Someone you’ll miss the most
Harry was devastated. Everything hurt, he couldn’t think of anything but the way Draco looked at him. So much hate, so much pain.
Those beautiful eyes that had once looked at him fondly, were now cold and distant. Draco would never forgive him, and he had every reason not to— but that didn’t mean it hurt less. It hurt like hell.
Harry’s heart had been stabbed. He was sobbing now on the stairs where Draco left, and he didn’t even care anymore. People were probably looking, but he was too exhausted to move. To do anything but cry.
Then, he heard Ron and Hermione arguing.
“You know the solution, don’t you?” Hermione said. “Next time there’s a ball pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does!” She said with tears in her eyes. “And not as a last resort!” Her voice cracked.
“Well, th-th-that’s — that’s — I mean, that’s just completely off the point!” Ron said.
Hermione let out a shaky breath.
Harry couldn’t handle it anymore, she was about to cry and Ron didn’t care. What kind of person was he?
“Ron, you spoiled everything!” She yelled.
He scoffed and turned around, only to frown when he saw Harry. “What happened to you, mate?” He asked.
Harry felt so much anger. It was all William’s fault, but Ron was involved too. If he hadn’t mentioned the ‘Malfoy lover’ then William wouldn’t have started the conversation at all. Besides, Ron clearly hurt Draco too, he couldn’t forget.
“What’s wrong with you, Ron?!” He stood up, knowing that his eyes were still filled with tears, but the rage kept him going.
“What have I done now?!” Ron yelled.
“You ruined everything!” He said. “First Draco, now Hermione. You’re unbelievable!”
He glanced at Hermione, who was frowning. She must’ve not heard what happened with Draco.
“What are you on about, mate?!” Ron scoffed. “Oh, now I see… this is about Malfoy, isn’t it? You’re upset because he was crying like a baby!”
Harry’s hand curled into a fist. “He’s not a baby! He had every single reason to cry.”
“Weren’t you the one that made him cry?” He asked frustrated.
And Harry stopped. Ron was right. He was the one who made Draco cry. It was his fault. Draco was in pain, he was crying and it was all his fault.
He knew the Gryffindors were bothering Draco, but he had never reacted in such vulnerable way, not in public at least. The reason it hurt Draco so much was because Harry was involved.
Because Harry, the person he trusted with his whole life, had stabbed him behind his back. Draco was upstairs, thinking that all they had was fake, that Harry had just done it to make fun of him with his friends.
Fuck.
“Mate?” Ron asked.
Harry snapped into reality again. He pushed Ron. “Piss off!”
Ron scoffed. “What’s wrong with you?! You were the one who started and now you want me to piss off?”
Harry rolled his eyes and looked away.
“You’re mental! Malfoy must’ve messed with your head.”
Harry’s rage was back again.
“How can you stand him, really? I don’t understand it. He’s an insufferable git! He’s selfish, mean, a rich prat—”
Ron was cut off because Harry was suddenly hitting him. His fist went straight to Ron’s face, punching him with all the strength he had.
Ron went backwards, crashing against the wall.
“Don’t you dare say anything about him! He’s way better than you!” He roared furiously. “You’re not half of the person he is now! He’s nice, caring, brave— braver than any of you! You’re a coward, Ronald. A coward!” He screamed.
Ron was paler than usual. He seemed scared, terrified, actually. He had never seen Harry this angry.
Hermione gasped when Harry punched Ron. She was scared too, Harry could tell.
“Harry…” she whispered.
He looked at his own hand, covered in Ron’s blood. Then, he freaked out. He had punched Ron? What was he thinking?
Oh no.
He looked at Ron, and all he saw was fear in his eyes. Harry wanted to throw up, he wanted to just disappear.
“I-” He said. “I— sorry.” And he left. He ran away, crying until his vision was blurry from the tears.
“Harry!” Hermione called. She looked at Ron one more time, it wasn’t an apologetic look, because she was still furious at him, but she knew violence wasn’t the answer.
