Disclaimer: Of course, all characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling, who will always be the official author of Harry Potter's story.

Notes: Written as a prequel to my fanfiction, Proving a Theory. The stories can be read in any order (and Proving a Theory can still be read as a standalone), but In Theory makes a lot more sense with a knowledge of the events of Proving a Theory.

In Theory

Draco Malfoy had many theories.

It was true that he had definitely had more time over the past few years to formulate these numerous theories, especially in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts and the Death Eater trials, back when he spent most of his days hidden away at the Manor without much else to do other than think deeply about the wizarding world around him.

Even now, Draco was well aware of the fact that he spent more time alone than most wizards, lost in the relative peace and solitude of his small flat just outside Hogsmeade, where the same theories seemed to invade his thoughts on a daily basis.

Yet this ability to study his surroundings, and all of the people in the wizarding world, and come up with theories based on what he saw and heard had always been a particular talent of his, especially back at Hogwarts, where this talent was always rather useful when predicting what the next move of his 'enemies' might be, or when it came to spotting potential weaknesses.

Although Draco had many theories, there were three in particular that currently seemed to stand out in his mind:

The first theory was that most citizens of the wizarding world were not really as happy as they had first appeared after the war.

He knew that he couldn't exactly prove this theory conclusively-after all, since Potter's victory at the Battle of Hogwarts, the newspapers constantly published stories of triumph and celebrations and love, and it would perhaps be considered ungrateful to suggest that the wizarding world was far from being the perfect place that the stories portrayed.

Yet he was almost certain that his theory was correct, especially when he studied the expressions on the faces of many witches and wizards as they passed him in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.

A lot of them seemed to wear looks of barely-disguised disappointment, as though promises of unlimited joy and luck and happiness had somehow been broken; as though their lives were still full of worries and problems, even after their victory.

Draco was sure that he could see the painful memories reflected in their eyes, like they still carried the trauma of the dark years of war around with them, as though the grief of losing their loved ones were still very raw.

He also saw the guarded looks on the faces of former Slytherins as they conversed in small groups at bars and at restaurants, their somber conversations almost, but not quite, drowned out by the loud, animated discussions of younger witches and wizards as they discussed the celebrity gossip in Witch Weekly magazine.

The Slytherins still worried for their well-being, they still watched what they said in public, they were still unsure who to trust, they were still not fully accepted.

Draco knew as he sat amongst them that the image of a united, supportive wizarding world, where pure-bloods co-existed in harmony with other witches and wizards and all four Hogwarts Houses no longer experienced any divisions, was little more than a myth, which only served to give further plausibility to one of his most popular theories.

Although he knew that most of the students he once went to school with would look down on him for it, Draco had almost come to depend upon this theory being true. Not because he took particular pleasure in the suffering of others-not anymore, but simply because it eased his own feelings of guilt about not feeling particularly content after the war, especially when he knew that most witches and wizards not-so-secretly believed that he should be constantly professing his gratitude for being 'saved' by the Boy Who Lived, all the while never uttering a word of dissatisfaction ever again.

It was somewhat reassuring (if a little unkind), now that he looked in the mirror and saw somebody older, more weary, with his hair thinning slightly and his eyes tired, feeling little gratitude about managing to avoid being sent to Azkaban and also near indifference to the pretty pure-blood women who he was always getting ready to meet for dinner, to see the same look reflected back at him through other people in the wizarding world, and knowing that he wasn't alone, the way that he had felt so alone immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts.

His second theory was that Potter was following him.

Of course, he was certain that this speculation would be even more difficult to prove than his first theory, and it wasn't as though it were based on any logical or notable evidence (the truth was that the two of them had barely even spoken to each other for years, and Potter seemed all but indifferent to him now when they were out in public, surrounded by other wizards); but still, it was something that Draco could just sense, even the times when he wasn't even entirely sure that Potter was in the same location as him.

Draco could practically feel Potter's eyes on him every time he walked through Diagon Alley, usually those moments when he half-contemplated heading to the darker and dingier pubs of Knockturn Alley for a brief escape from the judgmental eyes of most of the older witches and wizards in the wizarding world.

