“It’s beautiful.” Luna whispered to him, breaking the silence in the room as she came to stand beside him.
Above them hung the painting, high on the wall visible for all to see. The painting which he had poured his whole soul and more into. The painting which had had him stripping himself bare, right back to the bone to find himself. The painting that had him looking deep inside himself for the truth. The painting which told the world who Draco Black was. Since his parents divorce he had taken his mothers maiden name of Black, it felt fitting and the most appropriate in the aftermath of the divorce, it was a way of leaving the past behind. This painting showed his change from Malfoy to Black, as Draco found himself and who he was within the painting, leaving behind the name of Malfoy and growing into his new wings.
He shivered, he felt exposed and vulnerable staring at the truest representation of himself and turned away from it, facing Luna he hugged her tight for he could never have dreamed of attempting this without her by his side.
“Thank you so much for helping me on this journey.” he told her, trying his hardest not to cry as they held each other tight. He would never have expected that he would find such a good friend as Luna but he was so glad he had because she always knew how to encourage the best out of him and make him shine and this was just another example to back that all up, her support for him through the tedious process of creating this piece. And when he was ready to share the bigger picture of who Draco Black was he knew that she would be there to hold his hand as he shared with those who deserved to know him.
They stayed a while longer, looking at the rest of the art exhibition before they came back round to Dracos art work where his Professor met them with a smile, “It’s something of real talent you’ve created here Black, I congratulate you and can’t wait to see what you come up with next.”
A classmate came over to them, Draco couldn’t remember his name but he recognised his face, “A group of us are going out to grab celebratory drinks, come along if you wanna, your girlfriend is invited too," he said cheerfully gesturing at Luna stood at Dracos side before heading back to the small group with a wave of his hand.
Draco turned to Luna with a laugh, the both of them were a bit too gay for each other but they were used to people jumping to the conclusion that they were in fact together and dating. “Do you want to come with me? I don’t particularly want to go but I probably should.” Draco asked her, hoping she would agree to come with him, it would help his nerves to have someone who he knew there.
She looked at her phone, checking the time before replying, “I can come for a bit but not for too long.” She informed him looking back up from her phone with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes.
“Shall we go over and say hi then.” Luna suggested taking Draco's hand and leading the both of them over to the group, a bright smile on her face as Draco tried to find some courage within himself for spending the night socialising.
The group introduced themselves and Draco actually found himself recognising a few of them from the classes, he usually kept to himself and wasn’t one to make friends but it was nice to know a few faces, especially of those in his classes. The group hung around a bit longer at the exhibition, chatting before making their way round the corner to the local pub often frequented by students from the university. Luna was thankfully staying close to Draco and doing most of the talking for the two of them however Draco found himself joining in here and there too and he found it was quite nice, afterall they all shared the interest of art which was a good place to start the conversation at.
One of the girls in his class, Pansy he thought her name was, had struck up a conversation with Luna about 20 minutes ago and the two where now off in a corner giggling away and Draco knew that was Luna gone for the rest of the night until she had to leave so now he was alone sipping on his beer which he didn’t even like but had accepted out of politeness earlier, when someone had brought a round for the table. He wasn’t alone really, he was sitting with a group of likeminded art students and their friends and family but he was alone in the fact everyone else was having their own conversations and well he was just here with his stupid beer feeling his anxiety start to crawl its way up the back of his neck.
Someone had come and sat down beside him at some point and he hadn't even realised, too lost in his own head by then with anxiety knocking around and growing into something bigger than it needed to be. He turned to them embarrassed, “Hi, sorry I didn’t see you there, I’m Draco.” he said holding a hand out to shake, which as he was doing so realised was way too uptight and not something he should’ve done but they shook his hand as if it was the most normal greeting for a pub full of art students, a smile on their face, “I’m Percy, Percy Weasley, my brother is Bill who is in your class. I saw your piece in the hall, it really stood out from the others' works, you’re a talented artist with a great eye for things.”
Draco found himself blushing at the compliment, he wasn’t used to accepting compliments and even more so for his art, he was used to it being critiqued but he thanked Percy nonetheless with a shy smile, “Ah thank you, I’m glad people have liked it, it was a very personal piece for me. I’m Draco by the way.”