Ron just stared at her, still against the wall. As if he needed to put his weight onto it to keep standing.
She looked away and ran off too, trying to catch Harry.
“Harry!” She called again while she ran after him. “Harry, wait!”
Harry only ran faster. He just wanted to get away. He ran outside the castle, Hermione after him. He was still sobbing, he couldn’t see anything because of the tears, so he tripped with a rock that was on his way.
He heard Hermione gasp in horror as she watched him fall. He hissed in pain, his knee was bleeding, his elbow too, his chin as well and he was covered in mud.
Hermione kneeled next to him. Her lovely pink dress covering in mud too. She was crying.
“Hermione… your dress…” he said weakly. All the running and crying had tired him.
“Forget about the dress!” She said anxiously. “We have to go to the hospital wing. You’re hurt!”
“I’m fine.”
“Of course you’re not! You’re bleeding!”
“It’s just a scratch, Hermione.” He sighed. “I’ve had worse.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but then I’ll heal it.”
He smiled weakly. “As you wish. I just want to rest.”
“Oh, Harry…” she sighed. “Okay, let’s get you to your room. I’m sure Draco could help me with the healing.”
At the mention of his name Harry’s eyes watered again, before he could realise he was crying again. Hermione looked alarmed again.
“What is it, Harry?!”
“Draco…” he managed to say between sobs.
She frowned. “What about him?”
He cried harder. Hermione lifted him up to pull him into an embrace. “Oh, Harry… shhh… it’s okay.”
“We had a f-fight… a bad one… h-he doesn’t want to talk to me…” he said sadly.
“Oh…” she sighed. “It’ll be okay.”
He shook his head. “He’ll never forgive me!” He sobbed. “He said I can’t even go to our room!”
“Umm- okay. I- I’ll… we’ll go to my room then. Come on.”
“I- I can’t go there…”
“You can’t, but you will. No one has to know.”
“Hermione…”
“No.” She helped him to get on his feet. “You’ll come with me. No complaining.”
Harry wanted to say something more, but he was too tired to do that. He just nodded and followed her.
*
Harry slept on Hermione’s couch that night. It was an armchair, but Hermione transformed it into a couch. What would he do without her? She’s brilliant.
He woke up because Hermione kept pacing around the room. Her footsteps were too loud. When Hermione noticed Harry was awake she stopped.
“Hi.” She smiled. “Are you hungry?”
He only thought about Draco. Was he hungry? Had he eaten? Merlin help him. He had just woken up and his first thought was Draco, the boy who wanted to know nothing of him.
He shook his head.
“You know you have to eat, Harry.” She sighed.
“Later.” He replied.
She kept staring at him. “What?” He asked.
She shook her head in disapproval. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”
He sighed. “I guess I can’t say no, right?”
She glared at him.
“Okay…” he sat up. “We had a fight, as you already now. Ron was telling me that I was a Malfoy lover, William heard and he came to bother us. He started saying things and I, obviously, defended Draco. But of all sudden he brought up when I told him one of Draco’s biggest secrets.” He sighed. “Apparently, he brought that up because Draco was close enough to hear it. He looked at me, and— damn it, Hermione.”
His eyes watered again.
She sat next to him, placing her arm around his shoulders. “It’s alright, Harry.”
“No!” He said frustrated. “None of this is alright! You should’ve seen him… he— he looked at me like I was a different person. He was so cold and… distant. It was horrible. Then he said that I was dead to him,” Harry’s voice cracked while tears left his eyes. “And he ran away, I followed and he spilled his drink on my robes— because it seems like he was bringing me a drink.” He scoffed. “He was bringing me a drink and what he got was probably the worst moment of his life. I’m a terrible person.”
“You’re not, Harry.” She said fondly.
“I am.” He cut her off before she could complain. “Please let me finish.”
She nodded.
