bloodline|drarry

8|red wine

"running circles in my mind"

Draco's mouth fell open, Potter just called him lovely.

Correction, Potter did not call Draco lovely, Potter called the mess he had made of Draco's face after beating him up lovely. Then proceeded to smear Draco's own blood down his cheek, he could still see it on Potter's fingers. He looked down at Potter, his face was tear streaked, he was holding his hands up, his wrists were covered in fingernail marks and the backs of hands were bruised. His eyes filled with shock and guilt.

"Potter? What's goi-'' he didn't need to ask, Potter started hyperventilating, his body shaking and his breaths shallow; he collapsed into Draco's arms, looking like he was about to black out. Draco knew this was a panic attack, he had them all the time during the war but he had never seen anyone else have one. He picked Potter up, carrying him over to the sofa, he sat him down, taking both sides of his face in his hands; pulling him to look at him.

"Potter! Potter, calm down, it's okay" Draco attempted but Potter was still heaving in front of him, his eyes glazed over and filled with unfocused tears. He wrapped his arms around Potter's neck, pulling him closer and holding on to the back of his head, letting him cry into his shoulder. "Shh Harry it's okay, everything is going to be okay." He stroked the other boy's hair, Potter's hair was messy but it was surprisingly soft. He let himself bury his face on the top of his head, his hair smelt like citrus.

Potter's breathing levelled out and he stopped crying, his hands that were clutching onto the front of Draco's shirt released and he sat up a bit; his face flushing with embarrassment. "What happened before you came here?" Draco asked, firmly, not to scare Potter, but to ground him.

"I-uh...i just- i don-"

"Breathe Harry, take your time."

Potter exhaled, fiddling with his hands, Draco clasped his hands around his, stopping him from shaking so much. "You're okay," Draco assured him.

"Me and Ron had a fight, well it was less of a fight and more of a pinning me down to the ground and calling me a traitor but it was physical, it's the first time i've ever had a physical fight with anyone other than well...you." Potter concluded, gesturing towards Draco with his head. His shoulders had relaxed since sitting down, his face had regained normal colour too; Draco took a little pride in the fact that he calmed the great Harry Potter down.

"If it makes you feel better, me and Blaise fight all the time, you see this scar here?" he pointed to a thin scar down the side of his neck, Potter nodded. "Sixth year, Blaise has long fingernails." Draco said, Potter laughed, pushing Draco's head to the side a bit. He ran a finger down his neck, tracing over the scar with his finger; Draco shivered under the other boy's touch, goosebumps prickling his skin. Potter's hand immediately pulled away.

He straightened himself out, "Er, I was just letting you know that it's okay to fight with your friend sometimes." Draco ran his hands over Potter's. "Now let's get those hands fixed and get this tutoring over with, I guess."

"Why are you doing that?" Potter questioned, Draco cocked his head to the side.

"Doing..what?"

"Treating me like a person."

Potter was mumbling nervously, not meeting Draco's eye. "Look Harry, you just had a panic attack, It's not exactly the right time to start an argument with you." he leaned back against the arm of the sofa. "As soon as we leave this room we can go back to hating each other." Draco let one of his arms fall naturally over the back of the sofa, the other one resting in his hair. Potter got up, walking over to the drinks cart that had just appeared at his request, he poured two glasses of wine, heading back over to the sofa and handing one to Draco.

"Hey Malfoy, can I ask you something?" Potter asked, tentatively. Draco took a sip from his glass before nodding.

"Do you ever think that we could've been friends?"

Draco spluttered into his wine, shaking his head wildy. "Merlin no Potter, I was a spoiled git when we first met, and then I joined a cult, I don't exactly think we would've been braiding each other's hair and wearing friendship bracelets." Potter laughed, a real one, it was the first time Draco had ever heard him laugh a genuine laugh, it delighted him a little. "Plus the whole Gryffindor-Slytherin thing would've fucked things up a bit." Draco added.

"Y'know I was actually meant to be in Slytherin?" Potter said nonchalantly, as if it was just a normal statement. Draco shot up from where he was sitting, almost spilling his drink all over him. "What?! You're fucking with me right?" Draco guessed, Potter grinned and shook his head. "Nope, the hat told me I'd do well in Slytherin but I specifically asked for it not to put me there." he said, setting his drink down on the coffee table. Draco pulled a face, "why?"

"Well it's actually because you scared me out of it." Draco downed the rest of his drink, getting up to get more.

"Look potter, even if you were in Slytherin, we probably wouldn't be friends, we're too different." He turned back around to face the messy haired boy who was sprawled over the sofa, looking at him from a distance. The t-shirt he was wearing clung gloriously to his body, his arm flung around the back of the sofa, Draco caught a breath in his throat. He quickly shook it away and sat back down across from him.

"And we probably never will be friends" Draco stated, Potter faded a little, his shoulders tensing up. "What makes you say that?" he wondered, staring at Draco with question marks in his eyes.

"We have too much unfinished business, you can't make anything positive out of what has happened between us, it's too much hurt, i-" he trailed off, he knew what he wanted to say but it didn't seem like the right time, but Potter raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to continue.

"I don't deserve you Harry, I can't be your friend because I am an ex death eater who watched people kill everyone close to you." Draco put his glass down. "I can't be your friend because I said some horrible things to you and your friends for years, things that even my own mother was angry at me for saying." He stood up from the sofa, backing away to the door. "And lastly, I can't be your friend because you saved the world, and i'm practically a monster."

He moved to open the door, he was just leaving when Potter's voice stopped him.

"You called me Harry" Potter stared in bewilderment.

He spun around, leaning on the doorframe, "I have called you Harry four times today, I should be careful, it might start to stick." Draco smiled smugly, before closing the door. Leaving Potter alone in the room.