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“Where does Potter go at night?” Draco asked Hermione as they sat in the common room of the eighth year's wing. It was past curfew for the first through seventh years, and only ten minutes left for the eighth years. Draco was at first terrified of coming back to Hogwarts, and was even more worried knowing he would have to share a wing with people who have all wished him dead, and he was terrified when he learned of his room mate, the one and only Harry Potter.
It was a month and a half into the year, and to Draco's amazement him and Harry have been getting along, well as ‘along’ as two former enemies could be. He hadn’t noticed until a week ago that Harry would sneak out at the curfew for the younger students, then arrive to the room well past their own curfew, at first Draco hadn’t noticed since he would return to his room to try and fall asleep before Harry, which was cowardly, but it was hard to focus with Harry around, he wouldn't ever admit it, but Harry was a tease.
Draco couldn't believe his outright ‘nonchalance’, He would simply drop his trousers right in front of Draco! I mean yes, Harry probably didn't understand that some men found him ridiculously attractive, not that Draco did, but it was hard not to notice the muscle Harry had built, or the way his muscles on his back flexed as he removed his shirt, impressively, with one arm. Or how he sang in the shower with a voice made of treacle tart. Okay, perhaps Draco has had a small crush on Harry for a while, which may or may not be the reason why he was horrified of sharing a room, and that ‘small crush’ has perhaps grown to a ‘medium’ one since sharing a room.
“How do you mean?” Hermione asked putting her book down and looking at Draco who was sitting across from her on a similar chair.
“Well nearly every night he leaves and doesn’t return until well past curfew.”
“I haven’t the slightest idea, but knowing Harry, he probably just walks around the corridors. Why do you care?” Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco suspiciously.
“I care because it’s rather annoying to have Potter enter our room at any bloody hour he wants.” Draco said keeping his voice level.
“Well I wish I could help but I have no way of knowing without asking Harry.” then she promptly returned to her book, and Draco retrieved to his room, and fell asleep.
It was 1 in the morning when Harry entered the room, the door waking Draco instantly, yet he stayed still. He was facing towards Harry and watched as he took of his shirt, his trousers, then fell into his bed. Then with a flick of his wrist the curtains would draw and he would put up a silencing charm and fall asleep. ‘Where the hell do you go every bloody night!’ Draco wanted to yell to him. Draco decided that he will follow Harry tomorrow, and luckily he knew exactly how.
It was nearing 9 o’clock (the younger students curfew) and Harry was like clock work, going up to the room changing into his night attire (which was pointless, considering he just strips them off to sleep), grabs his cloak flinging it over himself just as he leaves, but this time it would be different. Draco had long discovered exactly how Harry, Hermione, and Ron did so much without getting caught. He discovered the Invisibility Cloak shortly after returning, when he was walking along the corridors past curfew and suddenly he heard footsteps heading his way, Suddenly he saw something fling over him, then felt a body press against his back, but before he could scream a large hand covered his mouth and drew him against a wall. He was panicked until he recognized the cologne of his former enemy, then relaxed. After the Professors passed he turned to Harry with wide eyes and demanded an explanation.
Discovering the Marauders Map was far less climatic. Draco was in his and Harry’s room when Harry dashed in, crawled under his bed, and pulled out from under the mattress with a dingy folded paper. Draco was about to make a snarky comment about it when Harry plopped next to him, took out his wand and then spoke “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” suddenly the map showed itself. “WHAT THE HELL POTTER! SO THIS IS HOW YOU STALKED ME ALL THIS TIME?!” “How else?” Harry said with a smirk then pointed to snape’s office on the map. “But that’s not important, Look here, I knew there was something between those two since third year!” Draco looked to see two foot prints right on top of each other, exactly where he knew Snape’s desk was the names read ‘Remus Lupin’ and ‘Severus Snape’. Draco gaped at it.
As soon as Harry was out of the portrait hole Draco rushed up to their room and crawled under Harry's bed to retrieve the parchment. After murmuring the spell to activate it he looked for Harry's name, after 5 min. he found ‘Harry Potter’ up in one of the towers. It took Draco nearly 15 min. to even get to the towers stair case dew to every damned teacher taking a strole. Luckily he had the map. As he got closer to the door he heard what sounded like… ‘hissing?’. Wait, correction he heard two distinctly different hisses, as if having a conversation.
Draco approached the open door and peaked inside to see Harry sitting with his back to the door, facing a rather large python. Draco’s first instinct was to scream, but he decided to stay quiet, for some strange reason he felt this was a private conversation, but once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy. His mind offered him a memory, a memory of his father murmuring a spell each time Nagini and Voldemort had planned on visiting. ‘what was it again? Serpen Auscultar? yes that sounds right.’ Draco backed away from the door so he could whisper “Serpen Auscultar” then tip toed to the room and listened. His mouth dropped open when he heard the snake talking perfectly. I mean, he never would doubt his father's magic, but the fact that there's a spell to understand snakes was surprising. Obviously it wasn't anything like being a Parseltongue, but it would do. So he slid down the wall outside the door to sit and listen.
