Author's Notes:

So, if you are a reader of my other works, then you know that fluff is my thing. I write fluffy pieces and there isn't too much angst in my oneshots. Well, I was challenged by SereneFreakGeek to an Angst Challenge. Which let me tell you, was challenging. It took me nearly three weeks to be able to properly figure out what I wanted to do.

The rating for this might not need to be M but I wasn't sure, especially with the things that are said. I don't know. I can always change that.

There will come a point in this story where you might want to stop reading, I beg you to continue. I won't ever leave you in too much pain. Just barrel through it. Now, I myself cried three times while writing this. But if you know me, I am a big giant baby. So, it might not even touch you guys.

Warning- I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form. All rights to the characters are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. The only thing is mine is the way I spin the story. It is for entertainment only and not part of the official story line.

Hopefully you all enjoyed this!

Harry used to wonder what was wrong with him. Why didn't his family care? What was it that made him unlovable? That's what Uncle Vernon said. Even at his ripe old age of four, Harry couldn't understand why.

For a while, he thought it was just the way they were. Maybe they didn't have any love on the inside to give away.

…But that wasn't true. They loved Dudley. Harry could tell by the way Aunt Petunia would kiss his cousin's cheek in the morning. Or the way his Uncle would ruffle Dudley's hair. They loved Dudley but yet they hated Harry. Why? What could he have possibly done?

Perhaps he really was unloved? Maybe something really was wrong with him? If they could show love to Dudley, then that meant that Harry was just broken?

It wasn't until Harry was six that he felt his hand start to burn and he knew that the Dursleys had lied to him! The unbearable pain was the sign of a soulmate bond forming.

The only thing that made the pain and the tears worth it, was when Harry looked down and saw the name of the person that was made to love him.

Draco Malfoy

Harry traced the letters on his tender skin and marveled at the name. He knew that everyone had a soulmate and that this wasn't technically special… but to Harry it was. This meant that there really was someone out there that could love him. They might not, Draco could even dislike him. But there was still a chance of love. Maybe they could be friends? Maybe they could be enemies? Maybe they would just be people who pretended to get along? None of that mattered, Harry would take Draco in any way possible. Because somewhere there was someone peering down at their own palm and seeing his name on it, wondering what kind of person Harry was.

Hopefully, he would live up to the expectation.

"No nephew of mine is going to be homosexual!" Those words were reverberating inside Harry's mind as he tried to make himself smaller, even in the privacy of his cupboard. What did it matter if his soulmate was a boy? Didn't it just show that a boy could love him? Didn't it just show that love happened in many different ways? Why did it matter if the name was a boy?

Personally, Harry had never even heard of the name Draco before. Did it sound masculine? Wasn't his Uncle being a little presumptuous?

Harry closed his eyes and tried so hard to picture what his soulmate would look like. Would they be a boy? Would they be a girl? Would they have long hair? Short hair? Would they have red hair? Black hair? Blonde hair? Brown hair? He didn't care either way. The beating of his heart just ached for understanding. That's all he wanted from his soulmate was understanding. If they could look at him and see someone worth taking a chance, then that's all he could ask for.

"Draco." Harry whispered, tracing the name on his palm softly.

His entire youth, the Dursleys forced Harry to wear gloves. They didn't want anyone to see that his soulmate was a boy. Or even someone with such an odd name.

At first, it really bothered Harry. His mark wasn't an inconvenience or a hindrance. It wasn't a bad thing, nor did it deserve to be hidden away. He was proud of the name on his hand. Proud of whoever Draco Malfoy was as a person.

This was special. The name on his palm meant everything to Harry. It was something that was just for him. Something to treasure. So, in the end, it was okay to keep it covered. The rest of the world didn't need to know who his soulmate was. They weren't the ones who would be there. They weren't the ones who would love Draco.

Harry found himself caressing his soulmate mark often and usually subconsciously. It was a form of comfort. Every time Uncle Vernon threw him into his cupboard, he would rub the mark and imagine that Draco would take him away from them. Every time Aunt Petunia would send him to bed without dinner, he would peer at the name and wish that Draco was there to comfort him. Every time Dudley and his gang would bully him, he would press his fingers to the words softly and envision Draco coming to help him.

"Draco." Harry whispered, eyes clenched and fingers roaming his hand. He wished that he could find his soulmate He hated the idea of waiting until he was older to search for Draco.

Soulmates weren't always something great. Harry saw the stories, read the paper and watched the news. Sometimes, even being a soulmate can't stop the evil that can lurk in some people. Everyone has a soulmate. Murderers, criminals, thieves and everyone in between has someone that was meant for them. The marks don't discriminate.

