Drarry Potions AU

Chapter Sixteen

Harry snorted, and it just put another pang in Draco's heart.

"That's vague," the Gryffindor said plainly.

"Well 'the truth' covers a lot of different things," Draco mused, trying not to sound like he cared as much as he did. He drew in another deep breath and kept going when Harry didn't respond. "I fled because I was scared." It was weird to say it out loud, Draco thought, since he wasn't allowed to admit fear to his father. He was trained not to show emotion, to not be afraid. To show his true feelings felt . . . strange. Good, but strange.

"Which time?" Harry asked, voice quieter than before. "The secret passage or the classroom?"

"Both," Draco admitted. "I was scared of feeling. Father always tells me not to show emotion, that it shows weakness. I don't see how fleeing was any less weak."

"Well we're on the same page there, aren't we?" Harry hissed.

Draco nodded, but it didn't matter because Harry still wasn't looking at him. "I was scared that if I kissed you, it'd have been because of Pansy's bloody potion; she'd used it again on me that morning, I could tell. I think maybe it also might've been that I wanted to prove that I could resist it. I didn't want to give Pansy what she'd wanted.

"In the classroom, I'd fled because I was scared of what everyone might think. It's the same reason you've been avoiding me, I'd imagine. Talking, interacting, with me would just cause unwanted stares and whispers, and---" Draco shivered. Harry felt it; Draco still hadn't moved his hand from Harry's wrist.

"Anything else you're planning on explaining?" Harry grumbled. He still wasn't looking at Draco, or even in the remote direction of Draco.

"The potion---the one for me to fall in love with you. Ever wonder why it didn't work, Harry?"

The Gryffindor stiffened. He most certainly had wondered that.

"That's another reason I ran from the amortentia lesson---we were supposed to tell each other what we smelled. Same string of logic, really. I would've said broomstick polish . . . cedar . . . Harry Potter's damn awful cologne." Harry tensed even more. "That's why Pansy's stupid love potion didn't work, Potter. You can't make someone fall in love with the person they're already in love with."