Chapter 5
The great hall is bustling, as per usual, as if Harry Potter is not sitting next to him looking all sorts of attractive. Draco's mouth was dry, and it took everything in him not to keep shooting glances in his direction but he managed.
It evidently didn’t matter how neatly Harry was dressed, he still failed to eat with any decorum. Draco could’ve sworn he had only looked away for a second but when he looked back Harry was on his second plate and had what would soon become a stain if no action was taken sitting idly on his shirt.
Draco sighed, waving it away before taking a sip of the much more drinkable coffee the Great Hall had provided. Harry gave him a full teeth grin and two thumbs up.
A couple of moments later the students funneled out of the Great Hall and the teachers followed suit.
~~~
Draco had his advanced students in the morning. He clapped to get their attention.
“Good morning everyone.” He waited for a chorus of good mornings from his class before he continued, “As you all know the components and their effects we’re going to be starting a project.”
He allowed a moment for the class the speculate on what the project could possibly be before he continued.
“This project will be quite difficult, but I have faith in your abilities, you will be creating your own potions without instructions, however, there are few constraints.” He waves his wand and the constraints appear on the board, but he reads them aloud regardless, “They must be applicable in real life, absolutely nothing that can harm someone else, including take their free will,”
He does his best to let that stew, “If you break the last two, there will be severe consequences, you will be expelled, and if you intentionally create a potion to kill someone legal action will be taken. If you do not follow the constraints of the first one then your project will be invalidated.”
“Is this understood?” The students hummed their agreement and he moved on to a lighter subject, “I’m going to teach you an incarnation to test if the potion is poisonous, Potionis Verum, and move your wand like this.”
Draco demonstrated the movement, swishing his wand in a sideways eight-like motion.
“Cast an Aguamenti and test the incarnation, it shows up blue if it’s safe green if it’s poisonous, purple if it's a substance such as wolfsbane, where its levels of toxicity are susceptible to change depending on the intended individual.”
The class seemed to be genuinely excited to start on the project giving Draco a rush of satisfaction. His students were already brainstorming the effects they were going to aim for and the ingredients.
“Professor Malfoy, could we make a potion that changes the shape of a person to the animal of their choice?”
“How is that applicable in real life?”
The student thinks for a moment, “Maybe an alternative for Aurors who are unwilling or incapable of, or choose not to go through the Animagus process?”
“That would work,” Draco smiles, “You all have the rest of the class to brainstorm.”
***
Harry was excited for his third-year class. He had always thought that it was hilarious to see his classmates boggarts.
“Good morning everyone,” Harry said grinning, “Today we’re doing boggarts.”
Several of the students who’ve grown up in wizarding homes groan, having found their fair share of boggarts throughout their lives.
“I see some of you aren't too excited, but aren’t you tired of having to scream for your mum every time you see one?” He raises an eyebrow and they all nod, “That's what I thought. Now who can explain for our friends who don’t know what a boggart even is.”
Several young witches and wizards’ hands dart into the air, he points a finger at one of them, “Yes.”
“A Boggart is a shape-shifting creature that transforms into your worst fear and then, um, you have to try to laugh at it... or something like that.”
"Well, you're almost there, A boggart is indeed a shapeshifter that takes on your deepest fears. But it's not about laughing at it; it's about turning that fear into something humorous,”
“See the great thing about living in a rundown house infested with dark magic is I have plenty of boggarts, which means that if you think your fear is personal I can give you some independent practice, raise your hand if you think you're fear will be something personal.”
Three or so students raise their hands, “That's fine, I will have to supervise, I won’t expose what your fear is to either your peers or your parents.”
“Now who's excited to see Professor Potter's greatest fear?” cheers erupt through the class, “Wow guys no mercy?”
Harry took a breath in. While he was making lesson plans he tested his Boggart. He was fairly certain he could handle it but it would still be a little embarrassing. Unleashing the boggart with a quick flick of his wand he let it inclose him in a small space, he does his best to breathe through it.
“Riddikulus,” He shouts and the room quickly expands and turns into a bounce house, “Not that bad huh?”
He bounces several times before sending the Boggart back into the cupboard, “Who wants to go next?”
He goes through all the students before he sends them off to practice independently so he can focus on the ones who don’t feel comfortable sharing with the class.
“Hey guys, who wants to go first?”
A student, Mr. Selwyn tentatively raises his hand tentatively and Harry summons the ancient chest from his office and throws up some privacy spells, obscuring them from the other students.
“Are you ready?”
Mr. Selwyn nods and raises his wand. When Harry unclasps the chest a man, who from his inflection was obviously pureblooded. Harry had never really made an effort to memorize the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but now he’s wishing he had,
“You are a blotch on our name boy, a dirty stain. It was bad enough that you were refusing to support the Dark Lord, but now you’re a faggot? This is unacceptable, you should-”
The man is cut off when his student finally casts a successful Riddikulus. Mr. Selwyn slowly turned his head towards Harry and when they met his eyes Harry saw the real fear.
“Hey man it's alright, im not gonna tell anyone, that’s not my business.” He nodded, breathing a sigh of relief.
~~~
That doesn’t end up being the only student with that fear, and it sticks with him all day. No one should be afraid to be who they are.
He told the Weasleys as soon as he realized and they didn’t care much when he told them he was bisexual, so he never really worried about it beyond that, but to hide it?
He couldn’t imagine how awful that must be.
It was this thought that brought him to Minerva's office after his classes had finished.
“Minnie, I’m going to create a gay club,” Harry announces.
“A what?”
“A club for students who need support and are part of the LGBTQIA community.”
“Maybe we should work on the name.”
***
Draco was a little disappointed when Harry wasn’t in his flat when he got back. That was probably unreasonable of him but he couldn’t help it. In all of two days, he had gotten used to coming back to see Harry lounging on the couch waiting for him
He was preparing to resign himself to a cup of tea and a good book for company tonight when Harry bursts through the door panting.
“We have to have a horror movie marathon,” Harry says dropping a large pile of things on the ground as if he lived there.
“Oh, and here I was thinking I’d have a cozy night.”
“Well you will not believe what I learned,” Harry said on his way to flop in Draco's bed, “There are so many students who are harassed for being gay.”
“And this comes as a surprise to you?”
“Well, no ones calling the Saviour of the Wizarding World a faggot.” Harry points out looking up from the screen, “Anyways, I’ve talked to Minnie and I’m starting a gay club, she said she didn’t trust me to run it alone, so I need to find a Co-Sponsor and I was gonna asl Neville but he has a lot on his plate and-”
Draco interrupts him, “A gay club?”
“Oh shit yeah, Minny said I should call it the Gay Straight Alliance.”
“Alright, and you said you needed a second sponsor?” Dracos asks, “I can be the second sponsor.”
“Yeah, but I’m thinking we’re going to need someone else whose queer so that the students feel comfterable,”
“Harry, I am queer,” When Harry makes a shocked face Draco crinkles his nose, “Oh Merlin did you think I was straight?”
“I mean…”
“Harry James Potter, what the actual fuck.”
“I think youll make a great Co-Sponser,” Harry said trying to make amends.
Draco wrinkles his nose,”Where are the meeting gonna be?”
“The DADA classroom.” Harry grins, “Alright we’ll finish planning tomorrow but I just spent my entire break period talking to Minerva and its time to watch some movies.”