… But they also aren't always fair. Mrs. Figg across the street, her soulmate died before she was born. His teacher's soulmate committed suicide. Some people have more than one soulmate but don't want to share. Some don't want a soulmate at all and refuse to acknowledge the marks on their hand. Some choose to just be friends. While others despise their soulmate.

It would kill Harry if he finally found Draco, only to be turned away. The years spent picturing who his soulmate was couldn't have been a waste. It couldn't. What kind of justice would that be? He hoped beyond hope that somewhere Draco was of the same belief as him.

Please let him want me.

Harry spent his free time searching any database for a Draco Malfoy. The searches were always fruitless and completely disappointing. He had always assumed that since the name was so unique, that it wouldn't be hard to find. But it was as if Draco didn't exist.

That either meant that Draco wasn't born yet or he had died already. Harry had been too afraid to search the obituaries for his soulmate. Didn't want to see the person he dreamed of for years being already gone to the world. That would crush him in ways that he wasn't prepared for.

By the time Harry was seventeen, he had searched every possible database, including foreign ones for anyone even resembling Draco's name. But it came up empty.

This wasn't the end of the search. That could still mean that Draco could be born at any moment. Harry could wait a few years and continue the search again. But doing nothing in the meantime was not preferable.

With a glance at the search engine for lost soulmates, Harry knew that he had to know. He just had to know if Draco was still alive.

Another two years before he had searched every single death in the last seventy years on all continents.

There wasn't a single Draco Malfoy in any of them.

What did this mean? Did his soulmate even exist? Was there a Draco Malfoy in the world at all? The only conclusion that was left to draw was that he just wasn't born yet. But Harry was already nineteen, that was a big age gap already. Did that mean that he was just supposed to be a friend? Or even a mentor?

Harry clenched his eyes tightly as he fought the tears that were threatening to come. He was right here. Waiting for the evidence of his soulmate. Hoping that this wouldn't be his life. He couldn't spend every waking moment just waiting for Draco to come along. He couldn't. That would crush his spirit.

But giving up on Draco wasn't something that Harry could do either.

Where are you Draco?

"Excuse me, are you Harry Potter?"

Harry had been about to get into his car, the one that was on its last leg and definitely not up to anyone's safety standards. His brows rose at a man with a fiery red robe of some kind that clashed horribly with his red hair that was several shades lighter.

"Depends on what you are selling. If it's a new life, then I'm sold."

The man looked so taken aback that Harry wondered if he wasn't much of a joker. "Yes, that's me." He added in a cheery voice that didn't match his personality.

"The same Harry Potter that has the name Draco Malfoy on his hand?"

The whole world came to a standstill and Harry's breath left him in a whoosh. His heart was beating so rapidly that he wondered if this was a medical problem. Surely, this wasn't normal.

"Do—" Harry's voice cracked. "Do you know where he is?"

The flicker of pain on the stranger's face had Harry's face falling and tears already forming. "No. No, No." He shook his head rapidly. "Please tell me he's alright."

"I—" The stranger looked around the driveway before looking at his feet. "Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

In the back of Harry's mind, he knew that if he missed work, he would be fired. But he had spent so much of his life looking for Draco that he couldn't turn the man away. Not even if this was bad news. He had to know.

Harry turned around and walked back up the five flights of stairs that led to his tiny apartment. He couldn't bring himself to speak up but the sound of the man following him was enough for now.

After apologizing for only having the one couch to sit on, Harry gazed steadily at the other man who had introduced himself as Ron.

"I don't know where to begin and I hate that I have to be the one to tell you this."

Harry closed his eyes at the first stinging to them. He clenched his fists tightly and prayed that the words he knew were about to come out, would magically be different.

"Malfoy—I mean Draco—uh." Despite the situation, Harry couldn't help but feel for the guy. He was obviously uncomfortable. "As of last week, Draco has officially been declared dead."

The tears fell, and Harry didn't bother stopping them. He had always known that this could be a possibility, but the reality was far more painful than he thought it would be.

"How? What happened?" Harry choked out, not able to open his eyes and see the pity in them.

"That's hard to explain."

There was a hesitant quality to his tone but Harry was far from caring. "Just tell me." The demand wasn't as firm as he would have liked it to be. It would seem that the pain in his heart was manifesting in his voice as well.

"There is an… organization… that isn't known to the public. Draco was a part of that organization, as well as I am. Which is why if you have gone looking for him, you wouldn't have found anything."

Harry opened his eyes and blinked away his tears enough to be able to see Ron. "Some kind of Government organization?" That would make sense, he had searched every possible database for Draco.