“So… that’s that. He ran away again and I followed. I tried to touch him again, but it was useless, he told me to stay away from him and that I could find somewhere else to sleep because he was not opening the door to me. He was so hurt Hermione, and it broke my heart. I was so devastated that I just stayed there, crying on the stairs. That’s when all the Ron thing happened, and well… you know what comes next.”
She sighed shakily. “That’s very sad.”
“It is.”
“But… why did you tell William his secrets? Or… what were they about? Why did he react like that?”
“I don’t know. Every time I think about it I can’t find the answer. That’s what pisses me off the most, I don’t know why I did it. I just did” He cried. “I’m terrible. I remember that William started asking things, and I got nervous, and I thought he was going to tell everyone that we were together so I freaked out. I thought that if I would tell him some secrets, pretend to be on his side, then he wouldn’t say anything but I— it’s stupid. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done, and now Draco hates me and he’ll never forgive me.”
“He will, Harry. Maybe it’ll just take him some time, don’t jump into conclusions.”
“He won’t, ‘Mione. I’m not jumping into anything, but I know him. I know him, and I know he won’t. I betrayed him.”
“But… what was his secret?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you…”
“You can trust me, Harry. You know I wouldn’t tell anyone. Besides, if I have an idea then maybe I could picture how bad this situation is.”
He sighed. “Okay.” He said hesitantly. “Well, it’s complicated. You know Lucius right?”
She scoffed. “Unfortunately I do.”
“Yeah… so he’s a bad person, as we all know or figured it out. He… he’s also a terrible father. He hurts Draco…”
Hermione raised her eyebrows.
“And not just physically, he also hurts him with words. Draco’s always looking for his approval, he wants to prove to his father that he is enough, or he wanted to, at least. Now he knows better, he knows that everything his father taught him was wrong, so he stood up against him.” He sighed. “It has being really hard for him.”
“Oh my….”
“So that’s what I told William. Well, not everything and not like that. I just mentioned he had issues with his father and that’s what William said yesterday, that I told him about his daddy issues. Draco was so hurt. I could tell.”
“That’s… bad, Harry.”
“I know…”
She frowned. “But why would y-”
“I said I don’t know! You’re only making me feel worse…” he said sadly.
“I’m sorry… it’s just— anyway. Let’s go get some breakfast, alright? You need to eat.”
“I—”
“No complaining.”
And she took him to the Great Hall.
When they arrived Draco was nowhere to be seen. That only made Harry feel worse. He knew Draco skipped some meals, but he knew there had to be something more this time.
Days passed and Harry was miserable. Draco was avoiding him. He hadn’t caught a glance of Draco in weeks. He really had no intentions in forgiving him. They even had to give him another room because Draco refused to speak to him. He had to give McGonagall an excuse to give him new room.
“Harry, the second task is in one week.” Hermione said yesterday.
He didn’t care. He couldn’t care less, to be honest. His mind was focused on Draco. Just Draco.
And it broke his heart every single time he thought about him.
*
“Hermione. A word, please.” Draco said.
They were in the library, the second task was tomorrow. Hermione looked up in shock. It was weird seeing Draco, she hadn’t seen him since the Yule Ball because, at this point, it seemed like Draco was avoiding the whole school. Not just Harry.
“Sure.” She said softly.
He sat in front of her awkwardly. They stared at each other in complete silence, then, Draco sighed.
“Listen, I’ll make this quick. Have you or have you not solved the puzzle for the second task?”
She frowned. What was this about?
“Not really. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but I haven’t got a clue about how to listen to the message.”
“Water.” Draco said quietly.
“Pardon?”
“Water. The key is water”
She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
He took a deep breath. “You have to put the egg on water. Take a bath with it or whatever, under the water you can hear the message. It’s the only way.”
“What?” Her brows shot up in surprise. “How… how do you know?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
She narrowed her eyes.
He sighed. “Fine, someone told me. A professor, and that’s all I have to say about it.”