The two spent the rest of the evening chatting quietly, even after Luna had come over to say her goodbyes to Draco and ask if he was leaving with her, he was not, he wanted to stay and listen to Percy. Others left too including Bill who Percy had come there with. Draco found himself enthralled by Percy and the way he spoke and he couldn’t get enough even at the end of the night when Percy said he really had to get going because he was due in for work early in the morning, they swapped numbers at Dracos request and Draco headed home feeling happier than he had in a while, he felt as though he was floating through space surrounded by a star chart of freckles and a milky way of ginger curls.
—
That night he dreamed of Percy, his beautiful freckles filling Dracos dreams and left him wondering just how far the freckles went, did they stop with just his face or was he covered like a star chart, Draco hoped he had a star chart of freckles, all over every inch. He wanted to kiss each and every freckle, plot a star chart like a celestial cartographer would across Percy's body. He wanted to know Percy and he wanted Percy to know him, know him like the painting he had crafted with his soul.
He woke to a text from Percy, it was brief, ‘I enjoyed last night, have a good day.’ but it made Draco smile like a teenager and hide his face in his pillow with glee, god it was ridiculous that Draco felt like this after just one conversation with the man and a good morning text. He had breakfast, still smiling like crazy while thinking over what to reply to Percy with, he didn’t want to come across too eager but he wanted to see him again soon. He also had a text from Luna asking if he wanted to go for lunch today which he agreed to, eager to tell Luna about Percy and hear more about how Luna's evening had gone. She had been talking to Pansy, Draco seemed to remember that being her name. They agreed on a small cafe near Luna's workplace and Draco spent the rest of the morning tidying and daydreaming about Percy, still not sure what to reply with but knowing he needed to sooner rather than later alas Percy got cold feet and lost any interest he might’ve had in getting to know Draco even more.
—
When Draco arrived at the cafe Luna was already seated on a comfy sofa near the back wall with the menu in front of her, he took the seat opposite her with a smile and was surprised to see a hickey blooming on her neck, had Pansy and Luna left together? He couldn’t remember all he could remember was Percy with his freckles and green green eyes. “Hey Draco, have a good night?” Luna asks him, pulling him from his day dream of Percy as he takes the seat opposite her.
“Not as good as you by the looks of it," he jokes, gesturing at her neck “but yes I did thank you, had a wonderful chat with a guy and got his number at the end of the night even.” He told her smugly with a gleeful smile on his face.
Luna smiled dreamily, “Me and Pansy had a wonderful night you’re right and in fact she was still in my bed this morning when I left for work.” as she confided in Draco.
They ordered lunch and continued talking about their respective nights and Draco expressed to Luna that he didn’t know how to reply to Percy's text and that it was still sitting read in his phone, he wanted to reply it’s just he wasn’t sure how to not sound too eager but still interested and also he had ‘the thing’ which he wasn’t sure if he should bring up so soon or get to know him some more first.
“Just tell him you had a good time too and want to see him again sometime soon, you don’t need to overthink this Draco, he seems like a good guy and you don’t need to worry about having to tell him everything on the first date. Just have some fun.” Luna told him reassuringly around a large bite of her sandwich and so he sent him a text which read as such, ‘I had a good time too, do you want to meet up again sometime?’ Very surprisingly Draco had barely put his phone away when it gave a little chime letting him know he had received a text, it was Percy. He read it excitedly, ‘I’m free for most of Friday, let me know if that’s suitable for you. What would you like to do?’ Draco showed Luna the text with a bright smile and she encouraged him to reply back quickly so he replied that Friday afternoon would suit him well and perhaps they could go for a walk around the park and see where it went from there, keeping things nice and simple.
Draco and Luna left the cafe with smiles on their faces and promises to see each other again soon, Draco walked back to his flat via the shop and picked up ingredients for dinner and a sweet treat to have afterwards, it was a well kept secret that Draco has quite the sweet tooth and he can often be found indulging in such treats, tonight it’s a small victoria sponge cake which had him smiling to himself as he picked it off the shelf. He enjoys cooking and cooks nearly every night, it was something he had taught himself and found comfort in after his parents divorce and really it was a good habit to have.
—
Draco met Percy at the entrance of the park, he was wearing a dark blue pea coat paired with beige chinos, he looked smart and well put together and it made Draco question slightly if he was dressed up enough. He was so used to being the best dressed in social situations where dressing up wasn’t actually necessary but it seemed he had found his match in Percy. Draco was in fitting light washed jeans with a charcoal cardigan and a navy coat. He supposed he didn’t look too bad and anyway it wasn’t like he could change now, he was here.
