Draco's smile was brighter, more full of life and... different. Harry hadn't seen his boyfriend like this in weeks, but Draco seemed to be himself again. When he would look into his eyes, it was as if Draco was seeing so much more than Potter's green orbs. As if he was seeing something different.
Harry was positive that Draco had a surprise for him. They'd been together for a few months, and it was the eve of their two month anniversary. Harry didn't expect anything big or bougie but Draco had been preoccupied with something for the last few weeks, and would always hide it from him when he saw him working on it. So naturally, Harry assumed it was a poem his boyfriend was writing, whenever he saw him sneakily jotting down paragraphs in his journal.
It's when Harry skipped into Slytherin dormitory, to discover, when he stopped. He ducked behind the wall, and crouched down.
"No, Draco. It might've been a mistake to even do this in the first place. You were happy with Harry, and now I've fucked it up, haven't I?" A distant, yet familiar voice muttered, coming from the blonde's room.
"Don't say that to me! You don't understand how amazing that experience was for me. I loved every second of it and I wish it never ended. When I came back to Hogwarts I avoided Harry. I'd rather go back to that night than ever see him again."
The smile faded from Harry's face. His pink flush faded from his face. His face lost all expression, although his eyebrows lifted, as the words he had just heard set in.
"Draco, you love him."
"I could never love him after being where I've been with you."
Harry couldn't move. The words were processing, echoing in his head on repeat, over and over again.
"I could never love him."
"I avoided Harry. I'd rather go back to that night than ever see him again."
"Don't say that. You did love him before that night. I know you did." Dayton grumbled.
Harry could hear him pacing back in forth. He had memorized the sound of Draco's paces across the stone flooring of the castle. "Bloody hell, things can change. He'd never be as beautiful as-"
The dumbfounded Gryffindor couldn't take it anymore. He got up and sprinted for the shattered mirror. On his way out, the glass cut a spot on his bicep, deep and jagged. He didn't even to asses the damage. He just ran.
{}
The sound of falling glass made Dayton snap his head towards the exit, "What the hell was that?"
"Does it even matter? Please, tell me how to get back."
"You need to get back to your sense of power. You know what to do. Go to where it started, you wanker. But you're making a mistake. You're breaking more hearts than his."
{}
Harry ran. He didn't know where he was going. He couldn't even think straight. All of these thoughts were replaying in his mind. His boyfriend who he loved... had cheated on him, and didn't even care about him. 'Fucking hell did he ever care about me?'
He ran through the corridors and found himself at the Great Hall. He jogged over to the Slytherin table, and grabbed Blaise's arm. "Did you know?"
"Know what?" He tilted his head to the side, and squinted as he jerked away from Harry's grip.
"Know that he was cheating?"
Blaise's face went from confused to stoic. "So that's what it's been, has it? Cheating. Bloody bugger."
"We'd noticed him sneaking off but we assumed it was to see you. He's been different. Abrasive. Irritable. He's not the Draco we know." Pansy frowned.
"How do we know it's actually him?" The Boy Who Lived asked, trying to find some reasoning as to why his boyfriend was acting like this.
The two Slytherins exchanged a look, "We took a DNA test... it's Draco. There are no potions in his system, no magic...nothing."
"He's himself... but not." Blaise muttered.
The Gryffindor stood up and just stared at the wall. Blaise and Pansy both slipped Harry one of their hands, and the three both left. They made it out to the courtyard, and all three, still in each other's grasp, exchanged the same look. The three huddled together and all pressed foreheads together.
The three lifted their wands to the sky and watched as each illuminated at the tip.
It was a tradition to do for someone who you loved, who had passed.
The Draco they knew passed and a new one took his place. Their Draco wasn't coming back.
After a few minutes they all reunited in the group hug.
"We're going to be alright."
No one was quite sure who had said it, but it wasn't a phrase... it was a promise.
{}
Draco was so obsessed with getting back to that magical place, that he had forgotten to sleep. He had forgotten to eat as well, but he didn't even notice, until his stomach grumbled in protest. Not that Draco listened. He closed his eyes for a second to concentrate, when something unexpected happened.
He didn't mean to sleep. He didn't need sleep. He needed to find a way back through the haze. Back home.
When he opened his eyes, he was confused. His Slytherin hoodie was in the corner, along with some of his other belongings.
'Those weren't there when I fell asleep.'
But frankly, he didn't care. All he cared about was this place.
The place where things made sense. The place with the peacefulness he'd searched for, for what seemed like forever. This place that consumed his thoughts.
{}
Little did the blonde know that this place was clouding his judgement. Consuming not only his thoughts but his feelings as well. It was becoming him. This place was a poison, and it was seeming through his veins and up to his brain, pumping through his heart like blood. He needed this place. He breathed it, he bled it. He was it.
{}
It was two weeks since Harry had spoke to Draco, or saw him. They had a few classes together, but the blonde had completely disappeared. Harry thought maybe he had dropped them as an excuse to avoid him, but he didn't know for sure.
The first few days everyone asked about Draco all of the time.
"Where's your boyfriend, Harry?"
"Are you two even together anymore?"
"Did he dump you?"
"Oh no, you two were my favorite."
After about the third day, no one said anything else. Even the cruel bullies didn't mention it.
If the Slytherin wanted an explanation, he could've asked. But he never did. Harry dropped off everything of Draco's back in the Slytherin dormitory alongside Blaise and Pansy. But he never even tried to speak to Harry. The message must've been clear enough. The blonde was over Harry before they even broke up.
But the Gryffindor was going to be just fine. It hurt, worse than the worst pain he'd experienced, but he was not going to hurt himself for someone else's mistakes any longer. He knew he'd done nothing wrong. It wasn't his fault, and it was Malfoy's loss.
That's who he was again. Malfoy. And that was fine with Harry. At least... that's how he made it appear.
Draco was Harry's first real love. He was the one he saw in his future. His soulmate, partner in crime and love of his life. They were going to take over the world together, as lovers, as leaders, and as each other's. He was his first person that saw past the popularity and fame. To Draco, Harry wasn't just a name. He was more. Or so he thought.
What a waste of the Boy Who Lived's time, energy and money. He fucking wanted it to be love, but the fact that it was a lesson made him lose hope in this "love."
He knew it was real. He'd fallen in it like quicksand, slowly sinking deeper and deeper into its deathly grasp, willingly letting it drag him to the bottom. He knew love was real, and now he knew that he never wanted to experience it ever again. So many broken promises lay in that four letter word.
Harry was angry. He was heartbroken. Although he was feeling this emotions, he had his friends.
Rom reminded him of "What a bloody git" Draco was.
Luna reminded him that there were "Plenty or other unicorns in the wood."
Hermione reminded him that, "Books have given a unrealistic expectation of what true love is. True love isn't perfect, and isn't as wonderful as-" You can imagine the rest.
Blaise and Pansy used so many swear words whenever someone brought up the silver eyed boy, that it was a don't-ask-don't-tell situation.
Harry would've given Draco the whole world if he could. But he'd given Draco his heart, and that wasn't enough for him, and that was the most valuable thing he had to offer.
How could someone go from being madly in love to feeling nothing within such a short amount of time? But no, Harry couldn't dwell on it. It made his head, his heart and his body hurt.
He knew it would get better. It would take a while. He didn't know how long, but what he did know is that it would be alright. Eventually.
_Please Vote_
Just a chapter-ly reminder:
You are loved.
You are valid.
You are worth it.