Chapter 2
The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson Draco and Harry hadn't gone to. They both stood up and left the library. Madam Pince was still dusting of the books. "Can I sit with you guys during lunch? I don't wanna endure the Gryffindors today", Harry asked as they walked down the stairs. "Of course you can. Most of the students know about our friendship, so no one will question it", Draco nodded. But before they reached the Great Hall, they got stopped. "Draco, Harry, where have you been? You missed Transfiguration, I was-", Pansy asked, raising one eyebrow. Draco was about to say something, when suddenly a voice shouted through the entrance hall. "Oi, Potter! How deep did you have to crawl into Snape's ass? Oh and by the way, how come you and that ferret missed class... did you fuck him, you faggot?", Weasley yelled over the heads of the students who were trying to get to lunch. Granger giggled madly. Harry rolled his eyes. "Dear Lord, that boy. I want to punch a hole in his face", he said dryly. Everyone was staring at him, but he just shrugged his shoulders and walked through the doors of the Great Hall.
The Slytherins followed Harry and they all sat down. Now, at the table, Harry's sudden rush of ignorance and confidence seemed to just flow out of him. He sat there, hunched over, hands scratching at his arms. Tears welled up in his eyes and a small sob escaped him. Draco put his arm around his boyfriends shoulder and gave Harry his hand to squeeze. "It's okay, sweetheart, don't cry. That weasel ist stupid", he whispered. Harry nodded and his tears dried down. "Alright", Draco said to Harry, then he turned to his friends. Theo and Blaise looked furious, Pansy looked worried. Draco waved it off and said: "To come back to your question, Pans, we had to take a break from that boring school stuff for a bit. We were in the library." None of his friends looked entirely convinced, but they knew not to push the two. "Oh, Harry? I'd hold that stupid ass of a Weasley while you punch him", Greg chimed in from next to Draco. That comment made them laugh and when lunch appeared, the mood had lifted.
During lunch, Pansy filled them in on what Draco and Harry had missed. Suddenly, Harry got hit by a nasty stinging hex that threw him out of his chair. He screamed in pain. From very far away the black haired boy heard Draco say something, screaming. Harry saw a black cloaked figure through his blurry vision and the pain ended. "Mr. Potter. Harry, do you hear me?", Professor Snape asked. Harry nodded and slowly stood up. Yet again everyone was staring at him. Snape seemed to notice his discomfort and snapped at the staring students. "Who did this?", Harry asked tiredly, but the yelling coming from the Gryffindor table answered his question. Despite being a bit exhausted Harry had to laugh. Weasley looked divine, shrinking to half his height under McGonagalls scrutinizing gaze. Professor Snape, after making sure Harry was okay, stalked over to the redhead and promptly assigned him detention with Filch for a month. Ignoring the boy's outraged look, Professor Snape strat away, making sure to billow his robes.
"Come, love, let's get ready for COMC", Draco said and they left the Great Hall. The boys parted ways, Harry going up to the Gryffindor tower, Draco walking to the dungeons. When Harry arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, she let him in without a password. "Only a few first and second years are in here", she promised. Harry thanked her and climbed into the Gryffindor common room. He hurried to where his make-shift camp was and lifted the protections and wards. Rummaging through his trunk he found his gloves and quickly grabbed another pair of pants that were a bit warmer. Before he could leave the Tower, the portrait opened and Professor McGonagall entered. "Mr. Potter. May I talk to you for a minute?", she asked, approaching Harry. "I've recieved a note from Madam Pince today and you and Mr. Malfoy didn't attend my class. Is everything okay?" Harry carefully considered his words. "Thank you for your concern, Professor, but I'd rather not talk about it. It's just... I needed a... break from everything. I feel better now." He smiled convincingly and McGonagall returned the smile. She left the Common room and Harry followed shortly after.