There had been many times over the past few years when he was almost convinced that he heard the soft sound of Potter's footsteps behind him, or he caught what he was sure was a flash of jet black hair out of the corner of his eye, or a glimpse of green as someone darted around a corner whenever Draco turned around.

Perhaps he really was going mad-after all, he had once heard Potter speculating out loud with Weasley about the state of Draco's sanity, much to his displeasure, and he supposed that some kind of (very) delayed reaction of shock after the war, bringing on feelings of paranoia, was perfectly plausible and perhaps even expected; yet he still believed his theory to be true, deep down.

He had always been something of an expert at sensing Potter's presence back at Hogwarts, and the feeling that Potter was somewhere nearby when he was out in public, hiding away and watching and waiting for Draco's next mistake, was the exact same feeling that he had had back during his school days whenever he felt like Potter was spying on him.

And, if this theory were ever proved to be true, then Draco would have to indulge in further speculation as to why Potter would want to follow him so obsessively.

After the awful experience that was his family's trial at the Ministry, Draco had been on his best behaviour for the past eleven years (in public, anyway). He hadn't broken the law, he hadn't done anything to upset the Ministry or antagonise the Daily Prophet journalists. If anything, his life was rather boring now compared to his Hogwarts years.

So he couldn't understand what Potter would even suspect him of doing wrong, or how Potter could ever catch him out.

But then, if Draco were going to be honest, he would have to admit that sometimes, he was convinced that he could see that same look of dissatisfaction on Potter's face whenever they crossed paths (the almost identical look that was worn by many witches and wizards), especially when Potter had still been working as an Auror, almost as though something were missing from Harry Potter's life, too; and sometimes Draco wondered (or hoped) that this was the reason why Potter's attention was so easily diverted from the goings-on of his 'perfect' life, the reason why Draco's life might seem more interesting and 'dangerous' in comparison.

Draco's third theory was that Potter would say something awful about the Malfoy family in the official books about his life at Hogwarts-books that Potter had annoyingly signed the contracts for, authorising their publication.

After all, he had little doubt that Potter still disliked him, and what better revenge would it be for the former Gryffindor to insult the Malfoy family (and other former Slytherins) in every copy of his official books, causing the younger generation to dislike him just as much as the older generation already did?

All of the Hogwarts students who had hated Draco at school would love it, and the Daily Prophet journalists would have encouraged the negative comments in all of the books, too, no doubt.

This was the only reason why Draco finally made the reluctant decision to read Potter's books in the first place, after weeks of staring at them in disdain from across the living room of his flat.

He would never have touched them, in other circumstances. He still hadn't got over his fury that Potter had agreed to allow the books to be published in the first place.

He couldn't believe that The Chosen One needed even more attention and fame and money, not after eleven years of selling interviews to the Daily Prophet and appearing in Witch Weeklymagazine every month.

He had always secretly suspected that the Hogwarts professors and the Daily Prophet journalists were perhaps wrong in their theories that Potter 'preferred the quiet life' and 'didn't like attention'.

Besides, it wasn't as though there weren't already numerous (too many, in Draco's opinion) books focusing on Harry Potter's life and his 'bravery' throughout his Hogwarts years.

Draco might even have stated this opinion very loudly one afternoon at Flourish and Blotts, when he had been having a particularly bad day anyway and the stories about Potter's life were clogging up every single bookshelf, and Draco just wanted to find a book on healing potions that he had been searching for for months on end without having to look at more anger-inducing pictures of Potter on the front cover of every book!

Perhaps he had also sworn a little and thrown a story about Harry Potter across the room, earning him several concerned glances from a bewildered Gregory Goyle and Pansy Parkinson, and then further speculation that he was under too much stress; but it had been worth it, if only for the satisfaction of seeing Potter's picture flying across the book shop.

As well as his disdain for all publications of Harry Potter's life story, he also had to contend with the unfortunate belief of most of his Slytherin friends that Draco was still rather…obsessed with Harry Potter, which was yet another good reason to avoid reading anything about Potter's time at Hogwarts.

