Harry had had enough of Draco’s mopey face ever since they started Hogwarts eighth year. The Slytherin didn’t even seem to have the strength to taunt him. Every day he sat by the lake, stared at the water and silently worked on his homework. Not even during meals did he shout something at passing Gryffindors or look at him. Look at anyone, honestly.
This had been going on for three months and Harry finally decided to do something about it. He stepped next to the Slytherin once the last lesson of the day was done and cleared his throat.
“Malfoy, I challenge you to a duel! You and me, midnight, Room of Requirement.”
Before he could say or ask anything, Harry walked away, clearly leaving a confused Malfoy behind. Not that he would have cared. In all honesty, he did care quite a lot. Why on earth would he have done something like that, if he wouldn’t have cared? Well… whatever.
During dinner, he noticed the Slytherin staring at him and finally, he looked a little better. Harry winked at him, when he got up to follow Ron and Hermione out of the Great Hall. This confused Malfoy so much that Harry laughed mutely, until he had left the room and only his best friends looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
Somehow, Harry couldn’t wait for midnight and once everyone in his dormitory was sleeping in their beds and he heard Ron snoring, he grabbed his Invisibility Cloak, glasses and wand and snuck out. In the Common Room he had to silently sneak by Ginny and Luna as well some seventh year playing spin the bottle under a noise cancelling spell.
It looked like Harry had been first in the Room of Requirement, so he created a clean floor and some cushions and mirrors. However, he had no intent of using them. There were other weapons than wands and magic. And he did want to play a little with the Slytherin, make him feel like a normal wizard again.
Weirdly enough, he had the feeling that he could just about bring Malfoy back to his usual self and the snarky comments and sarcastic eye-rolls he gave everyone. Truth be told, he did miss them a little. Maybe like that, he could feel a little better himself.
The door opened and Malfoy walked in, narrowing his eyes and looking around the room as if he was thinking there was a prank happening. When he realized that Harry was alone, he raised an eyebrow.
“All alone?”
Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I did say ‘you and me’, did I not?”
Draco huffed and rolled his eyes, before walking in and closing the door behind him. “Apparently you kept your stupidity, Potter. I could destroy you right now.”
“True.” Harry smirked a little. He was happy to see a little bit of the Slytherin coming back to him. “However, I do believe that your manners would prevent you from killing the literal Savior.”
He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn there was a small grin on the Slytherin’s lips, before he turned around and looked around the room. Harry in the mean time took in the blond man in front of him. He was wearing his Muggle clothes; blue ripped jeans a grey t-shirt which helped his equally as grey eyes to shine, when he turned around.
“So, how do we do this? Fight ‘till death?”
Harry chuckled and shook his head. “Since when have you become lazy in talking?”
Malfoy shrugged his shoulders. “Choice of weapons?”
Nodding his head, Harry grinned. Apparently the Slytherin wanted to dive right into their duel. Well, he could work with this as well.
“Compliments.”
He threw his wand carelessly on top of his Invisibility Cloak and stepped away from the pile of his belongings. Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry’s action and stood still for several more seconds, before he took out his wand of his pocket and let it roll over the floor towards Harry’s pile.
He smirked at Harry and nodded. “Great weapon choice.”
It was quiet for a moment, until Harry felt himself smirk as well. “I see you understand the rules.”
Nodding, the Slytherin straightened his t-shirt and tilted his head. It looked as if he wordlessly waited for Harry to start their duel of another kind.
“Well, okay, I’ll start with strike one” Harry smiled. He stepped onto the white line that led towards the Slytherin, who was now standing on the other end. “I think it was very brave of you to not tell Voldemort that it was me in the Malfoy Manor.”
While he took a step, he saw Draco rolling his eyes. “That wasn’t brave, Potter. It was necessary; otherwise, I don’t think I could have lived with myself.”
“Accept the fucking compliment, Malfoy!”
The Slytherin raised his hands in mock surrender, but sighed. “Well then. Let’s start with the same line of achievements. I think it’s amazing that you saved the whole entire fucking Wizarding World! You’re like a superhero!”
Harry smirked, while the other man took a step in his direction. “Could you even name a Muggle superhero?”
“The Joker?”
Harry burst out laughing and shook his head. “That is no superhero! That’s a villain, Malfoy!”
“How would you even know that?” Malfoy rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth quirked up.
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry remembered how Dudley had gotten all those comics and how he never got to read any of them. He had always wanted to and whenever Dudley and his parents were gone, he’d snuck into his room and read through one as fast as he could. Not that this went unnoticed.
