Swapped - Drarry

Chapter 11

Chop. Chop. Chop.

Harry's knife scraped against the worn wooden board, chopping up some kind of green-blue leaf into small squares. A cauldron bubbled on the desk between him and Draco, who was leaning over the glossy yellow liquid to stir it. Because of the small amount of eighth year students, they were split into small groups or pairs and sent to the sixth and seventh year classes this way they could catch up on their missed studies while being intermingled with other kids. Harry and Draco had potions together with a couple Hufflepuffs, but Harry had Transfiguration with Blaise, Neville, and Ginny, and he had Divination with Luna, Pansy Parkinson, Ron, and Hermione.

But despite the new sense of (almost) normalcy, Harry felt odd, to say the very least. Ever since the.. you know what... Harry never liked to be alone with his thoughts. But even here, in the back of a crowded, noisy classroom, he was still subject to the dark thoughts. Everything found a way to remind him of times of pain.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Draco motioning for Harry to add in the mysterious leaves, sprinkling in a circular anti-clockwise direction, as the instructions clearly stated on the board. Harry lazily dumped the leaves into the swirling mixture and it immediately turned an electric blue, crackling and fizzing like pop rocks.

"What the HECK, Potter, are you even reading the instructions at all!" Draco scolded as he shooed Harry's hands away from the crackling pot and began messing with it further in an attempt to salvage the mixture. Harry just stood back, laughing awkwardly as Draco stood back with defeat as he realised there was nothing he could do to save it.

Soon enough the potions teacher came along and gave both boys an embarrassingly long lecture on their immaturity in the situation before promptly kicking them out of the classroom to sit in the hall until their next class.

——-

"Hey, so... um..." Draco began but trailed off.

Harry and Draco sat in the empty hallway outside the potions room, drenched in silence. Harry had been leaning his head back against the wall and staring at the intricate ceiling, bored out of his mind, so when Malfoy began to talk, he was almost grateful. He would much rather talk to his ex-nemesis than keep staring at a ceiling for forever.

Harry turned to Draco, who immediately averted his gaze, rubbing awkwardly at his neck.

"Hmm? Were you about to say something?" Harry asked and Malfoy turned back towards him. Malfoy's slender hand ran slowly through his platinum locks and he bit at his lip slightly, and Harry would've been lying if he said he didn't follow the movements with his eyes.

"Um yeah, I just wanted to ask you..." Draco finally looked at Harry properly. "What was that all about in the courtyard like a week ago?"

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Elaborate.."

"You know, the whole 'smell me' thing?" Draco emphasised the sentence with air quotes. "Cause I'm happy to just ignore it, or chalk it up to being stressed about the swap but it was super weird-"

Harry interrupted the boy next him with an awkward laugh, looking back at the ceiling. He took it back. Harry would much rather sit and rot in an empty hallway for the rest of his life, than ever tell this story to Malfoy, of all people.

"Oh, um.. It's kind of embarrassing," Harry said. Draco laughed and turned to him.
"Understatement of the year! It was awkward as hell, I must say honestly," Draco' eyes crinkled as he laughed through the sentence. Harry scoffed.

"So, um.. why exactly were you so shocked when I said you smelled the same as usual?" Draco pondered, poking at his bottom lip with his finger gently. Harry tried to not let his eyes linger on the movement, for whatever reason.