Writer's Pov.
Muggle Mall.
Draco held Harry's left arm tightly as they walked into the Mall. The Mall was packed with humans and Draco was getting very uncomfortable. He was too scared of any human proximity right now except Harry's.
"Draco, calm down," Harry said the moment Draco's hold got tighter. He kept his right hand on Draco's and caressed it. "You are fine. No one is going to hurt you. "
"I...I know." Draco replied but still his hold was as tight as before.
They entered a relatively emptier shop so that Draco feel comfortable. They walked through a few racks of clothes but Draco was not even looking at the clothes. His eyes were on the floor and his whole body language looked uncomfortable. Harry sighed as Draco was not taking any sort of lead. They were here for Draco's shopping and he at least wanted him to choose his clothes however it looked like an impossible task.
"Do you like this shirt?" Harry asked pointing at a red colored shirt, Draco looked up at it and nodded his head yes and again looked down.
Harry knew that he had to choose for Draco or else they wouldn't be able to complete his shopping. He chose a few Shirts and tee shirts after showing them to Draco and then handed them over to him.
"Go and try it out, till that time I will choose a few more for you and we can buy whatever you like," Harry said.
Draco shook his head at the thought of being left alone in the trial room.
"No. No." He said in a low feared tone.
"Please understand, these people are muggles and they have no clue about you, or me, or war. They are not harmful to you in any way. We need to shop for you and if you behave like this then how are we going to shop? You have to try these clothes by yourself unless you are comfortable with me seeing you half-naked."
Draco looked down and nodded in denial.
"I am standing outside the trail room. You just need to call my name if something happens, okay?" Draco nodded in yes and he took those clothes inside the trial room.
Their shopping was very slow but still Harry liked spending time with Draco. He also bought a few clothes for himself. Once their shopping was finished, they moved to the food court for their lunch.
"I am starving," Harry said the moment they sat at their table. Draco replied with a nod of his head.
Draco was uncomfortable around people but he enjoyed shopping with Harry. He liked observing Harry as he chose clothes for him. His choice was more casual than Draco's but he liked trying his chosen clothes and he bought most of the casual wear that Harry chose. The experience was nice.
He felt safe, happy, and, comfortable after a very long time. This was what Draco needed right now, a person who treated him like a human. He was emotionally too vulnerable so even a small kind gesture was too big for him.
He was feeling an emotion erupting inside him and he was familiar with it as he had felt it before. He had felt it for Harry only however he never accepted it. Or rather he never got a chance to accept it, never had the option to accept such kind of emotions for the Savior.
He knew that the emotion he was feeling for Harry was more than friendship. But the question was whether he was feeling this emotion due to his vulnerability or were they genuine. Would he feel the same for Harry even after he moved on from his past? And the biggest question was whether Harry felt the same or not.
He got out of his trance when Harry forwarded the menu to him. "Go through it and tell me what you want to eat."
They ordered their food and ate it with some random conversation where Draco only replied with a word or two. He wanted to suppress the emotions he was starting to feel for Harry.
'Why would Harry ever choose a used death eater?' Was the only question roaming in his head.
He was afraid of feeling such emotions only to be hurt later.
"Are you okay?" Draco looked at Harry and nodded yes. "Yes, just tired." Draco lied.
"We are going home after eating. Is there something else you want to buy?"
"No, we have got everything needed."
"Great."
They left for their house and once reached, Draco started to arrange his clothes in his closet.
At night.
Harry and Draco were sitting in the dining room, having their dinner in silence.
"Want to watch a movie after dinner?" Harry asked all of a sudden.
Draco nodded his head in yes and Harry smiled brightly. He was looking forward to the movie night.
After dinner, Harry held Draco's hand and took him to a room under the stairs, it was a small cozy room. It had a fireplace in one corner and a table and a few chairs near it. There was a couch with blankets in front of the wall which had a TV hung.
The room was comparatively dark which made Draco uncomfortable. He stood at the door looking around the room with a scared expression.
While Harry walked inside, sat comfortably on the couch, and covered himself with blankets.
"Get inside, Draco. This room is my den." Draco was still standing at the same spot, afraid of darkness.
"What's wrong, tell me?"
"I..it's dark." Harry murmured an 'oh' and picked up his wand and gave it a swish. Now the room was lit by a few fairy lights. It was still dark but quite better than before. Draco took a breath of relief, walked towards the couch, and sat on it. Harry turned on the TV and went through the list of movies to watch.
"What would you like to watch?" Harry asked.
"I have no clue. You select."
"Disney?"
"What is that?"
"Oh right. No problem Disney it is then."