"Sort of." Harry could tell that the man wasn't exactly being truthful but if it was classified, then that also made sense.

"We were at… war… and Draco unfortunately got caught in the crossfire."

War? "What war? Surely, that would have been announced."

By the way Ron looked away, he knew that something else was going on here but Harry didn't have any standing to make the other man talk. Especially if this really was something to do with the government.

"I can't go into any details regarding what happened but I have something that he wanted you to have." The man reached into his funny looking robe and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper. Only the paper was old and kind of reminded him of what a scroll would be like.

The breath that was already shaky, left Harry in a painful whoosh. This would make it too real. This wasn't something that he could handle.

Harry stretched his trembling fingers out and gently pulled the paper out of Ron's hands. He looked down at it with reverence. "What was he like?" Opening the letter wasn't something he wanted to do in front of the other man but he also needed to know more about Draco.

An uncomfortable look flittered across Ron's face. "I'm not the best person to answer this." He began in a warning. "We didn't get along. Complete opposites." There was a fond look on Ron's face and that hurt Harry more than he thought it would. Ron got to know Draco. Ron got to know him enough to be fond of him. It wasn't fair.

"Our families have known each other for a long time and it was always a feud." Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't tell you what kind of person he was because I didn't know him well enough. Not really. I never bothered to get to know Draco like that."

That bothered Harry. Because he had spent his whole life wishing to be able to get to know Draco and Ron had the opportunity and didn't even try? That feud must have been bad.

"But what I can tell you, is that he loved you."

Harry gasped painfully and shook his head, trying not to start crying again.

"It was always hard to get Draco to talk about himself, his family, or really anything at all. Especially after he joined our side. But anytime soulmates were brought up, he would always smile softly and tell everyone that he knew his was the best."

The battle not to cry was nonexistent as Harry covered his mouth with his hands and begged silently for Ron to stop talking. But a small part wanted the redhead to keep going.

"Draco loved to imagine who you were and what kind of person you would be. We used to tease him that you could be someone mental but he always said that that wouldn't bother him if it was true. That he would be proud of whoever you were."

Harry had never had someone be proud of him. Never had someone who had said anything remotely nice to him like that. It hurt, hurt badly.

"He had plans to find you when the war was over. He was going to search the world until he found you. Didn't even care that you might be a muggle." At Harry's confused look, Ron coughed and hurried to explain himself.

"That's just a term we use for people who aren't in on our organization."

Harry nodded his head and looked down at his letter. "Thank you for finding me." He bit his lip, tears causing his vision to be blurry. "I have looked for him for a long time. Knowing is better than dreaming."

Ron's eyes were suspiciously wet as he bade him goodbye but Harry couldn't judge him for that.

Dear Harry,

I never wanted to write this. This was something that I set up just in case I don't make it out of this war alive. I know none of this makes sense and I wish that I could elaborate. Just know that I am in an awful position and will probably have done something stupid.

Being afraid of death has never been something I considered. Everyone dies at one point. The only question is, when? There aren't many things in life that I regret, but never meeting you is one of them.

Merlin, Harry. I have spent my whole life wondering who you could be. I know that soulmates are everywhere and don't always end well but I couldn't help but dream for the best. I didn't have the best childhood. This might sound silly, but I used to dream that you were my family. That you could somehow find a way to save me.

But you weren't there. I had to save myself.

No matter the situation, whether I was happy, upset, safe or in danger; I always wished that you were by my side. I know that not all soulmates crave a relationship or even close comfort but I hoped that you would be the exception. Because I love you.

I know that might sound weird, especially considering we have never met but I do. I love you. I know that I would have loved everything about you. Even if you have awful bad habits or no sense of fashion. I would have loved you if you snore in your sleep or have to have a window open at night. I would have loved you if you had no self-esteem or heaping amounts of it. I would have loved all your imperfections and definitely your merits. I love whoever you are Harry Potter.

I wish that things could have gone differently. It kills me that I have to write this. I am not afraid of dying, as I have already said, but I am afraid to leave without you. How can you spend your whole life dreaming of someone, only to have the cruel temptation of love ripped away? It's not fair. I see happy soulmates everywhere I look and I hate them. I hate that they get the one thing I can't have.

I will have died by the time you are reading this and I can't stress enough how sorry I am. I have it easy, death is easy. You have to live with the grief of not only my death but also never meeting me.

I'm sorry, Harry. So sorry. I would trade everything I possibly could to be able to see you. Even if it is just once.