He wasn't sure how they had ever come up with this theory, as Draco didn't consider the occasional drunken rambling about how much he still disliked Potter-and a bit of out-loud speculation that Potter was secretly stalking him-as anything close to obsession; but still, he knew that he would only give credence to his friends' theories if he became too familiar with Harry Potter's life story, or if he started to display the latest editions of Harry Potter's books all over his flat.

The fact that Draco even owned copies of Harry Potter's official books in the first place was an unfortunate consequence of his friends' theory about his ongoing obsession with the Boy Who Lived.

The pile of books was purchased as a birthday gift by Nott and Zabini, who no doubt thought that they were buying some kind of hilarious joke present that they could go and laugh about with the rest of the Slytherins, even though Draco definitely hadn't been laughing when he received them, not when he had been thinking about how his own friends had unintentionally placed even more gold in Potter's vault at Gringotts.

He had been so tempted, at first, to just throw the books away, or do something to damage them; but in the end, the allure of seeing what Potter might have said about his family, and the hope that he could maybe report Potter to the Ministry of Magic if he had said something truly awful about the Malfoys-as some kind of twisted act of revenge for years of rivalry-along with a general curiosity about the stories that he couldn't quite explain, forced him into his decision to start reading the books.

On his first reading of Harry Potter's official story, Draco spent most of his time underlining all of the potentially slanderous comments about his mother and father, using his new quills (a birthday gift from the latest pure-blood witch in his life) and ink of many colours to colour-code the passages based on their degrees of inaccuracy, as well as underlining a few passages that seemed to (incorrectly) imply that his father hadn't quite been the smooth, cunning, evil genius that most of the former Slytherins (and apparently a few middle aged witches now, too, if their admiring glances at Draco's father when they were out in public were to be believed) knew him to be .

After reading a book or two, he also couldn't help but notice all of the incorrect information that Potter chose to publish about Draco himself, and, trying to ignore the once-familiar sense of anger that used to lead to duels between him and Potter, and also trying not to blush at some of the implications, namely that Draco had once cried in a bathroom, and that he was in any way similar to Potter's Muggle cousin, and that he hadn't been as good at Quidditch as most of the Gryffindors, he simply underlined all of the incorrect passages in bright red ink, saving up everything in his memory for future reference, in the unlikely event that he would ever have the chance to confront Potter about all of these inaccuracies one day.

Yet after a little while, he was distracted from his quest to find all of the incorrect information about the Malfoy family when something started to become glaringly obvious to Draco; something that he simply couldn't ignore.

That 'something' was the strange but undeniable realisation of just how much Draco featured in the story of Harry Potter's life.

He had always suspected that he would be relegated to nothing more than a background character when Potter eventually came to give interviews about his time at Hogwarts-a minor irritation, a guest appearance in the occasional chapter, a footnote in a life story, a vague warning to younger readers that they should always fight on the 'right' side, or else face years of consequences.

Yet apparently, this was far from being the case, if all of the mentions of Draco's name in the books were to be believed.

Perhaps his friends (and most of the former Gryffindors, too) would simply put his observation down to vanity, or an overactive imagination, but Draco knew that he definitely wasn't imaginingall of the 'Draco Malfoy' references that were made on most of the pages in front of him.

Apparently, he had been the first young wizard who Potter encountered when he first entered the wizarding world at the age of eleven, and, according to the books, Draco just seemed to…stand out from then on in Potter's stories. It was definitely undeniable that Potter had noticed him at Hogwarts.

Potter seemed to find it necessary to mention every 'chance meeting' on the Hogwarts Express, every glance across the Great Hall, every interaction in a classroom, every argument. And according to the books, there were many. So many.

Draco quickly forgot about his 'legal quest' to discover any incorrect information about his family and instead he focused on all of the pages where his name was mentioned, eventually starting to ignore any chapters where he wasn't at least referred to, deciding that it had quickly got rather boring having to read about the other Hogwarts students.

He read about how Potter had dreamt about him on his first night at Hogwarts, then he read about how easy it had been for Draco to provoke Potter's anger, get his undivided attention, and cause him to break the school rules in first year by holding out a Remembrall or challenging his rival to duels.