“Hey, you look nice.” He told Percy who smiled at Draco and then did an awkward thing with his hands before shoving them in his pockets, Draco thought he might have possibly been about to offer a handshake which while strange to most he would’ve accepted as normalcy and shaken his hand without questioning it just like back in the pub when they had first met. It could’ve been their thing, a hand shake but no Percy kept his hands to himself.
“You too,” he told Draco before gesturing with his head slightly for them to set off on a stroll around the park. Draco wouldn’t lie, it was a bit awkward at first but soon they settled into conversation and Percy seemed to come out of his shell a bit more, he was still blunt and direct with what he said but Draco liked it, he didn’t mind, it was who Percy was. They sat on a bench and watched the ducks for a bit and Draco wanted to take Percy's hand but he was nervous, he didn’t want to overstep any boundaries and he could tell that there was a line which Percy had drawn between them at some point unnoticed to Draco until it was drawn and he didn’t know where this line stopped and started and what it was for yet. It was such a delicate line, ready to snap any second almost as though Percy was setting it up as such, wanting Draco to snap it. He should say something, talk to Percy about these boundaries, what he was and wasn’t comfortable with but Draco knew if he did that he would have to share his boundaries and secrets too and he wasn’t ready for that just yet, not really. He should and he would but not today he decided. They got ice cream from the little ice cream van at the edge of the park before heading into town, Percy with pistachio ice cream and Draco with raspberry. There was no plan really other than Percy had been talking about how there was a nice little independent bookshop located not too far from here which he wanted to show Draco and so that's what they did, they finished ice creams and browsed books for what felt like hours upon hours.
Draco didn’t want the date to end but he knew it had to and it did by Percy's doing, a comment about needing to get home to feed his cat as it was getting late and past the cats dinner which then prompted Draco to ask to see a photo of the cat who he found was called Hercules and who Percy had inherited from his Great Aunt Muriel who wasn’t actually dead yet but she just hadn’t been unable to care for the cat any longer so he’d come to live with Percy. The cat was very cute in Dracos opinion, it was a white oriental short hair with a few ginger markings dotted around its body and it was wearing a little red and gold bow tie around its neck in the photo. Draco wished he had a cat but his previous landlord hadn’t allowed them and since moving last summer he’d been too busy to give much thought to getting a cat and now it was nearing summer again and well maybe he would have time to consider a cat. Draco asked for more pictures and Percy happily showed Draco more, including a video of the little creature jumping around what was clearly Percy's apartment and creating chaos with every jump. Draco wanted to stand there all night watching the videos and looking at the photos but he knew he couldn't hold Percy up any longer so he stepped back slightly with a smile and bid him good night.
Draco was turning to leave when Percy spoke up again nervously, “I really enjoyed our, ah… date.” he was blushing and Draco wished to hug him but held himself back, only for a moment though.
“Can I give you a hug?” He asked cautiously, eyeing Percy slightly worriedly, not wanting to upset or offend him. To Dracos relief Percy nodded and before Draco could even move Percy had his arms wrapped tightly around him and his head resting on Dracos shoulder as he bent down slightly. The hug was wonderful and when Percy withdrew Draco felt sadness wash over him, he was already missing Percy as he watched him leave up the street, long legs striding out with direction.
—
They were in Dracos flat a few weeks later, the kitchen window wide open letting the cool breeze through to the living room where they were sitting together on the floor, a box of pizza open in front of them, a plate of garlic bread too and music playing from Draco's CD player in the corner of the room. It was a well needed evening of peace and relaxation for the both of them and Draco was loving the now natural closeness between him and Percy, he craved it when he hadn’t seen Percy for a while and really if he was honest with himself he craved it all the time even when they were sat right next to each other but Percy wasn’t always receptive to it, the closeness. Draco could tell there were days when Percy didn’t want the closeness, the physicality of hugs or more and that was ok but they needed to talk about it because they still hadn’t, today he would bring it up he had promised himself, it had been long enough.
Percy finished his piece of pizza before turning slightly to look at Draco, a nervous smile on his face, “I want you to meet my Great Aunt Muriel, she’s my closest family member and means a lot to me. She isn’t the easiest to have a conversation with, she can be a bit annoying just like me but it would mean a lot to me if you could meet her while she’s still alive.” He averted his gaze from Dracos as he finished speaking, his face flushing red and his hands fiddling nervously but Draco reached out for his hand and took it gently, reassuringly, “I would love to meet her Percy, it would be an honour to. Tell me when and where and I will be there.” His heart was beating rapidly, this was the ‘meet the parents’ for Percy, he adored his Great Aunt and his parents weren't in the picture much, meeting them would not mean much but he had heard enough to know that this was the real deal with Percy, his Great Aunt Muriel.
