Fancy A Sweet?

“For fuck’s sake, Harry! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Uh?” 

“You have been in an awful mood since Care of Magical Creatures. What happened?”

“I am not in a bad mood!”

He was in a bad mood. An awful mood actually. He had been in a killer mood since he saw Macmillan following Malfoy down the corridors. He stopped himself at first. He told himself that it wasn’t his business who Malfoy hung out with. Even if it was an asshole like Macmillan. He might have followed them from afar though. They were walking where Harry needed to go anyways so it wasn’t following. Not really.

Malfoy didn’t look comfortable at all. Like, even if you didn't know Malfoy. It was clear to everyone how uncomfortable he was. It was funny to see Malfoy use those long legs of his to get ahead of Macmillan. Somehow, Malfoy managed to look elegant while running away. 

Harry kept a respectful distance until he saw Macmillan trying to wrap his arm around Malfoy.

Then…Harry wasn’t quite sure what happened. One second he was maintaining a very respectful and normal distance, and the next one he was jumping between them. For a fraction of the following second, he thought he had fucked up but then he felt Malfoy relaxed against him and knew he could not leave Malfoy alone with Ernie Macmillan.

He kept his hand on Malfoy’s back until there was no sight of Macmillan's ridiculous face near them. And kept it a little longer. Afterall, it seemed that it calmed Malfoy down. Even with all the layers that he hand on, Harry could feel him as he got less and less tense the longer they got away from that fucking asshole.

Malfoy would never admit it.

And Harry respected his wish to stay away, for now.

He was feeling okay until they were back and he heard that excruciating, annoying voice down the corridor, and he was talking about Malfoy too. He heard him say his name but couldn’t hear the context. But that was enough to piss him off.

“Whatever you say.”

Ron raised his hands in surrender and sat down near the fire to prepare a chess game.

“Was it because of Malfoy?” Lavender wondered aloud just entering the Gryffindor common room with Parvati by her side.

Shit.

“What happened with Malfoy?”

Seamus looked up from Dean’s shoulder, suddenly not sleepy. Now the whole fucking room was listening. That's just great.

“They said they saw him with Macmillan.” Lavender sat down on the arm of the couch, Parvati resting next to her. “He is also Sacred Twenty-Eight.”

“You think they are planning something?”

“No,” Seamus said. “He was part of D.A. and fought along with us at the war.”

“Maybe he knows something about Malfoy.”

Macmillan didn’t know shit about Malfoy. Not a thing. Harry thought bitterly. None of them did. Not like Harry knew him. Did Harry know him? More than the rest of them, that’s for sure. Way more than that asshole Macmillan.

Sure, he was part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight but that assured him nothing. He had no right to be all over Malfoy like that. The war was over. Harry was trying to lie to himself and think that all Macmillan wanted was to take revenge on Malfoy but he knew that wasn’t it. Still…still…

“Hey, Harry… You think we should tell someone about Malf-”

“You all need to mind your business.”

Harry stood up and went to his room, ignoring some of the surprised gasps and whispering as he slammed his door shut. He leaned back against the wall, taking a deep breath and then another, and another and it was not working.

He did his best to not rip his tie and shirt as he tore them off, before stumbling onto his bed. Oh fuck. It felt like he had an elephant on his chest. Oh he wanted to punch someone. A blonde, freckled, blue-eyed asshole who thought he could just walk up to Malfoy and…

Harry closed his curtains shut and laid down, using the breathing exercises that his Mind Healer taught him. He needed to go back to see him. Oh fuck, is he going die?

Focuss, Harry. You won’t die because of some little anxiety.

Wouldn’t that piss off Voldemort? Turns out he didn’t need to do all that. Just fuck around and cause some panic attack and get it done! Maybe he should have sent Malfoy to kill him instead of Dumbledore, that would have worked out. It was working out now.

He blindly patted around his things to find that smelly stuff that’s supposed to help and found… He pulled out the handkerchief that Malfoy gave him a few weeks ago that Harry kept forgetting to return. He focussed on the embroidery, following the delicate stitching with his finger. Tracing the elegant letters over and over again. The little dragon, the more he looked the more details he noticed. It had a little shine on the thread, even though it was all white, it added the feel of scales.

Harry realised that breathing had gotten a bit easier to do.

He let out a long breath, holding the handkerchief against his chest which felt less heavy. It still felt like it was crushing him, but it wasn’t an elephant anymore. Maybe a medium size dog. Which was pretty manageable.

