Not for the first time, Harry pulled out the letter from the pocket of his celebration robes. Hermoine gave him a look from the opposite side of the Gryffindor table and Ron rolled his eyes before looking back to the front of the Great Hall. There, Professor Flitwick's choir was welcoming the new year with a polyphonic song. It sounded a great, but Harry was not able to concentrate. Judging by Dean's empty look, Harry guessed he was also in a galaxy far, far away with his thoughts.
Folding open the parchment of the letter, Harry looked down to reveal a neat scrawl. Dear Harry, it read. The Hogwarts Express leaves today, so there is not much point in writing this letter, really. But I promised you I'll write so here it goes.
That was right. Draco had waited five days to send a sign and Harry had grown more worried every day. It was breakfast at the Weasleys just this morning when, finally, an unfamiliar owl landed on the windowsill outside of the dining room. The owl was white, like Hedwig, but a bit smaller and with less black dots. And the way it pecked on the window only three times and then just watched them demandingly made this owl seem more genteel than Hedwig.
"What a stuck-up bird." Fred had commented and opened the window.
Harry had silently agreed, but as soon as he had recognized the handwriting, he took the letter and left the breakfast table. On his way up to the room, Mrs Weasley had scolded after him that one does not simply leave a table while others were still eating, and Harry was a bit sorry, but he was way too anxious to know what had happened to Draco to care enough.
My mum and I have been constantly on the move these last four days. The letter said. First, we tried my aunt Andromeda. But my mum and her have not spoken in years and when my mum found out aunt Andromeda's daughter, my cousin Nymphodora, is an Auror, mum grew suspicious and we snuck out early in the morning. We wanted to try a muggle hotel, but we had no idea where to get muggle money. Sure, Diagon Alley was one option, but everyone knows us there. Mum knew someone in Godric's Hollow so we apparated there, but this Barney guy was not there. We stayed there the night because we had nowhere else to go (please don't tell anyone we broke in there. We left it exactly as it was when we came).
Harry smiled. Draco Malfoy, son of a murdering, bribing Death Eater, had a guilty conscience having broken into a house without even taking anything.
So third day, we were getting desperate. I didn't worry that much, because two days and I would be in Hogwarts again. But I was worried about my mum. She's totally paranoid and she needed something more permanent to stay. So I told her we should go to one of our vacation homes.
"They have more than one vacation home?!" Ron had exclaimed when Harry had let him and Hermione read the letter in the Hogwarts express. "How is that possible?"
Harry shrugged. "You mean besides the fact that the Malfoys are filthy rich?"
"They probably also inherited some." Hermione said. "I mean, you don't just inherit money when your ancestors die."
"Blimey," Ron had said. "I should marry Malfoy... But I won't, of course." He had held his hands up defensively at Harry's glare.
They would be done looking for us there by now. Malfoy wrote. I was wrong. As soon as we arrived in the house in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, aunt Bella appeared in the living room. Mother didn't listen to a word she wanted to say before she apparated us to some woods somewhere close. We ended up sleeping in a hut somewhere in this tree nightmare. I have never stayed in such a low, primitive accommodation before. It was awful. But somehow, and please don't tell anyone this, I have enjoyed it. I mean, don't get me wrong. It was dirty and uncomfortable, and if I had been alone, I would have been scared to death, but I would not like to miss this experience. The nature, the sounds, the fire that my mum kept lit at all times... I don't know how to explain it but there was some sense of peace, you know what I mean? Of course not. It doesn't make any sense. This is ridiculous.
Harry would take him camping one day. He had decided that upon the first time reading that and the more he thought about it, the more excited he got. He wanted Draco to see ways of living outside his aristocratic upbringing. He wanted to be the one Draco experienced these kinds of adventures with. It was ridiculous how much Harry was thinking about their future when he had not even kissed him properly yet.
Anyway, for the next night, Mum apparated us to a wizard hotel in Kayunga, a small town in Uganda, because she thought my father and aunt Bella would not think of spreading the word there. The night there was the most peaceful one I've had in a long time. This is where I wrote a letter to Dumbledore. I'm sorry it was not for you, but I wanted to know if he could help my mum. And after that, I was just too tired to write another one to you. I apologize.
How formal, Harry thought amusedly.
The next day, I asked my mum if we could visit Jaqués. I knew it was a huge risk but I needed to see him.
The first time he had read that, Harry had almost ripped the letter in half. He had blocked out the fact that Draco had a boyfriend. But he had been too curious about what Draco wrote next.
She didn't know that we were together that way. She just thought I missed a friend. That's probably why she agreed with it. Anyway, I'll spare you the details, but the reason I wanted to see Jaqués was not because I missed him. I just wanted to figure things out with him before, well, you and I could be anything. Not that I'm assuming there will be. I'm just saying, I wanted to open that door. Just... don't feel pressured or anything. Or cocky.
Harry looked up to see Fred and George watching him with amused curiosity on their faces. Harry tried to tame the stupid grin on his face. It always seemed to come through when he read that part of Draco's letter. To avoid having to give an explanation to the mischievous twins, Harry looked back down.