Percy turned back to him smiling and he kissed Draco softly, slender hands holding Draco's face as he leaned over and deepened the kiss. It was a shock to Draco, they had been taking things slowly, they had kissed but little gentle kisses that didn’t lead to anything other than a blushing Percy who would then not meet his eye for the next half an hour or so afterwards so this was different. It started softly but soon it was a lot more, Percy was almost straddling Draco's lap and his hands had moved from cradling Draco's face to holding tightly deep within Draco's hair which was making Draco go slightly wild with want for more. He wished to leave marks, to bite at Percy's delicate freckled skin but he held back. He wanted to slip his hands under Percy's shirt, feel the heat of his skin and rake his nails along it but he knew that this was a delicate line that they were walking here and it was going to snap at any moment. Draco didn’t know how to stop it from snapping so he didn’t push but the kiss kept snowballing. He could feel the line beginning to snap but he just had to keep kissing Percy, he had to keep feeling the way that Percy tugged at his hair just right and made him moan within his throat. He could ignore it for a few more seconds and then he’d stop, he’d make Percy talk to him about his boundaries and tell him the truth. And then it snapped, Draco had with out any thought moved a hand from Percys side down to arse to pull Percy closer and that was apparently all it took to break everything, this is why they needed to fucking talk about their boundries rather than tiptoeing around them until it all blew up in their faces. Percy recoiled, face full of panic and his hands shaking, he backed himself into the corner of the bookshelf shaking, not looking at Draco as his hands flew to his hair and began to pull at it. This was bad, this was worse than Draco had thought it might have gone and he didn’t know what to do now.
“Percy, hey Percy I’m sorry what can I do? How can I help?” Draco asked, concerned but not wanting to panic Percy anymore than he already was. He stayed sat watching him, shaking and crying in the corner wishing he could give him some comfort with a hug but quite certain that would make the situation worse so he held still and watched on as his heart broke at the sight of the man he was beginning to love, fall to pieces.
After a couple of minutes Draco went and got a glass of water from the kitchen, leaving the living room slowly so as to not startle Percy and upon his re entry he walked slowly over to Percy but still leaving plenty of space between them so as to not panic Percy anymore than he already was. “Here Percy, drink this love, please you’re going to get dehydrated with the crying. I won't touch you, I’m just going to put it down here for you and I would love it if you could drink some of it. Please” Draco told him with barely a whisper wishing to fix what he’d clearly broken but not knowing how, no clue on where to begin.
The CD was still playing quietly in the background as Percy cautiously lifted his head, still not looking in Dracos direction but he did take the glass of water and slowly sipped on it, slowly calming down from his panic. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll be leaving.” He said between sips, his face red and blotchy from crying and his hands still shaking as he pushed himself to stand on unsteady legs. “You don’t want to deal with someone like me.” he told Draco adamantly.
“No, I don't want you to leave Percy. We need to sit down and talk, we need to be on the same page so stuff like this won’t happen again because Percy I don’t know when things are too much for you if you don’t tell me. I don’t know what you are and aren’t ok with and I understand that what you are and aren’t ok with changes in the moment but you have to tell me when it changes because I don’t want to hurt or upset you ever! I have things I need to tell you too, we both need to be honest here because this relationship is the best thing that’s ever happened to me in a long while and I don’t want to lose you Percy. So we need to talk.” Draco told him firmly but kindly, he didn’t know what he would do if Percy walked out on this now, they had to try, they had to communicate and it meant that Draco had to tell the truth too which could be just another reason for Percy to turn his back.
“Yes I know.” Percy hiccupped as he wiped his eyes dry, “It’s just things are difficult to explain sometimes and I worry about what your response might be to somethings that I should be up front about but haven't as of yet.” Percy was still standing with the glass in his shaking hands but now he was looking at Draco nervously, almost trying to decide how much of a danger Draco could pose and that made Draco's heart hurt some more, he didn’t want Percy to ever feel worried for how Draco would react to something, he didn’t think there was anything Percy could tell him that would make him want to turn and leave this all behind.
