That evening Draco sat in the Great Hall with his friends, trying not to relive the disaster that was the potions lesson over and over again in his head.
Despite Harry being so relaxed about it all, something was bugging him. Was Harry really being friendly to him? or just too tired to have another one of their classic quarrels? Draco couldn't rest with the idea that Harry still thought of him as a "bloody tosser", as Ron kindly put it. He wanted to clear the air, and not just because he dissolved half of his school work this morning, but to make up for years of nastiness and hate, hate that was no longer inside of him.
Draco kept looking up from his food to place and eye on Harry, but the view was restricted and he felt awkward having so many people around him.
He needed to get Harry alone
After several minutes of contemplation, whilst completely disregarding any form of conversation happening around him, he saw Harry get up from the table, and make for the exit.
No reason in dragging this out now is there?
Draco made an excuse to leave and told Pansy and Blaise he'd catch them in the common room, before swiftly trailing Harry out of the hall and into the castle. After enough distance, when the surrounding noises began to fade and the staircases emptied, he called out
"Harry!.... Hey, Harry!"
Harry stopped and turned on his heel
"Malfoy? What do you want?"
"Hey, so...um...I just wanted to apologise again for earlier, in potions" Draco walked up a few more steps "I know you probably think I'm a massive git but... I swear it was an accident and if you want me to redo your potion I totally will honesty I don-"
"Malfoy! It's fine" Harry smiled cutting in "Honestly, forget about it ok? Slughorn has a habit of over-marking my work anyway, I could produce a vile of stolen pumpkin juice and he'd still award me the highest grade" he laughed
"I understand. It's just... I just wanted to let you know that... I would never do anything like that to annoy you or get in your way, not anymore at least"
Harry raised an eyebrow and Draco took a breath to prepare what he'd being going over in his head all day
"I know all your friends think I'm a massive git, and I'm sure you do too actually... and you have every right to!... because, well, well I was a massive git and... I don't know... I'm mumbling now, I just wanted to say that...I am sorry, truly, not just for today but for everything... and I know sorry isn't nearly enough for the nastiness I threw at you, and I'm not asking you to forgive me... I just... I hoped maybe we could... start over, and if you don't want to be around me, which I would totally understand, then that's fine too...i just...wanted you to know that I wont be... bothering you anymore, and I won't bother you when we're sharing a common room either. I sort of... want things to be civil now, not at each others throats..."
Draco was staring at his feet awkwardly, feeling like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. Since when did Malfoys apologise? Pigs would fly before he ever thought he'd be civil with Harry Potter
Harry stared at him wide eyed "This isn't a joke is it? You're not pulling a massive prank on me right now? Pretending to be nice when really-"
"No! Absolutely not, I swear" Draco explained "Really, Harry... everything that happened recently with the Dark Lord and the battle has seriously changed me. I'm living with some serious regrets from my past behaviour and I need to amend that, especially with you"
"Wow, ok. Well... I wasn't expecting that" Harry said scratching his head "I mean... you're not wrong. You were a real piece of work that's for sure"
Draco finally made eye contact and Harry could see the genuine remorse on his face. He studied him for a moment, searching for a speck of amusement to prove he was winding him up but, nothing. Draco was totally serious, and genuinely sorry
"...I guess, in a way... I agree with you." Harry said "I'm tired of fighting, regardless of who it's with and honestly I'd like a nice peaceful year here before I leave" he quirked his eyebrow, tilting his head to the side with reluctance "You're being totally serious?"
"I am" Draco nodded and Harry could see he was overcome with guilt
"This isn't a joke?"
"Not at all"
"You're not going to sneak into my room and murder me in my sleep?"
Draco frowned "Come on.."
Harry laughed "Sorry! That one was a bit of a stretch"
I'm being totally honest here, which is killing me inside because old Draco would've given you a dead leg by now and run off laughing" Draco added
"I'm still sort of expecting you to..."
"I'm not going to do that!" Draco moaned, desperate for Harry to take him seriously
"Alright! I get it! I can see you're trying to be a better person" he walked over to Draco and smiled "It's kinda cool. Besides, you're calling me 'Harry' now instead of Potter, which quite frankly sounds super weird"
"It's weird for me too. Look, please can I do something to make up for years and years of shit? Anything?" Draco asked
Harry laughed unable to come up with an answer
"Seriously Harry, I'm still mortified about this morning!" he broke into a smile, chuckling at how bizarre the situation was, Potter and Malfoy getting along
"You've definitely done worse to me, Malfoy"
Draco's face fell slightly as he remembered how ridiculous he used to act around the school, how much of a bully he was, he cringed just at the thought of it all
"Look, we're going to be living in the same common room soon, so I want to make peace and start on a clean slate... but only If I've earned it, so seriously what can I do?"
