Adapt to Change
The war was still fresh in everyone's mind; fear instilled in the common folk. Nonetheless it didn't stop the renovations that began at Hogwarts, a new area built for those seeking higher education that would help students further themselves in their careers. There would be multiple mandatory subjects tailored to each student's weakness in certain areas. An all-rounded course for those struggling and confused after the war. The entire building was miles different from the Hogwarts original building, this one was much bigger, with bits and parts more spaced out, no tight corners, and not a trace of dark magic.
Each student received an invitation, and yes, that included the infamous Draco Malfoy. Following the trial, people started forgiving him and solely blaming his father, which isn’t wrong per se, but it does sound like he was easily forgiven for his devilishly handsome looks, the animosity around his family name weakening.
Draco laid in bed, not in the Malfoy Manor, never there. Too many things had happened there, and it would never feel like home again, and Narcissa, his mother, couldn't agree more. After the divorce between her and Lucius, she took 75% of his wealth; that was a disgusting amount of money to have, but it made them build an entirely new building, Draco Manor, perhaps? The new home was a beauty to behold.
The letter flew in from the open window – no owl, Draco moved to see what it was about, his slender fingers dragging against the rough parchment and the silver ink addressed to his name, he ripped open the seal with not much care, unfolding the letter,
Greetings Draco Malfoy,
We hereby announce that the development of advanced learning care in Hogwarts has finally been completed. With joy, we invite you to participate in two more years with us. This course will be immensely helpful for your prospects. The opening ceremony will commence a week from now at seven in the afternoon.
If you’ve decided you’ll come then write your signature at the bottom of the paper and the school itinerary, materials and class schedule will appear.
Thank you,
Headmistress McGonagall
Malfoy was stunned, contemplating whether it would be a good decision to go back, especially with the hostility Slytherins are treated with; but Draco was no longer a Death Eater, he switched sides towards the end of the war and he had never regretted that, feeling as though that was the first decision he could make without his father dictating. His thoughts strayed, dreams, nightmares? Plagued him from the time when he purposefully didn’t identify Harry, “You knew it was me,” The words echoed in Draco’s mind. Draco knew he knew it very well, but even he couldn’t understand what made him lie, what made him want to protect Potter.
Malfoy knew he didn’t like seeing Harry in proper danger, but why? Why did he feel this strange feeling towards him? They’re supposed to be rivals – not friends, so why did he feel the urge to protect him? Did he like Potter?–
“Draco dear,” His mother's voice called from across the room, snapping him out of his train of thought,
“Yes? Mother, I received an initiation to Hogwarts additional course,” Draco said, looking at her,
“So I heard. Will you go?” She moved closer and took a glance at the letter herself.
Malfoy was confused, he wanted to go but he didn’t want the headache from all of it.
“I assume so, it would probably give me better certification to put in my resume than being a Death Eater,” Narcissa clenched her jaw and sighed deeply, perhaps guilt surfacing.
“Then I’ll leave you be, tell me if you need anything– oh and, you have to register and open a bank under your name, best if you go as soon as you can – I’ll transfer the money to your account remotely.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left, the door still wide open.
Draco took a quill and dipped it into some rich black ink made from Kraken vessels and signed his name in a unique cursive ‘DM’. He changed into a simpler black suit, letter tucked into his pocket and made his way to the exit.
A similar letter made its way to Harry as well, but he on the other hand was having lunch with the Weasleys and Hermione,
“Well? Get on with it, what does it say?” Ron prodded, the rest of the folk staring intently at Potter.
Harry skimmed through the whole letter and asked Hermione for a quill which she gladfully gave, no idea where she was keeping it, that's her secret. Harry scribbled his signature on the paper, a messy ‘Harry P.’ written,
“They're inviting me to join their further learning programme or something; at Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione should receive one as well, I think it’s only for our year's batch though,” He said simply.
“I’ll head out and get the school supplies– thank you Mr & Mrs Weasley for the lunch invite.”
Waving quickly at them as he left the burrow.
Potter couldn’t lie, he was scared and nervous, the war just ended, well technically a few months ago, but the memories and the pain were fresh, but maybe, just maybe, these years would be different. Harry didn’t know what he wanted to be, to do, anything really; after the war ended he felt like Batman to the Joker, what was the purpose of him if he simply ended all evil? Becoming an Auror felt like the most obvious thing to do, but even they feared Harry too much to do anything with their dark magic – especially with all the tight restrictions the ministry had made; it was just petty criminals running rampant – a bunch of knuckleheads.
