Enjoy!
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The two boys stayed in the room of requirements for the rest of the night, not being able to depart from each other and wanting to delay the process of telling everybody. Draco was the first to wake up and proceeded to wake Harry with a tender kiss on his forehead. Harry's eyes opened and he looked up at Draco and smiled. They lay there for an extra few minutes, not wanting to face the real world again. However, Harry soon decided to get out of bed and Draco watched him as he got dressed.
"Don't just lay there. Get up." Harry said, as he threw Draco's trousers at him. Draco sighed but did as he was told. Within fifteen minutes, they were both dressed and ready to depart their idealistic, fantasy world. Harry pulled Draco into a deep kiss.
"Come on. Lets show everyone we aren't afraid." He said, when he pulled away from the kiss. Draco nodded.
They left the room and Draco watched Harry for guidance. Harry seemed to be behaving as they would have done if they had been continuing to keep it a secret. He told Harry this.
"I want to tell Ron and Hermione first. I don't want them to hear from someone else." He whispered urgently. He then quickened his pace to escape Draco's company. Draco felt hurt. So Harry wanted to announce it to everyone, but only on his terms? His hurt quickly turned to anger. Here he was, about to ruin every scrap of reputation that he had left for someone who couldn't even put him first for once. Why did it matter if that weasel and mudblood didn't find out immediately? They weren't even directly involved! Draco stalked off back to Slytherin common room, with these angry thoughts racing through his mind. He wasn't going to let Potter get away with this.
When Harry entered Gryffindor common room, he received many strange looks. Some of the girls from the year below even looked hurt. He searched the sea of faces for Ron and Hermione. When he saw them, he joined them quickly. They looked at each other uncertainly. Harry was the first to speak.
"What's wrong with everyone?" He whispered. "Why is everyone looking at me?" Harry was used to being looked at, but it was usually after something big had happened.
"You weren't in your room last night. Word got round pretty quickly." Hermione explained.
"Can we talk somewhere more private?" Harry asked them. With that, all three of them stood up and went upstairs to the dormitory. Seeing that it was empty, they entered the room.
"So where were you then?" Hermione asked, with a hint of a grin on her face. "Who's the lucky girl?"
Harry hesitated. He wasn't sure how he should phrase this. "I wasn't with a girl."
Hermione's smile left her face. "Oh, sorry. I just assumed that you were probably with someone seeing as you didn't come back. Did something happen?" She looked concerned.
"I told her…told her you wouldn't be with someone else. I mean, you only left Ginny because you didn't want her to get hurt. You love her…" Harry cut him off.
"Ron. Don't, ok? I do care about Ginny, I genuinely do. But I wasn't entirely honest about why I broke up with her." Harry told him, not wanting to look at him.
"Oh. Well what was it then?" He asked him. He sounded slightly annoyed.
"There was something missing. I never knew what it was, but I knew it was unfair on her to pretend. She deserves to be with someone who can make her happy." He explained. He decided that honesty was the best policy for what he was about to tell them. Otherwise, the cracks in his story would show.
Hermione was the next to speak as Ron fell into a stunned silence. "Harry, you know you can tell us, right? You should have told us about Ginny."
"I know, but I couldn't explain it. I didn't even know myself. Also, Ginny is Ron's sister. I didn't want us to fall out over it." Harry told her.
"You're my best mate. Ginny isn't a baby anymore." Ron mumbled.
"What is it, Harry? Was there a problem last night? Did it have anything to do with…" She hesitated. "…Voldemort?" She flinched as she said his name.
Harry suddenly realised why she seemed so worried. She thought he had been in danger. "No, Hermione. It had nothing to do with Voldemort. But I do have something to tell you"
Ron and Hermione just waited, looking at him impatiently.
"I was with someone last night." Harry said slowly.
"But you just said…" Ron began.
"No, I said I wasn't with a girl."
"I don't…"
"I was with Malfoy." Harry said determinedly, looking up at them for the first time. They both looked confused. Ron suddenly laughed.
"Haha that made it sound like you're a couple or something. We didn't mean 'with' as in just 'being with' someone, like you're with us now." Ron told him, still laughing.
"No, neither did I." Harry said quietly.
Ron shut up extremely quickly. The room was completely silent. The atmosphere was unbearably thick as somebody tried to think of something to say.
"Harry, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, his parents are both in league with Voldemort…" Hermione began.
"His parents are dead." Harry said, flatly.
"Oh." Hermione looked embarrassed. "Well, how do you know Malfoy isn't?"
"In league with Voldemort?" Harry asked her. Hermione nodded. "I feel like I know him. He's not a bad person."
Ron scoffed. Harry looked at him darkly. "This is the boy who has been treating you…treating us like shit for the last 6 years." Ron told him.
"It wasn't like it was completely unprovoked. What about the other day when you walked up to him, with no reason whatsoever, and just started picking a fight? He just walked away." Harry argued, defending Draco.
"He deserved it." Ron shouted back.
"No, he didn't. He had just found out his father had died. Nobody deserves that!" Harry yelled back, his anger getting the better of him.
Hermione quickly intervened. "How long?" She asked, trying to steer the conversation in a positive direction.
"Two months." Harry replied. "Since Christmas."
Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped. They had expected it to be a matter of weeks or days. Not months.