“I don’t know if I can talk about it…” Harry sounded nervous.
“Well think of it this way, we’ve talked of much else, and if anyone to talk to of the past it would be a snake who can only understand you.” The snake sounded like a female, if that was possible.
“Okay… maybe you could… I don’t know… Like ask questions and I’ll answer?” Defeat leaked from his voice, and Draco heard feet shifting, he immediately envisioned Harry wrapping his arms tighter around his legs, sliding his feet against himself.
“Understandable. How about… what’s the first memory you have?”
“I was four or five, It’s hard to tell I never celebrated my birthday so I didn’t think I could have them. It was the first time they… they” Harry choked back a lump in his throat, “I burnt the bacon, so I mean, I deserved it they warned me again and again and Aunt Petunia had showed me many times how to cook it, but I was distracted, watching my cousin Dudley eat his breakfast, I remember how hungry I was, I hadn’t eaten in two days, then I heard my Uncle shout ‘You insufferable brat! You think bacon is free? What did you think you were doing?!’ Then he grabbed my hand, it was so much smaller than his palm, then he grabbed the bacon, hissed as it burnt his fingers, then put the sizzling bacon in my palm, then with my other hand he pushed it down and it burnt so bad, then I broke the biggest rule: No crying. That’s when it officially started. The first time I was shoved in the cupboard under the stairs. I remember cleaning it out a month before, I remembered the spiders and dust, cobwebs. I was closed in for the whole next day. Thats… thats all I remember of that.” Harry was crying by the time he mentioned the burning of his hands.
Draco was no different, he rarely cried, but he found silent tears on his face. Draco had no idea someone could do such a horrible thing to a toddler. Even the fact he was cooking…
“Can you keep going or is it too much?”
“No… It’s fine… It felt good to talk about it to someone… I’ll tell you when I’ve enough.”
“Thank you for trusting me Harry. My next question may just be the ‘enough’ although. Feel free to decline answering… What was your worse punishment?” It was quiet for a couple long minutes as Harry either stalled or shuffled through his memories to weight them for the worse.
“It was the first day of summer break after 2nd year, I was 12 and Ron had called me,” There was a chuckle. “God he yelled through the phone like he was talking to the hard of hearing, never used a telephone before, ‘I'M ONE OF HARRY POTTERS FRIENDS, CAN I TALK TO HIM?’ I could hear him from where I was sitting. I knew i’d be punished for it… just i never expected it to be… My Uncle yelled at me for a couple min before he dragged me up the stairs, I thought he was retrieving a belt, but he shoved me in his room and closed the door behind him. ‘HOW DARE YOU LET ONE OF THEM FREAKS HAVE MY NUMBER! WHAT ARE YOU? A COMMON SLUT?! YOU LET HIM FUCK YOU AT THAT MESSED UP SCHOOL LIKE THE FAGGOT YOU ARE? LIKE THE FREAK YOU ARE?!’ then he threw me on the bed, when I tried to protest he hit me, then he was taking off my pants” Harry was sobbing through the story, Draco wanted nothing but to hold him.
“Shh shhh child, you don’t need to finish this story, I fear I already know the ending. Instead I will ask if you have anyone besides me to talk to of this? have you told your friends?”
Harry took a deep breath, letting it out like a stutter.
“Ron found bruises on me once in third year when my glamour fell, he immediately kicked everyone from the dorm then told Dean to go send Hermione, I told them that they hit me sometimes, they knew I was lying about how bad it was. but I can't tell them any more. they already look at me differently because of that… I don't know what they would do if they found out more about me… about what's happened in my past… of who I am…”
“Harry, they’re your friends. Hermione. Ron. Draco. They aren't just people who talk to you they are people who care for you.”
Draco froze when he heard his name along with Ron and Hermione’s, as if he was equal to them… That meant Harry talked about him the same as his best friends. Draco was sad for a second, he wanted to be more… but he would gladly be a friend before an enemy.
“I don't think I could tell Draco any of this… he would probably think i'm disgusting. Used. I couldn't stand being looked at like a victim.”
“Have you thought about telling Draco how you feel?” Draco froze even more, if that was possible. ‘How Harry… feels?’ Draco heard a forced laugh. quick and filled with pain.
“Because that would go over well ‘Oh, hey Draco, I know you’ve hated me for 7 years and that you had wished me dead more than you’ve fixed your hair, but I’ve had a crush on you since I met you in Diagon Alley, and now that I share a room with you I realised that there's more to you than just amazing looks, but an amazing personality, and I’d like to wake up in your arms every morning?’ not to mention he’s probably straight. Plus look at me i'm-” Draco had enough, he stormed into the room and finished the sentence.
“Everything I’ve ever wanted?” Draco drawled. Harry shot up with horror on his face then turned blood red.
“W-what?”
