Early December had rolled around as Ron, Hermione and Harry we're sat at their usual table in the great hall, tucking into breakfast and admiring the newly decorated Christmas tree that sat in the corner of the room.
Harry's thoughts we're elsewhere though, consisting of one thing and one thing only, the beautiful blonde Slytherin. They had been meeting up secretly for the last month now and Harry wanted to burst out to his friends and explain to them why he'd been extra cheerful and relaxed the past few weeks, but keeping their little romance private was the best thing to do at the present time. Until they had figured out between themselves how serious this relationship between them really was, they agreed to keep it to themselves. Plus, having a naughty secret, Harry thought, was absolutely thrilling.
Ron was eagerly digging into a heap of breakfast food, his plate piled with eggs, bacon, sausages, toast and beans.
"Do you ever stop eating?" Hermione said eyeing up Ron's second plate of breakfast
"Im hungry!" Ron moaned shovelling another forkful of eggs into his mouth
"Yes but sweetheart you also polished off an entire sharing tray of pumpkin pasties last night. You went to bed clutching your stomach in agony"
"Well... its a new day... a new meal" he smiled, spraying crumbs across the table
Hermione shook her head as usual, flattening out her morning copy of the daily Prophet and sinking into the pages. Harry laughed to himself, quietly sipping his coffee enjoying the usual banter between his friends. "You know you two a perfect together, right?"
Hermione rolled her eyes smiling down at her paper
"You know I love you really 'Mione" Ron clambered sweetly, picking up her hand and planting a kiss
"Love you too Ronald. And thank you for getting egg all over my hand"
"Anytime" Ron winked
"Anyway..." she sighed wiping her hands on a napkin. "I've really been enjoying getting to know the other students in our year actually. I was a little reserved at first but most of them are lovely. Plus I think our new common room is far nicer too"
"I'm just happy I get my own bedroom now, no more listening to Harry snoring every night! " Ron beamed, stabbing his fork into a sausage
"I think it's great" Harry agreed with Hermione, letting his mind drift to the idea of being able to sneak to and from Draco's room as often as he wanted, causing him to smile harder
"I've spent some time getting to know the group of Hufflepuff girls that are sharing with us, they're all very sweet. I should've made friends with them sooner really." she furrowed her brow thinking about how she'd always been closed off before and never really branched out to meet new friends, that would be a positive change she would make this year. "Heather is very studious and asked me to join her in the library on Friday afternoon for a study date, I'm really looking forward to it"
Harry raised his eyebrows and gave a positive nod at her enthusiasm, then holding his cup with both hands, took another long sip of his velvety warm coffee. He peered over Hermione's shoulder to see Draco perched at the table next to his friends, where he was also sipping on his morning coffee and playfully smacking Pansy's hand away from him where she let out a laugh
"So how is quidditch practice going with Draco, Harry?" Hermione asked curiously. Harry snapped back to his table and felt a mini rush of panic thinking she knew everything, thinking she'd seen him staring at him, before realising she was only referring to the quidditch practice, that was all she knew about anyway.
"Good, real good... my technique is definitely improving so that's one positive to come out of this arrangement" he said looking at them encouragingly
"and what other positive things have come out of it then?" Ron asked plainly with cheeks full of bacon
"What do you mean?" Harry replied, his heart hammering in his chest at the sudden interest in Draco
"Well, you must be getting something out of this other than better quidditch technique right? You already know you're the best seeker around, so why would you actively want to spend time with Malfoy? He's an arsehole". Ron said which cemented in Harry's head that he definitely was not ready to hear that he'd spent a whole night sucking face with him
"Ron, he's not the same person we remember him as. The war changed him too, you know." Harry glared at him "Maybe if you took the time to actually speak to him you'd realise his bullying days are far behind him"
"It's not like he just shoved me here and there, Harry. He discriminated against so many of us. He said the most vile things and laughed about it! I'm not talking to him until I get an apology to start with, let alone anything else!" Ron spat
"Well... maybe it's time to put the childishness from the past behind us?" Harry argued, but he wasn't confident in what he was saying, he knew Ron had a point and that made him feel ashamed "This whole year has been about coming together as one and moving forward in unison. He wouldn't be here if he still felt that way"
"Why are you defending him so much?"
