I Saw Stars

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/41414355.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Relationship: Remus Lupin & Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy
& Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy & Narcissa Black Malfoy, Draco Malfoy &
Lucius Malfoy, Sirius Black & Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy & Theodore
Nott
Character: Draco Malfoy, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott,
Hermione Granger, George Weasley, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Severus
Snape, Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Tom Riddle |
Voldemort, Luna Lovegood, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Ron
Weasley, Lucius Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greengrass,
Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew
Additional Tags: Angst, Eventual Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Bisexual Remus Lupin,
Protective Remus Lupin, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Abusive
Lucius Malfoy, POV Draco Malfoy, Emotional Hurt, Draco Malfoy Needs
a Hug, Emotional Manipulation, Alternate Universe, Book 3: Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Boggarts (Harry Potter),
Internalized Homophobia, Hogwarts, Good Blaise Zabini, Protective
Blaise Zabini, Harry Potter is Bad at Feelings, Harry Potter is Obsessed
with Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley is So Done, Good Narcissa Black
Malfoy, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Gay Draco Malfoy, update
randomly, sorry i dont have a schedule- they freak me out, Book 4:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-09-01 Updated: 2023-02-28 Chapters: 53/? Words:
109383

I Saw Stars
by orbithastnt

Summary

“I’m not going to give you detention, Draco.” He leans back against a table. “I want to talk
about your boggart.”
“I am not explaining anything!” He glares at him. “You had no right to see that Boggart.”

Draco has many secrets to keep to himself, but when confronting his boggart two of his
darkest ones get exposed to Professor Lupin. A father figure Draco deserves enters his life
as well as real friends and life-changing events.

Notes
Gay Draco has a shit father.
Starting off from Prisoner of Azkaban and I'm planning on writing it all the way to what
would be the end of Deathly Hallows. Enjoy the journey with me, yeah?
 Chapter 1
Chapter Notes

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“This class is ridiculous,” Draco rolls his eyes as he faintly hears the new Defensive Against The
Dark Arts teacher say something to the whole class. He then has to watch Longbottom put Snape in
his grandmother’s close. The Professor puts on atrocious music (actually he disagrees with himself
on that) and more people confront their Boggart. He’s not amused.

Eventually, it’s Potter’s turn. The Slytherin would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious what
the Golden Boy’s biggest fear was. Who wouldn't be? He leans off the wall and peaks between
Crabbe and Goyal. He sees Potter take his wand out and even though he can't see the shorter face,
he can tell he's excited. Fucking freak. He sees the boggart begin to shift but before it can take a
true form, Professor Lupin steps in, drawing the attention to him. OF FUCKING COURSE.

Draco scoffs. Why is he shielded from his Boggart? Harry Bloody Potter and the privileges he gets
for defeating The Dark Lord. It’s outrageous. It makes Draco’s blood boil. He doesn’t care to
question why the Boggart was now an orb quickly turned into a balloon.

Draco is already leaving the classroom in frustration as the Professor say some nonsense he didn't
care to pay attention to. He’s not even ten seconds down the hall when he hears Pansy Parkinson’s
somehow classy footsteps.

“Draco, are you alright?” Her sweet tone makes him sneer.

“I’m fine.”

Her whole demeanor changes. “You didn’t grab a textbook.”

“I didn’t know we needed to grab one."

“Maybe if you didn’t storm off like a child you would have heard him say to grab one.”

He huffs and shoots her a look, “Well, why didn’t you grab me one then?”

“Because I’m not your house-elf,” she snaps back.

Draco dramatically rolls his eyes and storms back to the DADA classroom, purposefully bumping
into Potter’s shoulder.

“Watch it, Malfoy!” Potter shouts.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Potter,” he drawls and continues on.

Walking into the classroom, besides the rattling cabinet, he sees no one there. Not even Professor
— something he doesn’t remember his name. A wicked idea then pops into his head and he
quickly sets his book bag down. He pulls out his wand while approaching the cabinet. One of the
Patil Twins, Weasley, and bloody Longbottom was able to cast the spell. Draco has no doubt that
he can’t either.

Now he isn’t sure what his biggest fear is. Possibly his mother dying or being bested in Potions by
Granger or possibly his hair being a different color. He’s hesitant for brief second before casting
the spell to unlock to the cabinet.

The door creaks open in the most ominous way possible. One foot steps out and then another
before the entire figure exits and leaves Draco completely still.

“No… why?” Draco breathes out. Standing in front of him was his Harry Potter; standing tall—
well not taller then Draco— and proud but looking at Draco as if he was vermin.

“You weren’t expecting me were you?” He laughs darkly which sends a shudder down his spine.
“Lets think shall we?” Potter steps closer to him. “You fear me the most but why? I would think it
would be your father…Merlin knows you deserve what you get.” Another deadly laugh. “You
really deserve it,” he quietly adds on. “You fear me because of what I make you feel!”

“N-no. No.” He tries to growl but he fails miserably. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,
Potter!” He raises his wand, ignoring the fact his hand was trembling, and goes to cast the spell
until Potter says, “You’re gay and in love with me. Fucking disgusting…”

“I-I’m— I’m not! I’m not!” He cries.

“It’s amusing, watching you tear up in fear. What would your father say if he saw you crying?”

Is this what it’s like to get all the air sucked out of your lungs? Because Draco can’t breathe
anymore. He’s not even sure if he’s living because he’s not moving. The only thing he hears is his
wand clatter to the floor that was luckily still beneath him.

“I know what he would do.” Potter pulls out a cane, that Draco knows all to well, and raises it into
the air. Automatically, Draco stumbles backwards while flinching aggressively, preparing himself
for the impact. The moment the cane is about to hit him someone shouts ‘Riddikulus’.

Potter’s mouth gets covered in duck tape before his hair turns bright pink and clothes change to a
ballroom gown before being thrown into the closet.

Draco drops to his knees and clutches his wand, breathing heavily.

“It was just a Boggart,” he whispers to himself. “It was just a Boggart.”

“Mr. Malfoy,” Draco jumps up to his feet and casts a random spell. The mystery voice blocks it
easily and Draco wants to leave Hogwarts and never come back. Professor Lupin was standing at a
distance, slowly pocketing his wand. “Mr. Malfoy…”

“DON”T!” He shouts and scrambles for his bag “You didn’t— You didn’t see anything! You can’t
tell anyone! You just can’t!” He screams and rushes out of the classroom. He doesn’t dare look
back when the Professor calls for him. He ignores the strange looks from random students as he
rushes to the Slytherin Common Room. He’ll get scowled by Professor Mcgonagall when he
doesn’t show up to Transfiguration but he doesn’t care. He really doesn’t care.

He mutters the password and runs to his bedroom, slamming the door shut. His roommates aren’t
there so he gets to collapse on this bed and scream into his pillow. His breathing quickly turns
ragged, his heart was thumping, and his hands were slightly trembling. The thought of his father
finding out he was — no, NO.
I’m not. I can’t be. he thinks

He feels tears forming in his eyes and he has to remind himself he’s not allowed to cry. Even when
your father hits your back with his hand to fix your posture. Even when you watch your father yell
at your mother who took the blame for breaking a Malfoy air loom. And even when your father
casts a stinging hex or slams his cane into your chest when you ask why does it matter if a muggle-
born is ahead of him in transfiguration. You just can’t. It’s not proper. It’s not masculine. It’s not
Malfoy.

Draco lies in his bed, staring toward an empty wall thinking how much he hates his father and
Potter. But most importantly, how much he hates himself.

He’s never been so miserable at a dinner at Hogwarts but here he was. Trying to kill himself with
his eyes through his reflection on a cup. He tunes out Pansy and Theodore Nott’s conversation and
Crabbe and Goyals loud chewing (which they don’t commonly do.)

“How’s your arm, Draco?” Pansy asks. He tunes back into reality and forces himself to look over
at her. Her eyes scream ‘I like you Draco’ and it makes him want to throw up.

“It’s fine,” he mutters before taking a bite of his food.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Luckily that big oaf is getting what he deserves.” If he was being completely honest
he felt fucking awful. The amount of attention Potter was getting was aggregating to Draco so he
lashed out at the hippogriff. The injury he got wasn’t worth it. And since his father found out,
Hagrid is either going to be sacked or something is going to happen to the hippogriff. He made his
father proud for the position he’s put both “creatures” in.

“You’re damn right,” Pansy replies and goes back to talking to Theo about who knows what.

“Mr. Malfoy,” a voice behind him startles him. He sees Pansy’s ugly expression and Blaise
Zabini's curious one before meeting his eyes with Professor Lupin. “Come with me, please.”

“Why?” His top lip curls in the smallest way possible.

“It’s more of a private conversation, Mr.Malfoy,” his tone is so neutral and it makes Draco want to
throw his plate at him.

“And you had to ask me in the middle of dinner?” he doesn’t even suppress his glare.

“Yes, I’m aware of attention this could draw but it’s the only time I can speak to you.”

Bloody Gryffindors and their stubbornness.

“Fine,” he spat and dramatically stands. He notices half the Great Hall looking at him and he
immediately wants to off himself. He regrettably makes eye contact with Potter and sends a sneer
his way.

He forces himself to follow the Professor because it’s either have this stupid conversation now or
later. The door slams shut behind the two of them and Draco stares at him with immense hatred.

“Mr.Malfoy—“
“My name is Draco,” he growls. “Don’t call me that.”

“Alright, Draco. I know you know why I’ve called you in here, but which of us is going to say it
out loud first?” When Draco shoots daggers with his eyes, a small smile appears on Lupin’s face.
“You faced a boggart while I wasn’t here. Are you aware of how dangerous that is for a first
timer?”

“Why don’t you get to the point where you give me detention, sir, so I can go back to my dinner.”

“I’m not going to give you detention, Draco.” He leans back against a table. “I want to talk about
your boggart.”

“I am not explaining anything!” He glares at him. “You had no right to see that Boggart.”

“You had no right to face it on your own.” he retorts.

“I have nothing to explain to you, alright?”

“You faced a Boggart that turned into Harry Potter who had your fathers’ cane. I have to talk to
you about this.”

“No,” he says harshly before composing himself. “No, I don’t.”

“Draco, I’m sorry something so personal was exposed to someone you frankly don’t like.”

“That’s an understatement,” he mutters under his breath.

“But I can’t just ignore this.”

“Yes, you can! You have to. Y-You…” He’s never planned for a moment like this. A moment
where someone finds out the truth of his life at home. He never thought he would have to. He was
good at pretending at school. He never had to worry about it. But now a Professor knows. What is
he supposed to do?

“Draco…”

“You can’t tell anyone,” he forces himself to say. “You don’t understand.”

“I can’t walk away from this. I have to say something .”

“You can’t!” he bursts in a sudden rage of fear. “You will put my Mother in danger and I don’t care
if I’m bloody thirteen that won’t stop me from hurting you! My father is a very powerful man.
He’ll,” his breathing hitches. “He’ll always win.”

He shudders as he can practically hear his fathers cane in the back of his head.

How did someone crack his his mask? How did this crazy Professor (hello the scars) take out a
brick out of his wall that can’t be put back in? Draco’s tired in these few minutes but he can’t seem
to pretend anymore now that he knows the truth. It’s terrifying.

“You’re trembling, Draco.” he says gently.

“I didn’t notice,” he replies truthfully.

“Your father is a powerful man,” he eventually says. “I’ve actually been on the other end of that
wand one or two times,” he says it so casual that Draco can’t stop his amused scoff from escaping
 his lips. “But I want us to speak. Meetings you could call them. Because, Draco, before I walked in,
the reason I was even aware you were confronting your Boggart was because I heard him
speaking.”

“You’re joking.” He scoffs. “You just had to hear that part too!” he’s on the verge of screaming.
“It wasn’t true. What Po— that Boggart said wasn’t true. I’m not one of those— I’m not.”

“If you think I’m someone who is homophobic, Draco, I can promise you I’m not.”

“I’m not gay!” he sharply says. “I am not gay. And I’m not gay for Harry Potter.”

Professor Lupin takes a deep breathe and Draco can see the cogs in his head turning. “Are you
homophobic, Draco?”

“Yes,” he answers automatically.

“Draco.”

He groans. “No, I’m not, okay? I’m not homophobic.”

“Is your father?”

“Obviously.”

He thinks before speaking his next words. “We’re having the meetings two or three times a week.”

“You’re not even giving me a choice!”

“No, I’m not,” he says softly. “You need to understand this, Draco. Talking to someone about your
emotions is not a bad thing. I never did when I was your age and it ended in horrible
consequences.”

“I can tell.” He feels bad the seconds the words leave his mouth. Force of habit to be cruel when on
defence. “Sorry.”

“Someone once told me getting help doesn’t make you weak; it makes you stronger.” Draco scoffs
but doesn’t say anything.

A voice in the back of his mind, that sounded just like his mother, was telling him to accept the
help she can’t provide. When he’s home, he can see the sadness in his mother’s eyes as she roams
around The Manor. While sitting at the dinner table or at a gathering of Purebloods. It was tragic;
her story. Everyone who grew up in the Black family was manipulated or traumatized but Narcissa
Black Nee Malfoy never let it change who she wanted to be deep down. On the outside oh yes. She
was cruel to others, kept her status up, was the perfect wife,

Her real self is only shown to Draco while they alone in the garden or in the library or when he
was younger and she used to tuck him into bed.

Her story only Draco knows.

“Okay,” he finally says.

Chapter End Notes

I know Narcissa is so different from canon Narcissa but this story isn't canon so. yeah.
Hoped you enjoyed the first chapter!!! I'm excited to see where this story goes. I hope
a fair few of you enjoy it :)
 Chapter 2
Chapter Summary

“I promise you he won’t. Here.” He pulls out his wand. “Muffalito. Now, no one can
hear us.”
“Don’t treat me like a child.”
“Not trying to.

Draco's first meeting with Professor Lupin :)

Chapter Notes

Hope you enjoy! / THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The next day, all questions from Pansy, Crabbe, Goyal, and Theo were ignored by Draco. He has
never silently thanked Blaise this much for keeping quiet. He agreed to have one of the two
meetings with Lupin today to get it out of the way. In order to prepare for that he’s decided to do
one of the things he does best. Create a list of different insults he can tell Harry Potter.

After his classes and his annoying detention with McGonagall, he went to the front of the castle
and sat on a window seal. He sighs to himself, the quiet was comforting and the sunset could be
seen perfectly. He ignores the two first-year Ravenclaws who quicken their pace when they see
him as he picks up his quill. He somehow gracefully dips it into his ink and begins writing.

HARRY POTTER INSULTS

1. Short. He’s short.

2. He’s horrible at potions! He’s so bloody pants at it! It’s embarrassing!

3. He’s Harry Potter.

4. Clumsy. He’s so clumsy

“He makes it look good though,” he admits out loud and a pang feeling strikes through his chest
like whiplash. He can’t be thinking that. He can’t be thinking that at all. Why would his mind play
these awful tricks on him? It’s like he wants to self-sabotage himself. He scribbles more insults
than his mind always finds a counterargument to. Eventually, he gives up and collects his things
before storming to the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom. Turning one of the hallway
corners he runs into something.

“What the— “ Not something, someone. Fuck. “Potter.” He tries to spit out the name, but it comes
out more breathlessly.
“Malfoy,” he can hear the disgust in his voice which makes Draco wince on the inside. His eyes
flicker to the parchment Draco is holding. “Is that my name?” Dracos’ day just couldn’t get any
worse. He goes to snatch it out of his hands but he smacks his hand away.

“Ever heard of not to touching things that are yours?!”

“That has my name on it, Malfoy!” He tries to grab it again but Draco pulls out his wand and points
it at him.

“Get the hell out of away of my way, Scarhead,” he shoves him to the side and continues his
journey. He slams the door shut when entering the classroom and it draws Professor Lupins’ eyes.

Professor Lupin putting vinyl on his record player.

“Draco.” He just finished putting vinyl on his record player and the music played quietly in the
background. “I was beginning to worry.”

“I’m only a few minutes late?”

“Yes, well I’ve been told you’re very punctual.”

“Yeah, usually if I don’t run into bloody Potter,” he grumbles as he slumps into a chair near Lupin.

“You ran into Harry?” he asks curiously, sitting across from him.

“Yes I ran into Harry,” he mocks.

“How did that go?”

“Why does it matter?” He crumples the piece of parchment in his hands and stuffs it in his pocket.

“I guess it doesn’t… so, Draco, I have a question for you.”

“Okay.”

“Do you actually hate Harry?”

“Yes.”

“Draco.”

“Yes.”

“Draco.”

“Are you— are you trying to imply that I don’t?”

“No, I’m trying to get you to admit the truth.” He leans slightly forward. “Your father and your
classmates aren’t here. You saying your own opinions is okay right now. You won’t get in
trouble.”

“I always say my own opinions.”

“Your automatic response when I asked if you were homophobic was yes.”

“A slip up.”
“Does your father know you’re not homophobic?”

“No, alright!” he shouts. “He doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know a lot of things!”

“But I am not your father. You are allowed to say something you really mean with no
consequences.” He folds his hands in front of him. “I promise.”

“I… I can’t.” He automatically lowers his head in embarrassment. He sounds so pathetic; he hates
it. “I can’t do this, Professor. He’ll find out somehow.”

“I promise you he won’t. Here.” He pulls out his wand. “Muffalito. Now, no one can hear us.”

“Don’t treat me like a child.”

“Not trying to. I just want you to understand that you and your thoughts and your opinions are safe
with me.”

“And how can I be so sure?”

Draco shifts uncomfortably as Professor Lupin stares intensely at him.

“Follow me.” He stands and begins walking towards his office. Draco hesitates before following
him up the steps. When entering, he watches Lupin go over to the corner of the room and mutter a
couple of incantations under his breath towards a small cabinet. It opens after a second and Lupin
reaches his hand inside, pulling out a small photo frame.

“What I’m about to show you, only four other people know about. Three are… dead and the
other…” He takes a deep breath and Draco wonders if he’s going to cry.

“Why are you showing me then? Something so… personal.”

“Because, Draco, it can form some type of trust between us.”

“You can’t possibly trust me! Do you know who I am? What if I go tell my friends about this?”

“I don’t think you’d do that.”

“You’re off your rocker,” he folds his arms. Draco would never say that to a Professor but Sweet
Salazar, this one makes the Slytherin's blood boil. More than McGonagall in his first year.

“Draco, I’m not your father.”

“Would you stop saying that? I’m well aware! Why can’t you just understand that I-I shouldn’t be
here! I can’t talk about this! I don’t—“ he hesitates before slumping against the door. His mind was
screaming different things. The majority of them saying to open up. Trust someone who isn’t his
mother. It shouldn’t be this hard. It’s like a hand holding him back from falling off a cliff. Except
it’s his words they’re holding back. And he knows whose hands they belong to. It makes me sick.
“There’s something holding me back, Professor.”

“Let me show you what I’m holding.” He places the photo frame in his hands. He stares into
Lupin's eyes before reluctantly looking down. His Malfoy mask, as he sometimes calls it,
desperately wants to make of this, but his real self stares at the moving photo with care and actual
shock.

The photo he sees is what appears to be a younger Professor Lupin, possibly in his 7th year,
laughing as he leans his forehead against another laughing male who looks oddly familiar.
Surrounding them were beautiful tall trees and peeking out from one of them was a boy—who
Draco could have sworn was Potter for a second—with 2 fingers in his mouth that shows he was
whistling. But Draco’s focus goes back to Lupin and the other man.

The shorter has wavy dark brown hair that goes down to his shoulders with beautiful gray eyes that
were staring intensely at younger Lupin. It was a gorgeous photo and it finally clicks in Draco’s
mind as to who the other man is, but he chooses not to say anything.

“So you… are…”

“Yes.” He smiles gently. “And by the look on your face you know who that is.”

“I mean, yeah. The hair, the eyes, the um… yeah. So you and he were…

“In love.”

Draco’s mouth drops open without his permission. He tries finding words to say but he can’t.

“You don’t look gay.” He settled for and he mentally slaps himself.

That makes Lupin laugh.

“My old friends would say different.” He takes the photo back from him but doesn’t put it away.

“But I’m not… Professor, I’m not…”

“Draco,” Every time he says his name there’s something that sparks in his chest. He isn’t sure what
it is but it was actually…nice. “Be honest with me and most importantly be honest with yourself.”

He clutches his arm to keep himself distracted as he contemplates what to say next. He knows the
truth. He knows he’s never had an attraction towards females; not the same way he’s had for males
his age and older. He remembers first meeting Theo and thinking he looked incredible for a 9 year
old. He never thought much of it, until he compared him with Pansy and realized it wasn’t the
same. He was 11 when he first ever thought of being in a relationship with a boy (two different
boys actually.) Of course one of them was Harry Potter. The other he refuses to admit out loud. He
remembers the thought hit him like the Knight Bus. It hit him so hard that he scrambled out of the
Common Room, up to his dorm, and stared at himself in the mirror. It took him the rest of the
school year to figure out what all that meant while being a pretentious prat.

Second year he was even crueler to Potter and his friends. After sending Dobby to him, a part of
him decided to blame him for making him feel like this; different and unnatural. It took him until
he saw two boys kissing behind the Quidditch Pitch to realize that it was, in fact, a thing. Over the
past summer he found out what the term was; Homosexual (Gay). His father never used that term
so it was quite a shock to him that there was a proper word for it. It’s been echoing in the back of
his mind ever since and the two parts of him were constantly fighting each other. It’s miserable.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be gay. It’s that I can’t be. He’ll… He’ll hurt me.”

“He’ll never know. Not from me.”

Draco nods.

“How did you know you were gay?” He eventually asks.

“I think I finally realized in my second year. Sirius tried out for Quidditch and he forced me to
watch. I was never around females much growing up and even then there was only one or two I
was actually attracted to. Sirius and some bloke I never fell for but found attractive… “

“When did you tell him?” In all honestly, he was quite curious. “Because eventually you both
ended up together before… well before everything.”

“It actually wasn’t me who told him. Lily Evans “accidentally” let it slip in year 5 that Sirius liked
me. She found out about Sirius through James who actually let it slip to her. It was a complete
mess that turned into something…” he trails off, clearly hurting from his past. He eventually sets
the photo back in the drawer, ever so slowly, and recasts the spells.

“You were friends with Potter’s parents?” He can’t help but ask. “James and Lily Potter… that was
him in the background of the photo wasn’t it?”

“Yes, we were all very close.” A small bittersweet smile forms on his face. “James was very
supportive of Sirius and I, hence why he was whistling in the photo.”

“But that doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“You said four people knew. Three were… gone, and the other must be Sirius Black, so… who
was the fourth?”

“Peter Pettigrew.”

“Petter Pettigrew?” he repeats with wide eyes. “Didn’t…“

“Yes,” he simply says.

“I’m sorry….” His eyes shift uncomfortably around the room.

“Yes, well, life is full of its complex turns. We just have to move on.” He replies dully.

“Right…” he mutters awkwardly.

“I hope you understand, I’m only here to help you. I know what it’s like to not want to open it.
Don’t be like me, Draco. Denying the help that’s offered will get you nowhere.”

“You seemed to turn out fine…”

He chuckles softly.

“Awfully kind of you.”

“Can I leave then? Since I practically just gave you a compliment for free.”’

“You want to leave that bad?”

“You have no idea.”

“Yes! You may leave. I want to speak with you on Monday before dinner. Is that alright?” Draco
nods. “Come up with something to talk about. It’ll be a longer meeting if you come unprepared.”

“If you say so, Sir. Have a good rest of your night.”
 “And you too, Draco.”

Instead of joining his fellow Slytherins for dinner, he goes to his dorm. He spends his time reading
until he hears footsteps coming up the stairs. He quickly puts his Potions book under his pillow
and pretends to sleep to avoid any questions from his roommates.

“Draco?” Theo opens his drapes and Draco remains as still as possible.

“He’s sleeping,” says Blaise.

Theo mutters something under his breath and closes them.

“Why wasn’t he at dinner?”

“Is it really any of your business?”

“I can be curious about something if I want to, Blaise! I’m just wondering why that new Professor
pulled him away from dinner yesterday. Draco hasn’t even told us why! And neither him or the
freak Lupin was there at dinner. It just doesn’t make sense!”

“Why are you so obsessed?” Grunts Goyal.

“I’m not obsessed, Vincent! It’s just weird.”

“I think you’re the only one finding it weird, Theo,” mutters Blaise.

“Shut up, Blaise!” he growls and Blaise doesn’t say anything more. Draco grimaces at how rude
Theo’s being. He’s never treated Blaise the same way as he treats Draco; always rude and pretends
he doesn’t exist. He’d do something now to shut him up, but he was pretending to be asleep and he
was actually getting tired. Eventually, he does fall asleep thinking about ways to embarrass Theo
tomorrow morning.

Chapter End Notes

Draco and Blaise friendship = Best Slytherin friendship

 Chapter 3
Chapter Summary

“Your boggart, who was Harry, claimed that you were in fact in love with him, Draco.
Is it true?”
“No,” he answers sharply. “I’m not in love with Potter. Ugh— Merlin, no."

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN/ More truth and feelings get exposed for
Draco

Chapter Notes

Enjoy!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The weekend went by smoothly for Draco; but not for the Gryffindors though. Sirius Black
supposedly broke into the castle and scared off the Fat Lady. He had wondered how Professor
Lupin was doing, considering Draco knows their past. He thought about asking him if he saw him
or was scared, but he came to the conclusion that would be too weird.

Luckily Potter wasn’t in Hogsmeade when he went with Crabbe and Goyal. Deep down he wished
he was because then it would have been more entertaining. The two thick heads he went with
barely even spoke. He almost wished he went with Theo, at least he would have had some form of
banter with him.

He planned the next conversation with Professor Lupin. It took him all weekend. He really wasn’t
sure what he wanted to talk about. This was all new to him so it was still terrifying but in a slightly
exhilarating way? After all the different possibilities of a conversation, he picks the one that makes
the least amount of sense; Harry Potter. And he was somewhat okay with bringing that up.

Now it’s Monday morning and Draco is dreading walking into the Great Hall for breakfast. He
knew he would look for Potter to at least make eye contact even though he really doesn’t want to.
It’s been a habit since day one and he hates that. He almost turns back around but Pansy was sadly
shoving him towards the table. Instead of snapping at her to keep her hands off of him, he sits
down at the Slytherin table and quickly decides he’s not going to speak to anyone. Of course, she
pushed him to the side where The Gryffindor Table was visible and was Potter’s annoyingly
beautiful eyes. Ugh. Their eyes eventually lock on each other and his face was filled with
confusion or possibly disgust— probably both. Draco immediately pales, sends a sneer his way,
and looks down at the food that he was picking at with a fork.

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Draco,” Pansy eventually says to him.

“Maybe I don’t have anything to say,” he grumbles. He only really meant for her to hear, but of
course, Theo does too.
“Draco Malfoy has nothing to say?” He snickers; they make eye contact from across the table.

“Has the world gone mad?”

“Maybe I don’t want to waste my breath on someone like you.” The moment those words slipped
from his mouth he knew he had sent a challenge through Theo’s veins. Shit.

“Will you relax? I’m only messing with you, daddy’s boy.” He smirks.

“Don’t mention my father,” he says through gritted teeth. He’s not in the mood for an argument but
if he has to he will.

“Aw, I’ve hit a nerve.” He fake pouts. “What are friends for if not for hitting those?”

“I don’t fucking care who you are; don’t mention my father.”

“Why? Something happening at home?”

“Boys…” Pansy says quietly but with a warning tone.

“What the fuck is your problem!?” Draco was absolutely furious. The nerve Theo has to say
something he doesn’t even half understand. If Draco wasn’t holding on to his self-control he would
have jumped across the table and tackled him to the ground.

“Somethings going on with you and I want to know! You’ve been acting odd ever since that stupid
Professor dragged you away at dinner!”

“It’s none of your business!” he yells.

“What are you hiding!” he barks.

The whole Slytherin table was watching them.

“If I was hiding anything I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you.” With that he picks up his book bag and
marches out of the Great Hall, ignoring all the stares.

He storms off to the library; eyebrows burrowed and fists clutching onto the strap of his bag. He
couldn’t believe Nott and the words he had said. He was used to the snarky comments and the
insensitive jokes Theo would shoot at him, but today it hit Draco differently.

Maybe it was because seeing his boggart on Thursday really made Draco realize how much he
hated how he was living. How much he hated his father and that bloody cane. How there were
feelings he was refusing to confront. Crazy how a couple of minutes with your biggest fear can
change you in a span of three days.

He rushes to the back of the library and sits down dramatically. The peace and quiet help him
regain calmness. His eyes were closed and he was in the middle of taking a deep breath when he
hears a chair being pulled up across from him. His eyes shoot open and he frowns.

“Come to interrogate me?” His eyes are met with Blaises’.

“No,” he simply says. “I’ve come to give you toast.” He holds out a piece. “I figured you wouldn’t
want to be angry on an empty stomach.” Draco huffs but doesn’t say anything while he takes the
toast from him and begins eating it. “I haven’t seen you this angry at Theo since he tried casting a
jinx at me earlier this month.”
“I didn’t realize you noticed I was angry at him for that,” he admits.

“It was either that or when he called Pansy an annoying cow… I figured you would agree with him
on that.”

“He’s truly a prat for doing that too… but he treats you worse than anyone else.” He finishes his
toast. “Is it because you’re better than him and he’s aware of that?”

“Perhaps,” he says with a light grin. “But I believe it’s because he hates that you prefer me over
him.”

“What?”

“I won’t tell anyone you do, I promise.”

Draco rolls his eyes in a playful manner.

“So you haven’t come to ask me questions on his behalf?”

“Of course not. I don’t do anything for him. I’ve come to tell you you can trust me.”

“Trust you? With what?”

“Only you can answer that.” He slowly stands. “Just know, I was almost put into Ravenclaw. I
went with Slytherin so I could be roommates with the biggest ponce in the school.” He smirks
when Draco’s jaw slightly drops. “But don’t worry. No one is as clever as me— only I’ve
noticed.” With that, he leaves Draco paranoid, a little bit grateful, and slightly smitten.

Up until his meeting with Lupin, his day went by swimmingly. Draco’s group pretended nothing
happened at breakfast— though Draco purposefully avoided standing next to Theo. They laughed
at some first years, Theo and Pansy sneered at Mudbloods and Draco casted a trip jinx on
Longbottom (he won’t lie, he felt bad for doing that, but he was just angry at everything else in his
life.) The confidence he had while entering the classroom quickly disappears when he sees none
other than Harry Potter talking to Professor Lupin. The shorter turns around and both of their eyes
go wide.

“Malfoy?” He has the same expression and tone as when he found out Draco was the new seeker.
“What are you doing here?”

“That’s none of your business, Potter. What are you doing here? Getting extra lessons? Salazar
knows you need some.”

Potter reaches for his wand but Professor Lupin puts his arm in front of him.

“Let’s all take a breathe.” He looks between the two of them. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Harry.”

“Right…” he smiles awkwardly at him before leaving towards the door, not even trying to hide his
glances. When the door slams shut, Draco exhales roughly, not having been aware he was holding
his breath.

“What was he doing here?”

“He is a student of mine, Draco.”

“Whatever,” he huffs and sits down.

“Did you think of something to talk about?”

“I was thinking we could talk about the whole…” He gulps, “gay thing? How I’m… how I think
I’m… you know.”

“Let’s start with signs and feelings towards males in general. I noticed the other day you wrote a
list of why insults to tell Harry. Was the one you just told him on there?”

“Kill me now,” he mutters with a light blush of embarrassment.

“Your boggart, who was Harry, claimed that you were in fact in love with him, Draco. Is it true?”

“No,” he answers sharply. “I’m not in love with Potter. Ugh— Merlin, no. My— My biggest fear is
clearly being in love with him.” He fake shudders. “Because I’m not in love with him.”

“Yes, you’ve made that clear. I did hear something it said. It said you fear it because of what it
makes you feel, but Harry was speaking those words… what feelings does he make you feel?”

“Nothing.”

“Draco.”

“He makes me feel—“ he groans and dramatically gets out of the chair. “Angry, alright? I hate
him, sir. Why won’t you just let me HATE HIM!”

“You can hate him.” He didn’t even flinch when he raised his voice. “I’m not trying to keep you
from that. I’m only trying to understand. Please, sit back down.” Draco reluctantly does. “You’re
clearly aware that you could be gay— or at least— you’re aware you are attracted to males. Can
you name a few?”

“I guess… Theo isn’t so bad… Blaise, well… Blaise is very attractive, I suppose. I couldn’t see
myself with him but if I were to compare him or Theo with Pansy it makes more sense… Someone
who really made me question it was…” He swallows his pride as best as he can. He tries to focus
on the voice in the back of his mind that sounds like his mother. He must have been pondering
speaking the name for some time because Lupin tries to finish the sentence for him.

“Harry, maybe?”

“NO! Not everything is about Harry bloody Potter! I was going to say George Weasley.” He huffs.
Technically that was true… he was one of the reasons he started questioning things. It doesn’t
mean he was the main one. “One of the many reasons why I hate the Weasleys’.”

“Do you hate the Weasleys’ because they are considered pureblood traitors? Or is it because your
parents tell you to?”

“Not my parents,” he somewhat growls. “Just my father. My mother has no true feelings towards
them. Frankly… I’m only jealous of them. The stupid Weasley’s are perfect! The perfect messed-
up family! Ugh!” He abruptly stands once more and Professor Lupin doesn’t stop him. “How could
anyone actually hate them? And, of course, Potter would become friends with them first. I mean—
compared to me, yes, I would pick them in a heartbeat. Because of my father, Harry Potter, the one
person I wanted the fucking most in my life, rejected my handshake and— and now I’m here!
Dealing with— ugh!” He grips his hair and begins breathing heavily. “He’s ruined my life… both
of them. They’ve…” The truth was out in the open and Draco feels completely lost. It’s become
reality and now Professor Lupin knows and it was overwhelming and he was crying and— “I don’t
want to be gay,” he whispers.

“Draco…” Lupin slowly stands and goes to approach him but Draco flinches backward.

“I can’t do this.” He shakes his head. “I refuse to do this!” He rushes out of the classroom,
completely ignoring Lupins’ calls for him.

Oh, god, how could I be this stupid? Why did I have to open the cupboard? Why did I have to
confront my boggart? Why am I stuck with him as a father?

More and more why questions run through his mind and he feels like he’s going to explode from
these unwanted emotions. He regrettably turns a sharp corner— he was trying to get to the
Common Room quicker— because he ends up running into Potter.

“What? Malfoy-?” He fixes his glasses. “Are you cryi—“ Draco shoves him to the side and returns
to his journey. Brilliant. Another thing to add to his embarrassment and his miserable feelings.
Everyone was at dinner so he didn’t have to shield himself from people as he enters and runs to his
dorm. He barely makes it to his bed before beginning to sob uncontrollably— even when the voice
inside his head was ridiculing him not to.

“Draco…?” An unrecognizable gentle voice says from the door. His head shoots up and sees
Blaise staring at him in a way he’s never seen him stare before.

“B-Blaise—“ he hiccups. “Don’t— fuck! Get— Get out! I—“

“Your secret is safe with me,” he simply says and begins approaching him.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he shouts and tries putting on a fake facade but what
Blaise does next prevents him from doing that. He pulls Draco into a hug, or more so Draco's head
rests on his chest and his arms go limp by his side. “It’s only me, Draco.” A pathetic sob escapes
his throat and he melts into the touch.

Over the next hour, he managed to find himself with his head in his friend’s lap with fingers
stroking through his hair smoothly. During the, surprisingly, comforting position he’s found
himself in, he wondered why Blaise was doing this. He knew they were each other’s favorite
people in their friend group for countless different reasons, but Blaise still came from a pureblood
family. He’s met his mother who was very posh and very intimidating so the fact the other
Slytherin was doing this wasn’t adding up. Maybe he goes through the same thing at home… or at
least something familiar. Pretending he’s someone he’s not for his family and everyone else in the
world.

He really thought about how Blaise acts in general. He never really spoke unless he was alone with
Draco. He’s never directly insulted other students before. He’s never said the word Mudblood or
Blood-Traitor that Draco is aware of. He honestly only ever smirked or chuckled when the other
Slytherins did. It made Draco wonder if any of the Slytherins actually knew each other.

“Did you fall asleep on me?” Blaise whispers after some time.

“No…” Draco replies weakly.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” he replies quickly.

 “Draco, if you’re worried I’m going to tell people you’re gay, I’m not. I’ve known for a while
actually— or I assumed but I think this confirmed it for me.”

“Uh— What?” He sits up quickly. “Blaise, I’m not— I’m not!”

“As someone who is also gay and very observant, it’s not that hard to tell.”

“You’re gay!?” His head might explode again.

Blaise nods. “But this isn’t about me. Draco, I haven’t seen you cry since you were nine and that
was because Daphne casted a trip jinx on you and you fell right on your face. What’s going on with
you?”

“I confronted my boggart and Professor Lupin saw it… he knows about my father and how I’m…
how I find boys…attractive. I stormed off today because I admitted something I didn’t want to be
true.” He groans. “My life is fucked, Blaise.”

“Not entirely. It could have been Theo who walked in on you crying.”

Draco shudders at the thought. “I’d transfer to Durmstrang,”

“I’d go with you.” He lightly grins. “I hope you know this will stay between us. I would prefer to
keep this side of me a secret as, I assume, you want to keep this side of you a secret too.”

“This is why you’ve always been my favorite.” He smiles gently.

“I know. You’re bloody horrible at hiding it. If I wasn’t smart, I would think you were in love with
me.”

“I’m not— I’m not in love with you!”

“Yes, I know! You’re not my type either, Draco. You’re too… short.”

“Short?” he gapes. “I’m taller than most!”

“Not taller than me,” he lightly chuckles and it was the first time since they were 10 he heard
Blaise laugh. It was… strange. It was a real and authentic laugh too… perhaps it was also
brilliant.

Chapter End Notes

Blaise and Draco will only ever be friends in this fic. This is a fact.

Hope you enjoyed!

 Chapter 4
Chapter Summary

“What did you do to Harry?”

“What are you talking about?”
“You did something to him!”

A conversation with Blaise, an encounter with someone unlikely, and an exciting idea
from Professor Lupin leaves Draco's life a fascinating mess

Chapter Notes

Enjoy!!! :)
This chapter has been rewritten because it was so bad before

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The next week went by strangely. He’s been ignoring Professor Lupin as best as he can. He’s
noticed him go to approach him a few times but Draco immediately turns around and walks the
other direction. Him and Blaise have been spending more time with just each other in secret.
Spending time with the rest of the other Slytherins was exhausting, having to put on his Malfoy
mask. He was thankful he had Blaise to talk about the boys they found attractive. On their fifth day
Draco admitted George Weasley was the one who made him question things while Blaise admitted
it was Oliver Wood for him.

“Annoying Gryffindors. Why do they have to be so bloody attractive,” Blaise says. Him and Draco
were currently sitting in one of the courtyards no one goes to. It was the perfect spot for the both of
them to talk.

“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s only the ones that play Quidditch.”

“I mean you have to admit Dean Thomas is pretty attractive and he doesn’t play Quidditch,” theres
a sheepish grin on Blaise’s face.

“Eh,” he shrugs. “He’s not really my type.”

“Because he’s black?”

“WHAT!?” He looks up at him with shock. “No! I just prefer people who like a challenge. He’s
to… civil.”

“And George Weasley likes a challenge?”

“All the Weasleys like a challenge. Even the bloody girl. It’s weird.”

“You know who else likes a challenge?”

“Cedric Diggory?” He says without looking at him.

“No- I mean yes. He’s proper fit isn’t he? But no. I mean Potter.”

“P-potter?” Draco can feel the exact moment he stops breathing.

“You still haven’t admitted it to yourself have you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he looks away.

“I know, Draco. You’ve been obsessed with Potter for a long time now.”

“Why are you so observant?” he groans.

Blaise shrugs. “Old habits die hard.”

“Isn’t that a muggle expression?”

“Yeah. I heard it from some Muggle-Born. Is that a problem?” He raises an eyebrow at Draco.

“No,” he says honestly. “Of course not. It’s never been a problem.”

“Good,” he simply says. “Because I never found it a problem either.”

“Our families have really fucked us over haven’t they?”

“Yeah. At least we’re the best looking.”

Draco snorts which causes Blaise to laugh in surprise. They stare at each other for a brief second,
in shock, before laughing uncontrollably. It was a feeling that Draco only felt with his mother. The
feeling that there were no strings attached to his slim body. That there was no weight on his
shoulders and he didn’t have to worry about his father. He pondered a few times wether he should
send a letter to his mother telling him that Blaise knows the real him. He wondered if she would be
happy that he had someone else to be true around or concerned that someone knew her son was
being hurt at home by his father.

He still hasn’t told her she likes boys that way. He has no idea how his mother feels about those
people because they never needed to talk about it. He knew his mother was a very open person, but
he just didn’t want to risk anything. He loved the relationship with his mother and if there was
even the slightest chance of it changing… he just couldn’t risk it.

“Malfoy!” A female voice says from behind the two of them. They both abruptly stop laughing.
Draco whips his head around and his eyes widen.

“Granger?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Okay? Talk.”

“In private,” she glances between him and Blaise.

“Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of Blaise.”

“Alright,” she walks closer to them. “What did you do to Harry?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You did something to him!” she cries out. “He’s been acting strange! Constantly talking about you
when he has more important things to worry about! Are you planning something, Malfoy!?

“I haven’t done anything to your Saint Potter! What are you even talking about?!”

“He says he saw his name on a piece of parchment you were holding! Seriously Malfoy! What did
you do to him?” Draco remembers their last encounter, Potter had seen him cry, and the one before
that with the list. After the first one, Draco was trying his hardest to ignore him. He wasn’t even
making fun of anymore for Merlins sake! Draco would have thought Potter would be thankful he’s
leaving him alone. But now heres Granger saying he’s all he talks about. What has this school
come to?

“I haven’t done anything! Why don’t you, oh I don’t know, ask him why he seems to be so keen to
talking about me so much!”

“I wouldn’t be sarcastic right now, Draco,” Blaise mutters under his breath.

“Because he won’t tell me! I don’t know why he’s becoming obsess with you! It doesn’t make
sense! Oh!” She frowns. “Whatever you’re planning, Malfoy, I’ll stop you. Even if I have to break
a few rules,” she adds almost reluctantly.

“Oh really? What rules are planning to break? Are you going to hex me?” he snickers. “I’m so
scared, Granger! Going to cast bubbles to attack me?” Granger doesn’t hesitate when she slaps him
across the cheek. He sits there with his mouth wide in shock.

Granger seemed shocked herself. “That felt good,” she sends up saying before walking away.

“You somewhat deserve that,” Blaise says but he was also staring at him wide eye.

“I guess…” he grumbles.

“What piece of parchment was she talking about?”

“I wrote a list about why Potter is so stupid and I ran into him in the hallway. He saw it and I guess
now he’s being weird about it!

“She mentioned other times of you running into him.”

“Well we ran into each other in Professor Lupins classroom and then he saw me crying that day.
Oh god,” he runs his fingers through his hair. “Tell me why I haven’t off’d myself yet? Potter saw
me crying for fucks sake! It hasn’t even sent in…”

“Yikes,” Blaise mumbles.

“I have to go talk to Professor Lupin. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“See you later, Draco.”

He practically marches to the DADA classroom and takes a deep breath before entering.

“Professor Lupin?” He calls out.

“Yes?” He comes out of his office. “Ah! Draco!” There’s a small smile on his face. He descends
down the stairs and approaches him. “I thought I wouldn’t see you for another few days.”
“Yes well, something came up so I couldn’t ignore you any longer,” he tries to put on a look of
disappointed but fails miserably.

“What happened?”

“You see-“ he told him how Blaise found out, how they’ve been talking about finding boys
attractive (he made sure to threaten Lupin if he told anyone Blaise was gay), how he’s come to a
realization that there might be certain feelings towards Potter that isn’t hatred, and what finally
made up his mind to speak to him again was because Granger spoke to him not long before this
about how Potter doesn’t shut up about him because of their last few encounters (he left out the
part of being slapped.)

“Have you thought about talking to Harry about those encounters?”

“Are you mad?” He stares at him with wide eyes. “My father would kill me if he found out I spoke
to Potter with civil words! He was furious when he found out I tried to be friends with him in first
year! I’m stuck with only you and Blaise knowing about my feelings towards him.”

“Draco…” He can tell Lupin is about to say something he doesn’t want to hear. “I really want to
encourage you to approach him. It might be the smartest option.”

“Might!” He repeats. “You’re not even one hundred percent sure!”

Lupin sighs light heartedly. “Okay… I can’t convince you to do something you don’t want to do.
So I’ve come up with an idea.”

“Which would be?”

“Well you can’t seriously think I would let you go home in a few months for the holidays without
teaching you a certain charm.”

“A charm?” He tilts his head with curiosity.

“You’ve heard of the charm ‘Protego’ I take it?”

“You’re going to teach me the Protego charm? Are you even allowed to teach me that? It’s a year
6 level charm!”

“Am I allowed to help a student out with a charm? Yes. Am I allowed to teach a 3rd year a year 6
level charm? Hmmm, maybe not, but that’s alright.”

“You’re a little bit crazy.”

“Perhaps,” he genuinely smiles.

“But my father he… takes my wand from me when he… you know…”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll first teach you how to cast it with your wand and then I’ll teach you how to
cast it wandlessly.”

“Wandlessly? You think I can achieve that before Christmas Hols?”

“With a lot of practice I believe you could do it.”

Draco groans in defeat, “You Gryffindors and your optimism. It’s weird.”
 Lupin chuckles, “would you like to start right now? I have time.”

“I would, Professor, but I’m knackered.”

“How about Monday then? Before dinner?”

“That works. I’ll see you then,” he makes to leave and stops at the door when Lupin begins to
speak.

“I would suggest keeping a close eye on a certain someone, Draco.”

“Who?”

“That’s for you to figure out, I believe,” without another word he goes to his office. Curious, Draco
leaves back to the common room, already having an idea who the Professor was referring to.

Chapter End Notes

I already have the next three chapters written out and it's taking all my willpower not
to post them all at once lmao.
Also, I swear Harry is still like stressing over Sirius Black while constantly asking
questions about Malfoy to his friends. I like to think Harry is using Malfoy as a
distraction because who wouldn't rather think about his rival crying than a murderous
lunatic trying to kill you?
 Chapter 5
Chapter Summary

“Where the hell is he?”

“Why?” Theo stands from a couch and makes his way over to him. “Can’t go more
than ten minutes without your precious Zabini?”
“Aw,” Draco taunts, already pissed off with what just happened with Potter. “Someone
jealous I’m not spending time with him?”

Unexpected interactions leave Draco more numb then ever.

Chapter Notes

Enjoy!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco couldn't understand what was going on. As each day went by he continued to notice Potter
staring at him more and more. During classes and during their meals. Even once in the courtyard!
And every time they would encounter each other it made Draco's blood practically boil. He would
say something rude to Potter to keep his facade up and Potter would either ignore or reply with
something stupid. It wasn't the same for either of them; especially Draco.

He’s had six meetings with Lupin, and by day three he was able to cast a Protego with his wand,
which was a brief moment of happiness until he started trying to do it wandlessly. Professor Lupin
had incredible patience, which for some reason pissed Draco off even more. He complained and
complained about how hard it was. There was one time he threw a pillow that the Professor had
transfigured so when Draco was shot with a spell he would have a safe landing. They took a thirty-
minute break after that.

Draco had asked Lupin once about Sirius Black and their relationship, but not much was said
because the conversation was purposefully cut short by him. It was clearly a sensitive topic and it
kind of ached Draco's heart. He decided to never bring the topic up again so Draco never brought
the topic up again.

The day the Professor wasn't there in class, Draco thought it was because of him. Because he had
brought up Sirius Black. But when Professor Snape said he was ill Draco sighed in relief.

It was currently the day after the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. All the
Slytherins were still laughing about Potter falling off his broom and while Draco would add on, he
deep down he just wanted everyone to shut up. He heard Potter was out of the hospital wing, so
rumored had it, and Draco was secretly hoping he was doing okay.

He was sitting on a bench outside, the cold air hitting his now rosy cheeks. He was alone catching
up on Ancient Runes when he heard a twig snap behind him. He turns to see no one there and he
tilts his head in confusion and looks around. His eyes glance down at the snow and see footprints
but no one around.

Interesting, he thinks. He pulls out his wand from his robes and doesn’t even bother turning back
around again. He points the wand over his shoulder and mutters, “Serpensorita!” And if his guess
as to who was behind him was correct, the snake slithering would be harmless. He hears hisses that
he knows for a fact isn’t coming from the snake. Draco turns around and see’s only Potter’s head
speaking in Parseltongue. The snake stops moving and looks between both boys.

“Malfoy! What is wrong with you!"

“I knew it was you, Potter!”

“How?!” He takes what Draco knows is an Invisibility Cloak off of his shoulders and folds it into
his hand.

“Of course Saint Potter has a bloody Invisibility Cloak,” he mutters. “Were you always this
spoiled?”

“You’re the one to talk,” he snorts quite unattractively. Draco chooses to ignore the comment.

“I knew it was you because only someone that stupid would hide and not cover their footprints in
the snow." "You're a prick," he grumbles. “So," he drawls. "Why is the boy who lived following
me around? Finally realized I’m far more interesting than Weasley?”

“Don’t be stupid, Malfoy. I’ve been following you around because you had my name on a piece of
parchment!"

"You've become obsessed with me because your name was on a piece of paper I wrote?"

"I also saw you crying-"

His blood ran cold. "So that's why you're following me?" he growls. "Want to taunt me because I
was crying? You're the fucking prick!" he stands, slamming his book shut.

“You’ve been acting different, Malfoy! Going to private meetings with Lupin, not being followed
around by Crabbe and Goyal, and not picking on me and my friends every damn hour of the day! If
you were me you’d want to know why the great Draco Malfoy isn’t being the biggest prat at our
school. I think your spot is being taken by Theodore Nott.”

“Well he can fucking have it,” he found himself saying which he knew seconds later he should
never have.

"Why would you want him to be the biggest prat!?"

"That's none of your business! If you expect me spill my stories with you while we eat chocolate
frogs than you are insane!”

“I’m just curious as to why you’re not being… you!?”

“I thought you’d be grateful I wasn’t calling your Weasel poor or Granger a Mudblood!”

“So you’re saying you’re leaving us alone for me?!” Potter looks like he’s about to explode out of
confusion. Draco can feel the color drain from his face.

“Just- just leave me the fuck alone, Potter,” he storms off back into the castle.
“Blaise!” Draco shouts while storming into the Slytherin common room. “BLAISE!”

“Ain’t here,” grunts Goyal who was arm wrestling with Crabbe.

“Where the hell is he?”

“Why?” Theo stands from a couch and makes his way over to him. “Can’t go more than ten
minutes without your precious Zabini?”

“Aw,” Draco taunts, already pissed off with what just happened with Potter. “Someone jealous I’m
not spending time with him?”

“As if, Malfoy. But since I’ve got here I was curious about something. What do you and Blaise
talk about?”

Draco rolls his eyes, “we talk about how much of a loser you are. As well as how many people
could win in a duel with you. We reduced it down to over half the school. Including everyone in
Hufflepuff-“

“You have a disgusting little crush on someone, don’t you?” Draco would have sworn his heart
stopped. He should have realized challenging Theo to an argument in front of basically every third-
year Slytherin was a big mistake. He and Blaise were so careful when they talked about George
Weasley, fucking Dean Thomas and Oliver Wood, and of course, occasionally, Potter. Draco was
fucked, but he could pull this off. He’s (sadly) a Malfoy after all.

“Oh no. I have a crush on another Slytherin,” he fake pouts. “So disgusting of me! Really, Nott?
Did Pansy put you up to this?” He shoots her a Slytherin version of a sympathetic smile. “Sorry,
Pans. I’m afraid it’s not you.”

“No, actually Pansy did not put me up to this. Draco you’re a really good liar, but one thing your
bad at is hiding your surprised look when the truth comes out,” there’s a smirk on Nott’s face that
Draco weirdly fears. “If I’m not mistaken isn’t your crush George Weasley? Or was it Harry Pot-“
Draco was already clutching onto his wand, but before Nott could finish that sentence he whips it
out and casts an Everte Statum sending him back into a table.

There are gasps and whispers and a crying Pansy who was devastated Draco doesn’t like her back.
Theo stands and shoots a hex towards Draco whose reflexes are quick and casts a Protego. It was
his first time using it against someone who wasn’t Lupin and he felt awfully proud. A lot of
mouths drop open because no one else in the room, besides a couple of sixth years, didn’t know
how to cast it.

“Did your boyfriend, Weasel, teach you that? You fucking fa-“

“EXPELLIARMUS!” Draco yells and smirks when Nott goes flying back again.

“WHAT is going on here?”

Everyone freezes and Draco’s smirk drops when he turns around, meeting Snape’s eyes.

“Mr. Goyal, take Mr. Nott to the hospital wing. Mr. Malfoy. My office. Now.”

Draco follows Snape, passing Blaise who was now entering the common room. Draco sends him a
look before forcing his eyes onto the ground.
Entering Snape’s office, Draco felt numb. There’s no way people would believe Nott, right? But
recently people have been more afraid of Nott than Draco so he has a feeling even though people
might not believe him it’s what they are going to be talking about for the next few days. It hasn’t
even set in that eventually his father is going to hear the rumors and Draco was utterly fucked.

“Sit down, Mr. Malfoy,” Draco does, staring down, eyes terribly unfocused. “Now tell me why
you and Mr.Nott decided to fight in the common room like a bunch of idiotic first years.”

“… H-he… I…”

“Yes?… Mr.Malfoy?”

“Just… give me detention, sir….”

Snape sighs in the most dramatic way. “I will not be giving you detention, Mr.Malfoy. I am here to
tell you that I suggest talking quieter when alone with Mr. Zabini,” Draco can’t feel anything to
care.

“Is that all, Sir?” His voice is dull. He doesn’t even recognize it.

“It is.” Draco leaves without hesitation and instead of going to the common room, he goes to the
Great Lake. He knew this rumor, which was very much true, would get out to the school faster than
you could cast any spell. All the Gryffindors will know by tomorrow — Oh god George Weasley
will know I find him cute— OH GOD POTTER WILL KNOW. There’s no way they will believe
them, right? All the thoughts consuming his mind cause him to throw up behind a tree before
aggressively sobbing. He falls to his knees, clutching his hand in a tight grip. After a few minutes
go by he hears footsteps approach.

“Draco?” It’s Professor Lupin. He kneels down next to him and gently places a hand on his back.
“What’s going on?” Draco doesn’t know how or why or even when it happened, but when he
finally comes to he’s in a warm embrace shaking violently.

“E-everyone… knows…”

“Oh Draco… I’m so sorry.”

“My father is going to kill,” he sobs. “He-he’s going to kill me when he finds out I’m gay.”

“I won’t let that happen. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he whispers.

“I’ll do everything I can for you.”

Draco nods and remains in the comforting hug he’s found himself in. He waits until he isn’t
shaking anymore and the tears weren’t coming down like a rain storm when he asks to be alone.
Lupin leaves after telling him his office is always open. With that, Draco stays near the lake,
leaning back against a tree. He casts a heating charm around him when the cold finally hit him. He
curls up into himself and spends an hour coming up with a plan on how he was going to deal with
all of this until the holidays. By the time he goes back inside, he comes up with a plan.

‘I’m Draco Malfoy and I don’t give 2 fucks about what

you think or say about me, (that isn't entirely true but I'll pretend). I’m (sadly) a Malfoy after all
 feat Blaise :)’

Chapter End Notes

I know there's so much time skipping but my god do I just want to get past Prisoner of
Azkaban and write the Goblet of Fire version of this fic. But I also really want to get to
a certain part of this section so call it.

Is this too rushed thought? Lmk!

 Chapter 6
Chapter Summary

“Why? Are you jealous?” Draco tilts his head in curiosity. A wicked idea pops into his
mind.
The ginger actually splutters.
"Am I making you uncomfortable? You know, your brother is proper fit, don’t you
think? You’d believe I would also like Fred but there’s a clear difference. George is
much more-“ A snowball is smacked against Draco’s face before he can finish his
sentence.

Odd Interactions lead to heartbreaking realizations.

Chapter Notes

Enjoy!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

So the next day he ignores, or at least tries to, the looks of the disgusted Slytherins (minus Blaise
and surprisingly Daphne and Astoria Greengrass), the curious Ravenclaws, the confused
Hufflepuffs, and the shocked, curious, and confused Gryffindors. He especially ignores all of them.
Draco has never properly spoken to the Greengrass sisters. He and Daphne have spoken a few
times during classes and pureblood gatherings while he and Astoria only ever nodded at each
other. It was nice though, knowing they were cool with it. Maybe it was because their families
have talked about arranging a marriage between one of the sisters and Draco when they are of age,
but Draco wasn’t complaining as to what their reason was. He almost felt bad for calling Daphne a
priss in that list.

He sits down next to Blaise, Astoria and Daphne sitting across from them.

“Malfoy, it’s going to pass soon,” Daphne tries to assure him while the Slytherins around began to
whisper.

“If soon means a year, then yeah,” Astoria mutters into her pumpkin juice.

“Astoria!” Daphne squeals.

“No she’s right,” Draco sighs.

“Oi, Malfoy!” Miles Bletchley, the keeper of the Slytherin team, shouts.

“Oh for Salazars sake,” he mutters. “What?!”

“Are paying Zabini to be with you? I mean I knew something was wrong with you. Being daddy’s
boy, but I mean that’s just full on disgusting.”
“No, actually,” everyone’s mouth drops open, even Draco’s when Blaise speaks. “He didn’t pay
me to be with him, Bletchley. You should stop projecting your sad love life on two 3rd years. Last
I heard when you asked a girl out she laughed at you because you’re a horrible player. Such a
shame!” He lets out a breath of air before biting down on a piece of toast aggressively.

“People are thinking we’e dating? How? Why? What about your parents, Blaise! What if they find
out you’re gay!”

“You’re gay?” Whispers Astoria. “I wonder who else is gay…” she says mainly to herself.

“Draco, it’s alright,” Blaise continues to speak. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s talk about something
more interesting. Did you see the Gryffindors faces?”

“No, I’m purposefully not trying to look at them. Especially the Weasleys and Potter.”

“Is that why every time you look up you stare creepily at me?” Daphne says.

“Sorry,” he mutters and looks back down at his plate of food.

“Well Potter looked very interested…”

“What are you implying Blaise?”

“Oh nothing,” he hides his smirk into his drink and Draco spends the rest of breakfast confused.

Now the whispers, stares, and straight-up insults to his face were tolerable until they were being
directed at Blaise. A few spells were cast at Slytherins who would insult Blaise. It really made
them look like a couple which neither of them minded. They found it somewhat amusing. They
spent that Monday getting to know the Greengrass sisters. Astoria had a very snarky personality for
an 11-year-old (more than Draco had at that age) while Daphne was more proper but oddly funny.
Now with one of Draco’s secrets being out to the whole school, he was able to be somewhat
himself with the sisters — it still was hard to let down those walls to more people, but Blaise was
there to make it easier.

In the classes he shared with The Golden Trio or with just one of them, Draco would sit as far away
from them as possible. He would catch Ron Weasley staring at him with a curl on his top lip while
Granger would elbow him to pay attention in the class. Potter on the other hand just refused to look
at him which made Draco wince on the inside. I mean he understood that the rumors of Draco
crushing on Potter is crazy and absurd and just so unbelievable that you could convince someone
that The Dark Lord was a Hufflepuff before you could convince them of Draco actually liking
Potter, but he was still wishing he could see some type of reaction from the Gryffindor.

The shorter had spent two weeks watching Draco when he saw him crying and now with these
rumors he just straight up wasn’t even paying attention to him. Like what the hell? It was making
Draco more angry than devastated. It went on like this for the whole week. The constant ignorance
Potter gave him, the weird looks from all the Weasleys and Granger. Getting to know the
Greengrass sisters and avoiding detention when he would hex Slytherins for calling Blaise and him
disgusting or pathetic. He had three meetings with Lupin. The first one was awkward for Draco
because the last time they interacted he had been sobbing in the Professor’s arms.

The Professor was still awfully kind which Draco had never been more grateful for. Draco
considered him like a mind healer because he was too afraid to consider him as anything else.
There was this paternal dynamic between the two of them that Draco was afraid to mention. He
was scared if he mentioned it to the Professor he would be grossed out and wouldn’t want to meet
anymore. He was scared of messing things up.

On their second meeting, they practiced Protego and different ways how to use it. Draco learned
how to cast Protego around objects that he would find useful for later. That session had gone on
longer than intended but Draco wasn’t angry about it. On their third meeting, they went back to
practicing the wordless spell. Draco was finally able to cast the spell without saying it and he
actually jumped up in excitement. After that he continued to practice the spell wordlessly, nailing it
90 percent of the time.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday, Professor!” Draco said before leaving with a smile on his face. He felt
truly happy and he wondered if his mother would be proud. He hadn’t gotten a letter from his
parents. Not even his mother. He had to assume his parents knew about the rumor. He was
surprised his father hadn’t come down to the school. He isn’t sure if he’s grateful or terrified.
Either way, when Saturday came along he was so thankful that they were able to go to Hogsmeade.

He and Blaise were getting ready in their dorm, another place they hated being. Sharing a dorm
with Nott, Crabbe, and Goyal was miserable. Draco had asked Snape if he and Blaise could switch
rooms with people who are actually tolerable but his simple answer was No. Draco would cast a
Protego charm around their beds so they wouldn’t get woken up by a jink or a hex. They would
wake up before them and go to sleep after them. It was somewhat miserable but it was the least of
their worries.

“Why are we going to Hogsmeade, Draco?” Blaise asks while putting on a black coat.

“Because you and I need to get out of this bloody castle. This week has been awfully stressful and
I’m pissed off at Potter so we are going to Honeydukes and then the Shrieking Shack.”

“Wouldn’t you just prefer to sit in the library and read?”

“No,” he states firmly and puts on a dark green beanie. “Are you ready?”

“Sadly,” he mutters. “Should we ask Daphne if she wants to come with us?”

“She might already be going with Pansy and Millicent.”

“Have you spoken to her ever since Sunday? Pansy I mean.”

“No, I haven’t. She’s barley bat an eye at me ever since. I almost feel bad,”

Blaise shakes his head with a light grin on his face. The two of them make their way to
Hogsmeade. They went to Honeydukes, Draco getting a crap ton of Acid Pops and Sugar Quills
while Blaise got one box of Chocolate Frogs. They snack on their sweets while they make their
way to the path that leads to the Shrieking Shack. They stop dead in their tracks when they see
Granger and Weasley chatting.

“Oh bloody hell-“ Draco could hear Weasley mutter under his breath.

“Come on, Blaise-“ Draco goes to walk away but Granger’s voice stops him.

“Is it true?”

“Hermione!” Weasley shrieks.

“Why?” He snarls. “Going to call me a slur?”

“I’m not you, Malfoy,” she shoots back. “My problems with you have nothing to do with you being
gay. In fact a very close friend of mine is.”

“Don’t tell me Ron Weasley is gay,” Blaise says with amusement. “I wouldn’t be complaining
though,” he sends a wink to Weasley.

“EW!” Both Draco and Weasley cry.

“I’m not gay! No!” He was a brighter red than usual.

“Congratulations,” Draco rolls his eyes. “Why are we conversing, Granger? I’ve called you a the
same slur multiple times. Why do you feel the need to talk to me?”

“He’s got a point, Hermione! He fancies my brother! And-and Harry! He’s a freak!”

“RON!”

“What?!”

“Really, Weasley? I never picked you as the homophobic type.”

“What? No! You’re a freak for liking my brother when all you’ve bloody done is hate on my
family! I don’t care who you fancy, Malfoy! Just why my brother! ?” He huffs.

“Why? Are you jealous?” Draco tilts his head in curiosity. A wicked idea pops into his mind.

The ginger actually splutters.

"Am I making you uncomfortable? You know, your brother is proper fit, don’t you think? You’d
believe I would also like Fred but there’s a clear difference. George is much more-“ A snowball is
smacked against Draco’s face before he can finish his sentence. He looks around and finds that no
one is there. “Who’s there?”

“I have a bloody good guess,” Blaise mutters quietly enough for Draco not to hear. Next thing
everyone knows more snowballs are being thrown only at Draco. Not even Blaise! Draco actually
shrieks and hides behind Blaise after the fourth one is thrown at him.

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

Granger and Weasley are laughing uncontrollably while Blaise has a hint of a smile on his face.
Potter then emerges from under his Invisibility Cloak laughing.

“Harry!” Granger giggles.

“What the hell, Potter!” Draco snarls.

“Take a joke Malfoy,” he has the brightest smile which Draco secretly missed.

“I can when it’s funny!”

“Relax, will ya? Your nice clothes aren’t ruined. It’s just snow.”

“My clothes are more than just nice, Potter. They are the best clothes anyone could own,” he
begins brushing off the snow on his shoulder aggressively.

“Well your best clothes,” he mocks. “Suit you.”

 “Wha-“ What the fuck. “Yeah, okay.” He mutters. He can feel his cheeks turn bright red. “Let’s go
Blaise-“ He drags Blaise behind a tree and leans back against it for balance. “What the hell just
happened?”

“I think… Potter gave you a compliment?” Even Blaise sounds shocked.

“What? Why?"

"I'm not sure! Let's go back and listen, yeah?" Draco nods and they sneak behind a closer tree.

“ -See his reaction! Did you see the way he- he blushed! Oh god, it has to be true!” Draco could
hear Potter's voice very clearly. “Malfoy has a crush on me!” He cries

“Oh, Harry,” Granger says with a frown.

“There's no bloody way…” Weasley mutters.

“What am I going to do? He’s Malfoy," there was disgust in his voice while speaking Draco's name
and it made him frown.

“He’s an arse, Harry!” Weasley says. “He’s probably just using this because he’s planning
something! I think you should just ignore it. I would honestly start treating him worse now-“

“Oh honestly, Ronald, that’s so immature.” Granger says “I think it’s true.”

“You’re mental,” Weasley says and Potter just shakes his head too stunned and confused to
continue on with the conversation. Something breaks inside of Draco. His biggest fear was coming
true. He recalls his boggart very clearly. 'I could never. Not only are you the biggest bigot at our
school, you're the biggest coward!"

Harry Potter would never love or even like Draco Malfoy, and it was all because Draco was too
pathetic to stand up to his father.

Chapter End Notes

I feel as if I need more angst. I'm really bad at writing the non angst I think. Any
questions? Comments? Concernes? Aye?
 Chapter 7
Chapter Summary

“This is our last day to practice the Protego charm wandlessly.”

“I’m never going to get it down!” All his frustrations and nerves coming back. “We’ve
been trying for what feels like years! I’m pathetic…”
“You can be if you give up.”
“You know, you have this Slytherin type trait that bothers me sometimes.”

Good friend Blaise and a meeting with Lupin before the holidays!

Chapter Notes

Thank you guys for all the support on this fic! I love reading your comments! It's what
I look forward to after school the most!!

Enjoy!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco snickers while he hears Potter yelling his name to get him out of the Stickfast hex. Blaise
rolls his eyes as they continue on their way down the hallway. Draco’s method of dealing with
Potter and his feelings towards him was going back to his old ways - minus the picking on the
other two members of the Golden Trio. He decided he was going back to bullying Potter the day
after their run-in with the Golden Trio near the Shrieking Shack. The day his biggest fear came
true. Ugh!

Fine! If Potter thought it was disgusting to even think Draco had a crush on him then he was
bloody peachy about it. He no longer has a crush on Harry fucking Potter. That’s it! He didn’t care
if anyone thought he had a crush on George Weasley. He’s actually been ‘promoting’ the fact that
he has a crush only on George. One of the reasons was that it made Ron Weasley uncomfortable.

He didn’t originally care (you guys remember the plan right?) Well, Draco literally lit that plan on
fire and threw it away. His new plan was

“I’m Draco Malfoy and you guys are allowed to think

I have a crush on George Weasley but not on Potter. Because I don’t have a crush on Potter... and
I’m terrified that my father will punish me even more if my gay crush is actually Potter. I know he
hates the Weasleys' but he hates Harry Potter more.

feat. (a now reluctant) Blaise ;)”

“Seriously, Draco?” Blaise shakes his head. “You need to stop this whole thing.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Blaise…” he mutters.

“Right. You know what?” He exclaims. “I have a fantastic idea!”

“What kind of fantastic idea?” He raises an eyebrow at his taller friend.

“Come on,” he grabs onto his arm and drags him to the Quidditch Pitch. “Oi! Weasley!”

“BLAISE!” Draco literally hisses. Both Fred and George Weasley turn to look at him. They were
dressed in their practice gear and about to play just for fun because there wasn’t a Quidditch game
since it was the last weekend before the holidays.

“I am sick and tired of you claiming you have a crush on George Weasley when you bloody don’t,”
Blaise hisses back. “Everyone doesn’t believe you you know. We all know it’s Potter you fancy!”

Draco splutters. “So what you’ve dragged me to him to confess that I don’t!?”

“Pretty much. Weasley!”

“Which one of us are you referring to, Zabini?” Draco knows it’s Fred who spoke because George
is standing next to him with an uncomfortable (or threatening?) look.

“George,” he states. “Draco-“ He shoves him forward. Draco shoots him a threatening look. “Has
something to tell you.”

“Blaise this is outrageous and it’s hurting my pride!” Draco growls.

“Good! You’ve been a priss for the past three weeks! Your pride being hurt might do you some
good. Now go on!”

Draco groans and forces himself to make eye contact with the Weasley Twins. “This is so
embarrassing,” he mutters before taking a deep breath. “Weasley… George,” he forces himself to
say. “I do not have a bloody crush on you. You are attractive yes. Way more attractive than Fred
and your brother Peter. Way more attractive than Peter, but that’s not the point— the point is that
I’ve been saying that to drag away from the other rumor that is entirely not true, okay? It's not true!
So I’m kinda sorry if I have made you uncomfortable.”

“You hate my family, Malfoy. How could you possibly find me attractive?”

“I'm not here to boost your ego, Weasley," he dramatically crosses his arms. "Try not to fall off
your broom like a bloody idiot, although I believe you're already one.”

“Malfoy, you just called me attractive. There’s no way you can insult me and actually mean it.”

“You’re right George. He’s lost his touch-“

“-And his King Slytherin crown-“

“-Along with his style-“

“Hey!”

“Not to mention he’s getting a bit rusty at potions,” Blaise adds on.

“What kind of a friend are you!” Draco cries.

“I’m kidding,” Blaise grins. “You’re bloody brilliant at potions! Come on Draco. You have that
meeting with Professor Lupin right?” He whispers that last part.

“Yeah,” he mutters. “Well I hope you both have enjoyed my pride absolutely shattering.”

“Yes we have,” the Twins both say.

“Right,” Draco leaves with Blaise and they head back into the castle. “You are absolutely insane!
You would have never have done that a few months ago! I’ve corrupted you!”

“You’re giving yourself way too much credit,” he rolls his eyes playfully. “Enjoy your meeting.”

“Thanks Blaise. I’ll see you later,” they go down separate hallways. When approaching the DADA
classroom he takes a deep breath, sudden nerves creeping down his neck. He hasn’t been able to
cast Protego wandlessly and it was the last day he could practice it before he was going home to
the Manor.

He thought about not going home but Draco knew that wasn’t an option. His family always held a
Christmas dinner for all the pureblood families; Draco knew he had to go to those. He also wanted
to see his mother. He missed her greatly and just wanted to talk to her about everything. From
September to now his life has been the definition of turned upside down.

“Professor?” Draco calls.

“Up here, Draco!” He says from his office. Draco goes up the stairs and enters the office. He sees
him tap his wand on a small box and it begins to wrap itself in wrapping paper, finishing off with a
beautiful green and silver bow.

“Who is that for, sir?”

“You, Draco,” a gentle smile appears on his face.

“M-me?” He actually splutters.

“Yes, I suggest opening it on the train on Monday,” he hands the box to him and Draco takes it
with care.

“I-I didn’t get you anything. I have Acid Pops. I can go get them-“

“It’s alright,” he chuckles. “Don’t worry about it. Now,”

An un-smooth segue, Draco thought.

“This is our last day to practice the Protego charm wandlessly.”

“I’m never going to get it down!” All his frustrations and nerves coming back. “We’ve been trying
for what feels like years! I’m pathetic…”

“You can be if you give up.”

“You know, you have this Slytherin type trait that bothers me sometimes.”

Lupin grins. “Follow me,” the two of them walk out of his office and make it to the corner of the
classroom. Lupin transfigures multiple desks into pillows and stacks them in the corner. “I’ll just
be casting a light Stupefy on you. Just like all our other lessons.”
“This is bloody pointless,” but that's what they did. Lupin casts Stupefy, Draco tries to cast Protego
wandlessly, multiple sorrys and its fine were spoken and countless groans of frustration were let
out by Draco. By the forty-five-minute mark, Draco throws a pillow across the room out of anger.

“UGH!”

“Draco-“

“No, this is stupid! My father is right. I’m just straight up stupid!”

“Draco-“

“I’ll just let my father hurt me! Whatever! I’m bloody used to it!”

“Draco-”

“It’s fine! Just forget it!” Lupin casts a proper Stupefy without warning, aiming it mostly to the
side, but enough to lightly graze him. Draco shrieks and casts a wandless Protego. His jaw drops,
not only because Lupin just practically attacked him, but also because it worked.

“Well done, Draco. Are you alright?”

“You just attacked me!”

“Actually, I aimed it more to the left so even if the spell hit you you would have barley felt it.”

“But- but-“ he scoffs. “Sometimes I wonder how you’re allowed to teach at this school.”

“I wonder that too… You casted a wandless Protego!”

“Because it would have hurt if I didn’t!”

“But I’ve casted Stupefy on you multiple times. Does that not hurt?”

“I mean you cast a light Stupefy, Professor. It feels more like a tickle.”

“Fascinating,” Lupin muses. “Shall we continue like this then? Casting without a warning.”

“Yes!” His confidence was starting to come back.

“Are you sure?” Draco nods with a small smile. For the remaining 15 minutes, Draco managed to
cast a wandless Protego 4 out of the 5 times.

“Well done, Draco,” Lupin transfigures the pillows back to the desks and moves everything back to
its rightful place. “I have to talk to you.”

“Alright,” the two of them sit down at desks. Lupin's smile turns into a sad one.

“I want you to be as careful as you can be, Draco.”

“Sir-“ Draco sighs.

Lupin puts his hand to single him to let him finish. “I am sadden that I can’t do more. I really have
considered telling someone about how your father treats you, but you are right. Your father is a
very powerful man. He’s gotten away with so many things and I am so sorry his cruelty is one that
goes unseen. Just know when you return, my office will be open for you. Please don’t let that man
 turn you back into the boy you were when I first met you. If so pretend at your home, but you
never have to pretend with me.”

