Again, overused. I actually didn't plan on publishing it, but I like how it turned out so I guess it'll have to do.
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Summary
*Harry speaks before he thinks, as usual, and for the first time, that might just be a good thing for him.*
Harry rounded the corner in a hurry and, as he was nearing the potions classroom, the unmistakable smell only got stronger.
What the hell? he muttered as he opened the door, still panting slightly.
God, it was even worse inside.
"Potter!" Snape wasn't late to scowl. "Late, are we? Take ten points from Gryffindor to remember the bell rings for a reason."
Harry could not complain about this one. He had it coming.
"Now go to your seat."
As he advanced inside the classroom, the smell finally became too much to bare and he turned around, an annoyed look on his face as he spoke:
"Malfoy, what in the world did you do? Did you fucking bathe in that cologne of yours?"
All movement suddenly stopped and the sound of a book hitting the floor was the only thing heard before the classroom sank in a deathly silence.
Harry had expected Malfoy to sneer and bite back immediately, or at least dismiss him with an original insult or maybe a simple fuck you, but he got none of that. Instead, Malfoy stared at him wide eyed, mouth hanging open, apparently at a loss for words. Harry hesitantly cast a look around and was even more confused to see that everyone, and I do mean everyone, including Snape, was staring at him with the same astounded expression Draco wore. What the hell did he say?
"Harry", he heard Hermione's timid voice from somewhere on his left. He turned to look at her and his stomach churned in horror at the sympathy and pity in her eyes. "This is Amortentia", she gestured to the steaming cauldron in front of her. "It smells like what attracts you most."
It was now Harry's turn to stare in shock. Had that just happened? Was he really that stupid? I mean, sure, his mouth did have this nasty habit of working faster than his brain, but there was just no way he would be this unlucky, now, was there?
"Huh", he finally muttered, not daring to look at Draco. "Well this is embarrassing", he concluded while willing his cheeks not to turn pink.
Trying to ignore the staring contest the whole class seemed to be having with him, he sat down between Ron and Hermione and did not say another word for the rest of the lesson, simultaneously cursing his damn traitorous heart for beating so damn loud because of the fucking smell that lingered still in the air.
He was furious and so done with the fucking pranks the universe kept pulling on him. It was just unbelievable. How was it that he was always dragged in the middle of situations he would give a leg to avoid? Though right now, he was pretty sure he would much rather be fighting the Basilisk or the Hungarian Horntail with a butter knife than be stuck in that room for another second.
When the bell rang, he was the first one to stand up and leave the classroom, ignoring Ron and Hermione's calls.
Get away. As far away as possible.
He had a free period next and he knew for a fact the Slytherins had Charms which meant they had no time to spare to mock him if they wanted to be on time. It was a bit reassuring, though he knew there was no escaping the public humiliation that was sure to come at lunch. Or maybe Draco would prefer to hex him until he wouldn't manage to stand and then not talk to him for the rest of his life. That was a possibility, too.
He could now see the portrait of the Fat Lady at the end of the hall and he walked a bit faster, eager to find himself in the comfort and familiarity of the deserted common room.
He suddenly came to a halt when he heard footsteps behind him and turned around furiously, thinking it was Ron or Hermione, but chocked on air when the blonde haired Slytherin stood before him. He mentally cursed himself for that embarrassing reaction before scowling at the boy.
"Shouldn't you be in Charms?"
"I couldn't care less about Charms right now. We need to talk."
Harry paid no mind to Draco's surprisingly sincere and sarcasm less tone and bit coldly at the blond:
"I know you take sick pleasure in mocking literally everything I do, but if you have the slightest bit of decency, no matter how fat the chances, you will restrain yourself this one time." And with that, Harry abruptly turned around, muttered the password and climbed through the hole in the wall, not giving Malfoy a chance to say anything else.
Draco was left stunned in front of the portrait, an uncomfortable shiver running down his spine at Harry's cold tone and harsh words and he couldn't help but bitterly admit that the blame was all on him.
