Draco had spent all of his time since his visit at Harry's pouring over books. Another week had passed, and Harry was trying to figure out how to tactfully bring up that he would like to see Draco again. Currently he was upstairs in his home gym doing pull ups, waiting for Draco's next letter.
There was less communication since Malfoy was so busy looking for answers for Harry, so Harry decided to work on himself instead of moping around. Malfoy made him happy, but that wasn't his job. Harry knew he needed to be content with himself, or else he would be miserable due to his dependency.
"Potter! Are you home?"
"Kreacher", Harry summoned.
"Yes Master Harry?"
"Bring Malfoy here please?"
"Of course sir."
Draco had no clue what the room Potter was in was, as he hadn't had a tour of the upstairs. All he knew was that they had walked past Harry's bedroom and further down the hall. Kreacher knocked, and motioned for Draco to go inside. Thanking the house elf, he made his way in.
"Sorry for just dropping by Potter but I found some... books."
The last thing Draco thought he would see was an extremely sweaty Harry Potter doing pull ups. And when he looked at Draco, his iconic glasses gone, and smiled, Draco almost fainted. Suddenly he was very thirsty.
"Sorry, I'm gross I wasn't expecting you."
"Don't let me interrupt your workout. I just wanted to tell you what I found."
Draco sure as hell wasn't going to pass up on this opportunity. He would accept this front row seat and watch as Harry's muscles arched and flexed.
"I found a few different books that we could go through, but I noted down a few specific spells, and if you don't like those there are some potions I could brew. There's better control when you cast the spells though. I would only use the potions with people that you trust, because they open up a mental connection of sorts."
Harry made a noise of approval, and Draco continued.
"So, this first spell will enchant your quill and allow it to read your words out loud in real time as you write them so the other person won't have to read them. I think I can modify it so that it can read out in your voice.
The next one allows you to tap your wand to your temple, like you're giving a memory, and then tap it to paper to note down your thoughts. I tested out that one, it works well as long as you have your thoughts collected. That would've saved me ages in writing parchment."
"Potions?"
"You and whoever you want to communicate with would both take the potion. The book doesn't say how long the potion lasts, so I would assume it's permanent unless you brew the antidote. You would have to have some sort of physical contact, and you would be able to communicate mentally.
It's not an open connection, and they can't see into your thoughts like with Occlumency. You just need to be in contact with the person. I'm not sure if it's skin to skin contact like holding hands or if it would still work if both people were wearing gloves or something."
Draco watched Harry continue to workout as Harry was thinking over the options. As he finished his last set, he turned to Draco, having made his decision.
"Is the potion difficult?"
Draco passed Harry a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink so that he wouldn't have to keep talking.
"I haven't looked too deeply into it, but I can pop back to The Manor, snag the book, and come back?"
"That would be nice. I'm going to take a shower while you're gone."
"In that case, I'll pick up dinner on my way back."
Malfoy left before Harry could even argue. Shaking his head, Harry hopped into the shower, wondering if he was reading too far into it or if Malfoy was actually checking him out. If he was, Harry thought he would definitely be interested. Malfoy had always been attractive on the outside, but now his personality was making him twice as enticing.
For now, Harry would enjoy his time with Malfoy. It wasn't fair of him to get that deeply involved when he had to work on getting himself back on track first. That doesn't mean he couldn't be a little flirty and see what happened. It was just him testing the waters, and he thought he deserved a little fun.
Looking through his closet, Harry decided on a muscle t-shirt and a pair of well fitting black jeans. He didn't think he was overtly attractive personally, but he knew he had nice arms, so he would show those off.
Draco arrived back to Harry's as he was toweling off his hair.
"You know, I've always wondered how you did your hair. I guess the answer is you don't."
"Comes from my dad."
"Do you even own a brush?"
Harry shook his head.
"Next time, I'm bringing my products over. I'll fix this."
Smiling, Harry just fixed his hair by ruffling it and Draco admired how his arms flexed. Potter knew exactly what he was doing, Draco was sure of it.
"I wasn't sure what you liked to eat, I admit I probably should have asked before I left. I relied on my memory of Hogwarts watching. I got pizza, wings, and salad so I hope that's okay?"
"Perfect."