Harry stumbled at what to say "Because... I don't really know... he's just been very kind to me since we returned and I guess I don't want to be holding grudges anymore, there's no point. I just see him as another friendly classmate now"
Another friendly classmate who's planning on screwing him deep into the mattress until he screams out in pleasure
Harry snapped away from that brief thought and tried to hold his argument against Ron
"He's not worth your time Harry, I thought you'd care more about what he did to us? To your actual friends" Ron jabbed at him, Hermione looked extremely conflicted and uncomfortable watching the conversation batting between them
"I do care about you all, so much!" Harry slammed his coffee down "I haven't forgotten that, alright? Just let me be happy here and stop questioning me about every choice I make ok? I want this last year to be drama-free if that's alright with you guys?" He glared at them
"Boys, please don't argue!" Hermione sighed "Ron, I agree that he has an awful lot of making up to do before any of us start getting chummy with him. Harry, I agree that we shouldn't push people aside who are just trying to be better, if Draco really has changed and wants to make amends then we should be forgiving, but not without a rather large apology too. Just please don't fight over him, okay? If things turn sour I'm more than happy to punch him in the face again" she said, her stern face breaking into giggles along with Ron and Harry, who relaxed again letting go of their tensions and returning to their breakfast.
Ron mouthed the words "You're an arse" across to Harry who chuckled to himself before mouthing back "I know".
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Draco entered the great hall with Blaise and made their way over to Pansy who was already sat at the table, dipping her peppermint teabag in the steaming cup and adjusting the teal, paisley print bandana that sat across her jet black fringe.
"Good Morning, my lovely ones" she spoke smoothly, as the boys climbed wearily into the bench and slumped against the table top. "Good to see we're all nice and sprightly today, sleep well?"
Blaise said nothing, he simply slumped the side of his head onto her shoulder and closed his eyes causing Pansy to let out a shriek as her hot tea splashed
"Hey! Watch yourself! This cardigan is designer" she moaned wiping the specks of liquid off her sleeve "What's up with you two today?"
"Barely slept" Draco groaned, spooning eggs onto his plate
"Any reason for that?" she asked quirking her head to the side. Pansy knew Draco was up to something, he'd been acting a little different for weeks now
Yes actually I was up most of the night stroking myself to erotic thoughts of Harry Potter
"...Study stress" he answered, eyes darting to his plate. If only she really knew
Pansy raised an eyebrow and looked at him deadpan, she didn't believe him. "Study stress? Really? Even though the workload this year is extremely relaxed and we don't even have any exams due?" She tilted her head to where Blaise was crashed out on her shoulder, beginning to weigh her down. She nudged him off and readjusted her shoulder, picking off a piece of fluff and flicking it at Draco
"I'm just behind, that's all" he said matter-of-factly
Pansy took a sip of tea, savouring the warmth before resting her cup down on the table and shooting Draco a mischievous smile
"That's a nice hickey you've got on your neck there" she said nodding towards him with a smug expression
Draco's face dropped in an awful attempt to keep his cool. His eyes shot open as he slid his hand up the side of his neck to cover the evidence.
Blaise looked up from breakfast excitedly, intrigue suddenly waking him up. "Oooh-hoo-hoo! Draco's getting some action!" he chuckled "so who is she?"
Both Blaise and Pansy were staring at Draco with expressions of eager anticipation, like children seconds away from getting candy. Blaise was grinning cheek to cheek while Pansy remained cool and collected, she was always one for some juicy gossip
"Guys relax, it's just someone I've been seeing casually, really... please don't make a big deal ok?" he encouraged, lowering the tone to keep the conversation private
"At least tell us who she is! You usually always let us know when you've got your eye on someone" Pansy asked eagerly, but cut herself short when she let out a small gasp "wait... is that where you disappeared to during the Halloween feast? To meet her?"
Draco stuttered his answer, trying to think of ways to deter them but nothing came. Eventually he sighed and gave in "Yes"
"Well we must know her already, Draco! Come on, we can keep a secret" Pansy said, taking another sip of tea.