He also read about how Potter had obsessed over every single Gryffindor-versus-Slytherin Quidditch match (more so than any of the other matches, if Draco's interpretation was correct), determined to beat the Slytherins every single time, or one Slytherin in particular.

It was almost as though he thought about Draco whenever he faced a challenge, like he really cared about getting one over on the former Slytherin, or being just a bit better in every competition, and then taking an intense feeling of satisfaction from it whenever this happened. A feeling that Draco was all too familiar with.

He read over all of these paragraphs in surprise and fascination, going on to read about how Potter seemed to mention Draco's name rather a lot at Hogwarts, even though it was obvious that every mention of the Malfoy name irritated Potter's friends (or sidekicks, as Draco sometimes referred to them nastily in his private thoughts); yet the Gryffindor students' reluctance to discuss Draco didn't seem to have done anything to discourage Potter's fascination, if the passages about Potter spending months preparing a potion so that he could sneak into the Slytherin common room to spy on Draco were anything to go by, as well as the chapter about how Potter was spying on Draco one summer day at Borgin and Burkes.

As well as talking about Draco obsessively, Potter also seemed to know him so well. For a rival, anyway. Perhaps he even knew him better than most of Draco's Slytherin gang.

He seemed to have been able to describe the details of Draco's appearance, from his soft blond hair to the exact colour of his eyes, even noticing his changing height and physical features throughout their Hogwarts years, and he seemed to have been able to read all of Draco's facial expressions, every smug grin, every triumphant smirk, every unpleasant sneer, every gleam of mischief in his eyes; and, according to the books, it looked like Potter had been able to predict all of Draco's actions and reactions as well.

Perhaps Draco could have explained away all of these references in the chapters with logical theories, at first; but then he began to read the book focusing on Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts.

If he had thought that Potter had been somewhat fascinated with him before, it was nothing compared to Potter's apparent obsession in sixth year.

Of course, at the time, Draco had had his suspicions that Potter was following him around Hogwarts, no doubt trying to prove exactly what Draco was up to in order to catch him out and ensure yet another victory for 'Dumbledore's Army'. Yet as he turned each page, Draco quickly came to the conclusion that following a Slytherin around school occasionally was one thing, but Potter's obsession was on a whole other level to the casually cautious observation of a suspected Death Eater.

He read each passage about this obsession in silent disbelief, struggling to understand why Potter would have stared at Draco's name constantly on that strange map of his late at night, why he would have dreamt about Draco almost every night, why he would have talked about Draco endlessly, in spite of his friends' exasperation with the topic, why his interest in Ginevra Weasley seemed to have paled in comparison to his obsession with Draco, and, perhaps most importantly, why Potter would have suddenly seemed to lose all interest in playing his beloved Quidditch matches as soon as Draco stopped playing. Almost as though Draco were the main reason for Potter's obsession with Quidditch in the first place…

And Draco couldn't put the book down, feeling a compulsion to read more, perhaps in the same way that Potter must have felt the obsessive need to follow Draco around back in sixth year, and the need to know more, the need to discover the truth.

He felt a strange rush of adrenaline and energy that he hadn't felt for years. And also a strange sense of attentiveness, just like back at Hogwarts when he sensed that Potter was somewhere nearby, as though Potter were hiding amongst the pages, watching Draco all over again.

He couldn't help feeling like he was missing something important in the books, like every page that he was reading about his time with Harry Potter at Hogwarts contained a secret message, something hidden between the lines, a whole new theory that was just out of his reach.

This idea that there was something more to his and Potter's time at Hogwarts than a simple rivalry between enemies was reinforced when Draco reached the final book about Potter's school years. He had almost skipped this last book altogether, still feeling like it was too soon to relive those dark days and revisit all of his terrible decisions, but some kind of obsessive feeling that just wouldn't go away seemed to force him to open book number seven of the Harry Potter biographies and start reading.

In many ways, the final book was worth a read, because Draco discovered that he had still been on Potter's mind, every now and again, in spite of everything else that Potter had had to focus on.

