The deal
Harry's POV
Harry was up early the next morning as he usually was. He hated sleeping. The nightmares were persistent and the screams never quite left his head.
He quickly got changed and rushed out of the door for his morning run. He usually ran about five miles before training but after his call up to the real team the other day he decided to do a little more.
He had to be the best or they wouldn’t want him. That was the way professional football worked and Harry was not going to risk his career right after it started.
After the run Harry packed his bag and was out of the door. He skipped breakfast. He always skipped breakfast. He had to be fast and extra weight was not to be accepted at the academy.
He was back on the subway as he had been the day before but today he felt more at ease. It had been wonderful to play with the other guys and Harry felt as though some of them might actually like him.
Harry wasn’t particularly popular at the academy and it had felt nice to have some friends even if just for a short while.
Harry arrived at training early and was surprised to see Malfoy already in the locker room, especially given his injury. Harry moved to leave the room but Malfoy was suddenly in front of him.
“Look I’m really sorry about yesterday,” Harry said, “I shouldn’t have punched you but can you please stop being so upset.”
Draco seemed to consider his words carefully before responding, “I accept your apology. However, that wasn’t what I wanted to discuss.”
Harry nodded and motioned for him to continue.
“Look, I think we can help each other.” Draco took a deep breath before admitting, “You’re a better footballer than me. I want you to help me recover.”
Harry was shocked. He had not expected Draco of all people to ask for his help and yet Harry felt compelled to help him. He seemed nervous for a second before asking and Harry had not expected someone like Draco to ever feel nervous. It seemed beneath him.
So despite all of Harry’s better judgment he said, “Yes.”
Draco looked incredibly relieved. “In return, I’ll help you fit in with the team and make sure the media likes you. Shouldn’t be too hard given how much of suck up you are.”
Harry laughed and for a second he forgot about all the animosity of yesterday. Draco was an alright person even if he tried to convince everyone otherwise.
The two decided to agree on the specifics after practice and Harry gave Draco his number. The two went their separate ways.
Draco's POV
Draco felt alright for the first time since his injury yesterday. Potter had agreed to work with him and the team seemed to have forgiven him for what he said yesterday.
He eventually got tired of watching the team practice and walked over to the Hogwarts women's team. Ginny was sitting on the sidelines nursing an icepack on her leg.
She looked up and saw Draco before turning away, disgust clear on her face.
Draco was confused. He couldn’t remember saying anything particularly hurtful towards her recently and they had been on good terms the last time they had talked.
Draco walked over to her and sat down next to Ginny.
“You alright?” He asked.
“No I’m not alright you absolute asshole!”
“What have I done?”
“You called him a fag. That boy, Harry, or whatever his name is. I can’t believe you would say that kind of thing.” Ginny retorted spittingly.
“I’m sorry, alright? I was being an idiot and I was angry. I shouldn’t have said it and I won’t say it again.” Draco understood why it had hurt her. He had seen countless players yell homophobic things towards her after she came out and as her best friend he should have known not to say that kind of stuff.
Ginny smiled slightly, “I forgive you.” She paused, “On one condition. You have to apologize to that boy and I want proof.”
Draco just nodded. He had expected that. Ginny was not the type to let things slide. Last time he had angered her, she had made him shower her with gifts before getting on his knees and begging.
The two sat in comfortable silence and watched the team play.
After practice Draco walked back over to the men's locker room. It was only Harry left.
Shit, he thought, I forgot that I agreed to talk to Harry. Dad is going to kill me if I’m home late.
Then Draco had an idea. He was full of brilliant ideas wasn’t he. “Hey Harry, why don’t I give you a ride home? We can talk on the way?”
Harry nodded and gathered up his stuff before the two made their way over to Draco’s car.
Harry and him sat in silence for several minutes before Draco started talking, “So, I think we should meet at least 3 times a week to work on my recovery. In return, I will make sure to help you make a good first impression on the guys and once a week me and you will go out and I’ll make sure the media is there to document it. Does this sound fair?”
Harry considered carefully before nodding his agreement.
The two sat in silence until Draco dropped Harry off at the academy.
Before Harry could get out of the car he quickly remembered his promise to Ginny and grabbed a hold of Harry’s wrist before saying, “You know, I am sorry about what I said. It was wrong.”
“Don’t worry about it. We all fuck up sometimes.” Harry responded easily. In that second Draco couldn’t stand him. How could Potter forgive him so easily? How could Potter with a temper like fire forgive Draco when Draco could barely forgive himself? Draco didn’t deserve such kindness least of all from Potter.
Draco blushed before remembering he had promised Ginny proof. “Um, Potter, would you mind maybe telling my friend Ginny that I apologized? She was very upset with me and I promised her that I would tell you but I really did mean it and.”
Harry cut off Draco’s rambling, “I’ll tell her. Just give me her number.”
Draco did just that before saying goodbye to Potter and rushing to drive home.
On Draco’s way home he decided that maybe Potter wasn’t the worst person ever. Maybe he was only in the top ten worst people ever. That seemed fair. Generous even. Harry potter was terrible but he wasn’t the worst person Draco could be spending his free time with.
Harry’s POV
Harry quickly jogged up to his room on the second floor before pulling out his phone. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to this girl that he had never met before but he settled on just saying,
“Hi, just wanted to let you know that Draco apologized to me.”
Harry agonized over if the message was too forward or if he had spelled everything right but luckily Ginny responded quickly.
“Thank you! He is such an asshole sometimes but I promise it’s not all the time. Enough about him though, are you fitting in well with the team? You have a game in two days right?
Harry thought for a second before typing out his response, “Yeah I think I’m fitting in well. All the guys are really nice. I’m excited for the game soon. Hopefully I’ll get to play! How about you? How's your team?”
Ginny responded quickly again, “I’m sure you’ll get to play. You're too good to be on the bench. I love my team. I’m especially close to this one girl named Luna. I’ll introduce you to her sometime!”
“Sounds great Ginny! I’d love to meet her! I have to go now because I need to be awake for practice tomorrow but it was really lovely talking to you.”
Ginny said goodnight and Harry was asleep before his head hit the pillow. For the first time in months, he didn’t dream.