Draco wants to cry. The relationship between him and Professor Lupin is the one he dreamed to
have with his father but never got and never will. The hollow feeling in his chest that he would feel
when thinking of his father would be quickly filled with moments he shared with the Professor.
The paternal figure that’s entered his life has really changed Draco and he couldn’t be more
thankful.

Without thought, he finds himself hugging the Professor. He feels somewhat awkward about it as
he was only ever affectionate to his mother and sometimes Blaise, but it felt right in a weird way.

“Thank you,” he mutters and quickly pulls away, grabbing onto his wand and the present before he
starts rushing out of the classroom. “H-have a good holiday, Professor!” He calls back without
looking and stumbles out of the room. While heading to the Great Hall to meet Blaise he stares
down at the present, holding back all the urges right then and there. While turning the corner he
runs into someone.

“What the-“ He looks down and sees Potter fixing his glasses. He has a piece of parchment that he
quickly stuffs into his back pocket. “Potter- I see you got out of my Stickfast hex,” he smirks. “So
why are you always running into me?”

“Me? You’re the one who’s always turning corners so sharply!”

“So are you.”

“Whatever,” he huffs. “So did Zabini get you that gift? Celebrating an anniversary or something?”
He muses.

“First of all, jealous much Potter? Second of all, Blaise and I aren’t even together so there would be
no anniversary to celebrate. Third of all it’s a Christmas gift Potter. Because it’s almost Christmas.
And fourth of all it’s not from Blaise.”

“You know I stopped listening after you said ‘First of all’” he repeats in a botched-up version of
Draco’s voice. “Just… Happy Christmas, Malfoy,” he mutters before walking away. Draco raises
an eyebrow as he watches Potter walk down the hallway.

'Why would Potter wish me a Happy Christmas?' he thought. it just didn't make sense but Draco
wasn't in the mood to dwell on bloody Potter. He takes a deep breath and continues his journey to
the Great Hall to tel Blaise about his meeting with Lupin.

Chapter End Notes

Shout I write just one chapter in Harry's POV? Please LMK!1

 Chapter 8
Chapter Summary

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Harry huffs dramatically. “He hates me. He loathes me
and don’t get me started about how he feels about your family, Ron! It just doesn’t
add up. This is just— I-I don’t understand. He’s gay? Is that allowed?”
“Yes of course it’s allowed, Harry,” Hermione says gently.
“Really? Are you sure? The Dursleys don’t think so. They find them disgusting.”

Harry's POV!!!

Chapter Notes

Enjoy :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Harry watches Lupin approach Malfoy at the dinner table and then a few seconds later he’s getting
up to leave with him. Malfoy sends a sneer his way and he rolls his eyes.

“What does Professor Lupin need with Malfoy?” Harry asks his friends.

“I don’t know. That’s bloody weird though,” Ron says. “Maybe he’s in trouble. He’s Malfoy after
all.”

“Hm,” Harry thinks on it for a while.

Harry was on the way to meet up with Hermione when he runs into Malfoy while turning a corner.

“What the hell-“ The taller grunts out. “Potter,” his voice has his classic disgusting tone.

“Malfoy.”

I don’t have time for this.

But before he could just walk away he glances down at the piece of parchment Malfoy was holding
and sees his name along with Golden Boy.

“Is that my name?” He goes to snatch it but Malfoy smacks his hand away.

“Ever heard of not touching things that are yours?!”

Harry was growing angry, “That has my name on it, Malfoy!” He goes to grab it but Malfoy pulls
out his wand and points it at him. Oh, bloody hell.
“Get the hell out of my way, Scarhead,” he shoves him to the side and walks past him. Harry hits
the wall and turns around to see Malfoy rushing down the hallway.

What the hell is he planning?

Harry spent the weekend paying more attention to Malfoy and it seemed that Malfoy was doing the
exact opposite to him. It was strange. If Malfoy weren’t verbally insulting him he would be
sending him ugly expressions, but that wasn’t happening.

It’s Monday morning and he was watching Malfoy and Theodore Nott having an argument in the
Great Hall.

What is going on with him?

Another turning the corner and another bumping into Malfoy. But it was different. He was crying.

“What?” he was caught so off guard. “Malfoy, are you-“

“Get out of my way, Potter!” he growls and Harry is shoved to the side once again. Harry remains
standing there in utter shock. He had just seen Malfoy cry. The taller had a few tears streaming
down his face. His pale skin tone really emphasized the redness in his nose and eyes.

What could make Draco Malfoy cry?

“Hey, Hermione?” Harry sits down across from her in the library.

“Yes?”

“Have you noticed Malfoy isn’t being followed around by Crabbe and Goyal anymore?”

“He’s been hanging out with Blaise Zabini more often now.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird? He’s also acting strange. I told you about the run in I had with him
right? With the paper and my name? Well I think he’s planning something with Zabini because
Crabbe and Goyal are too thick to be helpful.”

“Oh honestly, Harry. Is that really what you think?”

“Yes!” He exclaims loudly, earning a Shush from Pince. “Yes.” he whispers.

“Hermione!” It was his seventh time complaining to her. “I told you how I keep seeing Malfoy go
into Professor Lupins’ classroom? I’ve been thinking of using my Invisibility Cloak to see-“

“Harry! That’s such an invasion of privacy! I know he’s Malfoy but how would you feel if he was
secretly there when you were in your meetings with him!”

“But Hermione-“

“Don’t do it, Harry!”

He groans, “fine.”

“Do you think Malfoy has a secret side to him?”

“What?” Hermione looks up from her book with an astonished expression.

“He just hasn’t been acting the same.”

“Harry you should be focusing on Sirius Black right now.”

“I am! I really am! But he’s just-“

“Why can’t you complain to Ronald about this?”

“Because he won’t see it from my point of view.”

“And I do because…?”

“Because you’re Hermione!”

She sighs and closes her book. “I can’t help you with this Harry.” And then she gets up and leaves.

Harry was aware he was becoming obsessed. He heard what happened between Hermione and
Malfoy from Hermione herself. She apologized for confronting Malfoy about it and so did he for
bombarding her with Draco Malfoy questions. He was stressing over Sirius Black so he really was
trying to find a distraction. Quidditch was helping but not enough. It was the day after the match
between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. The Slytherins were constantly making fun of him but he just
rolled his eyes and ignored them. Malfoy would add on but Harry knew something was slightly off
with the blonde.

Harry saw him sitting out on a bench from the library window and he quickly stands.

“I’ll see you later guys.”

“Where are you going?” Ron asks.

“To get some fresh air...”

“Harry, if you’re going to go stalk Malfoy-“ Hermione was giving her the look.

“I’m not,” he knew he was a horrible liar so he quickly rushes away before either Ron or Hermione
could say anything. He goes to the common room, grabs his Invisibility Cloak, and makes his way
out to the courtyard. He pulls it over himself and slowly approaches Malfoy. He tries to peak over
his shoulder without getting close to him but he steps on a twig. He stops dead in his tracks. Malfoy
looks over his shoulder with a facial expression Harry can’t read. He sees Malfoy pull out his wand
and Harry reaches for his until he realizes he left it in his dorm.
I’m an idiot.

“Serpensortia!” Malfoy casts without looking over his shoulder. Harry's eyes go wide and a snake
starts slithering toward him. He peaks his head out and immediately starts speaking Parseltongue.
He knew then and there he blew his cover. He makes eye contact with the blonde.

“Malfoy! What is wrong with you!”

“I knew it was you, Potter!”

“How?!” He takes his Invisibility Cloak off and aggressively folds it into his hand.

“Of course Saint Potter has a bloody Invisibility Cloak,” he mutters. “Were you always this
spoiled?”

“You’re the one to talk,” he actually snorts.

“I knew it was you because only someone that stupid would hide and not cover their foot prints in
the snow."

"You're a prick," he grumbles

“So," he drawls. "Why is the boy who lived following me around? Finally realized I’m far more
interesting than Weasley?”

“Don’t be stupid, Malfoy. I’ve been following you around because you had my name of a piece of
parchment!"

"You've become obsessed with me because your name was on a piece of paper I wrote?"

"I also saw you crying-"

"So that's why you're following me?" he growls. "Want to taunt me because I was crying? You're
the fucking prick!" he stands, slamming his book shut.

“You’ve been acting different, Malfoy!” Harry lost it. “Going to private meetings with Lupin, not
being followed around by Crabbe and Goyal, and not picking on me and my friends every damn
hour of the day! If you were me you’d want to know why the great Draco Malfoy isn’t being the
biggest prat at our school. I think your spot is being taken by Theodore Nott.”

“Well he can fucking have it.”

“Why would you want him to be the biggest prat!?” That’s not what he imagined Malfoy saying.
He imagined some angry outburst or a hex to his face, but that was not the case.

"That's none of your business! If you expect me spill my stories with you while we eat chocolate
frogs than you are insane!”

“I’m just curious as to why you’re not being… you!?”

“I thought you’d be grateful I wasn’t calling your Weasel poor or Granger a Mudblood!”

“So you’re saying you’re leaving us alone for me?” He feels like his head was about to explode out
of confusion.

“Just- just leave me the fuck alone, Potter,” he watches Malfoy storm back into the castle. Were the
words Malfoy had said true? He didn’t deny when Harry accused him of not annoying them for
him but he still had his classic Malfoy attitude. It was strange. It was like there were two sides of
Malfoy interacting at the same time. Strange.

“Harry! George!” Ron was rushing into the common room, Hermione following right behind him.
“HARRY!”

“What?” he was sitting on the couch chatting with the Twins, Seamus, and Dean.

“Malfoy has a crush on you both!” He cries. “MALFOY HAS A BLOODY CRUSH ON YOU
BOTH!”

“WHAT?” All of them say.

“I just heard it from Parvati who heard it from her sister Padma who heard it from an older
Ravenclaw who heard it from Marcus Flint! I guess it's what everyone is talking about!”

Both Harry and George actually splutter.

“You can’t be serious,” Dean speaks for them.

“How can you have a crush on two people?” Seamus adds on.

“There’s no way it’s true right?” Ron asks with hope. “Hermione?”

“Well-“

“Don’t tell me you believe it! You’re supposed to be smart Hermione!”

“Excuse me!” She gapes at him.

“Are you sure, Ron? That that’s what Parvati told you? That it’s only Harry and George?” Fred
says because both Harry and George were staring at each other in confusion and shock.

“Yes! As I was walking here others were talking about it! This is insane right? RIGHT?”

“I-I don’t know,” Harry finally says.

“Well I don’t believe it,” Fred says. “How could anyone have a crush on George and not me? I’m
clearly the more attractive twin.”

“In your dreams, Fred,” George finally speaks.

It didn't make sense. Not only because it was Draco Malfoy who supposedly has a crush on Harry,
but it was also because he's a boy. When has that ever been okay? Is it okay? Harry has been told
numerous times it's not by

his cousin but Dudley is Dudley so can you really believe anything he says? How come his friends
are pointing out that Malfoy is gay but not that it's gross. Am I really this ignorant?
“I think you should talk to him Harry. Ask him about it.”

“Are you crazy! Hermione I can’t do that!”

“I think you can,” she states confidently.

“No. No I will not. I’m just going to continue what I’m doing.”

“Ignoring him?”

“Yes.”

“I think that’s the best you can do, mate,” Ron speaks before swallowing his food. “George is
doing the exact same thing. He’s unbelievably uncomfortable. I have never seen him so out of it!”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Harry huffs dramatically. “He hates me. He loathes me and don’t get
me started about how he feels about your family, Ron! It just doesn’t add up. This is just— I-I
don’t understand. He’s gay? Is that allowed?”

“Yes of course it’s allowed, Harry,” Hermione says gently.

“Really? Are you sure? The Dursleys don’t think so. They find them disgusting.”

“If you meet the right people they are very excepting,” Ron says. “At least in the Wizarding
World… You know, Ginny and I believe Charlie is gay. We have a bet on when he’s going to
come out the closet.”

“What closet?” Harry tilts his head.

“It’s a metaphorical closet. Like when he’s going to tell us he’s gay.”

“This is all so confusing,” Harry stabs his plate full of eggs and takes an aggressive bite.

“What? No! You’re a freak for liking my brother when all you’ve bloody done is hate my family!”
Harry had just received the Marauders Map from the Twins and decided to go down to Hogsmeade
to meet up with Ron and Hermione, but then he saw their two names along with Malfoy’s and
Blaise Zabini and he quickly rushes over near the Shrieking Shack. When approaching from under
his Invisibility Cloak he hears Ron practically yelling at Malfoy. Interesting. “I don’t care who you
fancy, Malfoy! Just why my brother!?” He huffs.

“Why? Are you jealous?” Harry knows Malfoy is planning to do something incredibly annoying.

“Am I making you uncomfortable? You know, your brother is proper fit, don’t you think? You’d
believe I would also like Fred but there’s a clear difference,” Harry could see how uncomfortable
Ron looked. He decides to do the only thing he can do. “George is much more-“ He throws a
snowball at Malfoy.

“Who’s there?” There was a type of fear on his face that had Harry keeping back his giggles. He
continues to throw them until he hides behind Zabini. Harry decides to stop because Zabini has
never done anything against him.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” He practically shrieks which tips Harry over the edge. He laughs as he pulls
off his Invisibility Cloak.
“Harry!” Hermione giggles.

“What the hell, Potter?” Malfoy snarls.

“Take a joke Malfoy,” he couldn’t stop finding amusement at how pissed Malfoy is.

“I can when it’s funny!”

“Relax, will ya? Your nice clothes aren’t ruined.” Did I just-? “It’s just snow.” He quickly decides
that this is his chance to find out the truth.

“My clothes are more than just nice, Potter. They are the best clothes anyone could own,” he
begins brushing off the snow on his shoulder aggressively.

“Well your best clothes,” he mocks. “Suit you.”

“Wha-“ Harry can see the blonde turn bright red. Malfoy was blushing. “Let’s go Blaise-“he and
Zabini quickly leave and Harry stands there with wide eyes.

“Harry!” Ron actually hisses. “Did you just compliment, Malfoy!?”

“I-I just— I’ll be honest it caught me by surprise too—“

“Are you okay? Are you ill?” Ron goes to touch his forehead but Harry bats it away.

“I’m fine, Ron!” He sighs. “Did you see his reaction! Did you see the way he- he blushed! Oh god,
it has to be true! Malfoy has a crush on me!” He cries.

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione frowns.

“There’s no bloody way…” Ron mutters.

“What am I going to do? He’s Malfoy,” There's bewilderment and surprise in his tone.

“He’s an arse, Harry!” Ron says. “He’s probably just using this because he’s planning something! I
think you should just ignore it. I would honestly start treating him worse now-“

“Oh honestly, Ronald, that’s so immature. I think it’s true.”

“You’re mental,” Ron mutters and Harry just shakes his head too stunned to continue with the
conversation. It wasn’t the fact that Malfoy is gay. It’s the fact that he’s gay for Harry. Is that how
it works? You’re only gay for certain people? Harry wasn’t sure about the whole gay thing. He
didn’t quite understand it and was too afraid to ask Ron or Hermione. He felt too embarrassed to
ask.

“So he doesn’t have a crush on me anymore…?” It was meant to come out as a statement but it’s
more of a question.

“I’m just saying he’s completely denying it all of a sudden. He’s calming to only have a crush on
George!”

“And how do you know this, Seamus?” Harry looks over at the Irish boy.

“Well some Slytherins talk with the Ravenclaws and the Ravenclaws talk to the Gryffindors so just
put two and two together, mate!”

“This is so confusing,” he puts his head in his hands.

“I’m glad I’m not in your shoes, Harry.”

“Thanks Seamus.”

Malfoy has suddenly changed again. Harry wondered what the hell is wrong with him. The insults,
the hexes, and disgusted facial expressions were all back. It was throwing Harry so far to the left.
He tried to go back to paying attention to Sirius Black, but it was hard when a Stickfast hex is sent
his way every other day. Stupid Malfoy.

“Wait, what?” Harry looks up at the twins with his jaw dropped.

“Yeah, it was very weird,” Fred says.

“Weird? There’s probably a better word to describe it. I thought I was dreaming!” George
exclaims.

“So what he really did say you were attractive? Like— He actually admitted it out loud in front of
you?”

“Yes and honestly Harry I think he actually has a crush on you,” George says.

“Yeah, it’s bloody weird,” says Fred.

“Why does Malfoy have to be the most complicated person in this school!” He dramatically leans
back against the couch he was sitting on.

“I think you should be flattered,” says Fred.

Harry actually splutters. “Why?”

“Well Draco Malfoy has a crush on you. The biggest prat who thinks he’s better than everyone else
finds Harry Potter attractive,” Fred wiggles his eyebrows. “Imagine how furious Lucius Malfoy is.
He probably looks like he ate Pepper Imps.”

“I guess…” Harry takes a deep breath.

It was the last day before the Holiday break was coming. Harry was determined to catch Malfoy
off guard one more time before he left. He pulls out the Marauders Map and makes it down to the
hallway Malfoy was walking down. He had seen him originally in Professor Lupins' office, once
again, and the second he saw Malfoy moving Harry rushed out of the Gryffindor Common Room.

“What the-“ Harry quickly fixed his glasses before stuffing the map in his back pocket. He
planned the run-in but not the conversation. “Potter— I see you got out of my Stickfast hex,” he
smirks and Harry hadn’t seen it this up close in a while. “So why are you always running into me?”

“Me? You’re the one who’s always turning corner so sharply!”

 “So are you.”

Touche, Harry actually thought.

“Whatever,” he huffs and his mouth was moving faster than his brain. “So did Zabini get you that
gift? Celebrating an anniversary or something?” He pretends to muse.

“First of all, jealous much Potter?” Why would i- “Second of all, Blaise and I aren’t even together
so there would be no anniversary to celebrate. Third of all it’s a Christmas gift Potter. Because it’s
almost Christmas. And fourth of all it’s not from Blaise.”

“You know I stopped listening after you said ‘First of all’” he repeats in a botched-up version of
Malfoy’s voice. “Just-“ What do I say? What do I say? “Happy Christmas, Malfoy,” He quickly
walks away, feeling Malfoy’s eyes burning in the back of his head.

What the hell is going on with me?

Chapter End Notes

This might be the only ever Harry POV

(probably not tho but I like to pretend it is.)

Thoughts? Feelings?
 Chapter 9
Chapter Summary

“I-Is he furious?” he whispers. “Father? Do you know what’s going to happen?”

Draco goes home.

Chapter Notes

Almost a whole week without updating! I'm sorry this is such a short chapter! This one
and the next one are going to be awfully short so please don't be mad!! I just have to
find my motivation for writing this story again.

Enjoy!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

On Monday morning Draco's hands were shaking while he was packing to go home. He had paid a
7th year Ravenclaw two galleons to get him a calming draught. He puts it in his pocket instead of
his trunk because he was well aware he was going to need it before getting off the train. He seals
his trunk and stares at Lupin's gift that was set next to it. A light smile appears on his face.

“Draco?” Blaise calls while putting on a scarf. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” he picks up the present and then his trunk. “Ready as I can be,” and they leave. They go
and board the train. They go to the back of the train and sit in a compartment just the two of them.

“Are you going to open your gift from Professor Lupin?”

“We just got on the train…” he looks between Blaise and the box. “You think it’d be alright?”

“I’d say so.”

Draco nods and carefully pulls the green and silver bow. He places it neatly to his side and
unwraps it. He carefully opens it and sees a notecard placed on top of multiple small vials. They
were all clear which Draco found confusing. He picks up the note and begins to read it.

Draco,

I have given you 6 vials of healing potions. This is a 'just in case.' I’ve enchanted them to be clear
like water so your father won’t know. Please drink these when it’s necessary. Stay as safe as you
can.

Happy Christmas.
P.S,

I suggest you put this notecard down the

second you finish reading it.

“What-“ Before Draco could make a decision the piece of paper burst into flames and burned to
ash. Draco yelps and brushes the ashes off of him.

“What did he get you?” Blaise leans forward to peek into the box.

“Uhm…” Draco looks down at them and smiles sadly. “Healing potions.”

Dracos' anxiety was distracted by conversations with Blaise. At one point the Greengrass sisters
joined and it was enjoyable. It was his first train ride where he laughed and actually meant it. It
was even great until the train comes to a stop. Dracos’ heart plumpest and he clutches onto his leg
tightly.

“See you at Christmas dinner, Draco!” Astoria calls while walking out with her sister. He was
staring off at the ground, zoning out completely.

“Draco?” Blaise rests his hand on his shoulder. He hadn’t even realized he sat down next to him.
“Take your calming draught.” He nods and does so. A wave of calmness washes over him but the
fear was still there. It was just manageable.

“I don’t think I can do this, Blaise…”

“You’re strong, Draco. You can,” he pulls him into a hug. “I’ll see you at Christmas dinner,
okay?”

He nods and then they part ways. He tells Blaise to leave so his parents won’t see them together.
After pacing back and forth in the compartment he finally leaves, not forgetting his present from
Lupin. He makes his way off the train and immediately goes to the usual spot where he and his
parents meet up. It was away from all the families, along with their portkey home. Draco swears he
made them miss it so it will be another thing to add to his father’s list of anger. He makes his way
over and immediately catches his mother's eyes. She was alone which Draco felt awfully grateful
about. He walks over, clutching onto his present tightly to the point where his knuckles are whiter
than usual.

Her mother looks elegant as usual. She had a grey coat and black gloves on. Her hair was half up
half down which tends to be her usual style. She looked the same to an outsider but not to Draco.
Draco notices how her hands are clasped tightly around each other — which she only did when she
was concerned about him. There were faint bags under her eyes that weren’t there the last time he
saw her. She was also swaying ever so slightly that you wouldn’t be able to tell if you weren’t
Draco.

“Mother…” he breathes out.

“Oh, Draco,” her voice is gentle and quiet. “What have you done?”

“I-Is he furious?” he whispers. “Father? Do you know what’s going to happen?”

“I don’t, Dear… But is it true?.. Are you?”

 He nods.

“Oh darling,” she gently places her hand on his cheek and brushes the tear, he didn’t know fell
down his cheek. “It’s going to be alright.” He simply nods and his mother quickly caught on he
wasn’t in the mood to talk about it anymore. “What’s in the box?”

“Healing potions… P-professor Lupin gave it to me…”

“Remus Lupin?” A look of actual disgust spreads on her face

“So much has happened these past few months, Mother,” he takes a deep breath. “So much…”

Chapter End Notes

Again sorry for the short chapter! This one and the next are just quick fillers before he
goes back to Hogwarts.
 Chapter 10
Chapter Summary

“Father,” deep down Draco is so proud of how he manages to keep a calm voice.
“Is it true?” His father isn’t even looking at him.

Draco's first encounter with his father.

TW/CW: physical abuse with a wand

Chapter Notes

Tw/CW!!!!: physical abuse with a wand and mention of blood. Please be aware of
this!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Walking into the Manor has never felt more terrifying than right now. Malfoy Manor did once feel
like a home. The smell of flowers and his mother's perfume. Photos of him when he was a lot
younger, either of just him or with his mother. The faint cracks in the walls are formed because of
how old the building is. The flights of stairs that Draco spent one day trying to climb them all. It
was comforting and safe until his father inserted himself more into Dracos’ life.

Now… Draco stands at the front door: The one word to describe how he’s feeling would be
sorrow. He felt a hand placed on his shoulder and realized he was slightly trembling.

“Be brave. I'll be with you afterward... I'm sorry I can't to more."

“C-can you… can you put this in my room?” He holds out the present he received from Professor
Lupin.

“Of course." She takes it with care. Draco told her how the Professor found out about his home
situation and has been helping him cast a wandless Protego. She simply nodded and when he asked
why there was a look of disgust on her face she simply shook her head and moved on from the
conversation.

Draco takes a deep breath before entering the Manor. Walking in was like walking into a
graveyard; It was dead silent and it made him want to throw up. He knew where his father would
be. He knew he would have this neutral look that says so much more. His father's hand would be
clutched on the snake's head that’s a part of his cane. He knew the second Draco walks into the
room the door will slam shut by his father's wandless magic and a chair would pull back for Draco
to sit in.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Draco was sitting next to his father, who was at the head of the table in the dining room. He sat
straight up, hands folded in his lap, and heart beating outside his chest.
“Father."

Deep down Draco is so proud of how he manages to keep a calm voice.

“Is it true?” His father isn’t even looking at him. HIs knuckles were whiter than usual around the
snake's head.

“Is what true father?” That's when he gets the first backhand.

He should have seen it coming. It was a stupid question; Draco knows what he was referring to.
But he still can't stop the light hiss from escaping his lips.

“Don’t be an idiot, Draco,” he snarls. “Is it true that you are you a faggot?”

There is such disgust in his voice that it makes Draco sick.

“Yes, sir” he whispers because he knew there was no hiding the truth now. "But, Father-"

“Don’t speak,” and Draco listens. “I really thought you could do great things for this family, but
here you are; a disappointment. Not only did I have to hear from Francis Crabbe that his son sent
him a letter saying Draco Malfoy is gay but he's also in love with a Blood-Traitor?"

“No, sir,” he whispers. “It’s not true. I’m not in love with George Weasley. I could never be in love
with that blood-traitor-“

"But you haven't denied said rumors." Draco's voice dies in his throat. "Is that true?"

"... Yes, sir," he mumbles.

"Tell me why."

"There was no way of denying it, Father. Theo, he made sure of it! I thought to embrace it and still
carry the Malfoy name! Not- Not carrying what people said! "

"How could you possibly carry the Malfoy name while willingly saying you are GAY!" he spits.
"If I even hear rumors of you dating another fag, you will be disowned. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, father," he whispers.

"Get up," he growls. Draco doesn't flinch when his father gets up from his seat, but he does
whimper when his father grips his arm and shoves him toward the wall.

"Father, please-"

It happens fairly quickly.

Lucius casts Dark Magic at him and Draco casts a wandless Protego automatically.

Everything went silent.

Draco slowly opens his eyes and meets with another pair that suffered from anger and confusion.
The younger can't stop the small smile that forms on his lips.

"You think you're clever. Do you, Draco?"

"Sir, please! Try to understand. I-I-"

"There's nothing to understand," he growls. "If you want to be clever, Draco, be my guest. That
won't stop be from proving you a lesson."

One, two, three, hexes are casted at him, and, even though almost loses balance, manages to block
them all with the Shielding Charm. His father is more then displeased; which probably leads him to
cast the most aggressive hex Draco couldn't block. His back hits the wall with a loud thud; he
clutches his left arm in great pain and stares at his father with a new level of hatred. He never
thought he'd make him bleed... he's never gone that far but here he was proving Draco wrong. Was
it a hint of shock in his father's eyes that he made his son bleed? Or was it the same disgust he had
before he had gotten out of his chair? Draco would never know because he was storming out of the
room, not caring what his father might say or do. He runs up the flight of stairs and after running
down multiple hallways he makes it to his room.

He sees Lupins present on his nightstand and he rushes over to it. His left arm was pulsing as the
blood stained his long sleeve shirt. He opens the box and takes hold of one of the vials before
downing it.

It tastes horrible and he almost spits it out but thankfully he doesn’t. He feels a sharp tingle where
his cut is and he can feel it heal. He slowly rolls up his sleeve and grimaces when there's a light
scar.

“Fuck…” he whispers and sits down on his bed.

How could he do this to me?

Later that evening there was a knock on his door. Draco was sitting at his desk, reading an old
wizard tale, while he simply ignores it. He assumes it’s one of his mother’s personal house elves
she sent to give him dinner. It makes him remember Dobby. The now free house-elf was
incredibly kind for as long as he could remember. He was Dracos’ only companion for years
besides his mother. He was thankful Dobby was free from this father's fury but he still missed him.

Another knock at the door has Draco raising one of his eyebrows.

“Come in,” he says softly, and heels started clacking as his mother walks in. “Mother?”

“Oh, Draco. If I had known he was going to-“

He stands, “Mother can’t we just leave him? Please. Let’s leave— perhaps to France? Or—Or
more north so I can attend Durmstrange—“

“Dear we can’t,” she says in the most gentle tone he’s ever heard. “We just can’t.”

“Mother-“

“Draco, please-“

“If you truly cared-“

“Draco!” He steps back a bit. His mother has never sounded so offended and was it also…
disappointed? Or anger? “You know why we can’t leave—“

“You’re a Black! Don’t you have money!?”

 “Enough!” She holds her hand up so Draco knew not to speak. He remembers Professor Lupin
doing that a few times to him. “I will not stand here and let you say things you don't entirely
understand. I am still your mother.”

“Wait-“

“No, Draco,” he isn’t sure if there were tears in her eyes but she was blinking rapidly so he will
never know. “I’ll have one of my house elves send up dinner. Please eat all of your meal.
Goodnight,” with that she leaves

Chapter End Notes

There won't be many chapters with Lucius in it until probably around what would be
book five.

sorry the updates are so random... writers block is a bitch.

 Chapter 11
Chapter Summary

“You couldn’t have told me you were coming back to the dorm instead of meeting me
in the Great Hall?”
Draco groans, “Sorry, Blaise. How’d you finally connect the dots?”
“Nott stormed into the Great Hall looking distraught. Either you did something to him
or well— you did something to him.”

Draco returns to Hogwarts

Chapter Notes

Enjoy!!!
Any questions? Feel free to ask!
Your guys comments make me so happy :]

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Professor?” Draco enters the DADA classroom with paranoid caution. There’s no reply and when
he calls for the professor again there’s still no answer. Draco frowns and goes to his dorm instead
of meeting up with Blaise in the Great Hall like he told him. It was the day before classes start
again and Draco has never been more grateful to be at Hogwarts. The first day back at the Manor
caused some more emotional trauma so for the rest of the break he was on the edge of his seat.

Making his way to the dungeons was comforting. He gently runs his hand on the walls as he makes
his way to the place he’s been missing since leaving the castle. Walking into the common room he
makes eye contact with Crabbe and Goyal and he lightly nods at them with a blank expression
before heading up to his room. All his stuff is there and ready to be unpacked but Draco decides to
sit down on the window seat.

“Can I talk to you?” Draco growled under his breath to Crabbe who was standing off to the side
with Goyal during the dinner party. Crabbe sent him a look which meant no but Draco wasn’t just
going to nod and walk away. “I need to talk to you,” he then picked up a glass of some drink— he
wasn’t sure and didn’t care— “Now,” he grumbled before he walked outside to one of the many
outdoor locations in the Manor. A minute or two passed and Draco is about to just march back
inside and ask Crabbe his question in front of everyone. Luckily he eventually came out with Goyal
which Draco was fine with.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” He grumbled.

“In your letter, why did you only tell your father about Weasley not Potter.”

“What?”
“You know what I’m talking about, Vince,” he took a big sip of his drink and immediately spit it
out in the nearest planet. “Bloody disgusting…” he muttered under his breath before looking back
at the others. “Why did you not mention, Potter?”

“This is stupid,” Goyal said. “We shouldn’t even be with you, D—Malfoy!”

‘Somethings off’ Draco thinks. He’s known the two of them the longest. And Draco had spent a lot
of his time with both of them, but they were never his friends. Although did Draco really hate
them? And vice-versa?

“But here you are talking to me anyways. Just answer the damn question!”

“Or what? You don’t boss us around anymore!” Crabbe crossed his arm over the other and Draco
couldn’t stop the amused scoff from escaping his lips.

“No, but Theo does now,” there was a flicker in Goyal’s eyes and Draco swore he was trying to
tell him something. “It doesn’t make fucking sense! Why mention Weasley but not Potter knowing
that it would just make my father even more angry if he knew!”

“Exactly!” Growled Goyal. “Nott forced him to send the letter because he’s a fucking tosser so
Vince didn’t mention bloody Potter! You should be grateful Draco—“

“Grateful!?” He laughed. “You’re both pathetic. No no, Theo’s pathetic, you’re both just losers.
Fuck, how did you deal with me for so many years!?”

“So you should be saying thank you right now!” Goyal stepped forward. “We have never been
friends Malfoy but it doesn’t mean we wanted you to get the beating of a life time! We don’t fucking
care if you’re a fairy but we do care about our status.”

‘It’s all down to status with us Slytherins, isn’t it?’ Draco thought.

“Well it’s splendid to know that you both aren’t homophobic— but we’ll never be on civil terms
anymore. Now that you’re siding with fucking Nott.”

“We’re aware,” Crabbe shrugged. “Just know we didn’t want to tell your father.”

“Thanks… I guess,” Draco muttered. “For what it is worth I never wanted to boss you two
around… I believe the excuse I have is Daddy Issues.”

“We all have those, Draco,” Goyal muttered before leaving, Crabbe followed behind him.

Draco eventually leaves the window seat and grabs a sketchbook his mother gave him before
leaving The Manor. She told him that he should spend his time drawing instead of dwelling on
everything which Draco found incredibly unhealthy but didn’t fight with her on it. He sits down on
his bed, after grabbing a pencil, and stares down at the blank piece of paper.

“The fuck am I supposed to draw?” He mutters under his breath.

“How about your boyfriend, Weasley?” Draco’s head shoots up and sees Theodore Nott standing in
the doorway.

“Brilliant suggestion. Thank you,” he grumbles and pretends to sketch.

“You’re a fucking idiot for drawing, Draco,” Theo walks over to his bed and begins unpacking his
own stuff.

“I think we’ve established you’re the ‘fucking idiot’ out of the both of us,” he doesn’t even bother
looking at the other boy but he knows Theo is turning bright red. He proves his point by storming
out. Draco can’t help the smirk that grows on his face as the door slams shut.

Draco spends the next ten minutes staring at the white piece of paper before finally drawing his
consolation. It’s just lines and dots and if someone random saw this they’d probably think Draco
was stupid.

“You couldn’t have told me you were coming back to the dorm instead of meeting me in the Great
Hall?”

Draco groans, “Sorry, Blaise. How’d you finally connect the dots?”

“Nott stormed into the Great Hall looking distraught. Either you did something to him or well—
you did something to him.”

“You’re very clever.”

“I’m aware,” he smirks and sits down at the end of Draco's bed. “You’re drawing now?”

“Mother said I should start.”

“Did you two leave on good terms?”

“No,” he sighs.

“How did things go after Christmas dinner then?”

“You really want to know?” Draco raises an eyebrow at him.

“If you’re willingly to share with me.”

“I spent my holiday in my room or out in the garden.”

“I saw Theo go up to your room to get you... did something happen?”

“No...”

“So something did happen. Care to tell me?”

“Absolutely not,” he grins and Blaise rolls his eyes in a playful manner.

“Did you talk to Professor Lupin?”

“No he wasn’t there when I went into the classroom, but now that I think about it… I-I don’t think
I should be talking to him anymore.”

“Why? Did your mother say something?”

“Maybe…” he sighs and sets down the sketchbook. “We got into an argument before I got on the
train… she said I shouldn’t be talking to Lupin about the problems at home anymore. She said it’s
none of his business.”

“You told me at Christmas she didn’t mind.”

 “Yes, well… I confronted her two days later again about leaving father. Let’s say it didn’t go well
again.”

“I thought you knew why you couldn’t leave your father.”

“She told me it was because she didn’t have money. That she gave all the Black heritage to my
father but that’s impossible because Aunt Bella and Sirius Black are still apart of the family— even
though Sirius Black did get disowned— she wouldn’t be able to give all of it away. There’s
something more. There’s something she’s not telling me.”

“Maybe you’re not meant to know.”

“Still,” he sighs. “But maybe she’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t talk to the Professor anymore.”

“I think you should. If he’s helping you then let him help you.”

“But my mother—“

“You’re mother can be wrong, Draco.”

He groans, “I know. I just… I can’t betray my mother.”

“It’s not betraying your mother. It’s helping yourself.”

“Fine…” he huffs. “I’ll see him tomorrow after class.”

“Brilliant,” he grins.

Chapter End Notes

Now what else happened at that bloody chirstmas dinner/party? ;)

 Chapter 12
Chapter Summary

“Have you ever tried not insulting him?”

“Have you ever seen a squib do magic?” Lupin gives him a look and Draco gives him
a sheepish grin. “My point is I can’t be nice to Potter. Never have; never will.”
a lil bit of Lupin and Draco ; a lil storytelling about the Christmas dinner party

Chapter Notes

Enjoy! :)
CW: mention of a scar

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Professor?” Draco approaches him after everyone in the class leaves.

“Draco!” He smiles brightly and pockets his wand. “I’m sorry if you stopped by yesterday. I was
using all the time the holiday gave me to rest.”

“Are you unwell?”

“Nothing to worry about, Draco. Come with me to my office, yes?” The blonde nods and follows
him up the stairs. They sit across from each other. “How was your holiday?”

“Well—“ he rolls up his left sleeve and shows the Professor the scar that was left on his body by
his father.

“D-Draco—“ it was the first time he ever heard Lupin's voice crack.

“It’s fine, Professor,” he tugs his sleeve back down. “I didn’t see him until the Christmas dinner
slash party after that. And even after that I only saw him once because well he just wanted to have
some fun.” He crosses his arms over each other.

“Draco, I have to say something—“

“No, Professor, you can’t! I have it under control! The shield charm worked until he shot some
bloody hex he’s never shot before! I’ll be fine— please—“

“...Okay…” he says quietly. “I’m so sorry, Draco.”

“It’s alright,” he looks down. “But Christmas dinner was alright. I had splendid conversations with
Crabbe, Goyal, Theo, and Pansy.”

“Really?” Draco could tell he was uncomfortable with segway but he knows it’s not up to him
about what they talk about. “What happened?”
“Well…”

Draco was putting on his tie that made him look like a snob when his bedroom door swings open.

“Mother-!” He whips around and his eyes go wide when it is not his mother standing in his
doorway. “What the fuck are you doing in here, Theo?”

“Your father wanted me to come get you,” he’s smirking. “You look dashing Draco,” he mocks.
“You think George Weasley would be impressed? Do you think the Weasel is a faggot too?”

“What do you get out of this, Nott?” He growls. “Seriously!”

“I don’t really get anything out of it,” he leans against the door frame. “I just like to remind you
that you’re a fucking freak.”

“Wonderful,” he rolls his eyes. “Is that your only personality trait?”

“I’m also really charming—” he starts

“Charming?” The blonde cut him off with a scoff. “I don’t recall girls finding being a massive
dickhead charming.”

“Pansy fucking fell—“

“Pansy falls for anyone that gives her attention! Name one girl who has ever had a proper crush
on you.”

“Uh—“

“Exactly. I wish the girl who ends up marrying you a lot of luck,” he begins walking towards the
door. “Salazar knows she’s going to need it,” he goes to walk past Theo but he ends up being
pinned to the wall. “What the fuck are you doing—“

“You don’t get to act like you’re better than me Draco! You’re not fucking in charge anymore.”

“Okay?! I don’t fucking care anymore! I’m tired of wearing a mask every fucking day. You can be
the better Slytherin, the most hated Pureblood at Hogwarts, and a complete arsehole! I don’t want
to be that anymore! It’s exhausting! So go a head. The Slytherin King! Theodore Nott! That’s you
now. Have fu—Nmhpm,” lips crash on his and he stares wide-eyed at a pair of closed ones. After a
few seconds of coming to his senses, he shoves Nott so hard that he stumbles backwards.

“What the fuck was that!?”

“I— Draco—“ Theo’s never been at loss for words

“This is what’s going to happen; we are going to go downstairs to the party and we are not going
to speak to each other at all. You did not kiss me because you are a fucking dick and homophobic
and— FUCK Theo what the hell is wrong with you!?” He yells. He was annoyed and shocked and
bloody furious that his first kiss with a boy was with Theodore Nott.

“You can’t tell anyone—“ Theo begins.

“There’s nothing to tell! Whatever problems you’re going through don’t take it out of me, Nott.
Okay!?”
“Draco—“

“Okay?” He says more desperately than furiously. “I don’t have time for your bloody mind
games!”

“O-okay,” he’s never heard Theo stutter before. Draco huffs and storms off to the dinner party.

“I’m so mad at him!” Draco groans. “Nott is such an arsehole and manipulative and—“

“Draco!” Professor Lupin interrupts. “Did you think that maybe Mr. Nott is actually into boys? Or
perhaps into you?”

“No. No Theo is just manipulative like his father. He’s straight up insults Blaise and I and uses
slurs and is a complete wanker!”

‘You were like that before all of this… maybe he has his own mask.”

“Well he should just have bloody said something. He had the perfect chance! Just the two of us
were in my room! No fathers or classmates or teachers!”

“How many times were you alone with a friend and you just wanted to break the mask but didn’t?”
Draco glares at him. “I’m not telling you that this is true. All I’m telling you is that it’s a
possibility.”

“Sure… but I have other things to worry about now.”

“Like what?”

“Potter,” he grumbles.

“Ah, yes. Your crush on Harry—“

“Don’t say it so loud!” he hisses.

“Sorry,” he chuckles. “Well you saw him today in class. How was that?”

“Nerve wracking,” he shrugs. “We made eye contact twice and it was just weird.”

“Weird?”

“It wasn’t the same— I don’t know. It was just… nice to see him I suppose.”

“Draco I think you should just talk to him. As two piers?”

“Absolutely not. I’ve tried but I always end up insulting him.”

“Have you ever tried not insulting him?”

“Have you ever seen a squib do magic?” Lupin gives him a look and Draco gives him a sheepish
grin. “My point is I can’t be nice to Potter. Never have; never will.”

“I think you should try it.”

“Absolutely not. Then he’s going to really think I’m in love with him and I don’t need that.”
 Lupin sighs, “Don’t sound so disappointed Professor.”

“I’m not disappointed, Draco.”

“I know,” he grumbles. “I’ll try it… maybe.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“I think I should get going,” he stands. “It was good to see you Professor.”

“It was good to see you too, Draco. Remember my door is always open.”

“Thank you,” he smiles quickly before leaving. He goes to the courtyard and sits down at the water
fountain.

“Malfoy!” A voice startles him and he looks to his right to see Potter walking toward him with an
expression he can’t read.

“What?” he says breathlessly even though he was trying to sneer.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About?” he looks at him with a ‘well’ look that Potter greatly didn’t appreciate.

“Buckbeak,” he stands in front of him; arms crossed. Oh… Draco completely forgot about the
Hippogriff. “You need to tell your father to call the murder off.”

“I can’t just do that,” he bites back a snarl. “Once my father has his set on something you won’t be
able to change his mind.”

“But you’re his son—“

“That doesn’t mean anything to him,” he growls and stands. “Your Hippogriff is on death row.
Nothing I can do,” he goes to walk away but Potter grips onto his arm.

“Well bloody try to do something. Buckbeak is being executed because of you.”

“And I’m supposed to care?”

“Something tells me you do,” with that he leaves, and Draco groans and pathetically kicks a rock.

“Stupid bloody hippogriff,” he grumbles.

Chapter End Notes

saw someone say in the earlier chapters Theo is like a schoolboy picking on his crush
so I just... had to! Thought it would be fun to add to the drama of things :)

I'm so excited about the next chapter! It'll be out in a few days!!
 Chapter 13
Chapter Summary

“Professor? Is everything alright?”

“Yes— Yes, everything is alright. I have something to attend— feel free to stay,” he
wasn’t even looking at Draco. He was running towards the door, clutching his wand
tightly.
“Professor?” But he was already out the door.

Buckbeak's execution is today...

Chapter Notes

one of my favorite chapters :) ENJOY!!!

there's a lot of the same dialogue from the movie so a little heads up I suppose

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It’s the day before the last day at Hogwarts and Draco is stressing so much it’s maddening. The
past months have been maddening. The rumor of Draco being gay died down after the holidays and
people were back to talking about Sirius Black. Interacting with Theo was unbelievably
uncomfortable. They were pretending the kiss never happened when they would occasionally
interact. And when they would interact it was just insulting after insult. It got to the point where
they had to serve one detention with Professor McGonagall for bickering during Transfiguration.

His chats with Professor Lupin were a once to twice a week thing. Just a quick catch-up or Draco
ranting about how Theo is the biggest twat in the school. And after a few weeks of practicing
drawing, he gave one of his first sketches to the Professor. He had folded it, shoved it in his hands,
and ran out of the classroom. It was a sketch of the Professors wand because Draco constantly
stares at it. When he saw him after that the sketch was pinned onto the wall and Draco blushed
furiously.

Hanging out with Blaise and the Greengrass sisters was amazing. Draco and Astoria would crack
jokes while Blaise and Daphne would try to study. Draco was usually the studious type but there
was a great connection with the younger Slytherin so he got easily distracted.

“He’s going to hate me even more,” Draco groans and drops his head on one of the tables in the
library. He was currently sitting with Blaise and the Greengrass sisters. Buckbeak is getting
executed today and Draco can’t do anything to stop it.

“There’s no way he could hate you even more, Draco. You called his best friend a slur,” Astoria
flips the page of the book she was reading.

“Thank you, Astoria, for the reminder,” he groans.

“Why don’t you tell him you tried everything you could?” Daphne suggests.
“He wouldn’t believe me.”

“You don’t know that,” Blaise says.

“I truly do. His execution is in an hour… fuck,” he whispers.

“Why don’t you go to the execution and ask the Minister to call it off?” Daphne says.

“Are you mental?” Draco scoffs. “If my father found out I talked to the Minster of Magic he would
kill me…”

“It’ll be alright, Draco,” Astoria says. “Maybe you can donate the Hippogriffs head to the
Ravenclaw common room.”

“Astoria!” Daphne squeals.

“I’m only kidding!” she sets her book down. “Honestly, Malfoy, just say sorry or something. If he
doesn’t believe you then that’s not your fault.”

“I guess…” he sighs.

It’s almost time for the execution and Draco puts on a black coat and pants.

“Bloody hell I look like I’m going to a funeral,” he mutters.

“Well—“ Blaise starts.

“Shut up,” he lightly growls. “I’ll be back later. Wish me luck or whatever,” he grumbles and
leaves the dormitory. He goes to the rock statues that Draco has never really liked. He could see
Hagrid’s hut and the pain of guilt strikes him hard. He leans against one of the rocks and groans
pathetically. After a while, he hears footsteps from behind. He turns and sees Granger storming
over to him with Potter and Weasley following behind.

“Come to see the show?” There’s no mockery in his tone. There’s a real sadness that he doesn’t
mind expressing at the moment.

“You foul, loathsome, evil, little cockroach!” Granger growls and points his wand right at his neck.
He collides with the rock and sneers.

“Do you just attack unarmed people now, Granger!?” He growls. She huffs and lowers her wand
which Draco is surprised by.

“This is your fault!” She cries. “Buckbeak doesn’t deserve to be killed! It’s absolutely terrible!”

“I didn’t think—“

“Do you ever really think, Malfoy?” Weasley mutters and Draco shoots him a glare.

“My father wouldn’t listen to me, alright?" that wasn't true. Draco never talked to his father for
obvious reasons. He felt awful that he was technically lying to Potter but his reasoning was fair. "I
tried to stop the execution but I couldn’t so don’t blame this on me!”

“Don’t blame this on you!?” Granger fumes. “You’re the one who attacked Buckbeak in the first
place! Knowing what would happen!”
“I—“

“Leave, Malfoy!” Draco listens and leaves, not before locking eyes with Potter for a brief second.
The blonde prayed it was a form of understanding in the look they shared before he went back up
to the castle. He storms off to the DADA classroom, praying Professor Lupin was in there— which
he is.

“Draco? What’s wrong?”

“The stupid Hippogriff is being executed any minute now and I can’t stop it.”

“Oh."

“Potter is never going to forgive me. I’m a horrible person! My temper got the best of me that day
— I didn’t think when I told my father about it. I didn’t think my father would do this!”

“It’ll be alright Draco,” he lightly places his hand on his shoulder.

“Can I stay in here? I won’t bother you. I just want to sketch.”

“By all means.”

“… Do you have paper?” The professor chuckles and grabs a small stack of papers and a pencil.
Draco spends thirty minutes sitting at a desk and sketching the view he saw from the stupid rock
statues. He’s proud of his good photographic memory. One of his many skills people don’t know
about. He was slightly dozing off until Professor Lupin emerges from his office with a fearful
look.

“Professor? Is everything alright?”

“Yes— Yes, everything is alright. I have something to attend— feel free to stay,” he wasn’t even
looking at Draco. He was running towards the door, clutching his wand tightly.

“Professor?” But he was already out the door.

“I won’t follow him,” Draco mutters to himself. “But I will,” he quickly scrambles out of his chair
and rushes after the Professor. He sees the Professor sharply turn the corner down the hallway and
Draco actually runs so he doesn’t lose him. He keeps his distance so he wouldn’t get caught and
when he sees Lupin going up to the Whomping Willow and going under it? In it? Draco wasn’t
sure but he quickly followed before he could get whacked by a branch.

He follows him through the narrow passageway. He avoids twigs and anything that could make a
loud noise to blow his cover. The Professor was in a hurry and Draco could tell just by the way he
was half walking half running that it was urgent. Finally, they made it to wherever the Professor
was trying to get to. It appeared to be an entrance to a house. Or a barn? He wasn’t sure, but he
waits for Lupin to climb up the ladder into the building. It's the Shrieking Shack. He could hear the
other rush up what sounded like stairs and Draco figured the coast was clear to make his way up.

“Expelliarmus!” He could hear Professor Lupin shout and Draco’s eyes go wide. Draco climbs up
the stairs quickly but quietly and when he reaches the top he peaks above the last step.

“—Wouldn’t you Remus?” A male voice says and Draco can only see the Professor's back. He
lowers his wand and reaches his hand out for whoever the other voice belongs to. Lupin pulls him
into a desperate hug and Draco's jaw drops when he realizes it's Sirius Black he’s hugging.
“I found him!” Black stammers.

“I know. I understand—“

“He’s here! Let’s kill him!”

“NO!” A female voice Draco knows all too well yells. “I trusted you! And all this time y-you’ve
been his friend... He’s a werewolf! That’s why he’s been missing classes!” Draco rushes to stand
and stumbles into the room.

“You’re a werewolf?” He gapes at his professor. All eyes were on him. He then just realizes Potter
and Weasley are in the room too. “How— That doesn’t make sense— And him— You're-" he steps
back when he makes eye contact with Black. The eyes of the infamous madman look so similar to
his father's.

“Draco—“

“I-I trusted you…” He feels too numb to reach for his pocketed wand.

“How long have you known?” Lupin eventually asks Granger. She was now helping Weasley
stand; his arm was wrapped around her neck and an ugly wound was on one of his legs. Only then
he notices that the ginger is gripping onto a stupid rat.

‘Poor Bastard,’ Draco thinks. He’s not sure if he’s referring to Weasley or the rat.

“Since—“ she looks between Lupin and Draco. “Since Professor Snape set the essay.”

“Well, well, well, Hermione, you really are the brightest witch of your age I’ve ever met—“

“Enough talk, Remus!” Black dramatically turns and begins pacing. Draco scrambles to the other
side of the room. The side where Potter, Granger, and Weasley were standing. The blonde's heart
was racing and his hand was trembling. Had the Professor really been working with Sirius Black
this whole time? He knows their history but he never thought Lupin was helping the murderer get
into the castle! “Come on, let’s kill him!” He shouts.

‘Kill him? Kill who? Potter?’ he glances over at Potter and sees a type of bloodlust in his eyes that
he’s never seen in him before.

“Wait!” Lupin replies.

“I did my waiting!” his shouting makes Draco flinch. “12 years of it… in Azkaban!”

Professor Lupin slowly turns to look at the students. He stares at Potter with a look Draco couldn’t
describe. He then looks at him and Draco stares with disbelief. He feels betrayed and
uncomfortable. His mouth is lightly parted and he can hear his heartbeat ringing through his ears.

“Professor-“ Draco gapes when he hands Black his wand.

“Very well,” he simply says to Black, completely ignoring Draco. “But wait one more minute.
Harry has the right to know why.”

“I know why—“ Potter steps forward which Draco finds extremely stupid and irrational. “You
betrayed my parents! You’re the reason they’re dead!”

“What?” Draco's mouth falls open once again.

“No, Harry, it wasn’t him. Somebody did betray your parents, but it was somebody who until quite
recently I believe to be dead.”

“Who was it then!?” Potter barks.

“Peter Pettigrew!” declares Black.

“But you killed him!” Draco can’t seem to keep his mouth shut. “How—“

“He’s in this room!” He snarls. “Come out, come out, Peter!” his sing-song voice freaks Draco out.
“Come out and play!”

“Expelliarmus!” A familiar voice roars through the front door and Lupin's wand goes flying out of
Black's hand. “AH! Vengeance is sweet… How I hoped I’d be the one to catch you.”

“Severus…” Lupin begins but Snape points his wand at him and the taller backs off. “I told
Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle, and now here’s the proof.”

“Brilliant Snape—“ Black says some snarky comeback but Draco isn’t paying attention. He’s
paying attention to how Potters’ hands were in tight fists and he was staring at his wand that was
on the other side of the room. He could tell he just wanted to hurt Sirius Black. It was obvious in
his eyes. And Draco was so angry with the Professor that he actually wanted to help Potter.

“My wand…” Draco mutters so quietly that he’s surprised Potter even heard. He looks at Draco
with a look of confusion or possibly anger. “Left coat pocket.” he mutters again. Surprisingly the
shorter listens and slowly reaches for Draco’s pocketed wand from behind. Feeling Potter this
close to him without trying to hurt him makes Draco’s heart skip a beat.

“After you—“ Snape looks over at the four teenagers and even though it’s barely noticeable he is
pretty shocked to see Draco standing there. Potter then pulls Draco’s wand out and points it at
Black. He takes two steps forward before casting Expelliarmus but not at the person he was
supposed to.

“I let you take my wand to attack Black not SNAPE!” He growls.

“Shut up, Malfoy!” He barks. “Tell me about Peter Pettigrew!”

“He was at school with us! We thought he was our friend!”

“But Sirius Black killed him!” Draco barks. “You told me yourself!”

“No he didn’t!” Draco notices the way Lupin purposefully goes to stand in front of the wand and
Black. “I thought he did until, you, Harry, mentioned seeing him on the map!”

“The map was lying, then!” yells Potter.

“The map never lies!” Black shakes his head. “Peter is alive! And he’s right there!” He points to
Weasley.

“Me?” he looks around at everyone in the room. “He’s mental!”

“No, not you! Your rat!”

“Scabbers has been in my family for—“

“Twelve years! A curiously long life for a common garden rat! He’s missing a toe, isn’t he?”
“So what?!”

“All they could find of Pettigrew was—“

“His finger,” Draco finishes for Potter.

“Very good, Malfoy!” Growls Black in a sarcastic manner. “The dirty coward cut it off so that
everyone would think he was dead! And then he transformed into a rat!”

“Show me,” states Potter. Weasley was trying to keep the rat in his hand while Black aggressively
pulled it out of it.

“Leave him alone!” Whines Weasley. Lupin hands Black a wand after picking up his own and the
rat is placed down on what Draco now realizes is a piano. The two adults were casting nonverbal
spells as the rat scrambled around. Eventually, while the rat is going through a hole in the wall,
he’s transformed into a man. The adults drag him out and toss him aside. Draco rushes behind
Potter; too frightened to be embarrassed by the fact he’s ‘hiding’ behind him.

“R-Remus? Sirius?” Pettigrew was chittering. “My old friends!” He goes to make a run for it but
they stop him.

“H-Harry—“ the half bald man rushes over to him. Potter steps back into Draco and both of them
seem too shocked even to care they were this close to each other. “Look at you! You look so much
like your father— We were the best of friends— James and I-I—“

“How dare you speak to Harry!” Black rushes over and chases the other behind the piano.

“You sold James and Lily too Voldemort didn’t you?!” growls Lupin.

“I didn’t mean to!” he cries. “The Dark Lord… you have no idea the weapons he possesses. Ask
yourself, Sirius! What would you have done?”

“I would have died!” He shouts. “I would have died rather than betray my friends!” Pettigrew
makes a run for it from under the table but Potter blocks the door's exit.

“Harry, James wouldn’t have wanted me killed,” he grips Potter tightly. “Your dad… your dad
would spare me! He would show me mer-CY!” Lupin and Black grab hold of Pettigrew and throw
up towards the piano.

“You should have realized Peter, that if Voldemort didn’t kill you, then we would, together!”

“No!” Potter shouts. There was more snarling and yelling and wand pointing. Pettigrew ends up on
his knees and thanks Potter pathetically. Professor Lupin grabs a hold of the 'rat's' collar and forces
him to stand.

So Sirius Black is innocent? Draco was relieved because that means the Professor didn’t betray his
trust— well… besides the fact he’s a werewolf. How could Draco not see it? The constant leave of
absents, gaunt-looking eyes, and his mother's look of disgust at the mention of his name!

But he was also curious how Lupin was feeling about all of this. The love of his life, as Draco liked
to call Black, was about to be a free man. Will they end up back together? Or was it just too
complicated? Draco hopes for the best for Professor Lupin.

“What do we do with him?” Black says. Draco wasn’t really paying attention anymore. He was
focused on his thoughts and how Potter was clutching onto his wand.
“With who?” Lupin grunts.

“Malfoy.”

“What?” Draco’s head snaps to the left to look at the ex-prisoner. “What about me?”

“I know who you are,” he begins approaching him and Draco’s first instinct is to step back.

“Sirius-“ Lupin starts.

“You know who his father is!” He growls at him.

“You’re going to be a free man soon— why does it matter who my father is!” he cries out.

“You Malfoys’ always use whatever information you get for yourself. It’s pathetic—“

“Sirius!” Barks Lupin which catches everyone off guard for a second. “Enough… After you,” he
signals for Granger and Weasley to go first; which they do.

“Here,” Potter says and hands Draco his wand before walking after his friends.

“Go, Draco,” Professor Lupin sounds exhausted; which Draco doesn’t blame. It was a rollercoaster
of emotions for him and bloody everyone in the room. The blonde walks out of the room and he
can feel Sirius Black following right behind him. They make it down the stairs and into the
passageway to the Whomping Willow.

“I’m not my father you know,” he eventually says.

“Really? Do tell,” there’s so much sarcasm in his voice that Draco wonders if it runs in the family.

“I understand you’ve been in Azkaban for the past 12 years while you were innocent but I just have
to say you’re a bloody prick,” he grumbles.

“You Malfoys,” he scoffs. “Think you’re all high and mighty. Think you’re better than everyone…
you lot are pathetic.”

“I’m not my father, okay!?” he growls in a low whisper. “I’m really not—“

“Really?”

“Yes— because— because—“

“Because you’re shorter than him?” Draco shoots him a nasty glare.

“Because— I-I’m gay!” he huffs.

“What?” He was proud he caught Sirius Black off guard.

“Told you I’m not like my father,” he mutters.

“Well you’re… awfully different from him… does your father… know?”

“Of course he does. My secrets tend to get out one way or another,” he runs his fingers through his
hair nervously.

“Fascinating… a gay in the Black-Malfoy family…The family must be thrilled.”

“Yeah, they quiet are," he rolls his eyes. "They don't know about you, of course--"

“I-I’m sorry?” he tries to cover up his shock with a scoff.

“Your secret is safe me with, Mr. Black,” he says the name with uncertainty, and both males cringe
at it.

“Don’t call me that, Malfoy.”

“Alright… What about…hm…" there's an unbelievably long pause between them and the blonde
could tell the other was starting to get uncomfortable. "...Uncle Sirius? We’re from the same
family and all…”

“You really want to call me that? he looks over at the blonde.

“I suppose,” he shrugs and stuffs his hands in his pocket. “No harm no foul as the Muggles say.”

“You’re an odd one, Malfoy.”

“It’s actually Draco. Only Potter and everyone who hates me calls me Malfoy.”

“Perhaps they call you Malfoy because you refer to them by their last name.”

“If you expect me to call Potter by his first name then you’re barking… I’d rather not.”

“Alright,” there’s a hint of a smirk on his face the two of them remain quiet for the rest of the
walk.

Eventually, when they make it out, Draco sees Potter, Weasley, and Granger sitting down on the
grass, looking at the ginger's wound. Sirius walks a distance and stares off at the castle.

“You better go,” says Weasley to Potter.

“No— it’s fine. I’ll stay.”

“You go,” says Granger. “I’ll stay,” with that Potter walks over to Black and Draco stands dumbly
next to the other two.

“So… Weasley... how’d you hurt your leg? Fall down the stairs in the Shrieking Shack?”

“Not funny, Malfoy,” he grumbles. “Why are you here? How did you end in there?”

“Yes, I would like to know that too.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“No, what was happening tonight was none of your business,” says Weasley. “But you inserted
yourself in it anyways.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” he crosses his arms. “I was following the Professor. How was I
supposed to know I’d end up with some mess between Sirius Black and you lot…”

“Why were you following Professor Lupin?”

“He looked frightened,” he says truthfully. “I was… concerned,” he mutters under his breath.

“What?” Granger says.

“I was curious!”

“Alright…” just then Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew emerge from the tree. Lupin was
struggling and Pettigrew pathetically begging to live.

“Ron, ha—haven’t I been a good friend? A good pet? You won’t let them give me to the
dementors, will you? Oh, sweet girl! Clever girl— Mr. Malfoy! Your father—“

“Get away from them!” shouts Lupin and pulls him away.

“So your pet rat was a man all along?” Draco can’t help but smirk a little.

“Shut up, Malfoy,” he says but he sounded so tired. Draco decides not to say anything else.

“Oh no…” Granger eventually says.

“What?” Both Draco and Weasley say at the same time.

“HARRY!” She cries and then points to the thing she’s worried about. Everyone turns and sees the
full moon in full view.

“No…” Draco breaths out and looks over to Lupin who was breathing heavily. “Professor!” Draco
goes to rush over to him, but Potter grabs onto his arm and yanks him back.

“Remus!” Black is clutching onto Lupin. “You know the man you truly are, Remus!” he yells out.
“This heart right here! Moony—!“

“We have to do something!” Draco barks and tries to get out of Potter’s grip but the shorter is
surprisingly strong.

“You can’t!” Granger cries out. While the Professor is transforming, Pettigrew got a hold of his
wand. Potter casts a spell but it was too late. The man turns himself into a rat and Potter goes after
him, but, surprisingly, Draco is the one who stops him. Watching the person he looks up to the
most turn into a werewolf caused something to shatter inside of Draco.

“Run! RUN!” Black was screaming at the students but the four of them wouldn’t move. Just then
Lupin— or I guess the werewolf— knocks Black down the hill.

“Sirius!” Shouts Potter.

“We have to go—“ Weasley whispers harshly.

“Wait— Wait!” Draco steps forward.

“Malfoy—“ Potter reaches for him but Draco takes another step.

“Professor?” Another step forward. “Professor Lupin?” The werewolf was whimpering, chest
heaving aggressively. He then howls and Draco staggers backward, bumping into Potter who then
pulls him to the side. Of course, that's when Professor Snape emerges from the tree.

“Potter—“ he snarls.

“Professor!” Draco warns and he quickly turns around. Automatically his arms are spread out as a
form of protection for the four students. The werewolf goes to attack but a vicious dog sprints
towards it and attacks first. There’s a ton of growling on the animals' part and Draco is staring
wide-eyed. The dog manages to get the wolf to chase after him down the hill.
“Sirius!” Potter cries and chases after the animals.

“Comeback back here, Potter!” Snape shouts. And Draco has no idea what caused him to do so. He
has no idea why when he’s absolutely terrified but he finds himself running after Harry fucking
Potter. “Draco!” Snape snarls out but he doesn’t care. He catches up with the shorter and the idiot
throws a rock at the werewolf.

“Are you fucking stupid!” He cries out and Potter whips his head around.

“What are you doing here—“

“Why would you throw something at it? You couldn’t let him have at it with the dog!?”

“The dog is Sirius you areshole!”

“What!?” Potter goes to say something but Draco points at the wolf. “W-werewolf!”

Potter looks back and the wolf is slowly approaching them; growling.

“W-what do we do?” Draco whispers. As if on cue another werewolf— from a far— howls.
Professor Lupin runs in the direction and Draco lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was
holding in.

“Thank Salazar,” he mutters.

“Sirius…” Potter breathes out and goes after the dog that has fallen down the hill. Draco stupidly
follows. He knows he shouldn’t. It’s none of his business, but he’s just so curious. He runs after
Potter and the shorter looks back for a brief second before continuing his mission to find the other.
He didn’t seem to care Draco was following him. Why is Sirius Black so important to Potter? They
make it to a small lake and Potter falls on his knees next to what looks like a half-dead Siris Black.

“Sirius!” he turns him over. “Sirius!”

“Is he breathing?” Draco peers over Potter's shoulder.

“Malfoy get out of here!” He yells but it’s not out of anger. It’s out of concern.

“Why—“ he then notices the water freezing over. A wave of coldness hits Draco hard and loud
domestic noises start fading in. Draco looks up and gasps; stumbling backward and falling on his
arse. Dementors.

One comes swooping towards Black before swooping away. Draco stares in great fear while Potter
pulls out his wand and casts Expecto Patronum— but it wasn’t enough. One attacks Potter and then
Black again and Draco doesn’t know what to do. He feels so fucking cold and empty inside. He
feels almost petrified. One dementor came toward Draco and he scrambles backward but it’s no
point. The Dementor starts to suck Draco’s soul and he screams. Everything was black and loud
whacks from what would be a cane or a wand is all he can hear. The feeling when his father made
him bleed was consuming him. The feeling of guilt and terror was something he never wanted to
feel this much.

“Potter—“ Draco whispers pathetically when the Dementor pulls away. The feeling of a part of a
Dementors kiss was one thing but watching Potter being sucked by one was another. It’s unsettling,
watching Potter wither and groan at the uncomfortable pain. As more and more dementors started
to group around them a bright figure from the other side of the lake shines. Draco squints his eyes.
It looked like a moose or a doe but he wasn’t sure because jets of lights expanded across the lake
 and chases away the dementors.

“Potter?” and everything went black.

Chapter End Notes

PLEASE let me know what you thought! Sorry for such a huge time skip but what was
i supposed to write?

i hope this fits my version of Draco's character. Hopelessly in love with Harry but
hates that he is. He's sarcastic and easily terrified but when it comes to people he cares
about... :D
 Chapter 14
Chapter Summary

“Malfoy?” a voice whispers and Draco quickly wipes the tear away.
“What do you want, Potter?” He asks defensively.

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN!! / Draco wakes up in the Hospital

Wing.

Chapter Notes

enjoy!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

When Draco opens his eyes he realizes that he's in the hospital wing laying on a bed. He jolts
upwards, startling Weasley who had his leg wrapped in a bandage while Granger barely noticed
(she was trying to wake up Potter).

“Wha... What happened?” he breathes out and it’s Weasley who answers.

“Dementors.”

"Is Potter alright?"

“Why do you—“

“And Professor Lupin?" He rushes out of bed, which kind of hurts but he was extremely worried
for him. "We have to do something, don't we? Go find him or—“

“I saw my dad,” says Potter out of nowhere. Draco's eyes shoot towards the brunette who was
slowly sitting up.

“What?” lightly gasps Granger.

“He sent the dementors away. I saw him across the lake. It was him. Malfoy probably saw him
too-"

"I-"

“Listen, Harry," Granger cuts him off. "They have Sirius. Any minute, the dementors are going to
perform the kiss."

"They can't do that!" He stands. "He's innocent!"

Just then Dumbledore walks and Granger and Potter don't hesitate on approaching him.
"Headmaster, you've got to stop them! They've got the wrong man!" Granger cries.

“It’s true, sir! Sirius is innocent!”

“It was Weasley’s stupid rat!” scoffs Draco.

“I’m sorry?”

"He's right! He's an animiagus, sir!" the ginger says. “He’s the one who did it!"

“It's true!” Granger says. “You have to believe us!”

“I do, Miss Granger, but I’m sorry to say the word of four thirteen year old wizards will convince
few others.”

“Aren’t you the Headmaster?” Draco tried growling in a respectful manner. “Can’t you convince
them?”

“I am the Headmaster, Mr. Malfoy, but a child’s voice however honest and true is meaningless to
those who have forgotten how to listen…” He paces around the room. “Mysterious thing, time.
Powerful. And when meddled with… dangerous. Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the dark
tower. You know the laws, miss Granger. You must not be seen. And you would do well, I feel, to
return before this last chime. If not the consequences are too ghastly to discuss. If you succeed
tonight, more than one innocent life may be spared. Three turns should do it, I think." He walks
towards the door. “Oh, by the way… when in doubt I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to
begin. Good luck."

"Headmaster!" Draco calls and he stops right before he closes the door.

"Yes, Mr.Malfoy?"

"Professor Lupin. Is he going to be okay?"

"I believe you know him better than I do, Mr. Malfoy... You answer that question for yourself."
Draco scoffs as the door slams shut behind him.

“What was he on about?”

“Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can’t walk..." She starts to pull out what seemed to be a necklace.

“Whatever you guys are doing, I’m coming with,” states Draco.

“Absolutely not,” Potter lightly growls.

“I can help—“

“No.”

“He’s right, Malfoy. I’m sorry…”

“You both don't understand! I need to find Professor Lupin, I have to do something. I- what the
fuck?" His eyes shoot towards the door that banged open. Potter and Granger were rushing in,
panting with light smiles on their faces.

“How are you both there!” exclaims Weasley.

“I was just— I was just talking to you both right—“ Draco stammers. “I’m going mad…”

“Look! There’s Professor Lupin!” whispers Hermione.

“And Malfoy is right behind him.” He can see the others' bright blonde hair from where they were
hiding. “Why did he even follow him? He shouldn't be involved in all of this!"

“He was concerned about him, Harry. Did you see the way he tries to run over to him while he
turning?"

"Yeah... he's always in his classroom. I've told you; I saw him on the Marauders Map... He was in
his classroom almost three times a week for the past months. Why would Professor Lupin help
someone like him?"

"Haven't you noticed, Harry? He's changed this year... after those rumors and everything. You
haven't exactly been treating him... nicely."

"Have you not forgotten what he's done? His father too!" He shakes his head. "It's fine if he's gay.
I'm glad it's not for me."

"Oh, Harry..." She sighs. "Have you ever wondered that, maybe, he went to Professor Lupin for
help? He hasn't called me a Mudblood or made fun of Ron's family... how can you not see he's
changed?"

"It's just strange, Hermione. How can you not understand? You slapped him in the face because
you thought he was up to something! And what about Buckbeak? I know he's not dead now, but it's
his fault he was even put in that situation."

"Just pay attention to tonight, Harry. I mean really pay attention."

“Why did he run after me?” Harry whispers as they watch his past self and Malfoy bicker. Malfoy
had every chance to run back to the castle and hide like a coward but he didn't.

“Why do you think so?“

“I- I don't know! Maybe he-" he gets interrupted by Hermione who starts howling. “What are you
doing?!”

“Saving both your lives!” another howl.

“Look!” Hermione points at Malfoy whose whole body was trembling. But he wasn't even paying
attention to the hundred Dementors around them. He was staring at past Harry who was
struggling.

“Why does he look like that?” he hesitantly asks.

“I think you know why." Harry gulps. “No one is coming.”

“But my father…”
“You’re dying…”

“Sirius?” He says before his godfather got on Buckbeak.

“Yes, Harry?”

“You were talking to Malfoy… What did he say?

“You should ask him."

"I'm not asking Malfoy anything."

"You thought I was a convicted murderer, but you found out the truth. Perhaps Malfoy is the same
in a way. Remus seems to think so." He smiles and looks over at Hermione. “You really are the
brightest witch of your age.”

“What are they talking about Harry?” Granger giggles lightly.

“I don’t know. Honestly, you two, what are you on about?”

“I— well—“ Draco shakes his head and takes a moment “What happened?”

“Long story short: Sirius is free." His smile was nowhere near directed at Draco which, annoyingly
enough, makes his heart pang with a sharp feeling.

"Whatever you guys did, did you see Professor Lupin?"

"Er...." Potter glances over at Granger and then back at him. "He's still out there if that's what you
mean..."

“Yeah." He says shortly. "That's exactly what I mean. Thank you, Potter." He forces a tight smile
before storming out of the hospital wing. He was overwhelmed with concern towards Lupin who
out there doing who knows what. The initial shock of him being a Werewolf was almost gone.
Knowing the truth his trust remains intact in Professor Lupin. Werewolf or not.

He takes the stairs two steps at a time and when he reaches the bottom he storms off to an empty
hallway. He dramatically sits down at a window seat and groans in frustration towards everything.
He remembers the feeling of the Dementor sucking his soul and prying on his worst memories to
make him feel so alone and disgusted with himself and his father. He never wants to feel like that
again; lost, heartbroken, terrible, weak. A single tear rolls down his cheek and he lets it. But he
doesn't let anymore fall because Professor Lupin wasn't there to help him through it.

“Malfoy?” a voice whispers and Draco quickly wipes the tear away.

“What do you want, Potter?” He asks defensively.

“I wanted to make sure you’re alright..”

Draco scoffs.

“I asked you what do you want. Are you here to make sure I won't tell anyone you let Sirius Black
free? That you attacked Professor Snape? That Professor Lupin is a werewolf? You have nothing to
worry about, Potter." He states with a heavily bitter tone. "I would have hoped you would have
figured it out by now that I'm no longer the biggest snitch in this school."

"Why aren't you anymore?" He walks over to him but keeps his proper distance. "What happened
this year that made you change your ways?"

“That’s none of your business.” He folds his arms.

“Well tonight wasn’t your business and yet there you were.”

“I didn’t make it my business on purpose!” he lightly growls. “I was following Professor Lupin!”

“Why?”

“Why do you care?"

"Because I'm trying to understand!"

"Understand this Potter; People change. I am one of those people. Get used to it."

Potter rolls his eyes.

"Sirius told me something that I can't get out of my mind."

"Why would I care?"

"He said that you were like him in a way." Draco was too stunned to speak. "He implied that I
should figure out your truth..."

"The bloke has been in Azkaban for 12 years. Perhaps he's off his rocker because I don't know
what he's talking about."

"He's not off his rocker! I think..." He takes a deep breath. It was clear he didn't want to admit the
following. "I think he was right."

"About what?"

"That whatever truth you were hiding, Professor Lupin helped you out with it and now you're being
weird."

"Weird? Honestly, Potter, you have such a way with words!" He stands and begins walking down
the hallway. It wasn't even the way to the Duengouns. He just wanted to get away from him.

"I mean decent!" He says abruptly. And Draco swears his heart skips a beat; Quite pathetic for
such a mediocre compliment.

"Decent?" He turns around.

"You're... tolerable. You're not a prick anymore! Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"No."

"You're... good, I suppose."

"Good?"

"Yes."
Draco takes in those words. He defiantly wasn't expecting it and it was clear Potter was trying to
say It with confidence. Like he was trying to convince himself that he really meant it.

"If I tell you I don't want to be like my father, would you believe me?"

"What?"

He sighs. "If. I. Tell. You. I don't want to be like my father, would. You. Believe. Me?"

"I... well... I think so?" A pause. "I don't know, Malfoy. I mean, yeah, you have changed but what
if it's all just a big act and you're trying-"

“It’s not an act." He states. "It's really not. When people found out that I was gay I decided then and
there I'm no longer going to be 'Draco Malfoy; The Slytherin King! The Bigot Pureblood! The
Biggest Arse In The School!" As you can see, Theodore Nott has that position now."