Just for tonight, he indulged in some Dreamless Sleeping Draught. He was scared of the possible addiction but his Mind Healer said it was okay to have three drops after a rough episode. And that had felt rough.

He also just wanted to fall asleep.

Three drops, fucking disgusting. He had enough time to carefully fold the handkerchief and get under the covers before falling into a deep, potion induced, dreamless sleep.

\\\

He still felt fucking horrible the next day. But more grumpy and on edge than feeling like he was about to die because an invisible form was crushing his chest, so he had that going for him.

At breakfast, he felt like he wanted to punch the teeth off a specific Hufflepuff. Harry was itching for a fight so badly that it appeared that everyone sensed it. Nobody at the Gryffindor table addressed him and he was just fine with that. It was for the best. Harry felt like one bad comment and he would explode.

Malfoy looked better. He walked to the Slytherin table, book in hand. He sat down in his usual seat and had his usual breakfast. Two cups of overly sugary tea, first one with milk and the other with lemon, two toast with jam and butter and a green apple. Harry glanced at the Huffle-prick and luckily, he was minding his business.

Godric, what was wrong with him?

He hoped they did some duelling in D.A.D.A, he needed to blow off some steam. Just as he was about to enter Muggle Studies, he decided that he could not stand being seated in a room, so he went out for a quick flight.

Still sweaty, he went to D.A.D.A ready for a fight. And he got one! 

They were practising shields!

They were switching partners. He got paired with Ron, then Hermione, then Ron again and when he got Hermione again he realised that nobody else wanted to practise with him. Which kinda sucked. He loved Ron and Hermione but they practised together all the time. He wanted someone new. And so did Ron and Hermione, the three of them practically read each other's minds. 

Of course everyone was avoiding him. Great. Fucking great. He shook his head at Ron when he was about to pair up with Harry again. He couldn’t keep his friends from practising with other people. Someone in this classroom must be…

There was another person who had trouble having a partner. 

Harry would never admit it out loud but Malfoy was damn good at duelling. Right now, he was effortlessly holding a sturdy shield. He had a disinterested look on his face as the other student tried to break through it. 

Damn, Malfoy wasn’t even trying. He looked bored.

Out of nowhere, Harry was in front of him. 

“Wanna partner up?”

Malfoy undid his shield and raised one eyebrow, he shrugged and Harry couldn’t help but to smirk. He noticed Malfoy’s lip quirked up a bit. 

“You attack.” Harry challenged Malfoy.

“You sure?” Malfoy challenged him back.

Godric.

Harry took a deep breath and got into position, Malfoy followed suit. Their eyes met and there was life in Malfoy’s eyes again. And he attacked and Harry casted a shield. Malfoy’s spell was so strong that when it hit Harry’s shield, it glowed white as it passed around it.

Malfoy was not holding back. It was so fun. While it was clear that he was using only the spells that they were covering in class, it was amazing how controlled Malfoy was. Every movement calculated, every spell perfectly done and executed. Yet somehow, Malfoy made it look effortless. It didn’t look stiff as if he was just following the textbook, it just looked natural.

Just to spice it up. Between spells, Harry pushed his shield forward, surprising Malfoy for a split second before his eyes got sharp and he stepped back while also making a shield for himself. Harry took the opening to attack. Malfoy’s shield stayed firm but his stance got a bit wider. It wasn’t like he was struggling but he had to put it more work with Harry than with the others he had trained with. 

After a few spells, mid one Malfoy undid his shield and redirected Harry’s spell back to him. Normally, Harry had pretty good reflexes when duelling but he was so surprised by how Malfoy redirected it that it took him a second too long to make his shield and he stumbled back. Malfoy, never one to pass on an opportunity to get the upper hand, threw two spells at Harry, one after the other.

Harry’s shield held up, but still made Harry back away dangerously close to the edge of the fighting mat. It was nice to fight with someone who didn't hold back. Who didn’t flinch away. Who duelled to win. When the third spell almost broke Harry’s shield, he knew he needed to do something that broke Malfoy’s stance. Something rash and impulsive. So Harry undid his shield and narrowly dodged Malfoy’s latest attack.

Both shield-less, they casted at the same time. Before the spells could crash into each other, a large shield got between them. Both spells crashed into it, the force of the impact made both Malfoy and Harry fall back.

“The instruction was to stick to shields and attacks. Not to duel.” Said the new D.A.D.A professor. He now addressed the whole classroom. “Class is over.”

Was he a bit disappointed that he couldn’t practise with Malfoy?

Maybe.

At least they would hang out now. They scheduled their tutoring lesson and-

Wait, why was Malfoy leaving?!