Eventually, he got to the part of the book where Potter saved his life, and to his surprise and shock, he read about how Potter had actually wanted to save him back in that Room of Hidden Things, how it wasn't something that the likes of Dumbledore had simply told him that he would have to do, how Potter had ignored Weasley's exasperation all over again, how it had been Potter's own decision to save him, how he didn't regret saving him at the time or later during the Battle, how he had felt Draco holding him so tightly on that broomstick.

He had already read about how guilty Potter seemed to feel after the 'incident' in the bathroom in sixth year, and now, after reading this 'Room of Hidden Things' part of the story as well, Draco almost felt a sense of relief, or release, like an anxiety or uncertainty that he'd been unknowingly holding on to for years had finally eased up a bit. It was almost as though he didn't hate Harry Potter anymore.

The relief didn't last for long though, because, in spite of everything, Draco felt surprisingly…sad when he reached the final page.

Worryingly, after a couple of days, his life felt rather empty now that he didn't have a brand new chapter of Harry Potter's life story to read every evening. Not that he would ever admit that out loud to anyone.

He could blame this sadness on the fact that the ending of the books was left open, meaning that Draco didn't have the answers to his newly-formed questions, answers that he suddenly needed and longed for, but in reality, he couldn't help thinking that it was because he now had a strange sense of nostalgia for his time at Hogwarts.

In the emptiness of his flat, he was forced to face the realisation that the intense rushes of adrenaline and the strong emotions from his Hogwarts years had never really been experienced since. He felt like he had truly been alive back then, and now his adult life suddenly felt dull in comparison.

Perhaps this was the reason why he found himself opening up the books to read them all over again a week or so later, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

On his second reading, he read all about Potter's bizarre obsession with him once more, but this time, he also focused on how Potter portrayed Draco's own behaviour, or how he interpreted Draco's actions when he was around Harry Potter.

Obviously, Draco had in many ways been portrayed as the typical school bully, as he had always suspected that he would be, but he also couldn't ignore the fact that it was often implied that he did talk about Potter rather a lot (and not just to insult him)-all the time, if there was any truth to Potter's biography-always knowing exactly what Potter was doing, apparently already staring back at him from across the tables of the Great Hall whenever Potter glanced in his direction, and usually going out of his way to get Potter's attention, always coming up with some sort of cunning plan to irritate his rival, and considering it a personal victory whenever Potter finally lost his temper and snapped at him.

Perhaps in many ways he and Harry Potter had always been very similar, Draco thought to himself as he turned the pages; and they had just never realised it, never truly understood it back then when they were younger…or they had never dared to admit it.

Draco knew that he could try to deny all of Potter's views on Draco's personality, if he wanted, but he wondered what the point would be in doing so when he was now an adult and alone in the privacy of his own flat, with no one around to share the stories with anyway, when people probably wouldn't even care that much anymore about school day rivalries. Besides, although he would probably never admit it out loud, most of what Potter had said about him in the interviews with the official author of his biography was true.

And so Draco finished reading the books for the second time, telling himself that this would be the last time, the final reading…only to pick the books up all over again a few days later.

At this point, Draco was actively turning down invitations to social engagements-dinners with his parents, drinks in Hogsmeade with his friends, pure-blood balls and social gatherings, dates with a pretty pure-blood witch-just so that he could go home after work and read even more details of how Potter had practically stalked him in sixth year, or chapters about how he had blatantly lied about not being able to recognise Potter once during the war, indirectly saving his life, and Potter had apparently been fully aware of the torment that Draco had faced in that moment, as well as sentences that indicated that Potter had been overly aware of every single female student who Draco got close to, or paragraphs about how their legs had constantly brushed against each other once during a Quidditch match, and Potter had thought it necessary to mention this particular detail in his life story for some unknown reason.

As he turned down invitation after invitation, his obsession with Potter's books steadily growing, and he was troubled with recurring dreams of playing Quidditch against Potter or challenging the Hogwarts version of Harry Potter to duels, Draco almost feared that he would soon start behaving like the annoying younger witches and wizards who always stood in long lines outside Flourish and Blotts, shrieking and jumping up and down in excitement as they eagerly awaited yet another edition of Harry Potter's official stories.