Harry made his way to Diagon Alley, browsing the stores he reached his hand down to feel his pocket ‘–Ah shit’ He internally thought as he left the letter that had everything at the Weasleys, turning around he spotted a familiar figure, tall, blonde, pale, brows furrowed it was unquestionably Draco Malfoy. For whatever reason, Harry followed him to the bank, stalking close behind, he entered the goblin-filled building and one of them approached him.
“The Chosen One!” The goblin cried as multiple others hurdled around him desperate to help him, Potter leaning down tried shushing them since he was trying to be discrete and this wasn’t helping him in the slightest, Harry looked up at Draco, praying he didn’t notice, but he did, a glance at him and they made eye contact Draco reverted his gaze to the receptionist, signing a document of sorts and taking the newly added elevator to the vault with the petulant faced goblin guiding him.
Harry felt queasy, what was that look Draco gave him? It was a mere two seconds of familiarity but it felt like ages, his grey, clouded eyes hiding something, but what? He fixed his posture and requested to be taken to his vault, he needed some coins anyway. Potter took how much he assumed he needed for all the stuff and the goblin guided him to the elevator, with a key the goblin entered the surface level – the whole system was rather confusing but Harry assumed it was for it to be more secretive.
Yet the elevator stopped on a different floor and there Draco walked in, the two goblins began conversing as Draco and Harry stood shoulder-to-shoulder, but not really since Draco had a whole foot over him. Potter couldn’t help but notice that Draco had become more muscular than he previously was and his face looked – more alive. Which was ironic cause Harry was probably in his worst shape yet, the stress did get to him and shifted him back to his skinny lean figure.
“Malfoy,” Potter broke the silence, starting a conversation. The air between them was stifling and not because of the claustrophobic size of the elevator.
Malfoy hummed in response, expecting Potter to continue his spiel,
“You’re going back to Hogwarts?” Not the question Malfoy was expecting but he didn’t detest it,
“I am, and you Potter?” There was a lack of his childish tone to his words, he sounded more mature, his voice deeper too.
“Same.” Potter breathed out, unsure how to continue the conversation as the awkward silence settled but the chattering between the goblins was yet to end.
Eventually, they got out of the elevator and went their respective ways, Harry saw Ron and Hermione in the distance,
“You absolute dunce, you forgot your letter, the most important thing! It has your whole order of things tailored to you, really Harry…” Hermione said with a slight nag to her words, Harry scratched the back of his head and took the letter, placing it carefully in his jacket’s pocket.
“Harry you have been distracted these days,” Ron added,
“I don’t think forgetting one letter is that big of a deal,” Harry said in a somewhat defensive tone,
“It’s not just that, you’ve been spacing out an awful lot these days, you should tell us if there's something going on — we’re here for you,” Harry smiled at Hermione’s kind words but found them rather unnecessary, he was fine, he didn’t need this rather lucrative concern for him.
“Let’s just get to the shopping part of this whole ordeal a’ight?” Ron said, trying to lighten the heavy nature of the exchange.
The golden trio went about, in and out of multiple stores, getting everything they needed and in the end, they walked out of Diagon Alley with buckets load of heavy bags, this sure was going to be an academic year Hermione probably thought, and so they sat at a café buying two slices of cheesecake one for Harry and one for Hermione and Ron to share, ‘couples –urgh’ Harry thought.
His thoughts strayed to Draco again, he looked so different, handsome in a charming way and not in the ‘I-want-to-punch-him’ way that he used to be, his eyes sent shivers down his spine with the lack of rudeness in them they used to cold and rude but now they were just cold and that unsettled him greatly.
“Harry? You’re doing it again..” Hermione sighed and looked at Ron communicating in a telepathic way, maybe as a way to fix Harry’s lack of attention.
“Sorry? What were we talking about?” Harry asked, being sucked back into reality, Draco was slowly taking over his mind – He didn’t know why but every time he was stressed his mind would shift to thinking about the tall blonde and it happened to be destructive to his attention in the real world.
“Are we going to be separated into houses again? Know anything about that?” Ron repeated,
“No clue,” Harry said sharply,
“I’m worn, I think I’ll go back to mine for the day,” Harry said shuffling out of his seat, the chair making a loud drag noise which Hermione cringed to,
“See you in a week Harry!” Both said in sync.
