Together, We Can Soar (A Drarry FanFiction/"Falling" 2 of 3)

Chapter Three

   He hummed and grinned to himself as he got dressed in the new polo shirt as promised, already looking forward to being reunited with his other half at breakfast.

Not that they could sit together of course, despite the Eighth Years having their own table – fitting in with their lack of uniform or official house status. It ran parallel to the teacher's table, horizontal to the other benches, comfortably fitting the forty or so students that had returned. But Draco hadn't felt up to sitting next to one another yet, preferring to eat alone like he had the rest of the year. Harry longed to throw caution to the wind and just sit beside him like there was nothing out of the ordinary, but like everything that had occurred between them so far, he would leave it to Draco to decide when the time was right. It didn't mean he liked seeing Draco all alone though.

The day passed like a typical Thursday, with lessons after breakfast and then lunch sat apart again. But Harry did catch Draco's eye once over his sandwich and pumpkin juice, and the small smile he'd given him had propelled him into the afternoon. He was wearing a black shirt and silvery-grey trousers that hugged him in all the right places, and Harry had to placate himself thinking how lovely they would be to slowly take off later.

They had to get through the rest of lessons first though, but thankfully they only had double Potions, a class they not only shared, but had been fortunate enough to partner up on an assignment for since last week. As he and Draco had worked together once before at the start of the year, Harry felt like it hadn't caused any raised eyebrows to do so again.

Slughorn had seemed reluctant to let Harry pair with Draco when they had first worked together several months ago. He'd bristled when Harry had wordlessly moved his books over to sit beside the lonely looking boy, but with no other Slytherins left in his year, Harry had quickly sussed that Draco was going to be the odd one out if he didn't do something, and that hadn't sat well with him. Slughorn had probably thought Draco beneath Harry, despite his obvious skill in the subject, but Harry had been glad at the time with his decision, and even more so now. If he hadn't taken that chance then, would Draco have let him comfort him three weeks ago, would they now be together without planting that small seed of trust?

During that first lesson together, when Harry had approached the space next to Draco with no small amount of trepidation, Draco had looked over at Harry with wide, sceptical eyes, almost fearful of what he would do. But Harry had just smiled at him and began chopping the closest thing for their brew, not saying anything, hoping his gesture would be rightly interpreted. That had caused Draco to huff though, to take the damn knife unceremoniously off him and start the task again correctly, making Harry smirk. He'd appreciated Draco still having that bit of spark about him then as much as he did now.

Now they worked exceptionally well together in their new official partnership. Draco was a good teacher, patient with Harry despite affecting eye rolls and huffs when Harry was being a bit dense, but unlike at the start of the year, this past week they had been delivered with subtle hints of affection. Potions had become a safe space that they could let their fingers brush, or their shoulders bump, without it being too obvious.

Or so Harry thought. The look Hermione had given him when they were clearing their belongings away had made him wonder, especially when she hurried Ron out as quickly as possible, stating loudly that she needed help with something in the library, much to Ron's dismay. Draco and Harry had been the last students in the classroom, with even Slughorn gone back to his office, leaving them alone to carefully tidy the rest of their ingredients away.

"That seemed convenient," Draco noted, observant as always.

Harry just chuckled and risked a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," he said.

"You Muggles have the weirdest sayings," Draco chided without rancour.