I Think I Like Him

21. An Unseen Whisper

Word count: 1936

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Draco sighed, scanning the shelves of sweets. Most of his favourites were especially ordered from France, and so he wrinkled his nose at the Ice Mice and Fudge Flies, but grabbed some Sugar Quills as an after thought. His stock was running low, after all.

He was halfway to the tills when he felt someone grip his elbow. Twisting around in the crowded shop, he found the girl behind him much too occupied with her armful of chocolate frogs to have been the culprit. He turned back, chalking it up to an accident of one of the many other people surrounding him. Pressing on, he pushed past an older boy, who he vaguely recognised as a Ravenclaw Beater. The same one who had knocked him half-way off his broom last year, making him loose the snitch seconds before he would've caught it. They won anyway, mind, but still.

Draco furrowed his brows at the return of that faint tug on his elbow. Seeing no one of suspicion, he carried on to the back of the line leading to the counter.

A tug, the blonde ignored it. A second, and he did the same. At the third, Draco pulled his arm towards himself sharply, feeling the hand gripping the material of his cloak come along with it. This was followed by a thud, as the person grabbing him was pulled into his back. He felt the hand withdraw and grip his shoulders while whoever it was steadied themselves.

Draco looked behind him, but saw nothing. He looked down- finding the material of his cloak unnaturally crumpled, as though something were pressing against it. "It's me" a familiar voice sounded in his ear, making Draco jump rather comically.

"Wha- Potter?" Of course he had a bloody invisibility cloak. Because Of course he did.

"Whatcha buying?"

"Harry Potter repellant" he muttered, soberly aware that to everyone else in the room, (if any were to pay even the lowest of attention to him) he would look as if talking to thin air.

"Mmh it's faulty" The raven whispered, tightly winding his arms around his mid, and resting his head on the others shoulder. Draco had to fight both the overwhelming urge to lean back into the humour-driven embrace, and the blush he felt warming his face.

It was not lost upon Draco, how odd this was. Sure, it was very much an agreed upon sentiment that they were slightly more than what one would normally class as 'friends' (no matter how little it was actually discussed the week previous, due to other activities occupying their mouths) but he found the hug a bit.. couple-y. A bit too intimate.

Not that he would push Potter away, and he reasoned that he was perhaps just slightly touch-starved (however depressing that thought was). Though- he couldn't quite confirm that he would allow the same thing from Pansy or Blaise.

He swallowed, when he realised that Potter still had not let go, despite it being quite a push of time for a regular hug, and certainly one for the joke it was purposed for.

"I need to move forward Harry -I'm in a queue" he said after a minute, anxiously looking at the noticeable gap that had grown between him and an older woman clutching a handful of blood-flavoured lollipops.

"Then move forward" came the muffled voice of Harry, who had seemed to have progressed to pressing his face in the crook of his neck.

He jumped internally at the thought that followed- wishing that the cloak were not there; acting as a barrier between himself and Harry's soft head of hair and warm skin. Ok, it seemed that being hugged by Harry Potter was simply not good for his health and sanity.

He closed the gap between him and the woman, pointedly pulling away from Harry as he did so.

He heard a sigh behind him, and it was a moment before he sensed Harry again, this time at his side.