Harry started a Disney movie and covered Draco with a duvet. They were sitting right next to each other in the same duvet. Draco was watching the movie keenly as it was his first time, he had never seen any kind of Muggle movies on the Muggle box.
He liked the cinematography a lot and while watching the movie, he unknowingly leaned towards Harry, his head now on Harry's shoulder.
Harry didn't mind the closeness as he felt an intense attraction towards him since the day he saved him. But he knew this was not the right time. Draco was not in his correct mental state for any kind of relationship or any kind of connection with him. He was ready to give Draco as much time as he needed. He could feel Draco drawing towards him but maybe this was only due to his mental state and maybe he was just trying to find some comfort in him and this meant nothing to him.
Harry sighed. 'Only time can answer these questions.'
Right now, all he wanted was to go with the flow, it was too early to react to any sort of feelings or emotions. This could be only physical attraction and means nothing later. So it was better to give it some time.
Halfway through the movie, Harry felt Draco's steady breath and looked at him, he was already asleep. Harry picked up his wand and added an extension charm on the couch so they both could easily sleep on it. He didn't want to leave Draco or wake him up as he looked in peace while sleeping.
He slowly changed the position, laid beside him, and wrapped his arm around him. After a few minutes, Draco snuggled in his chest. He smiled and caressed his hair softly before he felt waves of emotions erupting inside him. He took some deep breaths, trying to control his emotions.
Draco was broken and right now he needed a friend, not a boyfriend or someone who had feelings for him. He didn't want to hurt Draco in any way.
Next day.
Harry woke up the next morning and untangled himself from Draco. He caressed Draco's face for a few seconds before sighing and standing up from the couch. He stretched his body and left the room to start the day. He took a quick bath and sat in the living room, reading the Daily Prophet.
After a few minutes, he heard Draco's scared voice calling his name.
"I am sitting in the Living room, Draco. Come here." Harry said loudly and he heard Draco's quick strides toward the living room, he stood in front of Harry and took a big sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked as Draco looked shaken.
Draco nodded his head before walking towards Harry and sitting beside him.
"I got scared thinking that I was alone in the house," Draco replied in a low tone.
Harry held his hand and said softly. "You won't ever be alone, Draco. I have taken a break from my work, for at least a few months, so I will be here with you all the time. The only time I will leave the house is to meet my godson, Teddy. I mostly meet him once every week for a few hours. At that time, you can either join me, if you want, or stay here. Even if you decide to stay here, you won't be alone because a house elf stays in this house."
"You have a House elf?" Draco asked in a shocked tone.
"Yeah. Wait, let me introduce you to him. Kreatcher." Harry called Kreatcher and they heard a pop and Draco saw an old wrinkly house elf in front of them. Draco's hold on Harry's hand tightened as he was uncomfortable even in front of an Elf.
"Kreatcher, he is Draco Malfoy, my friend. You already know him, don't you?" Harry said softly and Kreacher's eyes twinkled as he heard Draco's name. He knew that Draco was also Black by blood.
"Master, Draco," Kreatcher said and bowed to Draco. "I is honored to meet a black."
"Draco, he is Kreatcher. He was my godfather Sirius Black's house elf however he left him to me so now he is mine house elf." Harry quickly said to which Draco only nodded his head yes and Kreatcher popped out.
"He just popped out without your permission," Draco said shockingly as none of his father's house elves ever did anything without his father's permission.
"He can do whatever he wants in this house, there is no restriction. I don't need a house elf and to be honest, I don't like it when anyone else does my work however he is very old and quite attached to this house so I can't set him free because that will mess him up. So he stays here and cooks for both of us because he loves cooking and is quite territorial in that area so I let him cook." Harry explained and Draco smiled.
'Harry is a very good person by heart.' Draco thought.
"Let's have breakfast?" Harry asked and Draco nodded in yes.
...
Draco was sitting on his bed while hugging his leg. He didn't have anything to do and he was getting a little bored however getting bored was way better than getting assaulted. He sighed and started to think about Harry which brought a small smile on his lips. He didn't know why but he just trusted Harry even when there was no reason to trust him. He was his old enemy, they loathed each other yet he knew that Harry would protect him from everything and everyone and maybe he would live his life like before.
His trance was broken as he heard a knock. He allowed the person and Harry entered inside.
"Hello." He said with a bright smile and kept two big bags on the bed. Draco looked at him with a questioning look on his face.
"Your painting and Drawing supplies and some books."
"Harry, this is too much," Draco said with wide eyes as the bags were too big.
