with about two feet in between the trunk and the wall to access it. In between the two beds was a window.
Down the hall was a bathroom with 10 showers and 5 bathroom stalls along with a row of marble sinks.
As soon as he and Draco entered the dorm they curled up into their beds with their laptops and shut the curtain.
Harry opened up the website and clicked on his chat with his friend. A green dot appeared which told Harry that his friend was online.
Hey.
Hey!
I thought you didn’t have wifi at your school?
We just got it apparently!
Us too, obviously.
This is amazing.
Yes!
But also kind of strange.
Yeah.
I think I should tell you something.
What?
Okay, prepare yourself, seriously.
Okay! Spit it out!
I’m a wizard.
What?!
A wizard.
No you idiot, that’s so cool.
Why?
I’m a wizard, too!!
What?!
Yeah!
Oh my Merlin, what school do you go to?
Hogwarts.
Oh my god! Me too!
Wow. This is strange.
Yeah. Sort of.
What house are you in?
Er. Slytherin?
Wow. I’m a Gryffindor.
Gryffindor...
What year are you in?
Nope. No. I am not telling you that. That is part of our mystique.
Fine... At least tell me what side you were on in the Battle of Hogwarts.
Erm.
What?
Well, I guess I was really on Harry Potter’s side. But he might not have known it.
Harry grinned. This kid was on his side. This kid was talking to Harry bloody Potter and he didn’t even know it. He looked back at his computer and responded.
Why not?
Well Slytherin’s don’t exactly get on with Gryffindor’s I guess.
True.
Who’s side were you on?
Harry Potter’s side. All the way. Like 100%.
You sound very dedicated.
Yeah, you could say I was Harry Potter considering how much on his side I was.
Extremist, much?
No, not at all.
You kinda sound like it.
Well it’s hard to be an extremist about Harry Potter when I am Harry Potter.
Oh.
Merlin.
Are you there?
Please respond.
Are you there?
Yeah. Yeah I’m here.
Oh, good.
I think, um, I’ve got to go.
Why? Please it shouldn’t matter should it? Please don’t go!
Minutes passed and Harry’s friend was no longer responding. His stupid slip-up caused him to lose another person. He slammed his laptop closed and opened up his curtain. Draco’s curtain was open as well and he was looking sickly.
“Are you okay?” Harry asked trying to shake the edge out of his voice.
“Yeah, I just need a shower.” Draco stared at him. He knew too much about Harry Potter. Things that never should have been trusted to him. And worse, Harry didn’t even know it was him he was talking to.
But Draco had it worse, he supposed. Knowing he was talking to the Savior of the Wizarding world. Knowing things about somebody he used to be horrible to. And just knowing that he’d fallen in love with a kid on a computer that happened to be real person.
“Me too.” responded Harry as he examined Draco’s face.
That night they showered and went to bed without speaking a word to each other.
Harry sent message after message to his unknown friend online. And Draco looked at each and every one of them. He had charmed the website to not show he was online. He also charmed his curtains so Harry couldn’t hear him crying himself to sleep because he fell in love with the one person who would never love him.
It was one o’clock when Harry just gave up. He lost his only friend because he messed up. Assuming Draco was asleep he sobbed into his pillow.
But Draco was not asleep yet.
He had stopped his own crying to listen to Harry’s.
It broke his heart because Harry Potter was crying.
Over him.
It also broke his heart because he knew that if Harry knew it was him, he would not be crying.