Draco was distraught. Why had Potter talked to him? Shouldn’t he be avoiding him, why did he look so dishevelled, truth be told he did normally look like a mess with his hair going in directions it shouldn’t. Naturally, Draco followed the golden trio whilst pretending to be doing his own thing but he was lurking in the shadows, miles better than Harry at stalking, he wasn’t even noticed in the slightest.
Eventually, Malfoy made his way back home with Floo powder, having his coat taken off by one of the house elves who signalled dinner was made, to which Malfoy shuffled to take a seat and eat at a deserted table by himself. The silence let Harry’s words continue to echo in his head, likewise he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Potter – he was much too obsessed to stop doing his favourite hobby, Draco stifled a smile thinking about all the goblins crowding Harry and the worried expression on his face, it reminded him of the times Potter used to get into unwanted trouble at school; the school is a bittersweet memory now, Draco thought to himself finishing his plate and placing it in the sink to get ready for bed.
Next week approached sooner than anybody would’ve liked, Draco got up at 6 sharp, a painfully cold shower and he was out, dressed in an all-black suit with a robe packed in his carry-on. He had let his hair grow out a little so he could sweep it to one side – a very classic Draco style, he fixed the silver cufflinks on his sleeves, got his baggage and made his way to the train this time the entrance to the place was on board the train 9⅘, he pushed his trolley to the same wall between 9 and 10 and spotted 9⅘ in the corner of his eye.
He boarded the train and tucked his baggage in the cubby under the seats, and that's when he heard the chattering of Harry and his friends, ignoring their useless talk, he looked out the window, the train at a standstill waiting for all the passengers to board. Pansy strolled to his compartment,
“Hey Draco, long time no see,” Malfoy internally sighed as she approached, sitting across from him, her legs crossed and with a smirk equivalent to Lucifer’s.
“Morning, Pansy,” Malfoy said, averting his gaze, a scowl finding home in his expression.
“Don’t give that look, I've changed Draco. Muggles are actually... fun.” Pansy said and Malfoy couldn’t help giving her an ‘are-you-being-serious’ look. Draco faced her and they dabbled in small talk of what was going on in each other's life, eventually, they arrived and Pansy went to some other compartment to put on her robe and Draco slipped his green-black robe on swiftly.
The students began lining up and exiting the train with their luggage in hand and made their way to the main court. It was dark outside and the lamps lit the path beautifully, with a fountain in the middle with a statue of Albus Dumbledore seated with a book in hand. It was mesmerising, they continued straight, exotic, harmless plants decorated the fluted pillars, and eventually they were led to the main hall, it was spacious but quite different, seats were horizontally aligned and there were three rows, the tables had food overflowing from them. Headmistress McGonagall stood at the far end on the elevated platform and all the students sat down, row by row.
“Good Evening wizards and witches, now that you’re all seated, each of you will see that you have a different set of classes, altered to you specifically, if you wish to drop or change a subject the department for student assistance is on the third floor towards the right. For this course, we’ve decided to drop the house separation and instead have paired all of you to dorms and you’ll share multiple classes. Separated by gender of course.”
The group of students murmured in shock at the new change, the headmistress took out a long scroll and began reading the pairs,
“Firstly Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Pansy Parkinson, Katie Bell and Eloise Midgen, Blaise Zabini and Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan, Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang, Angelina Johnson and Susan Bones…” McGonagall continued reading out the students' pairs.
Harry was stunned, he couldn't believe he had to share a dorm with Draco, Draco Malfoy, it wasn’t bad now but he was still nervous, what was he gonna do?
“What’s with the daft pairing? Did they seriously pair me with Blaise?” Ron spitted in disbelief,
“Ron I got Pansy, she was horrible in school, imagine her now,” Hermione rebutted, slumping down in exhaustion,
“Are we forgetting I got Draco fucking Malfoy,” Harry said with vulgarness that shot Hermione awake,
“He can’t be that bad now, didn’t he technically help you during the war?” Hermione added,
“Even if he’s not that bad, he’s, he’s bloody Malfoy, what am I gonna do,” Harry stammered in the middle of his sentence, he knew Draco wasn’t as bad as he was, but he was still horribly nervous about the whole deal.
“And finally, Hannah Abbott and Padma Patil… Please come up here and pick up your dorm keys, It’s one for each of you so best not to lose them.”
The students, row by row, went and picked their keys. Draco and Harry’s hands brushed against each other's hands, Harry jolted at the touch, quickly looking away as his cheeks warmed. He clenched the keys in his fist and followed the crowd to where the dorms were. There were two symmetrical buildings, one for the female students and the other for the males.