Please don't grieve for me too hard. I want you to enjoy the world. I want you to be able to live your life. I know that this might not be worth something but I really do love you. Not even death will be able to take that away from me. So, in your waking life, know that with each breath you take, my love will continue to flow through you. That was terribly sappy, pretend I didn't say that.

I wish I could write forever. If it is the only way to be close to you, then I will take it. I will take all I can get. If you don't love me, I understand. I know that this is all slightly insane but don't begrudge me of my fantasy. Because when I die, it's going to be with the thought that you love me just as much as I love you.

You better live a long and happy life. I don't want to see you in the afterlife until it's your time. And that better be when you are old and wrinkling. We may not have gotten this lifetime together but maybe we can be together in another one?

I guess I'll see you on the other side. Goodbye Harry.

With so much love,

Draco Malfoy.

Harry clutched the letter to his heart as he sobbed uncontrollably. "I do." He whispered brokenly. "I love you too."

It wasn't as if his life had changed drastically. Harry didn't have a life with Draco before the knowledge of his death. But he mourned him. He mourned the life they could've had together and what they could have been. Harry mourned the boy who had loved him. Mourned Draco Malfoy and above all, never stopped loving him. Never stopped finding comfort in the name that was still on his hand.

Harry was late for work, again. His car had finally given up and just died on him. But he felt the urge to walk slow. Felt the need to take things light today. As he looked around the buildings that he usually whizzed past on his commute, he noticed a few odd ones. Some seemed to be there but no one else noticed them. It was as if they didn't exist outside a few others.

He shook his head and decided to never skip his morning tea, especially if thoughts like that were making their way into his mind.

Harry was about to start a quick jog, hoping to make it to work at an acceptable fashionably late, instead of one that would get him fired but the sight of a familiar man with red hair had him pausing.

Ron was sitting in one of the buildings that a lot of people seemed to ignore. The man was talking to a woman that he couldn't really make out well. She had really bushy hair but other than that, it was hard to make out anything else.

When Ron looked up and spotted him, Harry waved a little bit, unsure if he really wanted to see the man again. The wide-eyed look of horror was not something that Harry thought he would be on the receiving end of. Did he do something wrong? It wasn't like he had been following Ron. He just happened to be walking by.

Harry watched the redhead speak to his companion before they both stood up and ran towards the exit. He debated with himself, wondering if he should just take off running. This seemed like it would be a bad conversation.

He had just turned to sprint when a cry of his name was called. Harry sighed heavily before he turned around and plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Ron." He didn't bother saying it was nice to see him. Because it really wasn't.

"You saw me." Ron panted when he was right up next to him.

Harry's brows pinched in confusion, he looked to the woman to see if this was making sense but she looked equally surprised.

"It was a window. They are see through, you know."

A surprised snort escaped Ron's companion before she let out an exasperated, "Your personality fits Draco's so well."

"Don't." Harry's voice cracked. "Don't talk about him. Please." Not when he was still having trouble going a single day without thinking about his soulmate.

Compassion filled the girl's warm brown eyes and Harry was just grateful that it wasn't pity.

"Harry, I know this won't make sense." Ron began patiently. "But you can see the building I was just in?"

Harry was beginning to think that Ron was a little mental but he nodded his head and glanced back towards the building. "Yes. It looks a little dodgy but yeah, I can see it." The why, was clearly heard but not spoken.

Ron's face crumpled before he took a step away. "Don't kill me." The begging tone was a surprise and had Harry arching a brow.

"It would seem that we have a lot of explaining to do." The woman began softly, stepping in front of Ron, making her the only thing Harry could see. "Because Draco is alive."

"Let me get this straight." Harry clenched his fists tightly, glaring between the two. "Magic exists, I am a wizard that either got missed or I am squib, a war happened inside the wizarding world, Draco didn't die but I was told he did because it was easier than explaining all of this to a muggle and it turns out that I mourned him for over a year!"

The guilty expression on Ron and Hermione's face didn't make him feel sorry for them. It was their own fault in the first place.

"It's not that it would have been too difficult to explain." Hermione piped up with tears in her eyes. "Muggles can't see magical buildings. The charms repel them away. Draco has been inside St. Mungos for a long time. If you had been a muggle, there was no way that you would ever be able to see him. We have no idea how long he will be there for. It could be the rest of his life."

Harry shook his head rapidly. "Didn't you think it wise to test me first? Shouldn't I have been given a say so? He's my soulmate!" He had never been this angry in his life. Nor this sad. Draco was alive. Actually alive and he may never have known this.

His glass of water shattered, startling him but one glance towards Ron and Hermione had him realizing that this might be expected of someone with magic whose emotions were getting the best of them.