“So… you are gay?”

“Yes, I thought we’ve established this months ago!” He huffs. “Look, Potter, I’m not those
things… anymore… you can thank half of that to Professor Lupin and the other half to Blaise.
Perhaps Astoria if you count her advice to confront you about the execution-“

“He survived.”

“What?”

“Buckbeak… he survived. He’s with Sirius now.”

“But— How did you— whatever." He shakes his head. “Why do you suddenly care, Potter? This
whole year you've been following me, trying to catch me doing something horrible. You're so
unbelievably complicated!"

And then Potter does the inexplicable. He holds his hand out in front of him. “… what are you
doing?”

“Harry… Harry Potter.”

“Yes, I’m aware. You didn’t have to remind me.”

“Shake my hand, Malfoy.”

“Why?” He stares at him. “Is it connected to a type of hex?"

“No.” Draco can tell he’s biting back a snarky comment. “You and I are going to be friends.” The
blonde can’t help his mouth from slightly opening.

“You’re joking.”

“No. I’m not.”

‘He really isn’t joking,’ he thinks.

“Um… Draco… Draco Malfoy." Shaking hands with Harry Potter was like the first time he rode a
broom. It felt so natural and so comforting while incredibly foreign. Scary? Yes. Did it feel right?
Absolutely. He was so incredibly excited that he hated it more than anything else. He hated this
attraction towards Potter. Spending months speaking with Professor Lupin about the brunette in
every way possible just made Draco fall for him even more. To this day he was trying to convince
himself to fall for George Weasley because he's easier than Harry Potter.

George Weasley doesn’t pay attention to Draco. He’s in his own world with his brother and Lee
Jordan but Potter… Potter was constantly looking at him with green eyes Draco has memorized
like the back of his hand. The Gryffindor has so many friends and yet he will take the time out of
his day to look at him with disgust or confusion or curiosity. It's excruciating.

And now… they are going to be friends! No, absolutely not. There was no way Draco was going to
let that happen. He would never hear the end of it from Blaise. He would never hear the end of it
from himself. But he did let that happen.

He shook hands with Harry Potter… the boy who was possibly the only person who can save him
from his father. The person who flipped Draco's world upside. Someone who brings all these
feelings that Draco isn't even sure he wants to feel still

What was he supposed to do?

“How do Granger and Weasley feel about this? You becoming friends with me?"

"Ron's not exactly thrilled; He really hates you. Hermione doesn't mind. She... she's oddly okay
with it."

“And you?” Potter looks at him strangely. “Are you oddly okay with it?"

“Yeah.” He says honestly and Draco's heart flutters without permission.

"I have one simple request then."

"Already?"

"Yes, already. You can't tell anyone."

"Um, why?"

"If my father found out I was friends with you he'd be furious with me."

"Why does he care who you're friends with?"

"You've met him! I mean, he hates you more than Dumbledore! He tried to get you killed last year,
remember?"

“Of course I remember, I— how do you know about that?”

“… What?”

“How do you know it was your father who tired to kill me?”

"I, well..." He folds his arms stubbornly. "I just new, alright? The point this is all I'm asking with
this new friendship we're forming."

"Uh, alright. No one will know our friendship, besides Ron and Hermione, because your father will
be furious. I'm more then okay with that."

“Now are you going to tell me why? Sirius Black's words weren't enough to convince you to
become friends with me."
 “That’s none of your business,” with that he leaves back to the hospital wing.

"That's exactly what I mean. Thank you, Potter." Harry sees his quick fake smile before he stormed
out of the Hospital Wing.

"You should talk to him, Harry." Hermione says.

“You’re right,” he says firmly. “He’s going to tell everyone about Sirius and Professor Lupin." He
goes to march out the door but Hermione grabs a hold of his arm.

“Honestly, Harry, haven't you learned anything from tonight! You've been paying attention to him
for the past year! He's clearly changed and tonight has proved it."

“It’s an act, Hermione!” says Ron.

“Malfoy isn’t that good of an actor. You two believe he would ruin his reputation so by the end of
it he could pull this elaborate prank on Harry? You heard what Sirius said Harry… perhaps you
should take that into consideration."

“I agree with Ron." He states firmly. "It's an act." He leaves without another word and rushes
down the stairs. He turns a corner only to immediately turn back when he heard someone sniffle.
But not just someone. It was Malfoy. Harry peaks his head out and sees the moonlight illuminating
the single tear that was falling down his cheek. It honestly wasn't what he was expecting. He
recalls the first time he saw Malfoy cry. He was clearly in distress and he was coming from the
DADA classroom. But even after that, he kept going to Professor Lupin. He really must care for
him...

"Malfoy?" He whispers and right then and there he decides to go to him with a different approach.

Chapter End Notes

also! i've just completed a ginny/luna fic (only 3 chapters) so check it out if you want!
I'd really appreciate it :)
 Chapter 15- End of Third Year
Chapter Summary

“I’m alright,” he assures gently. “I’ve resigned, Draco.”

“You WHAT?!” he cries out. “How—why—you can’t— Why?!”

End of 3rd year.

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Professor?” Draco storms into the DADA classroom. He hears music coming from his office and
practically sprints up the stairs. “Professor?” he barges in, knowing he should have knocked but he
was desperate to see him.

“Draco,” he smiles warmly.

“Merlin, your face—“ he approaches him. He has several cuts and his hand is wrapped in a
bandage. Not only that but he would limp every time he threw something away in the fireplace.
“Are you alright? What are you doing?”

“I’m alright,” he assures gently. “I’ve resigned, Draco.”

“You WHAT?!” he cries out. “How—why—you can’t— Why?!”

“Someone let it slip of my condition—“

“That wasn’t me!” he quickly adds.

“I know,” he smiles gently. “Letters and howlers will be arriving soon. No one wants someone like
me teaching their children.”

“I do! I want you to teach me! Sir, have you spoken to the Headmaster?”

“Dumbledore has done enough for me.”

“Bullshit! Professor—“

“Draco,” he begins gently. He limps around his desk. He leans back against it and places both his
hands on the Slytherin’s arms. “I have to go,” he goes to protest but the Professor shakes his head.
“You are a brilliant student. And a brilliant kid. I am so proud of you and how much you’ve grown
this year. I have so much faith in you.”

“But sir,” he pleads quietly. “I won’t be able to deal with my father without you.”
“But you can,” he smiles sadly. “Draco was I there when you went home for the holidays?” the
blonde shakes his head. “Exactly. You were able to protect yourself without having me there.”

“Professor, I can’t--“ he chokes out. “How am I supposed to comeback next year without you
here?”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit for how strong you are. You will be able to send letters to
me. I’ll write back when I can—“

“That’s not the same, Sir, I—“ he groans and looks away. They stay silent for a minute before
Draco finally says something. “Do you really have to leave?”

“I do.”

“Alright,” he takes a deep breath. “Alright.” he steps back and holds out his hand.

“Draco, what are you doing?”

“Going to shake your hand. As a parting way type thing.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Y-yes,” the other takes his hand, shakes it, and pulls away. Draco puts on a fake smile before
storming out of the room and slamming the door shut. He can feel tears forming in his eyes and he
hates himself for it. He blames Dumbledore. No, he blames Snape because he was probably the
one who let it slip it. He’s never hated Snape before. But Merlin he wants to hex the bastard so
badly right now. “Fuck…” he mutters under his breath.

He turns back around and storms back into the office before embracing the ex-professor. He
ignores the fact that he could tell he knew Draco would come back in. He almost wanted to glare
but he doesn’t have the strength for that right now.

The Slytherin buries his face in the other's chest and lets a few tears fall.

“Thank you for everything,” he whispers. “You have no idea how thankful I am,” he doesn’t reply
which Draco is relieved by. They remain in a comforting hug for a few minutes before the blonde
pulls away.

“I hope you know when I do send you letters my owl will bite you. On purpose. Because I would
have told him to,” he smirks softly.

“I wouldn’t expect any less,” he smiles gently.

“Goodbye, Professor.”

“Technically I am no longer your Professor.”

“I’m not calling you Mr. Lupin. It doesn’t sound right.”

“No. No it does not,” he lightly grimaces. “You’ll think of something clever.”

“Most likely,” he lightly smiles and leaves the room without another word. He makes it out of the
DADA classroom and on the way to the Great Hall he runs into Potter while turning a corner.

“Malfoy—“ Potter grumbles and fixes his glasses. “That was defiantly not my fault this time.”
“Whatever you say,” he straightens his robes. “Where are you heading?”

“Why do you care?” he looks at him suspiciously.

“That’s what friends usually ask to each other,” he crosses his arms. “Are you that thick?”

“Shut up,” he grumbles once more. “I’m going to check on Professor Lupin. I’m assuming that’s
where you’re coming from.”

“I could be coming from the Slytherin Common for all you know.”

“This hallway doesn’t lead to the dungeons, Malfoy.”

“How do you know that—?”

“Uh, well—“ he shrugs. “Never mind that. Are you doing okay?”

“Why are you asking me that?” he narrows his eyes

“That’s what friends usually ask each other,” he smirks. “Are you that thick?” he repeats in a
botched-up version of Draco’s accent. The Slytherin holds back a genuine laugh and sneers lightly
at him instead.

“Yes, I’m doing okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You faced a Dementor last night. It’s an awful feeling innit?” he can see Potter’s face fade. “I
would explain what happened but I think it’d confuse your little brain,” Draco goes to say a retort
but then Potter smiles showing he’s only joking.

“What did happen?” he can’t help but ask.

“I don’t think I can tell you… I’ll have to ask Hermione.”

“Since when do you need permission from Granger to do anything?”

“Never, but this specifically I do have to…” there’s an awkward silence before Potter speaks again.
“Can I ask you a question?”

“Is me saying no going to stop you anyway?” The brunette lightly smirks.

“Why does Professor Lupin mean so much to you?”

Draco shifts uncomfortably.

“Why are you asking?” Potter opens his mouth but he quickly adds, “No, seriously.”

“Because you’ve been having secret meetings with him— which I would like to say sorry for
following you around for a while— and I was just… he’s helped me a lot this year too so is that
why? He’s been helping you through things too?”

“What has he been helping you with, Potter?”

“The truth?” he doesn’t wait for Draco to respond. “Casting a Patronus.”

“A Patronus!?” his eyes go wide. “That’s high level magic, Potter— are you able to cast it then?”

“Yeah,” he says a bit sheepishly.

“He was teaching you how to cast a Patronus Charm while I was learning Protego? How is that
remotely fair?” he pouts.

“That’s why you’ve been seeing him? He was teaching you Protego?” he looks extremely
impressed which makes a bit of Draco’s pride become all cocky. So he nods proudly. “I would say
that’s equally impressive. Well— mine is higher level magic, like you said, but—“

“Don’t get all cocky now, Scarhead,” he surprisingly rolls his eyes playfully. Potter lightly
chuckles and Draco might actually swoon. He just made Harry Potter laugh! What has the universe
come to?

“Why did you need to learn how to cast Protego?”

“Ah, Potter, I think that answers it too personal for me to share with you. We only have been
friends for about 14 hours.”

“Fair point,” he lightly nods. “Well I’m glad Professor Lupin was able to help you,” he smiles
gently. “I’ll see you after summer, Malfoy.”

“Yeah,” he replies with a light grin. “See you after summer,” he walks past him and freezes when
he hears a word that makes his heart skip a beat.

“Bye, Draco,” and when the Slytherin whips his head around, Potter is gone.

He stands there, mouth slightly parted and eyes flickering around the empty hallway which should
be impossible.

Meanwhile:

Harry lightly smiles under his invisibility cloak as he sees Malfoy’s facial expression. It was ballsy.
It was so out of line, but for some reason, the Gryffindor wanted to catch him off guard one last
time before leaving for break. Considering they’re friends now. Harry has no idea where this is
going to go, but if Professor Lupin trusts him and Hermione says he should then what could go
wrong? He just prays Draco Malfoy returns 4th year with the same attitude he’s leaving 3rd year
with.

“Do you want to stay at my place?” Blaise suggests while on the Hogwarts Express.

“It’s alright, Blaise,” he smiles weakly. “I have my mother and Professor Lupins Gryffindor speech
inside my head so I’ll be fine.”

“He’s not our Professor anymore, Draco,” Astoria barges into the cabin with Daphne right behind
her.

“I know,” he huffs. “What the hell am I supposed to call him then?”

“Mr. Lupin?” she sits down next to Blaise, Daphne next to Draco.

“No, that sounds awful.”

“How?” Daphne looks at him curiously.

“It just does,” he groans lightly.

 “What about Mr. Furry?”

“Astoria!” Blaise and Daphne cry and Draco shoots her a death glare.

“Sorry,” she murmurs and he replies with a sigh.

“Just call him Lupin when you address him in your letters,” suggests Blaise.

“Alright… alright.”

‘Mr. Romulus J. Lupin (That’s your Roman brother’s name in mythology)...’

Chapter End Notes

Draco not knowing how to refer to Lupin so he decides to refer to him as Romulus
from Roman mythology.

ANDDDD that's the end of 3rd year!!

Don't worry 4th 5th 6th etc will be written but I'm going to wait two weeks to start
posting 4th year. I want to write the chapters and have them in advance.

Opinions? Concerns? Thoughts? Anything?

Thank you for sticking around with Draco and me through his 3rd year :)) can't wait
for the next part of his story <3
 Chapter 16
Chapter Summary

“I thought you’ve established you wouldn’t be calling me that,” there's no emotion in

his voice as he lowers his wand.
“To be frank I never thought I would see you again so…” he lightly shrugs

first look into Draco's life before 4th year

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!!
it was my birthday today so I decided to post a chapter early :) the next one won't be
out for a week or so :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco groans and limps off to the main fireplace where the Floo Network is connected. How he
managed to fall off his broom was so embarrassing. There was just too much on his mind. His
father is taking him to the Quidditch World Cup and Draco almost burst out laughing thinking he
was joking— he was not. Something about the Minister and Draco needing to be a true Malfoy.
Over the summer he has managed to look so present while his father was speaking to him that he
doesn’t even suspect the fact Draco is actually dosing off in his mind. It’s the only thing he’s
accomplished this summer.

Now standing in front of the fireplace, he begins to realize he has no idea if this is going to work.
He could end up in some stranger's home that just so happens to also have the name Remus Lupin
— which Draco finds very unlikely. On top of that, this is such an invasion of privacy to his ex-
professor so the Slytherin has no idea how he's going to react. PLUS he might not even be let in so
it's a 20/80 chance.

He takes a handful of Floo powder and steps into the fireplace. He takes a deep breath— fucking
hell no matter what it's going to end badly— and closes his eyes.

“Remus J Lupin’s home,” he shouts and throws the powder on the ground. He bursts into flames
and the next thing he knows he’s stepping out into a small living room. He looks around
cautiously, slowly taking out his wand even though his hand is shaking. There is a long brown
leather couch and in front was an antique-looking coffee table with more books than Draco can
count. There are papers and weird-looking sticks on the floor. What looked to be coffee— possibly
tea— was spilled on a little table stand. The walls were filled with cracks and a few holes. And he
wasn’t even going to pay attention to the fact there is a stack of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.

Taking one step was a big mistake because the second the floor creaks, two large figures burst out
of the small hallway and shout STUPEFY! Draco shrieks and casts Protego.
“Wait!” shouts a voice he knows all too well.

“Romulus!” grins Draco. What shocks him is the fact that Sirius Black is holding out a wand. He
doesn’t look insane anymore. He looks healthy in fact. Still gaunt in the eyes but you can no longer
see his bones sticking out of his body. His hair was not a bird's nest and he was wearing muggle
clothing by the looks of it. “Mr. Black.”

“I thought you’ve established you wouldn’t be calling me that,” there's no emotion in his voice as
he lowers his wand.

“To be frank I never thought I would see you again so…” he lightly shrugs and hesitantly looks
over at Professor Lupin who looks absolutely gobsmacked. “How have you been, sir?”

“How did you get in? Sirius, I thought we put up wards—“

“We put up wards for people who pose a threat to us! I never thought to add Malfoy Jr to the mix!”

“Don’t call me that,” he grimaces.

“Whatever,” he practically shrugs it off. “Remus, why is he here?” he demands.

“You could ask me instead of the man who doesn’t know,” pipes Draco who earns a wary look
from Black.

“Yes, Draco, what are you doing here?” Lupin asks.

“Well…” he rolls up his pants and shows him the wound. “Flying accident… My mother isn’t
home and since I no longer have Dobby…” he realizes there was probably something he could
have used in his mother's cabinets but this was kind of his excuse to see Lupin.

“Christ, okay,” Lupin sighs and signals for him to sit down on the couch, which he does.

“Why did he call you Romulus?” Black asks.

“Do you want to tell him or should I?” The Gryffindor looks at Draco with a light smirk.

“I’ll tell him,” he looks over at Black. “You see, he’s no longer my Professor and I don’t want to
call him Mr. Lupin because it doesn’t sound right coming out of my mouth. Calling him by his first
name seems improper so I’ve resulted to calling him by his twin brother. In Roman Mythology—“

“I’m aware of the Romulus and Remus tale,” which earns a fond exchange between the two adults
which Draco will ask about later.

“I’m sorry for coming into your flat unannounced. I just…” he trails off

“No need for apologizes,” he assures. “It’s wonderful to see you, Draco.”

The blonde smiles softly.

“Where exactly am I?” he watches the bandage wrap itself around his leg.

“Glasgow. In a muggle neighborhood.”

“Fascinating… how long have you been hiding Uncle Sirius?”

“Uncle Sirius?” Lupin looks between the two of them.

“You tell him, Malfoy,” he sits down on the couch next to him.

“Well since we’re related I thought it’d be funny to call him that. By the looks of it he hates it so
that’s a plus.”

“Bloody brilliant,” the ex-prisoner rolls his eyes.

“Play nice, Padfoot,” he teases.

“Padfoot?” Draco repeats.

“A story for another day,” says Black.

“Alright... Thank you, sir, for patching up my leg,” he slowly stands. “I’ll write you a letter when I
go back to Hogwarts. My father is surprisingly taking me to the Quidditch World Cup this
weekend so I have to be on his good side for the rest of the week,” he forces a weak smile. “I’ll see
you around, Professor,” he starts to limp towards the Floo but it’s actually Sirius who stops him.

“Stay for a bit, Mal— er, Draco.”

“You want me to stay?” he looks at him with shock.

“Sure, yeah, considering your situation I don’t think your father will notice you’re out of the
Manor.”

“Sirius!” hisses Lupin.

“You told him!?” Draco actually growls.

“No, of course not! He read the letters you sent.”

“Wh— why?”

“I was curious, alright?” he sounds like he genuinely feels bad.

“Sweet Salazar, that’s such an invasion of privacy!” he shakes his head. He was aware of the
hypocrisy in his words but it didn’t matter to him. “The only okay thing about this is that you can’t
tell anyone considering you’re a wanted fugitive! For fucks sake, I’m leaving,” he takes a handful
of Floo powder but Sirius grabs a hold of his wrist and starts pulling him towards the hallway.

“Would you let go of me!” he growls.

“Sirius what are—“ Lupin starts.

“We’ll be right back, Moony!”

“Moony?” repeats Draco. He gets pulled into a bedroom and the door slams shut behind him. “Are
you going to kill me?”

“And why would I do that?”

He shrugs. “Revenge for something my father probably did in the First Wizarding War.”

“No, I want to talk to you,” he sits down on the bed. Draco notices the bed sheets were completely
messed up and the Slytherin doesn’t even want to know why. He decides to sit on a chair.
 “What do you want to talk about? The fact that orange is not your colour?” he eyes his orange
long-sleeve shirt.

“You’re an annoying little child.”

“I’m fourteen. Not a child.”

“Right,” he says, slightly amused. “Look, I’m sorry for reading your letters. You’re right, that was
an invasion of privacy, but I needed to know why Remus likes you so much.”

“You could have just asked.”

“I did but he wouldn’t give me a straight answer. He’s always been secretive.”

“Right… so you dragged me in here to apologize? When you could have done that out there in
front of Professor Lupin?”

Old name habits die hard I suppose, Draco thinks.

“I’ve come to tell you that, if you need someone to talk to that understands then you can speak to
me. Remus understands on some levels but not on the Pureblood level. Especially the Black-
Malfoy family. Writing a letter to me to permitted by me.”

“O-oh,” he honestly hadn’t been expecting that. “Thank you, I-I guess.”

He simply nods, “You know…Moony, made the best chocolate chip pancakes. His mother taught
him and he tried teaching James and I but it didn’t go well,” he smiles fondly at the memory.

“Is his favorite food chocolate?” he asks curiously as they both stand and begin walking out of the
room.

“Yes… you know one time—“

And Draco stayed for two hours. Listening to stories of when the two adults were in Hogwarts. It
was clear they were avoiding mentioning Peter Pettigrew. It obviously hurt; which Draco wasn’t
surprised.

“So are you guys back together now?” Draco eventually asks and both of them begin to splutter. It
causes the Slytherin to grin amusingly. “I see you two haven’t had that conversation yet. Well, I’ll
be leaving then. Don’t want to sit here in this awkward atmosphere,” he picks up a Muggle book
Lupin gave him that was enchanted to look like a wizard one. Draco had been staring intensely at
the cover during one of their conversations and the ex-professor obviously noticed. The cover is
now enchanted just in case his father comes across it.

“I’ll write to you soon, Sir,” he stands in front of the fireplace.

“Right— It was good to see you, Draco.”

“Like wise,” he replies and grabs a handful of Floo Powder. “Malfoy Manor,” and he burst into
flames.

Chapter End Notes

I didn't feel like jumping right into the quidditch world cup so I thought this would be
funny.
 Chapter 17
Chapter Summary

You’d think Lucius Malfoy would protect his son who is the only one who can
continue on his bloodline but no.

The Quidditch World Cup.

Chapter Notes

Enjoy :D
I got a question at the end of the chapter for all of you!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

"You know the rules, Draco."

"Yes, Father," he simply says; his posture straight, hair nicely made, and black suit fitting
perfectly. The Quidditch World Cup was meant to be fun and exciting. Blaise was probably there
with other Slytherins, and even though he hates almost all of them, at least he'll have someone his
age to talk to! He's stuck with his father and people from the MInistry his father is "friends" with.

To the Gods above give me the strength to not murder my father.

It was impractical. It was odd. It was stupid and annoying. They were all wizards for Merlin's
sake! Why were there so many fucking stairs?! It couldn’t get worse… but it did.

No, no, no, Draco groans in his mind as he follows his father down the steps. Walking up the steps
above were the Weasleys, Granger, and Potter.

“Blimey, Dad! how far up are we?” Weasley says and Draco knows his father isn’t going to keep
his mouth shut.

“Let’s put it this way,” his father begins. “If it rains… you’ll be the first to know,” he forces
himself to snicker at his father’s insult. He looks over for some type of approval but he’s not even
paying attention to him. He’s too busy staring at Arthur Weasley.

“Father and I are in the minister’s box!” he states with a fake smirk. He locks eyes with Potter and
his expression goes faulty. Malfoy Mask. Malfoy Mask. Malfoy Mask. “B-by personal invitation of
Cornelius Fudge himself—“ his father stops him with his cane and it makes him flinch lightly. He
looks away and tries to find comfort in Potter’s eyes. His hair has gotten longer. It’s more messy
than usual but Draco thinks it suits him. He can’t read the look on the Gryffindor’s face and it kills
him.

“Don’t boast, Draco. There’s no need with these people,” he looks down.
Potter grabs Granger by the arm and turns him away but his father literally stabs his cane in his,
sleeve. Draco’s eyes go slightly wide and he darts between looking at his father and Potter.

“Do enjoy yourself, won’t you?” he sneers. “While you can.” he pulls his cane away and continues
walking. Draco follows; passing a look the others will hopefully see as resentment towards his
father and not them.

You’d think Lucius Malfoy would protect his son who is the only one who can continue on his
bloodline but no. While Death Eaters were attacking the grounds, Lucius Malfoy abandoned his
son out of cowardice and left Draco running off on his own.

Draco has no idea how— perhaps the universe did this to him— but he runs into Weasley and
Granger running frantically, calling after Potter.

“Malfoy what the—“ begins Weasley.

“Where’s Potter?” he shouts over all the screaming.

“We don’t know!” cries Granger. “Come on!” she runs in the opposite direction of all the chaos,
Weasley follows, and Draco decides to follow too. Better to be with them than utterly alone…

It’s eventually dead quiet. Everything has been burnt to the ground and all the Death Eaters were
supposedly gone. He has to go find his father. He has to go back home. He—

“Come on, Ron!” he hears Granger whisper harshly and they both took off.

“Where are you both going!?” he cries out and reluctantly follows.

“Harry! Harry!” the both of them shout, completely ignoring the Slytherin.

“You lot are mental! What if the Death Eaters come back?! What if—“

“Harry!” Weasley cries out louder, more frantic. “Where are you?!”

“There!” Granger points towards a direction and the three of them rush over to a Harry Potter who
was stumbling backward, staring up at the sky. Draco didn’t notice until he himself was looking
upwards. It’s The Dark Lord’s Mark.

“We’ve been looking for you for ages!” Weasley pants. “We thought we lost you mate—“

“What is that?!” he replies. He doesn’t even seem bothered or surprised Draco is there too, staring
up at the sky in terrier. Just then, multiple people apparate around the four of them and Draco’s
eyes widened.

“Stupefy!” the voices shout and by reflex, Draco ducks, fucking pulling Weasley down with him!
Weasley! Not even Potter! Ronald Weasley! He was the closest to him and utterly terrified of being
hit. Why he didn’t cast protego is beyond him. It’s like he forgot he was a wizard for a second.

“STOP!” a man shouts. “THAT’S MY SON!” And Draco wished that was his father. That his
father would actually come back to look for him. That he was genuinely concerned. But no. It was
Arthur Weasley rushing to his son and the other two. Leaving Draco standing awkwardly and
distraught. “Ron, Hermione, Harry— are you guys alright?!”

“Which one of you conjured it!?” cries a man that Draco knows to be Barty Crouch. “Was it
you!?” his accent really emphasized his concern. “Draco Malfoy, was it you!?” he roughly grabs
onto Draco’s collar and yanks him towards him.

“N-no— wh-what?” his eyes were wide and he was trying to get out of the man's grip.

“Do not lie! You’ve been found at the scene of the crime!”

“You can’t honestly believe he would do this, Barty!” Weasley Senior says which Draco found
absolutely shocking. “He’s a kid!”

“The scene of the crime?!” Potter says. “What— what crime?!”

“It’s the Dark Mark, Harry,” murmurs Granger. “It’s his mark…”

“Voldemorts?”

Draco grimaces and finally gets out of Barty Crouch’s grip.

A few more words were spoken by multiple people, but Draco wasn’t paying attention anymore.
His eyes were glued to the Dark Mark in the sky. He gulps and wants to pull his eyes away but he
just can’t. What if his father had something to do with this? No… there’s no way. He refuses to
believe it. He doesn’t want to believe it.

“Malfoy?” Potter’s voice is the one that drags him back to reality. He realizes Weasley, Weasley
Senior, and Granger were walking away.

“Hm? What?”

“Why are you here?” Potter starts to follow them and Draco has no choice but to follow.

“Do you want the truth? Or a snarky comment instead?” he gets a grin from the Gryffindor and it
makes his heart flutter a bit. An awful thing just happened and yet Potter look amused by Draco
Malfoy.

“Right now? I think I need a snarky comment,” Draco notices he’s rubbing his forehead, where his
scar is, but the blonde doesn’t say anything.

“Well, I’m here because I wanted to make fun of your hair,” he smirks lightly.

“You risk your life to insult me?” he quirks an eyebrow. “Do you think that’s how’ll you die? It’ll
be in the Prophet, I’ll make sure of it. ‘Draco Malfoy; Dies Insulting Harry Potter By Saying His
Hair Looks Like A Birds Nest!’. I’d be honored, Malfoy. Truly.” he teases.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Potter,” he rolls his eyes. “I’ll die a heroic death; just you wait.”

“What? You’ve somehow planned your death?” he looks amused.

“Of course. I will not be dying pathetically.”

“If you say so.”

They walk in silence for the remaining time. It’s such a long walk that Draco almost regrets
following. The weird glances from Weasley were off-putting. Even Weasley Senior looked back a
few times with a curious look.

“Well,” Draco eventually says. “As much as I’ve enjoyed this walk— by the way that was
 sarcasm, Potter— I must get going home.”

“How are you going to get back home?” It was a good question. Draco has no idea. Perhaps he’ll
go to the portkey he and his father used to come here. But there’s no way it’ll still be there. He’ll
have to wait for his mother to show up… which could be hours.

“Portkey.”

“Where is it at?”

“Well— It’s— you know…” he points off in a random direction. “Over there.”

“Right,” he stares at him skeptically but doesn’t add on. “I’ll see you at school, Malfoy.”

“Goodbye, Potter,” he leaves, ignoring the way Potter was rubbing his forehead again.

Chapter End Notes

I know Arthur Weasley literally hates the Malfoys but Draco is a kid and Arthur is
practical. He's not stupid and he's not the type to not defend someone for something
they didn't do. Even Draco Malfoy :)

QUESTION: Should I make an oc from the Dumstrang school that Draco has a crush
on? PLS LMK; im so conflicted lmao
 Chapter 18
Chapter Summary

“And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and
the high master Igor Karkaroff!”
A group of boys— men? Draco wasn’t sure but Merlin, he could start drooling then
and there.

4th year begins :)

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I heard you spoke to Theo over the summer,” Daphne says as she and Astoria sit down across
from him in the train compartment.

“How do you know about that?”

“All the pureblood families know, Draco. So, you two are forced to be on good terms now?”

“Unfortantly,” he grumbles and leans his head against the window. “Our fathers believe if we’re on
good terms then it’ll be good for the Sacred 28 or some nonsense like that. They think we should
go back to how we were in first year,” he cringes at the thought.

“Certainly you don’t have to pretend while at school,” Astoria says. “How is your father going to
know?”

“My father won’t know but Theo’s will. He’s a suck up, you know that right? He’ll do whatever to
please his father; even if it means playing nice with me.”

“Aren’t you also a suck up to your father?” asks Astoria.

“In a different type of way!”

“Right,” she nods but clearly has some suspicion.

“You know…” Blaise starts. “You haven’t told us what happened during Christmas break.”

He groans at the memory. “That stays between him and I.

“We’ll find out one day,” Daphne promises

“In your guys dreams,” he teases.

Entering the Great Hall, there were more people at the front than usual. He takes a seat with his
fellow Slytherins. Of course, Theo sits down on Draco’s right side.

“Have a nice train ride, Draco?” the fake sweetness in his tone makes the blonde want to throw up.

“Our father’s aren’t here, Nott,” he growls under his breath. “We don’t have to play nice here.”

“I know, but I can tell it bothers you,” he smirks.

“You need hobbies, Theo,” he rolls his eyes and looks up to the front where Dumbledore began to
speak.

“Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be
your home this

year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen…” Filch
runs through the Great Hall, and interrupts the Headmaster, before leaving again. “So Hogwarts
has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Tri-Wizard tournament. Now for those of you who
do not know, the tri-wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical

contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if
chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted, but
more of that later. For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons
Academy of magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime!” On cue, a group of females enters in a
beautiful fashion.

Every boy student in the Great Hall gawks at their beauty. He glances over at the Gryffindor table
and see’s Potter being one of them and an uncomfortable feeling strikes him hard. He forces his
eyes back on the other Slytherins. He notices the way Pansy Parkinson was eyeing one of them and
it made him awfully curious as to what the hell that was about. He notices Theo is not even slightly
amused and he’s not sure if it’s because he either hates women or because of the other thing…

Everyone then applauds, the Gryffindor table not surprisingly being the loudest.

“And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the high
master Igor Karkaroff!”

A group of boys— men? Draco wasn’t sure but Merlin, he could start drooling then and there. He
holds back an embarrassing blush when one of them sent a stubble grin his way.

Just then Viktor Krum struts in and Draco can’t stop his mouth from slightly parting.

“Blimey, it’s him! It’s Viktor Krum!” he could hear Weasley from where he was sitting and he
couldn’t blame the ginger for his reaction.

“We’re supposed to share Hogwarts with them?” Draco whispers harshly to Blaise while the
Durmstrang students began walking over to Slytherin table to sit.

“Switch spots with me—“

“What?” Blaise eyes him suspiciously.

“Move!” he climbs over Blaise without his permission. A few people snicker and start to whisper;
Theo being one of them— but Draco doesn’t care. The boy who had grinned at him sits down next
to him.

“Atlantas Manolov,” he holds his hand out and Draco shakes it.

“Draco Malfoy.”

“Draco Malfoy,” he repeats and Draco’s heart skips a beat. His Bulgarian accent made his name
sound so interesting. “What a wonderful name.”

“It's a constelation,” he grins.

“How special,” his eyes twinkle and Draco might actually pass out.

“Thank you,” he forces himself to reply.

“Your attention please!” shouts Dumbledore. “I would like to say a few words. Eternal glory, that
is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must
survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks… For this reason the ministry has seen fit to
impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magic
cooperation Mister Bartimus Crouch…” the man enters and just then thunder roars over the Great
Hall and rain begins falling down from the ceiling. Draco gasps and he, along with half of the
Great Hall, ducks. Another man enters with a loud grumble and peace is quickly restored.

“That’s Mad Eye-Moody,” Draco whispers. “My father can’t stand him.”

“Because he’s one of the best Auror’s out there?” Astoria asks, who is sitting across from him.

“What other reason would it be?” Draco sighs.

“After much deliberation,” eventually Barty Crouch shouts. “The ministry has concluded that for
their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for
the tri-wizard tournament. This decision is final.”

People start shouting and booing— mainly the Weasley twins.

“At least you’ll be able to put your name in, hm?” Draco looks over at Atlantas.

“Me? Oh no— I am not seventeen. Karkaroff let me come because I am one of the best performers
in our school. And I am only 16."

“Bloody brilliant.”

“SILENCE!” Dumbledore's voice booms over the hall. He casts magic over a box that melds into a
goblet containing a blue flame. “The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the
tournament merely write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this
hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if choosen there's no turning back. As from this
moment the Tri-Wizard Tournament has begun.”

Everyone starts talking at once and shuffling out of the Great Hall.

“I’ll see you another time, Draco Malfoy,” Atlantas grins before leaving with the other Bulgarian
students.

“Moved on from Weasley have you?” mocks Theo.

 “Why? Jealous, Theo?” he shoots back, and the other snarls before strutting away with Crabbe and
Goyal. He looked just like Draco in his first and second years… Sweet Salazar, he hopes he doesn't
look like that anymore.

“Interesting,” he hears Blaise mutter and they head off to their dorm.

Blaise leaves for the bathroom, leaving only him and Theo in their dorm.

"Go on then, Theo," Draco grumbles as he neatly folds his dress robes next to his bed for
tomorrow. "I'm waiting for your final insult before we head off to bed."

"Shut up, Malfoy," he sits down on his bed.

"I saw you eyeing the Durmstrag students," he has no idea why he's trying to egg the other on.
Perhaps some type of payback for the other being unbelievably annoying? "Which one did you
think was the cutest?"

"Shut up," he growls.

"Hoping one will gawk over you too? I gotta tell you, Theo, they won't like your personality," he
shrugs and he can see the other fuming out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not a fucking fag, Draco," he bites out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have confused you with someone else. Must have been a different Theodore
Nott who kissed me last Christmas." ah. that's he's egging him on. He's still pissed off about the
kiss.

"SHUT UP!" He cries out and aggressively closes the curtains around his bed.

For some reason, he doesn't feel the satisfaction the other probably gets when insulting Draco. The
blonde almost... feels bad.

"Nothing wrong with being gay, Theo," he says in an annoying casual tone on purpose. "Merlin
and Salazar knows you'll never get a girl to fall for you," he mutters before he heads off to bed; not
even bothering to wait for Blaise.

Chapter End Notes

i went with the oc :)

you guys I don't even find any of the Durmstrang students attractive, not even Viktor
Krum so this is gonna be so annoying for me LMAOOO
 Chapter 19
Chapter Summary

“Because we’re best friends, Draco,” he wraps his arms around him and pulls him
close.
“Get off of me!” he growls and shoves him away, causing him to actually fall out of
his chair.
“You fucking—“
“Enough,” a rough voice booms throughout the classroom.

DADA with Professor Moody

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco sits down at the desk next to Weasley and Potter and he prays a tolerable person sits beside
him because Blaise doesn’t have the same period of DADA. He notices the changes in the
classroom. The setup of the desks was different and there was more stuff all around. The empty
feeling of knowing it wasn’t Professor Lupin who will be walking out of the office was coming
back made him frown.

“Isn’t Harry Potter so dreamy?” Theo snickers as he sits down next to him.

“Oh fucking hell,” he grumbles. “Why are sitting next to me Theo?”

“Because we’re best friends, Draco,” he wraps his arms around him and pulls him close.

“Get off of me!” he growls and shoves him away, causing him to actually fall out of his chair.

“You fucking—“

“Enough,” a rough voice booms throughout the classroom. Draco freezes and Theo scrambles to sit
down at their desk. Draco catches a glimpse of Potter looking at them with a secret amused smile
before focusing his attention to the front.

Mad Eye-Moody was making his way over to the chalkboard at the front while eyeing everyone in
the classroom.

“Alastor Moody. Ex-Aurour,” he starts writing his name in chalk aggressively. “Ministry
malcontent… and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I am here because
Dumbledore asked me. End of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?” it’s dead silent for a
while. “When it comes to the Dark Arts… I believe in a practical approach. But first which of you
can tell me how many Unforgivable curses there are?”
Granger answers, “Three, sir.”

“And they are so named?”

“Because they are unforgivable,” she sounds frightened. “The use of any one of them will—“

“Earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Correct,” Mad-Eye finishes for her. “Now the Ministry
says you’re too young to see what these curses do. I say different. You need to know what you’re
up against! You need to be prepared! You need to find another place to put your chewing gum
besides the underside of your desk, Mr. Finnigan!” Everyone’s head turns, even Draco’s and he can
tell the Irish boy is suppressing an eye-roll.

“Ah, no way. The old codger can see out the back of his head,” chalk is thrown towards his
direction, and everyone on that side ducks.

“And hear across classrooms!”

“He’s terrifying…” Draco mutters so quietly under his breath that he’s surprised when Theo nods
in agreement.

“So… which curse shall we see first?” he looks like a madman. “Weasley!”

“Y-yes?”

“Give us a curse.”

“Well, my, my dad did tell me about one. The Imperious curse.”

“Oh, yeah, your father would know all about that. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years
ago. Perhaps this will show you why,” he goes and grabs an ugly ass insect before making it larger.
“Imperio!” and the insect goes completely under his control. It goes on a desk with Longbottom
and Dean Thomas… and then onto Crabbe’s head and Draco can’t hold back his chuckles. It goes
on one of the Patil Twins, who was sitting right in front of him, and he starts to get a Lil nervous. It
then goes on Weasley and Draco burst out laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” barks Mad-Eye and the insect lands right on his face. Draco cries out
and tries batting it away.

“Get it off! Get it off!” He looks at Theo frantically and the other Slytherin just has his eyes wide.
He can hear Potter laugh the most out of the whole class and if he wasn’t terrified right now he
would be awfully embarrassed. Eventually, Mad-Eye pulls the bug off his face and Draco exhales
in relief.

“I’ll never forget this moment,” Theo snickers under his breath.

“Shut up!” he nudges him in the side even though he’s still shaking lightly. The Cruciatas Curse
was shown next… Draco thought the Professor was insane for bringing Longbottom closer to the
victim of it. The insect squealing was unsettling to the class, especially Longbottom, Granger, and
surprisingly Theo. The Slytherin next to him was gripping the desk until his knuckles were white.
His mouth was slightly parted and his eyes look extremely unfocused. What was that about?

Then the killing curse was performed right on Granger’s desk and it was just horrid. Although, the
girl didn’t even flinch though! Draco and Theo did and they were on the other side of the
classroom!
The class was eventually dismissed and the blonde rushes out quicker than ever. He heads to the
library to meet up with Blaise who was surprisingly in a conversation with Pansy.

“H… hi?” he says hesitantly.

“Hi,” Pansy simply says.

“For Merlin’s sake, whoever’s in there will you hurry up?” he lightly slurs. Draco may have had
two drinks with alcohol in them. He wasn’t aware until his head started feeling fuzzy. “For fuck
sakes,” he murmurs and pulls out his wand. He casts ‘Alohomora’ and barges into the bathroom.
The sight that he saw makes him sober up quickly.

Pansy was leaning against the wall, mascara all smeared on her face and a glass of who knows
what in her hand. There was a lot spilled on her expensive dress and the floor and she must have
thrown up earlier because of the state of the toilet.

“Pansy?” he rasps out and falls to his knees in front of her. He’s never seen her like this before.
Pansy Parkinson has always been the perfect pureblood girl. Elegant, classy, and posh. “Pans?”
he lightly shakes her. “Pansy!”

“Draco?” she croaks.

“What— what happened?”

“Pretending is hard, Draco…” she sobs and brings the glass up to her lips.

“No— no,” he takes it out of her hand and pours it down the sink. “Pansy, why are you drinking
like this!? You’re 13!”

“What’s your point?” she lightly giggles. “Have— Have my parents been looking for me?”

“No, no they’re not. Pans, what’s— what’s wrong?”

“You’re not the only one who’s been pretending, Dr… Draco,” she tries to playfully shove him.
“How are you okay?”

“Wh—what?”

“How are you okay with— with everyone thinking you’re… you’re a fairy? What happened to the
old, Draco? I miss him—“ she rubs her eyes and her makeup gets more smudged. “Calling people
Mudbloods and ha— hating those stupid Weasleys… he was so, so much more f-fun!” So much…
cu— cuter.”

“Pansy, you’re drunk—“ he sighs. “Let me take you to a guest room, alright? The Dinner Party
won’t be over for another few hours; you have time to sleep all of this off before going home.”

“I fucking hate you,” she slurs and shoves him away. She stands, takes one step, and Draco
quickly catches her.

“A lot of people hate me, Pansy. I’m fine with that.”

“I never— never liked you.”

“Okay.”
“Daphne… she was… is…” she murmurs and stares up into his eyes. “You’ll never… under…
understand.”

“That’s fine,” he sighs. “Let me take you to a guest room, okay? Far away from anyone
accidentally walking in and seeing you like this.”

“Merlin, Draco,” her head falls on his shoulder. “… Why do you have it so— so easy?”

“Easy,” he repeats out loud. “Easy?” he simply says and shakes his head. “Come on, Pans.”

He ends up guiding her to a guest room far from the others like he said. By the time he placed her
on a bed she was fast asleep.

‘None of us really know each other, huh?” Draco thinks before leaving back to the party.

Later that night, he checks up on her. He knocks on the door and when there’s no answer he
quietly walks in anyways.

“Pansy?” he whispers.

“Hm?” she moves a bit.

“Pansy,” he approaches her and kneels down beside the bed. “You need to come back to the
party.”

“Fuck off,” she grumbles while rubbing her eyes to fully wake up.

“Sweet Salazar, Pans, work with me here, alright?” he sighs. “We’ll both get in trouble if I don’t
get you down there in the next five minutes.”

“Where— where do they think I-I am?” she slowly opens her eyes and tears are immediately
streaming down her face.

“I told them you were exploring the garden… it’s been a little over an hour and our garden is huge
so it works out.”

“Okay—“ she quickly gets out of bed and flattens out her dress. She pulls out a makeup wipe that
seemed to be enchanted because when she used it her makeup was fixed. “I’ll see you down there,
Draco,” she goes to leave but Draco stops her.

“No, we need to talk about what happened. Pans— you can’t just expect me to forget, alright?”

“Well, you’re going to have to! You can’t speak of this to anyone, Draco, okay?”

“Pansy—“

“You don’t understand—“

“I think I do!”

“Leave me alone!” she cries.

“I will if you just tell me why I found you on a bathroom floor looking half dead!”
“Please, just stop!” she starts to cry. “We— we have to go back to the party, okay? Just—“ she
hiccups. “I’ll leave you alone for the rest of our lives okay? I-I’ll stop pretending to have a cr—
crush on you. Just don’t tell anyone about this! Please!”

“Okay…” and he does something so awkward that it makes Pansy stop crying altogether. He hugs
her. “I won’t tell anyone,” he pulls away and she has a classic Pansy Parkinson look that makes
him crack a small grin.

“You two are talking again?” Draco asks.

“Yeah,” replies Blaise. “We started talking again over the summer.”

“That’s nice,” he says truthfully.

“How are you?” she looks extremely stiff.

“I’m fine, Pans. It’s… It’s been quiet without you,” he shifts awkwardly at admitting the truth. He
had gotten used to hearing Pansy’s complaining every day about the other girls or her homework or
how her mascara went missing.

“You managed to let it slip that you’re gay, Draco,” she looks down at her book and dramatically
flips the page. “It’s never been louder,” there’s a light smirk on her face and Draco rolls his eyes
but not in a harmful way.

“Well now that you’ve got a gay friend, I can help you pick the cute guys,” he grins and there’s a
twinkle in her eyes that Draco swears don’t mean happiness. Blaise shakes his head with an
amused chuckle.

Draco knows he’ll never be able to actually date a boy. He’ll never get to fall in love with one…
Potter doesn’t count anymore. He can’t let it count. He’s over him… he’s been over him. He has to
be over him. Over the summer he forced himself to stop having feelings for Potter.

Long ago, he had pushed away the fact that his biggest fear actually came true. That Harry Potter
will never fall for Draco Malfoy. That he finds the idea repulsing and disgusting.

‘“What am I going to do? He’s Malfoy!”’

He remembers hearing that coming out of the Gryffindor’s mouth and he just lost a part of himself.
He moved on, and claimed to have a crush on George Weasley, but even that’s not in the picture
anymore… Being outed, his father's treatment, Theo being Theo, Potter’s handshake… he decided
to go into fourth year and let whatever happens to happen. He’s going to be himself, force himself
to fall for Astoria, and watch the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Easy.

“I saw you flirting with the Durmstrang student-- well every Slytherin saw it,” Blaise grins. “Is
someone going to get their first kiss this year?”

“Shut up, Blaise,” he groans. Right. Nevermind trying to focus on one girl.

“Honestly, Draco!” Pansy leans forward; her smile very much amused. “He was okay looking,
right? Defiantly more charming than George Weasley.”

“Not bloody likely,” he admits quietly.

“I thought you were over your crush on him?” Blaise asks.

“I am. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate someone’s attractiveness.”

“Disgusting,” Pansy grimaces.

“Why?” he says sharply. “Because he’s a Weasley?”

“Calm yourself, Draco,” she replies in the same manner. “He’s not my type.”

“What exactly is your type, Pans?” Draco leans forward. He can see the way she stills while
looking down at her homework.

“Someone who isn’t cocky. Simple as that.”

“You think George Weasley is cocky?”

“Enough about George Weasley!” Blaise sighs dramatically.

“You got someone specific you want to talk about?” Pansy teases.

“Ugh, the amount of teenage hormones at this table,” Blaise gathers his books and papers and
struts out of the library.

“Dramatic arse,” Draco mutters before glancing over at Pansy. “So… Why did you and Blaise start
talking again?”

“Our mother’s are unbelievably close. We were forced to spend a lot of time together and well,”
she sighs. “eventually I knew I could trust him considering you trust him. I was eventually honest.”

“Honest?”

“Yes, Draco, I can be honest to people,” she snaps.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Whatever. Basically I told him about the Christmas Party. How you… you know,” she glances
away.

“We never talked about that night,” he shifts awkwardly again.

“For obvious reasons.”

“Can I just say one thing?”

“What?”

“Your next pretend crush, please don’t let it be Theo,” she surprisingly snorts and then
immediately straightens up; eyes going wide.

“It will not be Theo.”

“Thank Salazar,” he visibly loosens. “I don’t want anyone boosting his ego. Perhaps Blaise would
be okay with you fawning over him. He’ll probably flirt back. More fun than I ever was,” he grins.

“I suppose,” she leans her chin on her hand. “I’m…” she takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry for the
years of pretending to have a crush on you. I must have been annoying.”
 He nods, “was that hard for you to say?”

“Harder than my dick.”

“Ugh! Pansy!” he cringes and she replies with a giggle.

Chapter End Notes

I had mentioned in an earlier chapter that Draco spoke to Pansy at the Christmas
Dinner Party so I thought this was the perfect time to bring it up. Plus I love Pansy and
Draco as a duo so :)

ALSO!!! I made an edit of Draco confronting his boggart just like in the first chapter. I
posted it on Instagram so please check it out. I'd greatly appreciate it <3
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cjdunbqjwym/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
 Chapter 20
Chapter Summary

“What?” Draco blushes and looks away.

“You think Cedric Diggory is attractive?”
“I am not having this conversation with you Potter,” he scrambles to his feet and
begins walking away.

Draco and Harry's first conversation during fourth year :D

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Malfoy!”

“Merlin, Potter!” he rasps out; hand over his heart and eyes wide. “How the hell did you know I
was here?”

He shrugs, “Magic.”

“You have me on a tracker spell or something?” he eyes him suspiciously.

“Sure,” he grins and sits down next to him. Draco had needed some time for himself so he left off
to the Black Lake, the same place where Professor Lupin had found him crying months ago. How
Potter managed to find him was unbelievable. “Why are you sitting out here alone?”

“Slytherins were bothering me.”

“Understand how I feel now?”

“Shut up,” he glares at him. “So why seek me out, Scarhead? Tired of your friends gawking over
Viktor Krum?”

“Pretty much,” he grins. “So…If you could, would you have entered the tournament?”

“Hmm,” he thinks about it for a few seconds. “Probably not. The Goblet of Fire would never
choose me anyway.”

“And how can you possibly know that?”

“Because I’m too—“ cowardly. “Handsome to get hurt. The Goblet knows that,” Potter snorts.

“Right, well, I wouldn’t either. I wouldn’t want eternal glory.”

“Really?” he was genuinely shocked to hear that.

“You honestly take me as the type who would want that?”

“I mean…” he lightly shrugs. “Yeah. You’re Harry bloody Potter.”

“What a stupid excuse,” he mutters before continuing. “I hear loads of people are cheering on for
Cedric Diggory.”

“Really?” he says amused. “I’d cheer for him. He’s quite attractive.”

“What?”

“What?” Draco blushes and looks away.

“You think Cedric Diggory is attractive?”

“I am not having this conversation with you Potter,” he scrambles to his feet and begins walking
away.

“Hey! I’m not judging!” He quickly follows the blonde, lightly chuckling. “He’s alright for a bloke
I guess. I thought you were crushing on George—“

“Merlin, Potter, would you shut up—“

“Again, I’m not judging, Malfoy! Hermione told me I should try to understand what being gay is
—“

He snorts. “I don’t think I want to be friends with you anymore—“

“Hey! You shook on it—“

“I’m regretting it now—“

“Come on Malfoy—“

“Potter—“

“Yeah?” he says so innocently that Draco burst out laughing.

“You’re unbelievably annoying.”

“Do you want to talk about annoying? I have a whole list of times you were. Let’s start off with
first year, yeah? Our first meeting—“

“Okay!” he exclaims loudly. “I see your point,” he grumbles.

“But honestly… what’s it like being gay?”

“Only you would ever ask that question,” he rolls his eyes.

“Sorry?” he looks genuinely concerned. “I just want to be educated on it…”

“Why? Questioning your sexuality?” he meant it in a teasing way but the way Potter starts to stutter
like crazy catches him off guard. “Merlin, Potter, relax,” he smacks him on the back to shut him
up. “What was that about?”
“Nothing—,” he chuckles. “You caught me off guard, alright?”

“Alright,” he shrugs it off.

“We should part ways now, don’t you think?”

“Wh—why?” it was his turn to be caught off guard.

“You said you wanted to keep our friendship a secret. We’re coming up to an area where people
like to hang out.”

“Right,” he nods. “Wait— Potter. Can I ask you a question?”

“I guess.”

“Why do you want to be friends with me so badly? Your reasoning last time was bullshit. I want a
real one.”

“What was my reasoning again?” Before Draco replies, he remembers. “Right!” he smirks. “I’ll tell
you at the end of the year, okay?”

“Wha—“ The Gryffindor started walking faster; toward a group of people. “Potter!”

“See you around, Malfoy!” he flashes a smirk over his shoulder and Draco huffs before heading off
in another direction towards another part of the castle.

“Draco Malfoy?” Draco immediately recognizes the voice and a blush appears on his face. He
looks behind him and sees Atlantas Manolov walking out of the outdoor hallway that was on his
left.

“It’s okay to only call me Draco.”

“I know,” he walks beside him. “But your full name is so wonderful to say.”

“Thank you,” he can feel his cheeks turn pink. “How are you enjoying Hogwarts, Atlantas?”

“It is wonderful. Your people are very kind.”

“Technically my kind are Pureblood arseholes in Slytherin. So I think you’re referring to every
other house.”

“Oh,” Draco can see the other’s facial expression falter. Fuck. “You’re a Pureblood?”

“Yes, but blood status doesn’t matter to me!” he quickly adds. “I’m not like the other Slytherins.
It’s the last thing I care about,” there’s a slight hesitation in the other. “I promise.”

“Alright… I trust you Draco Malfoy. I only worried because I am half-blood.”

“That is no problem,” he assures.

He does a curt nod.

“Our people are putting names in the Goblet of Fire. I go to support. Care to join me?”

“Sure,” and they walk into the castle.

“Do you play Quidditch?” Draco asks.

 “Occasionally,” he replies. “I prefer to spend my time with books.”

“I can’t say I agree. I’ve been playing Quidditch ever since I was little.”

“Do you read at all?”

“Well, of course. The last book I read was a Muggle one someone I know gave me not too long
ago.”

“Which?”

“Alice In Wonderland.”

“My Maĭka gave me that book a few years ago. Good book, don’t you agree?”

“Very confusing, but yes,” he says sheepishly. “Yes it was a good book.”

They enter the room where a bunch of students are chattering about and the older ones were
putting their names in the Goblet of Fire.

“Would you put your name in if you were of age?” Atlantas asks.

“Yeah,” he simply says. “I defiantly would.”

Chapter End Notes

Notice Draco's different responses... :)

 Chapter 21
Chapter Summary

“Who do you think will be chosen for Hogwarts?” Draco asks the two.
“I heard Angelina Johnson put her name in,” Pansy says. “She’d make a good
champion.”
“I agree,” replies Blaise.

The champions are chosen :D

Chapter Notes

enjoy :))

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Six sickles that Fleur Delacour gets picked for the Beauxbatons,” Pansy declares to Draco and
Blaise.

“I am not betting with you, Pans,” Blaise states.

“I’ll do it,” Draco nods. “I have a fuck ton of money that I don’t need.”

“Wonderful!” she squeals and they all sit at the top of the bleachers.

“Who do you think will be chosen for Hogwarts?” Draco asks the two.

“I heard Angelina Johnson put her name in,” Pansy says. “She’d make a good champion.”

“I agree,” replies Blaise.

“Sit down please!” Dumbledore's voice booms throughout the Great Hall. “And now… the
moment you’ve all been waiting for… the champions selection.” Everyone was staring intensely as
the Headmaster approaches the Goblet. The blue flame glows red and a piece of paper shoots out.
“The Durmstrang champion is.. Viktor Krum!” The Durmstrang crowd cheers and another piece of
paper come out after Krum struts up and out of the room. “The champion from Beauxbatons…
Fleur Delacour!”

The Beauxbatons girls cheer as Fleur elegantly leaves.

“Ha! Six sickles, Draco!” Pansy smiles brightly and Draco rolls his eyes with a small smile.

“The Hogwarts champion is… Cedric Diggory!” Practically every Hogwarts student cheers as
Cedric walks up and out with a bright smile on his face.

“Excellent!” Dumbledore shouts excitedly. “We now have out three champions! But in the end
only one will go down in history. Only one will host this chalice of champions, this vessel of
victory… the tri-wizard cup!”

People are cheering but that’s not what Draco’s paying attention to. He sees the way Professor
Snape was staring at the Goblet of Fire which causes Draco to do the same. The Goblet glows red
once more and another name flies out. There’s hesitation in the Headmaster as he takes the piece of
paper and reads it.

“Harry Potter…Harry Potter!?” he shouts and Draco’s heart might have stopped. He’s not— but—
what?

“Harry Potter!” he shouts again and Draco can see Granger forcing Potter to stand and start
walking. The Gryffindor slowly walks up, grabs the piece of paper from Dumbledore, and starts
leaving the room.

“He’s a cheat!” Some Slytherin shouts.

“He’s not even seventeen yet!” A Hufflepuff fumes.

When Potter completely disappears the whole entire hall breaks out into overlapping talking.

“How is that possible?” Blaise says. “He’s bloody fourteen!”

“Potter’s too thick to have used advance magic,” he can hear Theo say from somewhere. “Probably
asked some older student.”

“There not going to let him complete right?” says Pansy.

Draco wasn’t paying attention to them… why had Potter lied saying he would never want eternal
glory and then go and do this? He could have just been honest with Draco but… the look on his
face didn’t match his excitement. It matched confusion and fear. It absolutely didn’t make sense.

He sees Granger and Weasley whispering to each other aggressively and he wonders for a brief
second what the hell that was about.

“Off to your dormitories please!” Shouts Flitwick. “All of you!” The Great Hall empties and Draco
somehow manages to catch Granger and Weasley alone.

“Did Potter really put his name in the Goblet of Fire?”

“Why do you care, Malfoy?” Weasley’s top lip curls before he continues off to the Gryffindor
Tower.

“Ignore him,” Granger sighs and shakes her head. “Him and I aren’t sure what happened. We’re
going to talk to Harry tomorrow.”

“Right,” he starts to head off to the Dungeons but the other stops him.

“How’s your friendship with Harry going?”

“Shh!” he whispers harshly even though there was no one around. “It’s going fine, I suppose.”

“That’s wonderful,” she simply says. “I’ll see you around, Malfoy,” she turns to leave but it’s his
turn to stop her.

“Wait— Granger?”
 “Yes?”

“I’m…” he takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry for calling you a Mud—“ he stops himself. “A you
know.”

All she does is nod and smile very gently before leaving.

Chapter End Notes

DID HE PUT HIS NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE THO???

 Chapter 22
Chapter Summary

“But that bloody Durmstrang student isn’t helping with my plan.”

“Your plan?”
“Force myself to fall in love with Astoria so the marriage won’t be entirely painful.”

Some Daphne and Draco content :)

Chapter Notes

Basically a filler chapter :D

Enjoy!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Have you seen The Prophet?” Theo snickers alongside Crabbe and Goyal. “Potter’s such an
attention seeker.”

Draco rolls his eyes from where he was sitting and makes his move on the chess board.

“I mean, he’s not wrong,” Daphne mutters under her breath while making her move.

“What?” Draco shifts his eyes over at her. “You’re agreeing with Nott?”

“I’ve always thought that, Draco,” she shrugs. “Your move.”

“You think Potter is an attention seeker?”

“Didn’t you once think that too?” she points out.

“Yeah, but...” he trails off.

“But?”

“Nothing,” he mutters and makes his move.

“What’s on your mind?”

Potter. “Pansy.”

“Pansy?” she’s taken aback. “Why is Pansy on your mind? Aren’t you gay, Draco?” she sounds
almost… defensive?

“I can think about girls in a non attractive-feeling way. It’s just we’ve been talking again.”

“I know. She was very hesitant on being seen with you in public again.”
 “Why?”

“Because of everything that’s happened with you… No Pureblood wanted to be seen with you.
Except Blaise, Astoria, and I.”

“I know why Blaise has stood by my side, but why you two?”

“Astoria doesn’t want to marry you when you’re both of age,” she simply says.

“And you?” she glances up at him. “Why were you okay with being seen in public with me?”

“My reasons will remain disclosed,” she smirks.

“Alright,” he lightly snorts. “But you know I will be marrying your sister when we’re older.”

“You don’t know the future, Draco…”

“Whatever,” he grumbles. “No matter what I’ll never be able to be with a bloke.”

“How did your father end up taking the news? You never told us over Christmas Break.”

“He took it well,” his sarcasm was clear and Daphne didn’t press on.

“How come you didn’t deny both?” he looks at her puzzled. “The rumors that you were in love
with Potter and one of the Weasley twins. You only denied the Potter one.”

“My father hates Potter more than anyone else. I didn’t deny both because there was no point. You
know how Theo and the rest of the Slytherins are…” he sighs. “Go with the “Pureblood Traitor”
then “The Boy Who Vanquished The Dark Lord”.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs.

“It’s alright,” he lightly shrugs. “But that bloody Durmstrang student isn’t helping with my plan.”

“Your plan?”

“Force myself to fall in love with Astoria so the marriage won’t be entirely painful.”

“For fucks sake,” she mutters.

“Yeah…” he pauses. “Checkmate!”

“Why do I bother playing against you?” she groans.

“I’m not sure,” he grins. “But you’re an amazing challenge.”

“I know I am,” she smirks.

Chapter End Notes

Thought i should explain why Draco did the things he did again because for a second
it was confusing for me LOL.
Can't wait for the next chapter :))
 Chapter 23
Chapter Summary

“Why so tense, Potter?” he teases. “Blaise and I have a bet you see. He thinks you
won’t last ten minutes in this tournament. I disagree. I think you won’t last five.”
“Shut up, Malfoy,” he growls and Draco drops the act.

I think you all know where this is going...

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You cannot repeat this anyone but what Nott did was pretty clever,” mutters Draco as he holds
one of the Potter Stinks badges. “This is bloody hilarious.”

“I agree,” grins Blaise. “How do you think Potter feels about these?”

“Bloody great probably,” he can’t stop himself from snickering. He didn’t agree with the badges.
Not in the slightest but how they looked just sent Draco laughing. “I almost feel bad.”

“I mean…”

“Don’t start with the whole who’s more attractive. I’m starting to believe you have a crush on
Diggory.”

“I do not have a crush on Cedric Diggory. You’re the only one between the two of us who’s in
love,” he grumbles.

“I am not!” he cries out. “That’s over, alright? You’d think telling you a million times would get it
into your mind.”

“Right,” Draco rolls his eyes at Blaises’ amused grin.

“I’ll see you later, Blaise,” he huffs.

“Bye, Draco,” he says in a flirtatious tone. Draco smiles and leaves out for the Black Lake. He had
purposefully bumped into Potter in the hallway a while ago. He slipped a note into his pocket
while shooting an insult his way. He prayed the other found it, read it, and listened to it.

Surprisingly, The Gryffindor did. He was sitting on the ground, leaning back against a tree, arms
crossed and the living-breathing definition of pissed off.

“Why so tense, Potter?” he teases. “Blaise and I have a bet you see. He thinks you won’t last ten
minutes in this tournament. I disagree. I think you won’t last five.”
“Shut up, Malfoy,” he growls and Draco drops the act.

“The badges hit a nerve, I presume,” he sits down next to him. “You might want to avoid looking
at me…” He had put the pin on as a joke on his way over here…

“You believe it all then?” Potter rolls his eyes. “Of course. Why don’t you and Ron start a ‘let’s
not believe Harry Potter’ club. That will get him to like you.”

“Weasley believes you cheated your way in? Isn’t he supposed to be your best friend?”

“Shut up, Malfoy.”

“For Merlins sake, Potter, stop acting so immature. Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?”

“No I didn’t!”

“Exactly. So calm the fuck down,” he pulls something out of his pocket. He had made it two hours
ago after seeing what Theo had done. “Maybe this will cheer you up,” he tosses it on his lap. Potter
looks down and his eyebrows raise.

“You made this?”

“Of course. Nott isn’t the only badge maker expert in this school.”

It went from ‘Cedric Stinks; Potter is Decent’.

“This is the best way you could compliment me?”

“Of course,” he simply says. “Didn’t want to boost your ego.”

“Right,” but there was a small sight of a smile on his face and Draco considered that a win.
“You’re unbelievable.”

“That’s the best part about me,” he smirks. “Anyways, are you done moping?”

“No,” he grumbles. “I don’t want eternal glory. I wanted a normal school year,” he scowls.

“You don’t get a normal school year. So don’t spend it behaving like an idiot.”

“Jesus, you’d make a horrible therapist.”

“A thera-what?”

“Never mind,” he grumbles. “Why did you want to meet up, Malfoy?”

“To give you the badge, idiot.”

“Don’t test me.”

“It’s one of the things I do best at,” he smirks. “Come on, Potter,” he stands. “We can duel like in
the second year. Maybe it'll help you let off some steam. I technically won, by the way,” he pulls
out his wand.

“You did not win that,” he snorts.

“I would have if you weren’t a bloody parseltongue,” he taunts. “Lost your touch then Potter?
Scared?”
 He rolls his eyes, “You’re pathetic, Malfoy," he snaps.

“Pathetic?” That hit a nerve. “What’s pathetic is you sulking out here over nothing like a bloody
loser,” the Gryffindor stands and snatches his bag off the ground.

“Could you just keep your mouth shut for five seconds? God,” he walks past him, purposefully
knocking into his shoulder. Draco snarls and goes to cast a Stupefy until he sees a spell coming his
way. He doesn’t have a chance to cast Protego because he obviously wasn’t expecting it.

“AH!”

He’s a ferret.

What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.

He scrambles around the ground, looking up to see Potter with his mouth open, on the verge of
laughing.

“I’ll teach you to curse someone when their back is turned!” Growled a voice and it was Mad-Eye
Moody. Draco screams, but it comes out as a squeak and tries running away from the lunatic, (it
doesn’t work). He’s levitated up into the air and he actually wants to die.

“P-Professor!” Potter was laughing louder than Draco has ever heard him. “It’s alright— you can
— you can turn him back!”

“Sure bout that, Potter?” he grins wickedly. “Could make em dance!”

Draco squeaks aggressively, withering under the levitation spell he’s under.

“I’m sure. Honestly!”

With one quick flick, Draco is transformed into himself and scrambles to his feet.

“My—My—“ My what? “My father will hear about this!” I’m an idiot.

“Is that a threat?” Professor Moody starts approaching him and Draco runs back to the castle, not
looking back.

“Stupid, crazy, professor,” he grumbles all the way into the common room. Thank all the gods that
no one else but Potter was there. He would have actually off’d himself.

Chapter End Notes

this was bound to happen no matter what. I wasn't going to take the opportunity of
turning Draco into a ferret away from myself :)

Thoughts? Opinions? I love reading your guys comments! they always make my day
<3
 Chapter 24
Chapter Summary

Sincerely,
Draco L. Malfoy

Letter to Remus.

Chapter Notes

ENJOY

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Romulus,

Fourth year has been embarrassing. So bloody embarrassing I’m thinking of sneaking into the
Headmaster’s office and using the Floo Network to appear at your home. I’ve developed a stupid
crush on a Durmstrang student. My plan is in shambles. That plan was to trick myself into falling
for Astoria.

You strongly disapprove. I don’t even have to wait for your response to know that you don’t agree.
I don’t care.

I was turned into a ferret by our new Defensive Against The Dark Arts teacher. Mad-Eye Moody.
You were such a better professor. You’d never turn me or anyone into a bloody ferret! It was
outrageous! POTTER WAS THERE. I didn’t even do anything… Potter was being the prick first.

Say hi to Black for me, but he’s probably reading this with you so hello. You really should learn to
have some respect for people’s privacy.

Hope you two are doing alright. Are you both back together? What’s the deal with you two
anyway? I hope I’ve made you uncomfortable Black. Sorry if you are Professor.

Anyways, I honestly hope you both are doing alright. Especially you, Professor. Because of the full
moon that happened recently… hope it went alright, but how much do you really remember while
being a werewolf? Hopefully Black was able to help you the day after. Wait, he’s an animagus,
right? Does he help you during the full moon? WAIT IS THAT HOW HE ESCAPED AZKABAN?

Can I even ask that? Are either of you going to tell me? Whatever. Looking forward to your
response, Professor.

Sincerely,

Draco L. Malfoy
Draco,

It’s wonderful to hear from you.

Mad-Eye is very intense and can be described as terrifying. Sirius and I recall him being very
intimidating when we joined the Order Of The Phoenix; he didn’t even have his glass eye yet.
Although, that never stopped us from raising our voices when we weren’t being listened to… Sirius
would like me to tell you that he wishes he could have been a witness to you being turned into a
ferret. I personally cannot believe Alastor would do that…Actually, I can.

Sirius and I are doing alright. You are amazing at purposefully making people uncomfortable. You
should make it a profession, Draco.

I appreciate your concern. You didn’t directly say it, but I know you pretty well. Sirius is an
animagus, as you probably recall from that night, but he has told me he doesn’t want me to tell you
if that’s how he escaped Azkaban because he knows it’ll bother you.

You both are incredibly immature.

As for your plan, Draco, you’re right. I strongly disapprove. You can’t force yourself to love
someone. It doesn’t work it.

He’s right. This is Sirius now. I tried doing the same thing. Both Remus and I, before our feelings
were out in the open, tried ignoring it all. His reasons were different from yours so his advice
won’t help. Luckily mine will. My reasons were the exact same because of yours. All the Pureblood
nonsense; fear and internalized homophobia. I’m going to tell you one thing Malfoy Jr Draco,
you’ll end up doing more damage to yourself, everyone, and everything around you if you force
yourself to push all those feelings down. You can pretend everything is alright but there will
always be that one person that keeps that masked cracked forever. Just remember that.

It’s Remus again. You should really listen to Sirius. That's the only time you will ever see me say
that.

We both hope you’re doing goods as well. I gave your owl a few treats; he seemed to be pleased.
Took him a minute to warm up to me, seemed to like your uncle a lot more. I don’t understand.

Till next letter.

R.J.Lupin

Professor and Black,

Your advice has been greatly appreciated but I have chosen to carefully ignore it. I have to alright?
I’m terrified.

I haven’t gotten anything to update the happy couple on. Perhaps I will make this a profession, sir.

There’s not much to say in this letter. The first challenge is tomorrow and I saw Potter this
morning at breakfast looking as if he was going to throw up. Poor bloke; I wonder if he knows
what the challenge is going to be. Weasley is ignoring him which I find incredibly childish. I guess
he believes Potter did put his name in the Goblet of Fire. You’d think only us Slytherins would be
calling Potter a cheat. Funny how life proves us wrong.
 That’s all for today folks. I’ll check in with you again soon.

Sincerely,

Draco L. Malfoy

Chapter End Notes

i miss remus and draco

 Chapter 25
Chapter Summary

“Are they mental?” Draco says harshly to Blaise. “How is Potter meant to get the egg
when a Hungarian Horntail is protecting it! He’s going to die.”
“He’ll be fine,” the other simply says.

The First Task :)

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Dragons?” Draco gapes. “They have to face Dragons?” He was staring at the Common Welsh
Green that Fleur Delacour was about to face. “How is Potter going to face a dragon? He’s so
fucking small!”

“Worried about your precious Potter?” teases Blaise.

He shoots him a glare. “I swear to every god Blaise I will throw you into this pit and let the dragon
have you.”

“Any bets? ANY BETS?! BETS TAKEN HERE!” The Weasley twins voices roared louder than
any other in the crowd.

“Any bets, Malfoy?” George says from right behind Draco.

“I’m alright, Weasley,” he turns around. “Don’t want to feed into your stupid bet polling.”

“Your friend Crabbe did,” he leans over the rail.

“He isn’t exactly bright is he though?” Surprisingly enough that earns a light smirk from the
Gryffindor. Draco would never admit this to anyone but he felt a light blush creep on his cheeks.

“Here, Weasley!” drawls a voice that makes Draco want to throw up. “Here’s two galleons,” Theo
smiles wickedly. “Not for betting of course. This is for you personally. A little charity. So you can
buy new clothes and get out of those awful rags.”

“You little—“ Draco stops George from pulling out his wand and shoots Theo an unfriendly look.

“Honestly, Theo, stealing my old jokes? I know you admire me loads, but you’re allowed to be
original. Although, making fun of the Weasleys’ isn’t cool anymore. Never was,” he quickly adds.
“Perhaps you should be making fun of the way you look like Murtlap. You see it right?” he looks
up at George.
“I do see it,” he grins. “It’s the nose. Along with the hair,” Draco chuckles and he can see out of the
corner of his eye Blaise was snickering.

Theo snarls at both of them before shoving Crabbe and Goyal out of his way so he could strut off
away from them.

“You’re not so bad, Malfoy,” he admits. “But if you ever turn back into your old ways I will hex
your arse off,” he leaves to his twin.

“You’re so smitten,” Blaise teases.

“I regret telling you about my first crushes,” he groans and leans against the rail. “The day you fall
for someone is the day I get my bloody revenge.”

“Right,” he lightly snorts.

The task begins, Fleur being the first one to go. He can see Pansy, who’s one row under him, face
light up. He’s defiantly going to ask her about that later. Fleur survives, thank merlin, and then it's
Krum. On the left side of the arena, surprisingly, Draco could see Atlantas cheering with the other
Durmstrang students. They managed to make eye contact and the Bulgarian waved at him. Draco
blushes for real this time and smiles back. Then it’s Cedric Diggory and the arena gets even louder.
He survives, which isn’t surprising to Draco.

And then Potter gets the worst Dragon of them all. The Hungarian Horntail.

“Are they mental?” Draco says harshly to Blaise. “How is Potter meant to get the egg when a
Hungarian Horntail is protecting it! He’s going to die.”

“He’ll be fine,” the other simply says.

Watching Potter walk out into the middle, Draco would have found it comical at how small he
looked if he wasn’t walking into his demise. Surprisingly, not only did Draco find it terrifying, he
found watching this was giving him secondhand embarrassment. Potter looked absolutely clueless
before he dodged the dragon's fire. To add to the secondhand embarrassment, it was dead silent.

“Your wand! Use your wand, Harry!” Granger's voice eventually booms.

“Accio Firebolt!” Potter shouts and Draco exhales in relief, unaware he was holding his breath.
That was his plan… thank Merlin. Potter was an excellent flyer. But the dragon can fly too. But
he’s chained so it’s fine… right?

Potter’s Firebolt comes flying in, he mounts it, and what Draco prayed wouldn’t happen, did. The
dragon flies after the Gryffindor and breaks out of his chains.

“Oh shit!” Draco gapes and multiple gasps and shrieks were heard throughout the arena. Potter and
the dragon are nowhere to be seen anymore. They flew off towards Hogwarts and everyone breaks
out into a loud chatter.

“I bet you he’ll comeback with a leg missing,” Blaise says.

“I bet an arm,” replies Draco with no thoughts in his mind besides the fact that there’s a chance
Harry Potter could die.

It feels like forever when the noise of a broken broom comes towards the arena.
“It’s Potter…” he whispers. “It’s Potter!” he shoves Blaise and he earns a death glare from the
taller.

“YES!” Granger cries and the whole arena bursts into cheering.

“He still has his limps,” Draco notices while holding back a smile. “That’s honestly surprising.”

