The very beginning.
White lights hurt Draco's eyes as he blinked away the sleep. He was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Suddenly things came rushing back to him, the spell, the bathroom, the blood, Snape....Potter. Hot anger surged through Draco at the memory of Potter almost killing him by hitting him with the Sectumsempra spell. He ruined one of Draco's nice shirts. Draco would have some nasty scars he'd have to take care of if he wanted them to disappear. He wished he could hex Potter on the spot. But all of that anger was followed by the tiniest bit of concern; Snape would punish Harry severely—not that he didn't deserve it—and Draco didn't particularly like the thought of Potter suffering at Snape's hand. Well, actually he really liked the thought, but not as severely as he knew Snape would take things. No matter how badly Potter deserved it. Draco wasn't sure if Snape had any limits at all, especially not when it came to Potter.
The room appeared to be completely empty. The bright pale lights were on even though it was clearly the middle of the night judging by the view out the window. Suddenly there was a shift in his peripheral vision, causing his eyes to instinctively flicker in that direction. Most of the lights turned off, giving the room a dim, less harsh glow that put Draco's eyes at ease. "Who's there?" The Slytherin asked. Now perched in a sitting position on his infirmary bed, he narrowed his eyes in that direction.
Nothing.
Draco began to relax and tell himself it was only a breeze or his eyes getting adjusted and that the lights must be some kind of time sensitive magic. But after a moment he could feel a presence beside his bed. "Something is here," he said aloud. "You might as well show yourself. Clearly you want to be in here to see me so it's only fair I should get to see you...unless you're too much of a coward." Draco didn't like not knowing what was happening or being out of control. At that moment, he'd been experiencing both. His discomfort only made him harsher.
Harry Potter was not a coward and wasn't going to let anyone say so either. Unsure and with shaky hands, Harry uncovered himself from the cloak. He didn't meet Malfoy's eyes, and he swallowed visibly; he was very obviously nervous. There was guilt overshadowing his normally challenging demeanor and fear in his eyes as he stared at his own feet. Perhaps, he thought, Malfoy will kill me now, right here. Perhaps I deserve it.
Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, the boy in recovery decided to proceed cautiously. "What do you want, Potter? Here to finish off the job?" He harshly laughed. "We both know you're not going to be able to kill me while I'm of good health."
Potter's eyes flicked up to Draco's. "Kill you?" He seemed shocked. "Merlin! Of course not! I. . .," he paused, realizing that he'd never really thought about how he was going to explain his concern once he stepped out of the cloak. He'd never considered stepping out of the cloak when he thought about checking on him. "I didn't know what the spell would do. I just . . . I was worried, and I felt bad for—for, well,—and I—for almost—" he rambled.
"Spit it out, Potter."
"For almost killing you."
"Why do you care?" Draco crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed. The gesture hurt but he wasn't going to let Potter see that.
"I don't want you to die, Draco!" The name was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Harry actually wasn't sure why he cared. He didn't think he was supposed to since Malfoy was his enemy, but he still didn't want him to die.
It caught the injured boy's attention when Potter didn't call him 'Malfoy'. It made him suspicious of Potter's intentions. "Again, why do you care?"
Harry felt sorry for everything he'd ever done to Draco in the past. Harry didn't want to kill anyone at Hogwarts. Not even Draco, no matter how big of a prat he was. Had he really made people believe he wanted to see him dead? His guilt made him babble nervously. "I care because you don't deserve to die. I care because you're important. I care because I have so much to say before you die. I care because I'd never forgive myself for taking away any chance of you having a future. I care because while I was watching you bleed and thought you were a goner, I wished I'd spent less time hating you and more time doing this." Harry leaned forward and kissed him.
Draco gasped into the other boy's mouth in shock when he felt their lips connect. He froze at first, but as soon as he had wrapped his head around what was happening, he pulled Harry onto the bed with him. All of the anger at him from first year until now poured into the kiss as he harshly took control, rolling them so that Harry was under him. The movement hurt but Draco didn't like being in such a vulnerable position with Harry above him. Draco knew this had to be a prank, some sort of cruel joke.
