Phoenix

Harry stood there, kinda wanting to cry. He just found out that Draco was in love with him too, and then probably ruined his chance with him in around five minutes. He transformed once more and flew back to the castle, taking a different route that night during rounds to try to avoid running into Draco. He succeeded that night, and the next night. The day after that was Monday, though, and they sat together in Alchemy. Since he couldn’t completely avoid him, Harry simply looked away from his table mate as he took his seat, and kept it up for the entirety of the class. At the end of class, Draco tapped Harry’s shoulder, asking in a monotone voice, “Can we talk?” Harry stiffened, but nodded.
Outside, Draco pulled him into an empty corridor, and narrowed his eyes as he said, “Avoiding and ignoring me, how mature.”
“I didn’t really think you’d want to see me,” Harry returned, looking out at the main corridor.
Draco leaned on his arm next to Harry’s head, and retorted, “That sounds like a decision that’s not yours to make.”
Harry sneered and rolled his eyes.
Draco scoffed, “Can’t even go two minutes without acting like a child, can you, Potter?”
Harry quietly laughed, and looked down, smiling.
“What?”
“Reminded me of something,” Harry replied, then saw Draco’s, ‘continue,’ expression, and did, teasing, “Famous Harry Potter. Can’t even go to a bookshop without making the front page.”
Draco tried to fight a smile off his face, but he lost, dropping his head and breathing out a small chuckle. Harry grinned and teasingly observed, “Back then you would’ve tried to hex me for teasing you. Now you just smile and turn red.”
Draco grinned embarrassedly and said, “Shut up.”
“You’re cu-” Harry cut himself off.
Draco lifted his head and looked at Harry, his own smile turning a little teasing to hide his excitement, his heart pounding as he demanded, “Say that again.”
Harry looked down and kept his mouth shut, still smiling, his face slowly lighting on fire. Draco just kept quiet and let the silence stretch on, until Harry felt uncomfortable enough that he needed to fill the silence. He finally mumbled, “I said you’re cute.”
Draco put his hand on the side of Harry’s face, and quietly asked, “What do you mean by that? And don’t lie, I think you’ve done enough of that in the last few weeks.”
Harry nodded, keeping his eyes trained on the ground, then took a breath before starting, “I mean that I love the way your eyes crinkle at the corners when you smile, how you blush all the way down your neck and can’t stop smiling when you’re embarrassed, and when you try to be intimidating, like-” he tapped Draco’s arm next to his head- “this. I love passing you in the corridors at night when we’re making rounds, how nice you are to first years, including from other houses, the stupid jokes you make about classes, our petty banter about unimportant shit… I mean that I’m a fucking pushover when it comes to you. I mean that I have to resist the urge to kiss you every time we’re close. I mean that I’m gay, and you’re the reason I figured that out.”
Draco just stared at him, blushing a bit, because he wasn’t really used to compliments. “I thought you were avoiding me because you were uncomfortable knowing that I’m in love with you,” he admitted.
Harry shook his head, and looked back up to meet Draco’s eyes, saying, “I was avoiding you because I’m uncomfortable with the way I found that out. I really didn’t mean to spy on you. I just didn’t want to just stop meeting you the day after you started talking. Just from personal experience, that’d probably have made you feel like shit.”
Draco nodded, agreeing, “Probably. How long have you been able to- Are- are you registered?”
Harry smiled, answering, “I technically became an animagus in August. Yeah, I’m registered.”
Draco thought for a second, and a very teasing grin grew on his face.
Harry rolled his eyes, still smiling, and asked, “What?”
“The Gryffindor, golden boy, quidditch captain is a golden and scarlet bird. Fitting,” Draco teased, grinning.
Harry shoved at his shoulder, asking, “Why do I like this twat?”
Draco softly chuckled, “Ouch. Offended much, scarhead?”
“Sure, ferret. Sure.”
Hermione passed, looking for Harry, and heard him speak, so she turned into the corridor, asking, “Harry?”
Draco flinched and looked over at her, before quickly taking his hand off of the wall next to Harry and backing away to the opposite wall. Harry was already leaning against the wall, and just quietly cleared his throat. Hermione walked towards them, looking between the two with a confused expression. “Uh- Harry?”
“Hey, Hermione. What’s up?” Harry asked, trying to keep his voice normal.
She gestured to Draco, then back to Harry, with a questioning look on her face. Harry glanced at Draco, not sure what to say. He didn’t get anything helpful from him, so he just replied, “I’m not sure what you’re trying to say- er, ask?”
Hermione looked at Draco, then back to Harry, as she asked, “No offense, Draco, but Harry, can I talk to you alone for a second?” Harry nodded, after a few moments, and Hermione walked several feet away with him. She then whispered, “Harry, I know we’re on a first name basis with him now, and I could be mistaken, but that looked a little more than friendly.”
“It wasn’t. Apparently I ‘insulted him’ and he got offended,” Harry responded, being a pretty good liar.
“Interesting. Here,” Hermione said, and gave him an envelope from Ron. She then walked away, back to her dorm to study.
Harry chewed on his lip as he walked back to Draco and leaned against the wall opposite him again. Draco nodded to him a little awkwardly, and Harry explained, “She thought we appeared ‘more than friendly.’”
“Ah. More than friendly is probably putting it a little lightly,” Draco remarked, covering a quiet chuckle with the back of his hand. Harry silently laughed a little, and nodded in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A selection from Ron’s letter:

“I’m still disappointed in you for going back to bloody school. And very surprised to hear that Malfoy did too. Speaking of Malfoy, are you ever going to pluck up the courage to bloody talk to him about your crush? You fought against a wizard four times your fucking age, and died once, but still refuse to talk to your crush you’ve had since like year three? I mean, c’mon, mate, that’s embarrassing. Or was it year two? I can’t even remember, but I know you’ve been yapping about him to both me and Hermione for years.”