“How did Madam Pomfrey allow you to come in here?” Potter slowly sits up. He was laying down
in a hospital bed, a sling around his arm, and cuts on his face.

“Granger vouched for me,” Draco replies.

“Why?”

“I asked her too,” he shrugs. “I wanted to make fun of your performance. I wish I could have taken
a photograph of you. Your face was comical,” he smirks.

“You’re seeking me out to insult me now? That desperate?”

“I wouldn’t call it me being desperate. I would call it me being bored,” he drawls and sits down on
a chair that was next to the bed.

“Why were you prejudice against Muggleborns and then all of a sudden not?” The question catches
Draco so off guard he visibly stiffens and sits up straight. It was a reflex… such an important
question needed to be answered with proper elegancy.

“I-I realized it was wrong.” Was he going to tell Potter he never thought muggleborns were bad he
was just pretending and calling them Mudbloods to please his father? No, he was not.

“Who made you realized it was wrong?”

“… Professor Lupin,” he simply says.

“Oh,” he nods. “I’m glad he knocked some sense into you.”

“Me too,” he grins sheepishly and it’s an awkward silence for a few seconds before Draco speaks
up again. “I heard Gryffindor threw a party for you. Weren’t they against you a mer day ago?”

“Not all of them,” he grumbles. “It was really just Ron… and a little bit of Seamus…”

“Did the idiot finally realize you didn’t put your name in the Goblet of Fire?”

“Yes and don’t call him that.”

“Sorry,” he mutters. “About time I must say. Seeing you two at each other during meals was
dramatic.”

“Have you been watching us, Malfoy?”

“You always twist my words,” he grumbles.

“That’s nothing compared to what you’ve done to me,” he says nonchalantly but it makes
something in Draco’s chest drop.
“Right, of course,” he simply nods. “Are you spending the night in here?” he easily changes the
subject.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “Madam Pomfrey won’t let me go back to my dorm.”

“You’re injured. Of course she wouldn’t let you go back. I thought you were—“

“Smart. Yeah, you’ve become very predictable, Malfoy.”

“You’re unbelievably annoying!” he says dramatically. “Why girls swoon over you is
unimaginable.”

“Well y—“

“Don’t,” he actually growls and Potter doesn’t finish his sentence.

“You really think girls swoon over me?” he says instead.

“Have you seen the Patil Twins? They’re practically obsessed with you.”

“They’re both pretty I guess…” he trails off and Draco can’t help but be curious.

“Does Harry Potter have a crush on someone?”

“Shove off, Malfoy,” he rolls his eyes. “I am not discussing this with you.”

“Who could it be though?” he begins to wonder. “There’s Fleur Delacour, The Weasley girl,
Granger—“ Potter grimaces.

“Hermione?” he pretends to gag. “No absolutely not. I mean she’s lovely! Wonderful but that’s—
that would be weird.”

“Alright, so who is it?” This is good. This really helps the side of him that’s pushing all his
feelings down for Potter. Knowing he’s into someone else is great.

“I am not telling you. You’re mad.”

“Perhaps, but since we’re friends or whatever you should tell me.”

“Tell me who you fancy then!”

“Wha—what? I don’t fancy anyone.”

“By the way you reacted, you defiantly fancy someone.”

“I don’t fancy anyone?” Potter stares at him intensely and it freaks him out. “There’s just some
bloke alright!”

“Is it Nott?”

“WHAT!?” His jaw drops. “You’re fucking mad!”

“So it’s not Nott?”

“Ugh! No!” he grimaces. “It’s some Durmstrang student, okay! We’ve chatted a few times, that’s
all. He’s attractive but I don’t fancy him!”
 “Alright!” he grins.

“And you? Who’s the girl?”

“Cho Chang,” he mumbles.

“...She’s pretty,” he simply says.

“She really is,” he smiles dumbly.

“Yeah…” a weird feeling emerges in his chest and he decides he needs to get out before he gets
even more uncomfortable. “Sleep well, Potter” he stands. “You had a long day. Battling a dragon
and all.”

“Thanks, Malfoy,” he scoffs an amused chuckle.

“No problem, Scarhead.”

“Wait, Mal— Ah!” Potter winces and his hand darts to his scar.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah— yeah,” he nods as he visibly grimaces. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright…” he doesn’t question it. “See you tomorrow, Potter,” with that he leaves.

Chapter End Notes

a brief moment of Draco and Harry just being normal teenagers with each other...
thought that would be nice.

I'm going back to school tomorrow so the uploads will be irregular again. sorry :(
 Chapter 26
Chapter Summary

“Find a date yet, Malfoy?” Theo asks in a mocking tone as they both get ready for
bed.
“Why? You want to go with me?” He glances up from the book he was reading.
“I’m not fucking in love with you Draco!” he fumes.

I'm just praying you guys won't hate me

Chapter Notes

enjoy :D

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I’m so excited!” Pansy squeals. “A Ball! Mother will have to send me a dress!”

“Yeah I bet this is all very exciting for you!” Draco groans and rests his head on the table. “Boys
will be asking you left and right while no boys will be asking me! Not that I could go with a boy
anyway, for Merlin's Sake.”

“I’ll go with you sweetheart,” she smiles sweetly and he glares at her.

“I’d rather go alone.” She sends him a fake smile. “Blaise will probably want to go with you.”

“Actually… I heard he has a plan to ask some bloke.”

“WHO?” He springs up.

“He won’t tell me, but I guess he’s been secretly talking to someone.”

“He has other friends besides the two of us?” he gapes.

“Yes, I do,” Blaise approaches from behind before sitting down. “Who’s the bloke, Blaise?” he
asks eagerly

“I am not telling you because if he says no you’ll quite possibly kill him.”

“Fair point… but come on! Is it a Ravenclaw? You’d never fall for the Slytherins. Wait I bet it’s a
Hufflepuff. That’s the real reason why you won’t tell me.”

“Ah, this is so exciting!” Pansy smiles brightly. “So, Draco, since Blaise will be going with his
mystery guy, will you go with me?”

“He could say no,” Blaise mutters under his breath.

“Why don’t you go with Daphne?”

“What? Why would I go with Daphne? I’m not even— what?”

“It was just a suggestion!” Draco holds back a smirk. “But, alright, I’ll go with you.”

“You have to wear something nice, alright? Did you see what Weasley was holding? Draco, if you
show up wearing something like that I’ll hex your balls off—“

“Do you know me at all! I’ll be best dressed, I promise you that.”

“As will I be,” she smirks.

“Find a date yet, Malfoy?” Theo asks in a mocking tone as they both get ready for bed.

“Why? You want to go with me?” He glances up from the book he was reading.

“I’m not fucking in love with you Draco!” he fumes.

“Really?” he slams his book shut; luckily it was just the two of them in there. “Let me ask you
something, Theo. Why act the way you do? It’s just the two of us! Come on!” He gets up.

He was sick and tired of Theodore Nott making annoying jabs left and right. During
Transfiguration, DADA, meals, in the dorm, in the common room. Their pretending to be friends
was going nowhere. Theo would pretend to be nice but he would be too nice to the point where it
drove Draco mad. He would say something like, ‘our fathers aren’t here, Theo’ and that would
trigger something in the other and boom… detention with Flitwick.

He had enough.

The fear in his eyes after he kissed Draco, what Professor Lupin had said after Draco told him the
story and his reaction to when Mad-Eye used Crucio on the insect. Theo was hiding something just
like Draco had.

You don’t have the key to the door so you have to kick it open.

“It’s just me and you, Theo!”

“What—?“

“Your father isn’t here!” he starts approaching him. “Could you for once say something you
actually mean?”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Draco?!” he ends up being cornered.

“Come on, Theo!” he grips his collar and pins him against the wall. “Just say something you mean!
For fuck sakes!”

“Y-You’re insane!” he tries to get out of his grip but Draco was stronger.

“Say something you mean, Theo!” He doesn’t recognize his own voice.

“I-I—“
“Don’t be your father for a five minutes!”

“I’m sorry!” he ends up sobbing. Draco’s eyes widen.

“What?”

“I can’t help it,” he lightly growls. “You got it easy, Draco! Not all of us have the same luxury!”

“Easy?” he growls back. “You have no idea what my father does to me!”

“Your father is a saint compared to mine! I-I’m terrified of him. So fucking terrified of him,” a tear
falls down his face without permission and Draco loosens his grip before fully taking a step back.
“You got it SO FUCKING EASY!” he shoves Draco back. “You, Blaise, Daphne— I don’t have a
mother who’s protective over me! S-she lets everything happen. FUCK,” a noise, very similar to a
broken laugh, exerts out of Theo's throat. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. He’ll find out somehow.
I-I can’t...”

“I...” He stands there dumbly as the other slowly sinks to the ground.

“How could I let this happen?” he puts his face in his hands. "Fuck, I'm an idiot."

“Theo...” he kneels down in front of him.

“I’m done for. Now that you know— he’ll, oh I don’t know what he’ll do to me…”

“I… Theo, I won’t tell anyone. I didn’t… I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t!” he shouts. “You’re not supposed to! No one’s supposed to! And it’s
because of you and all the shit you’ve done in the past year I have to be even worse!”

“Theo…”

“Just go to bed Draco! Forget this ever happened!” he abruptly stands, Draco following suit. “I
have to continue to be this, okay? Fuck,” he mutters and goes towards his bed, but Draco stops
him.

“If you have to continue like this I’ll help you.”

“Help me?” he scoffs. “Planning to kill my father?”

“No— I’ll pretend to be friendly back! So you can tell your father we’re on good terms.”

“Because that’ll help me loads.”

“For fuck sakes, Theo, I can’t— I can’t do much for you! I can barley help myself! But you won’t
have to deal with me making it worse for you, okay? I don’t know know what else you want me to
do!”

“I want you to forgive me!” he shoves him out of the way. “Because this is the only time you’ll
ever hear me say sorry and mean it…”

“Theo…”

“I’m sorry for—for that stupid kiss especially. It was fucked up, I know!” he groans loudly. “It
was just the only chance I could ever…”
“Oh…” Draco’s eyes dart around the room. It makes sense… all of it now. He honestly wishes he
could help Theo. This world is just too fucked up… "Do you... do you want a proper one?” Not
only does Theo’s mouth falls open but so does Draco's.

Did I really just ask that?

“Are you alright?” Theo approaches him and thumps him on the head. “Did a bludger just fucking
hit you because what the fuck Draco?”

“I’m being serious,” he says surprisingly. “This is all types of fucked up but you’re never going to
kiss a bloke and neither will I so--”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“A lot,” he says truthfully. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know!” he exasperates. “Like you said, this is all types of fucked up!”

“I know!” he groans. “Just—“

“Fine. This is absolutely pathetic,” he grumbles. He couldn't help but agree... but Draco believes
Theo was as desperate as him.

“I’m well aware…" They both stand there, staring at each other; both trying to communicate with
each other through their eyes and it goes nowhere. "...this is bloody awkward,” Theo shoots him a
glare. “You know, we could just stand here like two Slytherins with trauma. I’ll inform you Blaise
should be here in two m—“ lips crash with his and Draco’s first instinct is to shove him away
because it’s Nott but it’s actually Theo… just Theo. The only time he’ll ever see him like this. The
real him, so he kisses back.

It’s awkward at first, neither of them knowing what they’re doing, but Theo seems to get the hang
of it first and Draco eventually follows suit. Surprisingly, the kiss was pleasurable. It was soft and
tender which Draco wouldn’t expect from Theodore Nott. It lasts a good few moments before Theo
pulls away first. They stare at each other, for once it was actually… comforting?

“Hey, Draco—“ Blaise comes storming in and Draco’s eyes go wide and he’s about to panic until
Theo’s facial expression easily turns into a sneer.

“Shut up, Malfoy,” he spits out. “Listening to you is like listening to a little boy whining. Annoying,
honestly.”

“You were the one who spoke to me first!” he easily snaps back. “You think I like listening to your
voice?”

“Both of you!” Blaise’s voice booms through the room. “I don’t want to hear it tonight.”

“Who’s side are you on, Blaise!” Draco half whines.

“The side of sleeping!” he rolls his eyes and walks over to his bed. “I have a stressful day
tomorrow. I need my rest.”

“What’s the Amazing Zabini have to do tomorrow? Continuing being Draco’s shadow?”

“No, I’m off to bang your father.”

“You piece of—“

 “Don’t,” Draco pulls out his wand before Theo can pull out his. Theo growls and storms out of the
room.

“You’d think he learn to keep his mouth shut,” Blaise sighs.

“Yeah,” he half grumbles before going back to his bed. “What makes tomorrow a stressful day?”

“I’m asking the bloke tomorrow,” he tells him reluctantly.

“YES!” he exclaims. “He’ll say yes, Blaise. He’s bound to. Who are you asking?”

“If he says yes, you’ll find out at the ball.”

“Aren’t you worried the Purebloods will talk and tell your mother?”

“She already knows… When the rumors of us being together were going around someone’s parent
told her and she doesn’t actually care,” a small smile appears on his face.

“And you didn’t tell me this before because…?”

“Didn’t seem relevant.” he simply shrugs.

“You think a lot of things are irrelevant when they are.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m off to bed before Theo comes back and I have to hear the two of you bicker.”

Draco chuckles. “Right. Goodnight Blaise.”

Chapter End Notes

my friend told me this would be good for Theo and his future so I did it. If you want to
hate on the kiss hate on my friend not me please LOL.
 Chapter 27
Chapter Summary

“You can dance right?”

“I mean… not well…”
“Bloody hell, Potter, you’re going to make a fool of yourself and your date in front of
everyone. Didn’t anyone teach you how to dance growing up?”

Draco and Harry content !!!!

Chapter Notes

I love his chapter. I hope you guys love it as much as I do.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“The bloke you asked, are they sitting at this table?” he whispers to Blaise. They were currently
sitting in the Great Hall, working on their Potions assignment and Draco was going mad not
knowing who Blaise asked.

“Will you shut up, Draco?”

“Did you ask Weasley?” he muses.

“Which one?” he was half paying attention to him.

“Ronald Weasley, you idiot.”

“You’d think he would have said yes?” Blaise shakes his head. “He’s probably going with
Granger. You’ll have to wait and see who I take to the Ball alright?”

He groans and looks around the hall. He makes brief eye contact with Potter, who sends him an
odd smile before he goes back to listening to Weasley talk about something.

“And I said yes!” He hears Granger snap at the two Gryffindors before storming out of the hall.

“I don’t think she’s going with Weasley,” Draco can’t help but smirk a bit. “Maybe you did ask
Weasley.”

“Shut up, Draco,” he sighs.

“Shit—,” Draco hurries out when he accidentally runs into someone turning the corner into the
owlery. Considering their past encounters, he thought it might be Potter, but it’s actually Cho
Chang.
“Oh! Sorry!,” she says sweetly before continuing on her way. Draco stares before continuing his
way up and can’t help but smile when he sees Potter standing there with his owl (which Draco
learned in his second year her name is Hedwig.)

“Did you ask her?” he asks and Potter practically jumps out of his skin, causing his owl to shriek.
“Did I scare you?” he chuckles.

“No— I mean yeah, obviously,” he lightly pets Hedwig to calm her down. “What are you doing up
here, Malfoy?”

“Sending a letter,” he holds up the letter for Lupin he wrote that morning. “And don’t change the
topic. Did you ask her? Cho?”

“She’s going with someone else.”

“What?” he says with pure shock. “…Maybe she decided to go with someone else because of the
way you spilled juice all over yourself.’

“You saw that?” he groans.

“It was bloody hilarious,” he walks over to Alzirr, his own owl who just so happened to be right
next to Potter’s. Draco swears his owl did that on purpose.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters before sighing. “I really thought she’d say yes.”

“She would have if someone else didn’t ask first. You were just… too slow.”

“Thanks, Malfoy,” he lightly glares at him.

“Apologies,” he grins sheepishly. “So, who’s going to be your date then?”

“I have no idea,” he stares at Hedwig before looking at him.

“Why don’t you take the Weasley girl?”

“Ginny? She would have been a great choice but she’s going with Dean. Maybe I’ll just go alone
and add on to the whispers.”

“You can’t go alone. All the champions have to dance first. It’s tradition”

“What?” his jaw drops.

“You didn’t know that?” Draco snorts and pays attention to his owl. He lightly caresses him,
before handing him a treat. “You can dance right?”

“I mean… not well…”

“Bloody hell, Potter, you’re going to make a fool of yourself and your date in front of everyone.
Didn’t anyone teach you how to dance growing up?”

“No,” he states roughly. “No one taught me how to dance growing up. Why is that such a
problem?”

“It’s not.” he says, confused by the sudden hostility. “Didn’t mean to hit a nerve,” he mutters
before handing his letter to Alzirr. He takes it before flying off to wherever Professor Lupin may
be. “I can teach you how to dance if you want.”
He laughs before eventually pausing when Draco wasn’t reacting the same way. “Wait… Are you
being serious?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I wasn’t.”

“Wouldn’t that be… weird?”

“Why? Because I’m a bloke?”

“No! Because— because it’s us?”

“I guess… but it’d just be a friend helping out a friend?” he offers. “You really want more of those
whispers? Some of those will be coming from me just so you know.”

“Alright, Malfoy. You can teach me to dance Malfoy.”

“Brilliant!” he exclaims, surprisingly himself at how excited he is. He remembers his mother
teaching him when he was around eight. The laughs and accidentally stepping on her toes. Those
moments he cherished the most. “We’ll start now.”

“Now?”

“Yes,” he nods and looks around. “It’s too small in here though. We can’t do it anywhere in the
castle. Those rumors would be the end of me. Have any ideas?”

“Uh— Well— The Shrieking Shack?”

“You would want to go back there?”

“No where else to go,” he simply shrugs.

“Alright then, Potter. Let’s go then,” he waits for him to say goodbye to his owl before they leave
down the stairs.

“You’ve got a date then?” Potter eventually asks as they make their way to the Whomping
Willow.

“Pansy.”

“Parkinson?”

“Who else?” he lets out a huff of air.

“I assumed you’d be going with that Durmstrang student you mentioned.”

“Haven’t seen him in a few days, actually. I couldn’t even go with him if I wanted to.”

“How come?”

“Can’t tell you,” he mutters. “Immobulus!” he points his wand at the tree and watches it come to a
halt.

“How did you…?”

“I heard Lupin use it when I followed him out here,” he grins a bit proudly and they enter the
passageway. “Can I ask you a question, Potter?”
“Maybe.”

“What is Sirius Black to you?”

“Oh,” he sounds stunned at the question. “He’s, well, he’s my godfather.”

“Your godfather?”

“Yeah,” he smiles and stuffs his hands in his pocket.

“Do you write to him then?”

“Sometimes… he’s on the run so not as often as I would like. I don’t really like sending Hedwig to
unknown places.”

“She’s a lovey owl by the way. Beautiful.”

‘She was my first birthday present. Hagrid gave me to her.”

“Your first birthday present?” he looks over at him.

“i misspoke,” he rushes out, looking awfully embarrassed. “So who’s Zabini going with?”

“I don’t know! He won’t bloody tell me!” he groans, the annoyance of that situation easily coming
back. “Some bloke in another house that’s all I know for sure.”

“Really? So he’s gay too?”

“Yes, Potter. He’s gay too. Why are you so… fascinated about gay people?”

“I’m not fascinated. I’m trying to… understand? I’m not sure how to word it. I’ll be honest with
you, Malfoy, my cousin is very anti-gay—“

“It’s called being homophobic, Potter.”

“Right, sorry! Well he, along with my Aunt and Uncle, are very homophobic. Every time a hint of
them would show up on the t.v they would call them disgusting and a word that starts with an f?
Hermione told me I can’t say that word; It’s a slur”

“Yeah, you can’t.”

“Exactly. So I’m just trying to educate myself.”

“It’s awfully… caring of you to try and learn.”

“It feels right to learn,” he easily says.

“Hm,” he cracks a small smile and they finally come to the hatch that leads them up into the
Shrieking Shack.

“Ladies first, Malfoy.”

“Wow, you know how to joke Potter?” he climbs up the ladder.

“I’ve always known how to joke. You just never seemed to appreciate my humor.” he follows suit.
Draco keeps the latch open for him and once the Gryffindor is inside they walk up the stairs.
“There’s a piano in here right?” Draco asks himself and smiles brightly when his memory was
correct. “I can spell it so it plays on it’s own.”

“You can do that?” The shorter sounds impressed.

“My mother did all the time when I was younger,” he pulls out his wand and casts the simple spell.
The piano, even though old and extremely rusty played beautifully. “Wonderful,” he smiles.
“Alright, Potter. The next hour will never be spoken to anyone. Not even Granger or Weasley. If
they ask, you practiced on your own.”

“Alright…”

“Obviously, you’ll be leading. Luckily for you, I know how to be, what people like to call, the
girls position. My mother didn’t approve those stereotypes so she taught herself how to lead when
she was younger.”

“Okay…”

“It’s going to be awkward at first, Potter. For…well, both of us.”

“No shit,” he mutters.

“Well you obviously can’t be standing so far away from me. Come on, Potter. I don’t bite,” he
smirks.

“Right,” he approaches him and stands there awkwardly.

“Your hand needs to be on my waist.”

“What?”

“My waist, Potter.” He grabs onto the shorter’s left hand and pulls him closer. Potter stumbles and
grips Draco’s waist.

“Not so hard, Potter!”

“Sorry!” he loosens his grip and Draco puts his free hand on his shoulder. They stare into each
others’ eyes and the Slytherin can’t help but roll his eyes.

“You have to go with in beat of the music, alright? And you can’t be too stiff because you’ll look
stupid. But if you can’t be too lose or you’ll—“

“Look stupid? I got that,” Draco notices the shorter seems already breathless.

“Just follow my lead— even though you’re eventually going to be leading.”

“Okay…”

Draco steps back with the beat of the music and Potter stumbles with him.

“A little heads up would be nice, Malfoy.”

“Okay— heads up,” another few steps back and hand switching places. “Watch your footing,
Potter,” he’ll mutter occasionally.

“Posture.”
“Posture?”

“Posture!” he repeated and they continued doing the same thing over and over again. Draco will
step back, Potter will follow, their hands will switch places, and repeat in a circle. “Okay, now
you’re going to have to pick me up and spin me and then spin me when I’m back on the ground.”

“Wh-what?” he trips on his footing and Draco has to practically catch him.

“Yes, you idiot,” he helps him back up. “You have to grab me by the waist— not tightly— then
pick me up and spin me. I land on my feet, we spin, and then we start from the top.”

“How do you even know this is the dance I’m going to have to do?”

“It’s traditional dance in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Didn’t you read up on the history? You’re in
the tournament.”

“I’ve been busy with other things,” he mutters. “…Alright, Malfoy. Let me pick you up and spin
you.”

“This is so bloody embarrassing,” he groans. “Are you ready?”

“As I can be,” he sighs. They start from the top; stepping backward and hands switching places.

“Okay— Now,” Potter grips his waist, extremely tightly, and lifts him up, surprisingly high enough
to spin around, land him back on his feet, and pull him close for a final spin. They both stop, for
breaths, and they make eye contact. It’s different… strange. A familiar feeling creeps into his chest
and it scares him in a different way. A feeling he can’t let resurface or he’ll break completely.
“Your grip was too tight,” he simply says. “Other than that you were not bad.”

“Thank god,” he smiles weakly. “Let’s continue then?”

“Yeah,” he easily nods. “Yeah…” and that’s what they do. They do the whole dance routine, Potter
occasionally stepping on his toes and Draco scowls him in a friendly way.

“I think you’re the one losing footing, Draco,” Potter teases. Hearing his first name come out of the
Gryffindor's mouth causes him to trip backward on a piece of loose floorboard he spent the whole
hour avoiding.

“Fuck—“ he stumbles back into the piano, pulling Potter with him. “Oof—“ his back hits the
instrument and Potter’s face collides with Draco’s chin.

“I was kidding—“ he wheezes “What just happened?” he looks up at him and goes abruptly silent.
A pair of green eyes meet grey ones in a way that’s never been met before.

“The floorboard,” he says weakly.

“The floorboard?” he whispers.

“Yes you—“

“Idiot, yeah I know.”

“Heh,” he huffs out quietly.

Potter eventually steps back, eyes scanning the room that Draco first found dull but now…
comforting? It was dark out and the moonlight was the only thing shining through the windows.
 He hadn’t even noticed it was completely dark out. He was too in the moment of teaching.

“You learned well,” Draco eventually says. “Whichever girl you end up going with will be pretty
lucky.”

“Right—“ his eyes widen as if he’s been caught doing something wrong. “I still have to find a
date,” he chuckles. “I can’t think of anyone who I could go with.”

“What about the Patil Twins?” He says even though something in him was trying to stop him.
“Since you and Weasley don’t have dates, maybe you both could with them.”

“Maybe. They’re both really nice.”

“And are both madly in love with you.”

“Whatever,” he chuckles shyly. “We should get going.”

“Yeah,” he nods. “Ladies first, Potter.”

“Nice one, Malfoy,” he grins and leaves through the door; Draco follows suit. They make it
through the passageway and back to the castle.

“Thank you for the lesson,” Potter says while they walk down the hallway that splits off to the
Gryffindor Tower and the Dungeons.

“Of course,” he does a polite curt nod. “I won’t get secondhand embarrassment while watching
you dance.”

“You’re welcome,” he smirks.

They come to halt where they have to part ways. “I think the next time I see you will be at the Yule
Ball.”

“That is true. Just know if you’re wearing anything like Weasley you won’t hear the end of it from
me.”

“Don’t be so rude,” but there’s a smile on his face. “Have a goodnight then, Draco,”

“You too, Potter,” and he leaves for the Dungeons with a smile on his face but his heart pounding
aggressively in a way he didn’t please.

Chapter End Notes

Please let me know what you guys think. This is probably my favorite chapter of mine
now :,)
 Chapter 28
Chapter Summary

“There he is,” Draco can tell the exact moment Blaise regrets telling the two of them
because Pansy’s jaw drops, and Draco’s eyes are about to fall out of their sockets.
“Are you serious?” Pansy speaks.
“Yes, I am.” he shoots them both a warning look.

THE YULE BALL

Chapter Notes

hope you enjoy :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Do not freak him out,” Blaise says sternly. “It’s completely platonic— which I’m fine with. He’s
not sure what he is and I’m not going to pressure him into thinking about it.”

“We can’t promise we won’t scare off the bloke, sweetheart,” Pansy teases. “He should know what
he got himself into by going with you.”

“Yeah, Blaise,” Draco smirks. “I want to get to know the guy that has got the Great Blaise Zabini
fall head over heals.”

They were currently walking into the castle with every other couple. Pansy and Draco were linked
together while Blaise looked awfully like a third wheel.

“There he is,” Draco can tell the exact moment Blaise regrets telling the two of them because
Pansy’s jaw drops, and Draco’s eyes are about to fall out of their sockets.

“Are you serious?” Pansy speaks.

“Yes, I am.” he shoots them both a warning look. “Make any nasty comment and you'll regret
coming to this ball.” With that being said, Blaise walks over to a nervous-looking Neville
Longbottom. He was standing off to the side very awkwardly and his face visibly lights up when
Blaise approaches him. Longbottom blushes at something Blaise says and then replies with
something that makes the Slytherin laugh. Like a genuine laugh.

Eventually Pansy drags herself and Draco towards them.

“How the fuck did this happen?” She asks.

“We have Herbology together,” Blaise says sharply.

“And we had it together last year…” Longbottom adds quietly.

“So you’re gay, Longbottom?”

Pansy and her bluntness.

“For fucks sake—“ he growls. “Come on Neville,” his tone turns soft, and gently drags him
towards the entrance.

“Longbottom?” Draco finally says. “How… I mean, how?”

“I don’t understand it either,” Pansy admits.

“How could you not know he’s been making friendly with Longbottom?”

“How could I not know?” Pansy glares at him. “Aren’t you his best friend?”

“Aren’t ‘best friends,’” he mocks the words because they sound childish. “supposed to tell each
other everything!” he still whines.

“The three of us will talk about this more tomorrow. I want to enjoy tonight because this might be
the only time I get to wear this dress.”

“I don’t think that’s remotely true.”

“No, but it’s a good excuse,” she grins. “Come on, I told Daphne we would meet her inside.”

“Who’s her date?” he asks as they walk in.

“I don’t know,” her facial expression clearly turns into jealousy. “Some Ravenclaw. Anthony
something,” she lightly shrugs.

“Goldstein?”

“Maybe,” he grumbles and Draco has to stop for a brief few moments to take in the scenery. It’s
absolutely beautiful. The fake snow that looked so real, the beautiful table set ups, the orchestra
that Flitwick will soon conduct. (Draco believes the professor should be appreciated more for the
music he makes.)

“Daphne!” Pansy smiles brightly.

“Pans!” she pulls out of the conversation with the Ravenclaw to smile at both of them. “You both
look dashing.”

“As do you,” he says politely and honestly. “I didn’t know you had your eyes on a Ravenclaw.
Goldstein, right?”

“Yeah, Malfoy, but Anthony is fine.”

“If you’re not in Slytherin, I only call you by your last name.”

He shrugs. “I’m fine with that. Better than a crude insult.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh! Nothing,” he chuckles genuinely. “Didn’t mean anything by it. You’ve changed, that’s cool,
but that wasn’t my intention with that comment,” Draco is surprised at the other's easy-going
attitude. He honestly appreciates it.
“I believe you,” he simply says. “So who asked who?”

“I asked her,” he smiles sweetly. “She said she wanted nothing more than a partner to dance with
tonight.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Of course. I get to dance with one of the cleverest people I know. I think it’s brilliant.”

“Of course you would,” Pansy mutters so quietly Draco is the only one to hear.

“Did you see who Blaise’s date is?” Daphne asks.

“Don’t bloody remind me,” Draco groans.

“What’s wrong with Neville?” Goldstein says defensively

“There is nothing wrong with Longbottom. It’s just the last person I excepted Blaise to go after.”

“I guess you’re right there,” the Ravenclaw admits.

“Everyone, please, make a clearway for our Champions!” Dumbledore's voice booms with great
delight. People began to shuffle to the right and left, whispering excitingly. The music begins and
the doors swing open. Fleur Delacour walks in alongside Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch
Captain, and then Granger walks in with,

“Viktor Krum?” Draco says.

“Look at her dress…” Pansy murmurs. “She’s actually pretty,” she admits.

“Her date is Viktor Krum?” he gapes.

Followed right behind them was Cedric Diggory with… Cho Chang. That’s who she said yes to? I
mean… it makes sense, but still… he’s Harry Potter.

Speaking of Harry Potter, the Gryffindor was walking in with one of the Patil sisters. He thinks it’s
Pavarti but he’s not quite sure. The shorter looks extremely uncomfortable. Smiling awkwardly and
eyes scanning the ground and the people. He doesn’t even notice Draco which makes a pang
feeling strike through his chest. The Champions get into position with their dates and Potter looks
tense but somehow confident.

He watches as he begins to dance when the music starts up. His posture was almost perfect, a
gentle smile plastered on his face, and he could see the Gryffindor glance down every few seconds
to check his footing. He looked…well… he was a sight that Draco never wanted to look away
from. Dumbledore and McGonagall joined and afterward more and more students. Draco grins at
Pansy and without having to speak, they take each other's hand and join the others. He remembers
having to dance with her a few times when they were younger. He never enjoyed it and aware of
Pansy’s pretending, she didn’t either. Now, they stare at each other while dancing, quite beautifully
Draco would add, as real friends. He’s extremely grateful.

“Oh, Draco, come on!” whines Pansy in a playful tone.

“Pansy, I am not!”
“Draco!”

“Absolutely not. Tell her she’s mental, Goldstein!” He’s gotten on good-talking terms over the past
two hours with the Ravenclaw.

“You’re on your own Draco,” he grins

“Just carry her!” Daphne laughs. “It’ll be a sight to see for sure.”

“You’re awful, Daff,” he groans. “I’m not carrying you back to the Dungeons. You’re on your
own, Pans.”

“But—“

“I’m going to find Blaise,” he leaves the trio and searches for his other friend and his Gryffindor
date.

“Draco Malfoy!” a voice he hasn’t heard in a while says from behind him.

“Atlantas,” Draco smiles gently and turns around. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I am sorry. My friends take up most of my time,” he grins. “Not a good excuse but it is the only
one I have.”

“I understand,” he says honestly. “I’ve been busy too.”

“Would you…hm, would you care to dance with me?”

“Oh—“ he’s surprised by the sudden question. A wave of shame crashes over him “Atlantas I…”

“I am sorry,” he steps back. “I misunderstood you then. I should not have assumed.”

“No— No, you assumed, right,” he smiles weakly. “I just… I can’t dance with you in public.
People will talk and my father…”

“I understand,” he does a polite curt nod and smiles softly. “You are not ashamed. It is your father
you fear of finding out.”

“Something like that…” he sighs. “I am so sorry Atlantas.”

“It is no problem, Draco Malfoy. I swear on it.”

He gives another weak smile and watches the Bulgarian turn around to leave for his friends. Draco
remains standing in place hating how he couldn’t dance with the one boy who showed mutual
interest in him. It really made him feel horrible about himself. About his father… No. He wasn’t
going to think about him right now. Absolutely not. He fills his mind with other random thoughts
but the emotional feeling was still lurking.

‘I need some air,’ he thinks to himself and walks out of the Great Hall without another thought. He
honestly wanted to be alone. Genuinely. He swears, but, seeing Potter shuffling to the side after
looking awkwardly inside a carriage, Draco was immediately intrigued.

He follows after him, “what are you doing out here alone, Potter?”

He whips around, “Ma—“ he pauses in his speech. He looks… flustered?

“Uh… Potter?”

“H-hi!” Is he blushing? “Ever learn not to sneak up on someone?”

“Sorry,” he smirks lightly. “But seriously. Why aren’t you with your date? Or you friends?”

“I needed some air,” he shrugs, his weird demeanor slowly fading. “And you? Why are you out
here alone?”

“Same reason. I actually wanted to be alone but I saw you looking awfully sad so…”

“Came to make fun of me?”

“Came to ask why, actually. I’m not entirely—“

“Sh!” Potter whispers abruptly.

“Did you just—“

“Shh!” he repeats again and peaks behind a pillar.

“Why are you shushing me?” he asks sharply but quietly.

“I told you already Igor I don’t see any reason to discuss it,” Snape’s boring voice speaks from the
other side of the courtyard. Draco peaks over Potter’s head and sees Snape rushing over to a
carriage, Igor Karkaroff following suit.

“Lumos!” The carriage window rolls down and a couple starts rushing out.

“What do you think they were doing in there?” Draco snickers as Snape takes house points from
them.

He rolls his eyes, “shut up, Draco.”

“It’s a sign, Severus!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” Karkaroff’s voice spits like venom. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind rolling up your sleeve.
Ah?” Snape snatches his arm away from him “You don’t fool me, Severus!”

“What are they talking about?” Draco whispers.

“You are scared!” continues Karkaroff. “Admit it!”

“I have nothing to be scared of, Igor. Can you say the same?” they stare at each other intensely
before Karkaroff storms off one way; Snape the other.

“What were they talking about, Potter?”

“Probably nothing,” he replies and Draco knows he’s lying. “We should go back inside,” he’s not
asking. He walks past him and he follows even though he was hoping they would stay out here
together a little longer… Entering the castle, they run into a distraught-looking Ronald Weasley
and an angry Hermione Granger.

“Harry—“ the ginger says as if he’s been caught doing something wrong.
“Where have you been?!” Potter goes to answer but she wasn’t finished. “Never mind! Off to bed!
Both of you!” Potter's eyes dart between him and Granger.

“See you later, Draco,” he rushers out before murmuring something to Weasley that makes him
reply with,

“They get scarier as they get older.”

“You spoiled everything, Ron!” She cries roughly and the 2 other Gryffindors rush up the stairs.
Granger was now crying on the stairsteps, wiping her tears away as Draco stood there awkwardly.

“… Are you alright, Granger?” It was a stupid question and Draco’s awkward tone didn’t help.

“I’m just being silly,” more tears stream down. “You can leave me alone, Malfoy.”

“That’d probably be best,” he nods but doesn’t walk away yet. “But if you’re crying it must not be
so silly,” he simply says. “He shouldn’t have made you cry while looking like that,” he was not
going to tell her she looked stunning. That would be weird.

“I’m not sure that’s entirely comforting,” but there’s a light smile on her face.

“Would it be comforting if I offered to hex Weasley for you?”

“That won’t be necessary but… thank you, Malfoy.”

He nods before walking back into the Great Hall. There were still people there. By the looks of it,
Pansy, Daphne, and Goldstein left on their own— thank Salazar. He looks around and his eyes
catch Blaise and Neville Longbottom chatting at a table in the corner.

“You’re both still here?” Draco asks once in earshot.

“Looks like it,” Blaise doesn’t sound amused.

“Relax, Zabini,” he teases. “I won’t say anything rude,” he sits down next to him. “So.
Longbottom,”

“Draco,” Blaise warns.

“You and I have never been on good terms. Partially my fault, partially yours for being an easy
target.”

“Draco—“

“Thanks,” Longbottom replies dryly.

“But I would like to apologize for the hexes I’ve sent your way. I… honestly don’t have an excuse
for that. I just found it fun…” he admits because that was in fact true. Longbottom, in their first and
second years, was quite small and not able to stand up for himself. It was an easy way to let out
some of his anger toward his father. “But I don’t anymore.”

“Uh, okay,” he nods. “The past is the past, I guess.”

“Great!” he grins. “So, Longbottom, anything interesting happening in the Gryffindor Tower?”

“What?” he chuckles nervously. “Not really? Probably me going to The Ball with a Slytherin…
who’s a bloke,” his ears turn pink. “And Harry defeating the dragon. Oh, and Hermione going with
 Viktor Krum? You saw that right?”

“I did, actually. I’m not entirly surprised. She’s clever and has…tolerable looks.”

“Yeah...” Longbottom looks torn between agreeing and being in shock at the fact that Draco
Malfoy complimented Hermione Granger.

“Well, I’m off to bed. My date is gone and I don’t want to be a third wheel,” Blaise glares at him.
“I’ll see you down in the Dungeons, Blaise,” he stands. “Longbottom, I’ll probably be seeing you
around more often,” he grins. “But if you take my only friend away our problems will be coming
back.”

“I’m not your only friend, Draco.”

“No, but you’re my favorite friend,” he winks and leaves for his dorm.

Chapter End Notes

the snape and karkaroff moment is literally from the deleted scene from the movie

so... blaise went with neville :) this lil ship means a lot to me. it's so unexpected and
they would just make a great dynamic and it's great. Who did you guys think it would
be?
 Chapter 29
Chapter Summary

“I wanted to congratulate you for your moral fiber.”

“Thanks,” he grumbles but his cheeks still turn a light shade of pink. “Is that it? Not
going to make a classic Draco Malfoy comment?”
“Do you want me to?” he muses

The Second Task and another thing

Chapter Notes

enjoy :D

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco watches as Potter elegantly (definitely not) falls into the water after Mad-Eye Moody pushes
him in. His heart thumped in a way he didn't please. Was he nervous? For what? Potter? His friends
can be nervous about him. Draco will not be.

“What do you think is the important thing they have to retrieve?” he asks.

“Could be anything really,” replies Blaise.

“I hope Potter’s is something embarrassing,” he can’t help but say. “A stuffed teddy bear perhaps.”

“You really think that’s what he values most.”

He shrugs, “you never know.” he then abruptly groans causing his friend to quirk an eyebrow.
“We’re expected to stand out here and wait for them to resurface?”

“Pretty much.”

Draco sighs and leans against the railing, tuning out the chatter around him. He stares at the water,
admiring the color and the waves. He realizes this was going to be a long hour.

1. Long. Hour. Later.

Fleur Delacour had come up early, shivering and almost crying with no apparent item, and Draco
grew slightly worried. Now, Cedric Diggory emerges from the water with Cho Chang!?

“Their important item is a person?” he gapes.

“I guess so,” Blaise replies wide-eyed.

“No wonder Fleur has been looking so distressed for the past thirty minutes.”
Just then, Viktor Krum gasps for air along with Hermione Granger.

“How is Granger the most important person in Krum’s life?” he questions.

“Poor, bloke,” Blaise says. “He must be lonely,” and Draco agrees with him.

“Where’s Potter?” Blaise shrugs. “He’s not resurfacing.”

“Why are you getting so worked up?”

He doesn’t reply. How can he relax when Potter, his secret friend, isn’t out of the water? He’s
supposed to be out… what if he’s drowning? They wouldn’t let him die right? But Dumbledore
isn’t doing anything. This wasn’t right… why aren’t they doing anything?

A few seconds pass and two people gasp for air but it’s not Potter. It’s Weasley and Fleur’s sister.
Blaise doesn’t know he’s friends with Potter... He’s not exactly hiding it but Blaise hasn’t asked so
no reason to tell him.

People are starting to whisper and chatter. From where Draco was standing he can see Granger and
Weasley starting to become concerned too. What the—

Someone emerges from the water and literally crashes onto the deck. Cheers roar through the
crowd and Draco cracks a smile. Potter was alive and trying to breathe which was great.

“Your boyfriend is alive, Draco,” Blaise grins and Draco’s first instinct is to smack him upside the
head— which he does. “Do that again Draco I swear to—“

“Don’t act like you didn’t deserve that.”

“I didn’t!” he glares.

“That’s extremely debatable,” he smirks.

“Oi! Draco!” He had purposefully passed Potter while he was speaking with Professor Moody for a
brief second. He parted ways with Blaise and walked away from the crowd and a little way into the
forest, hoping the Gryffindor understood what he was wanting.

“You’re smarter than you look Potter,” he smirks. “I didn’t think you could take a hint.”

“You were staring at me as if I was the most important person ever. It wasn’t that hard to figure
out you wanted to talk. Why exactly do you want to talk?”

“We’re friends, Potter,” he drawls. “I wanted to congratulate you for your moral fiber.”

“Thanks,” he grumbles but his cheeks still turn a light shade of pink. “Is that it? Not going to make
a classic Draco Malfoy comment?”

“Do you want me to?” he muses

“I’d be concerned if you didn’t,” he smirks.

“You know me too well,” he smirks back. “Your performance was excellent by the way. The way
you elegantly dived in and then emerged out the water over an hour later. You were absolutely
beautiful.”
“Why thank you,” he looks smug even though he knows it’s sarcasm and Draco can’t help but
snort. “Someone has to be the best in looking the worst.”

“You only look the worst while doing these tasks.”

“You’re very kind,” he rolls his eyes and begins shivering. “Jesus,” he whispers.

“Cold?”

‘You could say that,” he pulls his towel closer to his chest if that were even possible. “Can’t even
go back to the castle just yet. I told Ron and Hermione I’d meet them at Hagrids’.”

“Take my coat,” he offers without hesitation. He would have done it for Blaise or Pansy if she was
off to rendezvous with Daphne— although that would probably never happen because neither girls
can’t seem to own up to their feelings. He really wasn’t thinking with that much thought.

“Oh— No, it’s, it’s fine,” he becomes flustered all of a sudden.

“Honestly, Potter, you probably need this coat more than I do,” he takes it off, revealing he was
wearing a long sleeve shirt that was striped with red and gold. Blaise had shot him with a hex that
changed his once black-sleeved shirt to this awful color pattern. He completely forgot…

“Oh fuck,” he whispers and Potter bursts out laughing.

“There’s no way—“ he chokes out. “Honestly— am I imagining this? Are you actually wearing—“

“Potter, say one more word and you won’t be making it to Hagrids’ in one piece.”

“Did you loose a bet or something? You’d never put that on willingly!” he couldn’t seem to stop
laughing.

“Blaise changed the color,” he lightly growls and pulls his wand out of his pocket, changing it
back to the original black it was. “Wouldn’t wear off until the bloody task was over. Clearly I
forgot,” he shoves his coat into the others hand. “Put this on,” That gets him to shut up.

“I’m not— You don’t have to—“

“Put it on, Potter. It’s perfectly simple.”

He can see Potter’s mind racing just by looking at him and Draco can’t seem to understand why.
The other takes his towel off and puts on the black coat. Potter looks… smaller. The coat goes past
his knees and the sleeves were a bit too long. But how could he look smaller and somehow older at
the same time? How was that even possible? He looked… handsome. Even with the markings on
his neck and wet hair and clothes.

It finally clicks into Draco’s mind that Potter is wearing his coat. Draco had given Harry Potter his
coat and he looked amazing in it. Almost better than Draco himself and he wasn’t even in proper
dress attire. Draco Malfoy was an idiot. How could he be so stupid? It’s as if there was something
inside of him sabotaging his plan. It’s probably a version of Professor Lupin. No, it’s defiantly an
imaginative version of Professor Lupin Draco has somehow created in the back of his mind.

“Thanks, Draco,” his voice was clearly being forced to sound steady.

“Yes, of course,” he nods and folds his arms in front of his chest.

“I’ll, er, I have to go. I’ll return this to you later, yeah?” he starts to walk off.
 “And how will you find me?”

“Remember? I’ve put a tracker spell on you,” and Draco watches him walk off through the forest.
He watches him stuff his hands in the coat pocket and his heart flutters. He was stupid. So stupid.

Chapter End Notes

the next chapter will be about Harry returning his coat. I didn't add it in this because
something a lil wild happens :]

what time is it for you right now? I'm super curious

 Chapter 30
Chapter Summary

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Why does that matter, Draco?” He starts to approach him. “We’re alone, that’s what
matters.”

Harry returns Draco's coat.

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!

CW: f slur used.

I also want you guys to know I'm a trans boy who's pansexual. I'm not cis or straight
so I'm not writing a slur I can't claim!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco was determined to find out if Potter really could find him anywhere. He didn’t exactly
believe the other had put a tracking spell on him but there was no other explanation.

So after dinner, Draco roamed around the castle. Going down different hallways he’s never been
down before. There was absolutely no way Potter was going to find him. Draco was going to wait
twenty minutes in one spot and then leave off for bed and then tomorrow he was going to call him
out about it. It was a brilliant plan, along with childish, but he’s fourteen. He should be doing more
stupid things.

He’s opened multiple doors out of curiosity; Accidentally opening Snape’s storage and getting a
light scowling from the Professor.

He was exploring a hallway near the moving stairs when a door slightly creeps open and it catches
Draco’s intrigment. He steps into the dark closet which leads him to pull out his wand.

“Lumos,” he whispers and gasps roughly backing into the now closed door. “ Merlin, Potter!” he
growls. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Why does that matter, Draco?” He starts to approach him. “We’re alone, that’s what matters.”

“Alright?” he ignores the strange attitude and the fact he was inside this closet. “Do you have my
coat?”

“How does it feel, Draco, to know you’ll never have me.”

“Wh—what?” he stutters.

“Fuck, you haven’t changed. Still pathetic I see.”

“Potter, why are you…” He gulps when the other bats his eyes up at him with a devil-like smirk.

“You wish you could have me. You really do. Do you think since you’ve changed I would fall for
you? I thought you were supposed to be smart… You know who’s pretty smart? Your friend
Zabini. He’s faggot too right?”

“This isn’t you,” he whimpers and an old pathetic feeling comes back. “This isn’t…”

“You know you deserve what you get, right? When he uses this,” he pulls out a wand with a snake
topper from his pocket and Draco’s heart sinks. That was his father's wand. How does Potter… oh.

“You’re not him,” he breathes out in realization. He pulls out his wand.

“Fucking Pathetic,” Boggart Harry chuckles so darkly he falters when he says Riddikulus. The
Boggart turns into his father and Draco's mouth falls open.

“You disgrace!” His father roars and Draco feels like he’s a rat compared to a snake. “I cannot
believe I’ve been stuck with you for a son!”

“RIddikulus!” Draco cries and his fathers' clothes turn into the ones he saw Longbottom turn
Snape’s over a year ago. The boggart cowers into the shadows of the closet and he rushes out of
the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

He felt sick and the fact that he was having trouble taking proper breaths wasn’t helping. Do the
Professors not know there is a Boggart in there? He can’t exactly say anything because he’ll be
asked why he was in the closet anyway. For fuck sake why… why had he walked into the room?
He didn’t need this right now. He didn’t need this feeling of deja vu. He didn’t have Professor
Lupin to talk with either. He couldn’t storm into the DADA classroom and seek the comfort he
needs right now. He groans in frustration as he picks up the pace to the Dungeons, not caring for
his coat anymore.

“Malfoy!!” a familiar voice calls from behind him. He can’t do this right now… he can’t look him
in the eyes right now. “Draco!”

He comes to a halt and turns around, refusing to make eye contact with Potter.

“Potter, hello, you’ve found me.”

“I have,” he grins. “Not going to ask me how?”

“Tracker spell, right? Can I have my coat back?” he rushes out.

“Er, yeah,” he holds it out and he takes it.

“Thank you,” he takes it and turns to leave.

“Are you alright?” Draco tenses at the question; not having expected it.

“I’m fine,” he replies stiffly.

“Are you sure? You look…”

“I look what?” he glares back at him.

“Nothing! Jesus,” Potter mutters. “I was just hoping to talk to you for a brief second. Clearly you
don’t want to”
 “Yes. Clearly,” he snarls.

He scoffs, “what’s your problem?”

“I have no problem.”

“You obviously do. Do you want to, uh, talk about it?”

“And why would I talk to you about it? Because we’re ‘friends?’”

“‘Friends?’”

“Yes,” he growls. He was overwhelmed with unwanted emotions and looking at Potter was not
helping.

“Thanks for your coat, Draco,” and then he leaves the way he came from.

Draco stares, a longing and regretful feeling creeping inside him before continuing his journey to
his dorm. He clings onto his coat which strongly smells like Potter now.

He’ll never admit this out loud. But once he was fully dressed and ready for bed, he clung onto the
coat Potter had borrowed and took deep breaths; reminding himself Potter would never turn out to
be like his Boggart; some homophobic, cruel, hateful wizard. He reminds himself what he said
wasn’t true; he didn't deserve how he was treated at home. Right?

"Yes, right," his figurative version of Professor Lupin practically shouts in his head. "You don't
deserve it!"

He needed Professor Lupin. The real him. He needed his advice and guidance and his supplied
safe environment… he accidentally falls asleep with the coat still gripped in his hands.

Chapter End Notes

a lil throwback of the boggart. opinions?

 Chapter 31
Chapter Summary

“Malfoy.”
“I’m Malfoy again?” he muses. “Interesting.”
“Well we’re not friends, are we?” he opens his textbook.

Potions Class :D

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Off you go,” Snape’s voice says sharply throughout the room.

“Alright, Draco,” Blaise begins. “We need—“

“Be partners with Longbottom,” he grabs onto his friend's arm and pulls him out of his chair.

“Let go of me,” he grumbles. “Why do you want me to partner with him?”

“Because I know you want to,” he nudges him towards the table where Longbottom was looking
around anxiously. “Before Professor Snape makes a mockery of him. Oh, wait, I think you’re too
late.”

“Mr. Longbottom, did you not hear me when I said to find a partner?”

“I-I- yes I-I did hear you—“ he stammers.

“So how come you’re standing off alone?”

“He was waiting for me, Professor,” Blaise says while approaching the two of them. “I was
finishing a conversation with Malfoy.”

“Mr. Zabini, you are Longbottom’s partner?”

“Yes, Sir,” he nods with a grin. “Is there a problem?”

“Is that talk back, Zabini?”

“Of course not, Professor. I wouldn’t dream to embarrass you like that in front of a class of fourth
years. Come on, Neville. We need to get the ingredients,” he grabs the Gryffindor by the arm and
takes him to the back.

Draco chuckles and glances over to see Potter and Weasley laughing too. He makes eye contact
with the brunette and he quickly looks away from him. So… he must still be pissed off at the
comment he made yesterday. He hadn’t meant it. He really hadn’t. He saw Potter as a friend—
even if it was a secret friendship. Did he fuck up? Yeah maybe he did a little bit, but he has a plan.
He’s great at those.

“Professor?” he calls out.

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy?” he approaches him.

“I’m short of a partner, Sir.”

“I see,” He quickly scans the room and just what he wanted happens. “Potter,” he approaches the
Gryffindors. “You have been in my class for four years now. I would expect you to know when I
say to choose a partner it means a pair of two. Do you know how many people are this table?”

He suppresses an eye roll, “three, sir.”

“Exactly. Now, Mr. Potter, I believe you a smart enough to figure out which student is without a
partner.”

“Malfoy?” he sighs.

“There’s a brain in that skull after all,” he leaves for his desk.

“I can be partners with him, Harry,” Draco can hear Granger say.

“It’s fine,” he grumbles and walks over to Draco. “Malfoy.”

“I’m Malfoy again?” he muses. “Interesting.”

“Well we’re not friends, are we?” he opens his textbook.

“Look, Potter—“

“Can we just work on the Potion?”

“Stop being so immature,” he rolls his eyes. “Let me tell you why I said what I said—“

“I don’t really want to hear it. Can we work on this?”

“You’ve got the wrong page openned.”

“Oh,” he mutters and flips through the book. “What are we brewing?”

“A Wit-Sharpening Potion. But could you just listen to me?”

“We need ground scarab beetles, newt spleens, ar—“

“For fuck sakes, Potter, you’re so immature. I didn’t mean what I said!” he whispers in a harsh
tone. “I had just—“ he inhales sharply.

“You had just what?”

He groans, “you wouldn’t believe me.” he walks to the back to get the ingredients and Potter
follows.

“Try me.”
“I ran into a Boggart, alright?” he grabs everything they need.

“It was in a cl—“

“Closet,” he finishes for him. “Yeah I know.”

“You know?”

“Yeah, er, Professor Lupin told me.”

“Oh...How kind of him,” he says genuinely. “But yeah I ran into it. I wasn’t in the mood to talk
with anyone.”

“What’d you see?”

He snorts. “That’s none of your business.”

“I suppose not, but we’re friends aren’t we?”

“Don’t say that so loudly!” he hisses. “I’m not telling you anything. Let’s just work on this Potions,
okay? I’d rather not think about my Boggart.”

“Fine, fine. Let’s do this…”

Working with Potter was one of the most excruciating things he’s ever done. Draco was someone
who needed things to go his way in this class and this class only. Blaise knows this. Pansy knows
this. Hell, even Theo knows this. Potter clearly doesn’t care. He seemed to be finding amusement
in the way Draco would smack his hand away or glare at him in a very unfriendly way. He has
never been more grateful for his quick skills in this class.

“Now I understand why Granger prefers to work alone.”

“I’m not that bad,” he grins.

“Potter, I would have rather been partners with Nott.”

His jaw drops. “That was cruel.”

“Okay, perhaps that was cruel.”

“I’m usually not like this. I just noticed it bothered you.”

“You’re a wonderful friend,” he grumbles.

“Only for you.”

Draco hides his blush by glancing back to see Blaise and Longbottom laughing.

“You talk to Longbottom sometimes right?”

“Sometimes? He’s my roommate and my friend. I talk to him more than sometimes, Draco.”

“Does he talk to you about Blaise?”

“He has a few times. You should have seen him when he came back from the ball. I’d never seen
him so happy.”
 “Really?” he muses. “Blaise told me it was a platonic date. That Longbottom was still questioning
his sexuality.”

“Yeah, Neville was talking to Ginny and I about it. He’s not sure if he’s gay or bisexual. He just
knows he’s attracted to Blaise. He claims he’s falling for him,” Draco’s jaws drop. “Shit, don’t tell
Zabini I said that. Neville will freak out.”

“Secret’s safe with me,” he promises.

“Good,” he exhales. “But yeah. He’s just very conflicted. Not sure how to label himself.”

“What did you tell him when he told you that?”

“I didn’t really say anything,” he admits. “I just nodded, I think.”

“For Merlins sake,” he shakes his head. “You need to tell him that he doesn’t have to label himself
anytime soon. He can like Blaise without having to call himself Gay or Bisexual or even
Pansexual.”

“Pansexual?”

“It’s another sexuality, Potter. I’ll explain it to you another day. Longbottom should let himself feel
whatever he’s feeling without labeling himself. You should tell him that,” he looks back and he
sees the look in Blaise’s eyes. They were actually twinkling. He looked so happy. And honestly,
he’s never seen Longbottom so loose. “I think they’re good for each other.”

“You think so?” he looks back at the pair too.

“Yeah, Blaise is a good bloke. He’ll help Longbottom stand up for himself and Neville will help
Blaise open up more.”

“Did you just call him Neville?”

“Well if Blaise is going to be around him more…” he grumbles.

“So you’ll call him by his first name but not me?”

“Potter, the day I call you by your first name is the day hell freezes over.”

“That’s bloody unfair.”

And Draco replies with a smirk.

Chapter End Notes

I'd like to say a few things.

Blaise shitting on Snape is one of my favorite things I've ever written. You all know
he WOULD!
This potions class happens in the books so it works
it's also canon on the Marauders Map that the location of the Boggart is known. That's
why Harry knows about it. ALSO Harry checked the map after Draco left the closet so
he didn't see him in there. Just wanted to clear that up just in case.
 Chapter 32- End of Fourth Year
Chapter Summary

“You’ll do great, Potter.”

“You think so?”
“Yeah."

A Final Task

Chapter Notes

ENJOY

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Potter!”

“Draco?” he turns. He was walking with Dumbledore to where the champions were meant to meet
up. He couldn’t care if The Headmaster knew about their friendship. What’s he going to do about
it?

“You have five minutes, Harry,” Dumbledore says and leaves under the bleachers.

“Shouldn’t you be with Zabini?”

“He has Neville to keep him company," there's a pause in his speech. "Are you nervous?”

“More then you could imagine,” his breathing hitches.

“Here,” he rummages through his pocket. “Lupin always said chocolate helps.’

“Heh,” he smiles fondly and takes it. “Thank you.”

“You’ll do great, Potter.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “You’re Harry Potter," he meant it as a good thing. A compliment really but the
way the other reacts was quite shocking.

“Sure,” his voice falters. “Yeah… you’re right…” he gives a weak smile. “I’ll see you after?”

“Of course,” and they part ways.

Draco joins Pansy and Daphne who was standing next to Blaise who was standing next to
Longbottom who was in front of Granger and Weasley.

“Where have you been?” Pansy asks.

“I got lost,” he grumbles and lightly pushes past to stand next to Blaise.

“You’re just in time, Draco,” Blaise grins. “The champions are about to come out.”

The music begins and the crowd starts chanting with excitement. A few moments later Cedric
Diggory and his father come rushing out— The Hufflepuff looks embarrassed while his father
looks proud. Fleur Delacour follows with Madam Maxine and they both look very elegant and
honored. Next was Krum who was pretty much full of himself, Igor Karkaoff chanting with the
Bulgarian students. Then Potter hesitantly walks out with Dumbledore in the most awkward way
possible.

“SILENCE!” Dumbledore's voice booms. “Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard
Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows where it is.

“As for Mr. Diggory…” all the Hufflepuffs stand and cheer “And Mr. Potter…” All the
Gryffindors stand and Potter looks over with a smile that clearly meant he cared. The two of them
make eye contact and Draco sends a wink his way because a wave would have been too obvious.
“… are tied for first position they will be the first to enter the maze. Followed my Mr. Krum and
Miss Delacor. First person to touch the cup will be the winner! I’ve instructed the staff to patrol the
perimeter. Should, at any point, a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only
send up red sparks with their wands. Contestants! Gather around!” The five of them gather around
and a few whispers break out between Draco’s group.

“It’s totally going to be rigged so Fleur won’t win,” Pansy grumbles to no one. “They just want a
‘big strong man’ to comeback with the cup,” she rolls her eyes.

“Who are you rooting for?” Neville asks Blaise.

“Cedric,” he replies easily.

“I saw you wink at Potter,” Daphne whispers to Draco. He bites the inside of his cheek to stop
himself from having an obvious reaction.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he whispers back and she smirks.

‘On the count of three! One—“ and boom goes the canon. They go in the order of which
Dumbledore said they would and the crowd breaks out into chatter and pure excitement.

“'Ello, Malfoy,” George Weasley says from behind him.

“George Weasley,” he grins and looks back at him. “Long time, no talk.”

“If you wanted to talk to me so badly you could have seeked me out.”

“For fuck sakes Weasley,” He grins. “Where’s your twin?”

“Doing what I’m supposed to be doing… persuading people to bet.”

He scoffs with amusement. “Absolutely not.”

“Aren’t you insanely rich? You probably have 100 galleons in your pocket right now.”

“I actually have some chocolate in my pocket,” he pulls it out. “Do you want it?”

He rolls his eyes, “why are you like this?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he smirks. George snatches the chocolate out of his hand
and walks away, not before shooting a small hex that sends a shock in his hands.

“OW!” Draco yelps and George snickers as he continues off. “Fucking Weasley,” he grumbles.

Time passes on and everyone was getting antsier and antsier. Draco swears his heart stopped when
red sparks shot up in the sky. He felt guilty that he was sad it was Fleur who was pulled out and not
Potter… She had been crying and it made Draco’s fear worse. It was taking so long… Even Viktor
Krum had pulled out and that caused everyone to break out into frantic questioning. Igor Karkaoff
looked like he was about to explode with anger.

“Draco?” a voice pulls him out of his irrational thoughts. He thought it was Pansy or Daphne, but
Daphne was sleeping on the other girl's shoulder and Pansy was staring at her hand (probably
debating on holding it or not). “Draco!” he turns around and sees it’s Granger speaking to him.

“Oh— hello.”

“How are you?”

“How am I…?”

“Yes, it’s a simple question.”

“I know that, Granger,” he huffs. “It’s a simple question I wasn’t expecting you to ask me.”

“Well I did ask you. So you should answer it.”

“I’m doing fine,” he reluctantly says. “And you?”

“I’m doing fine as well,” she smiles gently. Her eyes dart between him and Weasley who was
looking anywhere but Draco. “Ron,” she whispers harshly.

“Er, so, you’re rooting for Harry then?” he forces himself to say.

“In secret, yes,” he admits quietly.

‘So you’re like actually friends with him?”

“Not so loud, Weasley!” he growls which gets the attention of Blaise and Neville who had been
chatting the whole time.

“Do my ears deceive me?” Blaise smirks. “Is that who you’ve been sneaking around to talk to?”

“I have not been sneaking around!”

“But you two do talk in secret,” Granger adds.

“Well that’s true, but I haven’t been sneaking around! We meet up and talk. That doesn’t fall under
the sneaking around category.”

“You two meet up?” He was surprised to hear Longbottom ask that in such a teasing tone.

“Yes,” he says sharply. “We meet up and talk. The only reason it’s secret because Slytherin’s like
to talk and if my father knew I was friends with the boy who lived I’d be—“ I can’t say dead. I
can’t say dead. “In trouble.”

“Your father is such—“ Granger kicks Weasley's shin and he yelps.

“Thank you,” Draco grins at Granger.

“So you and Potter are actually friends?” Blaise asks.

“You could say that…”

“Brilliant,” he smirks. “Just brilliant.”

“Why is that brilliant?” Weasley asks.

“We can all hang out. In secret of course.”

“I think that’s would be great!” Granger says.

“Count me in too,” Pansy says out of nowhere. She wasn’t even looking at them. “Daphne will
most likely want to join too.”

“This is absolutely insane—“ Draco complains. “Blaise,” he whispers so quietly only he could
here. “If my father finds out—“

“He won’t,” he reassures. “I promise, alright?”

He sighs.

“Why exactly in secret?” Weasley asks.

“Because—“ Draco starts.

“Because,” Pansy says and finally looks over them. “If they see all of us hanging out they’ll think
having orgies on the side,” she smirks and everyone’s mouth either drops or they look at her in
horror.. “Unless, Weasley, you wouldn’t mind people thinking we’re dating,” she winks.

“No— um, no. Absolutely not, No—“ he turns bright red and Granger looks almost furious.
“Secret hanging out, yep, that’s fine.” he nods rapidly.

Draco snickers and was about to add on but a loud noise that sounded like an apparation crack
echoes throughout the crowd. Holy shit… Everyone jumps out of their seats and cheers louder than
ever. It was Potter, Diggory, and the cup. They both won? How! Potter was clutching on the
Hufflepuff and wasn’t pulling away; Diggory wasn’t moving either… and then Fleur Delacour’s
scream sent a shiver down his spine.

Draco stands and tries to look past the crowd in front of him. They were all rushing down, still
celebrating, until Potter screams ‘NO’ multiple times and the cheering slowly fades down.

“For God’s sake, Dumbledore, what’s happened!” Cornelius Fudge shouts.

“He’s back!” sobs Potter. “He’s back! Voldemorts back! Cedric— he asked me to take his body
back. I couldn’t leave him there. Not there!”

Draco was going to be sick. He’s lying— He’s… he’s back? No… he actually shakes his head. The
Dark Lord can’t be back.
Cedric’s father goes rushing to his son, his yells we’re traumatizing in its self. And Potter… he was
crying. He was trembling and wailing while he was being pulled away by Professor Moody. His
first instinct is to rush to him. To speak to him and to comfort him. He goes to move but Blaise
grips his arm.

“Not here, Draco,” he whispers.

“But he needs—“

“Not here,” he repeats harsher.

Potter was taken away and Cedric’s father was clutching onto his son's body. People were crying
and Cornelius Fudge was talking to Dumbledore harshly about moving the body. A wave of nausea
crashes over him. Potter wouldn’t lie about The Dark Lord returning. It was too cruel to even joke
about. How was this happening? How could the teachers let this happen right under their noses?
The Minister of Magic was here for fucks sake! It’s outrageous. They were supposed to protect the
Champions! They were supposed to be patrolling the perimeter.

This was a nightmare.

THE NEXT DAY

“Er, Malfoy?” Weasley approaches him in the hallway.

“Yes?”

“Harry wants to talk to you.”

“What?” he straightens up.

No one had seen Potter yet today. There were millions of ‘whispers’ going throughout the school.
The teachers were shooting down all their questions; saying there will be a meeting in the Great
Hall soon. It was a hard time for everyone…

“Yeah, he said to meet you by the Divination Tower. Right by the stairs.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs. “Didn’t tell me. All he said it was urgent.”

“Alright… Uh, thanks, Weasley,” the ginger gives an awkward smile before walking away.

“What do you think he wants?” Draco asks Blaise with high concern.

“How could I possibly know?”

Draco groans, “I’ll see you later,” he walks off.

Every step he took was an increase in his heart rate. Why was it so urgent for Potter to talk to him?
Was he seeking comfort from Draco? Deep down he hopes it was that… he’d kill to hold Potter in
his arms. Wait— what? No.

He approaches the tower and begins looking around. There was no sign of him anywhere.

“Potter?” he whispers harshly. “Potter?”

It was dead silent before a small whoosh of air came from behind him. Draco spins around and
sees Potter staring at him with a murderous look, holding his invisibility cloak.

“Potter, are you—“

“Did you know?” He practically barks.

“Know what?” He replies with concern and confusion.

“Don’t lie to me, Malfoy!” he growls and shoves him back into the wall. Draco winces and can feel
his heart sink because he’s back to Malfoy all of a sudden. “Did you know!?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Potter!” he tries to growl back but it wasn’t the same.

“Did you know that Voldemort would be returning? Because your father was there!" his voice cuts
like glass.

“No,” he breathes out, starting to feel numb. “My father…?” he shakes his head. “What are you
talking about?”

“Your father was at the graveyard!” he shouts right in his face and Draco actually flinches,
squeezing his eyes shut. "Did you know?”

“No!” he shouts. “No, of course not!”

It's dead silent besides Potter's heavy breathing and the sound of Draco swallowing in slight fear

“…What…?”

“I didn’t know! I’m sorry,” he croaks out.

“You’re not lying?” whispers Potter.

“I didn’t know this would happen! Merlin, Potter, why would I!?“

“Fuck,” he swears under his breath. “Fuck, no, Draco, I’m sorry. I haven’t slept— and I’m just…”
he walks over to the stairs, shaking his head frantically while sitting down.

“Potter…” he says as comforting as possible while he walks over to him. He doesn’t say anything.
He was staring at the floor, leaning his head against the wall. “…He’s really back?” Draco gulps.
“The Dark Lord?”

He nods, "Why do you call him that?”

“It was the only thing I was allowed to call Him while growing up,” he doesn’t reply. “I’m sorry.”

The other simply shrugs.

“… Was my father really there?”

“Yeah… yeah he was.”

“Fuck,” he groans. “Fuck!”

“Draco...“

“I’m not like him,” he adds without thinking. “You can’t think I’m like him—“
“I don’t,” he simply says. “I don’t think you’re like him.”

“Okay,” he takes a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Are you going to be alright at home?” He asks quietly.

“I don’t know,” he admits.

“Stay with me.”

“What?”

“Not— not with me,” his cheeks tint a light pink. “But with Sirius. Where ever he is… he wouldn’t
mind—“

“I can’t leave my Mother. She wouldn’t be safe!”

“But—“

“No, I can’t. You don’t understand.”

It remains silent between the two of them. Potter was staring down at the floor again. Draco was
staring at the way his hands were slightly twitching. He wanted to grab a hold of them. He wanted
to comfort him the way Blaise had comforted him that very first time. It was a normal thing. A
friend wanting to comfort a friend? Of course, it was. He was thinking too much into it.

“Give me your hand,” he whispers.

“What?”

“Trust me,” he holds his hand out and stares at him. He looks extremely hesitant but he eventually,
very slowly, puts his right hand out. Draco places his hand on top of his and gently squeezes it.

“What are you doing?” he whispers.

“Just watch,” he closes his eyes and focuses on his magic. He can feel it coarse through his veins
and up to his hand. He squeezes Harry’s hand a little harder, opens his eyes, and slowly flips their
hands so they could see his palm. Just then, two Lobelia flowers slowly bloom.

“How—“

“Shh! My mother taught me,” he whispers. “I was a very clumsy child, surprisingly. She would do
this to calm me down.”

“They’re beautiful,” he whispers and Draco offers a gentle smile.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," he whispers. Green eyes twinkle with shock and something else Draco
can't seem to understand. "What happened... it wasn't your fault."

He scoffs and his eyes cast downward. "How can you say that?"

"It's the truth," he takes a hold of the flowers in between his fingers. "I know you did everything
you could because-"

"Because I'm 'The Harry Potter?"' he rolls his eyes

 "No," he easily replies. "You're just... Harry."

Chapter End Notes

the flower scene was inspired by snapes flashback when lily grew a flower in her
hand. thought it would be cute :)

so yes, harry is a mess, pansy is king of making people uncomfortable, blaise has been
helping neville come more out of his shell, george and draco are like an enimes
friendship (idk how to describe it), and ron is still baffled that draco is still not a prick
anymore (he grows out of it in fifth year I promise).

opinions? thoughts? concerns? anything? your guys comments always make my day
<3
would you guys hate it if I just added what I wanna in this. express my feelings about
each chapter in the end notes? would that be annoying or no?

Year 5 is gonna be wild :)

 Chapter 33
Chapter Summary

“Uh… Pans..” he abruptly stops walking. “Hm, I have to go do something…”

“What?” he begins walking the way they came from. “Draco!”
He loses her in the crowd and walks around aimlessly.

THIS CHAPTER AS BEEN SLIGHTLY EDITED/ Draco goes to Diagon Alley :)

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!

CW: mentions of abuse with wand.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Thank you for getting me out of the Manor,” Draco mutters.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart." Pansy smiles and links arms with him.

Draco had been cooped up in the Manor for two months now. His father was busy and refusing to
let Draco out. He was allowed to send letters to his friends, but they had to be pre-approved by one
of his father's house elves. It got to the point where he wrote it in French and handed it to his
mother, who gave it to one of her house elves who apparated to Pansy’s and handed it to her. An
hour later, she showed up through the Floo and basically told his father off. He had never seen him
so embarrassed and furious at the same time.

“I’m sorry, father. I didn’t know she’d come by,” he had sworn.

“I’ll deal with you later, Draco,” he replied before leaving the living room.

Now, he was walking in Diagon Alley with Pansy on their way to meet up with Blaise, Astoria, and
Daphne.

“Where are they?”

“I told them to meet us at Quality Quidditch Supplies. I figured you would want to go there first.”

“You know me so well,” he grins. They shuffle past people and Draco accidentally bumps into a
wizard. He grips the other's arm and turns to apologize. The wizard was dressed in a brown floral
skirt, brown high top converse, and a black leather jacket that was over a t-shirt that said 'celebrate
the small wins.’”

“Sorry,” he says quickly, surprised to see a bloke wearing such feminine clothing. He thought it
was quite cool. He was going to say something until he heard the wizard whisper ‘Confundus’.
“Uh… Pans..” he abruptly stops walking. “Hm, I have to go do something…”

“What?” he begins walking the way they came from. “Draco!”

He loses her in the crowd and walks around aimlessly.

‘What am I doing…? Shouldn’t I be—‘

“Wotcher, Draco!” the wizard with the skirt says. “Come with me, yeah?”

“Yeah…” he nods dumbly and follows him to an empty alleyway. “Where are we?”

“We’re about to Apparate,” he says.

“What…?” he looks at him. “Wait, that’s a bit silly,” he giggles. “Wait, what?”

The wizard grips Draco and the next thing he knows he’s standing on a staircase, leaning against a
black door about to throw up.

“What the-“ the charm was wearing off. “What’s going… what?” he shakes his head and his eyes
blink rapidly. “What the fuck?” he looks around frantically. “WHO ARE YOU?” he screams and
scrambles for his wand which wasn’t in his pocket.

“Pickpocketed you, mate,” he grins and holds up Draco’s wand.

“Did my father sent you? What’s going on? Why am I—“

The door swings open and a familiar face barks, “Tonks, for god sake, get inside.”

“P-Professor Moody?” he gapes.

“Mission accomplished!” The bloke’s facial features begin to morph into a female. “Come inside,
Draco,” she smiles as she walks into the house.

“What’s. Going. On.”

“Come on, Malfoy,” Mad-Eye grips him and pulls him inside. He stumbles forward and watches
him slam the door shut.

“Where the hell am I!?”

“Lupin!” he barks. “He’s here!” he shoves past him and walks down the hall.

“Professor Lupin?” he follows.

They walk down a hallway and then another that led into a kitchen. Standing in the doorway was
in fact Professor Lupin.

“Professor!” he cries and rushes to him, throwing his arms around him for a tight embrace. The hug
is returned and Draco melts into it.

“Do you think he knows we’re here?” a voice says.

“No, I don’t think so,” someone else replies.

Draco’s eyes shoot open and are met with a table filled with Weasleys (who all have gotten
haircuts), Sirius Black, a random woman who Moody referred to as Tonks, fucking Kingsley
Shacklebolt, Granger, and of course, Harry Potter.

“Oh for fuck sake,” he grumbles and pulls away from Lupin. The first voice was George Weasley
and the second was Sirius Black. He clears his throat. “Two questions. Where am I and why am I
here?”

“Let’s talk in another room, Draco,” says Lupin. “Sirius?” he looks back at everyone.

“We’re in the middle of dinner, Remus! We’ll talk to him afterward.”

“Sirius—“

“Remus,” he smirks.

He rolls his eyes before letting out a long sigh. “Please, sit down, Draco. Molly, is there still food
left?”