“I think we’re still dueling, Malfoy” Harry said without answering the question.
With a hand sign, the Slytherin gave him the word again. Thinking for a few seconds, he looked back at Malfoy. “How you stood up for all the Slytherins in the Wizengamot during the trials was amazing!”
He stepped closer towards his former nemesis, who huffed. “Whatever.”
Harry raised his eyebrows. Tempted to repeat that the Slytherin should accept his compliments, he was just about to open his mouth, when he held up his hands and silently nodded.
“I think I’ve never thanked you for speaking at my trial. That was really helpful!” Malfoy took another step as well.
Well, apparently the other wizard was just accepting whatever topic Harry was talking about. He wanted to test his theory once again and thought about something that was a huge topic change.
“You look really handsome right now.”
It was quiet for a solid minute, in which Harry had taken a step and looked at the Slytherin, who without a doubt tried to figure out if that was an honest compliment or not.
After this long minute, Malfoy frowned. “You’re not kidding, are you? You actually mean what you said?”
Harry nodded silently. This seemed to do quite a lot for the Slytherin, since he averted his gaze and pulled down his t-shirt once again. He didn’t look at Harry for quite some time and he almost thought he had made a mistake, when he noticed a small smile on Malfoy’s lips.
And that was the second time he had noticed the Slytherin’s lips… Yes, Harry knew he was gay, but he had never thought that he could have been attracted to… well no. That was a lie. The amount of time he had spent snooping after Malfoy and thinking about him, there was always something that interested him. He could as well start accepting that he had an attraction towards the Slytherin. Maybe this duel might actually help him in that way.
“Thank you, Potter. I guess it’s okay to mention then that I like your new glasses. The smaller version fits you much better.”
Harry grinned and bowed mockingly. Malfoy chuckled, when he took a step towards him. They started getting comfortable with the compliments and soon enough, they rolled off their tongues without having to think about them.
“Your styled hair is phenomenal.”
“You’re a great leader; you could go far with that charisma.”
“Your name suits you perfectly.”
“I like your rather wild approach towards hair care.”
“Your wand’s rather amazing. It did save the world with me.”
“You respect me as I am.”
“Your voice is really comforting.”
“Sometimes, I can’t help but smile when you’re around.”
“Even though you don’t believe it, you’re a great man!”
“Is there anything you can’t do?!”
“You really rock that grey shirt!”
“Your clothes fit you very well!”
Harry stopped and felt his mouth twitch. “Thanks… I guess?”
“I… No, I… I didn’t mean. I…” Malfoy stopped and sighed. They were only a few feet away and Harry saw him rolling his eyes. “You do have the talent to take away my way of speaking. And that is not a compliment, rather a fact I hate about you.”
Chuckling, Harry shook his head. “I actually do not believe that.”
It was quiet again for a long time, until Malfoy took another step forward. They looked at each other silently and Harry asked himself why he would take a step without saying anything, but felt himself walking one step closer as well.
Since he didn’t want to make it look weird, he quickly added another compliment. “I like your eyes.”
“I like your smile.”
Something about these new compliments felt so much more intimate than before. Maybe it was their closeness, since they were standing just a few feet apart. Harry swallowed quickly and watched Malfoy take a careful step into his direction.
He inhaled and thought about something else. “I like that whenever you concentrate very hard, there’s a small crease just above your nose.”
He blushed a little, when he took another step. Malfoy smirked. “Did you know that you have the prettiest hand writing I have ever seen?”
“That is absolutely not true” Harry laughed and rolled his eyes, when Malfoy raised his eyes and stepped closer.
“Accept the fucking compliment, Potter!”
Harry burst out laughing and shook his head. “I bet girls can’t keep their eyes off of you.” He needed to figure out whether or not Malfoy was actually interested in him and that was probably the easiest way… or let’s just say the only way he could figure out right now.
“I don’t know. I don’t really look at them.”
Harry’s heart made a small jump, but he wasn’t ready to let himself go and shrugged his shoulders. “So, who do you look at, then?”
It was quiet and no sound from anywhere seemed to disturb them. It was as if the room itself held its breath.
“You.”
They stood so close that Harry could actually smell Draco’s aftershave and it made his head spin. He did not meet the Slytherin’s eyes, however even though he tried really hard, he couldn’t keep a smile off of his face.
Finally, after some time, he looked up, into those grey bluish eyes and he got lost almost immediately. Draco reached out and pushed a strain of hair out of Harry’s face, before smiling at him. “I love how you wear your heart on your sleeve, even though you don’t seem to realize it.”
