Truth only
“Turn to page 394” Snape said.
But Harry’s mind was somewhere else, yesterday was great, getting to see Malfoy again was… great.
“Harry?” Ron was sitting next to Harry. “Harry, mate?”
“What is it Ron?” Harry didn’t forgive him at first, but in the end Ron was his best friend, he couldn’t hate him forever.
“Do you think Snape has a girlfriend?”
Harry turned to look at him in disbelief. Why would he ask that right know?!
“What?! Why?”
“I dunno. It just popped into my head. But, I mean, I don’t think anyone would actually want… that.”
Harry’s face was red, he wanted to laugh as loud as he could. Damn it, he couldn’t help it.
He threw his head into the desk, wrapping his arms around it and trying to cover himself, even thought you could still notice he was laughing because of the way his arms were moving up and down.
Ron saw Harry laughing and he laughed too.
Snape glared at the two boys, everyone in the class turned to look at them, even Malfoy.
“Mr. Potter, change sits with Pansy Parkinson this instant.” Snape said coldly.
“Oh shit mate. You’ll go with Malfoy.” Ron whispered.
“Yeah.” Harry said while he grabbed his stuff.
Pansy walked past him. Now, Malfoy was looking at him with a curious look on his face.
“Hey.” Harry said.
“Hi…” Malfoy gave him a small grin. “Do you mind if I ask what were you laughing about?”
“I’ll tell you later, you might laugh as well if I tell you now.” Harry smiled.
“Come on, I won’t. It can’t be that bad.” Malfoy teased.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Harry got a bit closer to whisper into Malfoy’s ear. He got distracted with Malfoy’s scent, so good.
Once Harry told him Malfoy backed a bit so he could face Harry, pure shock and embarrassment was on his face. And then their eyes met, a wonderful mix of grey and green, Harry felt like he could stare into those eyes for the rest of his life, such a pretty color, such a pretty face, such a pretty boy. They had almost forgotten they were talking about Snape IN Snape’s class. Malfoy looked away, waking Harry from his trance.
“That was the most random question that I’ve ever heard. How could he even think of that so suddenly?” Malfoy said.
“I dunno. He said it just popped into his head.”
“What?— How?-”
“No idea. I just thought he was insane, but I couldn’t help it, before I realized I was already laughing.”
Malfoy laughed a bit. The sound of Malfoy’s laugh made sparks fly on Harry’s head, it was sad he didn’t hear it so often.
When Malfoy realized what he was doing he stopped immediately. He cleared his throat.
“So… which potion do you want to make Potter?” Malfoy asked, trying to distract Harry.
“Umm, I’ll do whatever you want to do.”
“But I want to know your opinion. Let me open the book to see the options.” He opened his new potions book. “Hmm, here they are. So… we can choose a love potion or a hate potion. Which one would you like?”
“Er- love potion?” Harry raised one eyebrow.
“Alright. Love potion it is.” Malfoy nodded. Then he took all the ingredients they needed.
“I can work on the potion while you do the essay. Is that okay?” Malfoy asked.
“Why do I get the boring part?” He let out a heavy sigh.
“Because we both know you’re not the best at potions. But if you like, you can help me stirring.”
Harry tried to look offended, but he knew Malfoy was right. “Fine, idiot.” He rolled his eyes.
“Stop complaining and start working on the essay.”
“You’re so bossy.”
“Excuse me?! How dare you!”
“You know you are.” Harry bumped their shoulders on purpose.
“Whatever.” He grabbed the ingredients for the love potion.
“So… what is the main function of a love potion?” Harry asked.
Is he stupid? “Well, as the name says, it’s supposed to create love. If you give it to someone that person will fall in love with you, of course their feelings might not be real, they would only be under the spell.”
“Mmm, interesting. And, how much does it lasts?”
“It depends, there are many different types of love potions. Some stronger than others, ours, for example, only lasts two days, others tend to last a week, others a month…”
“I see, do you think… you would ever use a love potion on someone?” Harry asked while he watched Malfoy cutting an ingredient.
“Not really. I- I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just- the felling won’t be real, if someone doesn’t like me I won’t force them to be with me. It might hurt like hell, but I wouldn’t enjoy having them knowing that all of it is fake. Don’t you think?”
He’s right, it would hurt like hell, but that’s the truth.
“Yeah… you’re right. If the feeling it’s fake then it wouldn’t be worth it.”
“Hmm.” Malfoy hummed in response.
They stayed in silence for a while.
“Can I do something now?” Harry asked.
“Not yet.”
“But I’m bored! How am I supposed to learn if I can’t do anything?!”
“You’ll do something, just not yet. And you are already working on the essay.”
“Ok, whatever.”
Malfoy grinned at him.
Harry looked at everything he was doing, he saw his long pale fingers grabbing the ingredients, he looked at his veins, they were really pronounced on Malfoy’s hands.