“Of course there is! Of course,” she starts making a plate for him.

“Er, alright…” there was an empty seat next to Potter so he sits down next to him.

He had gotten a haircut. It was shorter now and he defiantly looked way more mature. His green
eyes were absolutely beautiful. There wasn’t hair blocking them anymore— except for one strand.
He had the urge to move it out of the way.

“Here you go, Dear,” Mrs. Weasley’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts and she places a plate in
front of him.

“Thankyou,” he rushes out.

“Of course,” she smiles and returns to the end of the table. The smile didn’t look forced. Perhaps
they’ve told her he’s apologized for his comments toward her family.

“How come you didn’t tell us Draco was coming?” Potter asks.

“Wait,” he frowns. “You didn’t know?”

“No we did not,” he says before looking at Lupin who sat down right across from them.

“It was a last-minute decision, Harry,” he replies.

“You kidnapping me was a last-minute decision?”

“You kidnaped him!?” Granger gapes.

“Well…” his eyes glance over to Black’s.

“Yes, you did kidnap me,” he states. “She,” he points at the woman with pink-purple hair.
“pretended to be a man and used the Confundus charm on me.”

“You used the Confundus charm on him!” Lupin looks outraged. “That was not the plan,
Nymphadora!”

“Nymphadora?” Draco mutters.

“Don’t call me that, Remus! You told me to get Draco Malfoy! You didn’t specify how!”
“Wait— wait, Nymphadora Tonks?” he looks over at her. “Andromeda’s daughter?”

“The one and only! But it’s only Tonks. I can’t stand my first name.”

“Well, Tonks, can I have my bloody wand back?.

“Ha! Sure.” She underhand tosses it over Ginny Weasley and Potter’s heads. It hits Draco right in
the head and he glares at her.

“Okay,” he grumbles and snatches his wand off the ground. “That’s just the tip of the ice burg.
My father is going to kill me,” he stands. “Is there a Floo here? I have to go back to Diagon Alley. I
told my friends I’d meet them there. Lovely to see you all. Mrs. Weasley thank you for the food,”
he takes a bite and almost moans at how good it tastes. “This is fucking amazing. I’ll see you lot at
school. Goodbye—“

“Draco.” Black grips his arm to keep him from continuing forward.

“I can’t be here,” he whispers harshly. His mind was racing and he swears he was getting a
headache. This was too much. If his father knew he was here…

“Let's talk in another room,” he stands. “Remus?”

He nods and he stands. Draco is forced to follow the two of them out of the kitchen and into the
living room.

“Why am I here?” he demands.

“Draco, you’re here because we’re offering you protection,” Lupin says.

“Protection? From what?”

“From your father,” replies Black. “Harry told us he saw your father at the graveyard. He’s clearly
still one of Voldemort’s followers. The Order of the Phoenix—“

“No,” he shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”

“Draco—“ begins Lupin.

“Your protection won’t work and my Mother! I’m not leaving her. My answer is no.”

Lupin shakes his head. “You need to think about it!”

“No, I don’t! I’m not leaving my mother!”

“But you need protection—“

“I can handle myself—“

“Draco—“

“No—“

“You need to understand—“

“NO!” he growls. “You need to understand that I am not leaving her!”

“Draco…”
“Why offer this? It’s as if you’re trying to taunt me,” he scoffs.

“Taunt you?” his voice slightly raises. “Taunt you? Draco you know I would never taunt you about
your situation with your father. I’m asking you because I’m giving you the option to pick between
yourself or your mother.”

“I pick my mother!” he cries.

“Oh, Draco,” he sighs. “Don’t you think your mother would want you safe?”

“Don’t fucking say things like that!” he shakes his head before letting out an annoyed laugh. “I’d
rather get hexed by my father fifteen times than leave her.”

“That’s not funny.” he scolded.

“I don’t care what you find funny or not. My mother needs me!”

“Dr—“

“Stop, alright? I’m not staying Lupin. I’m not.”

“Okay!” he exasperates. “Okay,” he repeats before leaving the living room, Black following suit.

Draco sighs before sitting down on one of the couches. He runs his fingers through his hair and
takes a deep breath.

“Water?”

“What?” he growls but he softens when he realizes the voice belongs to Potter.

“Do you want water?” he offers again while approaching him.

“Did you poison it or something?” he quirks an eyebrow while taking the glass.

“Yeah, I actually did.”

He huffs out a chuckle and takes a sip.

“You heard everything, didn't you?”

“I would do the same if it was Sirius.” Draco nods. “You’d really let your father hex you to protect
your mother?”

“Of course,” he answers easily. “I've been taught the Protego charm for that reason." he says
without a problem. Forgetting he was in fact not with Blaise. He doesn’t realize his mistake until
Potter stares at him with wide eyes.

“He already does do that… doesn’t he?”

“Fuck,” he slams his glass down on the coffee table. “Fuck…”

He knows. He knows. He knows.

“Draco?” Potter’s voice sounded very distant. Was he walking away? No that wouldn’t make sense
because he was lightly tapping his cheek. “Draco?”

“Fuck,” he murmurs.
"Merlin knows you deserve what you get." his boggart was taunting him in the back of his mind.
What is he supposed to do? He'll whatever nasty comments Potter has to say... it's true, isn't it? He
deserves it.

“Draco." The blonde shakes his head; he wishes he had an Invisibility Cloak. "Draco, look."

"L-leave me alone," he whispers. "Just shut it..."

"Look at your hand, Draco." His tone remains soft and the Slytherin has the sudden urge to
collapse in his arms. "Open your eyes..."

Hesitantly, he does. When he looks down, he sees Potter holding Draco's hand while two Sweet
Alyssum flowers bloom so very slowly.

"Why..."

"Returning the favor... when you did it to me at the end of fourth year, it really helped. I just
assumed..."

"Thank you." He gulps, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "You can't tell anyone, alright?"

"I never planned to." He smiles sadly.

They both realize at the same time Draco’s hand was still in Potter’s and they both rapidly pull
away. The flowers start to fall to the floor and they both catch one of them.

“What do we do with these?” Potter’s voice sounds so soft and gentle in his ears. Merlin, he’s
missed him.

“We could put it in a vase.”

‘Don’t you think they’re too small to fit in a vase?”

Draco rolls his eyes. “You’re not thinking hard enough,” he looks around the room and spots an
empty gold-rusted vase. “Perfect.” He grabs it and comes back to the couch. He pulls out his wand.
“Reducio,” he whispers. “Aguament,” he fills half the vase with water and places his flower inside.
“Go on, Potter,” he puts his flower in.

“Who gets to keep it?” Draco asks.

“You can,” he says. “The flowers were meant for you anyway,” he smiles softly.

“Okay,” he returns the smile and places the vase on the coffee table in front of them.

“My... my Aunt and Uncle starve me,” he says out of nowhere.

“Wha—what?” he splutters.

“I figured since I know one of your secrets you should know one of mine…”

“You still didn’t have to tell me that.”

“You’re right. I didn’t.”

“…I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry too…” He offers him a weak smile and Draco greatly appreciates it.

“Wotcher, Draco!” Tonks comes striding into the living room, breaking the comforting silence
between him and Potter. “I’ve been told since you’re not staying you should leave right now.”

“Alright. Thank you, Tonks.”

She gives him a thumbs-up before leaving.

“I’ll see you at school, Potter.”

“Yeah. That is if I win my trial.”

“Your trial?”

“They’re talking about expelling me because I casted a Patronus charm because there was
Dementors coming after me and my cousin Dudley,” he rolls his eyes.

“That’s outrageous! If Dementors were attacking you clearly needed to protect yourself— who the
fuck?”

“Basically my response,” he huffs.

“You’re bound to win though, right? They can’t— they can’t expel you.”

“Have you not seen The Prophet?”

“Not recently.”

“They’re claiming I lied about Voldemort returning.”

His jaw drops. “… Like I said; Rubbish.”

“It's fucking bullshit," he spits before his head twitches, clearly in an uncomfortable way. "Bye,
Draco," he walks out of the room; not giving Draco a chance to reply.

He frowns while picking up the small vase and then leaving the living room. He's met with Lupin
leaning against the front door.

“Sir,” he mutters while approaching him.

“Don’t call me that, you’re not in trouble,” he smiles sadly. “You really should call me Remus. I’m
not your Professor anymore.”

“Okay, Lupin… Are you mad at me?”

“What?” he burrows his eyebrows. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“For not accepting your protection.”

“I’n not mad at you. It was your decision entirely. I hope you understand I just want what’s best for
you.”

“I wish you didn’t,” he admits.

“You can’t control how people feel, Draco.”

“I know,” he sighs and looks up at him. “How are you and Black?”

“I was waiting for you to ask that,” he grins. “We’re great, actually. A lot of talking and…”

“Anddd?” he desperately wants to know.

He shakes his head with amusement. “I’m too old to be gossiping with a fifteen year old.”

“You’re, what, 38?”

“33.”

“Same thing. Did something happen?”

“Yes, in fact!” Black comes striding down the hall. “Right up against this door too.”

“UGH!” he grimaces.

“Sirius!” Lupin looks petrified.

“It’s alright, Moony,” he wraps his arms around his waist and pulls him close.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Pads” he whispers with a light eye roll.

“I know, but you enjoy it.”

“I’m right fucking here!” Draco cries officially traumatized.

“Right,” Lupin lightly pushes Black away. “I’ll be back, Sirius.”

“Yes, yes,” he dramatically sighs. “Goodbye, Draco.”

“Goodbye, Black.”

"What happened to Uncle Sirius?” he squeezes his shoulder while walking past him. “I figured
you'd stick with that considering you can't call anyone by their first name.” he smirks playfully
before leaving. Draco shoots a glare his way before focusing back on Remus who basically had
goo-goo eyes for Black.

“Can we go, Moony?”

“Stop it.” he says truthfully before gripping his hand and apparating them to an empty alleyway in
Diagon Alley.

“A little heads up would have been nice!” He grumbles while he leans back against the wall.

“Apologizes,” he grins. “This is where we part ways, Draco.”

“I can still write to you right?” he feels embarrassed to ask.

“Of course, but I’ll be busy doing things for the Order. Except my responses to be irregular.”

“I understand,” he smiles softly. “Till next time, Lupin.”

“Till next time,” neither of them has to signal to the other. Neither have to ask. Draco wraps his
arms around his waist and hugs him tightly. He’s not going to think about the fact he might
actually not see him again. He could die on one of his mission for The Order. He can’t think about
 that. They eventually pull away from each other and they both smile.

The shared smile is their final goodbye before he Apparates out of the alleyway, leaving Draco
alone until he decides to leave to find his friends; not looking forward to Pansy’s a million
questions and scolding.

Chapter End Notes

This happens after the whole Voldemort might be looking for a weapon, fudge thinks
you're after his job, "he's just a boy!" thing.

I fucking love Tonks. She's lovely and 100 percent pansexual in this fic. She won't
appear much at all but that is canon in his fic.
Tonks would probably be Harry and Draco's number one fan. That thumbs up just
proved it btw.

I'm really making Remus' personality how he's described in fanon. I'm a major
marauders fan and Remus not giving two fucks is my favorite Remus. He wouldn't
have even talked to Dumbledore. He would have let Sirius know, who would be
hesitant at first and then Tonks because of her abilities. After Tonks leaves that's when
he told Moody for sure.
"You did what?" Moody growls.
"I sent Tonks to bring Draco," he's one out of very few to not cower at Moody's anger.
"We can trust him."

Also he definitely said this:

"Moony, I know you care about him, but-"

"Sirius," his heart was beginning to ache. "I'm going to give him a choice of what he
wants to do. He doesn't get many of those."

lil harry and draco moment. the flower thing is defiantly going to be a thing from now
on. I really feel like it can symbolize so many things.
Harry is feeling very lonely and obviously, we all know he has fucking Voldemort in
his head. Draco is stressing about how his father remains a follower of The Dark Lord
and how that affects him. They both do really stupid things this year. I'm talking really
stupid.

I also realize that I completely forgot about Atlantas (the durmstrang oc) he was
relevant and then not. IM SO SORRY. They definalty ended on good terms. Atlantas
gave Draco a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye.

expect a lot of my input at the end like this hehe. if you're reading these you make me
happy.
 Chapter 34
Chapter Summary

“I didn’t expect you to be there exactly at 4! Most people arrive late!”

“I never arrive late."
“I’m aware of that now.”

Back at Hogwarts.

Chapter Notes

ENJOY <3

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Hello, Long— Neville,” Draco enters the compartment with Blaise. He eyes Pansy as he sits
down next to her. “Draco,” he greets warmly. “Hi, Blaise!”

“You’re not going to say hello to me, Draco?” she complains.

“If you gave me a second I would have greeted you,” he rolls his eyes.

“Were you torturing Neville with your crude questions?” Blaise asks while he visibly scoots closer
to the Gryffindor.

“My exact question.”

“She was actually asking about my plant. I think I may have rambled on for too long,” his ears turn
pink.

“Pansy wasn’t doing most of the talking?” Draco looks between the two. “I’m surprised. She loves
to hear herself talk.” He yelps when she pinches his arm. “Did you two see each other over the
summer?” he asks the pair, ignoring Pansy now.

“We did actually,” Blaise grins.

“Your Mum is terrifying,” Neville grumbles.

“So’s your Grandmother!” he admits with a chuckle. “Look, I step out his Floo exactly at 4pm; the
time he told me to arrive. He said he was going to be in the living room which he was not. But his
Grandmother was. Now lucky for me I have my amazing reflexes,” that earns an eye roll from
Draco and Pansy. “I dodged the first two hexes but… the other ones,” he glances over at Neville.

“I didn’t expect you to be there exactly at 4! Most people arrive late!”

“I never arrive late."

“I’m aware of that now.”

“Good. I helped her repair the stuff she broke and then she made me a cup of tea. It was the first
time I met her and she was already asking me a fuck ton of personal questions.”

“That’s Gran,” he replies sheepishly and everyone, even Pansy, smiles with amusement.

“Did you guys discuss anything exciting?” she leans forward.

“You bother me,” Blaise seethes.

“Here he is!” A voice bellows from outside the compartment door. “Oi! Dean! In here!” Seamus
Finnigan swings the doors open and sits down next to Neville. “Thought you could escape us,
Longbottom?”

“The glares I got from some fourth years,” Dean Thomas comes striding in. “How else am I
supposed to look for a friend? Not look in each compartment? Like what the hell?” He casually sits
down next to Draco.

Pansy and Draco were staring at each other with pure confusion. Very bold these two. Very bold.

“What’s with the looks?” Finnigan raises an eyebrow. “Never seen two Gryffindors before?”

“No, smartass,” Pansy sneers. “What are you both doing here?”

“We’re friends of Neville’s, Parkinson,” replies Thomas. “Just like you’re friends with Zabini. And
since these love birds—“

“Dean!” Neville blushes.

“Nothing wrong with dating a Slytherin,” Finnigan wraps his arm around him. “No judgement
here!”

“For fuck sakes,” Blaise shakes his head.

“You’re very loud,” Pansy says.

“It’s my accent,” he grins. “Like what you hear, Parkinson?”

“What the hell is wrong with you!” She dramatically leans back.

“Seamus is a natural flirt,” Dean shakes his head. “Ignore him. So, Malfoy, anything going on with
you? Anyone special?”

“Are you trying to ask me out, Thomas?” Draco stares at him.

“No. Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says so nonchalantly that Draco actually takes offense.

“You wouldn’t dream of it?” he frowns. “I’m boyfriend material. Pansy used to think so!”

“Shut up, Draco,” she rolls her eyes.

“Do you want me to ask you out?” he teases.

“No,” he glares.

“Didn’t think so. Even if I did fall for your beautiful grey eyes,” Draco mentally slaps himself for
lightly blushing. “I’m already seeing someone.”

“I don’t care.”

“I didn’t think you would,” he grins.

“Are you staying in here, Neville?” Finnigan asks.

“That was the plan…”

“We’ll stay then,” The other two Gryffindors reply in sync.

“Oh Sweet Salazar,” Pansy leans her head on the window.

“I’ll warm up to you Parkinson,” Finnigan smirks. “I just know it.”

“That doesn’t make sense!” she cries out.

“Yes it does, Parkinson! Even my mother, who is a witch, agrees it’s clever!”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t clever! I said it doesn’t make sense!”

“Oh for fuck sakes,” Draco rolls his eyes as he walks behind them with Thomas. Blaise and Neville
were ahead chatting with each other like normal people— unlike Pansy and Finnigan. They’ve
been talking about a telabone or something like that, Draco’s not sure. He just knows it’s a muggle
thing.

“Are you angry because you don’t know how a telephone works either?” Thomas smirks.

“I understand how they work,” he glares.

“Really? Care to tell me?”

“Shut up,” he grumbles. Gryffindors are annoying is Draco’s final analysis.

Later that night;

“Ugh!” Pansy groans and dramatically falls onto the seat next to Draco in the common room. “Her
face alone just bothers me.”

“I know what you mean,” Daphne grumbles.

“She’s going to be keeping a close eye on us,” Draco says.

“What makes you say that?”

“You saw her… and we’re Pureblood Slytherins,” he sighs.

"I see your point there," Daphne says.

“I guarantee we can get away with anything," says Draco.

 “That’s a good thing for us then, right?” smirks Pansy.

“In a way,” he replies. “But I guarantee her class will be intolerable. She's from the ministry and
with..." he pauses his eyes casting down. "And with the Dark Lord now back..."

"Shut up," Pansy hisses. "He's not- he's not back."

"You can't honestly-"

"I don't want to believe it!" she stands. "I can't believe it. I don't want to."

He scoffs, "Pansy-"

"I don't want to," she growls before leaving off to her dorm.

He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.

"You can't blame her," Daphne says. "It's... All of this is terrifying."

"I know," he sighs and suppresses a shudder. "Trust me I know."

Chapter End Notes

Dean and Seamus my beloveds. They're literally Neville's best friends you think they
wouldn't interact with the Slytherin trio? And these two motherfuckers just don't give a
fuck. MY FAVORITES!!!

Should they interact more?

I didn't want to write the whole introduction of Umbridge. I felt it was unnecessary.

the next chapter will be out on TUESDAY :D

 Chapter 35
Chapter Summary

“Astoria!” Draco calls for her in the hallway. “Astoria!”

“Yes?”
“Can I talk to you?”

First DADA class and a conversation that hurts so much.

Chapter Notes

Remember when I said Draco was going to do something stupid? This chapter is when
he does the stupid thing.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You know Millicent?” Daphne looks over at him.

“Yeah,” he doesn’t look up from his notebook. Over the summer he decided to start drawing again.
He wasn't allowed to go flying in his yard or spend hours in their library. His father forbade him
for clear reasons. Other followers, Death Eaters, were regrouping in the manor. In his home. Can
he still call it that when it's been invaded by the people he fears the most?

“She’s dating Theo.”

That gets his attention, “What?”

“I mean it make sense. She’s one of the only girl who actually talks to him.”

He scoffs, “well good for him. Maybe he’ll pay more attention to her than me.”

Daphne giggles and then the classroom immediately dies down when a paper bird one of the Patil
Twins had charmed went up into flames.

“Good morning, children,” Umbridge says sweetly— or at least tries to. She approaches the front
of the class, waving her wand slightly as she speaks. “Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations. O.
W. L’s. More commonly known as OWLS. “Her voice is giving me a headache,” Daphne whispers
and Draco smirks.

“Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be severe.” Books
start floating down the rows

“Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven,” Draco was about to
defend Professor Lupin, but the living bubblegum candy doesn’t stop talking.

“But you’ll be pleases to know from now on, you will be following a carefully structured Ministry-
approved course of defensive magic.”
“There’s nothing in here about using defensive spells,” Granger says.

“Using spells? Well, I can’t imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom.”

“Because we’re wizards and witches?” Draco scoffs and quiet giggles erupt throughout the
classroom.

“So we’re not going to use magic?” Weasley adds.

“You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way,” she simply says.

“Well, what use is that? If we’re going to be attacked it won’t be risk-free.” Oh shit, Potter sounds
pissed.

“Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class,” and just by those words, Draco
knows she’s biased. She hates him. “If is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will
be sufficient to get you through your examinations. Which, after all, is what school is all about.”

“And how’s theory supposed to prepare us for what’s out there?”

“There is nothing out there, dear. Who do you imagine would want to attack children, like
yourself?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe Lord Voldemort.”

His mouth slightly falls open. And yes one reason was because Potter said the Dark Lords’ name
but it was also because Draco has never found him so bloody attractive.

God fucking damnit.

“Close your mouth, dear,” Daphne whispers. “Flies might fly in.” He shoots a glare her way.

“Now let me make this… quite plain. You have been told that a certain dark wizard is at large once
again. This. Is. A. Lie.”

“It’s not a lie! I saw him! I fought him!” he shouts

“Detention, Mr. Potter!” her shrill voice cries throughout the classroom.

“So According to you Cedric dropped dead on his own accord!”

“Cedric Diggory’s death was a tragic accident.”

“It was murder! Voldemort killed him! You must know that!”

“ENOUGH!” she shrieks. “Enough. See me later, Mr. Potter, my office.” she then proceeds to
giggle. What the fuck? “Open your textbooks to page seven, please,” she continues on as if nothing
happened. Potter slams his book open and Draco knows he’s shooting daggers at the Professor with
his eyes.

“Astoria!” Draco calls for her in the hallway. “Astoria!” The fourth year turns around, clearly
annoyed she was interrupted from her conversation with two Ravenclaws.“Yes?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“I’m in the middle of a conversation with my friends, Draco.”

“I’m aware, but this is important.”

“How important?”

“Astoria.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll meet you guys in Charms,” she says kindly to them before walking away
with Draco. “What do you need?”

“I need… help,” he admits reluctantly.

“With what?”

“With… being in love with you.”

“Draco, what the fuck?”

“Please. I keep…” he waits until they pass a group of Hufflepuffs. “I keep feeling things towards
someone I don’t want to feel.”

“Towards Potter?”

He ignores her. “Maybe if we both pretend—“

“You’ve lost the plot.”

“There’s not someone you want to make jealous?” he pleads. “One of those girls you were talking
to? A bloke in your year? In my year maybe?”

“No, Draco. Do you realize that this is not only unhealthy but incredibly stupid.”

“I’m desperate, Astoria,” he leans closer to her and mutters under his breath. “With everything
that’s going on… The Dark Lord returning and My father,” he gulps. “My father being one of
his… I need to be on his good side.”

“Oh, Draco,” her eyes begin to soften.

“I’ll buy you nice things at Hogsmede?” he offers. “Butterbeer on me?”

A smile tugs at her lips. “Are you willing to do this for the rest of our lives though?”

“I…” he looks away. “Until school ends? You and I can run off from our families to America and
find people there.”

“That’s your plan?”

“I’ll buy the house…?” he offers once more.

“I’ll play this game with you. But, I must warn you, I’m not good at the romantic feelings thing.
Pretending or not.”

“You’ve never had a crush on anyone?”

“Well, no. I don't...” he's never seen her look so shy. ”I don't really get those feelings."
“That's alright,” he says truthfully. “Not everyone feels things towards other people that way. It's
normal."

"You really think so?" her eyes sparkle with hope.

"Of course I do. Anyone who tells you differently or calls you a freak needs to be casted with a
hex."

"Thank you."

"So... will you help me?"

"I'll help for now," they come to a halt at an entrance to a crowded hallway. “But I really want you
to think about this, Draco. I’ll see you later.” She kisses his cheek which defiantly draws a few
eyes. “Was that fine?” she whispers.

“Yeah,” he smiles and they part ways.

Daphne comes storming towards it. “What was that?”

“A friendly goodbye,” he begins walking down a different hallway.

“Draco.”

“We’re going to be pretending alright?” he whispers harshly. “I need this with everything going
on.”

“So you asked my sister?!”

“She doesn’t mind, Daphne! I’m not forcing her!”

“This is incredibly stupid. Draco, you have feelings for—“ he clamps his hand over her mouth.

“Do not finish that sentence. I need to do this. And she really doesn’t mind.” He grimaces when she
smacks his hand away. “I’m not using her Daphne—“

“I know you’re not! She wouldn’t let you do that!” she sighs. “I just wish you wouldn’t ignore your
feelings!”

“Like you’re ignoring your feelings for Pansy!?” He shoots back and her eyes go wide.

“Shut up, Draco!” she growls.

“But am I wrong?” She glares at him. “Exactly. Just ask her for her side of all this. Your sister is
secretly kind. She’s doing this for me— and well the stuff I’ll be buying her at Hogsmede.”

“Alright,” she sighs. “I will be talking to her.” She goes to walk away but stops in her tracks. “If
you tell anyone about Pansy—“

“She likes you too, Daph. You’re both pining over each other like two idiots.”

“Shut up,” she grumbles.

He shrugs. “Go for it. I think you’ll both be happier.”

“Whatever,” he can tell she doesn’t want to hope that there could be a slight chance of her and
 Pansy ending up together. “I’ll see you later, Draco.”

Chapter End Notes

astoria to harry; I don’t want this bitch come get your boo.
ASTORIA IS AROMANTIC ASOTRIA IS AROMANTIC ASTORIA IS
AROMANTIC
Overprotective Daphne <3
The Greengrass sisters just fucking know Draco is still into Harry. I think everyone
knows this.
 Chapter 36
Chapter Summary

“Oi! Malfoy!” Draco looks up from his textbook to see George Weasley approach him.

honestly this chapter was just for fun. George and Draco's random friendship is just
very funny to me.

Chapter Notes

enjoy!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Oi! Malfoy!” Draco looks up from his textbook to see George Weasley approach him.

“Does he not notice I’m here?” Granger rolls her eyes.

“It appears not,” he grins. “Weasley!”

Granger had approached Draco in the library and convinced him to come outside with her to do
homework together. She claimed Potter was off doing something and Weasley did not want to join
her. Since Draco couldn’t think of an excuse he agreed and awkwardly followed her outside. In the
time being, she managed to get him to call her by her first name. It’s fucking weird.

“Hello there, Hermione,” Weasley grins.

“George,” she says briskly without looking up from her notes.

“How come you’re twin is never with you when you talk to me?”

“He doesn’t like you,” he begins rummaging through his pocket.

“That’s a bit harsh,” he glares.

“It’s the truth, Malfoy,” he smirks. “I have something for you,” he pulls out a piece of wrapped
candy and holds it out for him.

“Candy?”

“Nougat. A thank you for the piece of chocolate you gave me.”

“Thank you,” he narrows his eyes briefly before unwrapping it and taking a bite.

“Wait, Draco, No!” Hermione cried but it was too late. He swallows and not even a second later he
feels something drip down his face. He wipes his finger under his nose and stares down to see
blood.
“What the fuck!” he shouts and quickly stands, frantically looking around for something to use to
stop it.

“I see it works,” Weasley pulls out a notepad and begins writing with a quill. “Wonderful.”

“Weasley!” Draco shouts.

“Here! Draco, Here!” Hermione shoves a tissue in his hand and he uses it. He tilts his head back
and pinches his nose.

“What was that?” he growls

“Nosebleed Nougat,” he smirks. “A product Fred and I created. No one wanted to test that one
so…”

“I wonder why!” The tissue was covered in blood so Hermione handed him another one.

“Honestly, George!” Granger shakes her head.

“He would have said no if I asked!” he laughs. “It should stop in a fair few minutes.”

“What is wrong with you!” he pulls out his wand, visibly grimacing when blood gets in his mouth,
and points his wand at him “Petrif—“

“No!” Hermione grabs his wrist and lowers his hand.

“But— he—“ he groans and brings the tissue back to his nose. “I hate you.”

“See you later, Malfoy,” he grins and walks away as if nothing happened.

“I’m going to kill him. I’m actually going to kill me,” he growls.

“Here,” she hands him another tissue and pulls out her wand. “Oh, dear,” she mutters. “Scourgify,”
apparently blood had gone all over his homework.

“Thank you.”

“Should we go to the Hospital Wing?”

“No,” he shakes his head and hates how stupid he sounds. “It’s fine.”

“Okay,” she sits back down and continues doing her homework as if nothing happened which he
couldn't understand. He sits back down too and waits impatiently for his nose to stop bleeding.
Eventually, it does and he stuffs the bloody tissues in his pocket.

“Can I ask you question, Gran— Hermione?”

She nods. “Go ahead.”

“Are you afraid of failing?” That gets her to stop writing. She tilts her head to look at him and he
can tell she’s trying to read his face.

“Why are you asking me this?”

“You’re just always studying and… you’re always the top of our class every. Year. Do you fear
it?”
She remains silent, pondering, before closing her notebook and fully facing him. “I’ll answer that
question if I get to ask one of my own.”

“Just by you saying that practically answers the question for me.”

“You’d think.”

“Fine,” he sighs. “Ask away.”

“Are you afraid of your feelings?”

His eyes immediately cast downwards; regretting this whole entire conversation.

“…You answer first.”

“Just by you saying that practically answers the question for me.”

“Ha,” he rolls his eyes and then takes a deep breath. “You could say I’m afraid of some emotions;
not all.”

“Why?”

“That’s two questions. I’m only answering one. Your turn.”

“Alright. Yes, I fear of failing. Before I found out I was a witch kids really underestimated my
skills and intelligence. I fear if I don’t constantly prove that I’m just some stupid girl people will
start to underestimate me again.”

He nods, “That’s a lot of pressure you put on yourself.”

“You probably do the same to yourself,” she offers a comforting smile. “I heard rumors about you
and Astoria Greengrass.” she sits up and reopens her textbook.

“You listen to rumors, Granger? ”

“Hermione. And when you share a dormitory with Lavender Brown, Pavarti and Padama Patil
that’s all you hear before going to sleep.”

“I understand what you mean,” he admits because he remembered first and second year he and
Theo would chat away about what was going on. “What are the rumors saying?”

“Lavender claimed she saw you both holding hands, her giving you kisses on the cheek, laughing
together as if friends don’t do that with each other,” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“Lovely,” he grins. “Absolutely wonderful.”

“Your glad people are talking about you two?”

“Of course! It’s perfect!”

“Perfect?”

“Well, yes, yeah,” he clears his throat. “Astoria is wonderful. She, um, deserves to be talked about.
She’s a wonderful…girlfriend,” he’s actually going to throw up.

Her eyes narrow. “Aren’t you gay, Draco?”

 “… Some people might say I am.”

“What do you say you are.”

He shrugs. “All I know is that I think I’m falling for Astoria,” he forces himself to smile.

“Oh, Draco,” she sighs and shakes her head.

“Why do you sound so disappointed?” he frowns.

“It’s none of my business,” she states, closes her books, and picks up her stuff. “Would you like to
go to the dining hall?”

“Yes, I think I’m rather famished,” he purposefully ignores her reaction, wanting to move on from
this conversation. He gathers his things and follows.

“Disloyalty?” Professor McGonagall's voice is the first thing they hear when entering.

“Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action.”
Umbridge says before walking up the stairs.

“Back to the Dining Hall, everyone!” McGonagall says briskly before stepping out of the room.

“What do you think that was about?” he asks her.

“Something awful probably,” she sighs. “I’ll see you later, Draco,” she smiles gently at him before
walking off to Weasley and Potter.

Chapter End Notes

next chapter will be out on Friday!!!

Hermione is a sweetheart frfr.

Draco asking Hermione that question was important because it builds a relationship
with the two of them and Hermione talks to Harry and Harry eventually talks to Draco
so... Hermione is very real and I think Draco isn't used to it from a non Slytherin.

this takes place two days after the last chapter

I'm thinking of giving my chapters actual titles now. Should I go back and change
them all? I think they'd be fun.

ALSO I've rewritten the first chapter and a couple of other ones in the beginning. I'll
be very VERY slowly doing that. My beginning chapters are so bad I don't understand
how you guys got through them.
 Chapter 37
Chapter Summary

“So… how are you?”

“I’m doing good, Potter,” he says truthfully with a smile. “And you?”
“I’m fine…” he shrugs. “You know Hermione told me something I don’t really
understand. She told me—“

Potions class and a few other things.

Chapter Notes

CW: mentions suicide, super brief, Draco is just very overwhelmed in the scene.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You’re not going to make me kiss you right?” Astoria asks him.

“Merlin, no,” he shakes his head. “No offensive, Astoria, but kissing a girl sounds horrendous to
me.”

“No offensive taken,” she smiles. “Oh look there’s Theo,” she quickly says and Draco knows what
she’s about to do. She moves a strand of hair out of his eyes and starts giggling, leaning her head
against his chest. Draco had to hand it to her, she was excellent at pretending. He has no idea why
she said she wouldn’t be.

“No one wants to see your two all over each other, Malfoy,” he randomly snaps. “Save it for the
bedroom.”

“Jealous Millicent isn’t giving you much attention?” Astoria snaps back.

“Shut up, Astoria,” Millicent scoffs. “Don’t be such a cow.”

“Have you seen yourself? If you need face wash you can borrow mine,” she sneers and flips her
hair behind her shoulder. “You know what face wash is right?”

“You little—“ Both girls pull out their wands which caused Theo and Draco to instantly pull out
their wands too. Other students were stepping back and whispering either excitedly or with worry—
Draco was not sure.

“Ehem,” some vastly annoying voice clears her throat. To their left, Professor Umbridge was
holding a clipboard close to her chest and a “friendly” smile was on her face. “Let’s not have any
foolish wand waving, okay? Hm? Wouldn’t want any one getting hurt.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” both Theo and Draco at the same time. Draco can just tell he also forced his smile.
She leaves, her heels obnoxiously loud.
“Shame,” Draco fake pouts. “I really wanted to hex your pretty face.”

“You fucking fag,” he growls and only Draco can see the brief flicker in his eyes that indicated he
wanted to laugh instead.

“You let your boyfriend say things like that, Astoria?” the look of disgust on Millicent’s face was
comical.

“I find his humor funny,” she smiles and grabs Draco’s hand, and walks away. Once they were out
of the hallway they burst out laughing.

“You’re funny yourself, Astoria Greengrass.”

“Why thank you,” she smirks. “That was quite fun. I’m not going to lie, I’m enjoying this
pretending. I love messing with Theo and Millicent, but I hate that you can’t express your true
feelings.”

“Stop,” his laughter easily dies. “Those feelings are irrelevant and not even there now.”

“Okay,” she sighs. “Okay. Why don’t we go to Hogsmede this weekend? The five of us. You can
finally buy me something.”

His smile comes back, “I’ll let Blaise kniw. I’ve got to go to Potions. I’ll see you later, Astoria.”

“Bye, Draco!” she walks away.

Entering Potions Professor Snape looked even more irritated. He sits down next to Blaise who was
at a table with Neville, Hermione, Weasley, and Potter. He hasn’t properly seen him since he was
practically kidnapped and brought to that house. The vase with the two flowers was placed on his
nightstand in his dorm. He put a barrier charm around it so no one but him could move it. Blaise
had asked where he got them from their first night back and he said his mother gave them to him.

He catches The Gryffindor’s eyes and shoots him a private grin. Potter doesn’t even try to hide his
smile. His face visibly lightens up and if others were paying attention they would have commented
on it.

“Professor Snape is in a mood,” Blaise smirks.

“Why?” His eyes glance over at the door and in comes striding Dolores Umbridge.

“Oh for fuck sakes,” Draco grumbles.

“Hello, Severus,” she smiles and walks to the front of the class, eyeing around the room.

“Pull out your textbooks,” he completely ignores her. “Chapter four page 64.”

“What will they be brewing today Severus?” she peaks over Romilda Vane’s shoulder.

“Draught. Of. Peace,” he was clearly annoyed already. “Mr. Zabini if you could open your
textbook instead of sending Longbottom such repugnant notes that would be lovely,” he drawls.

“Would you like me to send you one, Professor?” Draco bites the inside of his cheek to keep
himself from laughing. The same can’t be said for Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. “Five
points from Gryffindor for such disrupting noises,” he doesn’t even bat an eye at the two of them.
“Talk back like that again, Mr. Zabini and I might have you cleaning all the cauldrons without
magic. Moving on. You will—“
“Shouldn’t you take the notes away from them?” Umbridge speaks up with a light giggle.

“And why would I do that?”

“Well if they believe passing notes is more important then listening to the Professor,” she pulls out
her wand and does a small movement, and out of Neville’s pocket flies a piece of paper.

“Hey!” Blaise shouts and Neville’s mouth hung slightly open, eyes filled with concern.

“Then clearly they must have more important things to say,” she unfolds one of them and Draco
watches her eyes go from amused to disgusted in the span of a second. “Zabini and Longbottom is
it?” she crumbles up the note and it bursts into flames. “Meet me in my office after this class,” she
forces a smile. “Please, Severus, before I go, do you mind answering a few questions?” He doesn’t
answer. “How long have you been teaching here?”

“Fourteen years.”

“And you applied first for The Defensive Against The Dark Arts position, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“But you were unsuccessful?”

“Obviously.”

“Why is that?”

“Ask Dumbledore if you’re so curious. I have a class to teach Dolores.”

“Of course,” she writes on her clipboard aggressively. “Good day, Severus.” he leaves in her
version of fashion. Weasley was snickering quietly but Snape was literally right behind him so he
smacks him with a book.

His mouth falls open and everyone at their table was holding back their laughs, except Draco and
Blaise who were close to cackling.

“Draught of Peace,” Snape walks to his podium. “There are 16 steps. If brewed correctly it will
emit a silver vapor. If brewed incorrectly you’ll get an automatic zero. No partners. You’ve all
been in my class for five years now. You should be able to this efficiently. Start.”

A few people, Draco and Hermione included, are already getting up to get ingredients while the
rest of the class was still reading. He comes back and starts brewing, adding powdered moonstone
and then stirring until it turns blue. He’s on step three by the time Potter starts his. He can see the
Gryffindor looking around at the table nervously as he adds the moonstone. Draco takes a pause to
watch Potter closely. It was anxiety provoking, watching him work.

He waits for him to be on the same step before he clears his throat to get his attention. They make
eye contact and Potter’s eyes were screaming for help. Draco glances down to indicate him to
watch him and follow him, which he does.

That’s how they continue on. Draco brews slowly so Potter can watch and copy. It’s stressful. So
stressful. Potter is incredibly reckless without even trying. Draco can tell he’s trying his hardest and
he would find it amusing if Potter wasn’t frowning the whole time.

When they both finish they both visibly loosen. Both were tense for the same reason. Nervous
Potter was going to fuck it up. But he didn’t. They smile at each other before Draco calls Professor
Snape over.

“Well done, Mr. Malfoy,” he goes to walk away but Potter clears his throat.

“I’m done too, sir,” he says in a dry tone. Snape suppresses an eye roll and walks over to his side.

“Well done, Mr. Potter, you’ve finally been able to successfully brew a potion without help after
five years in my class.”

“It took five years because your teaching for the past four has been awful,” he snaps back.
Everyone’s mouth drops open. Snape narrows his eyes and completely leans into his personal
space.

“Teaching a student who is unbelievably incompetent is quite a challenge, Mr. Potter. Something I
hope you won’t have to do in your blundering life,” he then leaves for another table.

“Thank you,” Potter approaches him while he was alone.

“It was nothing,” he grins. “The second hand embarrassment I would have gotten if I didn’t help
you.”

“I’m not that bad at it,” he grumbles and leans against the wall.

“I think you could be good if Snape wasn’t so biased.”

“Maybe,” he sighs, and then a flustered smile appears on his face. “So… how are you?”

“I’m doing good, Potter,” he says truthfully with a smile. “And you?”

“I’m fine…” he shrugs. “You know Hermione told me something I don’t really understand. She
told me—“

“Draco! ” Astoria approaches him from behind Potter with a smile. “Oh and who are you…?” he
stands by Draco’s side and her eyes go slightly wide. “Oh. Harry Potter.”

“Uh, hello…?”

“Astoria,” she says and subtly leans into Draco.

“Astoria…” he nods. There’s a hint of something in his voice that Draco doesn’t understand.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to join Pansy and I for lunch. Blaise is eating with Neville and
Daphne is eating with Anthony Goldstein.”

“Goldstein?” Draco gapes. “Oh, Daph, she’s a complete idiot.”

“I know! Anyways,” she looks over at the Gryffindor. “Do you want to join us, Harry? Pansy will
probably feel like a third wheel,” her smile looks innocent to the normal eye, but Draco knows what
she’s doing. He knows.

“Pansy would never let herself be a third wheel,” he forces himself to say.

“Third wheel?” Potter speaks up. “So it’s true?” he stuffs one of his hands in his pocket. “You two
 are together.”

“Yeah,” she links arms with him. “I was trying to ignore my feelings because my sister didn’t
approve but then I realized I shouldn’t let other people, no matter what the outcome could be, get
in the way of who I really love.”

“Uh, heh, yeah,” Potter nods while his eyes shift around awkwardly.

“Are you alright?” Draco quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah, of course,” he huffs out a chuckle. “I’ll see you later, Draco,” he practically rushes past him
and Draco waits for him to be out of sight to basically shove Astoria away.

“What the hell is your problem?!” he growls.

“What do you think?”

“I told you why I have to do this! Do you want to know what the outcome could be? My mother
getting hurt or my father doing his worst to her and I.”

“Draco—“

“You don’t—“ he inhales sharply. He can feel tears form in his eyes. “You don’t understand,
Astoria. Your family isn’t associated with The Dark Lord. If you’re uncomfortable with this, tell
me now. I’ll find someone else. I’ll, I don’t know, I’ll fucking kill myself,” he shrugs. “You think
I should just do that? Yeah, I’ll do that,” Tears start streaming down his face. “It’ll be easier then
dealing with my father’s anger and The Dark Lord now back and my feelings for fucking Harry. I
should do that. I should-“

“Draco,” she whispers and brings her hand up to his cheek. “You’re so strong,” she pulls him into a
hug and he melts into it. “We’ll run away to America when schools over,” she offers. “We can be
on a beach and watch the sunset while you cuddle with some bloke and I’m cuddling with the
golden retriever I’ve always wanted.”

He only nods.

“If you need this pretending, I’ll do it… I’m sorry, Draco.”

“I’m grateful for you, Astoria,” he whispers.

“I’m grateful for you too, Draco,” she lightly kisses his cheek.

Chapter End Notes

I fucking love Astoria and Draco's dynamic. I would say brother/sister type thing but
considering they're fake dating that's fucking WEIRD so just BFFs
Blaise and Draco are still close by the way. Blaise is getting closer to Neville, and now
that everyone knows, he's taking advantage of being able to spend time with him in
public and in normal places.
Harry and Draco moment... cute.
Homophobic Umbridge are we really surprised?
the note blaise sent neville: You look handsome today. Care to have a date in the
courtyard? We can call it a hangout so you don't feel pressured.
 Chapter 38
Chapter Summary

“There’s already people in there. If we walk in late it’ll just be awkward.”

“We wouldn’t have been late if you didn’t take twenty minutes looking for your
gloves!” Blaise exasperated.

Meeting in Hogshead

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“But Blaise,” Draco whines.

“Neville said we could come so we’re going to,” he finishes putting his scarf on. “Don’t tell me
you aren’t just a little bit curious about what the Gryffindors are doing.”

“Have you offered the invite to Pansy, Daphne and Astoria?”

“Yeah, they’re going to meet us there.”

“Oh for fuck sakes,” he groans. “This is bloody stupid.”

“You’ll get to see your lovely boyfriend.”

“Girlfriend.”

“I’m not talking about Astoria."

“Fuck you.”

“There’s already people in there. If we walk in late it’ll just be awkward.”

“We wouldn’t have been late if you didn’t take twenty minutes looking for your gloves!” Blaise
exasperates.

Draco peeks his head through the door and listens in.

“Cause You-Know-Who is back you tosspot,” he hears Weasley say.

“So he says,” Zacharias Smith replies.

“So Dumbledore says.”

“So Dumbledore says because he says.”

“Draco I will push you in and make your entrance embarrassing,” Blaise growls.

“One second,” he whispers.

“The point is, where’s the proof?”

“Proof?” Draco comes strolling in like he owns the place.“You’re fucking kidding me,” he can
hear Blaise grumble.

“You really need proof, Smith?” he scoffs. “You think Potter would lie about something so
serious?”

“What are you doing here, Malfoy?” Smith visibly cringes.

“I have friends here, Smith,” he glances over at Pansy, Astoria, and Daphne who were sitting in the
back.

“I’m surprised anyone would want to be friends with you.”

“Don’t be so rude!” Hermione exclaims.

“But you’re letting Death Eaters’ children join this! Does Potter even know what he’s dong?”

“Oi!” Weasley shouts. “We’ll kick you out, Smith, if you don’t shut your mouth.”

“You lot are idiots!” he shakes his head.

“Then leave,” both Hermione and Weasley say at the same time. Draco can see them pass a small
smile to each other.

Smith rolls his eyes but doesn’t move. Draco can’t help but smirk as Blaise drags him to an empty
chair. His eye catches Potter’s for a brief moment and he looks extremely pissed.

“Are all of you done?” Potter eventually speaks. “Let’s go, Hermione. This is causing too much
drama.”

“But you can produce a Patronus charm right?” a gentle voice speaks.

“I…” Potter is actually speechless.

“Yes he can. I’ve seen it,” Hermione says.

“Blimey, Harry,” Dean Thomas says. “You can really do that?”

“And he killed a Basilisk!” Neville says. “With the sword in Dumbledore’s office.”

“It’s true,” Girl Weasley says.

“Third year, he fought off about 100 dementors at once,” Weasley says and Draco’s mind flashes
at the memory. His mind blocked that out. The coldness of the brief Dementor's kiss… seeing
Potter getting his soul sucked. It sends a shiver down his spine.

“And last year, he really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh.”

“Wait,” Potter's soft voice sounds so broken. “Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that,
but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn’t know what I was doing half the time. I nearly
always had help.”

“He’s just being modest.”

“No, Hermione, I’m not,” he says firmly. “Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school,
if you make a mistake you can just try again tomorrow, but out there… when you’re a second away
from being murdered or watching a friend die right before your eyes…” he inhales sharply and
looks away from everyone. “You don’t know what that’s like,” he sits back down and Draco
notices how he begins fidgeting with his fingers.

“You’re right, Harry, we don’t. That’s why we need your help. Because if we’re going to have any
chance of beating… Voldemort.”

Draco flinches at the name.

“He’s really back?” some Gryffindor says and Potter nods.

“We’ll join,” Fred Weasley says and everyone nods.

“We trust you, Harry,” Thomas says.

“Wonderful,” Hermione says gently. “We have a sheet of paper right here,” she walks over to a
table. “If you could all form a line and write your names...” she sets a pencil down. People start
moving, Weasley and Potter sitting down behind the table while everyone else forms the line.
Draco walks over to Pansy, Daphne, and Astoria who are whispering in the corner.

“What an entrance you both made,” Pansy deadpans.

“Smith is a fucking cunt,” Draco hisses.

“Are you guys joining?” Blaise asks the three girls.

“I think we should,” says Daphne. “Granger was saying how we needed a proper teacher and
Potter is the best way to go.”

"So he'll be teaching us Defensive Against The Dark Arts?" Blaise asks and the girls nod.

“What about you, Pans?” Draco asks. “You’re anti “The Dark Lord is back.” What do you say
about all of this?”

“I’m joining because I want to learn,” she folds her arms.

“Astoria?”

“I think it’d be fun,” she smiles. “You’ll be joining right, Draco?”

“No.”

“No?”

“I can’t risk it,” he mutters.

“Risk it?” Pansy scoffs. “What would you be risking?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You and your reasons,” she rolls her eyes. “But you’ll be joining, right Blaise?”

“Yeah,” he says easily. “Neville would appreciate that.”

“Do I hear wedding bells?” Daphne teases.

“Shut up, Greengrass.”

“Can I be your best men, Blaise?” Draco smirks and wraps his arm around him. “I have the best
story to share.”

“I’m getting in line,” he shoves him off and walks over to Neville who had purposefully put
himself in the back of the line.

“I really think you should join, Draco,” Daphne says. “You won’t be learning anything in
Umbridge’s class.”

“It’s fine. Just drop it.”

“Okay…” she walks away and Pansy follows.

“It won’t look suspicious if you join, Draco,” Astoria says gently.

“You don’t know that… I hear Lavendar Brown and The Patil Twins love to gossip. And I… I
could slip up on accident.”

“Okay,” she smiles softly and then walks to the others.

Draco quietly moves to the back of the Tavern so no one could see him. He wanted to talk to Potter
after everyone left.

Everyone finishes putting their name down and leaves. The only ones remaining were The
Weasleys, Neville, Hermione, and Potter.

“I’ve come up with an idea on how us D.A members can communicate with each other,” Hermione
says.

“How?” Asks Neville.

“I can create fake gallons and then enchant them.”

“That’s clever,” says George.

“I know, right?” she smiles proudly. “What do you think, Draco?’

The Slytherin literally jumps out of his seat and peeks behind the pillar he was hiding behind.

“You’re still here?” Potter says in shock.

“Hm, clearly,” he says as confidently as possible. “How’d you know I was still here, Hermione?”
he grumbles.

“I didn’t see you leave,” she says. “You think the coin idea could work?”

“Yes, I think so,” he nods. “I’ll be going now,” he heads for the door but Potter’s voice stops him.

“You’re name isn’t on here… you’re not joining?”

“Well, no, I’m not.”

“Your friends are.”

“Blaise is joining for Neville, Pansy is joining for Daphne, and Daphne and Astoria are joining to
actually learn.”

“So why aren’t you?” he sounds genuinely hurt.

“I don’t have the time,” he lies easily. “I’m sorry.”

“I understand,” he stuffs his hands in his hoodie pocket. “So why are you still here?”

“Er, well, I wanted to speak to Weasley for a brief moment.”

“Me? What for?”

“Not you, Ronald. Merlin, I really can’t call you all Weasley. Except you,” he points to the girl.
“Girl Weasley.”

“Absolutely not,” she scoffs. “Do not call me Girl Weasley.”

“I’m certainly not calling you Ginny.”

“Normal people call others by their name,” Hermione states.

“You can call her Ginvera,” George snickers.

“George!” she exclaims.

“Why would I call you— Oh Sweet Salazar, that’s your full name isn’t it?”

“Shut up, Malfoy!"

“Anyways, I was referring to George.”

“What do you need more for?”

“Here,” he pulls out a galleon and flips it into the air. The ginger catches it and stares at him,
waiting for an explanation. “One of your joke items. I’ll take any,” he grins. “See you lot later,” he
walks out of the pub and the second the door shuts behind him and exhales roughly. He’s gotten
better at improvising.

“How’d you leave this note in my book with me noticing?” Draco says to the empty courtyard.

“Invisibility cloak,” he takes it off, revealing Potter standing right in front of him.

“I figured,” he grins. “I’d kill to have one of these.” he admits.

“Would you like to try it?”

Draco scoffs, “you’re toying with me.”

“Why would I do that?” he holds it out for him. “Honestly. Ron and Hermione have used it.”
“And you’d let me use it because…?”

“We’re friends,” he says it so nonchalantly and still, Draco’s heart skips a beat.

“What if I were to run off with it?” he says while taking it out of his hands.

“I’d find you.”

“How threatening you sound.”

“It’s the truth,” he grins. “Put it on!”

Draco wraps the cloak around himself and stares down to see his body gone, beside his feet. “I’m
too tall for this,” he says while in complete awe.

“Clearly,” he smiles. “This belonged to my Dad.”

“Merlin, Potter, and you’re letting me use it?” he quickly takes it off.

“I trust you,” he says and Draco’s heart definitely melts.

“Oh,” he says. Before Potter can say anything else, heels clacking on the floor start coming closer.

“Umbridge,” they both say at the same time.

“Invisibility cloak,” Potter yanks it out of his hand and pulls him against the stoned wall. Draco
gets shoved to his knees which he would usually have been angry about but it was Potter who had
done it to him. He doesn’t get enough time to stare up at him, because the Gryffindor was joining
him in a matter of a second, but Merlin seeing Potter at that angle was something else.

The moment the Invisibility cloak wraps around both of them, Umbridge comes striding around the
corner.

“What a horrendous shade of pink,” Draco whispers and he gets a hand smacked against his mouth.
He frowns and sends a murderous glare to the brunette but doesn’t move the hand away.

Umbridge stops right in front of them and looks around before continuing down the hallway with
her stupid clipboard, scribbling who knows what.

Draco can feel the others' heavy breathing against his face. The way his green eyes stare with
hatred at Umbridge. How he grips his pocketed wand unconsciously, fingers slightly flexing.

Once she was out of sight, Draco grips onto Potter’s hand and yanked it away from his mouth.

“Awfully rude of you to do that.”

“It’s an invisibility cloak. It doesn’t reduce noise.”

“Whatever. Why did you shove us to the floor?”

“You’re too tall. Standing she would have seen your feet.”

“You’re smart.”

“You might be the only one who thinks so.”

“Probably,” he offers a smile.

“We can do one on one if you want,” he offers softly. “I’m already teaching several people. I don’t
mind setting time aside for you to teach you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The D.A meetings.”

“D.A?”

“Dumbledore’s Army. Cho came up with it.”

“How are things going with her?”

“It’s alright,” his eyes scan away before scanning back. “Look, Draco, what Smith said-"

"He wasn't exactly lying though was he?"

"That's why you're not joining, right? Others will judge and think you're up to something?"

"Yeah," he admits. "I don't really want to deal with all of that."

"So let me teach you on your own. With no one to get on your nerves.”

“You think I can’t teach myself?”

“What? No— that’s not, you’re clever, but I just thought—“

“I was only joking,” he smirks “You really wouldn’t mind doing that?”

“Yeah,” Potter smiles. “Plus I owe you don’t I? For teaching me how to dance.”

“You do owe me,” he grins.

“I’ll have Hermione give you a coin once she’s enchanted them.”

“Have you found a place yet?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “We’re still looking.”

“I do have a request.”

“A request?”

“Whatever Pansy says in those meetings ignore her. She can be a cow.”

Surprised, Potter snorts and laughs softly... It’s truly music to Draco’s ears.

“I’m being honest!” Draco exclaims

“I know you are,” he looks up at him and they both realize, at the exact same time, they’re awfully
close. So bloody close.

“We’re still under the cloak,” Draco breathes out.

“Right,” Draco can see his Adam’s Apple bob. “I guess I just got comfortable.”

‘Harmless intentions with those words. Harmless intentions,’ Draco thinks.

 “How could you possibly be comfortable?” Draco abruptly stands and the cloak falls off him. “We
were practically on top of each other; suffocating.”

‘Poor choice of words, Draco.’

“Er, yeah, I guess we were,” He practically scrambles to his feet and folds his cloak. “Probably I
imagined being comfortable,” a weak chuckle exerts from his lips. “I’ll have Hermione give you
the galleon. Goodnight, Draco,” he smiles and scurries off.

Chapter End Notes

38 chapters in and I finally write a sexual innuendo. Draco is 15. There's no way he
isn't thinking about sex sometimes.

I never wanted Draco to join the actual D.A. The reasoning isn't exactly the best, but
it's the only one I got.

Plus more Harry and Draco content will be coming :) I'm excited for the next chapter!!
It'll be out this Saturday.

I MISS REMUS AND DRACO!!! If you guys have any ideas on how I can
incorporate Remus more let me know. I MISS HIM.
 Chapter 39
Chapter Summary

“Where are we?”

“The Room of Requirement,” he simply says.

Draco's first lesson with Harry.

Chapter Notes

ENJOY

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Are you excited for Quidditch? It’ll be nice to get back on a broom.” Blaise’s voice is barely
registering in his mind. “Alright… are you worried about your lesson?... Draco!” he groans and
snatches the coin from the air after Draco flipped it up.

“Hey!”

“I’m trying to talk to you,” he slams the coin down. “Are you worried?”

“About what?”

“Being alone with Potter.”

“Why would I be worried?”

He sighs, “Don’t be so thick, Draco. You really think getting private lessons from him is a good
idea? During a time like this?”

“There’s no way of my father finding out. Only Potter and Hermione know.”

“You’ve started calling her Hermione?”

“She’s made me.”

“And you just listened?”

“After everything I’ve done to her? Yes.”

“That’s a fair point. You really— oh, look!” he nods to the coin. “You’re boyfriend has summoned
you.”

“Shut up,” he growls and snatches the coin off the table. “I’ve got a girlfriend, remember?”

“You’re bloody sick.”

“I’ve got no choice,” he replies angrily before storming out of the library.

Seventh floor, Tapestry, H.P

Draco can’t help but smile at his initials and he practically bolts to the seventh floor. He enters the
empty hallway and stares up at the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Draco never found much
interest in it. He thought it was quite pointless.

“Potter?” he calls out. No reply. “Potter!”

“I’m right here,” a door opens behind the tapestry, and Draco gets pulled through. He stumbles
forward, barely catching himself, and the doors slam shut behind him.

“What the hell?” he grumbles and looks around. “Where are we?”

“The Room of Requirement,” he simply says.

“And you had to pull me in because?”

“Someone was coming around the corner.”

“And how’d you know that?”

All he does is smirk so Draco rolls his eyes.

“How’d you find this place?”

“It was actually Neville and Za— er, Blaise found it.”

“You’re calling him Blaise?”

“He said to,” he shrugs. “They came across it on accident. Not even looking for a place for the
meetings apparently.”

“Hate to think what they originally wanted the room for,” he grimaces at the thought and so does
Potter. “But this is brilliant. The Room of Requirement, you said? So what if I needed—“ just then,
right next to him, pumpkin juice in a contained bottle. “Wonderful.”

“You wanted pumpkin juice?” he looks amused.

“Not just ordinary pumpkin juice. There’s a spell in that changes someones hair color. Crabbe and I
used it on Goyal a few times when we were younger. Tomorrow morning, will you give this to
George Weasley?”

“Why would I do that?”

“He made my nose bleed! Ask Hermione, she’ll tell you!” He pulls out his wand and shrinks the
bottle to pocket size. “Just drop it into his drink. I promise, it’s harmless,” he grins and tosses it to
him. He catches it, stares at it, and then pockets it.

“You’re not going to be able to out-prank, George.”

“Just watch me,” he smirks. “Now! Professor Potter,” he teases. “Care to teach me some magic?”

“Will you ever just call me Harry?”

“We've been over this. When hell freezes over."

"Please, just call me Harry!"

"Do you really want me too?”

“Yes!”

“Ugh,” he groans. “Alright… Harry… teach me some magic.”

He smiles. “Okay I tried teaching the others Expelirrarmus. Some got it down, but most didn’t. So
don’t stress if you don’t get it down right away,” he pulls out his wand. On the other side of the
room, stood a statue of a Death Eater holding a fake wand. “Clearly you know the spell so I don’t
have to explain what it does. You don’t want to flourish your wand too much but you also don’t
want to grip onto it with a death grip.”

“Alright,” he positions himself next to him and holds up his wand. “Like this?”

“Raise your hand a bit higher,” he does. “Good, okay. You, um, you just want to aim and then you
know, do the spell.”

“Great teaching skills. 10 out of 10.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to say!”

Draco chuckles.

He aims the wand at the fake one and concentrates. “ Expeliarmus!” The spell comes out of his
wand but it doesn’t get very far. “What the hell?”

“You need to amplify your voice. Say the word with more determination. You sounded very
bored.”

He groans, “you do it then.”

“Expeliarmus!” he shouts the wand releases from the statue’s hand and flies into Potter’s. “Just
like that.”

“‘Just like that,’” he mocks and watches the wand go back to the statue. “I can do that.”

He can not.

Well, not at first.

“Aim your wand higher.”

“Don’t be a smartarse! Not that high!”

“Don’t point it at me!”

“You can’t sound bored!”

It takes him at least seven tries before the wand goes flying into his hand. It worked the last time
because he pretended the statue was The Gryffindor.

“Finally!” Draco exclaims. “Finally!”

“Brilliant!” Potter smiles. “Well done, Draco!”

“I imagined the statue was you, Harry,” he admits.

“Oh, wow, you’re the worst.”

“It was the truth,” he smirks, and the other rolls his eyes.

“I’ve enjoyed this,” he says nonchalantly. “I’m looking forward for to the next one,” he wanders
towards the Death Eater statue.

“I don’t know what’ll be doing yet,” he follows.

“You’ll think of a clever spell to teach us,” he begins tracing the mask of the Death Eater. He’s
seen a similar one in his own home. It makes him sick.

“Does this bother you? The Death Eater statue? We can change it to someone else.”

“No, it’s fine,” he replies quietly. “Really,” he lowers his hand and faces him. “What’s wrong with
your hand?” He noticed it earlier but waited till now to ask

“What are you talking about?” he holds out his right hand. “There’s nothing there.”

“I’m talking about your left one.”

He had his left arm hiding behind him so Draco has to grip his forearm and pull it in front of both
of them.

“Did you do this to yourself?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he yanks away from his grip.

“It was Umbridge wasn’t it? She gave this to you during your detention didn’t she?”

“It doesn’t mater!” he says more firmly.

“It does! Blaise and Neville didn’t get this heavy of a punishment! Harry, this is sinister!”

“You don’t understand, Draco! You just don’t!”

He scoffs, “then perhaps tell me?”

“It’s too complicated.”

“Try me!”

“Just drop it!” he wasn’t asking.

“Alright!” he takes a moment. “Alright. I’ll see you around, Potter.”

“You just called me Harry a few seconds ago.”

“I’ll be going back and forth from now on.”

“Of course you will be.”

“Goodnight… Harry,” and then he leaves the Room of Requirement.

 “FRED!” A voice literally screams at breakfast in the Great Hall.

“IT WASN'T ME GEORGE!” he shouts back but was laughing uncontrollably. “I SWEAR!

“THEN WHO WAS IT?!”

The whole Great Hall was practically laughing. Potter glances over at the Slytherin table and winks
at Draco. The Slytherin smirks as George goes storming out of the hall with his twin and Lee
Jordan.

Chapter End Notes

It's always the private lessons where Draco learns new things about himself.

I will be writing a quidditch match soon!! I'm so fucking worried ngl. I know how it's
going to go by describing it is going to horrid.

George and Draco's enemy friendship dynamic back at it again. I'm thinking of putting
their relationship in the tags LMAO
 Chapter 40
Chapter Summary

“You’re telling me I get to cast a spell your way? Brilliant!”

He rolls his eyes. “Cast the spell, Draco.”

Second lesson!

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Uh…” He stands in front of the tapestry. “Potter?”

“Yeah?” he peaks his head out of the room and Draco jumps backward. “Heh,” he chuckles lightly.
“Come in before someone sees you.”

Draco walks inside The Room of Requirement and shoots a light glare at the Gryffindor.

“One day I’ll scare you, Potter. Just you wait.”

“Harry!” he exasperates. “Call me Harry, Draco!”

“But Hell hasn’t freezed over!” He shoots him a look. “Alright! Harry. What did you teach your
class today?”

“Stupefy. And, one that Lupin already taught you, Protego.”

He smirks. “So I guess you’ll only be teaching me one.”

“I guess so.” They both pull out their wands. Harry walks to the other side of the room and The
Slytherin does the opposite.

“You’re telling me I get to cast a spell your way? Brilliant!”

He rolls his eyes. “Cast the spell, Draco.”

Draco positions himself and raises his wand.

“Ready?” He smirks and Harry nods. “Stupefy!’ he shouts and the spell flies towards him and he
goes flying backward, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Draco laughs and begins giving himself a
round of applause. “That was brilliant! Can I do it again? Please, Harry, your face was priceless!”

“Stupefy!” Potter’s voice booms through the room and it’s Dracos’ turn to go flying backward. He
groans when his head hits the floor and turns on his side.
“Why would you do that!” he complains.

“Your face was priceless.” He smirks.

Draco raises his wand and casts the spell again and the other blocks it.

“Are we really doing this?” Harry looks excited.

“Looks like it.” He can’t help his smile. He jumps to his feet and they start going back and forth
with the two spells, trying to get the best of the other. They probably look mad. Smiling and
laughing as they attack each other.

Watching Potter move swiftly as he dodges instead of using the protego charm is mesmerizing.
The boy who lived or not, Harry was meant to be an excellent wizard.

“Expelliarmus!” Harry shouts for the first time and Draco’s wand goes flying out of his hand and
into his.

“That— That was cheating!”

“That was using my skills to win the fight. A tip from your Professor.” He looks so smug.

“You should have given me that tip before we started dueling!”

“It’s something you needed to learn on your own.” He flips Draco’s wand in the air and catches it
with the cockiest facial expression he’s ever seen the Gryffindor have. But it then falters for a
moment. Draco watches him frown while looking down at his wand as if it’s done something
wrong. The weird facial expression is gone in a quick second and he walks over to him.

“I think this belongs to you.” He holds it out.

“Ha.” Draco snatches it out of his hand and pockets it. “That was fun,” he admits.

“Defiantly better than dueling Voldemort.” He flinches at the name and Potter mutters a quick
apology he doesn’t mean honestly. The atmosphere quickly shifts and neither boys are happy with
it.

“Why aren’t you afraid of saying his name?” Draco asks.

“It’s just a name to me.”

“Just a name? How could you say that? He—“

“Killed my parents. Tried to kill me. Yeah, I know. But until age 11 I thought my parents died in a
car crash and that’s how I got my scar,” he replies sharply.

“Wait, what?” He frowns. “What’s a car crash? That doesn’t matter, you didn’t know? That makes
no sense.”

“I was being lied to for 11 years by my Aunt and Uncle.”

“You didn’t know you were a wizard?” he whispers.

“Not until my letter arrived.”

“That’s sick.”
“It’s the truth.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Haven’t heard that one before.”

“Honestly, Harry! I thought… I thought you were completely different. I’m… sorry I assumed.”

“Everyone assumes.” He shrugs lightly. “I’ll let you know when our next meeting will be through
the coin.”

“Harry—“

“Don’t turn into Hermione. I don’t need two of you in my life as much as I love her.”

“Okay.” He takes a step back to show he’ll drop it.

“Quidditch is starting up again. Is this friendly rivalry going to carry onto the pitch or not?”

“Definitely not. When it comes to Quidditch I’m never friendly.”

“Yeah, I remember.’Training for the ballet, Potter.’” he quotes second year Draco. “You were
always more words than actions on the pitch.”

He scoffs. “Just you wait, Potter. Our first game versus each other and you’ll wish you never set
foot on that field.”

“I can’t wait,” he smirks.

Draco's letters he's recently sent:

Dear Romulus,

It’s been a moment since I’ve called you that and have written to you. I hope this letter finds you in
a safe place. I hope this letter finds you alive in fact. I won’t ask about The Order. I figure you
can’t tell me anything. So, since you can’t really talk about your life right now I’ll gladly talk about
mine.

I have a partner now. Girlfriend. Remember Astoria Greengrass? Yeah, she’s agreed to pretend
with me. I think if I found attraction toward girls I really would be madly in love with her. I know
you disapprove of all of this. I know this is incredibly wrong but I have to do this. With everything
that is going on, I have to stay on my father’s good side.

Anyways, Quidditch is starting up again. I’m still seeker and this is the year I catch the snitch
before Potter. I know you’ll be rooting for me from where you are. Or at least I hope so. I’d hate to
find out you’re biased because you're a Gryffindor and have a close relationship with Potter. I
think the trust we have will be broken if you root for him. No, I don’t think, I know.

I wish you were still our Professor. Defensive Against The Dark Arts hasn’t been fun or interesting
since you left. Umbridge isn’t even letting us use magic. She’s unbelievably stupid. Believing
everything the Ministry is saying. Well, she is from the Ministry so it does make sense.

Moving on!
 Stay alive if that’s possible. No one would appreciate your death. Besides the people you’re
fighting… tell Black I say hello. He’ll probably enjoy the greeting from me. Or at least he should.

Draco L. Malfoy

Mother,

I have sent this to inform you that Astoria and I are in a relationship. Please tell father for me.
Hopefully, he’ll find some good in that.

I miss you dearly. I hope you’re well.

Your son,

Draco L. Malfoy

Chapter End Notes

There was going to be a moment with Theo in the dorms after the lesson but it was
way too awkward to transition to that. Here's a piece of it though:
“Where have you been?”
“That's none of your business, Theo.” Draco sighs and sits down on his bed. “No one
else is in here. You can drop the act for now.”
“Shut up,” he growls but Draco can see his facial expression soften as he closes his
drapes.

Anyways, NEXT CHAPTER is going to be great. I'm so excited for it you all don't
even understand. It won't be out till next week though. I'm sorry!! hope you guys
understand.

Harry and Draco dueling fair (almost) and square :)

notice the difference between the letter to Remus and to his Mother!! The crossed out
L (which would be a scriblle) and the way he writes.

Thoughts? Opinions? Any input? If you guys have theories or even ideas let me know!
I would love to read them :))
 Chapter 41
Chapter Summary

“The Snitch is out and showing its self to Number 6, Harry Potter, on the Gryffindor
team— you all already know that— and Number 3, Draco Malfoy, on the Slytherin
team. We haven’t seen much of their rivalry in a while, folks! We’ll finally get to see it
again!”

QUIDDITCH!!

Chapter Notes

I've never written a quidditch match before so don't judge please.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Where the hell is Zabini?” Graham Montague, the Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team,
growls at Draco.

“He’s on his way. Relax.” He leans against his broom.

“He’s probably off shagging Longbottom.” He hears Crabbe snicker and Goyal joins him. “Bloody
disgusting.”

“Jealous because you know no one will ever want to shag you, Crabbe?” Draco snaps. “I mean
maybe Goyal will.”

Both of them try to advance on him but Miles Bletchley stops them.

“We’re about to play a match,” says Montague. “I need you all to get your heads in tact.
Understood? Where is Blaise!” he practically screams.

“I’m right here!” He emerges from behind the curtains. “Keep your knickers out of a twist,
Graham. I’m right here.”

“About time!” He sighs dramatically. “Draco. Catch the Snitch before Potter.”

“I know I’m the seeker, Montague.”

“Just making sure you’re aware. Mount your brooms everyone and get. In. Position.” Everyone
does and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Adrain Pucey (chaser) muttering something to
Cassius Warrington (chaser) who starts chuckling quietly.

And then they’re called out to the pitch. Being back on his broom is comforting. It’s something so
familiar. I know it like the back of my hand he heard some Muggleborn say a while ago. Draco
asked and he explained basically what Draco was feeling right now. He positions himself where
Seekers go and out comes The Gryffindor team.
“Bloody hell,” he mutters to himself. He watches George do the lap with the rest of his team and
The Slytherin can’t deny… he looks good. Everyone eventually gets into position and if Draco
wasn’t so determined to beat Harry in his game he would fall off his broom right now just by
looking at him. Draco was going to have to spend hours with Astoria to get this image of Harry
smirking at him out of his mind.

“Ready to lose, Malfoy?” Harry says loud enough for only Draco to hear.

“It’s Malfoy again?”

“Only on the Quidditch Pitch.” He winks at him and Lee Jordan's voice echoes through the
stadium.

“The Snitch is out and showing its self to Number 6, Harry Potter, on the Gryffindor team— you
all already know that— and Number 3, Draco Malfoy, on the Slytherin team. We haven’t seen
much of their rivalry in a while, folks! We’ll finally get to see it again!”

“Oh for Merlins’ sake,” Draco mutters.

“Madam Hooch blows her whistle and up the Quaffle goes! Bludgers are already being thrown by
all four beaters! Blaise Zabini— good looking fella for his age. Rumors say he’s snagged a fellow
Gryffindor, Ne— Okay, sorry, Professor! He has a hold of the Quaffle but Katie Bell is right on his
tail. Looks like Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are just looming above. They seem rusty, which
makes sense. Malfoys’ lost in second year and Harry falling off his broom more times then I have
— which is saying something— Oh! Look at that! Zabini passed the Quaffle to Adrain Pucey who
then dodges Angelina and SCORE. ALREADY! 10 to 0, Slytherin! That’s alright Ron, you’ll
block the next one!”

Draco watches the game from above while still being on a sharp lookout for the Snitch. He sees
Crabbe and Goyal aiming their bludgers at Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, Fred and George aiming
their bludgers at Crabbe and Goyal, Ron Weasley looking like he’s about to throw up, and Harry,
Potter actually (he’s back to Potter on the pitch), flying slowly in search for the Snitch.

“Has Zabini gotten better?” Lee Jordan muses. “Has he always been this good? Oh, never mind,
Angelina now has the possession of the Quaffle. She dodges Slytherin’s Captain Graham
Montague, passes it to Alicia, who— BLUDGER WATCH OUT! Phew, she doges it and ah shi—
shoot! Miles Bletchley catches it and throws it back to Zabini. He passes it to Pucey who dodges a
Bludger from Fred— or was that George? I’m just kidding. I’m the only one who can tell you two
apart— besides Draco Malfoy of course, who’s now dating Astoria Greengrass. These past three
years have been very confusing for the Slytherin Seeker.”

“OI!” Draco barks. “Watch your mouth, Jordan!”

“I’m just commenting the game!” He smiles brightly. “Montague gets a hold of the Quaffle and
SCORE! 20 - 0, Slytherin!”

“Weasley cannot save a thing! He cannot block a single ring! That’s why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King!”

“Oh no,” Draco mutters under his breath. People are cruel. Just utterly cruel. This was something
Draco would have done in first and second years. He’ll forever be grateful for Remus Lupin. The
chant continues as the game continues and Lee Jordan commentates.

“Looks like Potter has his eyes on something. Something important,” he adds a sing-song tone.
“And off he goes! Oh and Malfoy has finally clocked back into reality— not trying to be rude
Professor it’s just the truth— and he bolts towards Potter. Potter dodges a Bludger sent by Goyal
while Malfoy dodges one from Fred. I can’t even see the snitch! Malfoy is on Potter’s tail as
HOLY— WHOA! Zabini scores! 30 - 0, Slytherin. Him and his confidence have gotten better since
he played last!”

Draco’s hands tighten around his broom as he finally catches up to Potter. Their shoulders were
pushed up against each other but they weren’t shoving like old times. The snitch goes flying
upwards and both seekers follow. They end up flying over the crowd, on the side of the pitch, and
even around the rings before they both have lost it.

Draco groans while Potter smacks his broom. They both finally look at each other, panting and
sweating immensely.

“Did you see where it went?” Draco pants.

He stares at him as if he’s asked such a preposterous question; which, in all honestly, he did. “Are
you being serious?”

“Maybe.” He grins. “Are you going to tell me?”

“All words and no action.” He teases.

“Don’t be so homophobic, Potter!”

“Wha— what?”

“HA!” Draco barks out a laugh before dodging downwards where he saw the snitch fluttering.

“Looks like Malfoy said something to Harry that caught him off guard. I wonder what it could
have been! Potter looks more determined than I’ve ever seen him!”

“Aren’t you dating Astoria!?” Potter shouts at Draco once he’s reached him.

“Are you really asking me this now!?” He’s actually flabbergasted.

“You called me homophobic, but you’re dating a girl!?”

“I was being strategic! New it’d catch you off guard.” Draco laughs.

“That shouldn’t be allowed!”