A few things about that. I'm not stupid, I know you've been flirting with me. But before you try to jump into anything, I need you to know that I'm not ready to come out. My family doesn't know, and if I ever were to come out, I wouldn't be part of the family anymore. And who knows? Maybe one day I'll be ready for that. Maybe one day I'll be ready to leave the Malfoy name behind. But for now, Harry, I need this stability. I need the feeling of belonging. That's why I need this, if this is still going to happen, to be a secret. Something between you and me and nobody else.
Harry could not find it in himself to care too much about the secrecy. It was an advantage for him too. Being the Boy Who Lived put a lot of spotlight on him. And they needed to figure this out without public meddling in. Besides, he had been crazy about Draco for the longest time. If he were to let this opportunity slip away now, he knew he would regret this for the rest of his life.
That being said, today we're gonna return to Hogwarts and I finally have the time to write to you. I don't think much more needs to be said. We'll figure the rest out when we're there, agreed? Well, you can't disagree. This is a letter. Basically a monologue. Alright, this is what nervous rambling looks like in written text.
See you in a few hours, Potter.
Sincerely,
Draco
Harry looked up from his letter and instantly met Draco's eyes across the Great Hall. The blush on Draco's cheeks had never felt more thrilling.
#
After the feast, the groups of students left the Great Hall one by one. "Let's go too." Ron said, then yawned. "I'm tired."
"No shit, Sherlock." Dean said.
"What's Sherlock?" Ron got up and the Gryffindor fifth years followed him.
"It's a muggle story about a detective called Sherlock." Hermione said. "I love the books."
"You love all books." Ron said. Harry noticed that Draco and his Slytherin crew stood up from their seats too.
"Not true." She argued.
"Name one you don't like." Ron demanded, but Harry did not listen to their bickering as Draco caught his eyes. Harry made a small movement with his chin, pointing to the door. Draco nodded, pointed at him, then at himself and finally pointed his thumb behind himself. Harry got that he wanted him to follow Draco and nodded subtly.
He followed his friends out of the Great Hall and tapped on Ron's shoulder. "I'll be up soon. Don't wait for me."
Ron looked at him, confused. "What are you gonna-", He noticed Harry's eyes following Malfoy into the direction of some classrooms and his eyes widened with realization, "Aaah, okay. Got it."
Harry gave him a nod before hurrying after Draco. He had seen him disappear into a classroom that was never actually used.
Slipping through the door inconspicuously, Harry saw Draco jumping up from a chair. There was obviously a lot of nervous tension built up in the Slytherin's every fibre. "Draco." Harry tried to sound assuring and Draco managed to give him a small, tense smile. A silence settled in the classroom where the boys just looked at each other, none really knowing what to do next. "So...." Harry took another step into the room.
Draco looked away onto a table text to him. Probably just to not look at Harry. "I saw you've gotten my letter." He spoke.
"Yeah." Harry said. "How are you?"
Draco looked up, surprise showing on his face. "I'm fine." He said. "Mum's with aunt Andromeda. They made up. Kind of."
Harry nodded. That was good. Draco's mum had a place to stay. What he really wanted to know was if he was allowed to kiss Draco now. He watched the blonde shifting uncomfortably.
"What about you?" Draco asked.
"I..." Really want to kiss you, Harry wanted to say. But he did not know if this was the right time. And... he was just a bit too frightened to make such a bold move. "I was worried. But otherwise, I'm good. Just, well. Thanks for writing."
Draco nodded. "So... What do you say?"
Harry watched Draco's posture. He put up a good façade, but if he had not been a trained Malfoy, he probably would have fidgeted nervously. As it was, Draco just blushed a bit and avoided Harry's eyes by looking at the floor. Harry looked down at his own fingers that were nervously drumming on the desk he stood next to. Why were they both this nervous? They had been flirting for over a year. And they had faced Voldemort. And they both knew they liked each other.
F*ck it, Harry thought and walked up to Draco confidently. Carefully cradling the other boy's face with his hands, he searched for any sign of protest before meeting his lips with his own. And yes, this was what Harry had been longing to do for months. Draco smiled before responding and Harry felt his hands coming to rest on his hips. It was sweet and soft, as was Draco's hair that Harry ran his hands through.
Something was building up inside of Harry. He had never felt this way about anyone before. With a flash of desire, Harry pulled Draco closer by his waist and suddenly, the kiss got more heated and he ran his tongue along Draco's lips and-
"Wow-" Draco pulled away. "Slow down."
"Uh..." Harry blushed and looked down at the Slytherin tie. "Sorry. I just-"
"I know." Draco whispered. "But we shouldn't rush. We've got all the time in the world."
Harry looked back up into these bright, silvery eyes with slightly widened pupils and for a moment, he could not believe this was actually real. "You have no idea how long I wanted to do this." Harry whispered back.
Draco smiled and leaned in. "Me too." He whispered before capturing Harry's lips with his own.