As they sat down at the table, Draco taught Harry the communication spells. After some practice, he was able to use the thought transfer spell and combine it with an altered version of the reading spell. Draco was proud of Harry for adapting so quickly.
"Look at you Potter! You're a pro. You won't even need me anymore", Draco teased.
He was mostly joking, but Draco was still feeling a little insecure in regards to their tentative friendship. He jumped as Harry placed a hand on top of his own.
"I'll always need you. You're a great friend."
The words always hit Draco harder when Harry actually spoke them. That's how he knew when Harry was being serious. He appreciated the effort Harry exerted as he knew it wasn't easy to communicate.
"Thanks Potter. I hate to admit my weaknesses, but becoming your friend really has helped me a lot. I just hope it's done the same for you."
"I can actually communicate a lot better now because of you. But it's not just that. You understand me in a way that no one else does Malfoy. It's honestly refreshing. Before you came over I was actually planning on asking you to stop by soon. I just didn't wanna seem clingy. I meant it when I said stop by any time. You're always welcome here."
"That makes me feel loads better. Cling away. I feel the same. I have Pansy and Blaise, but they just don't know exactly what it was like to go through all of this. They're very supportive though, and they can be quite fun."
They continued talking throughout dinner. Kreacher yelled at Harry to allow him to do the dishes, so with a huff Harry flopped down onto the couch. Draco looked a little lost until Harry patted the spot next to him.
"I don't bite. Unless you're into that."
As Draco looked at Harry after reading the message, Harry winked at him.
"You are something else Potter. Now, let me read all of the potion information to you."
While Malfoy read, Harry began taking notes, writing down anything that he thought could be useful, as well as any questions that he had. Some aspects of the potion went way over Harry's head, but Malfoy didn't seem to think it was a big deal.
Two hours had passed in the blink of an eye as Draco went over the ingredients and each step in detail, stopping any time that Harry looked confused.
"If you were teaching potions I'm sure I would have done 10 times better. I just stopped caring I suppose because I knew I would fail anyways. You actually make it interesting."
"Didn't Hermione help you?"
"She tried, but she's not always the most patient with things like that. Especially when I can't recall "simple" things I should have learned in first year. Kind of hard to pay attention every year when the threat of murder loomed on the horizon.
You on the other hand are a lot more attentive. You take your time to make sure I understand what's happening. It means a lot to me. I appreciate it."
"Are you going soft on me Potter?", Draco teased.
Harry lightly hit his shoulder, only now realizing how close they had gotten as they poured over books. Laughing, Draco rested his head on Harry's shoulder.
"Jeez Potter, your shoulder feels like a rock. You're definitely not going soft."
"Thanks for noticing."
"Do you workout all the time?", Draco asked, repositioning himself so he was laying his head on Harry's arm.
"Once a day now usually, with a rest day on Sundays."
"Well it's definitely paying off", Draco replied, looking appraisingly at Harry, who was trying to fight off a blush.
"Thanks."
"What about your glasses? Do you wear contacts now?"
"Sometimes. Working out in glasses is annoying. They slip all over my face and sometimes they fall off so I got sick of it. If I really need to concentrate on something I'll pop them in. It depends."
"Have you thought about getting your eyes fixed so you don't need them?"
"I have. I'm still on the fence about it, I don't know. My dad also wore glasses so it's one of the only things I know I have in common with him. Kind of dumb I suppose, but it's one of the only ways I feel connected with him."
"I'm sorry Potter. I don't think it's dumb though."
"It's not your fault Malfoy."
"Still though. I know I didn't help."
Harry placed his head on top of Malfoy's.
"You're helping now though. That's what matters", Harry whispered.
"Did you want to make the potion?"
"If you'll help?"
"Of course I'll help. That's not even a question. I can have all the ingredients by next week the latest and we can get started then. I'll have to mention this to my mother though because she grows a lot of the ingredients. Is that okay?"
"I'd like to be there when you tell her if that's okay? Maybe for lunch or tea or something?"
"You'll be alright coming to The Manor?"
Harry nodded.
"Okay. I'll tell her I'll have an old friend coming over. I should be heading back to her now. It was good to see you."
"Likewise Malfoy."
Harry walked Malfoy to the door and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Is the hug so tight so you can flex your newfound muscles?"
Harry laughed, and Draco smiled at the sound.
"Just a thank you. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Scarhead."