\\\

Draco, as always, left first. He walked out the DADA classroom before the others were even done picking up their things. He preferred it that way, with fewer students in the hall. He felt someone behind him and he didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

“Seriously, Potter?”

He turned around and lo and behold, the Savior himself was following him again.

“What do you want-”

“You are supposed to tutor me.” Potter, very rudely, interrupted him. He was holding his bag by the traps, his fist was holding the straps so tightly that his knuckles were white, his robe bunched and hanging off his bag, as if he had left in a hurry. “We agreed. YOU agreed to it yesterday. We made a deal.”

“Merlin, Potter. Breathe.” Draco cut through Potter’s word vomit. The idiot seemed to realise he had been talking a bit too quickly. Students began to leave their classrooms and fill the hallways. Potter moved away from the middle of the corridor. Draco followed him.

Oh, so Potter does know how to not get in the way.

“You said-”

“I know what I said, Potter. But let’s calm down, my notes aren’t even dry yet.” Draco was fighting the urge to smile. Because this was annoying and not endearing. 

“We agreed-”

“After lunch.” Draco cut him off again. A bit rude of him but he did not have time for another word-vomit for The Boy With No Patience. “We were going to meet up after lunch in the library. Remember?”

Potter blinked a few times, finally remembering their previous agreement. His shoulders got less tense and his grip on his bag loosen up, his whole body sagged against the wall. His whole face seemed to soften up too. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Draco also leaned against the wall too, crossing his arms. “I need a visual break from your hideous mess of hair if I want to be able to endure having to look at it later today.”

Potter snorted at that, visibly more relaxed. He ran a hand through his hair, it got caught in a knot and the pull made him flinch. Draco had to bite his lower lip to not laugh.

“There is this crafty little gadget called a hairbrush, you know?”

“Those don’t work on my hair.” Harry seemed to have recovered from whatever was going on in his head before, because he was quick to respond. “Maybe you could tutor me on hair stuff too.”

“Hair stuff?”

“Yeah.” Potter had to get a bit closer because it started to get noisy in the hallway. “Tutor me on hairbrushes, shampoo and whatever you use to get your hair to look like that.” Potter’s hand came up as if he was about to touch Draco but he just scratched his neck a bit. 

Draco’s cheek suddenly felt hot and he hoped they weren’t turning pink. It was just a teasing comment, a random impulsive comment that Potter didn’t put much thought into. Draco looked away, hitching his bag up.

“Some things cannot be taught, Potter.”

“Didn’t take you for someone who would back away from a challenge.”

There was a smirk on Potter’s face. Of all of his characteristics, his unfailing brand of confidence was back. Now fully leaning against the wall with an air of casualness and comfort which clashed with the fact that they were in a very public and very full corridor. A lot of eyes were on them but Potter ignored them easily, his whole attention (the small amount that he had) was on Draco. There was a playfulness in his eyes as he taunted Draco too.

“I’m not one to waste time on a lost cause.”

“Am I a lost cause?”

The whole exchange felt as if it was stirring away from their main topic to one that Draco was not sure what it could be, but knew it was not one to talk about in a corridor full of noisy students.

“In hair? Yes. In Potions? Not yet. See you after lunch. Don’t be late.”

With that, Draco walked away to the Dungeons, doing his best to not repeat this whole exchange in his head. It felt strange. Not bad strange though. His stomach felt weird and he really did not want to think much about it. So he looked for the most complex book he had to read during lunch and avoided any Potter-thoughts.

\\\

“So,” Ron elongated the last letter as he sat down next to Harry during lunch. “The whole group is going to Hogsmeade after lunch.”

Harry looked up from his plate, raising one eyebrow at Ron. Ginny, who was sitting in front of them next to Hermione, rolled her eyes.

“We are asking you to come with us, in case you didn’t notice.”

His attention diverted from Ron to Ginny. Ron had his I’m-worried-but-I’m-trying-not-to-show-it-expression. 

Ginny had her I’m-annoyed-and-I-want-you-to-notice face.

“I can’t,” Harry moved his smashed potatoes around his plate. “I’m busy.” He shoved a big spoonful of food into his mouth.

“Doing what? We got all afternoon free.”

Harry took his time to eat his potatoes. Once he swallowed, he swiped his mouth with a napkin.

“Potions.”

“Potions?” Ginny glanced at Hermione, who shrugged and then looked back at Harry. “Since when do you care about Potions?”

“You know, do good in my N.E.W.T.S and all that shit.”

“So you are going to study all afternoon?”

“Yep.”

