wanna see something cool?
Draco knew Blacks were prone to bouts of insanity but this was too far. Someplace else? What the hell was he thinking? Potter and him were NOT picnic buddies and they didn’t go places in the middle of the night. Hell, Potter could kill him right now for suggesting such a dumb idea. In fact, he would prefer death to continuing whatever idea he was stupidly suggesting.
Right after that horrifying boggart session, Draco woke up in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey quickly shipped him to the common room under orders to rest. He tried and was simply forced to think about the nightmare boggarts. By the time he realized this whole sleep thing wasn’t going to happen, everyone else had fallen asleep. Thanking Merlin, he had left to go on a walk and ended up at the astronomy tower.
Draco ended up here every so often. At first, he forced himself to go to the tower to reconcile with the part he played in Dumbledore’s death. It brought on a lot of suffering which was exactly what he knew he deserved. As time went on, it simply became another escape, one he tried to avoid unless he was feeling particularly guilty because he felt awful for using a building he nearly committed murder in as any kind of solace.
Now, he was sharing it with the only person ever who saved his life and he most likely regretted it.
Potter stared back at him, his unsettling green eyes glowing through the darkness. He could feel himself sink into panic, his breath growing shallower. The darkness suddenly felt oppressive rather than freeing and the eyes that stared at him seemed to be the only thing grounding him.
Then, Potter nodded. Draco blinked at him. No longer wanting to keep the Saviour of the Wizarding World waiting, Draco hopped off the ledge and gestured to Potter to follow. He twisted his hands into a knot as he led Potter down the stairs quietly and into a narrow hall.
This was a bad idea for sure. Draco wasn’t even sure why he felt the need to show Potter the one place he felt safest. In fact, Potter should be the last person to see it, considering how prone he was to putting Draco in unsafe situations.
Yet Draco continued down the hall and stopped in front of a beautiful tapestry. Draco hadn’t seen it before his seventh year and, afterward, it was everything to him. The gorgeous tapestry laid out a glorious scene of the victorious warrior wizard named Baord the Best hailing over a crowd of devoted worshippers. Behind him was a haggard young woman in chains begging for forgiveness. A traitor. Baord slayed her in front of the crowd according to the legend, her blood distributed to the townsfolk to use as repellent for demons in a time when such lies were believed. That part wasn’t as beautiful but it spoke to Draco, once as a warning and now as a prophecy.
He turned to Potter and lifted the tapestry.
“In you go.” Potter raised his eyebrows as if to suggest he won’t go into some dark tunnel with Draco without reason. Which was… reasonable.
“Just… I don’t know! Trust me I guess,” he blurted out, whispering. Then he froze. Wow, trust you?
Potter stared at him again, looking somewhat shocked. It was unnerving. They stared at each other for a few more moments. Potter’s eyes looked like they were searching for his soul.
Abruptly, he dove into the downward tunnel and began to crawl. Draco blinked stupidly and crawled after him.
It was fairly clean in there but Draco still hated this part. Before Draco began regretting this choice again, they reached the end, climbing up into the light. Draco wiped his hands on his pajamas, grimacing at the slight stain they made.
Fresh air brushed up against Draco’s face immediately as he came up to a stand, effectively calming him. He closed his eyes and embraced the cold air around him. A moment later, he turned to see Potter following his lead.
A small smile had formed on his face. Draco didn’t think he had seen Potter smile since the war ended. He looked at peace. Like he deserved to be. Draco quickly looked away.
The moonlight fell upon both of them, lighting the garden around them. There was a blue bench perched on the edge of a small pond that touched the garden. The entire garden was on a balcony that oversaw a small town. Draco had to do a lot of inconspicuous digging to find out this strangely magically tunnel takes him to Italy. Complete with blue railings and a Notice-Me-Not charm strong enough to last the next few centuries, the garden was people-free and clearly a forgotten make-out location.
Which only made Draco doubt himself more in terms of why he thought bringing Potter here was a good idea.
He watched Potter’s eyes widen in pure awe as he took in the sights. He turned around about three times in disbelief, looking at the tunnel they came from, surrounded by evergreen woods that certainly didn’t belong in Italy, and then back at the beautiful view. It was like watching a child get candy. Potter ran to the balcony railing and gazed over the town, ecstatic.
Draco didn’t know what face he was making but he knew that if he didn’t stop right now, there would be some issues.
“I think it’s Italy,” he said awkwardly. Potter whipped around to look at him, almost like he forget Draco was there. He cocked his head to the side like a Crup, his eyes asking him a question.
“I just discovered it one day. There wasn’t really a guide with it or anything,” he added. Potter nodded thoughtfully, turning back to the view.
It felt nice to share the spot with someone.
Draco did not enjoy this train of thought.
“So do you like it?” Potter turned to him again, cocking his brow and smirking with an arm on hip as if to say well what do you think. The brat. “Yeah okay whatever.”
He hated that there was now a small smile on his face. Technically, no one could keep from smiling with the way Potter was acting. Don’t think it will last. Emotions run high at night and he will ignore you by morning, his mind rationalized.
Maybe it was the moonlight or the fact that Potter’s emerald eyes gleamed with pure enjoyment. But, something made Draco walk to stand next to Potter as they watched over the small town, silent and alive at the same time. He didn’t like it.
* * *
Waking up to blinding sunlight was not an enjoyable activity. Waking up next to Potter was a terrifying epiphany. Waking up, realizing you had slept away the night somewhere other than Hogwarts was Draco reaching the end of his line. Draco had to explicitly refuse to panic.
“Shit shit shit shit shit,” Draco muttered as he carefully untangled himself from a very cuddly, sleeping Potter (he had the maturity to at least not think about it too much). Scanning his surroundings, he concluded that it was at least noon and that, if they left now, they could change and get to Charms on time.
“Potter, hello?” Draco asked, shaking the boy’s shoulders gently. “Wakey wakey.”
Harry laid there, completely dead to the world. Hopefully not literally, he thought to himself panicking.
Then, shaking him more violently, and in his best Snape voice, Draco bellowed, “POTTER! 5 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR FOR SLEEPING IN.”
Potter shot up immediately. His eyes were frantic as if searching for the culprit in a crime. Draco rolled his eyes.
“Good morning Mr. Harry Potter, we happen to be very very late and if we don’t leave now, that will continue to be an issue.”
Potter stopped looking around frantically and, finally, looked over at Draco. He blinked twice before shooting up to a stand and scanning his surroundings. He didn’t know it was slightly funny and very sad to watch Potter react this situation.
“Absolutely useless. You literally saw the exit on our way in here. How in the world are you the Saviour?” Draco mumbled as he made his way to the exit.
He still waited to hear Potter’s footsteps as he crawled through the tunnel, which eventually came. They’ll come for my neck if he’s hurt, Draco reasoned.
Eventually, both of them made it out and, with a nod, departed to the common room quickly. They only had a few minutes to change before the students would flood the halls.
By the time both were done, the bell had rung and they wormed themselves into the crowd. Draco watched as Potter found Granger and Weasel. Clearly, they were wondering where Potter had gone. Potter, in his glorious eloquence, shrugged. He disappeared quickly into the crowd after that, just like Draco predicted he would.
Draco rolled his eyes as he was struck with his first Color-Change charm of the day. It effectively turned his hair and skin green, leaving the second years who did it laughing in tears.
He sighed before undoing it. He wondered if he should even try to find the logic behind what conspired yesterday night. Whether it would even matter. Quietly hiding behind his Charms book, he walked through the hallway, awaiting the next hex to come his way.