Year 2
Lucius had directed his son to give the diary to Ginny Weasly; Draco, however, did not. Harry had made him rather rebellious. The journal was mysterious and why on earth would father want to give it to a Weasly? So, that night as he lay in his bed at Hogwarts, he held the journal of Tom Riddle in his hands reverently, opening it to stare at the blank page.
He grabbed a quill, deciding to put his name in it, so no one would steal the bloody thing. Pursing his lips, Draco scribbled his initials into the paper, watching in awe as it disappeared.
Then the fateful words magically showed up on the page "Hello, I am Tom Riddle."
Draco and Harry mostly didn't speak to each other after the first "attack". After it became apparent that Harry was a parselmouth. Draco wasn't mad that Harry could speak to snakes, but at the fact Harry had never thought to tell him before.
This began a silent war between the two Slytherins. Harry refused to talk to Draco out of pure stubbornness, and Draco refused to talk to Harry because of pure annoyance.
Harry spent almost all his time with Hermione, sometimes Ron, leaving Draco feeling more alone than ever. The only thing he talked to was the man in the diary.
Draco wanted to talk to Harry, he really did, but Tom discouraged him thoroughly, saying Harry regretted becoming friends with him, saying he hated Draco. Many of his nights were spent shedding silent tears over the dying friendship, but neither knew how to approach the other.
Soon Harry became utterly distracted with the Chamber of Secrets, the trail of spiders, and the serpentine voice in the walls. Draco became the least of his worries. Harry went further and further down Draco's list of priorities as well. He had been blacking out recently, waking up with no clue of what he'd just done. He knew the diary had to be a part of it.
Then there were the rumors. Harry Potter Slytherin heir. He was inclined to believe it. He told Tom so, but the soul trapped inside didn't agree with his position, but would not tell him who he believed the heir to be.
-_-_-_-_-
Harry sorely wished he was the Slytherin Prince. The Heir that opened the Chamber of Secrets. The magical abilities necessary to awaken whatever monster lay inside the walls of Hogwarts must be tremendous. Harry kicked back in the Slytherin common room, sighing as he thought about it.
He didn't know why he found it so interesting, probably the Slytherin part of him starting to show. Ever since being sorted, he hadn't actually felt like a part of his house. Malfoy fit in so perfectly, but Harry couldn't help but feel...torn. As if he could easily belong in the Gryffindor House just as much as he did in Slytherin.
This feeling would haunt him for the rest of the year.
Harry and Neville ended up in the Chamber of Secrets with Lockhart.
Something snapped inside Harry when he saw Draco lying on the ground, Tom Riddle's diary in hand, the soul of the younger Voldemort standing over him with a wicked grin on his face.
Harry fell to his knees over Draco, an anger he'd never really felt before welling up inside of him. He looked up at Riddle, who laughed at his pained expression.
It was Neville who got the sword from the Sorting Hat, although Harry was still the one to defeat the Basilisk.
Draco and Harry were the best of friends again after the incident inside the Chamber. Harry silently swore to himself to never make Draco feel lonely again, never send him over the edge.
Year 3
It happened in their third year. The time when Harry finally began to feel like a part of Slytherin. The time when Draco realized when he was gay.
It was the small things Draco noticed, that confirmed his suspicions. How the male Quidditch players were so...muscular and agile. How his gaze could linger for a little too long on their chests and defined jawlines. While some boys liked to look at long silky hair and curvy figures, Draco liked rugged bedhead and square chins.
Draco tightened his lips, gripping the edges of the sink, white hair falling into his face. He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut, unable to look at himself. No one needed to know. No one could ever know. His father, his father would hate him if he found out. He felt teats staring to fall down his cheeks.
Surely there had to be some sort of potion or something to fix him. There had to be a way.
A thought struck him, he wouldn't be able to produce an heir. He couldn't continue the Malfoy line unless he married a woman.
And he was gay.
While Draco was discovering this, Harry was doing some discovery of his own. He found out that Sirius Black came from a long line of Dark wizards, but was a Gryffindor.
Harry leaned back in his arm chair, taking a sip of his tea. His parents would probably be ashamed of him. A Potter, a Slytherin? Harry sneered. "Guess I'm not much of a Potter, am I? Just like Sirius wasn't much of a Black."
He almost laughed, closing his eyes and smiling to himself, ready to embrace his fate. His fate as a Slytherin.
He spotted Draco enter the common room, eyes hollow and face gaunt. He looked over at him, "What's got your knickers in a twist?" he taunted.
"Sod off Potter." Draco spat.
Harry smirked, setting his tea on an end table. "Why should I?"
Draco seemed surprised at Harry's behavior. The Slytherin was suddenly acting, well...Slytherin. "Harry, what's wrong with you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "So I'm Harry now?"
Draco could see it was a lost cause to talk to Harry right now, he turned away, only to be spun back around again. He could only see Harry and his stupid scar and stupid green eyes that made his heart beat faster and - Draco blinked, focusing on Harry's face. "Get away from me!"
Harry furrowed his brows, "Sorry Dray, Jesus, lighten up."
With that Harry patted Draco's green Slytherin tie and turned away.
Draco leaned against the wall, sighing. They say every person begins the journey to discovering their sexuality with a crush. Sure, they may find themselves attracted to and staring at genders or a gender previously deemed off-limits, but for most, it begins with a crush.
And Draco had a crush on Harry.
-_-_-_-_-
Harry wondered what he'd see in the Mirror of Erised now. Never before had he felt so distant from his parents. he groaned, rubbing his forehead. Ever since the Chamber of Secrets opened, Harry knew something had changed. He found himself spending less and less time with his Gryffindor friends and more time alone with his thoughts.
All of his second thoughts about being sorted incorrectly vanished just as easily as they'd come. He was a Slytherin, a disappointment to the Potter name, yes, but just as Sirius Black embraced who he was, Harry decided to do the same.
He sneered, standing a little straighter as he put on his Slytherin robes. Many people believed Harry was destined to bridge between Slytherin and Gryffindor, but Harry now disagreed. He was going to be the greatest Slytherin he could be. He spat at the ground. "Curse you Potters, I renounce your name."
The rest of their third year was very different for both Harry and Draco. Harry had distanced himself from everyone, spending time by himself, watching Neville slowly replace his spot in the Golden Trio. He didn't mind, however, now he could be free to embrace who he was.
Draco spent his time avoiding Harry, searching for some way to get rid of the gay, get rid of his crush, but it only grew stronger. So he decided to try and hate him, so no one would ever find out what he felt for Harry.
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If you like What A Handshake Can Do, I also started writing another drarry fan fiction (it has very fast updates if it's not complete by the time you're reading this. I update either every Tuesday and Friday or every Friday). It's called A Hazy Shade of Grey and it's set in place after the war. Check it out!
Bye fishies