“Can I work now?”
“Okay, you can.” The blonde said.
Harry smiled, he picked up the spoon and started mixing quickly.
“No no no no, wait! Not so fast!” Malfoy placed his hand on Harry’s. Harry shrugged at the touch, Malfoy’s hands were as cold as ice. “You have to do it slowly, otherwise you could ruin the potion.”
“Oh… er— okay. S-sorry.” Harry whispered, staring at their hands together.
Malfoy quickly took his hand away. “Sorry, just- be careful.”
Harry smiled and bumped their shoulders.
“Don’t worry! I won’t ruin your perfect score at potions.”
“I hope you can keep your promises then.”
“I haven’t promised anything, just saying.”
Malfoy rolled his eyes and got back to work.
The rest of the class was fine, they didn’t talk much, but they enjoyed working together, they were a great team.
————————————————
Harry went to the bathroom before dinner.
“Oh Harry! It is so good to see you!” Moaning Myrtle said giggling.
Harry looked embarrassed. “Er- yeah. Good seeing you too…”
Moaning Myrtle giggled.
Harry had finished, he was going to wash his hands when he saw Malfoy entering to the bathroom. He was happy to see him, but then he realized Malfoy was crying.
“Malfoy?” Harry asked worried.
“I-I didn’t know you were here Potter.” He looked away and walked to the door. “S-sorry.”
“Malfoy wait!” Harry stepped closer. “What happened?”
Malfoy ran his hand through his eyes.
“N-nothing.”
“Tell me what’s wrong… please.” Harry was starting to get worried.
“Nothing” Malfoy sniffed.
“Please… you can trust me.” He grabbed Malfoy’s wrist.
“S-some students were-” he sniffed. “they were saying so-some things that h-hurt me, but it’s no big deal.”
Harry hated seeing Draco like that. He didn’t know why, but anger was filling his body, he wanted to know who hurt Draco, so he could hex them.
“It’s no big deal? You’re crying… what do you mean it’s no big deal?”
“It’s just- really… it doesn’t matter.” The blonde sniffed.
“It does matter. I care about you, I want to know. Who was it?”
“Potter- don’t. If you say something to them it’ll only make it worse.” Tears were going down his cheeks.
“What did they say?” His heart ached when he saw Draco like that, so fragile and vulnerable.
“They-” he sobbed. “They said something about m-my father. Ab-about my family… that they could n-never love someone like-” he sobbed again. “Someone like me…”
Harry was seeing red, how dare they?! How could they do this to Draco? Without thinking it twice he jumped to Draco’s arms. He hugged him as tight as he could.
“I’m sorry…”
Draco hugged him back.
“It’s not your fault.” The blonde sniffed. “Besides, they right…”
Harry hugged him tighter. “Don’t you dare saying that.”
“But-”
Harry backed up a bit, just so he could see Draco’s face. “Don’t you ever think that… Draco. It’s not true. Anyone could love someone like you.”
Draco shrugged when he heard his name coming out of Pot-Harry’s mouth. They never used their first names, hearing it was weird, but… but it felt good.
“How could you know that Potter?”
“Harry. It is Harry.”
Tears ran through the blonde’s cheeks.
“How could you now that…Harry?”
Harry grinned at him.
“I just do. Please… stop crying, I hate to see people crying.” He couldn’t stop staring at Draco’s eyes.
He sniffed and grinned at him a bit.
“Yeah… ‘cause you know everything’.”
“Hey!” Harry laughed. “Of course I know everything.”
Draco stepped back.
“Well, you can go to dinner know. I’ll stay here to… wash my face, you know.”
“I’ll wait for you. I’m not that hungry.”
Draco looked away. “Actually, I wasn’t planning to eat dinner today.”
Just like always, Harry thought, but he kept it to himself. He didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable or something.
“We can go to the library then. I have to study, and Madam Pomfrey said I could help you with your studies.”
“Er-”
“Please!” Harry placed his hand on Draco’s shoulder.
Draco rolled his eyes. “Alright.”
Harry was so excited!
“So… what are your favorite type of books?” Harry asked.
“Mmm, difficult question. I like all type of books.”
“Think of something.” Harry was all ears, his eyes full of excitement while he waited for Draco’s answer.
“I think… Greek mythology. Yeah, that’s my favorite. All the stories about Poseidon and the gods, they were awesome.” Draco grinned.
“Cool!” Harry grabbed some books from the shelfs.
“What’s yours?”
“I really don’t know. I don’t read a lot.”
“Ha, now I get why you’re failing almost all your classes.” Draco teased.
“Not funny.” Harry rolled his eyes.
“It is for me.” Draco argued.
“Whatever. Let’s see, favorite ice cream flavor?”
“Vanilla.”
