palm trees on the beach

cool to the touch/burning up (draco & harry)

harry blinked his eyes open, immediately trying to rub the sweat that was streaming down his forehead out of his eyes. he sat up and silently thanked whoever was watching that he didn't wake from any sort of nightmare, although a dreamless sleep wasn't any better.

the dorm was quiet, light snores filling the silence every now and then. ron being the exception, occasionally sounding like he was mowing a lawn that never seemed to end. usually, it wouldn't bother him that much, but the recent lack of sleep caused harry to consider casting silencing charms at his friend's bed. he threw himself back down and stayed still in an attempt to crawl back into sleep, yet no luck.

harry was tossing and turning for a few seconds before finally giving up. he kicked the blankets off his now sweaty body. he was warm, like extremely warm. his shirt was stained with sweat, so he threw it off onto the floor. he fought the urge to strip down all the way and searched for his glasses on his nightstand. harry's wand made its way into his hands as well as he tried a few of the cooling charms he had casted numerous times before. harry had been dealing with this for a few months now. waking up in the middle of the night dying of heat and trying the charms until he tired himself out.

but tonight was different. as much as he tried, the charms didn't work and he still couldn't lull himself back to sleep. he eventually had enough and slipped out of bed, past his roommates and out the door. he figured he could tire himself out with a lap or two around the new eighth-year floor. he was at the entrance of the common room before he saw someone else also walking in from the slytherin dorms.

the sight of platinum blonde hair couldn't have made his eyes roll further back into his head. of fucking course, he thought to himself. "hello, potter. looking for the little wizard's room?"

usually, harry would've had something quick to say back, but the sight of malfoy wrapped in three huge comforters was a sight to see. they hung from shoulder to shoulder, held on in draco's fist. he tried his best to keep it in, but a chuckle escaped his lips. "something funny, potter?" at this point, they were standing only a few feet from each other in the middle of the room.

"warm enough?" he snickered at the taller boy who was being nearly swallowed by the bedspreads. "fuck off, it's freezing in this castle." draco pulled the blankets closer, if possible.

"yeah, except my dorm. it's like an oven in there." harry stretched his arms up, fighting off any exhaustion he had left since he knew he was fully awake now. he could've sworn he saw draco staring with a pink hue scattered across his face, but he quickly marked it off as drowsiness playing tricks. "must be nice, potter. i swear, mcgonagall must've left permanent cooling charms in the slytherin wing of something. it was never this cold in the dungeons."

harry trudged over to the middle couch, kicking his legs up onto the coffee table. "so you couldn't sleep either, then?" he felt surprised seeing not only that malfoy joined him, but had sat on the same couch as him. "it was so bad, i was tempted to steal blaise's comforter," draco smiled. potter didn't know why, but he felt his own lips curling up not at the joke, but at sight of draco making the joke.

"is that why you've neglected to wear a shirt before trotting down here?" harry looked down at his chest after draco's question. he felt embarrassed, but decided he'd rather be that than sweating himself dry. he simply rolled his eyes as malfoy laughed at harry's earlier realization.

they sat in silence for a few minutes. draco eventually got even colder and angrily looked for his wand to start up the fireplace only to realize he left it in his room.

"do you have your wand?" harry had been staring at malfoy fumbling around in his sheets looking for his wand, blushing when his green eyes were met with draco's grey ones. "yeah..." draco got up to toss a few logs into the fire, "do you mind... ya know?" he motioned towards the pit. now harry was the one staring at draco's slender figure. he shook himself back when he heard the snake call his name again.

"oh, ...yeah." he quickly casted a flame, starting a small fire that draco tended to before sitting back down and wrapping back up in the blankets. he frowned when he saw the blonde still shivering.

"give me your hand." harry turned his body to face his classmate, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "for what, potter?" draco didn't wait for an answer before turning back and raising his palms to the fire. the gryffindor didn't hesitate before grabbing the pale hand. before malfoy could pull it away, harry started to gently rub both sides of the palm with his own, creating more heat between their touch.

when malfoy wasn't fighting it anymore, harry took that as a sign to grab the other one, repeating his previous actions. "better?" draco flexed his hands, finally feeling the tips of his fingers. "much. thanks." they both sat back and found themselves staring into the fire. "so, why are you freezing cold to the touch?"

draco turned to his voice, "when you explain why are you freakishly burning up?" they both stared at each other, almost in a competition to see who was break first. harry sighed before responding, "im not sure. i don't feel sick or anything, it's just been like this for a few weeks." he looked back to draco, who had looked at harry with a hint of worry in his eyes. "your turn."

draco narrowed his eyes and looked away before answering, "poor circulation." harry looked at him like a confused puppy. "thats it?" he turned back with furrowed brows.

"fine, potter. it's because of the cruciatus curse, alright? my nerves are shit and now im always freezing my ass off. happy now?" he shifted so he was facing the opposite way that he felt giant, green eyes staring back at him. something he didnt guess would happen would be two arms enveloping him into a hug from behind. "im sorry. i didn't mean to... sorry." he buried his face into the blankets that wrapped the slytherin.

draco felt something tug at his insides. something about how pot- harry understanding how upset he got about it and not pushing further made him feel something. he didn't know what it was, but malfoy felt himself relax into the warmth of both the conversation and the embrace of his ex-enemy.

harry was finally getting sleepy, but was uncomfortable in the sitting position they were in. as if he could read minds, draco adjusted them both to where harry was basically on top of him, being spooned by the former wizard. he hesitated before laying his head on malfoy's icy chest, feeling the exchange of heat and cool swirling between them.

"speak a word of this and i'll make you go ginger for a month." he looked up to see draco playfully glaring down at him. harry could feel the metaphorical insects swarming in his stomach. "shut up and go to sleep, draco." he chuckled before drifting off into sleep.

-

(inspired by some drarry fic i read a while ago that i cant find)