Draco looked at her with obvious disbelief "Really Pans? You're the biggest gossip I've ever met"
"Ok, that might be true, but!" she exclaimed "-when it comes to my best friends, your secrets are safe with me, I promise" her eyes meeting Draco's with a sincerity
Draco wasn't sure what to do. He tried and failed to stab more eggs onto his fork but they fell off every time he went to eat. He knew he could trust them both, after all they had been friends for over seven years now they were basically family, but he promised Harry he would keep it quiet until they were both ready to come out together, he wanted to respect his wishes. He thought of Harry again, of his gorgeous smile, his laugh that could light up a room, the quick wit which despite making him a cocky, snarky arsehole, always made Draco laugh. His effortless ability to approach everything with ease, his perfect kisses and how annoyingly he never paid a single second of attention to his mound of unruly hair despite always looking fantastic. Draco felt a warm feeling in his chest. He felt happy, and he didn't want to ruin that feeling, he couldn't risk it
"I promised I would keep it a secret for now, I need to respect that. You know for a fact I would tell you both in a heartbeat if I could, but I can't" he said
Pansy and Blaise shared a look, before shrugging and returning to their breakfast. "That's understandable, but you might want to cover up your neck though If you want to avoid any more questions" she reached across to get a better look at the work of art on Draco's neck but he smacked her away with his hand causing her to let out a small yelp "alright! alright" she giggled returning to her tea
They returned to silence for the next few minutes, the boys slowly tucking into their food until Blaise looked up from his plate to Draco, his face contemplating something like the gears in his mind kicked in, he was putting things together
"You always tell me when you're dating someone, even if its just a brief crush" he paused with a face of confusion "You never keep it a secret"
Draco's eyes met him across the table, unsure of where he was going with this, but still anxious
"Even if you don't want us to know who it is, you always kiss and tell, Draco" he continued "But this time... this time you kept the whole thing private"
"Well, like I said... they want to keep it between us for now..."
Blaise was pointing his fork at Draco, he was onto something "Yes, but in the past you've always just mentioned discreetly that you've got someone on the side you know? You would usually just say to us that you've got your eye on someone but you can't tell us a name. This time... you haven't said a word..."
"That's right" Pansy added "Even when that Slytherin girl from fifth year winked at you, you told us all about it for days. You used to love the attention from girls. You would always tell us... what's different this time?"
Draco's face was dropping, feeling exposure creeping up on him. Blaise was half asleep five minutes ago but apparently he was paying attention now
"Draco..." he paused to meet his gaze, making sure no one else was listening "it's not a girl, is it? It's a boy"
Draco felt his heart sink and his face froze, of all the times to come out to his friends about his sexuality, he never thought it would be in a crowded hall over a plate of eggs.
"Draco... are you bisexual?" Pansy asked, gently leaning in, her curious cat eyes wide with surprise
His eyes dropped to the table and he pursed his lips. There was no point in trying to hide it anymore and to be honest he'd gotten tired of constantly stumbling and stuttering through every conversation, tired of keeping this part of him to himself. He took a deep breath and leaned in to join them in their private huddle, eyeing around him to ensure no one was listening in
"Alright, so... I might be a little bit bisexual" he whispered, Pansy let a small squeak of excitement escape "Just... please, please don't say anything to anyone? This is still quite new to me" he hushed and crossed his arms on the table, burying his head in the sleeves to escape this overwhelming conversation, especially with Harry himself only two tables away but Pansy reached her hands around his head and pulled him up, forcing eye contact
"Draco, look at me, darling. You have absolutely nothing to be worried about, alright?" her voice was stern but comforting, Draco liked it when she went into mother-mode "You can talk to us about anything that's going on, you know that we're never going to judge you and your secrets are always safe with us, really"
Draco nodded, his cheeks a little squished in her palms
"I'm so happy that you feel comfortable enough to open up about your sexuality, Draco! You should've said something sooner I know plenty of hot men that would die for an evening with you" she winked, letting go of his face while he rubbed his cheeks
"Why didn't tell us sooner, mate?" Blaise asked quietly
Draco dragged himself up from the table and readjusted himself. Pushing his eggs to one side he neatened up the hair falling down his forehead and gathered his thoughts
"I don't entirely know if I'm honest. I wasn't sure if I was really bisexual, or just curious? I flirted with a handful of men here and there, and yes I may have had one or two other... thoughts... about men, I just... I was never really certain. Until this person came along a few months ago, and I haven't been able to take my mind off him, he really is fantastic. For the first time I feel so sure of who I am inside, he makes me feel like I can truly be myself" he explained in a whisper
"Awww, Draco! I'm so happy for you!" Pansy beamed "as long as he looks after you, ok? Make sure he knows he'll have myself and Blaise to deal with if he doesn't" she nudged Blaise who gave a worried expression having just been forced into being Draco's bodyguard
"I'll be fine, I promise, as long as we keep this quiet, understand?"
"As long as the hickeys on your neck don't get bigger and more frequent" she teased
They laughed and returned to their breakfast, casually changing the subject before anyone else caught on. Blaise tucked back into his food and Pansy poured herself another hot drink. Briefly glancing at Draco, she gave him a quick wink which let him know that she would always have his back, which in turn filled Draco with appreciation for his wonderful friends. He knew he didn't have many, but the ones he did have we're pretty great.
Where would I be without them?