Harry walked around the bed, sat in front of Draco, and said. "You are going to stay in this house for at least a few months. So you will need all of those supplies."
"How will I pay you back?" Draco asked in a low tone. He didn't like Harry using his money on him.
"You don't need to pay me back, Draco. I am doing all this as your friend." Harry replied after holding his hand.
Draco shook his head negatively. "None of my friends had ever done anything for me without a reason. They always wanted something back from me. What do you want, Harry?"
"If you had such kind of friends then trust me they were never your true friends. You were just surrounded by the wrong sorts of people." Harry said.
Tears fell from Draco's eyes as he heard Him. He slowly leaned forward, kept his head on Harry's shoulder, and sobbed. Harry gave him a few minutes to calm himself.
"Some of my assaulters were death eaters, my father's friends and knew me since I was a kid. They still weren't ashamed to assault me, assault a human who was their child's age. Why did that happen to me, Harry? Why?" Draco sobbed more and his hand wrapped around Harry's torso tightly while Harry's hands were also wrapped around him.
"They were evil and now they will pay for whatever they did. They will rot in Azkaban for a lifetime." Harry said softly while caressing his back. Draco pulled Harry near and snuggled in his chest. He was trying to find comfort in him.
They stayed in the same position for a few minutes before breaking the hug and Draco wiped away his tears.
"Let's check all the supplies. I don't know if I have ordered the right things or not." Harry said in a cheerful tone, trying to change Draco's mood.
Draco smiled a little and nodded his head yes.
Their entire morning was spent taking out all the supplies and arranging everything in a four-tier drawer that Harry levitated from another room. They had small talks in between mostly about how silly they were in Hogwarts or about Harry's present life. Draco felt at home after two years, he felt like he was living his life again. He was happy, and content after so long.
"Where shall we keep your books?" Harry murmured while looking around the bedroom and didn't find any right place.
He immediately took out his wand and placed a non-verbal spell on the wall beside the window and Draco saw a wooden book rack appear which was already filled with books.
Draco frowned and gave Harry a questioning look. "This is a replica of the book rack placed in my bedroom. The only catch is that if I take out a book from the rack present in my bedroom, that same book will disappear from here and vice-versa."
Draco opened his mouth to argue however he was cut down by Harry who said. "Look in this way my books are available for you to read and your books are available for me to read. And we can always bookmark the books we are reading to keep away the confusion."
"It is a good idea, no doubt. Are those your 7th-year Hogwarts books?" Draco asked as he saw some similar books from his seventh year.
"Yes, I gave my N.E.W.T.S. this year through ministry conducted examination," Harry replied and Draco looked at him with shocked eyes.
"Really?" Harry nodded his head in response.
"Even I would love to give my N.E.W.T.S exams," Draco murmured in a low tone.
"You want to join Hogwarts for your 7th year? We are still in the first week of August so I can talk with Headmistress McGonagall and you can join back from September."
Draco immediately nodded his head in denial and his body shuddered with the thought of being around so many humans.
"No no, I am fine. No." Draco immediately said.
"Okay fine. Relax. You can give your exam directly through the Ministry the way I did." Harry said and Draco nodded in reply.
Harry thought to change the topic and so he acciod a pair of sticky bookmarks from his room. He handed over the red one to Draco while keeping the green one for himself.
"I hope red is fine with you," Harry said in a teasing tone as red was Gryfindoor's color.
"I don't care about colors," Draco said to which Harry laughed.
"As if I don't know about you and your obsession with the red color," Harry murmured teasingly. He got to know in their 6th year that red was Draco's favorite color and he was quite shocked by the information.
Draco turned pink, Harry knew a lot of things about him and this was dangerous for Draco.
"I am Slytherin and Slytherin has nothing to do with red color." He tried to save himself but Harry just snorted in response.
"Yeah right. As if I don't know how many times you had worn red shirts and tee-shirts under your Slytherin robes." Harry teased again.
"Shut up you prat or else I will throw something at you.." Draco was going to throw the sticky notes he was holding however, he suddenly stopped and cowed. "Sorry." He murmured while looking down.
Harry moved towards him and held his hands tightly. "I want old Draco Malfoy back."
Draco looked up at him. "I thought you hated him."
"I thought the same but maybe I never hated him," Harry replied while looking deeply into his eyes.
"He is lost, Harry, and it's very hard for him to come back," Draco murmured as his eyes teared. "Will you be able to accept the new me?" Draco's heart constricted as he waited for Harry's answer.
Harry smiled and brought Draco's hands up and placed two small kisses on the back of his hands.
With this Draco knew that his new self was accepted by Harry.
To be continued...
BY J.