“Alone?”

“With Malfoy.”

Fuck. He did not mean to say that.

“Oh.” Ginny looked way too smug about the whole thing. Honestly, Harry preferred smug to worried. Actually, no. He preferred them minding their own business. But beggars can’t be choosers. “With Malfoy?”

Ugh. Might as well.

“Yes. Tutoring and then detention.”

“Wouldn’t want to be you.” Said Seamus, because he had super hearing or something like that because man he loved to stir up drama. Dean laughed and wrapped an arm around him.

“I don’t know how you two are still in one piece.”

“What the fuck does that suppose to mean?”

“Leave him.” Ron said, looking at Seamus with a serious face. “He has been twitchy all day.”

“I am not twitchy!”

Ginny glanced at Hermione, mouthed ‘twitch’ and then smirked at Harry.

“Fuck off.” Harry pushed his plate away and stood up. Ron groaned and tried grabbing his arm but Harry dodged him.

“Dude, come on. They were just joking.”

“Fucking hilarious. As a matter of fact,” Harry said over his shoulder as he walked away. “I’m just gonna go to laugh my ass off in peace.”

He didn’t turn around but he still heard them talking about him. 

“What’s wrong with him?”

“This always happens when he interacts with Malfoy.”

“Can we stop it?”

Harry did hear Hermione and Ron try to quiet them down. Ginny too, surprisingly. He needed to be nicer to them. He had been…not twitchy, but on edge. Just a bit upset, just…Okay, he couldn’t be happy all the fucking time! Why couldn’t he just not be happy and smiley and why did he always have to explain it all and…

When did he get to the other part of the castle? Ah shit.

Harry took a deep breath and casted a quick Tempus, he still had time before their tutoring session.Did he see Malfoy at lunch? Better bring some candies just in case. 

Actually…

\\\

Potter was already in the library.

He had chosen a table far away from everyone, in the back of the library in a section that nobody ever went to. A section that Draco frequented for that very reason. There were four tables there and somehow Potter managed to pick Draco’s favourite one. The one that was just next to the window where you could look outside but didn’t have the sun in your eyes.

Potter also had already picked up the books they would be reviewing, all in a pile in front of him. Two parchment papers ready, his ink pot already unscrewed with a quill on the side. He even took the time to arrange an assortment of candies which Potter never seemed to run out of.

“You look ready to start.”

Draco was greeted by a wide boyish smile. Potter moved the chair so that Draco could sit.

“Don’t look so shocked. I’m a good student.”

“Are you really?”

“Got this far, didn’t I?”

“Thanks to Granger, your name and dumb luck.”

“And not my devilish handsome face?”

Draco rolled his eyes and busied himself by taking his things out of his bag. The more they hung out, the more comfortable Potter got with his comments. They were jokes, Draco knew that. But the content was…different. So that’s how Potter interacts with his friends. Were they friends? Not really, maybe they could call what they have been friendly, but that was still a stretch for Draco. This was just a tutoring lesson. Was Potter doing this just to keep an eye on him?

What an awful feeling. It made Draco’s stomach turn.

But it didn’t make sense. This didn’t feel like Potter being suspicious of him. Draco knew how that felt. He knew when Potter was thinking he was hiding something. But what was happening now felt different.

And it was way too complicated to think about at the moment.

“Let’s continue with the basics.”

\\\

It was fun to catch Malfoy off guard. It was even more fun than to just make him angry. Malfoy always had an air of elegance and poise. Always with a perfect posture, pristine robes, tidy hair and that cold polite expression he put on when he was uncomfortable, which was most of the time this year. It was his default look but Harry knew how expressive Malfoy could be.

It was probably his true nature. Malfoy seemed to be someone who wore his heart on his sleeve before he was taught not to. It was probably tacky to be expressive in the posh Pureblood circles.

Which was a pity actually. Malfoy looked his best with some fire in his eyes.

“I still don’t understand why it is such a big deal what the cauldron is made of.”

Malfoy raised one eyebrow, putting his quill down and turning to face Harry properly. 

“Remember how I told you that all magic leaves a trace and that all magic interacts with each other?”

“Yeah.”

“Then it would make sense that the material of the cauldron also impacted on the potion. The school-grade cauldrons, like the ones we use at Hogwarts, are the more versatil ones since they are made out of iron which is a fairly neutral material, very…reliable, sort of speak.” 

Malfoy had an ability to stop sounding condescending the second he started talking about things that he liked, like Potions. He was good at explaining things. Harry was mature enough to admit that. Suddenly, a lot of stuff about Potions and magic was way more clear to him.

