For the next few months of Draco's life, nothing happened. Well, nothing out of the ordinary, the new ordinary that is. Draco's days consisted of mostly teaching, and talking to Harry. They learned more about each other, things that neither of them knew.
As of right now, Harry and Draco were sitting in Draco's classroom talking. Now, Draco was looking at Harry as if Harry was the only person in the world he had eyes for -which he did-, and Harry was just laughing really hard trying to tell a story about second year.
"Yeah, soda you remember that time in second year, when you thought Crabbe couldn't read but he had some dorky classes?" Harry was laughing, and Draco was just confused on how Harry knew that.
"Wait, how do you know that?"
Harry was laughing really hard now, so hard he snorted. That caused Draco to laugh, but only for a moment because he wanted to know how Harry knew that. "It.. It wa...s was Ron and I..I." Harry nearly couldn't spit out the sentence. Honestly, Draco wasn't sure why it was so funny.
"Wait, you used Polyjuice Potion, and snuck into Slytherin House because you thought I was the heir of Slytherin?" Draco questioned Harry.
Harry, who had stopped full out laughing and was just giving a little chuckle ever here and there nodded.
"How the Hell did you pull that one off?!"
"It was Hermione's idea, we brewed it in Moaning Myrtles bathroom on the second floor."
"Really?! All because you wanted to know if I was the heir of Slytherin?!" Draco was now the one laughing, and because he was laughing it set Harry off again.
"It does sound a little ridiculous when you put it that way." Harry continued to laugh, they laughed for hours.
***
Harry and Draco walked to dinner together, and sat beside each other, and talked. This was happening a lot as of late, and as Christmas was approaching, each boy was trying to think of things to get the other.
Draco wanted to get Harry the most perfect Christmas present as it was Draco's first time celebrating Christmas in a long time. After the war, the Malfoy's tried to do christmas, but it wasn't like it used to be, not since Draco's dad went to Azkaban. Draco and his mum still exchanged Christmas cards though, as it was one of the only times a year they saw each other.
"So Christmas is next week." Harry said.
"It is, well done Potter. Want 10 points for Gryffindor too?" Draco teased. They did that a lot, the teasing that is.
Harry rolled his eyes. "So what did you get me?"
"You're going to have to wait until you get it on Christmas." Draco replied.
"You'll write me won't you?" Harry asked.
"Yes I will Potter, don't worry. As long as you write me back."
"Always." Harry replied, then a sad smile appeared on his face after he said that. The two boys sat beside each other, Harry beside Hermione.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked as he noticed the look on Harry's face.
"Snape." was all Harry said. Draco was confused.
"What about Snape? You hated him, so why are you smiling?"
"He was in love with my mum, he had been since he was 9. He was the one that sent a patronus -Same as my mum's- to help Hermione, Ron and I find the Sword of Gryffindor when we were hunting Horcruxes."
Draco was more confused now then ever. "But what does that have to do with the word always?"
" Once when Snape showed Dumbledore his patronus before 6th year started, Dumbledore asked 'After all this time?' and Snape replied 'Always.'"
"How do you know that, you went't there."
"It was when Snape was dying, he gave me his tears -memories- and told me to look at them in the Pensieve. That's how I knew I was one of Voldemort's horcruxes and that's how I knew I had to die."
Neither of the boys noticed how quiet the Great Hall was, or that mostly everyone was looking at the two. The staff all looked very shocked, most of them had been working there with Snape, and they didn't know that about their colleague.
"I didn't know that, any of it." Draco said softly. The blond boy wanted to kiss Harry, and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but he knew he couldn't do that.
"Yeah, I still get nightmares about that. Oh well. In other news, have you heard about the Quidditch world cup?" Harry asked.
Draco laughed at how easily Harry could change subjects. People started to talk again the the Great Hall, the voices and laughter of people giving the room that once held so many dead bodies, life.
Harry never told everyone this, but for the first few years, every time he walked into the Great Hall, he got the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, and he could remember what the room looked like so well when everyone was crowding around the lost and injured. Harry still thought about it sometimes. Well, all the time. He had lost so many people who were so important, not just to him but to everyone else. Tonks and Remus had a child. A child that would grow up without his parents because they died during a war. A war that could have been avoided if Harry let Sirius murder Wormtail.
Harry often thought about the different ways that the war could have been avoided, but he knew. He knew. That if the war hadn't happened, and maybe Voldemort was never born, then Harry's life would be so, so different. Different in a bad way.
If Voldy never existed, and Harry's parents lived, There was a possibility that Harry would never had been friends with Ron, and Hermione, he wouldn't of had such a connection with Dumbledore, Snape could have been even worse to Harry because Harry would act like James -well more then he already did-. Nothing would have been the same, and Harry -although he had suffered enough losses to last a lifetime- wouldn't change his timeline. Not for a moment.
Draco nudged Harry with his elbow. "You okay, you have been zoning out for about 7 minutes. "
Harry was startled and looked up to Draco, then smiled. "I'm alright, just thinking about the war."
Draco nodded understanding what Harry meant. All the lost ones. It broke Draco's heart.
***
When the boys were done eating, Draco walked with Harry to the Library. The green eyed boy wanted to talk with Hermione.
"So are you bringing Albus to a very Weasley Christmas?" Draco asked making small talk.
