*Harry's POV*
Harry frowned at the picture, glancing away before tears formed. The flashes of green light were too much.
Draco had come here often, and Harry had followed him to make sure he wasn't up to anything.
It was his fourth time before Draco had noticed him.
Harry was fascinated by the way Draco entered and went straight to a blank picture. He stared into it with such intent, such hatred in his eyes.
Harry had wondered what Draco was seeing.
He told Draco what he had seen, of course - it was obvious to any of his friends, and seen as a weakness by his enemies.
But Draco hadn't told him what Draco had seen.
Harry wondered why. When Harry had asked, he hadn't missed the slight blush coloring Draco's cheeks.
Harry shook his head and exited the room. He glanced to his right and was surprised to see Draco curled up in a ball leaning against the wall.
Harry approached him. Draco's eyes were closed.
Did he just fall asleep? Harry considered bringing him back to his dorm but decided against it. It was Draco, after all.
***
*Draco's POV*
Draco stirred. He opened his eyes.
Where was he? He was cold, and it didn't feel like he was in his bed.
Draco internally groaned. He had fallen asleep outside of the Room of Requirement. He was waiting for Harry to come out but instead had dropped off.
Draco scrambled to his feet and made his way to the Slytherin dormitory, sneaking in. Thankfully, no one else was awake.
Draco was about to go upstairs when he heard a noise to the side and winced. He turned.
Pansy Parkinson stood at the foot of the girl's stairs. "Where were you, Draco?" she asked, brown eyes glinting.
Draco sighed and moved to sit on one of the couches in the common room. "The Room of Requirement."
Pansy sat down beside him. She had known about Draco's crush on Harry since the fourth year and had thrown a bit of a fit. But sometime during the fifth year, she had accepted it and moved on. Now she had a thing for Blaise.
Draco felt a hand on his shoulder. "You've got to stop obsessing over that picture. He's kissed other girls, okay? Either he's gay or not, and you need to move on-"
"He could be bi," Draco muttered, staring at the floor.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Whatever the case, that stupid picture won't work. For all we know, it's-"
"It's not just the picture," Draco said, still looking at the green and silver carpet on the floor. "I... the mirror."
"Then do something," Pansy persisted. "Don't just mope around like a wounded puppy. He's never going to know, you're both going to separate and never meet each other again."
Draco lifted his head to glare at Pansy, his silvery eyes glinting with anger. "I've tried! I'm trying! You don't know how hard it is!"
Pansy sighed, reaching her arm around Draco's back, embracing him. "Look, just tell him. If he rejects you, it's better than what you're suffering right now."
Draco jerked away from Pansy's arm, glancing away from her, blinking hard. "How do you know?" he whispered, his voice barely a whisper.
Pansy started to speak, but Draco's voice rose in volume, and he stood.
"Look, I've loved him, and he's hated me, for seven years! And he has no bloody idea! In the sixth year... when he found me in that bathroom... the first time he saw me cry. And I vowed it would be the last. And before that, in the fourth year... when I made those badges. The third year, when I tried getting Hagrid fired. He's hated me since first!"
"Who are you talking about?"
Draco whirled around. Pansy's eyes were wide, staring at Draco, and Blaise was at the foot of the boy's stairs. "Nothing," he snarled.
Blaise's eyes narrowed. "Really?" he said. "Didn't sound like nothing. You were practically yelling." He took a seat in one of the armchairs.
No one spoke for a long while, before Pansy whispered, "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know you're gay," Blaise said, glancing at Draco. "Everything since... um... about a mirror."
Draco breathed a sigh of relief. Blaise hadn't heard Harry's name. Not that Draco didn't trust Blaise, just...
He hadn't even told Greg and Vincent he liked Harry, though they knew he liked boys.
And it had taken Pansy nearly two years to get accustomed to the fact.
Blaise rose his eyebrows at that. "You aren't going to tell me the rest, are you?" he asked, and then nodded towards Pansy. "Like how she knew?"
"I knew since... the fifth year, I think," Pansy said, staring at her hands.
"Fourth."
"Right, fourth," Pansy corrected. "I... two years. It wasn't until the end of fifth, or the beginning of sixth that I got used to it.
"How did you know?" Blaise asked.
Pansy gave him a wry smile. "I'm surprised the rest of you didn't notice. He was a bit obsessed, really."
Blaise's emotionless mask slipped, and he looked at Draco with a weird look on his face. "What?"
Draco shrugged. "And if you still haven't figured it out, I'm not going to bother telling you."
Blaise sat back, thinking. "Fourth year. Um... and I heard, "he hated me." Let me think... during our fourth year... the Triwizard Tournament. But more the Quadwizard Tournament. So I'm guessing it-" Blaise straightened up like a ruler was attached to his back. "Oh my god."
Draco rolled his eyes and covered his face with his hands, placing his elbows on his thighs. "Do you see my predicament here?"
"The Chosen One..." Blaise said. "Do you know if he's even into boys?"
Draco lifted his head to glare at Blaise. "Yes, Blaise, of course, I do. That is why I'm sitting here and was yelling at your girlfriend-to-be."
They both flushed a deep red at that.
"No need for sarcasm," Blaise mumbled, then thought. "I'll try to help you."
Draco sighed. "Thank you. Do you know how difficult it is? We've got all our classes with him! Or most." Draco glanced towards the staircases. "Are we alone?"
Blaise went and checked.
Draco turned to Pansy. "Do you have any sources in Gryffindor?" Pansy was a bit of a gossiper, and she usually had sources all throughout the school.
Pansy nodded thoughtfully. "Parvati, maybe," she said after a moment. "Lavender, too, she's chatty, but she hates me now... I accidentally-"
Blaise came back. "I checked both dorms."
"How'd you get up the girls...? Nevermind," Pansy sighed, and then rested a hand on Draco's forearm. "Look, we're here for you, okay?"
"Are you sure you like him?" Blaise tried hopefully. "Not any other possible Gryffindor?"
"You- You know the picture," Draco said, knowing this would convince them. Like, how it shows your worst fear or the thing you hate the most?"
Pansy nodded, though Blaise looked confused.
"I see Harry... with Ginny. And then Cho. And any other girl he's ever been with."
Pansy shook her head. "Why do you look into it? Do you want to drive yourself insane? Or just hate Harry more?"
Draco stared bitterly at the ground, not answering the question.
Blaise stood. "Come on, it's only four, let's have a couple more hours of sleep before tomorrow's classes."
Draco nodded and followed him up into the dorms.
But as he laid in his bed, he knew sleep wouldn't come to him that night.