The Secret Passageways of Hogwarts
“So you two have just been fuckin’ around without making it official,” Ron asked as he tossed the football, or soccer ball as Americans called it, that Harry gifted him for his birthday up and down. “That seems a little messed up.”
Harry buried his head into Ron’s pillow, “You think so?”
“It sounds a little sketchy to me, mate,” Neville said over his shoulder, busy folding his laundry.
It was nice to get out of his own dormitory for once. Harry was practically losing his mind and begged Ron to let him stay the night in his shared dorm with Neville. Thank Merlin he said yes.
“So what did you tell him, about tonight I mean,” Ron chucked the football ball Harry’s way.
Grabbing it, he began to copy Ron, tossing it up in the air and catching it. “I told him we were working on a project together and we needed extra time.”
“And did he believe it?”
“Just barely.”
Harry was anxious, more so than usual. Ron kept pulling his hands away from his arms so he wouldn’t pick at his skin. Irritated by the feeling in his stomach, he rolled on his side, throwing the ball at the wall in front of him.
“Maybe you should try and talk to him without fucking around beforehand,” Ron suggested, his hand on Harry’s back tracing circles.
“Fuck off.”
“Okay.”
Harry rolled over to the other side, facing Ron. “I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
There’s an awkward bit of eye contact between the two, a silence that is only broken by Neville’s whistle. “When was the last time you two actually got along?”
“We get along just great, Nev,” Ron protested, folding his arms. Harry nodded in agreement before pulling out the book he was reading from his bag. Draco hadn’t know about this one, Harry wanted to read it alone.
“What book is that?” Ron asked, leaning over his shoulder.
“The Hobbit,” Harry closed the book to show him the cover. He leaned back onto Ron’s pillows, returning to his current place in the story.
Ron watched him. “Harry, is he at least good? Like in bed?” He asked. Harry lowered his book a bit, glaring at him.
“Have you guys gone all the way?” Ron pushed further. Harry lowered his book one more time, clearing his throat in response. Ron dropped the question, raising his hands in defense.
The clock ticking on the wall was beginning to drive Harry mad. Each tick rang in his ears. He couldn’t take this. “I’m gonna go back to my dorm.”
“But isn’t Malfoy in there, I thought you didn’t want to see him,” Ron questioned.
The thin line of patience that Harry had to begin with was running out. “Then I’ll go somewhere else, I just- Fuck!” And with that, he stormed out of the room.
At twelve in the morning, Harry found himself strolling through the corridors of Hogwarts. He snuck through passageways that only he and a few others knew about, and sat on windowsills to get a better view of the full moon.
There was simply too much happening. He and Ron weren’t exactly on the best terms, and Draco had become a huge comfort and a huge heartbreak all at the same time. He could hardly breathe half the time.
He slipped off the windowsill he sat on and rushed off to a passageway he hoped was still there. Lucky for him, it was. Harry kept a quick pace as he walked through the hardly lit passage that led to a small door at the end of the hall.
The Mirror of Erised was on the other side.
It had been long gone after Dumbledore sent it away, but after his death Mcgonagall had it transferred back to the halls of Hogwarts.
Harry was practically drawn to it ever since it returned, he’d sit there for hours to watch him and his parents. But ever since Draco came into the picture, he hadn’t looked at the mirror in a long time. Revisiting it for the first time felt like a trance.
Peering into it, he saw the same old reflection. His dad on his left, his mum on his right. It was completely the same.
Only now Draco was there too.
It made Harry sick. His reflection looked much happier than usual. And there was Draco, holding his hand. A bright smile on his face.
He felt nauseous. He couldn’t bear seeing an image like this. But he couldn’t look away. His gaze was glued to this dream life with Draco. It made him dizzy.
Harry felt himself dozing off before falling asleep in his spot on the floor.