He stepped even closer and they now stood so close that Harry felt his knees weaken and Draco immediately stabilized him. There was nothing else but the light grey bluish eyes, the handsome face with a strong jaw and perfect hair that counted to Harry. And the most important thing: his lips.
Harry wet his own lips and felt himself breathing flat. “You have perfect lips” Harry whispered and held his breath. He did not just say that! That wasn’t the plan. He needed to abort whatever was going on here! Yes, he was interested in the Slytherin, but his plan wasn’t to get lost in how he felt about him!
“Kissable as well?” Draco asked and gave a half smile. Harry couldn’t even look away from his lips and quietly debated if he should answer, run away or lie.
Instead of doing any of those options, he leaned closer and slowly kissed his former nemesis who threw his arms around his lower back and neck and pulled him closer. As if that was what Harry had needed, he put his arms around the Slytherin as well and pressed his body against his own.
Draco softly kissed his lips and his hands trailed up to Harry’s neck, where they moved along his head and down his chest. Harry shivered and wanted to move away, opening his mouth to say something, but Draco misread the signs. Or actually saw right through Harry’s act. His hand was around his lower back again and he pressed him closer again, his tongue wandering into his own mouth.
Harry sighed contently right into Draco’s mouth and tightened his hold on the Slytherin. Out of the sudden, the blond wizard walked him backwards towards the wall and pressed him against it. He let go of Harry and without any hesitation kissed his neck. Harry moaned and exposed even more skin, even though there was plenty for Draco to caress.
His gentle kisses became more and more hungry and Harry felt his knees weaken once more. He turned his head, grabbed the Slytherin and turned their sides. Now, Draco’s back was pressed against the wall and he drew the Slytherin into another kiss, ruffling his perfect hair in the process and pushing his leg between Draco’s. He felt the other man’s hands on his arse and wandering under his shirt. As well as him moaning needy into his mouth, which he swallowed greedily.
Suddenly, he drew away and looked at the dazed expression on the Slytherin’s face. It took Draco a few seconds, before he raised his eyes.
“Well, there goes my secret” Draco said with a lopsided grin.
“Your secret?”
Draco chuckled quietly and let his hand roam through Harry’s hair. He closed his eyes and let the blond wizard have his way.
After some time, he spoke up. “I might have a crush on you. And maybe it has been this way for quite some time.”
“Interesting” Harry opened his eyes and smirked. “Funnily enough this has been my secret as well.”
Draco put his arms around his waist and pulled him closer. “Show me.”
Harry chuckled. “I thought I was doing that for the past few minutes. Did you miss that?”
He didn’t give Draco enough time to respond. He kissed him passionately and grinned at the little moans and content sighs, that left the Slytherin’s mouth only to be swallowed by Harry as if it was his life elixir.
The Slytherin, however, suddenly gathered all his strength and turned them around again, so that Harry was pressed against the wall. Not that he would have minded.
“You are so cute!” Draco chuckled once they separated to fill their lungs with much needed air.
Harry rolled his eyes. “I am not cute, Draco! Potters can’t be cute. Malfoys on the other hand…”
He stopped when Draco was so close that whatever he said was basically spoken into his mouth. “Do not think about finishing that sentence, Potter.” He kissed him softly again, but stopped for another comment. “And accept the fucking compliment!” he demanded between tiny kisses.
Harry grinned and kissed him again, before they separated and Draco sighed. “Well, we do have classes tomorrow, so…”
“Yeah. We should probably head to bed.”
None of the two men made a move; they kept looking into each other’s eyes. Draco leaned in again and kissed him softly, before tearing himself away, as if he was making a huge mistake.
“We really should go!” he said and bit his lips, before his eyes flickered to Harry’s.
“I think so too.” He nodded, but once again no one made a move. Harry pulled the Slytherin closer and kissed him again passionately.
Draco finally separated and panted hard. “Harry, we really… Right now!”
“Of course, Draco. Just one more second” Harry agreed and kissed him again. Draco didn’t even fight it, simply accepted what was happening. Well, not accepting, more riling them up and soon enough, their one kiss became two and three and a very passionate fourth, until Draco pushed himself far away from the other wizard.
“You are the worst, Harry Potter.”
Harry grinned. “Is that a compliment?”
“It is actually” Draco smirked and turned around to grab his wand and walking towards the door. Before he left the room, he faced Harry again, who had been gathering his own belongings. “Tomorrow again? Same time and place?”
“You bet.”