“Oh, umm- okay.” She said. “Thank you. I have to tell, Harry.” She said excitedly as she stood up.
“Hermione, wait!” he stood up too.
“What?”
“You can’t tell Harry it was me.”
She frowned. “Why not? He’ll be grateful to know you helped him.”
“I don’t want him to be grateful, I don’t want anything from him.”
“But—”
“Just tell me you won’t.” He said. “Please.”
She sighed. “Okay. I won’t tell him.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.” She smiled softly.
“Okay… that’s it then.” He cleared his throat. “See you later.”
“Bye!” She said.
Draco was already out of the library.
*
Draco went to his room after that and cried, because Merlin… it hurt too much. Thinking of Harry hurt. He trusted him and Harry told William.
William! The idiot who had been bothering him. Harry knew. He knew what he was going through and he told him anyway.
Draco feels devastated. Everything hurts, he feels unworthy, he feels like a fool. He’s heartbroken. Of course Harry never saw the good in him, he spent time with him just to make fun of him with his friends after it.
Merlin I’m so stupid.
How could he let himself fall for that? For all that rubbish? Of course it was fake, he should’ve known better.
It was obvious Harry didn’t love him. How could he? How could someone ever love Draco Malfoy?
Draco hated himself. He hated himself because after all Harry had done he still cared for the git. He was unbelievable.
Harry betrayed him but he still loved him. He still cared for him so much that he told Hermione the key to solve the message. He was a fool. He was a fool.
And no one would ever want him.
Ever.
“Mr. Malfoy?” Someone knocked at the door.
Draco wiped away his tears with the sleeve of his uniform. It wasn’t any student because no one would call him Mr. Malfoy.
“Mr. Malfoy?” The voice repeated.
He slowly stood up and walked towards the door. He opened it carefully, just to see Albus Dumbledore himself.
Draco frowned. “Headmaster.” A nod. “Good to see you… I- have I done something wrong?” He asked.
The man chuckled. “No, Draco. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Um— then… may I ask what’s going on?” He said politely.
Dumbledore patted his shoulder. “You see, young man. The second task is tomorrow.”
Everyone at Hogwarts knows that. Weird?
“Yes?”
“You are needed for this task.”
That made no sense at all. “Why?”
“I cannot tell you that, but would you come with me?”
“Er- sure?” He followed Dumbledore.
When they arrived he found Cho Chang, Hermione and a blonde little girl. Probably from Beauxbatons.
“What’s happening?” He whispered to Hermione.
She shook her head and shrugged. “No idea.”
Dumbledore cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “Good evening to all of you, as you may know, you are needed for this second task.” He said. “We’ve taken something each champion would miss the most, or in this case, someone…” He raised an eyebrow.
Draco and Hermione exchanged a look. “You’ll be put in the lake and your champion has to save you in one hour.”
“What?” He said.
Just before all went blank.
*
Harry was extremely nervous. Thanks to Hermione he discovered the clue for the second task yesterday. But what did it even mean?
What was the most important thing he had? Nothing was very special. He had Dudley’s clothes, his books and quills, some sweets, nothing very important, to be honest.
He looked for Hermione in the morning but she was nowhere to be seen. Draco as well, but that was quite obvious, he was ignoring him.
Neville gave him some plant to help him breathe underwater. At least, he knew he wouldn’t drown. However, he was shaking. He felt like he might throw up any second now.
When the timer started they all went into the water. He was a bit disoriented at first, but after that his hands and feet changed. He could breathe. It was awesome.
He jumped out of the water in excitement, after that, he began to search.
He swam around the seaweed, there was a lot of it. He could barely see. He swam and swam for God knows how much time, then, he saw something in front of him.
They were… people?
Oh no.
No no no no.
It couldn’t be.
He was staring at Draco.
What was Draco doing here?!
He panicked, he swam as fast as he could. When he got close to him, he touched his cheek. He could barely recognise him, but of course it was Draco, no one else had that platinum hair he loved so much.