"So that's why you've been moping around." Hermione said. Harry nodded. "Well, if you're sure about Malfoy, then we'll try to accept it." Ron began to protest but quickly shut up when Hermione gave him an evil look.
Harry smiled gratefully. "Thanks. It means a lot to me."
Harry spent the next few hours studying his marauders map, waiting for Draco to leave his common room. He wanted to talk to him but the blonde didn't seem to have any intention in leaving. Harry was growing impatient. He didn't even have his invisibility cloak anymore, so he couldn't even just sneak in there. After what seemed like days, Draco finally left with Parkinson and Zabini in tow. He jumped up from his bed and dashed off to meet them.
When he finally found them, Pansy looked at him scornfully. Harry stood there, waiting for Draco to say something, but it never came.
"What are you looking at, Potter?" Parkinson sneered.
"I want to talk to Draco." He replied.
"Draco?" Zabini scorned, looking surprised. " Since when has it been 'Draco'? Well, he doesn't want to talk to you."
"I think he can speak for himself." Harry replied coldly. It was becoming clear that Draco had not told them.
"I don't want to talk to you." Draco drawled. His eyes displayed no warmth or kindness. Harry felt a twinge of hurt. "Out of our way, Potter." Was all that Draco said before they carried on walking, shoving Harry as they passed him.
Harry was hurt, upset and confused. But Draco obviously did not know him very well if he thought he could just dump him like that, with not so much as a word. If he wanted to dump him, then fine. But he couldn't do it without explaining first. Well, it wasn't fine, but Draco could at least have the decency to explain. Harry chased after him.
"Malfoy!" He shouted. Draco turned around, with a sneer plastered across his face. "You can't do this. I want to talk to you. Now." Harry told him, fury replacing his original feelings of hurt.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine." He told Parkinson and Zabini that he would catch up with them later, and followed Harry into an empty classroom.
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco asked him, with a bored expression across his face.
"What's happened? I don't understand." Harry asked him, not really sure of what to specifically ask.
"I'm sick of playing by your rules. Everything is always your choice. And whenever I submit, there's always a condition or another rule."
"What are you on about?"
"I'm on about what happened earlier. I didn't want to tell people about us or make it common knowledge, but you finally talked me into it. I still wasn't sure, but I knew I had to do it to keep you. And then, as soon as I had agreed, you changed the rules yet again, and decided we couldn't tell anyone until you had told your friends." Draco shouted, refraining from referring to Ron and Hermione as 'Weasel and the mudblood'.
Harry was stunned into silence. He had not realised it was such a big deal. He voiced this opinion.
"A big deal? A big fucking deal? Of course it is." Draco bellowed, jumping up and flinging his arms into the air. "Everything I've done for you is a big fucking deal. All you did was prove one thing to me. That I am obviously not worth your time."
Harry was confused. "You are though. Do you think I would have wanted to tell people if you hadn't?"
Draco looked momentarily speechless. After a pause, he continued. "Well, if I was, then why did you have to put them first? All my life, I've been shoved to the back of the queue. I thought you were different." He said quietly.
Seeing that his anger was subsiding, Harry took it as his cue to speak again. "Look, Draco. I wasn't putting them first. I just wanted them to know before everyone else did. I thought you would have wanted to tell your friends too."
"So what would you have done if they had not accepted it? Left me?" Draco asked him.
"No. They would have had to deal with it." Harry told him earnestly. "Listen to me, Draco. I love you. And don't doubt that." Harry told him as he closed the gap between them and pulled him into an embrace.
"I thought I'd lost you." Draco whispered.
Harry laughed gently. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily." After a few moments, he spoke again. "Are you going to tell your friends?"
Draco shook his head. Harry felt disheartened. "I want to show them." Draco added. Harry smiled, hugging him tighter.
Twenty minutes later, Harry and Draco entered the Great Hall. As they walked side-by-side, people began to whisper. It was common knowledge that Potter and Malfoy hated each other. It seemed strange that they were not arguing. It was what happened next that really created gossip. The two boys looked at each other, smiled and then locked hands. Once they were about halfway down the hall, they let go of each others' hands and departed to sit at their own tables. The crowd that surrounded Harry was horrendous. Everybody was eager to know what had happened and why they no longer seemed to hate each other. Harry ignored them and began to eat. He looked over at where Draco was at Slytherin table. A few people were obviously insulting him. Harry could not hear what they were saying, but could tell they were not kind words from their body language. Harry stood up to intervene but Hermione stopped him.
"Just leave it for a bit. It'll be better for him if he can sort it out himself." She told him. He sat down once more but did not take his eyes off the Slytherin's table. He saw Draco say something in a calm matter and everyone immediately went quiet. Harry wanted to hear what he had said, but could not hear from where he was sitting.
As Harry continued to eat his dinner, feeling much more relaxed, he began to think about his situation. A few months ago, if somebody had told him that he was about to see a whole new side to Draco Malfoy that he would grow to like, he would have never believed them. After all, he was the boy he had fought with for years and it never seemed like it was something they would ever be able to overcome. He never considered that Draco's bitterness and coldness was a result of jealously and inner pain. He had always believed it was because he was a stuck-up snob, who had always believed he was better than anybody else. Underneath that cold exterior that Harry had grown to know so well was an insecure and hurting person, who he was completely in love with.
With a smile, Harry realised that nothing is what it seems.