Even more worryingly, he started to fear that his life would never again be as interesting as it had once been at Hogwarts, back when he could argue with Harry Potter almost every day.

For all that he had complained about being a Hogwarts student at the time, Draco was definitely missing his school days now. He almost wished that he could go back and play one more Quidditch match, taunt Potter and the Gryffindors one more time, go to Potions class again and smirk at Potter from across the room, get into one more argument with him, have another duel, face more challenges at school or cause a little bit of chaos and feel his heartbeat speeding up in anticipation as a result.

As he read the books again, Draco took in even more details, like how Potter had often watched him from across the Great Hall, thinking angry thoughts whilst he ate Treacle Tart for dessert, how Potter had spied at him on the Hogwarts Express when they were returning to Hogwarts for sixth year, how Potter had seriously considered missing a Quidditch match so that he could follow Draco around school, how Potter had actually felt sorry for him by the end of sixth year. If Draco hadn't invested so much of his youth into hating Harry Potter, he might have found the courage to go up to him and thank him for his concern.

He turned page after page impatiently, making notes in the margins and highlighting points of interest, all the while still feeling irritated at the thought that he was missing some kind of secret theory, something that was hidden between the lines, or some explanation for all of the 'Draco Malfoy' mentions in every chapter-an explanation that was flying around like a Golden Snitch from page to page, dancing just out of Draco's reach.

He knew that his friends would view his recent interest in Harry Potter's books as yet more proof of his general obsession with Harry Potter's life, but in a way, Draco felt like the pages of these books also contained his own life story, like he had found a (somewhat) accurate portrayal of his own most significant moments and challenges. And, each time he got to the end of the story, he felt either underwhelmed by the inconclusive ending, or overwhelmed by the feeling that this story should have ended differently for him; like he should have somehow behaved in another way around the time of the Battle of Hogwarts, made better choices, done something more interesting, ended his final chapter on a more significant note. It was like there was something that he should have done that he had yet to do.

Eventually, after reading Harry Potter's story a couple more times over a few more weeks, Draco decided that he had to give up on the books; he was already feeling frustrated and angry, and like the theories that he needed to formulate after reading them were still out of his grasp, not to mention that he had also recently received several angry letters by Owl Post from his pure-blood 'girlfriend', in which she declared that she had received many offers of expensive dates from other eligible pure-blood wizards in Draco's absence, and she therefore thought it necessary that she and Draco 'take a break' for a little while.

Coupled with the fact that he hadn't seen his closest friends for weeks, Draco knew that it was time to step back into the reality of the wizarding world, or else face even more accusations from the likes of Potter and Weasley that he was living some kind of reclusive lifestyle because he had 'lost it' after the war. Or accusations from the nosy elderly witches who frequented Madam Puddifoot's that he was no longer brave enough to show his face in public.

That very same day, he closed the books, hid them away at the back of his bookshelf and went to bed, planning on trying not to think about Harry Potter's story for the remainder of the week, and also hoping to get an early night before he faced the social scene of the wizarding world again in the morning.

It was therefore rather irritating when he fell into a fitful sleep, disturbed by constant dreams of a boy with green eyes and glasses and a scar on his forehead who followed Draco around his dream version of Diagon Alley, which was full of mist and smoke, obscuring his vision; and then the same boy with jet black hair kept running away and hiding around corners whenever dream-Draco managed to catch a glimpse of him, whilst random words from the pages of Potter's official biography danced around in the air above them, just out of reach, until they slowly started to merge together as the mist cleared…

Then, in the middle of the night, Draco's dreams were abruptly interrupted when he suddenly opened his eyes wide, gasped and sat bolt upright.

For the first time in what felt like years, everything seemed to make sense: the intensity of his hatred of Harry Potter back at Hogwarts, his desire to talk about him all the time and follow him around school, his strange sense of emptiness as an adult now that Potter was no longer a part of his life. It was all there, written between the lines of the official Harry Potter story.