“Are— Are the two seekers having a conversation?” Lee Jordan sounds more confused than ever.
“I’ve never seen that before. I, well, Zabini just lost the Quaffle to Katie who throws at one of the
rings and YEAH! Gryffindor scores; 50- 10. Angelina now has the— Jesus, the chants are getting
old, Slytherins! You really should can it!” The chanting was still going and it caused Weasley’s
confidence to drop, causing those twenty points to Slytherins.

“A Bludger is hit by Goyal towards both seekers! He doesn’t seem to care who it hits! Clearly The
Slytherins’ have some beef with each other! Luckily, both seekers dodge, Potter going up and
Malfoy going down! The snitch! The snitch is right in front of both of them! And BLIMEY! No
one saw that Bludger coming! It hit Potter in the back and down he goes falling on top of Malfoy!”

Draco tries his hardest to stay on his broom but Potter’s weight ends up pulling him down. They
weren’t low enough on the ground to avoid an injury. Both seekers are tumbling with each other,
groaning and grunting. He feels something snap as he finally stops moving. He was on his back,
squeezing his eyes shut in pain. He can feel Potter on top of him, but only his stomach was on top
of Dracos’. The rest of his body was sprawled on the grass.

“Get off of me…” Draco grumbles weakly.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters and Draco sees him open his hands. The Snitch shines in his hand and
stops fluttering.

“HARRY POTTER HAS COUGHT THE SNITCH!” Yells Lee Jordan. “GRYFFINDOR WINS!”

“I hate you,” he glares at him as the crowd, besides the Slytherins, burst into cheers.

“We’re still friends right?” Harry whispers, trying to suppress a smile.

“If you get someone to take me to the Hospital Wing, yes. Something’s broken.”

“Bloody hell.” He scurries off of him. “Uh—“

“Well done, Harry!”

“You were brilliant!”

“Nice job, Harry!”

His team had dismounted their brooms and were cheering and hugging him.

“Hello!” Draco shouts. “I need the Hospital Wing!”

“Can you stand?” Blaise comes swooping down and jumps off his broom.

“I don’t know.” He glares. “Care to help me?”

“Do you always need help?” He holds his hand out for him. Draco grabs it and gets pulled up, only
to collapse in Blaise’s arms from the pain in his right foot.

“When I have an injured ankle then yes!” he hisses.

“Did you like our chant?” Adrain Puecy approaches all of them, Cassius Warrington following
behind. “You can thank Theodore Nott for that. It was quite hilarious if you ask me.”

“Don’t act all snotty because we lost,” says Blaise and begins walking Draco towards the exit off
the pitch. “You lot have to much time on your hands. The chant wasn’t funny!”

“Are a defender of the Weasels’ Zabini? First Longbottom and now them?” Warrington rolls his
eyes. “I think you make the cusp of being a Blood-Traitor!”

“You think I still care about statues? I’m openly gay, Warrington! Keep up with the times!” He
shouts without even looking back.

“What they did to Weasley was awful,” says Draco.

“I know. Poor bloke. He’s never going to catch a break is he?”

“Probably not.”
“You’ll be out of here tomorrow, Mr. Malfoy.” Madam Pomfrey sets a jug of water on the
nightstand next to him.

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

“You do have a visitor. You both have an hour and then you’ll need to rest.”

“Alright.” Out she goes and it’s not Blaise who walks in. It’s Harry. “What are you doing here?”

“Seeing if you’re alright.” There’s a hint of annoyance in the kindness of his voice. “Technically it
was my fault.”

“It was Crabbe’s fault. But if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t have caught the Snitch so…”

“I would have still caught the Snitch if I didn’t fall on top of it and you.”

“You think so?” He scoffs. “I’ll prove you wrong, Potter. Just you wait.”

“You won’t be able to. Umbridge confiscated my broom. I’m banned from Quidditch.”

“What!?” He leans forward. “What happened?”

“One of your teammates insulted my Mum so I went after him.” His face grows with immense
anger. “She kicked Fred and George off too. George went after another after he insulted his Mum.
Umbridge decided to kick both of them off.”

“That’s— That’s outrageous! She can’t just do that!”

“Yes she can.” He sits down on his bed dramatically which Draco doesn’t mind. “She hates me for
spitting the truth! She’ll do anything to make my life miserable.”

“She doesn’t have the right.”

“She’s from the Ministry! She can do anything she bloody wants!”

“And Dumbledore isn’t doing anything?”

“He can’t— He’s… I’m not sure anymore. He’s not talking to me.”

“Why?”

“You tell me.” He shakes his head and exhales roughly. “How’s your leg?”

“Ankle. I’ll be out by tomorrow.”

“So you’ll be able to join our lessons tomrrower?”

“You’re really thinking about that now?”

“I’m always thinking about it,” he admits. “But this time we have to do something different.”

“We always do something different?”

“No, I mean, a different technique, er, way.”

“Meaning?”
“We need a third person.”

He frowns. “What? Why?”

“The spell I’m teaching you, if you loose focus there should be three instead of two.”

“Alright,” he says reluctantly. He really didn’t want anyone else to join. “I’ll ask Blaise.”

“Actually… I’ve already asked Ron.”

“You asked Weasley?” he gapes.

‘He needs a distraction from the game! Surely you understand.”

He groans. “Fine. Fine.”

“Brilliant.” He lightly grins. “Before I go, Can I ask you a question?” Draco nods. “You called me
homophobic during the match, I know it was a joke, but you’re dating Astoria Greengrass… you
told me, and practically the whole school, you’re gay so… it’s not real is it?”

“What’s not real?”

“The relationship between the two of you.” Draco can feel his whole body go still.

And people still question Harry’s intelligence?

“You’re pretending for your father.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Your father is Lucius Malfoy. He already does horrible things to you, Draco… I’m assuming he
wouldn’t approve of a gay relationship.”

“It’s fine, Potter.”

“It’s not. It’s cruel. It’s—“

“Do you talk about your Aunt and Uncle treat you?” he interrupts harshly.

“What?”

“You told me they starve you. Is that the only thing they do?”

“It’s fucked that you would bring that up to avoid your problems!” he growls.

“You left me no choice!”

“You could have just you didn’t want to talk about it!”

“I panicked, alright! You should know by now I’m incredibly guarded and defensive!”

“Can’t you just change that? Be normal! You’d think someone as intelligent as you could speak
such simple words!” He shouts and Draco straightens up.

“Get out, Potter!”

His head twitches. “Wait, Draco—“

 “Get out!”

“No, wait, I’m sorry.” Harry’s veins were popping out of his neck and his hands were clutching
onto his legs so tightly that his knuckles were on the verge of turning white. “I didn’t mean any of
that. I’m sorry.”

He leans forward. “Then you better explain to me why you’re acting like a complete arse all of a
sudden before I drag you out of this room.”

“I’m fine.”

“Harry—“

“I said I’m fine!” His head twitches again and he quickly shakes his head. “I can’t control it.” He
runs his hands down his face.

“Explain to me,” he says as softly as possible even though he was annoyed at the sudden anger
outburst from him. “Tell me what’s going on.”

He scoffs. “You’ll think I’m mad.”

“I already think that.”

He glares at him before casting his eyes downwards.“…He’s in my mind… Voldemort. I mean not
actually, but I see visions and I feel, Jesus, I feel angry all the time.”

Draco takes a moment to process his words before speaking again. “It’s his anger you’re feeling
then?”

“I can’t tell the difference anymore.” He can tell that was the first time Harry’s ever admitted that
by the way his eyes gently widen and then relax.

“Harry, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m…I should go.”

“If you want.” He doesn’t say how much he wants him to stay.

“Goodnight, Draco.” He stands ever so slowly and The Slytherin watches every little detail in his
body movement.

“Goodnight, Harry.”

He watches him leave and his heart aches but he doesn’t mind this time.

Chapter End Notes

i know Blaise wasn't on the team until 6th year but i don't care

LEE MF JORDAN!!! BEST CHARACTER!!

Draco appreciating George's attractiveness is relatable

I had to do Weasley is our King. I just had to.
Harry opening up to Draco>>>
Draco will open up eventually i promise

Draco using the homophobic card is so cliche but I love it

“We’re still friends right?” Harry whispers, trying to suppress a smile.

probably the best moment in the whole entire chapter.

hope you enjoyed!!! any thoughts and or opinions are cool:))

 Chapter 42
Chapter Summary

“Weasley.”
“Hello, Malfoy.”

This chapter is all over the place. It's so bad I'm so sorry.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“How did you both get in here!” Draco cries.

“We walked in,” says Pansy. “Simple as that.” She walks to his bed with Astoria right behind her.
He was in the middle of changing into his normal clothes when both of them just barged in. He felt
utterly exposed with his bare chest out and hair tousled from just taking his sweater vest off.

“Off to see Harry?” asks Astoria. “Is that why you’re changing into your best top?”

“How do you know this is my best top?” He looks down at it with a frown.

“Because I’m your girlfriend.” She teases.

“Ugh.” Pansy fake gags. “The pretending doesn’t need to continue in private you guys!”

“Sorry, Pans.” Astoria giggles lightly.

“Why are you guys both here?” Draco quickly puts on his black turtle neck and fixes the collar.

“We wanted to send you off to your real girlfriend. Wait, sorry, boyfriend.” Pansy smirks.

“He’s not my bloody boyfriend!” he growls.

“Oh come on, Draco!” She dramatically sits down on his bed. “He’s giving you private lessons! I
think Potter might be on the gay side, Draco…”

“Have you seen the way he looks at Cho Chang?” Astoria adds and that gets a strange look from
the other girl. “I’m not stalking him! He just doesn’t hide his feelings well and, honestly, neither
does she.”

“All I’m saying is, I think Potter could be falling for our boy.” Pansy giggles.

“Just shut up, Pansy. Astoria is right. He’s practically in love with Cho Chang!”

“I didn’t mean to get your knickers in a twist, Draco. All I’m saying is—“

“Don’t say things you know nothing about.” He snaps.

“I’m just trying to get you to feel your feelings!”

“Like you’re letting you feel your feelings about Daphne? How are those going?”

Pansy stands. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Yes I do! I don’t know what the hell you’re both doing when you both are able to be in a happy
bloody relationship without your parents fucking murdering you!”

“SHUT UP, DRACO!” she screams and was already storming out of the room.

“SHE LIKES YOU BACK PANSY!” he screams back. “FUCKING GO AFTER HER!” The door
is slammed shut and out of anger Draco picks up his wand and casts a jinx.

“What was that all about?”

“She doesn’t understand, Astoria!” He slams his wand back down on his bed. “She can be in her
dream relationship if she just opens her fucking mouth! I open my mouth and I get a hex to the
arm!”

“Draco—

“I’m trying to reduce these feelings so I can keep myself bloody safe but you and Blaise and Pansy
keep making jokes and I just—“ He grips his hair and groans. “I can’t keep away from him. I want
to but I can’t. He’s like… He’s like…”

“He’s like an addiction.” She sighs. “Oh, Draco.” She scoots over on his bed. He understands the
message and sits down next to her. “Is that why you’ve been distant with Blaise?” He stares at her.
“You’ve been spending more time with me than him.”

“Jealously is a cruel thing,” he grumbles and slumps his head on her shoulder. “I don’t want to love
him anymore,” he whispers. “It used to be easy pretending… and then everyone found it and I just
forgot how to act. I’ve been so irresponsible, Astoria.” His head slowly falls into her lap.

“You’re being too hard on yourself.”

“You should become a Mind Healer.”

“I was already planning on that.” He doesn’t have to look up to know she’s grinning proudly. “Do
you want me to go and tell him you won’t be joining him?”

“No, I’m still going to go.”

“But, Draco…”

“Like you said, he’s an addiction.” He slowly raises his head and forces a light smile. “I’ll be fine.
Weasley is going to be there.”

“Which one? Ron or Ginny? Or one of the twins? They’re all in the D.A.”

“Ronald. It should be alright… I did make him something.”

“You did what?”

Draco Accio’s a pin from his dresser.

“You know how Theo made one of Potter last year?” She nods. “I thought I should make Weasley
one after what he did to him at the match.” He shows it to her. “It’s also a peace offering.”
“Quite the artist you are.”

“I try my best.” He grins. “Stay in here if you’d like.” He pockets the pin before standing. “Blaise
won’t mind.”

“No, but three of your other roommates will.” She stands too. “Have a good lesson, Draco. It’s a
fun one!” She leaves first and he leaves shortly after grabbing his coat and the coin under his
pillow.

Here. H.P.

It read and he smiles even though it always says that. Exiting the room he immediately runs into
Blaise who quickly told him to talk to Pansy because apparently, Draco made her cry. He rushed
out an okay before heading to the Room of Requirement. He avoids Filch and his cat by hiding
behind a statue and the door quickly opens and closes right when he enters.

“Draco!” Harry beams at him with Weasley standing behind him.

“Hello, Harry.” He smiles lightly at him before awkwardly approaching the other Gryffindor.
“Weasley.”

“Hello, Malfoy.”

“I have something for you.” Just rip the bandage off Dean Thomas had told him once while in
Divination. He had somehow partnered up with the Gryffindor to predict the future with a crystal
ball. Draco had broken it and he did not want to tell Professor Trelawny; leading Thomas to say
those words. The metaphor was confusing at first but he learned to understand it.

Weasley's eyes widen. “You— what?”

Draco pulls out the badge and tosses it at him. It wrote Fuck Theodore Nott with a very small
drawing of him being bonked in the head by a beater's bat that Draco drew himself.

“I’m not really a fan of him; not in the slightest.”

“Why would you make me something?”

“So we could finally be on good terms and you to know that all I said, first and second year, about
your family, was me… projecting my anger. I never meant any of it.”

“Then why say it?” He didn’t sound angry. He was actually curious and it was a great relief to him.
“All of it?”

“You’ve met my father, Weasley. Can you connect the dots so I don’t have to for you?” He meant
that in all honesty.

“Right.” He nods awkwardly. “Well, um, thanks.” He holds up the badge. “For this. Really,uh,
kind of you.”

“Don’t call me kind, Weasley, it’s weird.”

“You’re right.” They both stare at each other for a second. “I’m never saying that again either. Uh,
Harry? We’re ready.”

“Great!” He sits up from the chair the Room provided for him. He was barely four feet away,
watching the two of them with amusement. “I taught the D.A Levicorpus so it’s your turn to learn.
So, Ron, Draco will practice on you. The—“

“What?” Weasley scoffs. “Not bloody likely.”

“But, that’s why you’re here! So I could catch you whe— if he messes up.”

“When?” Draco says very offendedly. “You know, Potter, I think I should practice on you. You
said you taught the D.A? That means Weasley here,” he smacks him on the back. “Knows how to
catch someone.”

“But I’m supposed to be teaching you!”

“It looks like todays the day I agree with Malfoy for the second time.”

“Ron!”

“Sorry, Harry. I’m not your lab rat.” Draco looks at him confused. “I saw it in Hermione’s Muggle
Studies textbook. It’s an expression I think.” He shrugs.

“This is stupid,” says Harry.

“It’s actually quite clever.” The Slytherin grins. “What’s the wand movement?” He pulls his wand
out.

“Are you both being serious?”

“Yes.” He and Weasley reply at the same time.

He groans and pulls out his wand. “It’s like this.” He shows him. “And now, well, now you point it
at me and use it.”

“I can’t wait. Weasley have your wand ready. I feel like I’m going to mess up on this quite a few
times.” The ginger snorts and walks over to stand behind Draco. “Go ahead.” Harry grumbles.

“Levicorpus!” He aims the wand at him and The Gryffindor slowly rises into the air.

“You really want to concentrate,” says Weasley. “There was a moment today where Cho was doing
this and then Harry started to help her.” He starts to chuckle. “Poor Nigel. He fell the second Harry
and Cho made eye contact.”

“So, things are going somewhere with Cho Chang?” He forces himself to say. It still bothers him.
Harry shouldn’t be dating anyone. It doesn’t look right. It doesn’t sit right at all with Draco.

“I don’t want to talk about her right now.”

“Suddenly shy, Harry?” Weasley teases.

“Shut up, Ron.”

“So things are going well I presume?” says Draco.

“If well means just making eye contact all the time then, yes. Things are going well for him.”

“Shut up, Ron!”

Weasley snickers and Draco twists his wand in his hand to keep him from doing something stupid.
“So, Malfoy, I hear you’re, um, dating Astoria Greengrass. I thought you were—“

“Gay? You’re about the seventh person to ask me why I’m dating a girl when I claimed to find
your brother unbelievably attractive and that I was in love with this oaf.” He waves his wand and
Harry moves up and then down really quickly.

“Draco!”

“Purebloods can be cruel. Start rumors so they can be better than you.”

“But you did admit that you found George attractive.”

“I can appreciate a bloke’s attractiveness, Weasley.”

“But—“

“Look, Weasley.” He turns to face him and a loud thud, followed by a groan echoes through the
room. “I’m dating Astoria. Kindly, don’t ask about it.”

“Right, yeah. It’s none of my business. Are you alright, Harry?” His eyes go to Harry. Draco bites
down on his lip to keep himself from laughing.

“I’m fine,” he grumbles while still lying on the ground. “Cast the spell again, Draco.”

And he does. Multiple times. Weasley is surprisingly funny Draco learns throughout the entire
lesson. Harry will be up in the air and Weasley will have to catch him with a spell because he
would get distracted by laughing.

Let’s just say he got many scoldings from Harry.

“Set me down so we can be done with this!”

Draco and Weasley snicker while The Slytherin slowly lowers him back to the floor.

“Well, that was fun,” he says sarcastically. “I’m never inviting Ron to our lessons again.”

“If it wasn’t for me your glasses would be snapped in two!”

“Which is why I am no longer practicing this spell with Draco!”

“Loosen up, Potter.” He snickers.

“I’ll meet you back in the dorm, Ron.”

“Looks like I’m in trouble, Weasley.” Both boys bite down to keep themselves from laughing
while Harry looked unamused.

“Good luck, Malfoy.” He leaves and the silence grows awfully loud.

“What’s got you in a mood?”

“Nothing.” He says shortly. “Just a few things Ron said.”

“Was it about how your hair looked from that angel? Would you like me to apologize on his
behalf?”

“It’s not that! It’s nothing, honestly. Forget I said anything. I’m just tired, I think." He pauses,
clearly thinking of what to say next. "Did you see what Umbridge added to the wall of rules?”

“I did. The Inquisitorial Squad. I heard a group of Slytherins talking about it earlier. You guys will
have to be careful. They’ll be watching your every move.”

“You’re not joining are you?”

“No.” He answers defensively. “Why would you feel the need to ask that?”

“It— It was just a question!”

“Would you ask Hermione? Neville? The Weasleys?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, Draco!”

He scoffs. “Alright, Potter.”

“I hate it when you call me that!” He admits

“Why?” He’s angry now.

“Because you call everyone by their first name except me.”

“I don’t call Weasley Ron.”

“You’re not friends with him!”

“Ohh, are you jealous?” He smirks

“Hardly. I just think you can’t only call me Harry.” He folds his arms.

“I know a challenge when I hear one.” He mimics his movements.

“Good. I’d be worried if you didn’t. So how about till this Friday. If you can go four days without
referring to me as my last name, I’ll...”

“Wear a Slytherin tie.”

“What?” He scoffs. “Not bloody likely.”

“But if I slip up, which won’t happen, I’ll wear that awful Gryffindor tie.”

“You’re being serious?”

“More than you could imagine.” He smirks and Harry takes his hand and shakes it.

“It’ll be like when you wore the Gryffindor shirt at the second task.”

“I didn’t put that on willingly!” He cries dramatically. “It was Blaise’s fault!”

“Can’t blame everything on him.”

“Oh, yes I can!”

“Well when you lose this, you defiantly can’t.”

“Who says I’m going to lose?”

 Entering The Slytherin Common Room with a smile on his face, he should have known it was
going to disappear one way or another. Sitting by the fireplace was Pansy, legs on the couch and
her head leaning on the arm of it.

“What are you doing out here alone?”

“I was too embarrassed to go up to my room.” She admits quietly.

“And Snape hasn’t come in and tell you to go anyways?”

“I told him I was dealing with girl problems… Always works on him.”

Draco slowly walks over and sits down next to her. It’s silent between them; the fire quietly
cracking and the water of the Great Lake slightly crashing against the glass.

“Why don’t you tell Daphne you like her? It doesn’t make sense, Pans…”

“Not everyone can handle the insults, Draco. You, Blaise, Daph can but I just can’t. It’s rubbish
that I can’t just be in my dream relationship. Do you even know how long I’ve liked her?” He
shakes his head. “Too long.”

“Have you talked to her about this? She’ll understand, Pans. She’s probably the perfect person to
fall for if you feel like this.”

“I can’t tell her, Draco!”

“If you’re worried she doesn’t like you back, I promise you, she does. She’s equally scared but if
you asked me, I think you should approach her first.”

“Why?”

“She’s scared because, I think, she doesn’t want to pressure you.”

She groans. “She wouldn’t be pressuring me!”

“She doesn’t know that!”

“Clearly!”

“Just talk to her, Pansy. It’ll go better than you think.”

“I can’t…” she whispers.

“You can. You sit down on her bed with her when everyone is gone. You make sure you you tell
her a funny joke to calm her nerves and then you tell her... Tell her how long you’ve been into her.
She’ll probably laugh or something and dramatically admit her feelings too. It’ll be great.”

A beat of silence before Pansy speaks.

“… I’m sorry you can’t be with Potter.”

He gulps. “Yeah.”

Chapter End Notes

Chapter End Notes

My writing has been getting awful and sloppy. I'm so sorry :((
 Chapter 43
Chapter Summary

“It’s not what you think!” He spins around.

“Then tell me why you’re wearing it!”

Draco speaks with Professor Umbridge

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Professor?” Draco shouts into the classroom. “Professor Lupin!”

“Yes?” The Professor pops out of a closet, holding random knick-knacks.

“What are you doing?”

“Setting up for my next class. What do you need?”

“I have a question for you.”

“Go ahead and ask it then.” He begins walking around the class, setting it up with his hands
instead of his wand which Draco found peculiar.

“Was James Potter always supportive of your relationship with Sirius Black?” Professor Lupin
stumbles on absolutely nothing and ends up dropping the rest of his supplies. Draco watches
dumbly as he scrambles to pick everything back up and set it on one of the desks.

“Is that your way of showing me I shouldn’t have asked?”

“No. No, it’s alright.” He forces an awkward smile. “I wasn’t expecting it. Uh, well, James was—
he was shocked for a while. It’s not that he wasn’t supportive but it was two of his mates
romantically involved. It was quite a shock for him. But in the end… he never saw us differently.”

“And, um,” he hesitates.

“Peter was was the same. Supportive until the very end… Although he was the only one who found
out on his own.”

“How’d he connect the dots?”

“I’d rather not say, Draco…” His eyes shift around the room awkwardly and Draco’s eyes widen
with horror. “Second years will be walking in any moments. You should really leave.”
“Uh, right yeah. Have a good lesson, sir.” And he quickly rushes out of the classroom.

Entering the classroom he grins at the memory; It quickly fades when he walks up the stairs and he
sees Professor Umbridge sitting at her desk. Right. The reason he’s in here instead of at lunch.

“You wanted to speak with me, Ma’am?”

“Mr. Malfoy, yes I did!” She smiles brightly and Draco might actually throw up. “I wanted to talk
to you about the Inquisitorial Squad.”

“Uh—Oh?” He falters. That is defiantly not what he was expecting. “What about it?”

“Well, I noticed you haven’t joined. Your fellow Slytherins have; I’d think you would too.”

“I was planning on joining but I’ve been pilled with loads of homework.”

“No matter, Mr. Malfoy. I’ll gladly give extensions on your homework in my class.”

“Oh, that won’t be—“

“I think your father would be proud of you if you joined.” Draco visibly tenses and he knows she
saw because there’s a spark in her eyes. “Don’t you?”

“Yes, I think he would be.” He forces a smile. “I’ll join.”

“Wonderful.” She pulls out a pin from her desk before standing and walking over to him. “May I?”

He nods. “Of course.” She pins it on the opposite of where his house crescent is and he lifts his
head up to show he’s proud.

“Thank you, Professor.” He smiles before leaving. The second the door shuts behind him and he
storms down the stairs to the Great Hall. He dramatically sits down next to Blaise who was sitting
across and chatting with Longbottom and some blonde Ravenclaw girl.

“I hate her, Blaise! I actually hate her!” He groans.

“What’d she want?”

“To give me this.” He rips the pin off and slams it on the table drawing a few eyes.

“You joined?” Blaise stares at him wide-eyed, Longbottom’s jaw drops slightly, and the blonde girl
picked it up and was staring intensely at it.

“She didn’t give me a choice! She practically cornered me! Brought up my father too! Who does
she think she is?”

“Why would she bring up your father?” asks Longbottom.

“Use your head!” he snaps and then adds a quick sorry after realizing his tone.

“At least the pin isn’t ugly.” The girl's gentle tone catches him off guard. “Personally I would have
made it yellow.”

“Uh, who are you?”

“Luna Lovegood.” She smiles. “You might know me as Loony… people can be cruel.”

“Oh… Yeah, people are cruel. Well, um, nice to meet you, Luna.” He offers her a somewhat
awkward smile. “Are you apart of the D.A then?”

She nods. “You were at Hogshead but you’re not at the meetings. How come?”

“Realize I didn’t have the time.” He shrugs.

“That makes sense. Are you Harry’s secret crush then?”

Blaise’s eyebrows shoot forward, Neville chokes on his drink, and Draco stares.

“Um, what?”

“He’s told me about this person he can’t get out of his head… He never specified the gender so I
guessed it could be you.”

“No. It’s not me. No. It’s Cho Chang he’s thinking about. He’s defiantly head over heels for her. I
thought that was common knowledge.”

“Hm...” She sets the pin down in front of him. “Maybe. I don’t think I’m ever right about these
things.” She laughs softly. “I think it’s a good thing you’re apart of the Inquisitorial Squad.”

Draco remains staring at her for a long time. His head was spinning from what she had just
implied.

“And, uh, why do you think that?”

“Because you can use your position to an advantage. Use it for the opposite reasons the other
Slytherins are using it for.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” says Blaise. “Plus you’ll get away with a lot of things, Draco, if you
stay on Umbridge’s good side.”

“I guess.” He sighs and puts the hideous badge back on. “Do I look like a prat?”

“You always look like a prat.” Blaise smirks and Neville grins into his juice. “Also someone is
staring at you.”

“Is it Zacharias Smith? Wouldn’t be surprised, the bloke hates me for no reason.”

“Actually, It’s Potter.”

Draco frowns and looks around only to then realize they were facing each other from opposite
tables. Harry was looking at him with a death stare. Actually not him… the pin.

“Oh for Merlins sake,” he mutters and signals for him to leave the Great Hall. “I’ll be back.” He
stands and rushes out of the room at the same time Harry does. He walks off to an empty hallway
and he can hear the annoyance in his steps.

“It’s not what you think!” He spins around.

“Then tell me why you’re wearing it!”

“She mentioned my father! She knew I couldn't say no!”

His face loosens in relief but he was clearly still angry.

“She’s vial! She can’t just do that!”

“Yes she can! If you just trust me I can use this awful pin to a beautiful advantage.” Harry rolls his
eyes. “Do you even trust me?”

“Of course I do! She’s just— Too much is going on! Ginny’ and Ron have been complaining to me
about the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, Seamus keeps giving me dirty looks
when we’re in our dorm and I can barley use my left hand!” He flexes it without thinking.

Draco frowns. “Have you gone to see Madam Pomfrey?”

“No, of course not. I can’t let her win.”

“This isn’t about letting her win or not! This about you taking care of yourself!”

“Do not lecture me about taking care of myself. I don’t want to hear it. I’m fine.”

“Your pupils are dilated, you’re sweating, and it looks like you’re about to faint. Please, do tell me
how you’re fine.” The Gryffindor doesn’t say anything. Draco waits for an answer but the other
doesn’t look present anymore “Harry?”

“Draco?” He looks at him momentarily before he falls to the ground. He tries catching himself but
he fails miserably.

“Harry!” He kneels down in front of him. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” The other slowly
blinks, doing his best to look at him.

“Your hand…” he murmurs and Draco doesn’t understand. “Your hand!” He adds more harshly
and he listens. Harry takes his hand in his and Draco lets him squeeze it until it hurts. He didn’t
mind the sweating or the awkward shift so there was space between their palms. Draco goes to pull
away thinking he is suddenly uncomfortable with it but then he feels something growing in
between them.

After the movement stops, both boys open their hands and Draco stares with a sudden melancholy
feeling.

“You grew a flower…” The blonde whispers. It was a white Gardenia Flower, but Draco doesn’t
know that. He just thinks it’s a fragile rose that was barely holding itself up.

“I panicked… I’m…” He gulps and Draco watches him very closely. “Thank you.”

“…What for?”

“Just… Just thank you.” He slowly sits up looking worse than before.

“What just happened?”

“Visions.” He takes the flower with immense care. It’s clear he wanted to keep it. “Of him, his
voice, his snake… It’s never happened in the middle of the day.”

“Have you spoken to Dumbledore?”

“He’s… busy.”
 “That shouldn’t matter.”

“Well it does.” He replies shortly.

Draco sighs in annoyance but if he knows one thing is that Harry Potter is unbelievably stubborn.

"Can you stand?"

"No."

“Merlin, Harry..." His mind searches his brain for a topic he can distract him with. "You know…
you still haven’t told me why you agreed to be friends with me. Why you made me shake your
hand.”

Based on how Harry's eye look away it wasn't the best option to go with.

“I…I don’t think I can tell you.”

That wasn't the response Draco was expecting

“What do you mean?” He frowns. “You told me you’d eventually tell me.”

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know why I did anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

“I—“

“Harry!” Weasley comes storming into the hallway with Granger behind him. “What are you—
why are you sitting on the floor, mate?”

“He tripped.” Draco answers for him and then they both stand even though The Gryffindor clear
wanted more time on the floor.

“Are you both alright?” asks Granger.

“Yeah, we’re both find, ‘Mione.” Harry lightly smiles. “We just had to talk about our next
meeting.”

“Thank you for filling me in, Harry.” He grins when the other lightly rolls his eyes. The bet was
still going and it was only Tuesday. “I’ll see you lot around, yeah?” He leaves back to the Great
Hall to finish his lunch even though his heart ached deeply.

What did he mean by that? Why couldn’t he tell him? Was his original intent malicious? He’d be
lying if he said he wasn’t anxious about all of this.

Chapter End Notes

I hope you guys enjoyed the Remus and Draco memory in the beginning. I miss them
so much.

Now, why would Harry not want to tell Draco his reasoning?
Any thoughts are appreciated <3
CHAPTER 14, when Harry becomes friend with Draco, has been rewritten!! I suggest
rereading it but I promise it's not necessary!
 Chapter 44
Chapter Summary

It's Friday and the bet ends today.

Who won?

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!
I'm lowkey in love with this chapter.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You’d think Millicent would be more miserable dating Theo,” Astoria says from beside him. “But
she seems happier than ever.”

“Mmm.” Draco nods as the rest of his friends and the students in Hogwarts join breakfast.
Although he wasn’t paying attention to them. He was on the lookout for a particular Gryffindor.

“Who are you trying to find?” Daphne asks. “We’re all here, Draco.”

“Just wait.” He sees Longbottom walk in with Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood with Ginny
Weasley, The Weasley trailing behind with Lee Jordan, and right behind them stood a trio
bickering with each other. “Oh, this is going to be wonderful.”

Ronald Weasley was clearly holding back laughs as Granger was speaking quickly to Harry who
did not want to enter the Great Hall. Eventually Granger lightly, but with great determination,
shoves him in and he quickly walks to the Gryffindor table.

“Is Potter wearing—“

“A Slytherin tie?” Pansy finishes for Blaise.

“Today is going to be a great day.” He watches Harry cross his arms over the tie but it wasn’t
enough. Multiple people at the Gryffindor table were asking him about it before he even sat down.
He doesn’t reply to them and when he sits he slouches forward. “Watch this.” Draco smirks at his
friends before standing. “Oi, Potter!” He shouts while standing. Harry’s eyes widen while Weasley
was close to drawing blood from biting his lip and Granger did not look amused. “You’re aware
you’re wearing a Slytherin tie, right? Is The Boy Who Lived colorblind?” He snickers and multiple
people join.

“Do you think you’re funny, Malfoy?” He stands and Draco watches him pull out his wand. Was he
actually mad? he thinks. The next thing he knows a jink was shot his way. Draco would typically
be able to cast a wandless Portego but he was too shocked that Harry was actually hexing him in
the Great Hall.
When the jinx lands he doesn’t feel any pain. He doesn’t feel his face deform or his hair or teeth
grow longer. He was perfectly fine.

“I think you casted the wrong spell, Potter!”

“Look down!”

Draco does and his eyes widen with horror. His beautiful Slytherin tie was now the horrendous
colors of the Gryffindor House.

“My tie!” He cries and scrambles for his wand in his robes. He casts multiple spells but it wasn’t
changing back. Multiple people, especially Theo, were laughing loudly. He tries pulling the tie off
but it wouldn’t budge. “What spell did you use?!”

“You can thank one of your friends!” He smirks and sits back down looking totally smug.

“I can’t get it off!” He sits back down but doesn’t stop trying.

Minutes pass and he eventually gives up.

“Which one of you gave him this awful spell!” He sees Blaise smirk into his pumpkin juice.
“You’re dead.” He growls.

“I love you too, Draco.”

“Pages 234-302,” Professor Umbridge says from behind everyone. She begins walking towards the
front ever so slowly. “You will have all of class to take three pages of notes. But,” her voice makes
Draco want to hurl. “Before we start I do have a question for on particular student.” She turns
around and immediately faces Harry. “Mr. Potter, you are aware you are in Gryffindor House thus
should be wearing a Gryffindor Tie.”

“I—“

“No excuses.” Her smile could cut glass. “Detention for missus of school uniform. Later today.
My office.”

“But, Professor—!”

“No excuses!”

Draco’s eyes widen with horror. He hadn’t meant to get Harry in trouble.

“You have to say something, Daph,” he whispers harshly.

“Me? Why?”

“Umbridge can’t see me sticking up for him! Please, Daph! I’ll owe you!”

She groans. “Fine!” She stands. “Excuse me, Professor Umbridge?”

“Yes, Miss Greengrass?”

“It was actually my fault Potter is wearing a Slytherin tie. I accidentally casted a jinx at him and
Draco hence why they’re both wearing a tie of a different house." Clearly everyone, but Umbridge
knew she was lying. Everyone in the class was there to witness Harry jinx Draco. "If you want to
give me detention I understand but it really wasn’t Potter’s fault.”

“If it was just an accident.” She smiles tightly. “No detention will be necessary than… Do you
know when the jink will wear off?”

“The end of the day.”

“Well then.” Everyone can tell she was disappointed and everyone was enjoying it. “Be careful
with your jinxes, Miss Greengrass. I suppose Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy will be wearing different
house ties.”

Daphne nods and sits back down. “You’re welcome.”

“Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy will either of you care to explain to me why you’re both wearing ties
of a different house?” Professor McGonagall had pulled the two of them aside after class, clearly
not amused.

“Um…” Harry glances over at Draco who was still looking at McGonagall with his mouth slightly
parted.

“Well?”

“It was his fault.” Harry says.

“It was not!” Draco cries. “We had a harmless bet and someone got upset that they lost.” He glares
at Harry.

“I got upset because you pointed it out to everyone!”

“You didn’t have to glue this awful tie on me!” He begins tugging at it pathetically. “Yours can
come off!”

Professor McGonagall watches them bicker while hiding her amusement quite well. She had to be
professional. She was a teacher and behavior like this was simply childish. But it was extra hard
when a similar memory of two of her older students got caught passing notes to each other. She
called them after class, read one of the notes and then the two boys proceeded to bicker over whose
fault it was.

“Professor Mcgonagall, I am a Prefect. I was trying to get him to stop, I swear.”

“Rubbish!”

“No it’s not!”

The memory warms her heart and the two boys still squabbling with each other right in front of her
will be another to add to her book.

“This was not apart of the bet!”

“We never said it wasn’t allowed!”

“I would hope by now you two would know how to act like fifth years not first years.” She
interrupts sternly but it was her way of showing gentleness.
“Sorry, Professor.” Harry huffs and Draco crosses his arms out of stubbornness.

“Mr. Malfoy, why are you wearing such a horrendous tie?” Professor Snape stares, not even trying
to hide the fact he was disappointed.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he grumbles and continues walking down the hallway
with Astoria. “I’m going to murder him.” He growls under his breath.

“It doesn’t even look that bad.”

“Yes it does!” He cries and continues bitching about the fact he hates it.

"You're still wearing the Gryffindor tie." A gentle voice interrupts a conversation he was having
with Dean Thomas about Magicians which Draco still can't wrap his head around.

"How are you, Luna?" Dean smiles.

"I'm doing alright. I've just helped a Bowtruckle I named Stewart get back to his family. He was
quite grateful."

"How'd you get a Bowtruckle?" Draco asks

"There's an island in the Great Lake. Haven't you heard of it?"

"Can't say I have."

"I'd offer to take you but they don't really like most people. I got lucky." She smiles. "So the
Gryffindor tie! I think it suits you. You look... less pompous."

"Thank you." He offers a fake smile which she clearly didn't mind.

"LUNA!" Astoria comes running from behind Dean. "I've found him! He's in the Libary, but
Madam Pince can't seem to catch him. If we go quick, we can get him before she does and she'll
never know!"

"Get him? Get who?" Thomas asks and Draco stares at the two of them having no idea the two of
them had formed a friendship.

"Our Niffler!" Lunas' eyes widen. "Goodbye, Dean! Draco!" The two girls run down the hallway
Astoria came from.

"They have a niffler?"

"Appears so." Dean chuckles softly. "I'm thinking of asking Blaise for the charm he gave to Harry.
I really want to change Seamus' wardrobe. I love him, but he sometimes needs to keep his mouth
shut."

"You love him?" He lowers his voice. "Are you— Is he the one your seeing? The one you
mentioned on the train?" The Gryffindor nods with a light smile. "So you're—?

"Gay? Yeah, well, bisexual."

"That's... great!" He says honestly.

"I figured you'd be supportive considering you're also gay."

"I'm dating Astoria." He answers sharply.

"Oh. Right." He nods. "Because if my boyfriend, who was a Slytherin, was wearing a Gryffindor
tie while a bloke, who he rumored to be in love with, was wearing a Slytherin tie, I wouldn't say
anything. Not at all." Draco stands; frozen and speechless. "Have a good rest of your day, Draco."
He walks away with a smug smirk.

“Don’t you have something better to do?” Draco was turning down a hallway with, surprisingly,
Anthony Goldstein. The Ravenclaw just randomly approached him and started talking to him about
Quidditch. Ravenclaw beat Gryffindors so they’re playing Slytherin next. Draco and Blaise haven’t
gone to practice because the other Slytherins have been getting on their nerves. They plan on
practicing tomorrow. Just the two of them. Bonding time Blaise had said. I guess he noticed Draco
was being distant.

But that’s not the point. The point is when they both turned the corner, they are met with Harry
arguing with Theo and a bunch of other students watching.

“Oh and look who it is!” Theo’s smirk turns malicious. “Is it your tie he’s wearing, Draco?”

“It’s unfathomable that you managed to catch a bird, Theo, because in my eyes I think you and
Goyal could make an amazing couple.”

A few people laugh and Theo looks like he’s about to explode.

“Is he another one you're gagging for?” He nods to Goldstein whose jaw drops. “Of course,
everyone knows you're the one who gets fucked. You're more of a bitch than Weasley."

"Watch your mouth, Nott!" You could practically see the venom spewing from Harry's mouth as he
steps forward.

“So it’s true? You and Draco are shagging on the side? So that’s his tie you’re wearing, Draco?”
He laughs. Draco’s insides were boiling and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Harry
clutching onto his wand that was still in his robes. Something must have happened with Theo
because he’s lashing out too much. It’s too complicated. Too many variables Draco has to consider.
And it wasn’t helping that Theo wasn’t shutting up. “Is this you coming out, Potter? Do you think
your father was a fag too? No, I think he'd be disappointed. Just like Draco’s. His father will
probably—“

This exact moment is when he finally understands the meaning of tunnel vision in a moment of
anger.

There was a loud thud, followed by a bang, and then dead silence.

Harry had his wand still pointing towards an unconscious Theo and Draco was slowly lowering his
fist to his side.

“Well done.” Goldstein says.

Draco looks over at Harry who was already staring at him. Footsteps come rushing down the hall
and Harry quickly pockets his wand.

“Oh dear.” Madam Pomfrey says simply from behind Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.

“Mr. Potter, you trying to hide your wand will not get you out of a weeks detention.” Snape says
with a hint of pleasure.

“Poppy, please take Mr. Nott to the Hospital Wing. Everyone clear this hallway!” The rest of the
students scurry away while whispering and slowly drawing their eyes away. Goldstein gives them a
secret thumbs up before turning down the corridor. “Explain yourselves.” She looks at the two of
them very carefully.

“He deserved it.” huffs Draco while Harry spits “Draco should have punched him harder.”

“You punched him…?” He’s never seen McGonagall so surprised.

“I’d do it again, Ma’am.” Draco suppresses a grin.

“Mr. Malfoy I would watch your tongue if I were you…” Snape steps forward. “What did Mr. Nott
do to provoke such… Muggle tactics.”

“He was being a git.” Draco states bluntly.

“Language, Mr. Malfoy!”

“He was saying crude things towards Ha— Potter and I. About our families and accusations of
our… dynamic.”

“Such as?” Snape’s eyebrows raise.

“We’d prefer not to say…” Harry looked bright red for more than just one reason.

“We prefer not to say? Or you prefer not to say, Mr. Potter?”

“We.” Draco answers Snape. “It was…” He searches for the right word.

For him, even though those words were meant to harm made him feel butterflies. It’s quite pathetic
and he knows that but the sensual feeling of being with Harry was there and it hurts. It hurts so
badly but he’s imagined it. He feels it when he goes to sleep, when he wakes up, and during their
individual lessons when they stand too close to each other. But when he looks at Harry now, in the
present moment, he’s reminded it’s only his imagination that gets the experience.

“Uncomfortable.” He decides to say. He remembers 3rd year. Harry thought it was baffling Draco
was in love with him. He remembers the stares and the following him. Yes, Harry isn’t
homophobic at all. He wasn’t educated on it and Draco completely understands that. But it was the
fact that Draco Malfoy had supposedly fallen for him. Uncomfortable seemed like the right word
then and it seems correct now. “We’d prefer not to repeat it out loud.”

“Understood…”

“Well,” Professor McGonagall looks between the both of them. “When Mr. Nott wakes up he will
be questioned, but this violence can’t go unpunished. Detention until Christmas Break. Half with
me and the others with Professor Snape. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Professor.” Draco nodded but Harry wasn’t even looking at her when he said that.
“If Professor Umbridge hears about this and she wants to take further action, she’ll have to hear
from me.” With that, she leaves the hallway with Snape who looked angry only at Harry.

“His comments were uncomfortable?” Draco is startled to hear Harry actually offended.

“Well, weren’t they for you?”

“No. Why would they be?” His green eyes burned into Draco’s grey ones.

“I just thought… I mean third year you were clearly repulsed when you thought I was in love with
you.”

“Repulsed?” He frowns. “You thought… I was confused, Draco. It wasn’t making any sense. You
hated me and then rumors started to spread and I genuinely thought you did for a while! But I was
never repulsed!”

“Yes you were! I heard you! You were talking with Weasley and Granger! That’s one of the
reasons why I switched up! I said I liked George and denied all accusations of even liking you.”

“You denied it? So it was true?” His eyes widen. “You were in love with me?”

Draco’s heart stops and all the air from his lungs just disappeared. This is why Draco misses
Remus. This slip-up wouldn’t have happened if they had their daily meetings.

“I was not in love with you!” He states ferociously. He has to admit the truth— well the truth about
what happened; not the fact that he was in fact in love with him at the time and still currently is. “If
my father wasn’t in the picture you think I would have cared if people thought I was in love with
you? But my father found out I was gay so I had to deny yours because you’re worse than George
Weasley.”’

“So you… you were never in love with me?”

Yes. “No.”

“Oh.”

Was he disappointed? he thinks.

No, absolutely not. Draco’s heart was just playing with him as it always does.

“I’m glad we cleared that up then…”

“Yeah.” He gulps and looks away, trying to keep his emotions in check.

“So you punched him.” They look at each other again. “Very Muggle of you.”

“My father would be disappointed.” A look of guilt is plastered on Harry’s face and Draco can’t
help but crack a small smirk. “I’ll have to do it more often. You think I could get away with
punching Crabbe?”

Harry huffs out a chuckle but he wasn't amused. Not in the slightest and Draco spends the rest of
the day wondering why.

“You’re still wearing the tie.”

“The day hasn’t ended.” Harry shrugs with a light smile. “You’re still wearing yours.”

“Because mine won’t come off!” He glares.

“Do you want it off?” He was clearly amused by Draco’s annoyance.

“Of course I do! People have been sending jabs at me left and right! Earlier, I was in the library
with Pansy and Finnigain. Guess who I pushed out of their chair.”

“Seamus.”

“He doesn’t know how to shut up!

“I know,” he grumbles. “What are you doing talking to him anyway?”

“Pansy has been making friends with him. Their personalities clash in a good way I think…”

“She does oddly remind me of him. She’s not afraid to state her opinions in the meetings.
Hermione and her don’t get on well.”

“No surprise there,” he snorts and leans against the wall in the hallway the two of them decided to
meet up in before heading off to their common rooms. “Astoria’s told me she’s really enjoyed the
meetings. I almost wish I was there.”

“I wish you were too.”

“Really?” He can’t blush because that would be incredibly embarrassing and Harry would easily
catch on because Draco’s skin is whiter than snow.

“I mean, yeah.” He smiles lightly.

Draco would drop to his knees and do anything for him.

“I think you’d add even more character to the group.”

“You think you could handle me when you have to deal with Blaise constantly flirting with
Longbottom, Lee Jordan and The Twins jokes, Pansy and Hermiones bickering, and Astoria has
filled me in on how Smith and Cormac McLaggen can’t stand her and the other Slytherins.”

“Yeah, those two can be a pain.” He shakes his head. “But you’re defiantly more tolerable than
those two.”

“I would hope so.” He says smugly. “What’s the plan for our last meeting before the holidays,
Professor Potter.”

“Just dueling for the two of us. It’ll just be like second year without the cheating, the hating each
other, and Lockhart to embarrass himself.”

Draco laughs. “Charming that Professor was. You think he’s retained some of his memory?”

“I hope not. I’m not exactly his biggest fan.”

“Figures.” He grins. “Perhaps I won’t cast a snake on you.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.” He shakes his head with an amused smile. “I told Hermione I’d be
back before Filch starts roaming the corridors. She has the map so I can’t see if he’s near or not.”
“Map? What map?”

“Oh— Um, just a map of-- It’s nothing.” He shrugs. “Just a map of Hogsmede.”

“No, that doesn’t make sense.” They stare at each other for a long thirty seconds. Clearly, Harry
didn’t want him to know, and just because of how still he was it finally clicked in his head. His jaw
drops.

“A MAP! YOU’VE BEEN FINDING ME ON A MAP!”

“Well— I mean—“

“Is it a map that can track people? Is it everywhere or just at Hogwarts? Harry, you have to show
me this map after you’ve made me believe you had a tracker spell on me!”

“You actually believed that?”

“Well— It seemed to be the only way. You always showed up wherever I was and then with
Professor Lupin and every time we would bump into each other in the hallways! AND
HOGSMEDE!”

“Actually, I only used the map one of those times when we ran into each other in the halls.”

“And Hogsmede?”

“Oh yeah I used the map.”

“Unbelievable! Did you create it?”

“No, actually. My Dad, Sirius, and Lupin made it when they were in school.” He smiles. “It’s
called the Marauders Map.”

“Lupin helped created it? He never told me that!”

“Well, you never had the need to ask did you?”

“I’ll remember this smug look, Potter, when we duel next week.”

“I’m shaking in fear, Malfoy.” He chuckles. “I’ll see you tomorrow around the halls, right?

“Where else would I be?” He smirks lightly.

“Oh! And before I forget, your tie!”

“Can you change it back to green?”

“Uh, no.”

“POTTER!”

Harry smirks and takes two steps forward; he begins undoing Draco’s tie and he might as well be
petrified.

Harry really doesn’t know what he’s doing to him. He’d never do something so cruel and so
malicious. He was playing with his feelings and not even on purpose. This addiction was getting
worse and Draco’s scared for his heart.
 “Do you want to it?” He holds the tie out.

“Want what?”

“The tie, Draco. Do you want to keep it?”

“Ha, no thank you.”

“I figured.” He chuckles and pockets it. “Do you want your tie back?”

“No. No, I have plenty more. It doesn’t look bad on you actually. It… suits you.”

“Oh—“ His mouth parts slightly and he doesn’t say anything for a solid three seconds. “Uh,
Thanks— Thank you. GoodnightDraco.” He rushes out and leaves the hallway with a quick wave.

Draco has to drag himself to the common room because he was hurting all over. The overwhelming
emotions were taking over and by the time he made it to his dormitory, he ends up falling on his
back on Blaises’ bed instead of his.

“… Draco?”

“Can I just… lay here? It's been a long day...”

“You were just speaking with Potter weren’t you?”

“I hate him so much, Blaise…”

“I know you do.” He leans forward and closes the drapes. Draco believes he did this so that when
their other roommates come in they won’t say anything nasty.

“How are you and Longbottom?”

“We’re… good.” A smile tugs at his lips.

“At least one of us is happy.”

“You’ll get there one day.” He turns off his lamp which Draco is extremely grateful for. “Sleep
here if you’d like. Just don’t hog all the blankets.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it…” He mutters and stares up into the darkness. It’s confusing how his mind
feels blank and yet it’s flying all over the place. When he ends up falling asleep he dreams of just
him and Harry, sitting out by the lake (similar to their fourth year but minus the Draco being turned
into a ferret). Harry would be in the middle of speaking and Draco’s heart would beat with every
word. But the twisted part of all of this was his heart was actually in Harry’s hand and near the
end… he cast a killing curse on it and Draco was no longer alive.

Chapter End Notes

WHO WAS PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL REMINDED OF? WHO WAS SHE

THINKING OF? I think you all know the answer to that ;)
I really hope you guys loved this chapter. It was so fun to write because it really could
have gone any direction.
Harry has some tricks up his sleeve thanks to the wonderful Blaise Zabini. A round of
applause for the Slytherin.
I'm so in love with Daphne and Astoria. Best fucking siblings.

ASTORIA AND LUNA FRIENDSHIP BECAUSE I SAID SO.

Dean knows what's up. Also, Deamus is canon in this fic now. Let's fucking go.

THEOOOOOOO
he hates himself as much as you all probably hate him.
Shout out to Anthony Goldstein. Daphne's Yule Ball date, ally, just trying to get
through the day. Best Ravenclaw (besides the obvious two).

Draco learns about the Marauders Map after two years of Harry somehow finding him
out of the blue.

that's all I have to say. hope you guys are doing well <3
 Chapter 45
Chapter Summary

“I told you to trust me.”

“Yeah.” Draco can tell Harry forces his smile.

Last meeting before the Holidays. What's going to happen?

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“What are you doing here?” Theo reaches for his wand on the nightstand but Draco reaches it
first.

“I need to talk to you and you’ve unconscence for almost a week.”

“Well get on with it then!” he snaps.

“What the hell was Friday all about?”

“I was just having some fun.” He smirks. “I thought you’d appreciate the shagging Potter part.
Considering you’re still head over heals.”

“Don’t forget you and I have kissed twice.” The other Slytherin quickly pales. “Drop this act for
two seconds and tell me why you lashed out at Harry and I!"

“I thought Potter was supposed to be powerful!”

“What are you trying to say? You wanted him to hurt you?”

“Is that such a problem?” He glares at him.

“If it involves harassing him and I and insinuating what you did in front of other people then yes. It
is a problem.”

“It’s none of your business as to why I do things.”

“It is when it involves me.” He lightly growls. “Tell me why.”

“Madam Pomfrey!” Theo shouts.

“Theo.” He narrows his eyes.

“Madam Pom—fhry—“ He rips Draco’s hand off his mouth. “What the fuck!” He barks.
“Just tell me why! And then I’ll leave you alone!”

“I don’t want to go home for the holidays!” He exasperates. “My mother is dead so my father is—
he’s— I don't want to spend my time with him!”

“Theo I—“

“Didn’t know. I fucking know that! I was hoping you and Potter would be able to injure me enough
that I’d have to stay here but you’re both as weak as Longbottom.”

“If you don’t want to go home,” He ignores the jab. “And the only way you can stay is by injury,
I’ll help you.”

“Yeah, I bet you’ll enjoy that.” He scoffs. “You know, my father really liked you when we were
younger. He admired how you carried your Pureblood status. You would have done great as his
son…” He turns his head away.

“Your father probably despises me now after knowing I’m gay…” He sets Theo’s wand back down
on the nightstand. He didn’t realize the magic he felt in his palm until it was gone. It was almost
similar to when he holds Blaise’s wand but with more intensity. He can’t lie and say it felt bad
because it didn’t. It felt surprisingly… comfortable. “I’ll spell you unconscious the day before
break. No malicious intent behind it.”

“There’s something wrong with you.” He shakes his head. “Get out, Draco.”

“Do you want there to be a malicious intent behind it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Cause then you’ll cast whatever spell stronger…” A light smirk appears on his face and Draco
knows that’s the real Theodore Nott.

“Five points from Gryffindor for lousy walkin’.” Adrain Pucey laughs with Cassius Warrington
and Draco rolls his eyes to the point it hurts.

“I’ll check the left corridor,” he mumbles to the two tossers he’s been stuck with. After visiting
with Theo, Professor Umbridge found him and put him in a group of three; He sent them off to
keep a lookout for troubled students (meaning Harry and his friends). They haven’t caught anyone.
Just stragglers who were heading to their dorms.

He walks left and the other two go right. He makes it down the hall where it splits off into two.
And coming down the right one was Pansy, Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Cho Chang.

“Oh no. It’s Malfoy.” Dean Thomas teases.

“Are you going to snitch us out now that you’re part of the Inquisitorial Squad?” Pansy quirks an
eyebrow.

“I just might, Pans.” He grins. “Montague and Puecy are back there. You’ll run into them on your
way to the Room of Requirement.”

“How did you know?” Girl Weasley— Actually Ginevra (HA) says.
“Well, Ginevra,” He earns a sharp glare from her. “I read about it in a book. I just assumed.” He
had that answer prepared since the beginning.

“Right, well, since you’re not docking points from us, care to move out of our way?” Pansy says.

“Did you not listen to what I just said? Two real members of the Inquisitorial Squad are down the
hall.”

“But aren’t you a real member of the Inquisitorial Squad?” Cho Chang’s gentle voice makes Draco
want to cast a hex at her. “I mean you have the badge.”

“I’m merely pretending for the few privileges I get.” He has to bite his tongue to keep him from
saying something rude.

“Makes sense,” Dean Thomas says. “So what are we supposed to do? Wait until they’re gone?”

“Actually...” He pulls out his wand. “I have a better idea.”

“Whatever you’re doing, I’m in.” Ginerva says while pulling out her wand. “After what they said
about my family; they deserve this.”

They share a smirk with each other and Draco leads them down the hallway. They stop being the
corner and he notices the two other Slytherins were sat on a bench just chatting.

Lazy motherfuckers.

“Ready?” He whispers and she nods.

“Petrificus Totalus!” Both of them shout and down go Pucey and Warrington.

“Cool!” Dean Thomas grins and walks down the hallway.

“Thanks for the help,” says Cho Chang and he forces a smile at her.

“You’re not so bad, Malfoy.” Ginevra goes with the other two.

“You can’t stand her, can you?”

“Who? Girl Weasley?”

“No. Cho Chang.” says Pansy.

“Shut up.” His eyes cast downwards as he pockets his wand.

“You’re seeing him tonight too, right?” He nods. “Hope that goes well.” And then she catches up
with the rest of them, snickering at the bodies laying on the floor.

He waits a few minutes before walking down the hallway as if he wasn’t the one who helped with
the spell.

“Finite!” Both boys were quick to their feet. “What happened?” He suppresses a smirk when they
start rambling angrily.

“I heard what you did.”

“What are you talking about?” The Room of Requirement door slams shut behind Draco and he
approaches Harry who was standing near a mirror that Draco had previously noticed but never
asked about.

“Hexing Pucey and Warrington with Ginny. I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“I’m glad you’re not.” He grins smugly. “I told you to trust me.”

“Yeah.” Draco can tell Harry forces his smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?”

“You’re upset.”

“I’m not upset.” He shakes his head. “I’m fine.” They make eye contact in the mirror. “Ready to
duel?”

“Are you?”

“Of course I am!” He steps away from the mirror and makes his way to the other side of the room.
“Unless you’re scared.”

“Scared? Of you?” He pulls out his wand while getting into position. “You wish.”

“No snakes this time.”

“Yes, we’ve established that already.”

“I’m just making sure you know how to play fair, Malfoy.”

“Are you stalling, Potter? I think you’re the one who’s scared. Would you like me to cast the first
spell?”

Harry raises his eyebrows and tilts his head in the most attractive possible. If Draco wasn’t so
determined to win this duel he would have faltered when the other raised his wand.

“STUPEFY!”

“LEVICORPUS!”

The spells counter each other and there’s a brief moment where they make eye contact, smirk, and
continue on. Hexes echo through the room; mirrors break, and the floor cracks but they’re both so
focused they don’t trip. Harry’s eyes burned with fire while Draco’s shined with water; The
Gryffindors' stubbornness matched The Slytherins' ambition to win.

The duel continues longer than Draco expected. Harry was unbelievably annoying with his
stunning charm so Draco cast more Protego’s than any other spell. He would shout in glee when he
would one-up the shorter but his face would drop when Harry would start becoming relentless with
his spells. It was getting quite repetitive.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” they both shout in unison and when the red jets of light connect with each
other they're both shocked they cast the same spell at the same time.

“SO!” Draco shouts over the cackling of spells. “How are things going with Cho Chang?” He can’t
say he’s not curious because he’d be lying. Is there, deep down, the smallest amount of hope that
Harry doesn’t like Cho Chang anymore? Yes. Does he think it’s stupid to have that small amount
of hope? Of course.

“How are things with Astoria?” Harry counters.

“Ha— very amusing!” Thank Salazar that the red light blocks part of his face so Harry couldn’t see
the slight hurt in his eyes. “Have you even snogged Cho Chang yet?” He teases because of course
he hasn’t. He’s too awkward around girls and the Ravenclaw is probably conflicted about liking
him because of Cedric Diggory's passing. And according to Weasley, their flirting skills are ten out
of ten if ten was the worst ever. Draco has nothing to worry about. The answer is—

“Yes I have!” What?

“What?” He repeats out loud and the shock was so intense his spell stutters and Harrys hits right
into his chest. Draco can faintly hear the Gryffindor shout his name as he’s blasted backward into
the wall.

He swears his eyes are open so why is it pitch black in the Room of Requirement? He hears a
wand clatter and a hand trying to lift his head up. His back, along with his head and his heart are in
so much pain. He wouldn’t respond if the voice, Harry’s voice, didn’t sound so fucking
concerned.

“Get your hand off of me…” He grumbles weakly and tries batting his hand away from his face.

“Open your eyes, Draco.”

“They are open, you… twit.”

“No they’re not.” Draco groans in annoyance. But, he’s proven wrong when, instead of seeing
black, he sees Harry looming over him with those big green eyes staring at him. “Looks like I
won…” He grins weakly.

“Get your ugly face away from mine.” He musters enough strength to shove his hand in Harry’s
face and push him backward. He slowly rolls on his side and forces himself to sit up. “I should
have won that.”

“Are you okay?” He seemed to return close to him which annoyed Draco to his very core.

“Some space would be nice, Potter.” He picks his wand up and forces himself to his feet. He sags
back against the wall from the pounding headache he was getting.

He frowns. “Don’t be a sore loser.”

“I’m not,” he replies shortly and he realizes he does sound like one. He’s not mad he lost. He’s
upset and heartbroken once more because Harry kissed Cho Chang. “I’m not.” He replies softer.
“I’m clearly in pain.”

“Which is why I asked if you’re okay.”

No. “Yes. I’m fine…”

“Good.” His smile seems forced but Draco can’t understand why.

“So.” He gulps. “You kissed her?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it was— It was good, I guess…”

“You guess?” His heart speeds up.

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“I don’t think I like her, Draco.” It’s clear he’s troubled with admitting the truth. But Draco was
celebrating on the inside. Only for a moment though.

Does Harry like someone else? To all the Gods above do NOT let it be Granger.

“How come?”

“I…I’m not sure.”

“What does that mean?”

“Do you… Do you ever ever feel like you’re supposed to feel one way because everyone expects
you to?”

“Yes.” He replies in a whisper. “All my life, Harry.”

“Your father.” He clearly feels guilty for asking. “How are you dealing with it?”

“Who says I am?”

The sudden vulnerability makes Draco’s heart feel empty. He wasn’t prepared for it, just like he
wasn’t prepared for it when Lupin discovered his truth. He sometimes wonders what it would have
been like if he never open the closet. Would he be over Harry? Would Blaise and he still be just
roommates instead of friends? And is it a good thing his father knows he’s gay? Would he have
found out the truth about Theo? About Pansy? The consequences were and still are horrific but
he’s gotten things he’s only dreamt of.

“Draco, I... I, uh, talked to Ron about something. I—“

He scowls at the sudden question. Why does Draco bother being honest with his answers? “What
did the two of you talk about, Potter? Cho Chang? Charms Class? Quidditch? I’m dying to know.”

“Actually, we talked about you coming over for the holidays.” He says with a softer tone.

Draco can’t stop his jaw from dropping.

“… What?” He whispers. Draco hasn’t even thought about break. He’s dying to see his mother (he
feels guilty for not writing her often anymore) but with everything that’s going on… his father and
the possible Death Eaters that might roam through his Manor. He’s terrified to step foot in his
once-called home.

“I told Ron I wanted you over at The Burrow. He sent a letter to his Mum and she, along with
everyone else, is okay with it. Mrs. Weasley was actually quite excited… something about feeling
bad for you… even George wants you over. Sirius will be there and probably Lupin… I know
they’ll enjoy having you over too.”

“Harry, I…” He’s absolutely speechless.

“I don’t want you to go back to your Manor.” His cheeks were tinted with a light shade of pink.
“Everything that’s going on with your father and Voldemort. You won’t be safe.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t go.” It pains him to say it. “If my father found out. He’d—“ he gulps.
“You know what he’ll do.”

“Tell him you’re staying here. Or tell your Mum to tell him that. Draco, please… If you really
can’t come then I’ll stay here with you for Christmas. I’ll use my Invisibility Cloak to sneak into
the Slytherin Common Room if I have to.”

“You’re mental.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why would you— You have a whole
family to spend the Holidays with. What’s so special about me?”

“Is it so bad I want to be with you?” His eyes sparkled and his lips looked so pink. So gentle. So
kissable.

Tears were prickling in Draco’s eyes and an internal shock of panic hits him hard. How could he
say no? How?

“O-okay.” He clears his throat with embarrassment. “Okay. I’ll write a letter to my Mother. I’ll
spend the Holidays with you and the Weasleys’”

“Thank you.” He breathes out. “Not thank you— I mean— You know what I mean right?”

“Yeah.” He smiles lightly. “Yeah.”

“Blaise!” Draco storms into the Common Room. All eyes draw on him but he doesn’t mind
“BLAISE!” A sudden feeling of deja vu hits him, except Theo isn’t there to say something nasty.

“I’m right here, Draco!” He was sitting at a table with Astoria, Daphne, and Pansy.

“I need to talk to you.” He rushes over to them. “Now.”

“About what?”

“I can’t say it here.”

“Because we’re here?” Pansy says sharply.

“Because the Common Room is filled with other student’s, Parkinson.” He doesn’t have time to
keep all this information in. “The three of you are more than welcome to follow us to our dorm.”
Without asking, he grabs Blaise by his wrist and drags him out of his chair.

“Draco!” He growls.

“It’s urgent!” He pulls him up the stairs; he can hear three other sets of footsteps following. When
the five of them enter the room, Draco slams the door shut and casts a silencing charm before
telling them what happened.

“I don’t believe you.” Pansy says hotly (that was probably because he referred to her as Parkinson
earlier.)

“I don’t care if you believe me or not!” He exasperates. “Why is he doing this to me?” His head
falls back against his headboard. “Why am I letting him?”
 “I think it’s sweet,” Daphne says at the same time as Astoria says “Don’t go.”

“Don’t go?” Draco frowns. “I’ve already said yes!”

“Then tell him you changed your mind! Draco, you’re hurting yourself by doing this. And I know
you know that because of all the conversations we have!”

“You don’t understand Astoria! Blaise— you understand right? I mean, before Longbottom you
thought you couldn’t— You know what this is like right?.”

“It’s different with me, Draco… My Mother isn’t like your father and the only bloke I’ve ever truly
liked feels the same way.”

He groans and covers his face with his hands.

“I understand what everyone is saying, but…” Draco looks at Daphne with hope. “It will be better
than going back home right? With The Dark Lord somewhere out there and your father…” Pansys’
eyes shift away at the mention of The Dark Lord, Blaise, even though very subtle, shifts
uncomfortably, and Astoria is staring at her sister with a single arched eyebrow. “If all the
Weasleys’ are going to be there, along with Professor Lupin and possibly Granger, you won’t
exactly be alone with Potter, right? If you feel your…” she searches for the right word, “heart
reaching out for him, talk to a Weasley. I bet you’ll love spending time with George.”

Draco can’t stop the blush from forming on his face. Why did that secret just have to get out?
Well, why did any of them have to get out? Fucking Theo and his loud mouth.

“You should be fine, Draco,” says Daphne.

“I still think it’s a bad idea,” mutters Astoria.

“You always want to disagree with me.”

“It’s because you’re always wrong,” she replies smugly and Daphne rolls her eyes.

“Am I going to have to buy all of them Christmas gifts?”

“Oh, can I help?” Exclaims Pansy, suddenly interested in the conversation. “I’m wonderful at
getting gifts!”

“No you’re not,” He states bluntly and her jaw drops.

“I’ve gotten you many of things for your birthday that you enjoyed.” He goes to retort but she cuts
her off. “You’ll want to give Potter something that shows you’re in love with him but it’s not
obvious to him. For Ronald Weasley— I heard about the pin you made him— so perhaps
something similar; another pin or a small drawing of him actually blocking the Quaffle. For Ginny
you can—“

Draco lets her talk about the gifts he’s not getting any of the Weasleys for Christmas. Perhaps he’ll
get something for Harry… he’s not sure yet. But if he gets something for him, he’ll have to get
something for Lupin. What was he supposed to get him? He’ll figure out his gift the day before…
for now, he'll listen to his friends, mainly Pansy, give suggestions while his heart is on the brink of
giving out.

Chapter End Notes

For starters, the magic Draco feels when he holds Theo's wand was an on-the-spot
idea that I'm fucking in love with.
Draco and Ginny friendship because I think it's funny as fuck.
I HATEED WRITING THE DUEL OH MY GOD I HATED IT I HATED IT. I don't
know how to write that and I'm not looking forward to when what would be 7th year
comes around and they're casting hexes left and right omfg. It was hell.

"Do you ever ever feel like you’re supposed to feel one way because everyone expects
you to?"
hahaha...haha...ha... anyone else relate?

CHRISTMAS WITH THE WEASLEYS!! George and Draco content. Sirius and
Draco content. It's going to be great I swear.

The Slow Burn and the Obliviousness are there and it's thriving...
 Chapter 46
Chapter Summary

“Luckily,” a voice that was defiantly not Theo’s says in a very unamused way. “I am
not Mr. Nott.”
“Professor Snape!?” He’s suddenly wide awake.

Shit Happens lmao

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Waking up to the sound of his bedroom door open was not what Draco was expecting tonight. He
doesn’t even get the chance to sit up before his curtains are drawn and a wand was pointing a
bright light at him. He hisses at the sudden light and blocks it with his hand.

“If that’s you Theo, you’ll be getting more then just a hex from me, you annoying g—“

“Luckily,” a voice that was defiantly not Theo’s says in a very unamused way. “I am not Mr.
Nott.”

“Professor Snape!?” He’s suddenly wide awake, pulling his blankets up as high as he can; he was
only in boxers and a long sleeve shirt. “What are you—“

“Put some proper attire on and meet me down in the Common Room in two minutes. I expect to
not be left waiting.”

“Professor, what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain when you are ready.” He leaves, the tail of his cloak barely missing the door that he
slammed shut. Draco looks over at Blaises’ bed to see him half awake, staring at him.

“What’d he want?” His voice was extremely hoarse which Draco can’t deny was attractive.

“He didn’t tell me.” He gets out of bed and puts on a pair of black trousers and a black coat over
his dark green long-sleeve. “I’ll tell you when I comeback.” He pockets his wand and rushes out of
the room, slamming the door shut on purpose to hopefully wake up his other roommates.

“Professor?” He pants when he reaches the Common Room. “What’s going on? What time is it?”

“I’ve been informed you’re spending the Holidays with Potter and The Weasleys’.” Draco follows
him at a fast pace.

“Yes, sir, I am.” He feels his cheeks heat up with slight embarrassment. He didn’t exactly want
Snape to know who he was spending break with.

“An incident has happened and the Weasleys, along with Potter, are leaving from a Portkey any
moment know. Potter, being the demanding Gryffindor he is, has asked for you to join considering
your… situation.”
“I won’t be going back to my dorm?” He comes to halt. “But my stuff— and Blaise— I have to
help Theo with something too—“

“Draco.” He turns around and he looks like he’s staring into his soul. If it wasn’t for growing up
around Snape and him being his favorite student, Draco would be terrified. He feels awful not
speaking with The Professor so often anymore. He’s defiantly noticed Draco no longer has a hatred
towards Harry; maybe that’s why he doesn’t praise him anymore in classes. But he knows, no
matter what, no matter how cold Professor Snape can get, he always has Draco’s best interest at
heart… He thinks. “It is entirely your decision wether or not you take that Portkey with the
Weasley’s and Potter but keep. In. Mind. There will be consequences to either actions…”

“If my father asks…” He tries communicating with his eyes.

“If your father finds your whereabouts, It will not be from me.” Draco smiles brightly having the
sudden urge to hug him. He hasn’t felt like this since he was seven and his Mother and Father were
arguing in the dining room. Professor Snape came through the Floo Network in their living room
and then…

“What are you doing here?” Draco frowns and sets down his stuffed toy Hippogriff that he was
previously trying to levitate into the air (he managed two centimeters.)

“I’ve come to speak to your father.”

“He’s busy.” There was a loud bang and a slash that sounded like a shielding charm. “Remolding
the kitchen…” He mutters under his breath and picks up his toy again. “Comeback later, Sir.”

“Who gave you that toy?”

“Why does it matter?” He looks up at him and folds his arms.

“You are clearly devastated in the animal you’ve been stuck with.”

“Pansy Parkinson gave it to me for my birthday. She’s… annoying.”

“And you have stuck with it merely because it was a gift?”

“Clearly.” He says shortly. “My father claims I’m getting too old for stuffed animals. He let me
keep this one because the last time Pansy Parkinson gave me a gift and he threw it out he had to
deal with her crying… She broke a Vase and then my father blamed it on me… I’m stuck with this
ugly thing.” He pouts.

“Pouting your way through life will not get you anywhere, Draco. Not from me at least.”

He scoffs. “Who says I wan’t anything to do with you?”

Snape narrows his eyes and Draco easily challenges him with the same stare. A version of a smile
appears on his future Professors’ face.

“Your mother must be proud of you.” He pulls out his wand and Draco’s eyes slightly widen. He
flinches when Snape flicks his wand but he doesn’t feel any pain.

“Your spell missed, Sir.” He grumbles.

“Think again, Mr. Malfoy.” The kitchen door slams open and out comes his father who looked
furious and his mother who looked so neutral it was terrifying. But that’s not who Draco was
paying attention to. He was staring down at his once stuffed Hippogriff. It was now a Hungarian
Horntail; Draco’s favorite dragon.

“Mother, look!” He scurries to his feet and holds it up. “He changed it to a dragon! I can keep it
can’t I?” He looks between his parents. It was a bold move, asking a question like this in front of
someone else. But his father is very fond of Snape so it hopefully works out.

“Of course you can.” His mother smiles softly. “Thank you, Severus.”

He does a curt nod and proceeds to approach his father. “Shall we speak, Lucius?”

“Of course.. Of course..”

“Fizzing Whizbee.” Draco quietly snorts and Snape gives him a sharp look. He follows Snape
inside and the moving stairs take them to a front door.

“Professor? I need you to tell Theo something.”

“What would that be exactly?”

“Get Blaise to do it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tell him he needs to mention Longbottom to Blaise so he can do it.”

“Care to tell me what you are talking about?”

“I can’t, sir… sorry.” They enter Dumbledore’s office and everyones’ eyes snap toward him. The
Weasleys looked shaken and Harry looked awful.

“Harry, what’s—“

“No time,” says Dumbledore. “Thank you, Severus, for bringing Mr. Malfoy.” Snape leaves. “A
Portkey has been put in place. Quickly, everyone, please!”

Everyone rushes around Dumbledore’s desk and Draco follows. He purposefully puts himself
between Harry and Ginevera; he looks at Harry who had this murderous look Draco is on the verge
of fearing.

“You have all used a Portkey, yes?” Dumbledore asks and everyone nods. “Good. On the count of
3 then… one… two… three.”

Draco has never particularly liked Portkeys because, no matter how many times he’s taken them,
he always falls on his knees. The number of scoldings his father has given him…

He lets out a rough groan when he comes in contact with a kitchen floor. He feels Harry scurry to
his feet beside him while everyone else remained on the floor for a bit longer.

“Would someone care to tell me where we are?” Draco grumbles while receiving help from
George Weasley.

“Grimmulad Place.” he replies hastily.

“What’s going on?” Sirius Black comes rushing over to help Ginevra up to her feet. “I’ve been told
Arthur has been badly injured—“

“Ask Harry,” says Fred.

“Yeah, I want to hear this for myself,” says George.

“It was— I had a kind of vision…”

Draco stood there by George’s side awkwardly as Harry told the story of how he saw Arthur
Weasley get attacked. He shifts uncomfortably at the story and mentions of the Dark Lord. He
feels like he’s intruding, which technically he is.

“Is Mum here?” Fred Weasley asks Black.

“She probably doesn’t know what’s happened yet,’ says Black. “The important thing was to get
you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore’s letting Molly know now.”

“We’ve got to go to ST. Mungo’s,” Ginvera says while looking at her brothers who seemed to
agree.

“Hang on, you can’t go tearing off to St. Mungo’s!” Black says.

“Course we can!” lightly shouts George, “he’s our dad!”

“Can we kick Malfoy out while we talk about this?” Fred glances over at Draco. He’s slightly
offended that he’s still seen as mistrusted.