Harry just chuckled and shook his head
"I'll do all your homework for the next three months! or I'll bring you a years supply of sweets from Honeydukes! How about I'll let you beat me in the next few quidditch games, it'll take all my power, but ill try" he joked
"Draco, look I appreciate what you're trying to do and for what it's worth I agree, we need a clean slate. If I'm being honest, after the war I put a lot of things into perspective, I really don't have time for petty drama and childish bickering anymore, I've been hunted by a murderer every day of my life so now I guess you could say I've got a more positive outlook on life, I'm not clinging onto silly irrational things. What I'm trying to say is... as long as you really take responsibility for how much of an arse you were before and you don't return to that behaviour... then I think we could just about get along. I mean, after all you did stop the death eaters from turning me over to Voldemort at your manor"
Draco flinched slightly at the sound of 'death eaters' being said aloud. Harry took a step closer and a subtle smirk appeared on his face. Draco felt his nerves tighten as he got closer to him. His eyes really were the most stunning shade of green. His birds nest of bouncy hair had clearly never seen a brush in his life and there was a subtle scent of mango body wash on him. He liked it.
"I'll make you a deal. I don't need you to be doing me any favours or running my errands, and as tempting as it is to absolutely crush you in Quidditch, I'll be able to do that by myself" he teased "What I could use though, is a practice mate."
"A what?" Draco asked confused
"Practice Quidditch with me. Its been over a year since I last played a real game and the seekers on the other teams aren't even a challenge. As much as I hate to admit it... you are a brilliant seeker. Though not as good as me" he winked "I could use a challenge, Ron can barely fly, he only knows how to be at the goalposts I need someone who's seeking skill is level with mine. So, how about you practice with me?"
Draco was caught off guard by how easy-going he was, he really expected Harry to tell him to shove off and leave him be
"Err... sure! Sounds good to me. Thanks Harry"
Harry gave a wide smile and turned to begin walking back up the stairs
"Don't thank me yet, Malfoy! Maybe I'm saving all my resentment to take it out on you on the pitch!" he span around a poked out his tongue, cheekily "Sunday at four o'clock, see you then!" he disappeared around the corner
"Well, that could've gone a lot worse" Draco said to himself making his way up to the common room
He spent the rest of the evening reading in his room but his focus continuously drifted onto his conversation with Harry. He closed his book and placing it on the dresser, made his way across to the bathroom where he ran himself a warm bath as a last resort to wind down after an eventful day. He sunk into the bath letting the hot water engulf him and reached over to grab his luxury patchouli shower gel, rubbing it into his palm and as he sniffed the scent a thought came over him, he preferred the smell of mango.
______________________________
The boys met on the Sunday and practiced their Quidditch game as planned. They flew across the pitch on their brooms chasing the snitch and narrowly avoiding the bludgers. Harry couldn't remember the last time he felt so alive. The rush of flying at top speed, the wind biting at him as he soared high and low, he felt adrenaline rushing through him and was buzzing with excitement the whole time. They flew together for two hours, enjoying every moment. Everything felt normal again, aside from the fact that Harry was spending friendly one on one time with Draco Malfoy, other than that, perfectly normal
Draco was still a little intimidated by Harry's confidence, how he approached everything with such ease, how he somehow oozed charm and charisma. Draco couldn't help but linger on his gaze just a second longer than he used to. There was something about Harry that he was drawn to. Now he no longer had his fathers voice in his ear telling him how to act, he could finally see clearly and have the freedom to feel what he truly felt deep down, not just what he was told to feel
He admired Harry, everything about him was cool and everyone around him liked him. Draco could only imagine what that must have felt like. He loved being able to play quidditch again, as the last few years of school got a little too serious for him, he finally felt alive and remembered what it was like to have fun. He never thought he'd see the day that he would be having fun with Harry, and though he'd never admit it, he really was a fantastic seeker
Draco reached the ground and watched Harry fly down next to him. He swooped down so gracefully, jumping off his broomstick flawlessly, casually brushing his fingers through his windswept hair and striding over to Draco, still grinning from the thrill of the ride.
"Woo! That was fantastic!" he was grinning from ear to ear and panting "I'm exhausted though! Guess I'm still a little rusty from being out for so long"
"Rusty? Your skills are unbeatable!" Draco moaned "It's quite annoying"
"I knew you were always jealous of me" Harry winked, still breathless "Right, I need to go shower, you coming?" he asked giving Draco a playful nudge on the arm
"Sure. Lead the way"
____________________________________
Draco managed to sneak into the showers before Harry had finished getting undressed. He felt clammy and his throat was tight, thoughts racing through his mind
Is Harry really going to be using the showers near me?
