Mirror of Erised|Drarry

⊱Epilogue: What he sees⊰

Draco found it. He was looking right at it. He almost couldn't believe what he was looking at, in fact, he wouldn't have if he wasn't standing right in front of it, seeing it with his eyes. What was he looking at exactly? Well, he was looking at the Mirror of Erised, the mirror that made you see what your biggest desire was, but, the image is what really threw him off. The image was something he'd never thought he'd see.. it was something no one, not even Draco himself would expect him to see. Right in front of him, looking at that very mirror, he saw him and Potter holding hands, looking at each other with such raw love in their eyes it was sickeningly sweet, but god it made his heart swell looking at that image. What the fuck did this mean? Why was he seeing this, Draco and Potter were rivals, weren't they? They were on opposite sides of the war, Draco had bullied Potter since first year when Harry refused his friendship. So why was he seeing this and.. why did he want it so bad? Why did Draco actually want to kiss Potter, hold his hand, hug him, and so much more...? Draco shook himself away from it and rushed out of the room before he could drive himself crazy with it.. though it seems that he already has.

You'd think the room of requirements couldn't be used anymore ever since it's gotten burned down in sixth year right? Well, magic is amazing, so amazing apparently that the room of requirements fixed itself, and that's how Draco found the room of requirements. He was walking around the school on prefect dudy (he was surprised McGonagall still let him keep the perfect title) and found the room of requirements, out of curiosity, he walked in and saw that it was in perfect condition along with the rest of the castle, though Hogwarts took a very long time to repair after the war.

Draco ran into the Slytherin common room, frantically looking around for someone. ANYONE. to take about this too, it was no secret that Draco no longer respects his father, nor does he abide by his rules or the Malfoy expectations, he decided that he was done with that whenever the war ended and Voldemort was killed, there was no point, and by now Draco didn't even care about a fucking bloodline, but what he did care about however, was figuring out why the hell he saw  him and Harry in the mirror "Pansy!" Draco shouted frantically around the common room, not at all caring about embarrassing his friend. Pansy and Blaise were the only two people who really talked to Draco anymore after the war, ya know with him being an ex Death Eater and all no one really wanted to be around the blonde, who could blame them really?

When Draco found Pansy, she was in her room with the door parted open slightly, he walked into her room without knocking and flopped on her mattress dramatically, his face hitting the pillow.

"Oh Merlin what now?" Pansy groaned "what does it mean?" Draco mumbled in the sheets, though his voice was muffled Pansy heard him clearly.

"What does what mean?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Draco rolled over on his back, running his hands down his face with his hair sprawled around the pillow in an unorderly fashion. "I was seeing Potter, fucking Potter in the mirror of erised." He explained as if seeing the mirror of erised was such a normal thing to happen.

"Wait wait wait, you saw the mirror of erised?!" Pansy exclaimed, not acting as neutral about it. "Oh.. right.." Draco sighed and sat up "I went to the room of requirements and see what could possibly make me actually happy because quite frankly, I'm tired of being miserable after years of being so and trying to exceed expectations, so, the room created the mirror and I saw Potter and I holding hands!"

Pansy couldn't help but snort which earned a glare from Draco. "I'm sorry" she giggled "but did you really expect not to fall for Potter? I mean come on, the tension is obvious, you only make fun of him because he rejected you in first year" she pointed out, Draco rolled his eyes. "Thanks for being no help at all" he grumbled and flopped back down.

"I mean come on! You really didn't see it? After years of being so obsessed with him-"

"I'm not obsessed with him!"

Pansy ignored him "you really didn't expect to actually want to at least be friends with him? Or have something more with him? I mean, come on, even a blind man could see it, you constantly talk about him with his 'stupid messy hair' and 'those dorky glasses' I mean really Draco, you couldn't make it anymore obvious."

"I was pointing out things that are stupid, what I hate about him, I don't like Potter, I don't want Potter, I don't care about Potter-"

"Oh come on we all know how you secretly feel about him, I see the way you look at him."

"And how exactly do I 'look' at Potter? because last time I checked looking at him makes my blood boil."

"Says the man who saved Potter's life and vice versa, Draco, you're driving yourself mad over this already." Pansy said completely sure of herself and, if Draco was honest, it was driving him a little crazy, did he like him? Did Draco actually want to be with him? It was obvious that Draco was gay, literally nothing about him screamed "I'm straight" but still.. him and Potter?

"Just think about it Draco, and for the record, Blaise and I see you looking at him with.. a sense of longing, like you knew that something would be there if things were different."

This time, Draco did actually think about it. How would things be if Potter accepted his friendship? If Potter was sorted into Slytherin? Though it didn't seem to fit Potter with how stupidly reckless and brave he was but.. still, what would it be like if things were different?

"I'll.. I'll think about it" Draco finally said, leaving Pansy satisfied.

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Harry was on his way to transfiguration, walking with Ron and Hermione like usual. The day was nice out, the skies clear, the weather warm, a cool breeze ruffling the leaves of plants. There wasn't a care in the world now that Voldemort's gone. Well, that is until he turned the corner and saw Malfoy running down the hall, away from them, most likely heading to the Slytherin common room for whatever reason he was, he looked frantic, almost scared, Harry wanted to see what was wrong, to see exactly why Malfoy was running, but.. after the war Harry vowed to himself that he wouldn't stalk Malfoy, that he wouldn't bother Malfoy when he clearly wants to be left alone and, right now, the Slytherin definitely looked like he wanted to be left alone.

Harry did, however spend a good amount of time during transfiguration wondering about  Malfoy and why he was running so frantically. Draco's
been bullied nonstop after the war, thanks to his Death Eater name, but he's handled it surprisingly well. Not necessarily great, but, well-ish. He'll catch him every now and then sneaking off when no one is watching, presumably heading to his room so he can get away from everyone around him, and all the glares he recieves. Harry could tell that the glares and sneers didn't bother him that much, but who would choose to stay around that when they could leave? When they could walk away from it?

How could Malfoy deal with all of this and just.. be uneffected by it? Malfoy didn't even bite back anymore, he just let himself loath in it, he let himself get tormented, almost as if the Slytherin felt like he.. deserved it. That thought made Harry's heart sting in an odd way. How could Malfoy just deal with this? How could he just mope around and let it happen? The war changed Malfoy.. a lot.. and Harry honestly couldn't tell if it was for the better or for worse.

Harry thought the latter.

Malfoy no longer held his usual sneer, he never bullied anybody, he never held his poster with pride, he never bragged about the Malfoy name, he just.. went about his day, not making eye contact with anyone.

Malfoy looked skinnier, paler, his eyebags were deeper than they usually were.. Harry felt sad for the taller male.

A/N: hey I don't have much to say ab this really, this is honestly a fic I thought of awhile ago and I'm actually doing it w a friend of mine on discord, more or less to give me more motivation to post it. Posting will not be super consistent since I'm usually busy w work, it's not a dream job or anything, but it keeps me busy, but wo further ado, I hope you guys enjoy!!
~Clement