“Let’s make this perfectly clear, Potter, you have been the very bane of my existence for years, with your perfect hair, your beautiful smile, and your amazing heart, I’ve spent years trying to suppress it, trying to play it off as hatred because I thought you would find me disgraceful, I mean, I am one of the most horrible people in the world, not to mention the son of a death eater, and you are the-boy-who-lived, not to mention my Savior. I’d never be able to earn your love! And I am fucking appalled that you thought so low of me that I would ever consider you disgusting or used because of what some mean and frankly disgusting muggles did to you, and to think they called you a freak when the true freaks were the ones at the kitchen table! I have half a mind to go over there and shove each and every one of their pudgy arses into that damned cupboard and lock them in there with a boggart to each because once i'm done and left they will be so scared of me each of those damned things will take my form and torture them further! Then when they are nearly unconscious I’ll heal each of them just to take a knife and carve freak into every last one of them, not to mention adding fat arse and pervert to the never ending chins of your Uncle, then I’ll watch them all bleed out and just keep reviving them only to bring them a new level of pain!” Draco was crying through the whole speech, yelling, eyes closed, tears soaking his shirt. He lost control of what he was saying the second after he made it in the room. He fell to the ground next to the shocked Griffindor, and pulled him into a hug.
Harry had been so shocked by what Draco said that he didn’t process any of it until Draco was crying into his shoulder. Draco felt tears soaking through his shoulder after 3 minutes of him just holding Harry. It was 10 minutes later when Harry had finished crying, Draco had stopped a while ago, but he would never let Harry go. They stayed holding each other for a few more moments then Harry spoke.
“You don’t think i'm used?” It was barely a whisper.
“God no Harry, never” He pushed Harry far enough away to make eye contact. “Do you think I'm used? or disgusting?”
“No why would I?”
“Harry… when I was 14 I got a new caretaker, they felt having a female take care of me any longer would be inappropriate so they hired a man. He was so nice at first, he would play and talk to me, Id never had friends. never played. it was so different. He would clean my room, put things away, he’d knock on the bathroom door while I showered and ask to grab something from the cabinet, or put something away. I didn’t think much of it. Before bed at night he would sit with me and talk to me at a table in my room. It was after two months when he made his move. I didn’t see him enter my room, he never came in my room at that time because i would always be changing, but he walked in on me, luckily I had my pants on, but not for long. He pushed me on my bed and sat on my chest and I couldn’t breath. He told me if I screamed he’d kill me.” Draco made eye contact with Harry for the first time since he started talking and found tears rolling down his cheeks.
“Hey hey hey now” Draco used his thumb to wipe the tears “No need to cry, what happened to me… to us is horrible, but that doesn't mean we are horrible, or wrong, or dirty, or used, it means we were used. It means those people have serious issues, and are seriously sick and wrong. and us claiming to be used or dirty only gives them the power they so tried to take, but look Harry they failed, you saved the entirety of the wizarding world, you destroyed a Dark Lord before you could properly walk, and through all that you’ve gone through you still trust people, still give people second chances, still love…” Then Harry’s lips were on Draco's, soft but firm, sweet and perfect in every way. They rested their heads together just to be close, to feel each other's breaths. It wasn’t until they were in their room holding each other in Harry's bed, nearly asleep when they talked again.
“Um… Draco..” His voice sounded curious.
“Hm?”
“How did you find me, and how could you understand Parseltongue?” Harry turned and looked at Draco with eyebrows knit in confusion. Draco couldn’t help laughing.
“Oh Yeah, I borrowed the Marauder Map, as for the Parseltongue I remembered my father always putting a spell on himself before the Dark Lord came, I only realized why when I heard you speaking to the snake… which by the way we so rudely left without bidding good bye… Apparently there's a spell to make you understand it, not speak sadly.” Draco looked over to see Harry with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. “Hey don’t worry, i'm sure you snake friend will forgive you for leaving unannounced” Draco joked, he well knew why Harry was surprised and smirked at him.
“You used my map? and used a spell specifically to ease drop on me?”
“Yes, I’m awfully sorry, I didn’t expect any of what I heard, I thought I’d just get some juicy details on who you liked. and I guess I did.” He smirked again. Harry decided to fight fire with fire.
“Oh yeah? well Ron and I drank polyjuice to become Crabbe and Goyle to spy on you back in second year to see if you were the Heir of Slytherin.” Harry promptly turned back around, pressed himself into Draco and tried to fall asleep.
“I KNEW SOMETHING WAS OFF WITH THOSE TWO! THEY WERE ACTING WAY TOO SMART TO BE THEMSELVES!” Harry couldn’t help chuckling. They spent the rest of the night trying to one-up each other with stories from year after year, Malfoy spiking Ginny’s drink with love potion, Sending the Hippogriff free, Ruining Harry’s potions, Hiding Draco’s clothes after a quidditch game (snuck into slytherin lockers with that damned cloak!), they fell silent after laughing and scoffing at each others antics from back then.
“You know Harry, I’m surprised you weren’t put into Slytherin.”
“I was supposed to be.” Harry said then froze. He felt Draco go ridged.
“What do you mean ‘supposed’?”
“Long story Draco, can I tell you another night?”
“Another night?” Draco sounded so insecure.
“Yeah… Another night” Harry smiled as he felt Draco scooted even closer and throw his arm around Harry. They fell asleep like that, and every night from then on.