It wasn't uncommon for the boys to all shower in the same block, the only difference was that they would always remain in their houses after games or practice sessions. Draco had never spent this much time alone with Harry before, let alone stripping off clothing and getting wet within the same vicinity
Draco let the hot water soak into his skin, filling him with warmth and soothing his cold aching body. He began lathering shampoo through his platinum blonde hair when he heard footsteps from the corner of the room where Harry strolled in, towel wrapped around his waist, whistling.
He resisted the urge to turn around and instead bore his gaze into the wall in front of him. Oh how he wanted so badly to take a sneak peak at 'The Chosen One' in nothing but a towel
Draco had known since he was sixteen that he had been having feelings of bisexuality. He had always admired other men and thought about them from time to time, assuming he was just appreciating their style or finesse, but eventually as he grew older he came to the realisation that actually, it was more than harmless admiration, it was attraction.
This was something he'd kept totally to himself, not even his best friends knew and he planned to keep it that way. He certainly had no attraction to Harry Potter anyway, he had told himself this was simply two people patching things up. Nothing more.
The showers consisted of a large cream-coloured brick room, where the individual showers were divided by half walls to provide some privacy. Harry was kind enough to pick a shower at the opposite end of the room where he lathered up his usual mango body wash and began humming to some unknown song, it was as though he was totally oblivious to Draco even being there
"Just a peak wouldn't hurt right?" Draco thought. Something inside of him was eager to get a peak. Curiosity was driving him, everyone adored The Chosen One and Draco was keen to see what all the fuss was about
His eyes dropped to the floor then slyly slid to the right, through the corner of his eye he saw Harry had his back to him and so he slowly turned his head
His breath caught in his throat and eyes widened as he fixated on Harry's perfect figure. His slim but toned frame was perfectly proportioned, toned muscles peaked out against his golden skin. Draco admired the soft curve of his backbone that merged gorgeously into the top of his buttocks which, to Draco's annoyance, got cut off by the dividing wall. Harry turned slightly and began scrubbing his arms out in front of him. Draco was fixated on his lean arms, he could see the peaks and contours of his biceps and triceps, subtly shifting with movement. Draco swiftly snapped back to the wall, images rushing to his mind, blood rushing to his groin.
"Oh Merlin... Oh no..." he muttered scrambling to turn off the shower and grabbing his towel wrapping it hastily around his waist, trying his hardest to discreetly cover his growing erection. Holding the towel he hurried back off the changing room
"Shit...shit! Why am I so aroused? and aroused by Harry Bloody Potter of all people!"
he paced across the room brushing a hand through his wet hair
"I know I've had crushes on boys before but... never did I think I'd feel this way about Potter! No, I definitely don't have a crush on Potter, no way"
Draco got dressed and was pulling on fresh socks when Harry walked in dripping wet in his towel. He changed in private into a his baggy Gryffindor hoodie and jeans, Draco wasn't sure why Harry would hide his amazing body under such an oversized top but he felt special knowing he knew what was underneath.
Harry was walking across the changing room to Draco when he felt himself begin to lose his footing. He grabbed onto the sink and his face dropped into one of confusion, he tried to catch his breath as everything became distorted and fuzzy.
"Harry? Harry what's wrong?" Draco asked running over. Harry went down to his knees and Draco took his arm in support "Harry, what's happening?" he asked
Harry took a breath and smiled through the shaking "I'm fine...honestly. I just haven't eaten all day, I think I'm just feeling a little faint that's all. The come down from the adrenaline of the game plus the hot shower, sometimes my head goes a little fuzzy, it's happened before, I'll be fine" he gave a subtle smile and sat himself up on the bench steadily
"Why haven't you eaten all day?" Draco asked, perching on the bench beside him
"I sort of binged three boxes of Bertie Bott's beans last night with Ron, almost threw up this morning" Harry laughed
"You managed to defeat the darkest wizard in the world but still made yourself sick from sweets?" Draco teased shaking his head "Don't you have food back in your common room?"
"We used to until McGonagall banned us because Seamus made a pizza explode and it took two weeks to magic the cheese off the ceiling" he smiled at the memory "Hermione was furious there was tomato sauce all over her eighteen page essay"
Draco broke out into a laugh "Alright well, we need to get you some food. You're mad if you think I'm carrying you back to the castle though"
"You'd leave me passed out here in this cold wet changing room?"
"Too right" he joked
Harry managed a soft playful punch and a weak smile
"Ah...we may have missed dinner" Draco said looking at his watch "Don't worry though, I know how to sneak food out of the kitchens if you want something to eat?"
"Are you asking me on a date?" Harry asked
Draco scoffed and sneered back "Absolutely not! Fine, I'll just leave you here"
"Im joking! I'm bloody starving though, wait... how do you manage to sneak into the kitchens?"
"Being the biggest arsehole in the school sometimes has its perks" he winked "C'mon, let's go"