“Chocolate! It’s way better!”
“No! Chocolate ice cream tastes weird, and it’s overpowering sometimes.”
“No way you just said that! It’s NEVER enough chocolate.”
“Too sweet for me.”
“Freak.” Harry sat next to Malfoy. “Alright, time to study.”
“Never thought those words would ever come out of your mouth.”
“Haha, very funny Draco.” Harry said sarcastically.
“Ok, so… what did I miss when I was in the Hospital wing?”
“Not so much. We worked on an essay with Snape, we had two classes with Trelawney and on Herbology we saw something about a plant that could create fire. I don’t remember the name, it was… T- T something.”
“Thearses?”
“Er- yeah, I think so… how do you know the name?”
“I read something about it once, it was quite interesting. You see, legends used to say there was a magical creature called Thearses. They had the ability to create fire with their mouth, they could burn villages just by opening it. They created the name after them.
Harry giggled. “Such a creative name.”
Malfoy grinned at him. “Yeah, sure.”
“How is that you know a lot about plants, books…?”
“I started reading when I was very young, my mum told me it was since I was three. She was very proud of me. At first I read because I liked it, then… my father forced me to read, he told me I had to read at least five books a week, or…” The blonde looked away and swallowed. “Never mind.”
Harry could tell something was wrong, but he also felt it was the wrong thing to ask, so he just watched Draco and said nothing.
“And well, that’s how I know a lot about that stuff. I used to spend hours in the library, reading and learning all the information that was in the books.”
“I wasn’t a big fan of books when I was little.” Harry murmured.
“It seems like you still aren’t.” Malfoy teased.
“Shut up you prat!” Harry rolled his eyes.
Malfoy giggled. “I think we should begin. It’s getting late.”
“Yeah… alright.”
They studied together. Harry’s task was to help Draco with all the assignments they did when he was absent, however, it was more the other way around. Draco finished first, it was really easy for him, but he could see that Harry was struggling, so he decided to help him.
Harry thought that Draco wasn’t that different from Hermione, those two were definitely a ‘Know-it-all’, kind of annoying sometimes actually. But they were Harry’s friends.
Two hours later, they were both tired, mostly Harry. He was fighting the urge to close his eyes, Draco noticed.
“Let’s go Harry.” Malfoy said while he picked up the books.
Harry was practically sleeping with his eyes opened, his mind was somewhere else. He nearly jumped when he heard Draco’s voice.
“What? Why?” He frowned.
He chuckled. “You’re practically sleeping, I could tell. If you’re tired then let’s go to our room, you have to rest.”
“It’s funny you’re the one saying that when you just left the Hospital wing.” Harry giggled shyly. “But fine, I am tired. Let’s go.” He stood up.
They walked in silence to their room, it wasn’t an awkward silence, it’s just that they both felt like they didn’t need to talk to each other, they were both admiring every detail on the walls, on the floor, like if it was their first time stepping on Hogwarts. And that just felt nice.
“I’m starving!” Harry said.
“I told you to eat, but you insisted to stay with me.”
“Well I didn’t think we were going to study for so long!”
“Whatever. You can go to the kitchen and ask for something.”
“Right! I’ll go there. Want to join me?” Harry asked.
Draco hesitated. “Actually… not this time Harry. I’ll take a bath.”
“Aren’t you starving?”
“Not really…”
Odd.
“Alright then. Er- enjoy your bath.” Enjoy your bath? Really Harry? He asked to himself.
“Umm, thanks.” Draco grinned at him. “Enjoy your food.” And then he went to the bathroom.
————————————————
The next day.
Harry couldn’t stop staring at Draco and Pansy, Pansy Parkinson. Draco was on the Great hall, Harry was happy to see him there, but then Pansy came, she sat next to Draco, too bloody close.
She started talking to him, Harry could notice that she was quite interested in his arm cast. Ugh, idiot.
And then when Harry thought things couldn’t get worse, hell he was wrong. Pansy touched Draco’s arm. TOUCHED. Why would she do that? Totally unnecessary. Harry was in a good mood, past tense, now his day was ruined, he can’t explain why, but seeing Pansy touching Draco caused something inside him. Something weird, something that he had never felt before, it was like anger, but- sadness, and… and well, mostly anger.
“Harry could you stop staring at Malfoy?” Hermione asked.
Harry frowned. “What?”
“Stop staring at Malfoy, Harry. It’s staring to get creepy.”
“Wha- I wasn’t staring!” He said loudly. Some Gryffindors looked at him.
“Lower your voice Harry.” She glared at him. “It’s obvious you were staring Harry, I’m not a fool. Don’t lie.”
“Fine.” He rolled his eyes. “But it’s just— Do you see Pansy? Why is she talking to Dr- Malfoy?”
“Maybe because they are friends?” She said with a tone that made Harry sound stupid.