“I’ll excuse myself,” he mutters but stops it place when George says, “He’s fine, Fred.” Fred rolls
his eyes but doesn’t argue with his twin. Draco awkwardly sits down on a chair and glances over at
Harry who quickly shifts his eyes away from him.

“You all can’t visit St. Mungo’s.” says Black. “How are you going to explain how you knew
Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?”

“Why does that matter?” says Fred hotly.

“It matters because we don’t want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of
things that are happening hundreds of miles away!” he replies angrily. “Have you any idea what
the Ministry would make of that information.”

“Somebody else could have told us.” Ginevra says. “We could have heard it somewhere other than
Harry….”

“Like who?” Sirius shakes his head. “Listen, your dad’s been hurt while on duty for the Order and
the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it
happened, you could seriously damage the Order’s—“

“We don’t care about the dumb Order!” shouts Fred.

“It’s our dad dying we’re talking about!” yells George.

“Your dad understood what he was getting himself into! This is why you’re not in the Order— you
don’t understand while he did— there are things worth dying for!”

“Easy for you to say, stuck here!” bellows Fred. “I don’t see you risking your neck!”
The kitchen goes awfully quiet and Draco wishes he had left the room. He wonders if he could
sneak out without anyone noticing… probably not.

“I know it’s hard, but we’ve all got to act as though we don’t know anything yet. We’ve got to stay
put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?”

The Twins looked like they were about to murder Black. Ginevra, however, slowly looks away
from her brothers before sitting across the table from Draco. Ronald took a seat next to Ginevra
after giving a mediocre shrug. Harry sits down next to Draco who offers a small comforting smile.
Harry doesn’t smile back which makes sense; Black accios’ Butterbeer for all of them.

Draco can’t tear his eyes away from him. Even when he picks up his drink and takes a slow, quiet
sip.

Eventually, a letter from Mrs. Weasley arrives, and then she herself a while after (she was in shock
to see Draco there but hid it behind a tired smile.) Draco was on the verge of falling asleep multiple
times but it felt, well, 1) Rude and 2) Extremely weird. But when Black yelled for his house-elf—
Kreacher— to make breakfast, he no longer felt drowsy. The Weasleys’ were in a better mood now
that they know their father is okay, Black was weirdly cheerful that he gets to cook, but Harry… It
pains him to see him so on edge. When Mrs. Weasley pulls away from the hug she gave Harry,
Draco hurries out of his chair and approaches him.

“Harry?” he whispers and the Gryffindors' eyes dart to him. “Can we talk?”

“Not now,” he replies hastily. “Sirius, I need to talk to you.”

The two of them leave the room and Draco is stuck with the Weasleys. He awkwardly sits back
down next to George who stares at him.

“What?”

“I don’t know, mate,” the ginger says. “But you should have seen the way Harry was asking for
you.”

“Yeah.” Fred sits down across from them. “He shouted at Dumbledore to go get you when he
mentioned we were leaving through a Portkey.”

“Why would he do that?” Draco frowns.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ginevra sets down a pitcher of orange juice before sitting down next to Ron.
“We wouldn’t have been able to get you if you stayed behind.”

“I think it was very considerate of Harry.” Mrs. Weasley waves her wand and plates of food set at
the table. “Draco, dear, I wasn’t sure what you liked so if there’s anything here you don’t enjoy,
please let me know.”

“That won’t be necessary— er, Ma’am.”

“Mrs. Weasley is fine.” She smiles at him. “Ron! Ron for heaven’s sake.” She goes over to her son
and shakes him awake.

“It’s a shame we’re not at home,” Ginevra says. “I would have loved to play a Seekers game
against you, Malfoy.”

“Why?” he frowns in confusion before taking a bite of treacle tart. Merlin this is the best thing he’s
ever eaten.

“I’m the new Gryffindor seeker since Harry got kicked off.”

“What?” He starts choking on his food and George has to thump him on the back. “You’re—“ he
coughs. “You’re the new Seeker?”

She nods with a grin. “I’m quite good at it too. Just you wait, Malfoy. You have a whole new type
of competition coming your way.”

“I can’t wait, Ginevra.” He smirks, her brothers' snicker, and her face drops.

“I don’t understand why you don’t like it,” says Mrs. Weasley. “We named you that for a reason!”

“I don’t understand why,” she mutters under her breath.

“Mum wanted to make sure we could poke fun at you in every way possible,” grins Fred, and with
a quick wand movement water drops on top of her out of nowhere.

“FRED!” Ginevra cries and Mrs. Weasley shouts. Ron and George start laughing and Draco snorts
in his pumpkin juice.

“Here, Malfoy.” Fred does the same exact thing to him.

“WEASLEY!” He pushes himself out of his chair and pulls out his wand.

“Draco!” Sirius comes rushing in and grips his wrist and lowers it.

“Give me your wand, Fred!”

“But Mum!” the two of them start to bicker.

“Here.” Black casts a hot air charm and Draco stares at Fred with daggers. “Why don’t you go with
Harry upstairs.”

“He hasn’t eaten anything, Sirius!” Mrs. Weasley interrupts Freds’ complaining.

“I’ll take it up stairs, Mrs. Weasley,” he says weakly.

“Oh, alright.” She hands him a plate. “Get some rest, dear. You too, Draco.”

“Thank you.” He forces a smile and follows Harry upstairs. He watches Harry set the plate down
on the table and lay down on the bed. Draco stands in between the doorway awkwardly.

“Where do I get to sleep?”

“Ron will want the other bed.” He sounds so helpless. “If he doesn’t, he’ll be in a horrible mood
for the whole day. You can share with me.”

Thank every god that his back is turned on Draco because he was blushing hard.

“Er, well— are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t sure,” he replies sharply. Draco quietly shuts the door and
crawls into bed with him. Their backs face each other, and only heavy breathing and the shifting of
the bed could be heard.
“I’m sorry,” The Gryffindor whispers.

“You shouldn’t have to be,” he whispers back. “With The Dark Lord in your mind…” he gulps.
“You seem to be handling it better than I ever could.”

“I’m tired, Draco.”

“I can imagine… what would you like me to do?”

“Tell me a secret.”

“A secret?” He feels sick all of sudden with his heartbeat increasing and the close proximity to
him.

“Just anything… I’ll tell you one of mine.”

“Okay…” He gulps and begins thinking. “Do you remember when we first became friends? I told
you I knew my father tried to kill you in our second year... I knew that before he even tried too and
I… I may or may not have sent Dobby to you.”

“You— what?” Harry jolts right up and looks over at him; his whole demeanor seemed to change.
“You sent Dobby?”

“I said I may have!” he turns over to face him. “I didn’t exactly want you to die… who else was I
supposed to have a row with! I can’t have all of them with Theo.”

“Unbelievable! You— Dobby said— what! You wanted Hermione dead! All the Muggleborns!”

“That was— That was me being a prat, alright? Now, tell me a secret of yours, Potter! It’s your
turn!”

“But—“

“It’s your turn!”

He huffs and lays back down with his back facing him once again. Draco, to be dramatic, turns
back over too.

“It's about Cho..."

"What about her?"

"It's not really about her, but it... it does involve her."

"What are you trying to tell me, Harry?" he doesn't mean to snap, but he's anxious to know.

"Draco, I think I..." The hesitancy in his voice is clearly there and it wasn't helping Draco's anxiety
at all. Whatever he’s about to say, no matter what will break Draco down once more. If he says
he’s gay, it won’t mean he’s fallen for Draco. There are so many other blokes out there that aren’t
pathetic like him. That don’t have their fathers holding them back. They aren’t currently fake
dating a girl because he can’t be gay. He’s prepared for it… at least he thinks he is… and when he
does tell him because it really sounds like that’s where he’s heading, he’ll hopefully see Lupin this
break and he’ll get to talk about all of this. If not, he’ll do what he does best.

Pretend.
 “I might be—“

“A prat!” Ronald comes storming in, shouting at his brothers for something Draco doesn’t care
about. He assumes he’ll never get to know what Harry was about to tell him. “Fred and George, but
mainly Fred, I swear to…” he shakes his head and slams the door shut behind him. “You’re-
You're both sharing a bed?” His eyebrows raise. “Never thought I’d see this…” He says with a
yawn. “We’re visiting Dad at St. Mungos later today.” He falls on his bed and pulls a blanket up to
his waist. “You’ll probably have to stay, Malfoy… It’ll be too—“ another yawn. “Weird.”

“Yes, I agree,” he mutters while trying to hide his annoyance as best as he can.

“Are you— uh— are you alright, Harry?”

“Peachy, Ron,” he doesn’t hide his annoyance.

“Right… well...” he trails off.

Harry doesn’t speak again and Draco can’t bring himself to whisper his name. Even after Weasley
begins snoring (similarly to Crabbe Draco must add) he doesn’t dare move a single inch of his
body. (Neither does Harry) If Harry wanted to tell him still he would have by now. Maybe the
Gryffindor was grateful someone else was in the room. And deep down, Draco was relieved he
didn’t have to hear whatever secret Harry was about to say.

Chapter End Notes

I fucking hate Snape but I keep forgetting that Draco doesn't so here is me inputting
Snape slightly into the story.

SO yes they are at Grimmulad Place because Arthur is in St. Mungos... I'm getting
more inspiration from the book than the movie because I've been rereading the book
so :))

Don't you just love Ron <33333

The slow burn/edging is great in my opinion but I know it can get redundant so I'll
keep that in mind for the next chapters.

Thoughts? Opinions? I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but defiantly
sometime this week
 Chapter 47
Chapter Summary

“Did you see my gift, Malfoy?” George says.

“Yes.” He doesn’t look up from his book. “And I’ve chosen not to trust you.”

Christmas Break :)

Chapter Notes

this chapter is all about the break so I HOPE YOU ENJOY!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco,

I talked to Professor Snape when you didn’t come back to our dorm and he said you left through a
Portkey because of a family matter. I told him he was lying but he threatened to partner me with
Theo when we come back from Hols so I didn’t ask further. I’m assuming something happened with
Potter and The Weasleys so hopefully, you’re with them. If you are at your Manor, stay with your
mother at all times. With everything going on, being alone is not the best decision.

I’m spending Christmas with Neville. His Grandmother is very fond of me, thank Salazar, so she
told him I could stay. We’re planning on going ice skating; I’m going to teach him. Perhaps you
should teach Potter and he’ll fall for you (metaphorically and literally.) Yes, I know he’s not gay,
and I know he’s fallen for Chang but people are allowed to be in love with more than one person.
My mother is living proof. Well, technically, did she ever really love any of her spouses? By next
summer, I think husband number seven will be long gone. Perhaps this time, it’ll be death by a
Death Eater. Last time it was a Werewolf attack. The Death Eater one makes sense in a time like
this.

Also, I should warn you, when we return to school, I’m stuck having detentions with Umbridge for
two weeks. Theo doesn’t know how to keep his fucking mouth shut. You should have heard what he
said! We were in the middle of the Great Hall too. I was sitting with Neville, Dean, and Seamus,
and Theo, Crabbe, and Goyal approach us and start insulting us. Calling Neville and me fags and
worse things. He called Dean a Mudbl M-word because I suppose he’s a Muggleborn. Seamus lost
it; I lost it. Dean was able to hold back Seamus but Neville couldn’t stop me. I hexed all three of
them; tell Potter I say thank you for the D.A. My hexes and spells have incredibly improved. The
three of them ended up in the hospital wing, but I hexed Theo to the point where he has to stay here
over break. Professor Umbridge only saw me casting my wand and because she’s homophobic and
the three prats are a part of her Inquisitorial Squad I’m the only one who got in trouble. But,
honestly, I’m not stressed about it. I’d hex them all again if I could.

I’ll see you when we get back.

Stay safe.
Happy Christmas,

Blaise

Draco sets the letter back in his trunk where he found it. It arrived earlier, before everyone left for
St Mungos, so he was able to change into more casual clothes too. He planned on going back to
sleep, but Tonks’s personality and the fact that she accidentally tripped Draco when he walked into
the kitchen woke him up, so now he was rummaging through his trunk, trying to find his notebook.

“DRACO!” A loud voice booms throughout the room and he lets out a pathetic yelp.

“Merlin— you— why didn’t you knock!” he cries as he stares at Black who had an amused smirk
on his face.

“The door was open.” Draco scowls. “Remus is here.”

“Lu— he’s here?” His face brightens.

“Yes, he’s downstairs. But let me tell you—“ Draco doesn’t let him finish; he pushes past him and
runs down the stairs.

“Professor?” He walks into the kitchen. “Pro— You look terrible.” Lupin was sitting down at the
table, arms crossed in front of him, and eyes looking horribly gaunt. He looked older and tired; he
had more grey hairs and there was a bandage wrapped around his hand.

“Thank you, Draco, for the observation.” A light smile appears on his face. “How are you?”

“How am I? How are you? You look—“

“As handsome as ever!” Sirius storms into the kitchen.

“Don’t make him uncomfortable, Pads.”

“Too late.” He glares at him.

“I tried to explain to him you weren’t feeling well, but he’s wouldn’t listen.”

“It’s fine, Sirius. Let him be.”

Draco smirks lightly and sits down next to him.

“Why do you look like this?”

“Malfoy!” Black hisses.

“I’ve been doing work for the Order, Draco and the Full Moon was recent…”

“Sorry,” he says weakly. “Besides that…”

“Everything is well.”

“I hope so,” Black sits across from them. “Your company is more than appreciated, Remus.”

A smile tugs at Lupins’ lips and Draco scrunches his face.

“I see the both of you are… happy,” Draco acknowledged.

“Yes,” says Lupin. “Yes, I think we are.” He and Black share a loving look.

“Does Harry know?”

“Uh— Well, no,” says Black. “No one has been informed of our relationship besides you, Draco.”

“Really?” He can’t help but feel awfully smug. “When do you plan on telling everyone.”

“On Christmas,” Black says at the same time Lupin says, “I’m not sure.”

“Christmas?”

“It’s perfect, Remus! Don’t you think?”

“You two seem to have a lot to talk about.” Draco smirks and stands. “Good luck, Lupin.” He
leaves the room with a light chuckle. He wanders down the hallway and comes across a door that
was half open. Out of curiosity, he peaks his head inside and his eyes widen when he comes across
The Black Family tree. When he approaches it, he quickly recognizes some of the names. Phineas
Nigellus, Orion and Walburga Black, Sirius…Regulus… Cygnus Black, Bellatrix… Andromeda…

His finger traces over his mothers' name; he misses her so much. So fucking much it hurts. She
doesn’t even know where he is. He never got the chance to send her a letter telling her where he
was spending break. What if his father ends up finding out? He’ll hurt her and then he’ll hurt him.
The whole reason why he didn’t accept Lupins’ protection before school started was because he
needed to watch for his mother. Everything with Harry has been so consuming— he was trying so
hard not to be reckless with letting his feelings get exposed— he forgot that he needed to keep his
mother safe and put on this half-decent act of being a Malfoy.

He swears under his breath and turns to leave for the door but he’s practically shellshocked at
who’s in front of him.

“F-Father, I…” He steps back against the wall. His father doesn’t say anything as he begins to
approach him with his hand gripping tightly to his cane. “Please, how are— it’s not—“ His chest
heaves aggressively. “L-Lupin! LUPIN! BLACK!” He staggers backward. “You can’t hurt me
here!” Two sets of footsteps come running into the room. Both of their wands raised and eyes
wide.

“Malfoy?” Black snarls.

“It’s not possible for him to be here!” shouts Lupin.

Draco’s father spins around and with one quick shapeshifting movement, a dead Remus Lupin lies
on the floor.

“R-Remus,” Black gasps.

“It’s a Boggart!” Lupin yells. “Riddikulus!” Just like in Draco’s third year, the brief moment it
changed to a full moon it changes to a balloon and disappears completely.

“I-I thought you got rid of it!” Black gulps.

Draco slowly slides down the wall while trying to catch his breath.

“Draco.” Lupin rushes over to him and kneels down. “Are you alright?”
“I thought…” he shakes his head. “I didn’t know… I… I don’t understand.”

“It was a Boggart, Draco.” Black approaches from behind Lupin. He looks slightly shaken up,
which makes sense. Draco was also disturbed seeing his ex-Professor dead on the floor.

“That’s not what I don’t understand… My Boggart… it’s usually H-Harry— why… why was it
him?”

“Some people don’t know this, but when you have two fears that are both very strong, Boggarts
will choose the one that fits whatever situation you’re in.”

“Your biggest fear is Harry?” Black frowns. “… Why?”

“Not now, Sirius.” He says softly but with a sharpness behind it. “Can you stand?”

He nods weakly and stands.

He remained in his room even when everyone else returned. The paranoia of wondering if his
mother was safe or not had really gotten to him. He told Lupin about it but he said there isn’t
anything he could do. That might have been the first time Draco was genuinely mad at him. He
spent his time trying to transfigure random items into possible Christmas presents to give to
everyone, but he only managed to create three he liked; a green butterfly hair clip for Mrs.
Weasley, a brown coat for Lupin, and a funny-looking weasel stuffed animal for George. He just
about got it into his trunk the moment the door swung open.

“Harry.” Draco smiles lightly.

“Lupin wants to talk to you.”

“What?” He frowns. He had expected a greeting, perhaps a smile too. He hadn’t expected an
irritated look, fists clenched to their side, and no sign of wanting to talk to Draco.

“He’s downstairs with everyone else. He claims to have a question about your Mother.”

“My mother?” He jumps to his feet.

“Yeah, he— uh— he didn’t tell me what exactly the question was about but…”

Draco doesn’t wait another moment. He rushes out of the room and down the stairs where he finds
everyone in the kitchen.

“Professor— you wanted to talk to me?”

“I’m sorry?” He pulls away from a conversation he was currently having with the Twins.

“You have a question for me?”

“I— I don’t, actually. Who told you that?” He frowns.

“Ha…” he trails off. “Never mind, sorry…”

Why had he lied to him?

“Are you feeling alright, Malfoy?” George teases.

“It’s only a headache I’ve received from your voice.” He leaves swiftly and makes it back up to the
room.

“You lied to me!” He snaps at Harry who drops his trunk he was previously trying to carry.

“Like you’ve never lied in your life,” He scowls and Dracos’ mouth slightly drops.

“I have actual reasons; do you?”

“Of course I do!”

“Care to tell me?”

“No.” He starts dragging his trunk again but Draco slams the door shut behind him

“Where are you going?”

“Get out of my way, Draco.” He growls.

“No.” He goes over to him and kicks his trunk out of his hands.

“HEY!”

“Where are you going to go? Back to your Muggle family?”

“You don’t even understand the half of it.” His chest heaves. “I shouldn’t be here with you— with
any of you.”

“Says who?”

“SAYS ME! I could hurt you or Ron or Sirius or—“

“But you haven’t. Shouldn’t that count for something?”

“It counts for nothing while Voldemort has access to all my thoughts!”

“Harry—“

“Don’t try to understand, Draco, because you just wouldn’t!”

“Fine,” he says hotly. “I won’t try to understand because I don’t care.”

“What?”

“I don’t care how you feel. The only thing I care about is you staying here. Wether you’re happy or
not.”

“You can’t force me to stay!”

“No?” He pulls out his wand.

“What are you going to do? Transfigure me into a ferret and keep me like that until we go back to
Hogwarts?”

“I have the temptation to,” he says through gritted teeth. “But no, that’s not what I’m going to do.”

“I don’t have time for this!” He resumes trying to get his trunk towards the door and Draco rolls
his eyes.
“Accio Harrys’ Glasses!’ In one clean movement, Harry’s glasses come right to his hand.

“DRACO!”

“Can’t leave if you can’t see, Potter,” he drawls.

“FINE!” His veins were popping out tremendously and for a split second, Draco thinks he was
going to attack him. “Fine.” He lays down with his back turned towards him.

“Stop being so childish.”

“Just shut it, Draco.”

“Alright.” He shrugs. “I’ll be downstairs if you want your glasses back.” With that, he leaves a
very angry Harry laying in bed. The moment he shuts the door, he leans back against it and takes a
deep breath. “Sweet Salazar…”

The next morning, everyone was decorating for Christmas. Black was unbelievably annoying with
the carols he was belching at the top of his lungs; The Twins tried playing multiple pranks on
Draco, but he dodged them— except the one of being smacked in the face by a flying deer that had
a Santa hat on it. Harry hadn’t come down from his room, which Draco understands on some
level.

“He’s clearly upset,” said Ron.

“Doesn’t give him the right to act so immature,” replied Ginevra, and Draco couldn’t help but
agree. “We’re on his side!” she said while putting some lights up. “We only want to help him…”

Mrs. Weasley made them lunch, Draco chatted and laughed with everyone, and somehow Mrs.
Weasley got him alone in the kitchen afterward.

“Draco, dear, help me with the dishes if you could.”

How was he supposed to say no?

He pulls out his wand and goes to use it but Mrs. Weasley lightly lowers his hand.

“Without magic.”

“Without—?” His eyes widen. “Mrs. Weasley, I’ve never…”

“I know. First time for everything. Just do what I do, alright?” He nods and watches her pick up a
plate and a scrubber before hand-cleaning it. After she finishes, Draco tries doing the exact same
thing. “Remus is very fond of you, Draco.”

“Er— yeah…” he can’t help but blush. “He’s helped me become who I am today…”

“No longer insulting my family, you mean?” He stills in the middle of picking up a cup to clean.
“Yes, I was rather shocked when I heard you were no longer terrorizing my kids and Harry.”

“Mrs. Weasley, I… what I used to say, it was out of jealously… your family is perfect; no where
near how my family is…”

“Perfect is the last thing I’d call my family.” She smiles. “Your mother, you’re close with her
aren’t you?”

“Very.” A sudden wave of sadness crashes over him.

“Us Mothers… very protective over our children. And I can expect, not knowing where your only
son is during a time like this must be very stressful.”

“Did— Did you speak with Lupin?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I spoke with Nymphadora.”

“Nympha— Tonks? Why would you two speak about my mother?”

“Her mother is your mothers’ sister.”

“My mother hasn’t spoken to Andromeda since they were young.”

“That was true.” She sets down a plate and wipes her hand on a towel. “But like I said… us
Mothers’…” She pulls out an envelope and on it said Draco Malfoy in his mother’s handwriting.

“How—“

“Nymphadora received it from her Mum who received it from yours. Here you go, Dear.”

He quickly wipes his hand on the towel and snatches it out of her hand.

“Thankyou,” he rushes out before leaving up the stairs to the room he shared with Harry and
Ronald. Thankfully neither of them were there so he was able to situate himself in a comfortable
position on the bed and tear open the letter.

My Son,

Severus has informed me you are safe in the old Black family residence with the Weasley family,
Harry Potter, and others. Your father would have been incredibly displeased if he had arrived at
the platform and you were not there. He thinks you’re still at Hogwarts and that is the story we
will be going with. I wish you had informed me you were going so I wouldn’t have had to go to
these extreme measures and knock on my sisters’ door. Having to duel Andromeda was something
I didn’t want but in order to get this letter to you it had to be done. We spoke for the first time in
over twenty years; in a way, I’m almost grateful you left in a very sudden manner because I
wouldn’t have ever contacted her. I hope one day you’ll meet her and I will have the pleasure to
meet Nymphadora. I hope you two have been able to chat; you both are cousins after all.

But enough about my sister and me. I have to inform you Draco of something that I have been
keeping from you for a very long time. I think you might recall in your third year when you came
home for Christmas, you had asked me to leave your father and for the both of us to run away to
live the life we both deserve. The reasons I gave were horrible and to this day I feel guilty for
saying such things. But I felt you weren’t ready for the truth. You were only 13 but with everything
you’ve been through, you deserve to know the truth. Many years ago, before you were even born,
Draco, I fell for a gentleman who was gentle with me and followed what my parents and everyone
else in my family, aside from the few disowned, believed in. It was only until You Know Who met
his downfall was when your father slowly turned into the man he is today. With him gone, your
father had to blend in with everyone in the Ministry, especially after claiming he was under the
Imperious Curse during the First War. As you grew older Draco, he wanted you to be just like him
so when the time eventually came, when You Know Who would rise to power again, he would see
Lucius as a faithful, loyal follower till the very end and have shared that with his children. (Much
of what other Pureblood families have done. The Notts, The Goyals, The Crabbes, and more.) I
didn’t approve.

I wanted you to live your life the way you wanted, but with the condition of having to put on the
front of being a Pureblood Suprematist. But I was foolish, Draco. Especially when you were
getting older and your father spoke more of him returning.

I made an Unbreakable Vow with your father when you were around eight. I swore to him I’d stay
with him if he promised to keep you alive when the time came. It would have been empty words.

I hope one day you can forgive me for the irrational decision I made when I was in such a
frightened state. I only want you to know I did it for my love for you. It’s not an excuse it’s my
reasoning. I’d do anything to keep you safe; I love you so much, Draco. Never forget that.

Happy Christmas,

Your Mother,

Narcissa Malfoy

Draco rereads the letter over and over again until the final tear of his dries on his cheek.

An Unbreakable Vow.

Why would she do something so stupid? Just for him? It made sense now but he wishes it didn’t.
He wished everything was different and he and his mother were happy. Why has life treated him so
cruelly? In a way, he firmly believes he deserves all of this. If it wasn’t for Lupin, there wouldn’t
have been that part in him telling him he in fact does not. He couldn’t comprehend how opposite
thoughts can coexist with one another. He has the urge to crumble the piece of paper and go back to
his Manor just to hug his Mother but it pains him because he knows he can’t.

“FUCK!” He casts a random hex at the wall before throwing his wand across the room.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. It’s not fair.

He curls up in bed and clutches onto his wrist because he has no Blaise or Astoria to seek physical
comfort in.

‘You're so stupid’ a voice says in the back of his mind before falling asleep.

Harry seemed in loads better mood during the days that led up to Christmas. Draco noticed more
smiles, more talking, and more staring at Draco. He was still hung up on his Mothers’ note— he
hadn’t told anyone about it and it seemed Mrs. Weasley hadn’t either— but he acted as though
everything was fine. (Sometimes, specifically sharing the bed with Harry, was when it really was
genuinely fine.) Speaking with The Twins about pranks he’s done when he was younger, laughing
about some stupid joke Ginevra said about her brother Ronald, chatting with Hermione, who had
arrived one of these days, about Transfiguration, and learning how to do things the Muggle way
with Mrs. Weasley was something Draco never even remotely imagined. But he was loving every
moment of it.
He wakes to Harry and Ronald opening their presents— Weasley being completely done, and by
the looks of it, Harry was not even halfway through the many that were in front of their shared bed.
He shifts in the bed which catches both eyes of the Gryffindors’

“Malfoy!” Weasleys’ voice booms through the room. “Is this really from you?” He holds up the
gift Draco had transfigured for him.

“If it says from Malfoy, Weasley, then yes. It’s from me.” He slowly sits up and yawns.

“Er— thanks…” he sets down a quill Draco had enchanted for it to write the correct answers on
homework.

“If your mother asks, kindly, don’t tell her you got it from me.”

“Right.” He nods and rummages through his gifts.

“You have loads of gifts, Harry.”

“They’re not all mine.”

“Are they Hermiones?”

“No, Draco, they’re yours.” He has a goofy type of smile on his face.

“They’re mine?”

“Yeah!” He sets down a book he had received. He reaches for one and pushes it into his hands. A
quiet oof escapes Dracos’ lips before he stares down at a small box wrapped in green. “You
honestly thought Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t have made you anything?”

“I mean…” he trails off. He carefully unwraps the box and opens it. A smile creeps on his face as
he pulls out a knitted beanie that was green and grey. It wasn’t particularly pretty but he doesn’t
care. He just couldn’t believe it.

Weasley snorts, and Harry takes the beanie out of his hands and puts it on Draco for him in a
horrible manner. The Slytherin laughs and peaks his eyes from underneath. Harry is staring at him
with those fucking beautiful green eyes in a way that Draco just wants to drop to his knees and
literally beg for him to be in love with him. Why can’t Harry Potter be in love with Draco Malfoy?

That’s an obvious answer.

“I think this one is from George.” He hands him a small vial that said Draught of Peace on it.

“I don’t bloody trust him or this.” He sets it down. “I will not be drinking this.”

“It can’t be harmless.”

“No, but it will defiantly have me make a fool of myself.”

“Probably.” He chuckles lightly.

He received Fowl or Foul? A Study of Hippogriff Brutality and Home Life and Social Habits of
British Muggles from Hermione and Book of Potions from Lupin and Black. He was nose deep into
the beginning pages when a loud crack echoed throughout the room and he jumps up in surprise.

“Happy Christmas,” the Twins say.

“That’s right. You’re both of age,” Draco grumbles.

“Don’t go downstairs,” says Fred. “Mum is crying over Percy. He sent back his sweater with no
note.”

“Who’s Percy?” Draco frowns.

“Our git of a brother,” says George. “He was Prefect and Headboy, Malfoy. Shouldn’t you know
this?”

“OH! Peter? Hm, I never liked him.” He resumes reading his book.

“Is your Mum okay?” asks Harry.

“Ginny is comforting her right now. We tried but—“

“We weren’t exactly the most helpful,” finishes George for his twin.

“Is Sirius downstairs? asks Harry.

“No. And neither is Lupin. They’re probably still sleeping.” answers Fred.

“Did you see my gift, Malfoy?” George says.

“Yes.” He doesn’t look up from his book. “And I’ve chosen not to trust you.”

“It says Draught of Peace!”

“I’m well aware it’s not Draught of Peace. It’s probably something that will embarrass me in front
of all of you!”

“I understand the mistrust between us, Malfoy. Here.” He Accios it to his hand and takes a small
sip. He lets out a long sigh and tosses it back to Draco who easily catches it. “Do you trust me
now?”

“I suppose…” He stares down at the vial before taking a small sip. He grimaces at the taste and
wipes his mouth. “This is not Draught of Peace! What the hell did you give me! This is…” He
stares at George who flashes him the most beautiful smile Draco has ever seen.

“What’s wrong, Malfoy?” He leans forward with his hands folded in front of him.

“You’re so… your eyes… your lips” he licks his lips. “You’re so bloody attractive.”

“WHAT!?” Harry cries, Ronalds’ jaw drops to the floor, and Fred begins snickering.

“You’re so fucking good at Quidditch. I—“ he stumbles out of bed and begins approaching him.
“When you played this year, Merlin I wanted to ask you if you could fu—mfhkmhh—“ Harry
slams his hands over his mouth from behind him.

“Why did you give him, George!” snaps Harry.

“A concoction Fred and I created for our shop. It doesn't work on us because he made it. We're
thinking of calling it Heartbreak Teardrops.”

“You can’t just use Draco as your lab rat without his consent!”
“You have my full consent for anything you want,” Draco says from behind Harry’s hands.

Fred and George burst out laughing while Ronalds' whole face was bright red from secondhand
embarrassment.

“When does it wear off?”

“In about five minutes? Loosen up, Harry! Would you like him be infatuated with you? All you
have to do is give him the potion.”

“N— No!”

Draco elbows Harry in the stomach so he could break free from his hold.

“George…” he falls on the chair beside him. “Sweet Salazar I could look at you all day if I
could… I can can’t I?”

Harry groans loudly and pulls him out of the chair.

“Let go of me, Potter!” He growls. “How can you not agree with me! You’ve seen him play
Quidditch! And his laugh. Oh his voice too… You must agree with me! Anyone would.” He stares
at George with hungry eyes.

“Make him stop, Harry!” says Ronald.

“I can’t!”

“You made me realize I— I… was… gay!” He glares at Harry who was trying to drag him out of
the room; he grips the bed pillar to prevent that from happening. “I don’t understand how no one
can tell you two apart. I mean, George is more funny and— and good looking and Merlins’ Beard
you just do everything better.”

“Now you know he’s under the influence if he’s saying nonsense like that.” Fred snorts.

“You’re so mesmerizing. You’re… so…” His mind was spinning and eventually, in a few seconds,
the potion wears off. “What the fuck…” he murmurs and lets go of the pillar.

“You think I’m extremley attractive, Malfoy?” George smirks.

“YOU!” He goes to tackle him but Harry pulls him back. Draco swears at him as he gets dragged
out of the room.

“THAT COMPLETE ARSE!” Draco screams. “I’m going to murder him. I will! I just will!”

“Murder him another day.” Harry releases him. “It’s Christmas.”

“That doesn’t matter to me!”

“It will when I give you your gift.”

“My what?”

Harry pulls out a small box from his pocket and holds it out for him.

“You… you got me something?”

“Er— yeah.” A light smile appears on his face. “If you don’t like it you could, um, just not wear
it.”

“I…” he’s lost for words as he takes the box from him and opens it ever so slowly. “Merlin, Harry,
did you make this?”

“Hermione helped me transfigure it and charm it… when you feel love it—uh— it flaps. if you
don’t like it, that’s alright. I can transfigure it to something else like a Snitch or…”

“You’re daft if you think I don’t like this.”

Draco slowly pulls out a silver necklace of a paper bird. The eyes blink of the bird blink up at him
and he suddenly feels like crying.

“I got inspiration from the paper bird you sent me in 3rd year… can I put it on you?”

Draco’s heart thumps in his throat. The bird will flap the moment he puts it on because it’ll sense
his unwanted feelings of love towards Harry. But how was he supposed to say no? He has to put it
on; he’ll say it's platonic love. He has to say that. Draco gives him the okay to put it on; he feels
Harry’s warm fingers lightly brush up against his neck when he clips the necklace together. He
braces himself as he looks down. He exhales roughly.

The bird wasn’t flapping.

“I love it, Harry.” He whispers.

“It—“ He gulps. “It looks good on you.”

“Thank you.” A beat of silence before he speaks again. “I think it beats what I made you.”

“What?”

Draco pulls out a piece of paper and unfolds it before handing it to him.

“You made this?”

“Yeah…” he blushes. “I saw the Daily Prophet where they called you a “Plotter.” I just… softened
your facial features so you didn’t look so… angry.”

“I didn’t know you could draw.”

“The many secret talents of Draco Malfoy.”

They smile at each other.

“This beats Hermiones’ homework planner.”

Draco laughs.

“I would hope so.”

“Should we wake up Sirius? And Lupin.”

“Yes, actually, I’d love that. It took me ages to transfigure Lupin a coat.”

“What was it originally?”

“I think it was a originally a teapot…”

He follows Harry down the hallway trying to figure out why his necklace showed no sign of
movement. Was he really over Harry? Perhaps the whole fake dating Astoria is really working. No,
that’s not it… the charm must be faulty.

“Sirius?” Harry opens the door and both of their eyes widen.

“WHAT THE—“

“SHUT THE DOOR, POTTER!”

They both scramble to shut it. They had walked in on Black leaning up against the wall with
Lupin's arms wrapped around his waist and one of his arms wrapped around his neck; they were
snogging… um… passionately. Thank all the gods their clothes were still on. (He’s choosing to
ignore the two shirt buttons that were unbuttoned on Blacks’ shirt.)

“They’re— But— What?” Harry stares at Draco.

“I thought you locked the door!” yells Black.

“You didn’t give me time—“

“This isn’t how we planned to tell him!”

“Go face him— them— Sirius!”

“Remus, you’re coming with me!”

“Absoloutly no—“ The door swings open and there stands Lupin who’s never looked more
embarrassed and Black who was trying to play it cool but failing miserably.

“Happy Christmas, boys.” Black flashes an awkward smile.

“You two are… together?” Harry manages to say through his shock.

“Correct,” Black says. “We planned on telling everyone at dinner tonight but it appears you, Harry,
got to find out before everyone else— Besides Draco.”

“Besides— You knew?”

“Since 3rd year.” He was staring at Lupin trying to gather his thoughts.

“Third year? But that doesn’t make sense— no wait— why didn’t you tell me sooner!”

“There was no proper time…” Black truly looks guilty. “Plus, I wasn’t sure…”

“If I would be okay with it?” He scoffs. “Of course I’m okay with it! How long— If Draco’s
known since third year does that mean it was after that night?”

“Well, Harry…” Lupin tells him about how they were together in their fifth year till Sirius went to
Azkaban. When he found out he was innocent, they talked, and now they’re here… telling Harry
about all of this.

“And… Draco, you knew?”

“Er, yeah… I just… guessed, you know?”

The rest of the break were the best days that Draco will probably forever cherish. He even got to
see Snape which was heavily unexpected, but he had to stop by and tell Harry he was going to
teach him Occolumcey… Yikes.

When arriving at Hogwarts, Lupin pulls him aside to have a brief talk.

“Did you enjoy break, Draco?”

“I did.” He smiles. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Nothing imparticular. I’m just… not sure when I’ll see you again. And with The Dark Lord
returned and doing work for you know… It’s only a precaution.”

“Do not worry about the future. Focus on what you have now.” His eyes glance over at Harry who
was speaking with Tonks.

“I’ve given up on him,” he mutters. “I’m dating Astoria, remember?”

“Yes, I recall your letter. You’re right. I do not approve.”

“It’s what I have to do.”

“Yes I figured you’d say that.” He smiles sadly.

“Goodbye, Professor.”

“Goodbye, Draco.”

He doesn’t even have to ask. Draco hugs him tightly, not caring if the Weasleys or Harry was
watching. He needed this hug because he was not sure when he’ll get the next one. When pulling
away, the paper bird on his necklace begins to flap its wings ever so slowly.

“Harry told me what that charm means.”

“Well… he was lying. It flaps when it’s clearly uncomfortable.” He feels his face turning red.
“Good. Bye.”

“Hey, Hermione?” Harry whispers.

“Yes?”

“Can I talk to you real quick?”

“Sure, Harry.”

The two of them leave the room and go to another.

“Do you remember the necklace I asked you to help me with? The one for Draco?”
 “Yes! He’s wearing it, isn’t he? What did he say? What happened?”

“You put the charm on it, right?”

“Of course I did! I even tried it on in front of you and it flapped; the charm is for platonic love too,
remember? Did it— Did it not flap its wings?”

“N... No…”

“Oh…” Her eyes soften. “Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry. I—“

“Why are you sorry?” He looks at her curiously while trying to hide how he truly feels. “I’m not
mad or anything… It was just for him to show it off to the people he does love.”

“Harry, I’m not daft. I know.”

“Hermione, I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re trying to imply I’m gay, I’m not.”

“Harry—“

“I’m not!” he snaps. “I like Cho, remember?”

“You can still like Cho and Dra—“

“Enough!” He shakes his head. “I didn’t make it because I was curious if he was in love with me
or not. We’ve had the conversation before; he said it was all just a rumor Nott spread. It doesn’t
matter to me anyway…” His heart throbbed once again in a way he will never appreciate.

He was so stupid. So incredibly stupid. How did he end up here? He likes Cho— he thinks he does,
but when Draco smiles at him… when he laughs and does the most annoying thing ever (take his
glasses away) he just wants to be with him forever. This never would have happened if he hadn’t
offered to be friends with him. Why did he do that? To be nice? He fucking guesses because at this
point he doesn’t even remember his reasoning… if it wasn’t for that and that STUPID dance
lesson… Harry messed up. He’s messed up everything with himself and with his future
relationships.

‘You're so stupid’ a voice says in the back of his mind as he returns to the kitchen, immediately
smiling as Draco laughs at something George probably said.

Chapter End Notes

Where to start?

Blaise is a real one without even knowing it.

Blaise and Neville <33

Don't you just love Boggarts? I think mine would be a spider; I have arachnophobia
just like Ron so :|

Mrs. Weasley and Draco moment :D I can imagine that moment so clearly in my
head...
NARCISSA'S LETTER
SO THE TRUTH HAS BEEN REVEALED
unbreakable vow... you guys have no idea how long it took me to come up with the
reason for her to do that... that's why it's taken me a whole week and a half to write
this chapter.

CHRISTMAS WAS FUN WRITING.

I'm so in love with George and clearly so was Draco for those few moments.
I promise Harry was extremely jealous... I feel like you could tell.

THE NECKLACEEEEEE. Why do you think it didn't flap? Draco is clearly in love
with Harry, and we know it works because Hermione tried it with Harry and it
happened when he pulled away from the hug with Remus... so it should have flapped
its wings...

A little Harry Point Of View moment because I felt like it was needed. Chapter 14 is
when Harry becomes friends with Draco if you guys wanted to reread it. I actually did
recently rewrote it so it's better then when you probably read it last.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER!! Now that I'm done with I feel more
releaved... I can't wait for the future chapters.
 Chapter 48
Chapter Summary

“Think of your happiest moment… and let yourself really feel the happiness you
experienced.”

The Patronus Charm

Chapter Notes

CW: f slur
hope you enjoy :))

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Draco was exhausted. Absolutely exhausted. Studying for O.W.L’s was unbelievably stressful.

“What charm does the Liberacorpus neutralize?” asks Blaise

“Uh—“

“LEVICORPUS!” Draco shouts frantically. Daphne glares at him.

“Yes, that’s correct. No need to shout, Draco.” says Blaise.

Pretending to be in love with Astoria in the halls was annoying.

Astoria lightly kisses his cheek while they were studying in the Great Hall where Harry, Dean,
Granger, and Chang were sitting at the table across from them. His bird necklace flaps under his
shirt and he sees Harry quickly look away from him and proceeds to lean closer to Chang with his
classic charming smile.

“No one wants to see that,” complains Millicent Bulstrode.

“Shut up, Millicent,” snaps Pansy who was taking notes.

“I can’t believe I was friends with you.”

“Suck my cock.” She sneers. “You’re just jealous Astoria and Draco actually make a cute couple.
You and Theo look like two flesh-eating slugs in love.”

The whole table breaks out laughing and Millicent and her friends get up and leave after sending
them all nasty looks.

Hearing Umbridge’s voice every day and her adding more ridiculous rules to the wall was making
Draco wish he went to Durmstrange.
“The Quibbler is band?” Draco rolls his eyes. “For speaking the truth?”

“Are you really surprised?” says Longbottom.

“No… not really.”

“Neville!” Blaise approches them. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” His cheeks turn bright red. Blaise grabs a hold of his hand and begins dragging him
towards the exit of the castle.

“Have you two kissed yet?” Luna Lovegood asks from beside Draco.

“I—we—“ Longbottom is as red as a tomato.

“That… is none of your business…” Draco’s never seen Blaise look so embarrassed.

“They defiantly have,” says Draco with a smirk.

“I agree.” the Ravenclaw says.

And on top of that, it looked like Slytherin wasn’t going to win the Quidditch Cup this year.

“YOU ARE THE WORSE SEEKER EVER!”

“YOU TRY BEATING CHANG WHO PLAYS NASTIER THEN POTTER!”

“WE SHOULD KICK YOU OFF THE TEAM!”

“SUCK MY COCK MONTAGUE! WHO’S GOING TO BE YOUR SEEKER? NOTT? HAVE YOU
SEEN HIM PLAY QUIDDITCH?”

“UGH!” The Slytherin Captain throws his broom to the side and storms away from him with the
rest of the team— minus Blaise who had been watching all of this in amusement.

Sure everyone on his team hates him, besides Blaise, but he can’t bring himself to care when he’s
still having those private lessons with Harry.

Every lesson he’s had with him, he notices the bird still doesn’t flap its wings. Oh. Yeah. Draco
hasn’t taken off the necklace since it was put on him. He tucks it under his robes and when he goes
to sleep he clutches onto it. It’s flapped for Blaise, Astoria, Daphne, and even Pansy. But not
Harry… it’s never moved a magical muscle for Harry. For some reason, it scares him. What does it
mean? Was the love he felt toward Harry toxic?

Well… maybe. Most likely, but he has gotten better at dealing with it. At least he thinks. Blaise
defiantly thinks so because he’s been more open with his relationship with Longbottom. He
previously felt he was bragging to Draco but he assured him he was not making him jealous. (That
was obviously a lie.)

He was currently flipping his coin in the air, waiting for Harry to give him the signal to come to
the Room of Requirement, when Theo snatched it mid-air.

“Thank you for the galleon, Malfoy. I’ll be able to buy you a pin that says ‘I’m a fag” and a
drawing of you and Potter snogging.”

“Tell your father I say hello, Theo. We had a splendid time the other day.”
Multiple Slytherins’ in the Common Room laugh; Draco’s not sure if it’s at him or Theo.

Theo draws his wand, casts a hex, and Draco casts his first wandless Protego in ages.

“That really hurt.” Draco mocks.

He stands, snatches the galleon out of his hand, and walks out of the common room with major
confidence.

Ready. RoR. :). H.P

Draco practically runs to the seventh floor with an excited smile plastered on his face. He makes
sure no one is around before entering the secret room.

“Harry?”

“Draco!” he beams. “You’ll enjoy todays’ lesson— uh, well I hope you do. I haven’t taught it to
the D.A— I’ll be teaching it to them tomorrow— it’s high level magic but I’m confident you, and
everyone else, can do it.”

“What is it?”

“The Patronus Charm.”

“The— are you being serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because, like you said, that’s high level magic. Most wizards can’t cast them— only great ones.”

“Who says you’re not a great one?”

“Harry—“

“You’re able to cast a wandless Protego… I can’t even do that— not saying that I’m a great wizard
or anything, you understand what I mean. Let’s just try it, okay?”

Draco huffs and pulls out his wand.

“Think of your happiest moment… and let yourself really feel the happiness you experienced.”

“Okay…” Draco closes his eyes and really begins to think. His happiest memory? Maybe one with
his mother; the one time they went ice skating on their frozen lake and Draco accidentally tripped
the both of them. They just couldn’t stop laughing… talking with Lupin; it was right after Draco
confronted his boggart for the final and what he had changed Harry to was absolutely hilarious
even Lupin was laughing hard… Every moment with Blaise, honestly. Astoria lets him rest his
head in her lap as he complains about everything that’s going wrong in his life. Dancing with Pansy
at the Yule Ball knowing their friendship was actually real now. Playing chess with Daphne for
three hours straight. (Snape came down at around one and told them to go to bed. (They laughed
for ten minutes before actually going up to their dorms.)

“Expecto Patronum!” he cries, channeling the memory with his mother. Five seconds pass and
only a few sparks come out. “I give up.”

“You— you can’t give up! You just started!”

“Fine. Fine.”

He tries for a solid hour. This was like learning Expelliarmus but ten times harder. None of his
memories were supposedly strong enough to produce a corporeal one which made zero sense but
here he was on the verge of snapping his wand in half.

“Try another memory.”

“I have been! This is pointless!”

“Come on, Draco! Just concentrate!”

“I have been you git!”

“One more time. Just once more.”

“Ugh!”

Draco closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He really begins to think. More and more memories
begin flooding his mind but one in particular always comes circling back.

“I… I have one.”

“Brilliant,” he says softly. “Use it.”

“Expecto Patronum,” he whispers. It takes a second, but it was defiantly worth the wait. An animal
comes soaring out his wand and out into the open room.

He laughs in enormous glee.

“I’m— I’m doing it!”

“I told you you could!” The patronus flies around Harry who had the brightest smile on his face.

“My patronus is a bird…a crow…” he hadn’t been expecting that. He honestly wasn’t sure what he
was but a crow defiantly didn’t cross his mind.

“It’s a Jackdaw.” He looks at Harry with a curious look. “They’re smaller then crows… I saw it in
a picture book my cousin had when we were younger… not sure why I remember.”

“A Jackdaw…” He watches it slow down; Draco lowers his wand and the charm fades away. “I
never thought I’d be able to do that…”

“What memory did you choose?”

“Oh, well… a memory with Blaise…”

“I can tell your lying.” He folds his arms. “You can tell me!”

He gulps. He can feel himself slightly hunching over to feel less exposed.

“When I realized I was gay… I always imagined some bloke laying next to me… arms wrapped
around my waist from behind, reminding me I’m not the coward that I constantly feel like… a life
I’ll never get to have.”

“Draco…”
“Happiest memory that isn’t even real.” He chuckles pathetically. “Of course… it’s almost poetic.”

“Why don’t you defy your father? He doesn’t deserve you, Draco. Stop this fake dating with
Astoria Greengrass and find someone you actually want to be with. Some bloke who’ll treat the
way you want to be treated.”

“No.” He shakes his head and hugs himself. “I can’t do that… I just can’t. You have no idea how
much I want, but I can’t… you think I haven’t thought about it? And with my Mother…”

“I’m so sorry, Draco.”

“It’s life.” He shrugs pathetically. “Thank you for teaching me the Patronus Charm. It was…
lovely.”

“Draco—“

“Goodnight, Harry.” He leaves the Room of Requirement with an empty feeling inside his chest.

If only…

The next day, all he does is study for O.W.L’s on his own. He feels like he’s extremely behind,
which he’s not, but he has to succeed in these in order for him to get a job at the Ministry to make
his father somewhat proud. At this point, Draco's not sure if he can do that. When he sent that letter
home saying he was now dating Astoria, his mother wrote back saying he was relieved but didn’t
show a sign of proudness. Draco will take whatever he can get…

He was currently on his way to the Slytherin Common Room where because he forgot his answers
for the recent Transfiguration homework when (he thinks) he was ambushed by Umbridge.

“Mr. Malfoy.” She was grinning broadly. “Just the person I wanted to run into.”

“Really?” He forces a smile. “What do you need from me?”

“To take her.”

Coming down the hallway was Theo and Millicent gripping onto Cho Chang who was struggling
in their grip.

“What’d she do?” He was actually thrilled to see Chang in trouble. The two Slytherins shove her
towards Draco who gladly grips her robes.

“She helped me find out where Potter and his army are meeting up.”

“What—?” His eyes widen.

“Follow me everyone!” She marches down the hallway and Draco has no choice but to follow. He
has no way of warning him Umbridge is on her way to ruin everything. He left his coin under his
pillow in his room and he can’t cause a distraction because he has to pretend he agrees with her
actions.

“So you’re a rat.” Draco smirks as Chang glares at her.

“Shut up, Malfoy!” she cries.

“I can’t believe Potter fell for someone like you.”

“Just shut up!” Tears stream down her face and he almost feels bad.

When they make it up to the entrance of the Room of Requirement, Umbridge pulls out her wand
with a twisted smirk on her face. One spell… two spell… three spell… Draco’s heart was beating
so hard he felt nauseous.

“Bombarda Maxima!” Down the walls go and the moment the dust clears up, he makes eye contact
with Harry who’s never looked more betrayed.

“Do you think he’ll be mad at me?” Draco paces back and forth in his dorm.

“And why would he be mad at you?” asks Blaise.

“Because I didn’t warn him! I didn’t have my bloody coin, but if I did—“

“No one blames you, Draco. Well— none of your friends blame you. Smith, McLaggan…. they
might hate your guts.”

“I don’t care if they hate me! I care if Harry does!”

“He won’t.”

“How do you know that!?”

“Because he has no reason to be!” Blaise exasperates. “Are you done complaining about something
you have nothing to worry about? I want to ask you a question.”

“What is your question?”

“Did he teach you the Patrnous Charm?”

“Oh— yeah,” he smiles gently thankful for the topic change. “Did you mange yours?”

“I was one of the first ones to do so.” He pulls out his wand. “Care to see?” Draco nods. Blaise
closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before muttering ‘Expecto Patronum’ and out comes a
bright sliver of light and an animal that quickly followed.

“ITS A WEASEL!” exclaims Draco.

“NO YOU DICKHEAD! It’s a minx!”

Draco watches the weasel, no wait, the minx swerves around the room. It goes under the beds and
around the pillars. It twirls in front of Draco who laughs.

“You got a bloody minx?”

“Yeah.” He smiles and slowly lowers his wand. “What’s yours?”

“A Jackdaw according to Harry… similar to a crow but smaller.”

“Isn’t Potters’ Patronus a stag?”

“I think so— why? Are they common enemies or some rubbish like that?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I was just curious… what memory did you choose?”

“A fake one.”

“A fake one?”

“My happiest memory is fake, Blaise… don’t make me explain.”

“Okay…” he whispers.

“And yours?”

“A memory with Neville.”

“How precious.” He smirks. “Care to tell me?”

“Only if you’re not going to be an arse about it…”

“No promises.”

“Neville!” The Gryffindor yelps and drops his book in his lap. “Sorry.” Blaise grins sheepishly. “I
just have something exciting to show you.” He sits down next to him and pulls out the letter his
mother sent him.

“My son… I’ve been informed… you and Draco… I love you… Gay or straight or anything else…
you’re always going to be my son… your Mother.” He looks up from the letter with the brightest
smile. “This is wonderful!” He exclaims.

“I was so worried…” He leans his head back against the wall. “My Mother is such a…
Pureblood… I never thought…”

“Being proved wrong is always the best feeling.”

“Are you speaking from experience?

“Maybe.” His cheeks turn pink.

“Care to tell me?”

“Well… I was— uh— proven wrong with you…”

He frowns in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

Neville looked like he was about to explode from nervousness. Just one look at him and Blaise
could tell his heart was beating outside of his chest. Blaise’s own heart does a flip as he sees the
Gryffindor lick his bottom lip.

“Neville—?” In one quick motion— this is the exact moment where it’s proven Neville was put in
Gryffindor for a reason— he kisses Blaise on the cheek. The Slytherin completely stills, eyes wide
and jaw very much on the floor.

“I’M SORRY!” cries Neville before he rushes to his feet.

Blaise connects back to his body and literally scrambles to get up. He has to grip Neville’s waist to
spin him around and push him toward the wall so he couldn’t run away.

“Neville, I—“

“I’m sorry! Really!” He looked on the verge of tears. “I-I’m not su—sure why I did that! Please,
don’t be mad at me!”

“Neville—“

“If you want to hex me that’s fine too! H-Here you can even use my wand.” His shaky hand holds
it out in front of him. “I-I’m sorry, Blaise. I’m—“

This is the first time Blaise has ever panicked kissed someone. It was a quick peck— if that. They
both stare at each other. Blaise’s mind was screaming to say something but he was scared. Blaise
is never scared… not like this…

“You kissed me,” Neville says dumbly.

“Was that— Are you— I’m sorry…

“I don’t know what I am.”

“Sexuality wise?”

He nods.

“You don’t have to know… Neville, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have— I’ve never— You’re just so—“

“Can we kiss again?”

“What?”

“I-I mean… I don’t know wh—what I mean… do you even…”

Blaise hesitantly takes his hand and pulls him closer. The Gryffindor has never looked so perfect.
The friendship the two of them have developed over the few months has been some of the greatest
moments of Blaise's life. He sees Neville with Potter and Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan but
he’s not like that with Blaise. He’s more comfortable. Funnier, more confident, more open…
Blaise would be lying if he said he hadn’t looked at Neville Longbottom in a none friendship way…
I mean, the brunette was growing into his looks.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispers.

Neville nods.

And so very slowly Blaise leans in and presses his lips against his. They’re so soft and he tastes
like peppermint… Neville kisses back with the most sheepish smile Blasie has ever seen.

He never thought he’d get to have this… sure, Neville didn’t know his sexuality and he was
probably not comfortable with anyone knowing, but Blaise will wait patiently for him. He knows
he’ll be worth the wait.

“LUNA AND I WERE RIGHT!” exclaims Draco. “YOU TWO HAVE KISSED!”
Yes, okay, we have. Shut your mouth Draco.”

“This is brilliant. My darling Blaise had his first kiss at 13.” He laughs. “I’m so proud of you.”

Blaise throws a pillow at him and Draco yelps. He goes to throw it back at him but the door swings
wide open.

“Astoria?”

“I just spoke to Granger…”

“What happened? Is Harry angry at me?”

“I’m not sure, Draco— but, Dumbledore… He’s, well, he’s gone.”

“What do you mean he’s gone?”

“I’m not sure but, they’ve made Umbridge Headmaster.”

“What?” Draco and Blaise say at the same time.

“It’s awful… and we all of detention with her.”

“Great,” growls Blaise. “Lets worsen the ‘I will not do such disgusting acts’ scar on my hand.” He
rubs his left hand. “The phrase wasn’t even remotely related to what I did to Theo… the bitch is
just homophobic. “

“He’s going to hate me!” Draco dramatically falls face first onto his bed. “He’ll hate me…”

“Not as much as Cho Chang. I heard they had a row outside the Headmasters’ corders.”

“Really?” He sits up with some hope.

“That’s what Granger told me.”

“Wonderful.” He can’t help but smile during this horrible situation.

“Here.” He approaches his friends the day after with a vial of healing potions Lupin gave him in
private for Christmas. “It tastes awful, but it’ll help with the scarring…”

“Thank you.” Daphne takes it and shares it with everyone.

“My Mother is going to be so angry.” A tear streams down Pansys’ face. “She was already angry
with becoming friends with you again, Draco…”

“It’ll be alright, Pans,” Daphne pulls her friend into a side hug.

“I’m so sorry… All of you.”

“It’s not your fault, Draco.” Astoria places her hand on his arm. “You couldn’t have warned us.”

Harry comes barging out of the room, clearly angry. They lock eyes for one second and Draco can
tell he’s angry at him. Chang, who had been waiting outside for who knows how long, goes to
approach him, but he quickly walks past her.

“Go after him, Draco,” says Blaise who was clutching onto his hand.
 “He clearly doesn’t want to speak to me.”

“Go after him,” he repeats more sternly.

“No,” he replies through gritted teeth which earns an eye roll from Blaise.

The next day, Draco had to convince Granger to convince Harry to talk to him because for
someone reason he wasn’t. Was he really this angry at him? The least he could do is express the
anger towards him because Draco can’t stand being ignored by him. He just can’t.

“Draco.”

“You’ve been ignoring me.”

“Not on purpose…” he grumbles. He leans against the hallway wall and fixes his glasses in a quite
attractive way. “I’m just so angry at Cho and with Dumbledore gone and Umbridge breathing
down my back I didn’t want to use me as my punching bag…”

“Your what?”

“Er— I didn’t want to take my anger out on you.”

“I can take it, Harry.” He probably couldn’t. But just to have him speaking to him in any way
possible is what Draco wants. “I’m sorry for not being able to warn you and everyone else. I feel
awful.”

“Don’t,” he says sternly. “It’s not your fault it’s Cho’s… you were just playing along with
whatever Umbridge had you do. It’s alright, Draco.”

“Do you honestly mean that?” His eyes were purposefully cast away from him.

“I do.” Those green eyes remain to stare at Draco; he can just feel them. “I can’t stay mad at you
even if I wanted to.”

“Even if I shot you with a stinging hex?” He quirks an eyebrow.

“I’d simply block it and shoot one back at you.”

“Awfully rude.”

“You’re the one who started it in this hypothetical.”

“Fair point.” He smiles softly.

Chapter End Notes

Jackdaws symbolize intelligence. In certain fables, they also mean foolish behavior
(cough cough, dating Astoria, cough cough.) As a spirit animal, it's known to be
extroverted, which I think Draco can be, and empathetic which fits him too.
"The life’s work of an individual with the Jackdaw spirit animal is the family."
(found the quote on a website)
Also Jackdaws and deers, also stags, get along fairly. In most photos, you see the stags
unphased as the jackdaw literally plucks their fur (winter coat) to use for their nest. I
just thought it worked lmao...

Blaise's patronus is the same one as mine (the one I got on pottermore.) A person with
a minx patronus is known to be very clever, good company, and very witty.
Daphnes' is a hedgehog
Pansy's is a bat
Astoria's is a Hummingbird
I hated figuring all of these out LMAO

In my docs I wrote this chapter title as bye bye cho chang

I LITERALLY LOVE HER IN THE MOVIES i feel so bad...
 Chapter 49
Chapter Summary

“If I fail, my father will murder me.” Draco gulps.

O.W.L's and... some other stuff :)

Chapter Notes

ENJOY!!
also, you can find me on twitter under orbithastnt. i think i'm going to be semi more
active :)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Can we leave?” Draco folds his arms close to his chest.

“No, Draco. Stop acting so childish,” Blaise says sternly.

“I don’t like being over here!” he whines. “There’s to much red and the view is awful— don’t even
getting me started with the looks I’ve been getting from second years. I’d much rather be with the
Ravenclaws’ where Luna would probably enjoy our company!”

“I enjoy your company,” says Longbottom with an awkward smile.

“Shut up, Neville,” he scowls under his breath and sits down on the bleachers where everyone else
was standing.

“Why are you sitting?”

Draco looks up and sees Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan (who were holding hands by the
way) looming over him.

“He’s being childish,” says Blaise.

“I am not!” Blaise raises his eyebrows at him. “I am not,” he repeats in a more proper manner.

Thomas snorts.

“Right, well… I’d be crying too if I had to stand with the Slytherins.”

“THANK YOU!” Draco says loud enough that he draws a few unwanted eyes from younger
students. “What?” he growls at them. “Pay attention to your own miserable friends you cretans.”

“You’d be great with children, Mate,” jokes Finnigan.

“So, I’ve been told.” He rests his chin on his hand that was perched up on his leg.
“Look! They’re staring!” exclaims Longbottom.

“They’re going to lose,” he says miserably.

He was wrong.

Gryffindor won because supposedly Ron Weasley gained confidence in less than an hour. From
where Draco was standing— yes eventually he did stand to watch Weasley block the Quaffle— he
could see Chang throw her broom off to the side in anger and it made Draco’s mood skyrocket
even higher.

But the euphoria of Gryffindor's surprise win lasted shortly because O.W.L exams were
approaching.

His days and nights were long. When he wasn’t in class he was studying and when he wasn’t eating
he was studying. Blaise got sick of him and so did every one of his friends. Luckily he had
Granger. The two of them were in the Library any chance they could get to study Charms,
Transfiguration, Potions, etc. ‘Someone who finally matches my intellect’ he had said to her which
earned one of the few laughs he got out of her during this stressful time.

“I’m going to be sick,” Pansy says while she clutches her arm.

“It’ll be okay.” Daphne tucks a piece of Pansy’s hair behind her ear and they share a comforting
smile. Draco will have to ask what’s the situation between the two of them after exams.

“She’s going to fail me!” exasperates Blaise. “All because I’m gay!”

“She can’t do that Blaise,” Draco, surprisingly, says in a level-headed tone.

“She’s headmistress. Of course she can.”

“Good luck guys!” Astoria walks past the four of them with Luna and Ginevra.

“You’ll defiantly need it!” Ginevra laughs.

“I could hex those freckles right off of her,” Pansy grumbles.

“The doors have opened,” says Draco who suddenly feels sick too.

“Deep breaths… Deep breaths…” Pansy mutters like a mantra with Daphne clearly hiding an
amused smile.

“If I fail, my father will murder me.” Draco gulps.

“Luckily you won’t fail,” Blaise says easily. “Come on.” He nudges towards the door and the four
Slytherins join the other students.

Draco sits next to Blaise, in front of Padma Patil, and right in front of him was Harry.

“Potter,” he whispers harshly. The Gryffindor turns his head and cocks an eyebrow.

“What do you want, Malfoy?”

“I propose another bet.”

“Of course you do. What would it be?”

“First to finish gets to have the other carry their stuff for a day.”

He snorts.

“Deal.”

And they eventually begin.

Draco can feel sweat dripping down his face as he picks up his quill and begins scribbling— he
prays to every god— the right answers. There is no way they aren’t because he has studied all of
this but he still could be wrong. Four seats in front of him and to his left he sees Theo nervously
bouncing his leg and one seat up to his right he sees Anthony Goldstein gripping onto his quill as if
it would fly away if he let go.

‘Focus!” a voice that sounded like his father barks in his mind and he quickly listens.

Was it an hour or ten minutes when a loud bang echoes outside in the hallway? Draco’s not sure
but he doesn’t care. Not even when it comes closer to the room. He continues writing his answers
until the doors bang open and he lets out his classic yelp.

“HELLO, PROFESSOR!” Bellowed Fred Weasley who was on his broom.

“EXAMS ARE A BIT OVERRATED DON’T YOU THINK?” George laughs beside his brother.
The both of them wave their wands and up everyone's papers go; loads of fireworks go up through
the air and everyone is out of their seat cheering them on.

“And people hate them because?” Blaise laughs.

He could see Pansy and Daphne clapping their hands in glee. He even sees an amused smirk
coming from Theo, Crabbe, and Goyal.

A moment later, a firework comes directed right at Draco; he goes to duck but it stops right in front
of him and it bursts into a big red heart that had G + D written in it.

“PURELY PLATONIC, MALFOY!” George laughs.

“FUCK, YEAH, WEASLEY!” He claps more aggressively than everyone else.

The most impressive firework was of a dragon that chased Umbridge out of the room; everyone ran
out to the courtyard and watched the Weasley twins fly off with their brooms. Draco gets a glimpse
of Professor Flitwick celebrating before he moves through the crowd to find Harry. But when he
reaches him, something is wrong. He’s not cheering on his friends or has a wide smile, no, he looks
terrified.

“Harry?” He says over the crowd. “Harry, what’s wrong?”

“Sirius— he’s—“ he loses balance and Draco has to catch him. He doesn’t even care if they’re are
people around.

“What’s going on?”

“Harry?” Granger and Weasley approach them. “What’s happening? Is it another vision?”

“It’s Sirius— Voldemort has him!” He shoves Draco off of him and begins running back inside the
castle. Draco, Granger, and Weasley follow quickly behind him.
“Harry!” Granger shouts for him but he seemed determined to get back to Gryffindor Tower.
“Harry!”

“The door! The door I’ve been dreaming about— I couldn’t remember where I saw it until now! I
saw Draco’s father standing in front of it when I went for my trail! It’s the Department of
Mytseries!”

“Harry— Slow down!” pants Weasley.

“Don’t you understand? Voldemort has Sirius! He’s going to kill him!”

“What if The Dark Lord has finally had the realization that you two have a connection?” pipes up
Draco. “I’ve heard that he’s capable of that… what if he’s using this to get to you , Harry?”

“I don’t care!” he shouts. “Sirius is the only family I’ve got left!” They make it to the front of the
Common Room. The Gryffindor says the password but the Fat Lady shakes her head.

“No snakes in here! No snakes!”

“Let us in!” Harry pulls out his wand which she did not appreciate.

“What a temper you have, Potter!” The door opens and the four of them rush in.

Granger breaks off to the girls' dormitory and Draco is forced to follow Harry and Weasley. He
wished the circumstances were different because he would have loved to bask in the Gryffindor
Common Room.

“Do you have a plan, Harry?” Weasley begins undressing out of his robes and into his casual ones;
Draco easily looks away and stares at the posters on the wall.

“We break into Umbridges’ office, use her floo, while you guys alert the Order.”

“What— you’re going on your own?” Draco scoffs. “You’re an idiot.”

“Shut up, Draco!” He begins undoing his tie and then his dress robes and Draco has to muster all of
his strength to not droll over himself. Harry’s shoulder blades were prompt while his muscles
flexed aggressively as he tossed his dress shirt to the side. His chest heaved with every breath; the
hair on his stomach wasn’t extremely noticeable unless you were noticing and Draco was noticing
everything; he’s never noticed how smooth his skin was… and how good he looked with messy
hair. And fuck when he had to take off his trousers and he was only in his briefs… the outline of
his—

“We’re coming with you, Harry,” Weasleys’ voice pulls Draco out of his thoughts. “You think
you’ll be able to do this alone?”

“Sure— whatever— I don’t care.” He rushes to put his clothes on. “Here, Draco—“ He picks up a
pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt that was dark blue. “Put it on. Don’t. I don’t care about that
either.”

Draco scoffs. He takes his robes off and keeps his pants on because the jeans were hideous but he
does change into the shirt. Taking off his shirt, he suddenly feels insecure because Harry was
eyeing him in what appeared to be in a judgmental way.

“Keep your eyes to yourself, Potter,” he can’t help but growl. He pockets his wand and tosses his
robes on Harry’s bed. Harry turns bright red before pocketing his own wand.
“Come on.” Harry runs out the door and the two others follow him. Granger meets them in the
Common Room and without another wood they run to Umbridges’ office. Clearly, Harry was
being irrational but Draco completely understands why. Even he himself was worried about
Black… He can’t imagine how Lupin will feel if he dies at the hands of the Dark Lord… It’ll be
the biggest tragedy.

“Alohamora,” Harry pushes the door open and Weasley shuts it when they’re all inside. They kneel
by the Floo and it bursts into flames.

“Someone has to alert the Order!” says Harry. “It should be you three!”

Weasley shakes his head.

“Harry, we already talked about this!”

“I don’t care!”

“Don’t you understand, Harry?” Granger grips his arm. “We’re in this together.”

Dracos’ comforting grin falters when someone shrill voice says “That. You. Are.”

“P-Professor Umbridge—“ Draco stands and everyone else does too.

“Nott! Goyal! Grab them!” Harry and Weasley pull their wands out but they are casted out of their
hands by Millicent who was striding in with Luna in her grip and Goyal who had no one; Ginevra
and Longbottom were at Crabbe's will basically. Theo comes into the room and Draco goes to cast
a spell his way but the other Slytherin beats him to it.

“Pathetic,” Theo laughs and holds the tip of his wand to his neck as he drags him to his feet.

“Give. Me. Your. Wand.” Umbridge holds her hand out; Granger has no chance of beating her in a
fight so she hands it to her who hands it to Puecy. “Stand next to Mr. Goyal you stupid girl.”
Granger looks absolutely furious as she listens. Goyal grips her tightly which causes the Gryffindor
to wince.

“Let go of her, you co—“ Puecy casts a stinging jinx at Weasley. All the Slytherins— besides
Draco— laugh and Weasley is put into a chokehold by him.

And then… in comes Blaise who was struggling the most against Warrington.

“You piece of shit— LET GO OF ME!” Blaise growls.

“Caught this one trying to help his little boyfriend.” Warrington points his wand right against
Blaise’s neck.

“You’re dead Warrington!”

“ENOUGH!” Umbridge shrieks. “You were going to Dumbledore, weren’t you?”

“No.” Harry states.

“Liar!” She slaps him across the face.

“YOU BITCH!” Draco goes to do something but Theo kicks the back of his leg forcing him to
drop to his knees. “I’m going to—“
“Silenco!” Theo smirks at Dracos’ sudden quietness.

“Mr. Malfoy, your father will be most pleased to see that his son has become friendly with Harry
Potter.” She smiles maliciously; Draco’s heart drops. “Severus!”

The door swings open and Professor Snape enters with his hands folded in front of him. “The
Vertiserum! You have it, yes?”

“I’m afraid you used the last of it on Ms. Chang… it will take a full moon cycle to make another.
Meaning, a month.”

“A month?” She shakes his head. “No— No, I need it now!”

“Apologizes, Headmistress…” He goes to leave but stops when Harry says, “He’s got Padfoot!
He’s got Padfoot in place where it’s hidden!”

“Padfoot? What is Padfoot, Severus? What is he talking about?”

A long pause.

“I have no idea.” He leaves.

“Fine… Fine. This is a ministry matter, oh yes…” she slowly pulls out her wand. “The Cruciatus
Cruse ought to loosen your tongue”

“NO!” cries Draco.

“YOU CAN’T!” barks Weasley.

“IT’S ILLEGAL!” Granger lightly sobs.

“What Cornellious doesn’t know won’t hurt him…” a few of the Slytherins chuckle.

“You’re going to watch your pathetic excuse of a boyfriend get tortured,” Theo murmurs in his
ear.

“Cru—“

“TELL HER, HARRY!” Granger shouts. “TELL HER WHERE IT IS!”

“Where what is?”

Granger gulps as a tear streams down her cheek.

“Dumbledore’s secret weapon…”

“Take me to it.” She grips Harry’s sleeve and pushes him towards the door. “Let go of her, Mr.
Goyal.” He pushes her forward and cackles when she trips and has to catch herself on the desk.
“Make sure they don’t leave.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” says Theo with a shit eating grin.

Harry, Granger, and Umbridge leave to who knows where— surely Dumbledore doesn’t have a
secret weapon… he thinks it was a bluff but he’s not sure.

“Millicent, Crabbe, grab their wands,” orders Theo. They listen and each of them pockets their
captive's wand. “Crabbe and Goyal stand by the door so these idiots don’t try to escape.” All the
Slytherins— Besides Draco and now Blaise go towards the side of the door while Draco, both
Weasleys, Blaise, Longbottom, and Luna stand on the other side of the room. All wandless.

“Should we have some fun?” Theo wraps his arm around Millcents waist who was twirling Luna’s
wand in her hand.

“Ugh,” Blaise fake gags.

“The fag has something to say, doesn’t he?” Theo chuckles. “Are you all gay? I wouldn’t be
surprised if the Blood-Traitor’s are.”

“Do you remember the last time you insulted us, Theo?” snarls Blaise.

“But The Great Blaise Zabini doesn’t have his wand.” Theo raises his own. “Levicorpus!”

Neville pulls Blaise away from the spell and barely misses the both of them.

“I’m going to be sick.” Puecy grimaces.

“Can I have one of those sweets?”

“Look at that.” Millicent snorts in a very ugly manner. “Loony Lovegood can speak.”

“Clearly,” she replies simply. “But can I?” She goes towards the desk but Warrington points his
wand at her.

“I don’t think so, Loony.” He takes the sweets and hands them out to Puecy and Crabbe.

Right when all three of the popped them in their mouths that’s when all hell broke loose. They
were Puking Pastels.

“Thank you, Weasley twins,” Draco can hear Blaise say before he runs to Warrington who was
hunched over in the corner. Ginevra was already across the room, pulling Luna’s wand out of
Millicent’s hand and casting a Bat-Bogey hex at her.

“MILL!” Theo cries and Draco punches him in the face.

Weasley and Longbottom were wrestling with Goyal to get Weasleys’ wand.

Luna was bending over Crabbe and grabbing Ginnys’ and Neville's wand.

“Pertificous Totals!” The Ravenclaw points Ginnys’ wand at Goyal who falls over.

“Thanks Luna!” Longbottom exclaims and hands Weasley his wand.

Draco snatches his wand from Theo and casts Stupefy on him so he’s knocked out against the wall.

“Lets go!” Ginevra said, who had got Grangers’ wand from Puecy and Harry’s from a crying
Millicent.

The six of them end up running out of the castle and coming across Harry and Hermione who were
running down the bridge.

“How did you all escape?” asks Granger

“It started with Puking Pastles,” says Ginevra.

“Are you alright, Blaise?” He had gotten elbowed in the eye by Warrington.

“Better than alright.” He grins.

Ginevra hands both of them their wands.

“How do we get to London?” asks Longbottom.

“You all are not coming with me— It’s too dangerous!” Harry states firmly and begins walking
past all of them.

“Dumbledore’s Army was about doing something real… or was that all just words to you?”

“Maybe you don’t have to do this all by yourself, mate…” Weasley says softly.

“I’m only here because Neville is.” Draco smacks Blaise upside the head. “Ow! It’s true you
bloody cock!”

“Let us come with you, Harry.” Draco and Harry stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds
before Harry says, “So… how are we going to get to London?”

“We fly, of course,” says Luna.

“Fly—?”

“No. I am not getting on a Thesteral. I can’t even see the damn thing!” whines Draco. “Absolutely
not!”

“It’s the only way!” says Harry. “I’ll help you get on one!”

“No. I’ll be sharing with someone who can see it.”

“I’d offer but…” Longbottom looks over at Blaise.

“I can see them.”