“Wow.”

“What?” Malfoy looked up from the parchment he was writing on.

“I’m…kinda excited for Potions tomorrow.” Harry said with surprise in his voice. He was excited. He understood now what they were doing. He wanted to see about the reactions now. “Oh shit, I’m not joking.”

Thanks to his revelation, he was gifted with a rare smile from Malfoy.

“I told you Potions was interesting.”

“I hate to admit that you were right.”

Malfoy leaned back into his chair, now a cocky smirk on his face which was no longer a source of annoyance for Harry. They shared a look, it was so brief. Malfoy reached over and grabbed a Sugar Quill, a red one.

“Sweets before dinner?”

“I’m feeling reckless.”

“Really?” Harry smirked a bit, he rested his arm in the back of Malfoy’s chair and he leaned in a bit. “Am I rubbing off on you?”

Malfoy looked at him way too shocked for it to be real. Harry’s smile grew and turned into laughter when Malfoy pushed him away, standing up. Malfoy left the Sugar Quill in his mouth as he picked up his things, acting as if he was insulted. Harry got closer, now kneeling on that chair Malfoy was sitting on.

“It’s even red.”

Malfoy stopped picking up his things, pulled the red Sugar Quill out of his mouth, which was already stained a cherry red colour, and pointed at Harry with it as if it was a wand. Harry felt the weird urge to lick the candy. He did not do it though.

“Do not ruin red Sugar Quills for me.”

“I wouldn’t dare to.”

Malfoy gave him a look before putting the red Sugar Quill back in his mouth and going back to pick up his things. When Malfoy reached over to get his quill, Harry put his hand on top of it.

“Wait, where are you going?”

He got an eye roll followed by a dramatic sigh before an answer. Malfoy reached for his quill and Harry held it out of his reach. Malfoy pulled the red Sugar Quill out of his mouth again.

“I’m going to dinner, Potter. Do you want me to be cranky when we are in detention?”

“Oh.” Harry gave Malfoy his quill back and then got his wand to cast a quick Tempus. It was dinner time already? Time had never passed so quickly while studying before. He rushed to get all his things in his bag, arguably less tidy than Malfoy but he would organise his bag eventually. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”

Again, Harry received another look from Malfoy. 

“What?”

“We can’t go together to the Great Hall.”

“Why?”

\\\

Potter really didn’t have one single thought behind those bright green eyes. Draco took a fortifying deep breath and looked at him as he picked up some of the books to take them back to their respective shelves. Potter followed suit with the rest of the books.

“Because people will stare, Potter.”

“People always stare.”

Malfoy closed his eyes for a moment, collecting his thoughts because it would be one of those conversations. Merlin, he knew (yet never admitted out loud) that Potter wasn’t stupid. So he was acting dumb on purpose.

“They will stare for other reasons.”

“Who cares?”

“I do.”

That seemed to cut off Potter’s whininess. He was now staring at him and Draco ignored him as he put the books back on their shelves. Potter, of course, was right behind him. Was Potter spelled to follow him around or something?

“Okay.” Potter said after Draco had put the last book on its respective shelf. “You go first, and I will go later.” 

Draco looked at him and saw…something on Potter’s face. And then Potter did the unthinkable. Did something atrocious. It could even be called a war crime by some people.

He gave Draco an encouraging smile, wide enough to make his dimples show.

“I will see you in detention.”

“You still owe me the gallons from this session.” Draco quickly said, the war crime on Potter’s face wavered a bit as he hesitated and looked through his bag.

“Right.” He handled Draco ten gallons.

“It’s only five.”

“We agreed you would get 5 more today because you had to endure my disaster head of hair.” Potter seemed to be back on that odd mood he had been on this whole day. “I will bring the Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quill to detention.”

“The Chocolate Frogs better not be from the Gryffindor pack.”

It seemed like Potter wanted to say something but changed his mind.

“I won’t promise anything.”

“Whatever, Potter. See you in the Potions classroom. Do not be late.” Draco walked away, struggling to keep the smile off his face. 

He had this strange warm feeling in his stomach, it felt nice. It felt dangerous. 

Comfort like that was dangerous.

It made you think that you were safe and then you lowered your guard and then they corner you in your own home and make you thankful that you were trained by Aunt Bella. That thought soured his mood enough to put his neutral mask back on while walking down the halls. Eyes down, fast pace and luckily, he got there before it got too crowded.

Malfoy kept his head down and ate quietly, he kept his eyes on his book and once he was done, he went to hide in the library until it was time for his detention.