“Don’t say it like that Hermione. And you know what I mean, they’re too close, she’s touching his arm-”
“Harry are you jealous?” Hermione looked surprised.
Harry opened his mouth to argue, but he hesitated. Now that he thinks about it, that’s kind of the perfect word to describe what he was feeling. But he couldn’t admit it. No!
“No! Why would you think that?” He tried to look offended.
“Why would you care about Malfoy being too close to Pansy then?!”
“I- I don’t!”
“Harry… I’ve seen the way you look at him. I’m your friend, there’s no need to hide things from me.” Her eyes watered.
“Hermione… I-” No, he didn’t have a crush on Draco, whatever Hermione was thinking wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. “I know, I trust you. But really, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not jealous and I don’t look at him like- like anything.”
Hermione had this disappointed look on her face. “If you say so Harry…”
“Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go to the Quidditch field for a while.”
“But-”
“It’s fine ‘Mione.” He said coldly.
Hermione was just trying to be nice, he knew that, but there was just something inside him that was telling him to push everyone away. And just like that he left before Hermione could say something else.
He grabbed his broom and flew all over the Quidditch field. God he really loved flying.
He felt all the wind on his face, feeling extremely free, confident and happy. It was amazing.
While he was there he could see the forest and the lake, such a nice view. He admired it for a while and then he started thinking about all the thing that Hermione said. About everything that happened these days. It was quite funny, if someone would’ve told eleven year old Harry that he was going to be Draco’s friend, he would’ve laughed on their face until he couldn’t breathe. But now, here he was, being Draco’s friend and caring about him.
Harry thought of Draco’s face. It was pale with pronounced features, his cheekbones were sharp, just like his jaw. His hair was straight and blonde, almost white. Harry likes it when it shines under sunlight. Then, there was his chin, also sharp. His eyes… Damn it he loved Draco’s eyes. They were extraordinary, they had this grayish color that looked almost blue under sunlight. His eyelashes, long and thick, his eyebrows, thick and beautiful. His nose that had the perfect shape, his profile was admirable. And his lips… those rosy heart shaped lips, Harry was mesmerized every time he saw them, sometimes when they were too close he just wanted to lean in… Oh my god.
OH MY GOD.
HERMIONE WAS RIGHT! ALL THIS BLOODY TIME!
HE HAD A CRUSH ON DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY!
That bloody prat! With a stupid perfect face and body! He was in love with the bastard. He nearly fell of his broom when he realized, he supposed he always knew, really deep inside him he knew, he just hadn’t accepted it.
He had to apologize to Hermione. He ran as fast as he could to Gryffindor’s common room. He got there almost breathless, his knees hurt from running so fast.
“Hermione!” Harry saw Hermione reading a book on the couch.
She quickly looked to Harry, a worried look on her face. She raised an eyebrow. “What happened Harry?”
“We need to talk. Now!” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the common room. When they were on the hallway Harry checked if there was someone around who might hear them, thank Merlin they were alone.
“What is it Harry?” She frowned, placing her hand on Harry’s shoulder.
His breath was still uneven, his knees trembling.
“Are you okay?” She asked again.
“Yeah- just tired of running.” He took a deep breath. Come on Harry, you got this. “Hermione… you were right.”
“About?” But the second those words left her mouth she understood. Everything made sense. “Oh”
Harry looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I knew, I just couldn’t accept it.” He places his hands on his face.
“It’s alright Harry.” She was relieved it was that, and not something else.
“Aren’t you mad at me?”
She took his hands. “No, Harry. Of course not!”
“And… are you alright? With the fact of me liking…”
“Yes, Harry. Totally. It’s your life after all. I mean, I’m a little surprised, but weirdly he hasn’t been the same git he was last year. Something might have changed during the summer.”
“Yeah, maybe. Thanks for not judging…”
“I would never.” She smiled and hugged him. “There’s no problem with me Harry. Ron on the other side… let’s just say he’s not the biggest Malfoy fan.”
He closed his eyes. Right, he had forgotten about Ron. What a mess! He was going to be furious.
“Do you think he’ll be mad at me?” He asked shyly.
She sighed. “You know Ronald. His temper is not the best, maybe he will be mad at first, but you know him, in the end he’ll apologize for being a dick.” She laughed.
Harry laughed as well. He really loved Hermione, she had always been so supportive, so loyal, she was his sister. She was the best friend that Harry could ever ask for. Always by his side, always telling him what’s wrong and right, always helping him and always taking care of him.
They hugged each other for a little while. Not necessarily talking to each other, just hearing their breaths and closing their eyes. Those type of actions said more one thousand words.
Hermione already knew, and she was fine with it.
Such a relief for Harry. Ron, on the other side, was going to be a nightmare, but whatever. He could deal with that later.