When Potter pulled away from him, his eyes were shocked, his lips pink and swollen. All of Draco's questions of whether it was genuine were answered. Draco swore to himself later that he'd never forget the emotions and bright greens in Harry's eyes in that moment, or how badly he'd wanted him. The boys had an off-and-on, love-hate relationship after their first kiss.
The next memory flashed through Draco's head.
•••
A new experience.
"Oh Merlin, Draco, it is not that difficult," the shorter boy laughed out.
Draco stumbled and huffed. "'Not that difficult.' There are wheels attached to my feet. How are you doing this, and how are you making it look so easy?" A piece of his hair had fallen into his eyes and he huffed to try to blow it back.
Harry laughed and turned around smoothly in his Muggle roller skates to face Draco. "Here. Just take my hands. I'll help you keep your balance." Harry held both of his wobbly boyfriend's hands and pulled him forward slowly while skating backwards himself. Draco was annoyed to see small children skating past him. "Dudley used to have birthday parties and such at skating rinks and I would be allowed to skate so long as I didn't pester my aunt and uncle. I've been doing this since I was young. You'll get it, Dray," he explained.
Draco began to straighten out his posture once he felt certain Harry wouldn't let go. He looked down at Harry who was watching their feet. Draco kept his completely still and allowed Harry to pull him as he skated backwards. The taller man loosened his viselike grip on Harry's forearms as he gained more confidence in his balance.
This made Harry look up at Draco. "See? You're fine. Now why don't you try using one foot to push a little bit?" He encouraged. The two men were moving at a fairly slow pace around the rink. Draco began to lift a foot to follow Harry's directions, but started to wobble. Instantly he dropped his foot and tightened his grip on Harry. "You're alright. No need to be scared; I've got you."
Harry meant no insult, but Draco instinctively got defensive. "I am not scared! I am simply. . . testing your grip on me!" He filled in. "I wouldn't want to catch you off guard and make you fall. That wouldn't be very nice of me, would it?" He realized his obviously false explanation didn't sound as convincing as he'd hoped.
Harry chuckled. "Oh really?" His green eyes glistened with amusement as he stared up at the prideful man in front of him. "Well do you think I'm ready now?"
"I suppose." He quickly, unsteadily picked up a foot and attempted to push off. However, all of his confidence was lost as he put too much weight on his back foot and began to fall. He would've fallen backwards, but instead, he overcorrected and fell forward. Harry tried to catch Draco to steady him but merely managed to cushion his fall as they both went down.
Draco's pale complexion turned a bright pink that Harry could only see due to their close proximity under the darkened lights. Draco was completely embarrassed. In the wizarding world, Malfoy's were held at a high respect. Especially Draco, now that he was dating Harry Potter, and he'd done all that he could to makeup for his family's mistakes and the harm they caused during the war. Of course, he became a notorious character again for the press once Harry let it slip they were dating to a reporter—who'd been harsh and demanding about his suspicions based on the men's appearances at their respective jobs one morning. However in the Muggle world, Draco was a regular person. Sometimes he enjoyed it. Then there were moments like these where he got embarrassed about his awkwardness in Muggle culture.
Harry propped himself up on his hands to look at Draco. He was laughing about the fall, enjoying the simple things the couple got to experience together. As soon as Draco caught glimpse of Harry laughing, he couldn't help but laugh too. The laughter died down as they made their way off of the rink to sit, but the smiles did not. Once they were both stable again sitting on a bench, Harry leaned into Draco and kissed him softly on the mouth. It was only a gentle peck, but it was all it took for Draco to feel butterflies wild enough to make him forget the world around them.
That memory then faded to the next.
•••
What'd ya think of chapter 4? These memories aren't going to have much of an order to them. They're happening less chronologically and more as they cross Draco's mind. I'm going to try to keep it at around 2 per chapter but I can do it 1 by 1 if you'd like. Just let me know guys!