It wasn't about discovering that he was secretly in love, Draco decided as he tried to catch his breath. No, this moment in his life definitely wasn't like a scene from those awful romantic novels (with protagonists resembling Gilderoy Lockhart) that several of the women in his life loved so much.

If this were like one of the moments in those novels, Draco's feelings would be focused on flowers and hearts and happiness, and a realisation that he had found some kind of soulmate, along with a sudden desire to hold hands and share soft kisses, feeling as though everything in his life were about to get easier and happier, rather than much more difficult and full of even more misery.

Yet Draco knew that his sudden realisation wasn't about all that, not really. Because it wasn't like he was going to stop disliking Harry Potter intensely. It wasn't like he now saw everything from Potter's point of view or even considered him to be the most attractive wizard he had ever met, or the true 'saint' of the story, the way most of the wizarding world did.

It was more about realising, after finally reading Harry Potter's story, that his feelings of dislike were also mixed in with an intense obsession that had never truly gone away; a feeling of obsession that perhaps bordered a little on feelings of admiration, and desire, or more accurately, a desire to push Potter up against a wall and kiss him instead of just cursing him, a desire to feel Potter kissing him back, finally being honest and letting go and not playing at being the perfect hero of the wizarding world for once.

It was also about finally admitting that maybe, in his own strange, twisted, Slytherin way, he had missed Harry Potter. He couldn't help but wonder if Potter had ever missed him.

Finally, Draco had a brand new theory. Or perhaps he was just admitting to a theory that had always been there in the background, waiting to be discovered and accepted.

He almost felt excited for a few minutes, or relieved at finally stepping away from a sense of intense denial that seemed to have been there for years, and also relief at finally having an answer to an unspoken question...

This excitement lasted for a few minutes, until his shoulders slumped and he let out a long sigh of resignation and disappointed realisation. It all sounded very well and good in theory, but in reality, given his current non-existent interactions with Harry Potter, this was one theory that he would never have the opportunity to prove.

A few days later, Draco found himself sitting around a table at the Hog's Head on a cold and wet Friday evening with his usual group of former Slytherins.

With the exception of Draco, who had dealt with sleepless nights and a general feeling of agitation since discovering his new theory, his friends seemed to be in good spirits, especially as they enjoyed their bottles of firewhiskey.

The conversations were rather rushed and chaotic, reflecting their happy mood and the alcohol consumption: Daphne and Tracey discussed the latest relationships of famous witches and wizards, including a few of their favourite Quidditch players; Pansy and Goyle attempted to tell Draco a sarcastic story about a few elderly witches who were discussing the workings of the wizarding mind over their cups of tea at Madam Puddifoot's earlier in the day; Blaise, still a man of few words, mumbled something about a few younger witches who had apparently jumped to Draco's defence yesterday during some kind of argument at the Leaky Cauldron, making sure to finish his story with an exasperated roll of his eyes, his disdain for most of the wizarding world still apparent; Theodore Nott was talking with Millicent about The Weird Sister's latest songs.

Draco tried as best he could to join in with their discussions, especially when he started to slowly feel the effects of a couple of glasses of firewhiskey, yet he was finding it really difficult to concentrate, with his thoughts about Potter and his new theory still troubling him.

All attempts at concentration went out of the window when he looked up from the table just in time to catch a glimpse of red and gold, along with a flash of jet black hair, and for a few seconds, Harry Potter himself was in clear view, walking past the window and shielding himself against the wind, probably heading towards another pub for a drink after a day of teaching classes at Hogwarts, as Draco had heard that he now taught there full time.

Draco followed Potter with his eyes, sighing to himself as took in Potter's messy hair and robes that were far from fashionable, but yet he was unable to take his eyes off him.

Draco was filled with a strange desire to chase after him, in the same way that he would have pursued a Golden Snitch back when he played Quidditch at Hogwarts, as though Potter were now the key to victory, or at least a satisfying conclusion.

But he knew that he couldn't do that, not right now, not when he was slightly tipsy and sitting at a table with his pure-blood, Slytherin friends who would all take a twisted pleasure in accusing him of being obsessed with Harry Potter all over again.