"Take me to him." He demanded, not bothering to beat around the bush. He was done with being lied to.

"He was on the receiving end of a curse that tortures the body." Hermione whispered to him on the way towards Draco's room. "His father was the one who did it."

Harry paused for a moment and closed his eyes. When Draco said he didn't have the best childhood, that was obviously an understatement.

"His father was on the opposite side of the war and didn't appreciate Draco changing sides. The curse was reapplied so many times that it… messed… with Draco."

They paused by a closed door and Harry placed a hand on the wall, wondering if this was Draco's room. "Messed with him how?"

"There are times where he isn't sure where he is or even what year it is. His mind can't cope with the horror that it went through and the healers believe that he goes through episodes of clarity and then regression. There are times that he knows exactly what happened to him and seems to be okay and there are times where he retreats into his own mind." She paused for a moment, trading a look with Ron.

"They don't know if he will get better." Ron added on. "They've been working on him for over a year but it's still a really slow progress. He might not ever be who he used to be."

Harry nodded his head and pushed open the door, ignoring their surprised looks. If they thought he was going to turn around and leave just because Draco was like this, then they didn't know him at all. Which they didn't.

The room was small and uncomfortable but that was alright. A man with light blonde hair was sleeping on a bed that looked uncomfortable, his skin was pale and slightly creamy looking. Black lashes touching pale cheeks and pink plump lips stood out to Harry. He ached to touch Draco but not in this circumstance. Not in this way. Not now.

The longer Harry stared, the more he noticed things about Draco. How beautiful he was, how much he longed to be right next to him.

Harry took a step back when Draco's lashes fluttered before the most beautiful shade of silver eyes were staring towards the door, where Ron and Hermione were standing.

"Weasel, what are you doing here?"

Harry gasped at Draco's voice, unable to help himself. He had spent so long dreaming of what Draco would sound like. There was an elegance to the voice and it matched the elegant cursive on his palm.

When those silver eyes locked onto his own, he could tell that Draco was confused.

"You don't look like a healer. I would say muggle by your choice of style." He looked Harry up and down in interest. "Not that your fashion sense is any good. Are you here to help me? Or hurt me?"

Harry wasn't sure if the man was joking or not but he raised his hands in the air, showing that he meant no harm.

Amusement briefly flickered in Draco's eyes before they narrowed in on his hand, or more noticeably the name on his palm.

When Draco let out his own gasp and sat up, Harry took a step forward.

"I'm Harry." Emotion causing his throat to constrict briefly. "I have waited my whole life to meet you."

Harry wasn't sure what he expected Draco to say or do but seeing Draco lunge at him, certainly wasn't it. He quickly wrapped his arms around the blonde and held tight, making sure not to drop him.

"Harry."

He felt tears in his neck as Draco hid his face. "I got your letter."

Draco's head snapped up. "But… why would you have gotten…" He trailed off in confusion before he turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Ron. Who was hiding behind Hermione again.

"I want you to know that it's not silly or insane. I have loved you too." Harry whispered, not caring about Ron and Hermione at the moment.

The sheer wonder in Draco's face took away Harry's breath. They stared at each other, each with their eyes roaming the other's face, taking in details and committing them to memory.

They moved as one, gentle press of lips. Kissing Draco was unlike anything Harry had ever imagined. The reality of the situation could never be thought up properly. Details that his imagination missed completely. The softness to pink lips, the tingle that went down Harry's spine, the feeling of Draco's hand twining his hair, the little breathy sigh the blonde released before the kiss deepened, all of that was something that his mind couldn't have dreamed up.

One kiss turned into two and then three. Harry continued to hold Draco, even when his arms were beginning to quiver and muscles began straining. He hadn't waited this long to not hold the other man.

"I want to know who you are." Draco whispered as he pressed soft kisses to Harry's face and neck. "Everything. Tell me everything."

"That will take a while." Harry warned with a wide smile. He glanced towards the doorway and noticed that Ron and Hermione had left.

Draco looked up at him with bright eyes and a sweet smile.

"I have all the time in the world."

Author's Notes:

Okay, so, tell me, did I do angst justice? haha I tried to end it after the letter but I just COULDN'T. I had to fix it. I just had to!

I will write the next part in Draco's version. What it was like for him growing up and then I may do a small epilogue.

Soulmate stories have always been something that I am a sucker for. Hopefully you have all enjoyed this. I liked writing it. I feel like it put me out of my comfort zone though, since I don't typically do angst but that's alright.

I will begin on the next installment of the 'Simple Acts' series in a few days. So be patient with me there. See you next time!