When Harry dreadfully crawled out of the portrait hole an hour and a half later to head for lunch, he visibly jumped at the sight of Draco sitting cross legged on the floor, back pressed against the wall. As soon as he saw Potter, he scrambled to his feet and raked his mind for the right words. But before he could even open his mouth, Harry painfully rolled his eyes and threw him the most loathing look Draco had ever seen which sent a painful pang through his heart.
Harry wanted to say something but decided not to humiliate himself further and so settled on glaring at Malfoy for a split second longer before turning around and making to leave. He wanted Draco to know how much he hated him. Though he didn't actually hate him which was so infuriating that it made him hate him even more. Harry wanted to scream in frustration. Why on earth was this so damn complicated?
When seeing Potter try to leave, panic settled in the pit of Draco's stomach. No, he had to do something. So he quickly grabbed Harry's wrist and forced him to turn around and face him. He just wasn't going to let him walk away like that.
"We need to talk", he muttered between gritted teeth. "About Potions", he completed, uncharacteristically straightforward. "And I'm not leaving you alone until we do", he then stubbornly stated.
"How very Gryffindor of you."
Harry was still trying to free himself of Draco's grip, though it was clearly very half heartedly since he hadn't managed much.
"Don't fool yourself. I will benefit greatly out of it."
"I take that back", Harry murmured, clearly disappointed. He should have known better than to have expectations. "Look, Malfoy", he started in a calm and resigned voice. "Anything else you can make fun of, not that I really care anyway, but this one thing I obviously can't control I will not let you mock. That would be low, even for you." The obvious hurt in his eyes had Draco's heart shatter on the spot.
"For fuck's sake, Potter, for once in your life shut that mouth of yours and let me speak, will you?" Draco almost shouted, his patience thinning.
He reached inside his robes with his left hand, the right one still holding Potter in place with a firm grip on his wrist, and pulled out a little vial full of liquid.
"What's that?"
"Amortentia", Draco answered simply.
Harry looked puzzled.
"Why do you carry it around?"
"I've had it for a while. I brewed it two summers ago and couldn't tell the smell for the life of me. So I put it in here", he patted his robe around where the inside pocket was. "and smelled it daily. Even after coming back to school I couldn't tell what it smelled like and it was honestly driving me up the wall. Until one particular day, a certain clumsy idiot ran into me on the hallway and it hit me at once. The same fucking smell I knew all too well by then. And I was left wondering how on earth had I not recognized it earlier."
Harry was left speechless, heart pounding furiously in his chest. Surely, this couldn't be happening.
"Granted, it annoyed me a great deal at first. Why in the world I had to fall for the most troublesome person in the damn world, I swear I couldn't figure out. And to think I actually took pride in not falling at the Chosen One's feet", he laughed bitterly.
And now he stopped and searched Harry's face for a reaction of some kind, but was essentially stabbed in the heart to find it blank.
"Harry?" he asked tentatively, thinking that continuing to use his last name in that position was simply foolish and childish.
The sound of his first name rolling off Draco's lips seemed to do the job in pulling Harry out of his trance.
"I- you really... but you don't like me?"
"Fucking damn it, Potter. I just literally told you that I've been head over heels for you for over two years and the first thing you do is contradict me?"
Harry didn't respond the way Draco expected him to. In fact, he was left speechless in the hall.
"Look, this is already humiliating enough for me as it is. It's your turn to say something."
But Harry could not speak for the life of him, so he let the Gryffindor in him take over and just bravely lunged forwards and threw his arms around Draco's neck, pulling him to his level and crashing their lips together. Draco sighed happily in the kiss and Harry could have sworn he heard him mutter a fucking finally between the third and the fourth kiss.
They only stopped a few good minutes after and they connected their foreheads, hands still clutching each other almost desperately. Draco couldn't help the smirk that pulled at his lips.
"Maybe being stupidly impulsive isn't Gryffindor's worst trait after all."