Chapter Twenty-Nine
The night after the Ministry meeting, Harry found himself sitting alone in the library at Malfoy Manor, a thick tome in front of him but his mind miles away. He could still feel the weight of Draco's words, the raw honesty in them that he'd never expected from the Malfoy heir. It was a sobering reality to face: whatever they were doing, whatever this was between them, it was no longer just a lie. It had become a mess of emotions, a tangled knot that neither of them knew how to untie.
Harry's fingers traced the edge of the book absentmindedly. He hadn't realized how much he'd been relying on the safety of the act they'd put up for everyone. The pretend engagement. The act that made everything seem simple, when in truth, it was only growing more complicated with each passing day.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway, a familiar sound that drew his attention. He didn't have to look up to know it was Draco. It seemed the two of them were always in the same place at the same time these days, whether they wanted to be or not.
The door creaked open, and Draco stood there, his usual composed self. But Harry could see the tension in the set of his shoulders, the way his fingers twitched, as if he had something to say but couldn't quite find the words.
"Potter," Draco said quietly, leaning against the doorframe. "You're still up?"
Harry sighed and closed the book in front of him with a soft thud. "Can't sleep," he replied, his voice carrying more weight than he intended. "Too much on my mind."
Draco nodded, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He was dressed in dark robes, his platinum hair falling just enough to frame his sharp features, though there was something different about him tonight—something that made him look less like the confident, untouchable Draco Malfoy and more like a man who had reached a breaking point.
"I didn't mean what I said earlier," Draco muttered, avoiding Harry's gaze. "About hating myself. That's... that's not what I meant. I've just been... stuck, you know?"
Harry looked at him, feeling a pang of something he couldn't quite identify. It wasn't pity, but maybe empathy. He knew exactly what it felt like to be stuck, to feel like you were trapped in a life that wasn't yours to control.
"I get it," Harry said, his voice low but steady. "But I'm not sure we're helping anything, are we? This whole charade—it's falling apart. And we both know it."
Draco's eyes flicked up to meet his, his expression unreadable for a moment. "You think I don't know that?" he asked quietly, stepping closer. "Every damn day, I feel like I'm being crushed under the weight of it all. But I don't know what else to do. This isn't supposed to happen like this. I never thought I'd... I never thought I'd feel like this about you."
Harry's heart skipped a beat, his breath catching in his throat. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words were lodged somewhere deep inside him. The truth they had been avoiding was finally coming to light, and it felt too raw to process.
Instead, he said the only thing that made sense, even though it terrified him.
"We need to stop lying, Draco."
The words hung between them like an invisible thread, pulling them closer, but also threatening to tear them apart. Draco didn't move at first, just stared at Harry, his face a mixture of confusion, hesitation, and something else—something that was slowly morphing into something Harry didn't want to confront.
"Stop lying?" Draco echoed, as if testing the idea out loud. "What does that mean, Potter?"
Harry pushed himself out of the chair, his mind whirling. "It means we stop pretending we're still playing a game. We're not doing this for anyone else anymore, are we? I can't keep pretending that I don't care, that I don't feel something for you. And you—" He stopped, his heart hammering in his chest. "I don't think you can either."
Draco took another step forward, his eyes darkening with something that made Harry's breath catch. "Maybe I can't," he admitted, his voice a soft rasp. "But it doesn't change anything, does it? We're stuck in this mess, Harry. And I don't know how to get out of it."
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the soft crackle of the fire in the hearth, the warmth of the flames offering a quiet contrast to the intensity between them.
"I'm not asking you to have all the answers," Harry said finally, his voice quieter now. "I'm just asking that we stop pretending. That's all."
Draco was quiet for a long time. Harry's pulse quickened, the air between them charged with something unspoken, something that was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. It was as if they were teetering on the edge of something—something bigger than either of them was ready to face.
Draco broke the silence first, his voice low and edged with something Harry couldn't place. "And what if we can't stop pretending?" he asked, taking another step forward. "What if we can't stop this... act?"
Harry swallowed, the tension in the air thickening with every passing second. "Then we figure it out. Together."
Draco stared at him for a long moment, his eyes searching Harry's face, as if looking for something he wasn't sure he could find. And then, without warning, he closed the distance between them.
The kiss was unexpected, fierce and raw, and Harry's body reacted before his mind could catch up. He had kissed Draco Malfoy before—briefly, during a moment of tension—but this felt different. It felt real.
When they finally pulled apart, breathless and wide-eyed, Harry's heart was racing in his chest, and his thoughts were spinning. He hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected Draco to kiss him, hadn't expected to feel the overwhelming surge of something that felt so undeniable.
"I don't know what this is," Draco said, his voice shaky, but there was something in his eyes—something vulnerable—that Harry hadn't seen before.
"I don't either," Harry admitted, his fingers lightly touching his lips, still tingling from the kiss. "But we'll figure it out, won't we?"
Draco hesitated, then gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. "We have to."