Heartstopper oneshots/ requests

Charlie and Draco Malfoy P2

Tw: slight anxiety theme, but it's not that strong

Charlie thought about his encounter with Malfoy for weeks afterwards. As much as the other Slytherins continued to pester him, Malfoy generally stayed out of his way. In fact, he hadn't actually come face to face with him since the incident in the corridor.

Usually, Charlie didn't think too much into these sorts of things, but there was something about how delicate Malfoy's touch was. As usual, Nick Nelson, head of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, was constantly watching over him.

Charlie wasn't initially interested in Nick, but his persistence was commendable. Although Charlie was sure Nick didn't even know he had a crush on him. Not that they would ever work anyway; a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? You'd have to be out of your mind.

Charlie had always felt like an outcast at Hogwarts, he refused to believe he belonged in Slytherin and it wasn't like he had a lot of friends. He felt the most out of place in Potions though. The dungeons were dark, dingy and always had a strange smell. He's been here five years and the sight of Snape's weird and wonderful items in jars still made Charlie grimace.

Malfoy couldn't avoid Spring forever though and that became apparent when Snape had put them together in the new seating plan for Potions.

Begrudgingly, Charlie made his way over to the empty space next to Malfoy who was making a point of not looking up from his textbook. Charlie took in his slick side profile, the way his hair was always slicked back perfectly.

As soon as Charlie was in earshot, Malfoy started talking, "I don't like this any more than you do, Spring. I'd even pick Potter over a fag" His voice was cold and mean.

"Watch it, Malfoy!" Nick shouted from behind them. Both Charlie and Malfoy looked round.
Malfoy smirked. "Sorry, didn't mean to upset your boyfriend" He sneered.

Nick and Charlie weren't even an item and yet a few students had started rumours just because they were seen a lot together. Nick who was a little over protective of Charlie for some reason and always found a way of speaking to him. It was this persistence that spiked Charlie's interest. Nick was hardly unlikeable, most of the girls in the school liked him and Nick seemed to play up to it. Which made Charlie believe he was straight, he couldn't possibly have an interest in a Slytherin boy.. surely?

For a while, Malfoy didn't change his attitude towards Spring. It was only when they were six weeks away from exams did something change. Charlie was having a particularly rough day; everything was going wrong and he was getting really stressed out about his exams.

His mind was doing over time and as a result, he was hypersensitive to everything. The scratching of over 25 quills writing out the ingredients to Erumpent Potion was almost unbearable.

As hard as Charlie tried to concentrate, he couldn't. Everything was just so loud. He hadn't written a thing and was just staring blankly at his empty parchment, trying exceptionally hard to get his brain to focus.

"Are you alright?" Draco's sincere voice cut through Charlie's swirling thoughts like a knife through butter.
His eyes quickly glanced to meet Malfoy's concerned ones and he gave a jerky nod. Charlie hadn't noticed but his breathing was shallow and his eyes were glazed over.

"I'm taking Charlie to the hospital wing, Professor - he's not well" Draco suddenly announced to the class and Charlie's heart leapt.
"Come on" Draco barely whispered, grabbing Charlie's arm roughly and guiding him out of the dungeon and up to the main castle.

"You were acting weird and it was putting me off" Draco stated sourly, giving Charlie a slight push so he stumbled forward into the corridor.

Charlie tried to hide it, but he was really out of breath. He wasn't usually and the more he tried to concentrate on it, the worse it got. Especially when it was just him and Malfoy. What was he going to do to him?

When Charlie didn't reply, Draco sighed and rolled his eyes but he didn't say anything horrible.

"Here" Draco lazily held out a small glass vial with a tiny amount of turquoise liquid.
Charlie didn't take it and instead continued to try to catch his breath.

"Just take it will you?" Draco snapped, yanking the cork from the tiny bottle and pushing it into Charlie's chest.

Cautiously, Charlie took the potion. There was something about Draco's face that told him that the potion wasn't going to cause him harm. So he closed his eyes and let it slide down his throat. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the world, but he immediately started to feel better.

His heart rate went down, he caught his breath and his head felt clearer. It was like he'd come back down to earth.

"W-what was that?" Charlie stammered out in amazement, handing Draco the empty vial.
Draco rolled his eyes, "You should know, Snape told us it comes up in our OWL"
Suddenly, it clicked, the colour, the effect it must be- "Draught Of Peace"
Draco smirked slightly.
"But why do you-"
"Come on, Snape will be wondering where we are" Draco interrupted, automatically taking Charlie's hand and guiding him back down to the dungeons.

All Charlie could think about on their descent was how strange Draco had been acting around him. He started to think that maybe Draco actually cared about him. Even if it was just a little and even if Draco would never admit it. Half way down the stairs he came to the realisation that holding Draco's hand felt oddly nice so he didn't make a point of withdrawing it.

"Oh" Draco stopped dead on the stone steps making Charlie stumble into him. Draco turned so his face was inches from Charlie's, "And don't mention this to anyone, Spring or I'll make your life a misery. Do you understand?" His piercing blue eyes stared right into Charlie's and he gulped, nodding slightly although all he was thinking about was how they were still holding hands.

It was as if Draco read his mind and quickly snatched his hand away, dramatically wiping it on the side of his trousers as if Charlie had the plague.

I ship it hahaha