Protected By Your Love

It Should've Been Me

A/N: Trigger Warning: Bullying, like bad bullying

Harry Potter was a lot of things. The Boy Who Lived, Savior of the Wizarding World, Member of the Golden Trio, proud Gryffindor, a Horcrux, whatever you knew him by. What he absolutely was not was good with feelings. At all. 

With Cho, it was incredibly awkward, the kiss felt wrong in every way and although she was pretty, Harry knew in his heart that he didn't really like her like her that much. 

With Cedric, Harry hadn't even realized how he actually felt until much later. 

With Ginny, he let a green monster of jealousy build up deep inside him until he kissed her, which at the time felt great. Though he deduced later that it was just simply nice to put all the frustration he had been feeling into something passionate and sweet. And everything afterwards strictly felt comfortable and safe to him, but nothing more. 

In conclusion, Harry Potter was bad at feelings. And he knew it. So, instead of trying to face these feelings as a rational person would, he decided perhaps it would be best to wait until these feelings were gone before, talking, looking, or even being in the same room as Draco.

  Now before you get too mad at Harry, he really did try for awhile. For about two weeks, he had tried to be in the same room as Draco without wanting to hold his hand, to sit with him and not want to cuddle, to look at his stupidly perfect face and soft pink lips and not want to kiss him senseless, but it simply hadn't worked. And then there was one night that Draco had just looked up from his homework just to smile at Harry, and he felt as though his heart was about to burst right then and there. And so, For the past two weeks, he had managed to continuously avoid him. There were classes they had together sure, but Harry kept his head down and did his work, and if he needed a partner and Hermione left, he merely asked to go to the bathroom and then hid out there until the end of class. 

The dorm situation was a lot harder. He left early in the morning and hung out in the Common Room until breakfast, then he would go to his classes, and awkwardly follow Hermione to the library until dinner was served. After that he would sneak into the dorm at about 10 PM at night and crawl into bed as though nothing had happened. 

He knew it was unfair to Draco, but Harry wasn't quite sure what else to do. He was fairly certain the Slytherin didn't return his feelings, and although he was a Gryffindor, he couldn't manage to "pluck up the courage and ask him himself."

"Harry!" Hermione finally said slamming a book down loudly in the library. 

"SHHHH!" hissed Madam Pince. 

"Sorry," Hermione said sarcastically."Harry I demand to know the reason you've been hiding in this library with me for the past two weeks! You haven't done this since you and Ron's big fight in fourth year! " A look of worry crossed her face, "Oh no! Have you and Draco gotten into a fight?" 

Harry scratched the back of his neck anxiously, "Well not exactly..."Hermione looked up at him expectantly. "It's just...Isortakindalikehimandidontwanthimtoknow."

Hermione frowned. "Sorry? Didn't quite catch that." 

Harry took a deep breath. "I...I like Draco, as more than a friend. " 

Hermione smiled, "Well I know that silly." 

Harry's jaw dropped. "HOW?" he yelled. 

"SHHHH!" Madam Pince hissed again. 

"Well it's really not that hard to tell Harry," Hermione said before noticing Harry's panicked face. "Oh relax I don't think Draco has any idea." Harry's shoulders lost their tension. "But wait..have you really been avoiding him for two weeks?"