Harry looked down at the key, Room 690, hell, who decided this pairing with this room number, Potter fumbled the keys and slid them into his pockets before making his way to the sixth floor as well as the top floor and in the utmost corner was where their room was.
Draco was right behind Harry and they both made their way to the dorm in silence. Potter tried unlocking the door with the keys but it wasn’t budging, even when he pushed it.
“Let me try,” Malfoy said in his sultry voice. He was right behind Potter and it almost felt like he was whispering in his ear but they still had quite a bit of distance between them, so he moved out of the way to let Draco open the door.
Clink!
Maybe he did have to start working out more,
“Need a little more muscle, Potter” It’s his voice again, and the way he looks at Harry with those grey eyes, Harry was flushed by now. Hurryingly he entered trying to get a good look at the dorm, the living room was quite regular with small chairs circling a coffee table and a small open island kitchen behind, only one loo as well – but that was expected. However there was an obvious problem when they got to the bedroom, there was only one bed, A small single-person bed in one of the corners of the quite big room meant for two people but lacking another bed.
“I’ll go ask the department about it don’t fret,” Draco dropped his bags and made his way to the third floor of the main building, inquiring about the lack of two beds to which the person on the other side responded that it was a mistake and they’d fix it tomorrow since it was already nearing 9 pm. Disappointed with the lack of response Draco made his way back to the dorm, thoughts swarming his head, will he have to share a bed with Potter? Not that he minded but he feared whether Potter would be uncomfortable and it may be better if he slept on the floor.
“Bad news Potter, they can’t fix anything and we either share the bed or you or I could sleep elsewhere,” Malfoy said; strangely composed, Harry on the other side looked bamboozled and flushed,
Harry frantically looked at the bed and back too Draco, "I'll just take the floor,"
Draco sighs. "Don't be ridiculous, Potter. The floor's freezing, and there's some room for two. I don't bite."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "If you insist."
Draco smirks, stepping forward. "You know you want to sleep with me,"
"You probably want it more, Malfoy," Harry shot back.
Harry began taking off his robe and headed to the bathroom, seeming as though he had taken a shower and he came out with wet hair, no glasses and in a red, plain pyjamas. Draco followed suit and he took a shower and dried himself off, but he didn’t wear pyjamas so he wore some grey sweatpants, his torso bare.
Harry gawked at the scar across him which he remembered did, he almost wanted to apologise. Malfoy on the other hand was thinking of saying something insanely risky and he took the gamble.
“Like what you see?” That cockiness was soul-crushing,
“Oh Veryy,” Potter said sarcastically, he loved what he saw, not like.
Now with them standing next to each other, the bed looked incredibly small, maybe only Harry could fit in, Malfoy made way and laid in the bed already taking 80% of the space, he gestured for Harry to get in, but how? He awkwardly sat on the edge and leaned down to lie but his head was on Draco’s shoulder, Malfoy clenched his jaw as if he were to speak it would be a load of flirty nonsense.
When Harry finally fully laid down, half of his body was on Draco, so Draco did what was logical for them to fit comfortably he wrapped his lengthy forearm and hand across Harry’s waist and shifted them sideways, Draco's head nuzzled in the crook of Harry’s neck.
“Better?” Now he was whispering in his ear, Harry could almost feel his heart jump out as Draco’s pale hands rested and wrapped him close, they were cuddling and both of their nerves were through the roof. Harry muttered a quiet ‘Yea’ The proximity let Draco hear the response in clarity and his arms around him tightened.
Potter could hear the rise and fall of Draco’s heart rhythm against his back, his exhales against his neck and the fact their legs were tangled together, if Harry turned his head slightly his lips would probably only be centimetres apart from Draco’s, what if he turned right now? Cuddling was already pushing the boundaries between rivals and rivals with benefits so really what bad could happen? Was Potter seriously trying to rationalise making out with Draco? Yes, yes he was.
They lay still for a few seconds before Draco breaks it, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face.
"Were you hoping we’d share the bed?"
Harry turned a a faint shade of red, looking back at him to say a clever retort, “Says the one cuddling like a big baby,”
Now their lips were dangerously close, the dim lighting didn’t help with the already steaming tension between the two, Harry stared at Draco’s relaxed expression, his hair covering his forehead, yet his eyes lingered on his lips for a while too long. He shut his eyes hoping something would happen, the air around them went in a trance – and before he knew, Harry was asleep.
Malfoy pecked Harry’s lightning scar, and went to sleep himself as well, keeping his arms secured around Harry.