At the entrance door Harry met up with his boyfriend. "I'm sorry. McGonagall wanted to talk to me", Harry panted. "Yeah, same with Sev. He was okay with it though", Draco laughed and they made their way to the forest. The new teacher, Professor Malus, sneered at them in a very Snape like manner. "Now that we are finally a whole class, we can start. Today we'll be doing some theoretical and some practical stuff. First, I want you to read chapter 10 in your books. It's about unicorns. After that please take some notes while I prepare the practical part."
Harry opened his book and started reading. Apparently unicorns didn't really like male humans and if, then only if they had a pure and innocent heart. "Dray, didn't you say we would be doing something with the thestrals? I know that they like me, but unicorns? I'm not sure...", he wondered. Draco shrugged. "I was definitely hoping for thestrals. I don't know what I heard", he chuckled. Harry took some notes, which wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Everything from the text seemed important, but he knew he couldn't write down the whole text. Frustrated he put down his feather and watched as Professor Malus and five girls came back from the forest, each person leading two unicorns with a magical leash. The horses looked surprisingly compliant, even though Harry had read, that unicorns were shy creatures. "Alright, everybody, please stand in a half-circle around me. Don't be the first to initiate the contact, let the horse come to you. Take off your robes, so as not to scare our furry friends here", Professor Malus ordered. Everbody followed her order, besides Harry. "Potter, do as I say!", Malus snapped. Harry firmly shook his head. Everybody would see the bloody spots from where his wounds had opened during the day. "If you don't do it in the next few seconds, I'll do it for you!", she aggressively said and started walking over to Harry. The black haired boy didn't move. Malus had almost reached him, when Draco stepped forward.
"Stop! You have no right to remove a student's uniform without their consent. I'll make sure my father hears about this", he said dangerously calm. Professor Malus had the decency to look ashamed. "Fine, leave on your robes, Potter, but go over there", she growled and pointed to tree stump about 50 feet away, "so you don't ruin the experience for the others." Harry wordlessly walked over to were she had pointed, but not without silently thanking his boyfriend. Draco understood and smiled at him. Arriving at the stump, Harry sat down and watched as first the girls then, hesitantly, the boys where approached by the unicorns. He had to admit it hurt. To not be able to pet that bright white fur and smell their scent. The boy looked to those beautiful creatures and noticed, that the horses seemed to glance at him. An to his surprise, three of them detached from the herd and trotted over to him. Harry stood up and held out his hand. Without any hesitation the first unicorn put his nostrils against Harry's palm and snorted softly. Carefully Harry patted the long head and neck. The two other horses drew closer and Harry took turns between them all three, petting their flanks and heads, combing his hands through the silvery manes. From afar he could see more unicorns approaching him. Soon he was surrounded by the whole herd. "Aren't you beautiful?", he quietly said. He laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He had sent him away so he wouldn't scare the unicorns and now they practically shoved each other trying to be the next to get a proper pet. Harry felt truly happy being surrounded by those beautiful creatures, accepting him, respecting him.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter", a voice behind him said and he whirled around. Professor Malus stood there, the unicorns slightly shying away from her. "You know, unicorns can feel if something is wrong with a person. They are drawn to people who struggle with things." Harry looked at her. "I didn't know", he said. One of the unicorns gently put its head on his shoulder. Harry traced patterns on the muzzle. After a while Professor Malus cleared her throat and said: "Well... I dismissed the class. Do you want to help me take them back?" Harry shook his head. Following an instinct he told the unicorns to go back to the forest to their usual place. They bowed their heads and galloped away. "Remarkable, Mr. Potter, how-", Professor Malus started, but Harry just walked away. Draco had waited for him and after making sure they were out of Professor Malus' sight, he kissed Harry. "That was beautiful, love, how did you do that?", he asked against his boyfriends lips. Harry smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. At first I thought I was hallucinating, but then it was very real and I just did what came natural." Draco tightly hugged him, putting one hand on Harry's back, one on his head. "Come one, you still have one class left. I'll meet you in the library. Please go to the class. It'll help you take your mind off of things", he whispered and took Harry's hand. Together they walked back to the castle, only letting go of each other when they climbed up the steps. After one last kiss they entered Hogwarts and parted ways.