Besides, it wasn't as though he had any particular reason to follow Potter to wherever it was that he was going. As Pansy always said, Potter would probably try to hex him the minute he attempted to talk to him, and even if he didn't, Draco hadn't exactly thought up a very good pretext for starting a conversation with his former rival who he hadn't spoken to properly for years.

A little while later, they were all heading out of the pub, most of Draco's friends discussing plans to meet up with pure-blood boyfriends or girlfriends. For the first time, he couldn't help feeling jealous that they had people to spend the night with.

"Draaaco and Haaarry, sitting in a tree!"

Theodore walked drunkenly past him, obnoxiously singing the lyrics of a song that he had recently made up purely to annoy Draco.

Draco was about to shout at him to shut up, or throw a very sophisticated insult at him, but then, as though his mind had secretly been formulating some kind of plan all evening, various images started to dance around Draco's head…

Younger witches and wizards defending Draco at the Leaky Cauldron...

Elderly witches discussing the inner workings of the mind at Madam Puddifoot's...

People singing strange songs about his and Potter's apparent secret love. Maybe it could be The Weird Sisters… After all, they sang some rather bizarre songs…

"S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G!" Theodore sang even louder, as though he could read Draco's thoughts.

All of the witches of the wizarding world who were obsessed with secret romances. Perhaps the same ones who went to Flourish and Blotts and obsessively read Harry Potter's biography...

He knew that his friends wouldn't be able to follow his line of thinking, but it all made perfect sense to Draco. All of these events could be turned into facts, twisted and manipulated to support Draco's bizarre new theory...

Because Potter wouldn't believe Draco's theory if it was only Draco's idea…but perhaps he would think twice about it if the whole of the wizarding world seemed to believe it…And perhaps it would earn him just enough time to get into an argument or debate with Potter, enough time to get close enough to either kiss or curse one another...

His plan was deceptive. It was misleading. It was wrong. It was oh-so-Slytherin. Potter would be furious if he found out. It was perfect in its imperfection.

As though he were receiving some kind of sign, or encouragement, Neville Longbottom hurriedly walked past the group, whispering something in Draco's ear that sounded a lot like, "He's at the Three Broomsticks. If you do anything to hurt him, I'll fight you…"

Then he walked on, a twinkle in his eye as though he hadn't in fact said anything at all, or like he was already in on some kind of secret, his actions reminding Draco painfully of Albus Dumbledore.

"I need your help with something," Draco muttered quickly to Pansy and Goyle the second Longbottom was out of earshot, trying his best to ignore the look of fear on Pansy's face.

Before his two friends could protest, he started heading in the direction of the Three Broomsticks, already silently rehearsing everything that he was going to say, putting this new and exciting story together in his head.

As he got closer to the pub, with his friends still walking nervously behind him, he started to hesitate, fear and doubt taking over. He was just about to give up and turn around when a few younger witches walked past him, throwing what definitely looked like encouraging smiles in Draco's direction.

This had happened a lot over the past couple of years, even though Draco had been convinced that he was only imagining it at first.

With every sympathetic expression or reassuring nod from current Hogwarts students and young witches and wizards, he felt as though the younger generation understood; it was as though they saw something that the older generation had never seen; as though they saw past the bully and the stereotypical Slytherin villain who made an appearance in all of the stories about Harry Potter; as though they believed that perhaps deep down, Draco had genuinely wanted to be Harry Potter's friend that day when he offered him his hand on the Hogwarts Express; as though they would be more amused than horrified by Draco's devious plan to get Potter's attention tonight; as though they felt like Draco deserved a better ending, a brighter future.

Feeling encouraged and taking the supportive smiles as yet another sign, Draco opened the door to the pub with renewed hope, noticing Potter right away and suspecting that a whole new chapter of his life was about to start tonight, or like he was finally going to be able to turn over the last page of Harry Potter's book and continue on with the story, or like he was going to change the ending.

He smirked to himself as he headed in Potter's direction, his sneer and his swagger from his days as a Hogwarts student instantly returning, as though his young Slythein self had just been hiding under the surface for a few years.

Perhaps, for once in his life, his plan might just work…

In theory.