Then, Harry felt like he wanted to cry. His Draco— no, he was no longer his. Draco was here, what was he doing here? Was he drowning? He needed to get him out of here.
Draco’s leg was tied with a seaweed, he got rid of it with his wand. He saw Cedric, he grabbed Cho and pointed at his wrist, trying to tell Harry they were running out of time. Harry nodded.
Cedric left and Viktor Krum appeared, though he could barely recognise him because his head was a shark’s head. He grabbed Hermione and swam to the surface.
Harry waited a bit more. No one came for the little blonde girl, probably Fleur’s sister. What happened to her? They were running out time and Fleur was out of sight.
He waited a bit more, but fuck it. He needed to get Draco out of here now, so he swam closer to the girl and pulled her with him.
But the grindylows started to attack him. “Just one!” They whispered. And Harry panicked, he would choose Draco in a heartbeat, but he couldn’t let the girl drown.
He pushed them both to the surface, now that they were safe, he could fight against the grindylows. There were too many, Harry could barely see.
The time had finished, the effects of the plant finished. He was going to drown. He looked at the surface, gasping for breath.
“Ascendio!” He said weakly, with his last breath.
And suddenly, he was on the surface.
He grabbed Draco and the little girl and helped them get up on the platform.
They were safe. It was going to be fine.
He coughed a bit, choking with water that he had swallowed. After that, he took a very deep breath. Oxygen finally reaching his lungs.
He stared at Draco, who was, too, struggling to catch his breath. He must’ve swallowed a lot of water on his way up.
“I need a towel, please!” He said.
They gave him a towel and tried to wrap it around him, but he took it in his hands and walked towards Draco.
He was freezing, but Draco must’ve been too, and he was the only one that mattered. He wrapped the towel around him, Draco was shaking and still coughing.
“There…” he patted Draco’s back. “It’s okay, you’re okay. Just breathe.”
To Harry’s surprise, he didn’t ran away, instead, he tried to breathe, just like Harry told him too.
Harry’s heart melted. Draco’s cheeks were pink, just like the tip of his nose. His wet hair on his forehead and God, how can someone be this beautiful? It isn’t fair.
How was he supposed to stop loving Draco if he looks like this?
He just feels like he fell in love with him all over again. Stronger than ever.
When Draco could breathe normally again he stared at Harry. It was a cold look, and Harry knew what that meant.
He backed away. His hand immediately missed touching Draco’s body.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered.
Not just for touching you, but for everything I’ve done.
You wouldn’t believe how sorry I am.
Draco quickly got on his feet and ran away. Harry’s stomach twisted again, the urge to run after him returned, but this time, he did not follow.
Then, Hermione appeared. She wrapped a towel around Harry’s shaking body. Just then he realised how cold he was.
“Harry, are you okay?” she asked nervously.
“Fine, Hermione.”
“God, that was so stupid!” She kissed his wet hair. “Why would you save two of us?”
“I couldn’t let her drown!” He said.
“Do you seriously think Dumbledore was going to let them drown?! It was just a spell Harry. They were safe!”
Oh.
Now that makes more sense.
“Oh.” He looked at her sheepishly. “That does make more sense.”
She chuckled. “You’re an idiot.”
He smiled weakly, his mind wandered thinking about Draco. He didn’t even talk to him. He really fucked up this time.
“Harry?” Hermione called.
“He didn’t even talk to me…”
“Oh, Harry…” she hugged him. “Do you want to go?”
He nodded.
“Let’s get you out of here… and get some clothes, you must be freezing.”
“I just want to talk to him.” he said helplessly.
“I know… but it’ll take time. It’s not easy to forgive, some people take more time than others.”
“I miss him.” He cried.
“Well, he is the person you’ll miss the most…”
Harry groaned.
But she was right.
Draco is the person he would miss the most. He misses him, and it’s making him miserable.