“Let's go for a walk,” Draco suggested, standing from his seat on the floor, “I would rather have this conversation elsewhere.” Because Draco was also concerned for what Percy's reaction might be and so somewhere in public would be safer if he did end up reacting badly though Draco doubted it, he had faith in Percy and how he would react.
—
They left towards the park where they took their first date together, the one with the ducks in the pond and the cute little ice cream van. Neither of them said anything to begin with aside from Draco telling Percy that he needed to think to get his words in order before he said what he had to share. He knew he could do it, he'd told Luna and he'd told his mum what was one more person in on the secret? It wouldn't stay a secret forever either, his close friends were going to end up knowing in the near future.
Taking a seat on a bench Draco took a deep breath, "Please let me finish before you say anything, you are going to be the third person who I tell this too and I am very nervous to do this but it needs to be said, if this relationship is going to work then you need to know, it's only fair I tell you." Percy nodded understandingly and smiled encouragingly at him, giving him his full attention.
Looking out across to the ducks Draco began to talk, a slight shake in his voice, "Right ok so I suppose the best place to start is that I have always been certain in my attraction to men, from a very young age it's always been men who have caught my eye rather than women and for a while I was content with that fact, I was a queer man and I could accept that. But then things started to get confusing for me, I wasn't sure for so long what it actually was that I was struggling with but well recently Percy I've come to discover that I am not a man. I am a woman, a woman who loves men in a hetrosexual way which I am worried is going to cause problems between us because well you met me thinking I was a man and I don't want you staying with me thinking that you can pretend I'm a man still just because my body looks like a mans because that's not fair on me and my body is going to change with hormones and with time. So I need you to know that I am a woman, I will still go by Draco but I am a woman and I hope you can accept that and well I hope that this doesn’t make you want to end this relationship but I would understand if you did. I’d be upset but I’d understand.” As she finished speaking she felt relief washing over her, it felt so good to tell another person, someone who meant so much to her even though they hadn’t known each other for all that long and if she was being honest telling Percy felt more important than telling her mum had felt which was a weird thing to think about and she didn’t focus on that thought for too long.
To her absolute surprise as she finished speaking Percy was throwing his arms around her in a tight hug and omg it felt as though he was crying on her shoulder, “Percy, what's wrong are you okay? Why are you crying?” she asked, concerned, stroking the back of his head soothingly, loving the soft feel of his curls and cherishing them in case this was the last time she’d get to feel them. In case this was the last time she was going to get to hug Percy.
“I’m just like you, oh gosh I’m so glad you aren’t going to hate me for this.” He sobbed into her shoulder and that made Draco pause, was Percy also a woman? “Well not exactly just like you, it’s the other way round for me. I was born as a girl but it was something I knew from a young age to be wrong and well as soon as I possibly could I transitioned. I’m pansexual so I don’t mind if you're a girl or a guy or something else, I just really like you Draco for who you are, your gender isn’t important to me in my attraction to you. I want us to keep dating, I want you to be my girlfriend and I want to be your boyfriend. I um I’m sure you’ve guessed but I’m also neurodivergent and it can make things difficult for me, like earlier, it suddenly became just way too overwhelming and I didn’t know how to tell you and I didn’t want to stop because you were enjoying the kiss but then it pushed me over the edge and I just yeah. I need to get better at communicating about when things are too much for me, I’m sorry I put you through that. I really like you, as in really really like and I will work on my communication I swear because I know I need to to make this work.” The two stayed in silence for a bit just hugging each other once Percy had finished speaking, relief flooding both of them at it all being okay still between them and having gotten what they needed off their chests.
Letting go of Percy slowly Draco wiped the tears from her eyes with a soft smile watching Percy do the same, “Well that went so much better than I expected, I was really worried about telling you.” She told him with a teary chuckle and Percy nodded.
“Me too, I’ve had bad experiences in the past, my parents aren’t happy with my decision to transition very much hence why they aren’t really a part of my life much. I’m happier without them.” He looked sad as he said the last part and it made Draco glad her mum had been supportive when she had finally had the courage to tell her.
—
They spent the rest of the evening back at Percys, curled up together in his bed with Hercules demanding pets and cuddles from the two of them before giving up and lying down on top of the bookcase opposite Percy's bed, glaring at them for ignoring him in favour of each other. Draco that night got to discover the galaxy of freckles over Percy's body and plot a star chart just for her to know as the moon looked down on them through the open window, a night breeze cooling their now hot and sweaty skin. They found peace together that night, they held each other and the world was quiet and still and everything was ok. Draco had her stars.