"Of course, he deserves to meet his family."
"Wait, Ginny never brought him to Christmas?"
"Nope, in fact only George knew about the kid."
"What in the name of Salazar Slytherin has that girl gotten herself into."
Harry just laughed. When the two got to the Library, Draco bid Harry a goodbye, and left. Harry watched Draco down the hallway, and smiled to himself. He wasn't going to deny it. He was starting to like Draco. But he would never admit that to anyone.
When Harry walked into the Library, Hermione saw him and smiled immediately.
"Harry!" She ran around the counter of where she was sitting, and gave him a giant hug. "Ive missed you!"
"Hermione, it's been 20 minutes." Harry laughed.
"No it hasn't." Hermione pulled away. "You spend all your time with Malfoy, sometimes I want you all to myself." She laughed.
"Well I'm here now. And I do not spend all my time with Malfoy."
"Yes, you do; and don't even try to deny it because I know you two were together before dinner, at dinner, and I'm willing to bet 5 Galleons that he walked you here." Hermione said, then smirked once she saw Harry's face which gave away the fact that the two were together just before coming.
"So what's going on between you two?" She continued to smirk.
"Nothing is going on between us Hermione." Harry said.
"Somehow I don't believe that Harry." Harry wasn't quite sure he believed it either honestly.
"Hermione, nothing is going on between Malfoy and I, we're just friends-" Harry was cut off by Hermione.
"Friends, who spend a lot of time together, talking and joking. And Harry even if as you said there wasn't anything going on between you two, are you sure he knows that?"
Harry thought about what Hermione had just said for a moment, and decided he was confused and had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"
Hermione giggled. "Oh Harry, Malfoy is very obviously in love with you."
"No, no he isn't. We're just friends." Harry tried to fight back. He didn't think Draco was in love with him, that would be preposterous.
Hermione rolled her eyes, but decided to just drop the subject. She was going to talk to Malfoy later, and find out the truth.
"So are you bringing Albus to Christmas this year?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. I can't believe that Ginny never brought him."
"I know!" Hermione agreed.
~ ~ ~
The next day after class Draco was in his classroom writing a lesson plan for the next week for each of his classes. Every few weeks, Draco liked to do this so he could attempt to stay on topic. He also had a less detailed one of the whole year that said what he was to do approximately each week.
Someone knocked on the door, but entered before Draco could say 'enter'. When Hermione popped her head through the door he was to say the least surprised.
"Hello Mrs. Granger." Draco said politely, since he remembered how hard she hit from 3rd year.
"Hello Malfoy, can we talk."
Draco nodded, to let Hermione know he was okay with that and not all that busy at the moment. Hermione closed the door, and sat down on a desk in the front row.
"I want to talk about Harry." She said.
"What about him?" Draco said while sitting on the front of his desk.
"I know you like him."
The blond decided that if Hermione was going to go ahead and walk all the way to the dungeons just to talk to him about it, he was going to be honest. Draco nodded then said "Yep, and?" as if it were common knowledge for years.
"Wait, what?" Hermione was confused as to why Draco just admitted that, to her of all people too.
"Yes, I Draco Malfoy have been in love with Harry Potter, and have since I was like a 5th year." Draco confirmed.
"5th year?!" Then Hermione registered the whole sentence. "Wait Love?!"
Draco again nodded. "Honestly Granger, I would have thought you to have figure it out by now." Draco laughed.
Hermione was shocked to what she was hearing. Not only was Draco Malfoy laughing, like a normal human being, but he had also just confessed that he had been in love with Harry Potter since they were 5th years.
"Why did you admit that?" She asked.
"Because you made the effort to come down to the dungeons to tell me that you know I like him, which I wasn't going to lie about. Anyway, you said you wanted to talk about him, and not that I don't love to talk about him -Seriously just ask my dad or my mum-, but I was kind of in the middle of doing something." Draco didn't want to sound rude, because Hermione was practically Harry's sister, and he needed all the approval he could get from Harry's family.
"Right... um anyway, i was just coming to say that if you hurt him I promise that you will live to regret it. Honestly. He has so much going on right now, and from what I've been observing over the past few months -and just now- I know that you really do care for him. So please, if you really do love him don't hurt him." She was pleading with him now.
"Hermione, I would never ever imagine hurting Harry. Yeah I was a dick to the three of you -which I really am sorry for-, but I want Harry to be okay just as much as you do. After learning about what he has gone through, wether it was before Hogwarts, during Hogwarts, the war -any of that really- I never want him to live like that again. I want him to have a happy rest of his life. Honestly."
Hermione wasn't sure wether to be shocked that Draco had called her by her given name, or that Harry had told him all those things. Defiantly the latter. She decided. "He told you about what he went through before Hogwarts? All of it?" She questioned.
"Every detail. And honestly I might murder those people if I ever get the chance."
"You know, he didn't share that with us until we were 4th years."
"Wait what?" Now it was Draco's turn to be confused.
Hermione nodded. "He must really trust you."
Draco nodded in agreement.
"Well, I better be off, got a meeting with Minerva soon. Have a good day... Draco." and with that she was walking away.
"I won't hurt him. I promise." Draco said when she was at the door.
Just before she left, she turned around and said "I believe you." then walked out the door.