“You can?” says Draco, Harry, and Longbottom.

“I saw my Mothers’ third husband die of a 'heart attack.'” He shrugs. “Why don’t you, Draco, ride
with Potter, Ginevra rides with Luna, Hermione you can be with Neville and you, Ron,” he smirks.
“Can ride with me.”

“I—I’d prefer to ride with Neville, thanks…”

“Alright.” He shrugs. “Hermione?” He holds out his hand for her.

“Nevermind!” Ron steps in between them. “I don’t mind riding with you, Zabin— er, Blaise.”

“I thought so.”

The rest of them begin to struggle to get on each Thesteral while Draco stands next to one that’s
supposedly right in front of him.
“They’re gentle creatures,” says Harry in a low voice.

“What if I fall or… I’m not afraid of heights, but this… this is a whole other territory.”

“I’d catch you.” It’s the first time since the Weasley Twins’ fireworks he’s seen Harry smile. “Do
you trust me?”

“Of course I do...”

Harry gets on the Thesteral and holds his hand out for Draco.

“Take my hand and don’t let go of me.”

“Harry…”

“Don’t let go of me.”

Draco gulps; he takes his hand and lifts himself up on the Thesteral. Draco, who was very much
embarrassed, wraps his arm around Harry's waist and hugs him tightly.

“Ow— Draco—“

“You said not the let go of you,” he grumbles with his head pressed against his back.

“If only I had a camera,” he could hear Blaise snicker with Weasley.

The moment the Thestral takes off, Draco squeezes his eyes shut. He’s going to be sick. There’s no
doubt about it. They flew fast which Draco was most grateful for. When they touched down at the
Ministry, Draco was shaking all over.

“You have to let go of me!” says Harry impatiently.

“I can’t move, you prick!”

He can feel Harry roll his eyes; the Gryffindor jumps down, leaving Draco to fall over on the
uncomfortable concrete.

“You complete—“

“Never again…” Weasley mutters under his breath as he fell off the Thesteral in the same manner
as Draco. “Never again…”

“Come on!”

Harry swings open this odd-looking box and yells at them to all get inside.

“Ow, Ron!” Ginevra complains.

“That wasn’t me!”

“Sorry, Ginevra.” Blaise grins.

“OW! You kicked me!” Draco complains.

“Oh, honestly…” Granger sighs.

“Everyone be quiet!” Harry snaps. “Whoever’s nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!”
“Er— what?” Blaise looks down at it.

“For the love of—“

“I got it!” shouts Longbottom. He dials the number and a woman begins speaking.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.”

“Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood,
Neville Longbottom, Blaise Zabini… we’re here to save someone!”

“Thank you.”

The process to get to the Department of Mysteries took an annoyingly long time. They all received
ugly looking badges and the box they were in started moving. Draco clanged onto the nearest
person— which was Luna who didn’t seem to mind. After arriving inside, everyone followed
Harry down hallways and elevators till they reached an eerie looking door.

“This is it.”

Entering, Draco already wants to leave. All of them cast Lumos in the very dark room filled with
what Draco knows to be prophecies. He remains in front of Luna, who looked somehow excited,
and next to Blaise who was staring at Neville with concern in his eyes.

“He should be down here.” Harry begins running meaning everyone begins running. Supposedly
they come across the spot Black is supposed to be in but he’s not there.

“He should— He should be here!” Harry breathes out. He looks around frantically; Draco’s heart
thumped aggressively.

“Harry…” Longbottom says quietly. “This has your name on it…”

“What?” He frowns and goes over to it. He carefully picks it up and the image of Professor
Trelawney fades in and out on the orb.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… and the Dark Lord shall mark
him as his equal but he shall have power the Dark Lord knows not…for neither can live while the
other survives…”

“We should leave,” Draco, who felt like he was going to throw up, mutters to Blaise.

“I don’t think we can…” His eyes shift behind him and Draco turns around with a gasp.

“Harry!” Granger shouts

“Where’s Sirius?” He moves in front of everyone; he points his wand at the Death Eater that stood
tall and proud.

“You know…” the voice is raspy and it echos through the room. “You should really tell the
difference between dreams… and reality.” the swish of a wand can be heard and Draco could break
down crying right now… he should have never come with them. He should have stayed behind
with the other Slytherins or something. He should have done anything but come here to help Harry
Potter. He has to pick between friends or family at this very moment and Draco doesn’t think he
can…

“You only saw what the dark lord… wanted you to see.”
 He has to decide right now… he has to decide.

A loud female cackle echoes through the room.

“You haven’t even noticed, Lucius…” Her features come into the light and Draco’s eyes widen.
“Your son is the wrong side.”

“What?”

Very slowly, Draco moves next to Harry and makes eye contact with his father.

“Draco?” He hisses.

He gulps.

“F-father…”

Chapter End Notes

thoughts... opinions are ALWAYS WELCOME!!! what do you think is going to

happen? I"m so excited for the next chapter!!!!
 Chapter 50
Chapter Summary

“OH COME ON, COUSIN!” Black shouts.

“CRUCIO!” Bellatrix screams.

The Battle of The Deparment of Mysteries

Chapter Notes

C/TW: mentions of blood

I CREATED A PLAYLIST BASED OFF THIS FIC:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3KoFEPstrhIacMTKK5qnQE?si=e13b44642b154869

check if out if you want to :) I'll be adding more songs as the story continues.
enjoy the chapter and possibly the playlist!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You dare— No… No, this must be a misunderstanding. Come to my side, Draco, where you
belong… The Dark Lord will be pleased.”

“I…”

“DRACO!” He shouts.

Draco flinches and steps back into Granger who lightly presses her hand against his back.

“He’s with us, Malfoy,” Harry snarls. “You do anything to hurt him you’ll be hearing from me.”

“He really knows how to play.” Bellatrix teases.

“You… You’re... “ Longbottom’s mouth slightly hangs open.

She smiles wickedly. “How’s Mum and Dad?”

“Better now they’re about to be avenged—“ He raises his wand but Blaise grips his wrist and
lowers.

“Enough!” His father gasps. He was staring at Draco like he was total vermin. “Let’s all calm
down.”

“You don’t make the calls anymore, Lucius!” Bellatrix steps forward. “Not since your son is a
blood-traitor!”

“He’s— He is no son of mine!”

But his father can’t kill him or let anyone actually… perhaps this will do some justice to him and
his mother if he or possibly Harry could just severely injure him. He and his Mother will be okay
for a while… Draco’s grip tightens on his wand and he slowly raises his wand.

“This is what’s going to happen!” Bellatrix smiles, completely ignoring Draco’s father. “You’re
going to hand over the prophecy and we’ll only kill the Mudblood.”

“NO YOU WON’T!” Weasley goes to attack but Hermione pulls him back.

“Perhaps the Blood-Traitor too!”

“Why does Voldemort need this?”

“You— You dare speak his name? You FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!” She raises her wand but
Dracos’ father stops her.

“He’s the Dark Lords, Bellatrix! Know your place!”

“And you know yours!” She hisses. “Hand over the prophecy, Potter! Or it’s all your friends
except one.”

“Why does he need this?”

“That’s not for you to know.” She begins walking closer and Harry steps back into Draco. “HAND
IT OVER!”

“I don’t think so! NOW!”

All eight of them shout Stupefy at the Death Eaters that had surrounded them. Draco hit his father
right in the chest and he actually shouts in glee. Harry has to grab onto his hand to get him to start
running, which he does.

“Merlin, DID YOU SEE THAT?” He can’t help but celebrate.

“I’m proud of you,” Harry grins lightly at him. If the circumstances were different, no matter what,
Draco would have kissed him right then and there because those words mean so much to him.

“Can you two flirt later?” growls Blaise who casts a spell behind him. “HONESTLY!”

“LEVICOURPUS!” Draco heard Luna shout.

“HARRY, WHERE YOU ARE?” Weasley screams even louder.

“MEET US BY THE DOOR! STUPEFY!” He cries as a Death Eater came flying next to the three
of them.

“IMPEDIMENTA!” A Death Eater shouts from next to them and Draco quickly casts a Protego.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” Draco shouts frantically and the wand goes flying out of the Death Eaters'
hand.

He, Blaise, and Harry all run into Ginevra who had a bleeding lip, and Granger who was bleeding
on the top of her head.

“Where’s Neville?” shouts Blaise.

“We— we had to split up!” Ginevra pants.

“COME ON THEN!” Harry runs the way Ginevra and Granger came from. They run into
Longbottom who was being pulled from the hand by Luna whose mouth was dripping with blood.

“Where’s— Where’s Ron!?” Granger cries.

“I’m right here!” He limps towards them. “WATCH OUT!” He points in front of all of them and
multiple Death Eaters were flying toward them.

“REDUCTO!” Ginevra shouts. All of them stare up and watch all the prophecies come crashing
down.

“RUN!” Harry screams; they all run to where they came from which would be the door. Draco was
right next to Harry who looked terrified and clutching the prophecy till his knuckles were white.

Draco notably lets out a sigh of relief as the door comes into view and opens on its own. Harry falls
first— wait, falls?

“SHIT!” Draco falls forward and braces himself for the untimely death he’s about to receive …
well, at least his father will die too and his mother will be free of him.

Right when he’s about to hit the floor, he, along with everyone else, stops barely two feet off the
floor.

“Oh thank Salazar,” he mutters under his breath before he lets out a light ‘oof’ when coming in
contact with.

“Is everyone alright?” Harry groans quietly as he forces himself to stand. He holds his hand for
Draco who gladly takes it.

“I defied my father,” Draco whispers.

“I meant it… I am proud of you, Draco.” He smiles lightly.

“Do you guys hear that?” asks Blaise who was gripping onto Longbottom’s hand for dear life.

“The voices?” Luna asks.

“Yeah…”

“I…” Harry looks over at the empty archway. “I can hear them too…”

“Voices?” Hermione squeaks. “It’s just an empty archway, Harry…”

“No— you can’t hear them?” He begins walking towards it but Draco grips his arm.

“We should leave, Harry.”

“But—“

“Please,” he says desperately.

“O—“ His eyes widen. “Get behind me!” He wasn’t looking at Draco. He was looking up in the
room. Death Eaters were swarming around the top; Blaise shoots a hex at the clouds of black but it
didn’t do anything. In fact, it might of angered them more because one goes directly at Blaise
while the rest of them circle all of them.

“Harry!” Draco cries out. “HARRY!”

“DRACO?”

“NEVILLE!” he could faintly hear Blaise shout.

“LUNA!” Ginevra cries.

“HERMIONE! HERMIONE!” Weasley sounds the most frantic of them all.

Draco is pulled by a pair of lanky hands and is forced on his knees on a very uncomfortable rock.
He can feel blood dripping out of his nose and there were a few cuts on his cheek that were from
the glass in the other room.

A dark chuckle is heard from behind him as one of the hands grips his hair tightly and points a
wand against his cheek.

“I thought you were taking charge,” Draco hisses as the grip in his hair tightness.

“I wanted to get to know my nephew.” Bellatrix smiles wickedly.

“Did you really think…” Draco’s father walks up the rock that they had left Harry standing on.
“That children stood a chance against us?” He chuckles. “Hand over the Prophecy, Potter, or…
watch your friends die.”

“Don’t give it to him, Harry!” Longbottom shouts which earns him the Cruciatus Curse.

“NEVILLIE!” Blaise elbows the Death Eater who had a grip on him and goes to pull out his wand
but— Draco realizes is Theo’s father— stings him and Blaise goes toppling down the rock.

“B-BLAISE!” cries Longbottom through his scream.

“Hand over the Prophecy, Potter!” Shouts Lucius.

“OKAY!” screams Harry. Neville’s screams stop; Harry’s surprisingly steady head hands Lucius
the Prophecy.

“Smart decision, Potter.”

Draco is thankful he no longer calls Harry by his last name.

“Now—“ a loud swooshing noise echoes behind Draco’s father. An angry looking Gryffindor with
wavy brown hair who has his fist clenched to his side stood proudly.

“Get away from my godson,” Black punches the Slytherin to the point where his father topples
down the rock, very similar to Blaise but not enough to knock him unconscious.

“NO!” Bellatrix shrieks as four more flashes of bright white smoke enter the room; Tonks,
Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad Eye-Moody, and Lupin. “NO!”

Lupin doesn’t hesitate to shoot a hex her way; She evaporates into smoke and Draco casts a
wandless protego when a random Death Eater tries to hex him. He jumps down the rock and runs
towards Weasley, Ginevra, and Luna who had hidden behind a rock. Hexes, cackling from
Bellatrix, shouts from Moody and Dolohov, and rocks hitting various places in the room were
overwhelming Draco. And the fact that he could see Harry dueling his father wasn’t helping.

“Sh-should we help them?” Ginevra shouts over the chaos.

“They’ll kill us,” Luna says simply.

“HELP US!” The four of them turn and see’s Granger and Longbottom dragging an unconscious
Blaise.

“I-Is he breathing?” Draco rushes over to them. He helps get Blaise safely behind the rock.

“Y-Yes,” says Longbottom nervously.

“We need to get out of here!” shouts Weasley.

“What about Ha— RON!” Granger points behind him. All of them turn around and see a Death
Eater with his wand raised.

“Ava—“

“INCARCEROUS!” Lupin shouts while jumping down from the rock. “Are you all okay?”

“Blaise is unconscious!” Draco shouts.

“He’ll be okay. Neville— if you notice his pulse fading scream for someone, okay? You all… stay
here.”

“Professor—“ Draco grips his arm as he tries to leave. “Let me help you!”

“Absolutely not!”

“He’s dueling my father!” He growls. “He shouldn’t be doing that!”

“Stay. Here. That’s not me asking.” He evaporates into white smoke and Draco swears under his
breath.

“I’m going!” He pulls out his wand.

“Are you mad!” shouts Weasley.

“YES!” He runs up the rock he was previously sheltered behind and casts the Disarming Spell
from behind Black and hits his father’s cane. “HA!” He’s always wanted to do that.

“Draco—“ Black pants

“He’s mine!” A fire inside Draco surges and he takes Black’s spot in dueling his father. It was
perfect timing because Bellatrix tried ambushing Black but he blocks her curse quickly.

“OH COME ON, COUSIN!” Black shouts.

“CRUCIO!” She screams. By the lack of screaming, Black wasn’t hit and is now in an intense
duel.

“You are no Malfoy!” Draco’s father snarls while dueling his own son.

“There was bound to be a Blood-Traitor in our family, father! PROTEGO!”

Harry manages to knock Dolohov back while Draco is surprisingly equal to his father.

It’s two 15 year olds against a much more experienced wizard.

“REMUS!” Black’s booms through the room.

“CALLING FOR YOUR HALF-BREED BOYFRIEND? PATHETIC!”

Remus, who was in the middle of dueling Theo’s father, gets momentarily distracted and is cast
backward.

“HAHAH!” Bellatrix cackles. “AVADA KEDEVRA!” Both she and Nott shout.

Everything slows down for Draco. He was in the middle of dueling his father but he knew he had
to do something. ‘DO SOMETHING!’ a voice was screaming in his head and it weirdly sounded
like a mix between Astoria, Daphne, and Pansy who are luckily not here.

“PROTEGO!” Draco is most relieved to hear Harry shouting the same spell between Black and
Bellatrix while Draco cast it between Lupin and Nott.

“SHE KNEW WE WERE DATING!” shouts Black.

“WE DON’T HIDE IT WELL, PADS!” replies Lupin.

But in the momentary help, his father blasts him with dark magic and Draco cries out in pain; he
stumbles backward, falls to his knees, and drops his wand in the process. He was gripping onto the
same arm his father made bleed three Christmases ago… he really thought he’d never make him
bleed again.

“DRACO!” Harry shouts. He goes for him but a different Death Eater targets Harry causing him to
start a new duel.

Draco couldn’t really feel his body so he’s quite surprised when he managed to get himself on his
feet. He feels a gash on his side but he’s in shock to actually feel the pain from it.

“F-father…” he chokes out; his eyes wide and full of fear. “Your, your Unbreakable Vow! You
can’t kill me!”

“I wanted you to be great, Draco…” he slowly approaches him with his wand pointed at him.
“You’re worse then I thought…”

“You’ll die if you kill me!”

“That does not mean I can’t hurt you. DIFFINDO!”

Draco shouts in pain as he topples down the rock and lands on his side. He was gasping as blood
spewed from his chest and onto Harry’s shirt Draco was going to cherish.

“NO!” shouts Lupin.

“DRACO!” Harry was first to kneel by him. He carefully rolls him over and puts Draco’s head in
his lap. “Can— Can you hear me? Draco!”

“It— It hurts,” he sobs.

“HE’S DYING!” Harry cries. “DO SOMETHING!”

 “I KNOW, HARRY! I know!” Lupin pulls out his wand and begins casting minimal healing
charms.

“It’s not enough! He’s still— h-he’s dying! Draco—”

“Harry, you need to calm dow—“

“SHUT UP! Draco— Draco can you hear me? Just stay— stay alive.”

“I…” The healing charms weren’t doing enough. “H-Harry…”

“I’ll kill him, Draco!” He snarls. “I’ll kill your father for you!”

“Harry!” Lupin shouts.

“I will b-but you just need to— to stay alive.”

“I’m… I…” he hiccups.

“Draco! Draco!” Lupin and Harry shout for him.

Their voices and the rest of the chaos begin dying out and everything starts fading into black.

“HARRY, NO!”

“I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!”

Is one of the few things Draco last hears.

Draco doesn’t want to die. Not now. He’s not ready— not that most people are, but still. He
wonders what his friends will say when they get the news. Blaise will hate himself because he was
unconscious during all of it. He’ll never be the same. Astoria will never recover from the sadness
and will be heartbroken knowing Draco never got to be with a boy who makes him happy. Daphne
will be there to comfort Astoria and Pansy; she’ll be the first to accept his passing. Pansy will be so
angry at him… She’ll probably find a way to revive him only to kill him again. Draco is almost
grateful she’s not here for him to see.

He hasn’t seen his mother in ages. He’ll never get to say I love you to her again. She’ll blame
herself for his death. She and Lupin will hopefully meet for tea and his ex-Proffessor will share
stories of Draco while his Mother cries in comfort… at least that’s what he wants.

And Harry… Harry. Harry. Harry.

Draco will never get to thank him for the hope in life he gave him in third year… he’ll never get to
thank him for making those happy memories and growing those flowers. Draco has no idea how
he’ll react… how he’ll feel… Draco hopes he’ll miss him. He knows he’d miss Harry if he died.

Everything goes black.

Everything goes dead quiet.

For once, Draco feels peace.

Chapter End Notes

i'm not good at writing injuries...

WHO LIVES WHO DIES WHO TELLS YOUR STORYYYYYYY.

draco defied his father <333 consequences suck.

Neville calling for Blaise

Ron calling for Hermione
Ginny calling for... LUNA... positive sideye

I'd also like to say Bellatrix is so fucking hot. I love her. I love her so much she's so,,,
SHE"S SO

I also can't believe I'm on chapter 50... like DAMN. hope you guys enjoyed :)
 Chapter 51
Chapter Summary

“I’m not trying to humor you! I’m trying to tell you that I— ”

The After Math

Chapter Notes

I have nothing to say just... enjoy

playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3KoFEPstrhIacMTKK5qnQE?
si=xepRNgH4Rgi7V9hOy9CBpw

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“I WANT TO SEE HIM!”

“LET US IN!”

“MR. POTTER, MISS PARKINSON, YOU ARE NOT FAMILY—“

“I DON’T CARE—“

“HE WILL WANT TO SEE ME!”

“US YOU COCK!”

“If they go in can I?”

“Mr. Zabini— MR. POTTER I WILL HAVE TO GET MAD-EYE IF YOUR BEHAVIOR
CONTINUES LIKE THIS!”

This was not peaceful. Not in the slightest.

“Mrs. Malfoy,” The woman, Madam Pomfrey he realizes, who had been screaming at Harry says
gently. “Your son— if not awake from all this ruckus— should be awake any minute now if you
want to…” Draco hears the door open and then quietly close.

“M… Mother?” He chokes out.

“Oh, Draco.” She sits down on his bed with tears already streaming down his face.

“Am I… fuck, am I alive?”

“Language, Draco. You are alive.” She wipes her tears. “I am not the only one who’s grateful. I
was so worried.”
“Did— Did someone inform you of what happened?”

“Yes, Remus Lupin did… Draco, I am so sorry.” Her hand carefully finds his. “You shouldn’t have
had a father like that. He was… I was so wrong. My beautiful boy, you didn’t deserve this.” Her
eyes cast down at the bandages around him.

“I-I’m sorry I’ve been so reckless. Mother, my love for—“ he chokes on a sob. He’s crying too
now.“I haven’t been thinking straight, but I will now. Whatever father needs from me or— or the
Dark Lord… I can make it up to them! I— I can! I’ll receive the Dark Mark, anything, really, I-I
promise.”

“Draco, you won’t have to do any of that.”

“But the Unbreakable Vow! I’m still alive! He’s still with us. He’s—“

“Draco…” His mother says in a low voice. “Auror Alastor Moody killed your father at the
Ministry.”

“Wh— what?” All the air is practically sucked out of his lungs.

“Perhaps… Mr. Potter should tell the story considering he was there when it happened.”

“But— he’s gone? You-you’re—“ he hiccups. “You’re free from him?”

“I am.”

“That’s…great,” he says uneasily. “Why does it feel so… awful?”

“Because it’s still the death of your father… no matter how cruel he was.”

“Are we going to be okay?” He wipes his tears away.

“Yes.” She smiles so lightly you could barely tell. “We’re going to be okay.”

“I would hug you, but… it hurts to move, Mother.”

She laughs softly which makes Draco smile brightly.

“There’s my boy.” She leans in and kisses him on the cheek. “I’m so proud of who you’ve
become.”

His heart swells.

“I have you to thank.”

She smiles and squeezes his hand gently.

“Your friends have been quite frantic to see you… would you like them to come in?”

He nods.

“Yeah… they can come in.”

His mother didn’t even move an inch; the door swings wide open and in comes Pansy with a
furious look, Blaise who looked like he had been crying, Astoria and Daphne who looked relieved,
Harry whose eyes were wide, and Granger whose followed by a hesitant Weasley.
“You IDIOT!”

“Pansy—“

“You could have died! You almost did die! Draco, why would you run off with them? I’ve already
spoken to Blaise! I mean— Honestly! Both of you— but especially you— idiots!”

“I’m feeling good, Pans, thank you.”

“What would we have done if you had died. Hm? Merlin, Draco I should kill you!” Without
another word, she hugs him, completely ignoring the hiss of pain Draco lets out.

“We’re glad you’re alive,” says Daphne who comes to a halt beside him.

“I was so worried.” Astoria kisses him on the cheek. “Who was I going to continue fake dating?”

“You look horrible,” Blaise says hoarsely.

“Merlin, Blaise, are you alright?” His right eye was covered in a bruise, his hand was wrapped in a
bandage, and his forehead was covered in scabs. He looked worse than everyone else.

“I’ve never been better.” He grins.

“Here, Draco.” Granger sets down his wand by his bed. “Oh! And this is from George.” She pulls
out a note from her pocket and hands it to him. He takes it and regrettably opens it. It explodes with
red and green sparkles and it says very loudly “Glad to hear you’re not dead!”

“So the George Weasley rumor was true?” His Mother asks.

“What—? No, Mother, no!” He picks up his wand and casts a cleaning spell.

“It defiantly was, Mrs. Malfoy,” states Pansy who earns a glare from Draco.

“It looks like Mr. Potter would like to speak to my son.” His mother slowly stands.

Everyone’s eyes, including Draco’s, dart toward Harry who was standing in the dark corner
awkwardly.

“Heh,” Weasley lightly chuckles which earns a sharp look from Granger. Everyone begins
shuffling out of the room; Astoria winks at him, Blaise smirks, Pansy glares, Daphne giggles,
Granger and Weasley start whispering to each other, and his Mother sends him a loving smile
before shutting the door behind him.

Draco gulps.

“Harry—“

“It’s my fault.” He steps out of the shadows. “I shouldn’t have brought you. Any of you. You
wouldn’t be here and no one would have been worried about you.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It was our choice. Not yours”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not a good look on you.” That earns a soft snort from the Gryffindor. “My
father, Harry…” He can see the uncomfortable look on Harry’s face very clearly. “Mother said you
were there… I heard you…”

“I…” He walks over to him and sits down in a chair instead of the bed. “I went after him. I was so
angry because I thought he had killed you… I... tried the Cruciatas Curse on him.”

“Harry.” His eyes were wide.

“I know— but there was so much anger in me… it wasn’t enough, though… He looked scared…
apologizing as he laid on the floor. It was terrifying… for him and me.” He pauses, clearly
unsettled by his actions. “…And then Voldemort appeared… soon after Dumbledore… your father
went to curse me but that’s when Professor Moody appeared and stepped between him and me… I
was useless; two duels as I sat on the side not being able to do anything.” He takes a deep breath.
“Mad-Eye got the upper hand… your father casted the Killing Curse… it barely missed him, so
Moody did the same and…” he trails off. “…Are you okay?

“Yeah.” He thinks so. His father was dead which is something he never thought he had to prepare
for. “I’m…okay… Is the Dark— Is he still in your head?”

“No… Dumbledore told me Voldemort is terrified of the love I have in me… the love I have for
my family, my friends… a-and… and you…”

“What?” he frowns in confusion. It was strange to single just him out.

“… When I thought you were dying… it felt like all things that were worth living for was gone.
I’ve never felt so empty.”

“Harry, stop,” he doesn’t mean for it to come out sharp, but he can’t help it. This just couldn’t be
happening. Absolutely not. “Whatever you’re about to say will just hurt both of us.”

“I know— I know.” He stands. “This doesn’t make sense— not in the slightest— not to you at
least but when I saw you dying, Draco, I realized I can’t denying these… these feelings I’ve been
so confused about.”

“Stop…” He was lost for words. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not trying to humor you! I’m trying to tell you that I— ”

“Stop, stop, stop…” He sits up even though it fucking hurts. “You’re just a Boggart…” This is the
last thing he deserves right now. “You’re just— this isn’t the real you.” he quietly sobs at the
realization. “Or someone under Polyjuice— this is too cruel, I can’t.”

“A Boggart—? What? No, Draco, it’s me!”

“No, it’s not, because the real Harry Potter doesn’t think like this about be. You’re just a b-
boggart..” He points his wand at Harry. How life treats him is far from fair. “R-ridikulus!” Nothing
happens. He becomes frantic. “Ridikulus! Ridikulus! RIDIKULUS! WHY WON’T YOU
DISAPPEAR!”

“It’s me, Draco!” He grabs his wrist and lowers his wand. “I know I’ve showed dislike towards
you in a romantic way but that was me being scared. Draco, you have to understand that you’re
just… you’re just so beautiful…”

“S—stop!” He pushes him backwards. “You don’t understand! I’ve spent the past five years trying
to lock up my f-feelings for you! I hated you and I love you— this just can’t be true because the
real Harry Potter, even though friends with me, knows deep down I’m just a coward who’s pathetic
and doesn’t— doesn’t deserve his l-love.”

“Draco, stop.” He was crying too. Draco thought the imposter had no right to be putting on such a
good performance. “Let me prove to you— please, let me prove to you it’s really me because I
can’t take the way you’re talking about yourself right now.”

“FUCK YOU!” He screams. “I’ve been through enough! I’ve had it! I’ve been stuck putting my
feelings away and you— you trying to get them out of me isn’t FAIR!”

“I’m not trying to! Draco, please,” he speaks desperately. “You have to believe me! I’ve been a
complete arse to you; let me prove to you that I...” there’s a long pause of silence. Harry was
staring into Draco’s grey eyes in a similar way he did when they were very close to each other
when Draco was teaching him how to dance. “I love you.”

“No you don’t.” He says through gritted teeth.

“Draco—“

“No. You. Don’t.”

“Why can’t you just listen to me!”

“Because— Because if I do, you’ll just use these feelings against me!” His biggest fear. “I never
wanted— I need you to leave.”

“What—“

“I hate you… I hate you so much. I need you to leave.”

A long pause.

“No.”

“No?”

“I’m not leaving until you listen to me!”

“Fine.” He raises his wand. “Get out.”

“No.” He folds his arms stubbornly. “Cast a spell on me. I know you won’t.”

“I will!”

“Then do it!”

Draco’s eyes were blurring with tears. Why… why, why, why.

“Just,” he takes a deep breath. “Just watch.” He holds his hand out; a single white rose blooms
slowly… the same one that Harry grew when Draco helped him calm down from a vision.

“While you’ve been in here, I kept growing these in Dumbledore’s office— Parkinson almost went
mad when they began to grow in her hair… But Blaise told me they were, I guess, gardenia
flowers… they mean secret love, Draco. I just thought it was a normal white rose— but, fuck,
Draco, you have to believe me. Please. I was blinded by— by my reasons and Cho and— thinking
you didn’t love me either because… because you said you didn’t!”
“I-I’m not! I’m not gay. I’m— I can’t be! My f-father—“ he inhales sharply. The memory of his
first meeting with Lupin flashes in his brain… he’s been saying the same thing for years… but
now his father is gone…

“W-Why? Why me?” he sobs quietly.

“Because you’re funny, smart… your eyes— did you know they sparkle when you’re excited?”
Harry was bright red. “You have this confidence that I know you put on because you are probably
one of the most vulnerable people I’ve ever met. How you are with your friends— I mean, do you
remember when rumors were going around that you and Blaise were together? You jinxed
countless people in the halls… and when we’re together… I don’t feel the way I do with you when
I’m with Ron or Hermione… not even when I was with Cho. Why do you think I gave you that
bird? When it didn’t flap— I was so angry at you… I was in denial of everything until I saw you on
the floor…”

“I never wanted to be in love with you…” Draco whispers. “I never did...”

“The bird only flaps when you love the person… the love you felt towards me was like a parasite.
Draco, I’m so sorry.”

“I hate you.” he sobs quietly. “I... I love you too much.”

Harry gulps.

“And I wasn’t loving you enough.”

Out of sudden anger, Draco grips onto Harry’s shirt and pulls him close with an aggressive snarl on
his face. Their noses barely touched. Their breaths intertwine with each other. In different
circumstances, Draco would tell him his breath smelled fucking awful, but he can’t bring himself
to make jokes right now.

“Everything that’s happened to me in the past three years are your fault,” he growls under his
breath.

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing this to me?” he murmurs.

“Because you’re free of him… and I’m so proud of you.”

Silent tears stream down both their faces.

“I’m scared,” Draco barely moves his lips, but Harry understands him completely.

“I know you are… I am too.”

A single nod from Draco and Harry presses his lips against his. Draco doesn’t kiss back because it
doesn’t feel real. Not in the slightest. Harry pulls away, no readable expression on his face.

“Draco…”

The Slytherin brings his hand to the back of Harrys’ neck and connects their lips. Harry’s
immediate response is to lightly place his hand on Draco’s cheek like he’s seen straight couples do
in books and photographs…

“You’re gay and in love with me. Fucking disgusting…”

Harry sits down on the bed, purposefully putting himself closer to Draco. He feels so far away
when he’s right here. Why does he feel so far away?

“What am I going to do? He’s Malfoy.”

Draco runs his fingers through the back of Harry’s hair just like he’s already wanted to.

“You’re… tolerable. You’re not a prick anymore!”

“How does it feel, Draco, to know you’ll never have me.”

It seems unfathomable to think that Harry Potter’s free hand is intertwining with Draco’s.

“No! Because— because it’s us?”

“We’re still friends right?”

His hand is warm while Draco’s are as cold as ice. He thinks it’s poetic.

“Do you ever feel like you’re supposed to feel one way because everyone expects you to?”

“I was never repulsed!”

“He shouted at Dumbledore to get you when he mentioned we were leaving through a Portkey.”

The hand that was on Draco’s cheek slowly finds its way back to Harry’s side.

“You do anything to hurt him you’ll be hearing from me.”

“I am proud of you, Draco.”

They pull away for breath, both still in the euphoria of the kiss. They stare at each other… his bird
necklace, even though covered in dried blood, flaps gently. Draco is the first to break. Even though
it hurts, he pulls Harry into a hug and sobs quite uglily. Harry wraps his arms around him and lets
the blonde’s tears fall on his jacket. He lets him claw at his back while he shakes in his arms. It
takes him a while to calm down… and when he does, Harry is still patiently holding him.

“I hate you,” Draco mutters against his chest. “I hate you so much.”

“Draco…”

“When? When did these feelings surge?”

“Fourth year...” he gulps. “When you taught me how to dance.”

“That was torture for me,” he admits.

“I figured.” He rests his chin on his head. “I’m not doing this to torture you… I’m doing this
because I want to be with you, Draco.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes. I do.”

“I never thought…”

“Neither did I… But I’m glad because Jesus, Draco, I love looking at you.”
“Shut up,” he grumbles as his cheeks turn bright pink.

“I’m sorry for unintentionally hurting you.”

“I’m sorry for almost dying on you…” he grins lightly.

“Yeah, don’t do that again. I may or may not have yelled at Madam Pomfrey, Sirius, Lupin, Blaise,
and er— Ron and Hermione…”

“You do have a temper.”

“Whatever,” he mutters.

He places his finger under his chin and lifts Draco’s head up; Draco flushes, Harry smiles seeing
him so flustered and kisses him on the cheek.

“Can I lay with you?”

“Yes,” he breathes out. Harry moves to the other side of the bed and lays with his chest against
Draco’s back. He carefully wraps his arm around his waist; he finds Draco’s hand and carefully
holds onto it. Draco is on the verge of tears… he never thought he’d get this. Not with anyone. Not
with Harry. There’s a part of him that’s scared this is just an act. That this still might be someone
under Polyjuice Potion or Harry is under the Imperious curse… but those thoughts die out when
Harry kisses the side of his neck and murmurs in his ear, “you’re not a coward, Draco… you’re the
bravest person I know.”

He sobs quietly in his arms again as sleep takes him for a good, easy rest.

Draco wakes up to a dog sitting on the floor next to his bed, panting and tail wagging excitedly.

“Harry…?” he croaks.

“Hm—?” He moves closer to Draco if that were even possible. They were still in the same potion,
except Harrys' hand seemed to be lower than before.

“Harry.”

“I’m right here,” he grumbles.

“There’s a dog in the room.”

“A—“ he yawns. “A dog?”

The big black dog jumps on the bed and barks at both of them. Draco flinches in annoyance and
Harry groans.

“Who let a dog in here?” whines Harry.

“I did.” A gentle voice says from the door. Harry jumps back to the point where he falls off the bed
and Draco hurries to sit up.

“Ow, fuck— Professor—!” Draco’s was redder than a tomato.

“And that must be Sirius.” Harry huffs as he stands up and sits back on the bed.
The dog jumps off the bed and turns into a laughing Sirius Black.

“I KNEW IT!” Black yells. “DIDN’T I TELL YOU?”

“Sirius, please—“

“I told you at Christmas! After he gave the bird necklace!”

“What are you— you knew?” Harry gapes.

“Of course I did! It was obvious! Moony was in denial—“

“Denial? No, I just never pictured Harry… I mean he’s so much like James, I—“

Before Lupin could finish, multiple people come barging in.

“Don’t go—“

“We heard someone shouting—“

“Don’t freak out—“

“Are you— SIRIUS BLACK!” Pansy shrieks.

“We tried stopping them Harry!”

Astoria had already pulled out her wand and casted a stunning spell at him; Black goes blasting
back into the wall with a loud groan.

“ASTORIA! STOP!” Draco scrambles out of bed, falls forward, and Lupin catches him. “FUCK,”
he hisses. “He’s fine! He’s fine!”

“Get back in bed, Dracp!” Harry ran over to him instead of Black (HA) and helps him back into
bed.

“Give me my wand, Blaise!” growls Astoria.

“One hell of a witch,” Black groans as he stands up.

“He’s a good guy!” shouts Blaise.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that!” She snatches her wand back from him. “Hello,
Professor Lupin.” She smiles.

“Miss. Greengrass,” Lupin smiles hesitantly. “I see your skills have improved.”

“Thank you!”

“So, you’re— what—um— you’re not a mass murderer?” Pansy frowns.

“No…” He slightly limps over to Lupin. “I was framed.”

“Sounds awful,” says Astoria.

“Azkaban was no treat.”

“We tried stopping them, but they were determined to get in here!” Granger says.
“Well we all heard shouting, Granger!” says Daphne who was holding Pansy’s hand and had
previously tried to pull her away from Black. “We defiantly knew it wasn’t Draco and Potter.”

“Yeah, we would have been able to tell if you two were shagging.” Blaise smirks.

“BLAISE!” Draco cries and turns bright red.

“Sh—shagging?” Black’s eyes were wide. “Oh, Remus, we’re going to have that talk with Harry
aren’t we—?”

“It appears so…”

“NO!” Harry exclaims. “No. No. No.” Everyone was laughing, mainly Blaise and Weasley. “You
all have been lovely company but we were trying to— Draco was trying to take a nap! Shut up,
Ron!”

“But— I mean— could you imagine? Harry and Malfoy? I mean— ow— that would be— OW,
Hermione!” He rubs his arm where Granger had been pinching him.

“You’re so oblivious, Weasley, it’s almost amusing,” says Pansy.

“What are you talking about, Parkinson?”

“Er— Ron…?” Harry’s eyes scanned around the room.

“What?”

“Do you remember when I asked you how would you feel if Ginny came out to you that she was
gay?”

“Yeah? I remember saying I don’t care— bloke or no bloke. I mean, whoever treats her good,
yeah? It’s no… problem… with… what?”

Harry had sat down next to Draco and intertwined their hands.

“You’re—? And Malfoy!?”

“Jealous, Weasley?” Draco can’t help but tease.

“But I thought… I mean Cho?”

“Yeah, well… Draco does everything better.”

“Cough it up, Daph!” Blaise exclaims. She groans and pulls out two galleons and shoves it into
Blaises’ hands.

“You bet on us getting together?” Draco gapes.

“After Potter came in here, I thought he was just going to talk to you, pine over you, and then
leave!” Daphne huffs.

“Your friends are lovely…” Harry mutters under his breath.

“I don’t have to fake date you anymore!” Astoria says in great relief.

“That was fake—?” asks Weasley.

“I told you about this, Ron!” Granger shakes her head.

“I thought I dreamt that…”

“Have you two kissed yet?” asks Pansy with a cheeky smirk.

“As his godfather,” Black pipes up. “I’d prefer not to know what my godson does with his
boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” both Draco and Harry said at the same time.

“I see you two haven’t put a label on it,” Pansy snorts.

“Have you and Daph put a label on it?” Draco asks with the same smirk Pansy had before the
question.

“You’ve noticed…” she growls under her breath.

“We all have, actually,” surprisingly says Granger. “You two make a lovely couple.”

“Thank you, Granger!” Daphne smiles.

“Your students are all gay, Remus,” says Black.

“Sirius—“

“I’m not,” says Weasley and Granger at the same time. They both do an awkward chuckle and look
around the room as if it’s more interesting.

“Too many people!” Madam Pomfrey comes storming in with a bottle Draco knows he won’t enjoy
drinking. “My patient needs rest.”

“Madam Pomfrey—“

“No, Mr. Malfoy, you need rest. Honestly, Remus, he reminds me of a younger you.”

“Thank you!”

“I don’t think she meant that as a compliment, Draco…” Lupin grins sheepishly.

“I’ve already let Mr. Potter rest with him— it’s time for Draco to be in here alone.”

“But—“

“No, buts Potter!”

“She doesn’t want to risk the shagging between the two of them,” Draco can hear Blaise mutter to
Pansy who giggles.

“We’ll see you later, Draco.” Astoria smiles at him.

“Get some rest!” says Daphne.

“Bye, Draco!” says Granger. Weasley awkwardly waves goodbye at him.

“Do something like this again, Draco, and I swear to all the gods Potter won’t have a cock to suck
on.”
 “PARKINSON!” Harry screams. Blaise was laughing too much to say goodbye.

“I’ve offered your Mother Grimmulad Place for the both of you to stay in…” says Black who
looked extremely uncomfortable at Pansy's previous comment. “She seemed hesitant, but she was
leaning more towards that then going back to your Manor…”

“O-Okay.” He nods dumbly; that was quite a shock.

“I’ll see you at the platform, Draco,” says Lupin with a loving smile.

“You’re going to be there—?”

“Of course. You think I wouldn’t be? Come on, Sirius.” He begins walking towards the door;
Black transforms into a dog, barks once, and follows Lupin out.

“Mr. Potter—“

“One minute… please?”

She sighs dramatically.

“One minute!” she walks towards the door. “Starting now!” the door slams shut.

“Har—“ He doesn’t get to finish because Harry literally crashes their lips together. They were still
somehow soft with a comfortable roughness to them. When he kissed Theo it was tender (he can’t
deny that) but with Harry, it’s as if it was life or death; their lips to each other are their life support.
The Gryffindor's fingers run through his hair as if they were meant to be there; The Slytherin
groans at the sensation and out of embarrassment, he grips Harry’s shirt to keep him close.

The perfect moment comes to end when both of them pull away to catch their breaths. Draco,
having let out a humiliating noise, stares down with one of his hands gripping onto his sheets;
Harry was staring at Draco as if he was the only thing in the world worth looking at.

“You’re so…” Harry pants. “Beautiful.”

“Shut up, Potter…” he grumbles.

“I don’t think so, Malfoy.”

“Mr. Potter!” Madam Pomfrey comes barging in; both boys jump away from each other as if burnt.
“Time’s up. Say goodbye to Mr. Malfoy!”

“Bye, Draco.” He grins and leaves. Draco stares at him; he already longs for him and his touch.

“Drink this!”

“But—“

“Drink it Mr. Malfoy if you want to be out of here by tomorrow.”

“Fine…”

Chapter End Notes

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME YOUR
THOUGHTS!! I"M DYING TO KNOW.
you can also find me on twitter: orbithastnt

51 chapters, three boggarts, two confessions, and one chapter that finally brings them
to this point. Are you guys happy with the outcome? I know I am. Someone had to
die... of course not Sirius, but that changes everyone's fate doesn't it? Can't wait :)

So the whole Mad-Eye killing Lucius thing was like a very last minute thing... I
needed Harry to go after someone and I feel like since Sirius didn't die, someone
would have gone after Harry, and Moody, being one of the most talented wizards,
would be the one to do so since Remus was with Draco and Sirius still dueling
Bellatrix.

I LOVE PANSY!!!

All the flashback memories as the kiss happened... I thought that would be nice.
 Chapter 52- End of Fifth Year
Chapter Summary

“You don’t have to do this…” Draco whispers.

Fluff basically lmao

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Hi, Draco.”

“Damn, you!” Draco dramatically takes the Invisibility Cloak off and throws it at him. “You used
the map didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” He smiles cheekily. “I also saw Ron take my cloak this morning.”

Draco swears under his breath.

“Whatever,” he grumbles. “So, this is where the Great Harry Potter sleeps, right? I mean… I saw it
before, but I was mainly paying attention to the bloke who’s shirt was off.” Harry smirks.
“Speaking of shirts off… have you seen Dean Thomas with his shirt off? You’ve been sharing a
room with him for five years now. You’re bound to s—emhm— oofmh—“ Harry kisses him so
hard, Draco gets knocked back into the door he came in.

“Ow,” he whines when Harry pulls away.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he drawls with a smirk. “You’re just so… beauti—fhulmm.” He glares at Draco
who was now smirking.

“Are you packed?” He removes his hand from his mouth.

“Can I pack you and take you back to the Dursleys?”

“I’d be sent to Azkaban for the hexes I’ll be sending at those Muggles.”

“I’d break you out.”

“I would hope so.”

“Oi! Ha— oof!” A loud thud is heard outside

“Ow!” Draco hisses.

“IS THAT MALFOY?” Seamus Finnigain swings the door open; Draco falls on Harry who falls to
the ground. “DEAN! DO YOU HAVE YOUR CAMERA!?”

“IS IT TRUE!?” Dean Thomas comes running inside. “SHE WAS TELLING US THE TRUTH!”

“DO YOU HAVE YOUR CAMERA?!”

“FINNIGAIN—“ a loud click echoes throughout the room before Draco could get off of Harry.

“YES!” The Irish boy exclaims.

“It looks like Draco is—“

“Accio Photo!” Harry shouts.

“We all know Harry would be the one on to—“

“DEAN!” cries Harry.

“Alright!” The two Gryffindors laugh.

“Why are you both here!”

“For this exact reason.” Thomas raises his camera and takes another photograph. “The start of the
Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy relationship. We thought Parkinson was lying.”

“Clearly she was not,” says Draco through gritted teeth. “I’ll take that.” he snatches the photo out
of his hand. “Now leave.”

“This is actually our room, mate,” says Finnigan. “So technically you should— Alright. Rude.” He
scowls when Draco points his wand at him. “Come on, Dean… these two love birds need to get
back to shagging.”

“SEAMUS!”

“BYE HARRY!” Dean and Seamus leave, laughing louder than anyone Draco has ever heard.

“Why isn’t this photo moving?”

“Muggle photos don’t move.”

“That’s… stupid.”

“Just a little bit.” He kisses him on the cheek and looks down at it. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah…” he pockets the photo.

Draco looks like he’s about to murder Thomas while Harry stood behind him with his mouth wide
open, blushing immensely.

“Take this one too.” He hands him the one where Draco was on top of him… Thomas was right. It
did look like Draco was shagging him. His hands were on both sides of him and Harry's mouth was
wide from the shock of being pushed to the ground. Thomas was also right about another thing...
But… hopefully… that’s something for the future.

“Why don’t you keep it?”

“If my cousin found this…”

“Right…can I please hex him?”

“When we’re both 17— alright?”

“Alright.”
They make it to the platform; the two of them stop behind a tree as students get off the carriages
and head towards the train.

“You don’t have to do this…” Draco whispers. “The Prophet, everyone here, they’ll judge you,
Harry. They just will. And everything with my father… don’t do this just to make me happy.”

“I’m doing this, Draco, because I’ve spent the past year and a half drooling all over over you and
now that I have you…” he takes his hand in his. “I don’t think I can hide this relationship.”

“Harry—“

“If Neville and Blaise can do it, so can we.”

Draco gulps.

“Harry…”

“I know,” he smiles. “I love you too, Draco.”

He turns bright red.

“I was actually going to say I can’t stand being around you and I’d like to get on the train with
anyone else but you.”

“Right. Sure.” He grins.

Their group of friends walks past them, all chatting and laughing with one another. Blaise was
holding Neville’s hand while Daphne and Pansy, even though not out to anyone else, were standing
awfully close; Hermione was laughing at something Astoria said while Ron was conversing with
Ginny and Luna. Draco’s mind drifts to Theo for a brief moment. His mother dead, and his father
in Azkaban, Draco has no idea what is going to happen to his roommate. He wanted to talk to him
and tell him that he could potentially get help from the Order, but it was pointless because as long
as his father was alive Theo will be following in his shadows. He wished he could see him
laughing with Blaise and him about stupid boy things… it breaks his heart.

“Hermione! Ron!” Harry drags Draco to all of them.

“Well, isn’t it the lovely couple.” Blaise teases.

“And there’s already people staring…” mutters Neville.

Draco’s hand tightens in Harrys'.

“It’ll be okay,” Harry murmurs to him and him only.

“Oh, Draco! We never staged a fake break up!” Astoria complains.

“We could do it now. I mean—“

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!” Astoria screams. Everyone and everyone around them stops walking.
“AND WITH HARRY POTTER WHO I THOUGHT WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE!”

“Astoria—“
“NO!” She fake cries. “NO I SHOULD HAVE KNOW! I should have… you were always talking
about him… i-it’s okay, honestly… but— let me ask you… did you really love me?”

“Er— yes, of course I did, not in that way because, well, I’m just…” He looks around, suddenly
embarrassed. “I’m gay.”

“That’s fair… I kissed Ginny while we were dating.”

“WHAT!?” Draco and Ron shout.

She, Ginny, and Luna laugh and scurry off past the crowd of students who were too stunned to
speak.

“She— I mean— Ginny’s not—“ Ron looks around at his friends.

“She was lying.” Draco, even though shocked at the words, knows for a fact Astoria didn’t kiss
Ginny because Astoria doesn’t do that… Bless Astoria for her humor. “Astoria doesn’t— just, no.”

“Ginny!” Ron shouts. “GINNY!” He catches up to his sister.

“Don’t you all have a train to get on?” Harry growls at everyone was still staring. Multiple people
— actually no— everyone was talking about it, not even trying to whisper with.

“Potter’s gay?”

“— With Malfoy—?”

“His father—“

“Did you hear—“

“— and Chang—“

“— Faggots—“

“They’re kind of cute—“

“— I mean the whole tie thing—“

“— gross—“

“Fuck, Harry…I’m sorry about all of this…”

“I’m used to people talking about me.” He smirks. “You like to put on shows don’t you?”

“Er— yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Merlin, yes.”

Harry pulls him into a very passionate kiss. People break out into louder chatter and gasps.

“This is a public place!” Blaise complains.

“Snog in private, please,” says Hermione.

All of them laugh and board the train.

Daphne and Pansy leave to go sit with Astoria, Luna, and Ginny; Ron had found a compartment for
the rest of them. Hermione, Neville, and Blaise made it in first before Draco and Harry get
ambushed by Theo, Crabbe, and Goyal.

“It’s true then?” Theo snorts as he nods to Draco and Harrys’ intertwined hands. “I can’t fucking
believe it! Harry Potter dating the first ever Malfoy Blood-Traitor? How’s daddy doing about all of
this, Draco?”

They went to go pull out their wands but before either of them could even make a move, Theo,
Crabbe, and Goyal are transfigured into very ugly slugs.

“What—?“

“We got you, mate.” smiles Goldstein who had hexed Theo and then Crabbe.

“They deserved it,” says Justin Flinch Fletchly. “We heard about you two. It’s true then?”

“Er— yeah…” says Draco uneasily. He remembers calling him a Mudblood in first year.

“That’s cool.” The Hufflepuff smiles and walks past them as if he didn’t just transfigure Goyal into
a slug.

“About time.” Goldstein smirks at Draco while following his friend.

“What do we do with them?” Harry asks while staring down at the three Slytherins.

“Um…” Draco picks up who he knows to be Theo and puts him on the window seal; Harry does
the same for Crabbe and Goyal. “So they have a beautiful view of the train ride.”

The two of them laugh and join their friends in the compartment.

“Harry!” Hermione exclaims when they both enter the compartment. “Have you see the Daily
Prophet?”

“Have they already written about my relationship with Draco?” He snorts as he sits down next to
her, pulling Draco down next to him.

“No, it’s even better!” She hands it to him.

SIRIUS BLACK; INNOCENT?

With He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named confirmed to be back, new evidence and words from Albus
Dumbledore say that Sirius Black, convicted mass murder of 13 Muggles, and Peter Pettigrew
might, in fact, be innocent. Private sources have informed the Ministry that Peter Pettigrew is in
fact alive and the real follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

“I have spoken to Black,” says Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge who people are starting to
speculate as not the best option for the high position he’s in. “A tricky man to find, you see, but he
heard of the talk about his trial through an unknown wizard so he contacted us himself. He has
suggested we use Veriterserum to prove his innocence; we are still in the talks of wether that will
be necessary. We have, recently, seen him dueling Death Eaters, including his cousin Bellatrix
Lestrange and we now know it was You-Know-Who who broke them out… I, the Minister of Magic,
would like to state that Black will be getting a trial because we do believe he was innocent after
all.”

“HOLY SHIT!” exclaims Harry. “Do you know what this means?” He looks over at Draco.

“That Black will be able to go to a restaurant without being sent to Azkaban?”

“Well, yeah, technically. He’ll be a free man.” He smiles brightly.

“I bet he’s excited,” says Hermione.

“I would be too if I was stuck at home all the time,” says Ron.

“Me too,” Draco mutters and leans back in the corner of the seat.

“How does your mother feel about living with Sirius Black?” Blaise leans forward. “I heard them
talking when you were still recovering … a lot of family quarrels.”

“I haven’t actually asked her… but if she had a problem with it, she would have said something to
me and probably Black.”

“Why can’t you just call him Sirius?” asks Harry.

“It’s weird… I’ve tried Uncle Sirius just to tease but even that makes me feel as if I’ve committed a
crime.”

“Interesting way of wording it,” inputs Hermione.

“Yes, well, it’s probably the Black in me.”

“The black?” Blaise raises his eyebrows at him.

“Oh, sod off! I was referring to the Black Family!” He turns bright red.

Everyone begins laughing; Draco scowls at all of them. But when Harry holds his hand and
squeezes it, he can’t bring himself to be angry anymore.

The train ride was by far the best one Draco has ever had; The jokes were different, the
comfortness he’s formed with Hermione and Ron was something he’s never imagined he’d ever
have, Blaise and Hermione’s strange friendship is hilarious, the questions about Muggle things
from Draco, the ridicules from Hermione about Pureblood traditions, the awkward re-apology
Draco gave to Neville, Hermione, and Ron, and the little things Harry would do to Draco to show
him he was always paying attention was something extraordinary…

When getting off the train, he’s shocked to see his Mother standing next to Mrs. Weasley who was
with Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, Sirius (who was in his animagus form), and Mr. Weasley.

“This should go down in the history books…” mutters Ron.

“Bye, Draco!” Blaise smiles and walks to his Mother who was standing with an old white woman
(Neville’s grandmother.)

“Hey, Draco?” Harry pulls him to the side as the others go to the group.
“Is everything alright?” He frowns

“Could we not tell my Aunt and Uncle?” It’s clear he’s deviated from having to say this. “They’re
not… no matter they’ll kick me out of the house… I can’t exactly be living on the streets for the
next month during a time like this.”

“Of course.” He nods. “Anything you need.” And he means it when he says that.

“You’re bloody amazing.” He gives him a quick peck on the lip.

“I…” he pauses. Why was it so hard to say the three words Draco has been feeling towards him for
years? Harry has no difficulty speaking it… why does he?

“I know.” He smiles softly. “Me too.”

“Harry! Those are them, right?” Tonks points towards two adults who looked displeased to be here
and a younger kid who looked like needed a shower.

“Yes.” He sighs.

“That’s your Aunt and Uncle?”

“Yep… lovely folks.” He picks up his cage with Hedwig and begins walking over to them.
Although, he’s cut off when Lupin, Mr. Weasely, Tonks, and Mad-Eye step first.

“We would like to say if you treat Harry horrible—“ begins Lupin.

“And we mean even in the slightest way—“ says Tonks.

“You’ll be hearing from us,” finishes Mr. Weasley who doesn’t seem like the type to threaten.

“You’ll also hear from me personally.” Draco steps forward.

“And who are you?” The boy squeaks quite pathetically.

“Draco Malfoy.” He sneers. “This is an open threat from me.”

“From us,” says Lupin in the sweetest voice.

“You can’t— that’s not— it’s none of your business how we treat him!” the old man stammers.

“Yes it is.” Mad-eye, whose face was covered, exposes himself to the Durselys who yelp in fear.

Sirius, who was previously sitting on the side, approaches them and growls at the old man.

“ALRIGHT!” He shouts nervously. “Come on, boy…” he scowls and the three of them begin
walking away from them.

“Bye, Harry!” Tonks says brightly.

“Potter.” Mad-eye does a single curt nod.

“Take care of yourself, Harry.” Lupin smiles.

“If they do anything to you-“ Draco begins.

“You’ll be the first I write to, I promise.” He chuckles lightly. “I’ll see you soon, alright?”
“Yeah… bye, Harry.”

“Bye, Draco.” He waves at everyone else; Draco takes a deep breath and looks at everyone.

“I haven’t actually spoke to your Mum,” says Tonks to only him. “Should I— Is she looking at
me?”

Draco peaks behind her.

“Yes.”

“Shit…” she mutters under his breath. She slowly spins around, her hair changing to a brown
shade. “Mrs. Malfoy…” she approaches her, but trips over Draco’s luggage and barely catches
herself. “H-Hello!”

“Nymphadora.” Draco can see Tonks slightly cringe but was scared to correct her. “I am aware you
go by Tonks which I will respect even though I find your name lovely.” She holds her hand and
Tonks shakes it. “You’re absolutely beautiful.”

“So are you. I mean— you look so different from my Mum…”

“How are you and Harry?” asks Lupin; Sirius sat next to him, staring up and wagging his tail.

“We’re… more than good.” He blushes. “I just… I can’t believe it…I’m…” he trails off, suddenly
insecure about the thoughts he was having.

“Your thinking up a storm, Draco. What’s on your mind?”

“What if— What if he’s just… doing this because he feels bad for me.” He gulps, eyes casting
away. “It’s just so sudden…”

“Speaking for Sirius and myself, I can promise you his feelings are not all are sudden.”

The dog barks and nods frantically.

“Sirius told me, Harry asked him loads of question of Sirius and I and while yes, that is normal, he
made few connections that him and I were similar to you and him.”

“How?”

“Let’s just say, Sirius and I went through many arguments before our feelings towards each other
were exposed.” He grins. “Harry cares for you Draco. You should have seen him.”

“Quite a temper Potter has.” Mad-Eye says.

“I heard him shouting at Madam Pomfrey. Was it worse than that?”

“We briefly heard him screaming at Dumbledore.”

“He did what?” His eyes go wide.

“Silencing Charms were put up so we’re not exactly sure what he said… all we know it was about
you.”

“Sweet Salazar…” He mutters.

 “Take care of yourself, Draco,” says Lupin. “You’ll see me around, but not as often… you’ll be
safe with them.” He glances over at his mother and Sirius who nods.

“And you? Are you sure you want to do all of this? It’s dangerous, Professor. It’s—“

“Something I have to do.” He smiles sadly.

Draco knows what that’s like.

“You stay safe too, then.” Draco smiles at him.

“Till next time, Draco.”

“Till next time.”

“Are you ready dear?” His mother asks.

“Yes,” he means it. “I’m ready.”

Chapter End Notes

what could go wrong?

also let me just say, Theo does all of this because he feels like he deserves what he
gets :(
 Chapter 53
Chapter Summary

“Hello?” A voice echos up the stairs.

“Is that—“
“Harry.”

First look into 6th year :)

Chapter Notes

CW!!!!
sexual content, not very descriptive
moments of derealization (not descriptive)
and mentions of blood but not graphic.

ENJOY!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“DRACO!” Black shouts

“I KNOW! I KNOW!” He shouts back as he quickly puts the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
“Merlin’s left one…” he mutters under his breath as he pockets his wand in his coat.

“Draco, dear,” his mother lightly knocks before entering his room. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Watch your tone,” she says sharply before her facial expression softens again. “Don’t forget,
when you go to Diagon Alley for the Weasley’s shop that you be careful. My sister…”

“I know, Mother. I know.” He smiles weakly; he was terrified of running into Death Eaters.
Specifically his Aunt Bellatrix.

“DRACO!”

“I AM COMING!” He growls. “Why is he so impatient?”

“You were supposed to be there ten minutes ago.”

“What?” He looks at his Mothers’ watch. “Oh sh—“

“Yes, dear, indeed. Go on now!”

“I’ll see you for Christmas, yes?”

She nods.

“Be careful, Draco. I love you.”

‘I love you too, Mother.” He lightly kisses her cheek before running down the stairs where Black
was waiting impatiently for him in the living room.

“I told them 8’o clock.”

“I thought it was only 7:50… my clock is a bit late.”

“Irresponsible you are.”

“Didn’t you go on the Platform last year as Padfoot and my own father recognized you?”

“… you need to leave.”

Draco smirks.

“Please don’t murderer each other while I’m gone.”

“What are you talking about? Your mother and I have been getting along swimmingly.”

“So it wasn’t you two shouting at each other about a dinner party you both were at twenty years
ago?”

“In my defense,” Narcissa walks into the living. “That was all my sister’s actions.”

“Technically—“

“I must go,” quickly says Draco. “I’ll see you both at Christmas.” He picks up a handful of Floo
Powder and steps into the fireplace. “The Burrow!” He shouts and up in flames he goes.

Stepping out of the fireplace, his mind races with all the possibilities of what the Weasley’s home
could look like. He wasn’t expecting a medium-sized kitchen/living room space and stairs
spiraling very high up. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen with Ginny who was looking for
something in the fridge.

“Mrs. Weasley?”

“Draco!” She spins around and smiles brightly at him. “We were starting to worry. We were told
you were very punctual.”

He remembers Lupin telling him the same thing three years ago.

“My clock ran a bit late in my bedroom.” He smiles sheepishly.

“A clever excuse.” Ginny smiles.

“Oh, Ginny, don’t be so rude.” Mrs. Weasley tsks. “Why don’t you show Draco to the room he’ll
be staying in.”

“He’ll be in Fred and George’s room, right?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Follow me, Draco.” Ginny smiles; she begins walking up the stairs. Draco follows after sending a
friendly smile at Mrs. Weasley.

“There room is this one.” It was on the floor before the last one. “I suggest not touching anything
that’s theirs besides the beds.” She opens the door for him and they walk in. “This one is George’s
bed.” she points to the one that was, surprisingly, the messy one. “I figured you’d want his bed
because… well… you know.” She smirks.

“How kind of you, Ginevra.” Her smirk drops and she glares at him.

“Ron!” Ginny shouts. “Malfoy’s here and already being a prick!”

“Language Ginny!” shouts Mrs. Weasley.

When they make it to the top, Ron’s head peaks out of the bedroom.

“He’s staying in Fred and George’s room, right?”

“It’s wonderful to know you think I’m a wonderful roommate, Weasley.”

“No problem, mate.” He swings his door open wider. He’s greeted by Hermione sitting on Ron’s
bed reading a book.

“Hi, Draco!”

“Gr— Hermione.” He smiles lightly

“Have you seen the Prophet, Draco?” asks Ginny who sits on the floor, back leaned against the
wall.

“No.” He shakes his head. He walks over to an empty chair. “Mother thought it best if I don’t read
it.”

“She’s has a good point,” says Hermione. “They’ve said some nasty things about you and Harry.”

“I’ve received Howlers from girls who were crying their eyes out that they don’t have a chance
with the The Chosen One.” He rolls his eyes.

“They’re bang out of order,” says Ron who sat down next to Hermione.

“How are you receiving them?” asks Ginny.

“The few times Mother and I were able to go to the Manor to retrieve our belongings, Howler after
Howler were stacked on my bed…” He remembers the worst ones he received. His mother found
him hyperventilating in the corner of his room, hands clutched to his ears as four of them were
shouting at him at once. It was awful.

“Have you been able to collect all your belongings?” asks Hermione.

“The important ones… Mother was right; Aunt Bella took over the Manor. She claimed to have
dueled her the last time in order to leave to get out of there.” He shudders as he remembers his
Mother stepping out of the Floo with her arm dripping with blood.

“No!” says Ginny and Hermione. They had surprisingly found good Narcissa Malfoy a pleasure to
be around.

It was strange seeing his Mother interact with witches and wizards in ways he’s only seen her
interact with. Yes, she was still properly mannered; she doesn’t swear or do the dishes the muggle
way; she still had her perfect posture and dressed in her classy clothes but her personality was more
vibrant. More alive. In the few dinners they’ve had with the Weasleys, she’s been kind,
apologizing for her now dead husband’s behavior in the past (specifically second year.) There was
actually a moment where Draco heard her speaking to Mrs. Weasley in a private room about the
Unbreakable Vow.

“Is your she alright?” asks Ron.

“Yes, this was two weeks ago. She recovered from her arm injury.”

“That’s good,” says Hermione.

“Hello?” A voice echos up the stairs.

“Is that—“

“Harry.” Draco finishes for Ron. Without hesitation, Draco bolts out of the room and down the
stairs.

“Dra—“ he doesn’t let him finish his sentence. He crashes his lips on his which the Gryffindor
didn’t seem to mind because he wraps his arm around his waist and pulls him closer.

“Boys!”

They immediately jump away from each other; Mrs. Weasley was staring at them with her
eyebrows raised.

“Not in the house, alright?”

“Sorry, Mrs. Weasley.” Both he and Harry say while their faces were bright red.

“Harry!” Everyone else had come downstairs. Each of them hugged Harry; right after, Harry
intertwined his and Draco’s hand. The Slytherin was brighter than the Weasleys’ hair.

“How did you get here?” asks Hermione.

“Dumbledore.” He replies.

“Are you hungry, Harry?” asks Mrs. Weasley.

“Only tired. Which room will I be staying in?”

“He can stay in—“

“Ron’s room,” she finishes for Ginny.

“Where’s Draco staying?”

“He will be staying in Fred and George’s room.”

“Mrs. Weasley—“ Draco and Harry begin but she shakes her head.

“Rules are rules, boys, no matter who you are.”

“But—“
“Sorry, Harry. If needed, Draco, you can put some blankets down and sleep on the floor in Ron’s
room.”

“I—“

“Upstairs you all go.” She begins motioning them towards the stairs. “I’m cleaning down here and
we’ve all had a long day, yes. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Mum.” Ginny and Ron kiss her cheek and the rest of them smile. Harry doesn’t let go
of Draco’s hand until they make it to Ron’s room. Ginny says goodnight and part ways with
everyone. The four of them sit on the floor in Ron’s room instead of the small bed provided. Draco
leans his head in Harry’s lap so the Gryffindor could run his fingers through his hair; which he
does.

“Sleep in here with us?” He looks down at him

“On the floor?” Draco scoffs. “Absolutely not.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor with you.” He smiles down at him.

“Mum will kill you,” says Ron. “She’s already stressed about everything else.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry frowns.

Ron and Hermione share a look before Ron speaks.

“Mum didn’t want me and Ginny to go back to Hogwarts. She was going off saying it wasn’t safe.”

“But that’s stupid, isn’t it?” Harry looks down at Draco.

“Not really,” he replies before Hermione. “Mother was thinking of keeping me back… especially
with Aunt Bellatrix who has it out for me specifically.”

“Even my parents know something is going on,” Hermione says. “And they’re Muggles.”

“But where’s safer than Hogwarts? Dumbledore—“

“Is getting old,” finishes Draco.

“Well— he’s, what…”

“A hundred and fifty.” answers Ron. “Give or take a few years.”

The four of them break out into laughs. They stay up for a little longer; chatting about what
they’ve done over the summer and other things that were happening in the Wizarding World. They
shut the topic down when the talk of the Daily Prophet came into talk; Draco was getting ready for
bed when the door slowly creaks open.

“Mrs. We— Harry!” Draco smiles.

“I’ve come to sleep in here.”

“But—“

“I put some pillows under a blanket so it looked like I was there.” He grins and walks over to him.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not.” He says breathlessly. He stares down at his blazing green eyes that were
illuminated only by the small fire light Draco had made. “You have the most beautiful eyes,
Harry,” he murmurs.

“I could get lost in yours, Draco.” He leans up and kisses him gently and slowly. “I’ve missed you
so much.”

“Mhm,” He replies dumbly. He was memorizing his jaw frame, the way his skin looked smooth,
and the strands of hair that had grown longer.

“Did you know I love it when your hair isn’t gelled?”

“You do?”

“You look more alive.” He moves a piece of it that was covering his eyes.

“Good because I’ve decided to stop using it… it was my father that told me to use it.”

“How are you by the way?” He walks over to George’s bed and sits on it. “I know what the
Prophet has been saying about you… about us… is it affecting you at all?”

“No,” he easily lies. He sits down next to him. “Rita Skeeter can suck my bloody cock for all I
care, Harry. All the rubbish she’s saying how I put you under a love spell can easily be proven
wrong.”

“Oh yeah?” He quirks an eyebrow. “How?”

“If you were under a love potion, you’d be more obsessive than actually loving. I mean, you
remember Christmas.”

“Oh yeah.” Harry scowls. “I remember Christmas. I could’ve killed George.”

Draco laughs; Harry wraps his arm around his waist and kisses him in a different manner; it was
more sensual; slower; more tasteful. With his arm wrapped around his waist and trying to pull him
even closer— if that were possible— Draco has no choice but to wrap his left leg around him; now
straddling him. They were nose to nose, minty breath from both boys fill the air, and Harry’s hand
gently finds its way to Draco’s cheek. Neither seemed to mind the position they’ve found
themselves in. Specifically, Draco who’s fantasized about being in his lap for ages now.

“I just… I can’t believe I have you,” whispers the Slytherin.

“I’m sorry I was such an idiot…” he stares up at him

“Who would Harry Potter be if he wasn’t an idiot?” he smirks.

“Oh, shut up,” he grumbles and then proceeds to kiss him passionately.

Draco’s hand finds his hip and rubs his thumb on the skin that was exposed. The hand that was
previously on his cheek sneaks its way through his blonde hair and lightly tugs at it. Not having
the ability to stop, Draco lets out an indescribable noise that was clearly a sign of pleasure. Harry
pulls away and stares at him with wide eyes; other than that his expression was unreadable.

“Harry—“ He was bright red from embarrassment, uncomfortable in certain areas, and impatiently
waiting to be kissed again.

What was he supposed to do?

Harry, seeming to be lost for words, tugs at his hair again, and Draco’s mouth slightly falls open,
eyes flickering, and his hand gripping onto Harry’s waist for the life of him. “Shit…” he whimpers
pathetically.

“Is this— Is that— Do you enjoy that?” he whispers; Draco’s not sure if it’s judgmental or not.

A beat of silence and then he hesitantly nods.

“It suits you.”

“What does that supposed to mean?” he asks defensively.

“I just mean— your hair is so soft and so easy to…” He lightly tugs at him and Draco groans and
leans his forehead on his shoulder.

“H-Harry… I…”

“Sorry.” He quickly pulls his hands away. “Sorry I— I got carried away.” He goes to move back
but Draco grips his arm to stop him.

“Just…” he grabs his wand, turns the fire light off, and was now staring at Harry in the dark; only
the moon provided some light.

“Why’d you do that?”

“No particular reason, Potter.” He tries to sound nonchalant but he was practically quivering at
Harry’s touch.

“Alright, Malfoy,” he drawls in the most attractive way ever. Or it possibly felt that way because of
the circumstances. “But can I just say you sound so bloody attractive.”

Draco kisses him roughly so he could quiet his groans when Harry tugs at his hair again; He
pushes his body against Harry who lets out a moan at the contact.

They had briefly looked at each other, Draco nodded, Harry smiled, and now the Gryffindor had
found himself tugging at Draco’s hair with his right hand while his left was firmly placed on the
Slytherin’s thigh; Draco still had his hand against his cheek while his other gripped on top of
Harrys free one until his knuckles were whiter than usual.

The friction they were both providing has both boys letting out ragged breathing, “F-Fuck,
Harry…” He gasps.

“I know,” he pants. “I— Merlin…” His head falls on Draco’s shoulder; The Slytherin’s eyes
flicker as Harry presses harder against him.

“H-Harry— I’m—“

“M-me too,” Harry groans right in his ear.

Everything was perfect; the kisses tasted sweet and the sensation felt euphoric. Harry looked
stunning as his mouth hung open; his shirt clinging tightly to his arms; his hair still perfectly messy
and his glasses on the verge of falling off his nose. Draco on the other hand… his hair was tousled
which typically he’d be insecure about but right now he can’t bring himself to care; his shirt half
raised exposing his scars he hasn’t learned to love yet; his hips stuttering to a stop while Harry’s
was already still; mind fuzzy and only repeating Harry’s name.
Draco doesn’t know this, but Harry was staring at Draco, heart beating out of his chest, noticing his
grey eyes sparkle from the moonlight and how his pink lips were plumed and bright red; his hand
twitched in his when he reached his climax and then let it rest on the bed; the way his chest heaved
in rhythm with Harry’s was satisfying.

“Pass me my wand,” Draco speaks first.

“Er— why?”

“To cast a cleaning spell, Harry. I don’t exactly want to sleep with my spunk all in my bottoms.”

“Ha.” Harry snorts. He reaches for it and hands it to Draco who casts the spell on both of them.

The Gryffindor rolls Draco on his back before laying himself down behind him; his arm snakes its
way around Draco’s waist and they were now chest to back.

“I’ve never done that before…” says Harry.

“I would hope so,” replies Draco.

“Jealous to think I would have done it with someone else?”

“You have no idea,” he grips his hand tightly.

Harry kisses the back of his neck.

“When we were sharing a bed at Grimmulad Place,” begins Draco.

“I’m sorry,” he replies quickly. “I just… that was me desperately wanting to be around you in a
horrible situation… I never meant for it to be torture for you.”

“The amount of times I wanted to tell you I fucking love you.” Draco suddenly feels a pit of anger
toward him. “And you just… how could you not know I did?”

“You were fake dating Astoria and— and drooling over George so I thought— I mean—“

“All those things you did.” He shoves his arm away and sits up. How did the perfect moment get
them here? “You don’t understand… I wanted to die, Harry. You were suffocating me. You...”

“Draco, I’m sorry.” He sits up too. “I was confused— you must know what thats like! With Ron
asking me about Cho and then everything Nott would say about us, I mean— I thought I was
straight! Christ, I mean Ron and Hermione are. I thought I had to be too!”

“But you don’t get it,” he growls in a low tone. “I have… I’ve been in love with you since I laid
my eyes on you! I hated you and— and now we’re together and I can’t manage to feel… to feel
real.”

“Draco, this is real. I’m not— I’m not pretending.”

“How do I know that?”

“You have to trust me…” he places his chin on his shoulder and wraps his arms around his waist
from behind. “Trust me to give you what you wanted all these years because I want to too.”

“But why do you want to?” Tears stream down his face. “I don’t understand… I-I just don’t,
Harry.”
 “I told you I fell for you when we practiced dancing… It was going fine; it felt normal, until we
crashed close to each other… and your eyes. Fuck, Draco your eyes… people tell me about mine
when they should be talking about yours… and then when you gave me your coat to wear… when
you grew the flower for me… you’re so loving even though you came from a house where your
father didn’t show you that… Please.” Draco can feel Harry’s tear fall on his t-shirt. “Believe me. I
need you to believe me because… because with everything going on, I can’t stand seeing you like
this.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, suddenly feeling guilty.

“No— that’s not— don’t be… let me put it this way.” He slowly puts Draco’s hand in his. “This is
you.” A white Forget-Me-Not blooms in his hand. “And all I want to do is this.” He puts his hand
over it; like a protection. “But with everything going on, I… I’m terrified of you losing a pedal
while I’m protecting you.”

“Harry…”

“I know; this metaphor is weird— I sort of got it from Hermione— we called on the phone once or
twice during the summer— but you understand, don’t you?”

He’s at a loss for words so he only nods.

“I love you so much. And it’s not sudden.”

“Can we go to sleep?” Draco murmurs under his breath as he stares down at the flower.

“Yeah.” He picks up the flower and carefully sets it on the nightstand. They situate themselves the
same way they were before.

“If I’m your flower then you’re my sun,” Draco whispers before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter End Notes

the brief sex was awful, I'm sorry you had to read that but they're fucking 16 so
something was bound to happen.
GOOD NARCISSA MALFOY!!!!

Harry's little metaphor has me sobbing lowkey. I don't care if some of you find it
cringey I'm so proud of it.

can't wait for everything to go to shit... :)

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