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thirty-five | progress

~no pov

It had been a few months since Harry and Draco decided to try recover together. Draco had relapsed twice, but only told Harry about one of them. Harry hadn't relapsed yet, because he had the motivation that was supporting his progress.

He was hell-bent on making it to the second anniversary of his attempt and proving that Louis would never be able to hurt him anymore.

Draco was trying so hard to make it to the last football match of secondary school as a healthy person. He didn't want to black out in another match. He wanted to be able to take off his shirt without being put down.

The two had been going to the Malfoy gym and trying to build up their muscles together. They were eating as healthily as possible, and both went from one meal a day to two. 

The physical progress was going well, but the mental side would take longer. They both knew that, and were slowly getting closer to accepting it. 

It was nearing up to the end of Easter term now, meaning they had a few days left together. Harry had been sneaking out often, and only got caught once. He chose a beating over having bars put on his windows again.

When the Dursleys went on a week-long holiday without Harry, he spent the entire week with Draco and made the most of it. Their friendship and recovery process had, had amazing progress. And Draco was slowly falling harder and harder for the only remaining Potter.

He'd seen Harry's ups and downs, his best and his worst, and it never made him want to leave, to run as far away as he could. It just made Draco more and more attracted to the brunet. His crush was becoming unhealthy.

If the Hanahaki disease was real, Draco would've been coughing up flowers constantly. 

Harry was falling for Draco, but he didn't realise it. He was too dense to realise that seeing Draco with other girls and guys and feeling angry was jealousy. Too dense to realise the reason why his heart fluttered whenever he got any affection from the blond.

Too dense to realise why something else fluttered when the blond decided to be unfairly attractive. Too dense to realise that he stayed up to talk to the youngest Malfoy out of love. 

But nevertheless, they both were making progress, and had never been prouder of the other.

"I'm so fucking tired." Harry sighed, lying down on the grass outside the Malfoy Manor. It was a short walk from Privet Drive, maybe ten-twenty minutes. They walked from their little field spot to the Manor to use the private gym inside it everyday for the past four weeks. 

Then they went back to the field for a bit, before splitting off and going their separate ways. Sometimes Harry would shower at the Manor, other times he would go home and suffer in the freezing temperature the Dursleys restricted him to.

He loved showering at the Manor, because usually Draco would shower at the same time, considering there were multiple bathrooms there. And one time, he sat waiting in Draco's bed, in Draco's room, after using Draco's shower, and saw the boy dripping wet with slightly damp hair and nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

He chose not to say anything in case it affected Draco's progress, but good lord did it affect the brunet. He turned away immediately and tried to figure out why, for the life of him, was he blushing and getting hard over a shirtless Draco.

He thought, maybe it's just me being attracted to men. Because somehow, the idea of falling for Malfoy was impossible. Boy was Harry dense.

"Mentally or physically?"

"Both." Harry sighed. "I think I did a bit too much today. I got used to exercising a healthy amount and overdoing it today was- well it was too much."

"One time thing, yeah? You've been doing so well. Even your body is telling you to be healthy. Look at all your progress." the blond smiled. "I think I even see some muscles in that scarily tight top."

"It's your scarily tight top. And I'm not muscly."

"You are, Potter. You're beautiful, muscly and healthy. And I'm so fucking proud of you for it."

Harry couldn't help the grin that formed on his face, and couldn't hide the blush painted on his cheeks. The moonlight made it stand out.

"I think I'm ready to start eating different things." Harry whispered.

Draco shot up immediately and looked down at the slightly shorter brunet. "Really?"

Harry nodded.

"Oh, love, I'm so proud of you." The taller Malfoy yanked Harry up and hugged him, before realising he just called him love. "Er, sorry, I don't know where that came from."

"It's fine. I don't mind." Harry's heart felt like it was glowing, and he still had no idea why. "Can we, uh, well-"

"Do you want to come eat at mine?"

The brunet was relieved. He didn't know how to ask, and it was like Draco read his mind. "If you don't mind."

"'Course not. Let me know if your family's okay with it. Mine won't notice."

Harry frowned at that. The way Draco said that so nonchalantly as if being ignored didn't hurt like hell for him made Harry want to cry. "I'll check."

i'll say i need to get school supplies. or will the anorexia recovery excuse that isn't really an excuse work? 

harry james potter are you mental? play it safe.

you're right. thanks me <3

always

after all this time?

always.

"Alright, just text me."

The two laid back down onto the grass, Harry's head resting on Draco's chest. His torso was hard and muscly, and it made the brunet feel the good butterflies. He was constantly wondering if he should say something to him.

"I'm so proud of you too, Draco." Harry whispered. "You're doing amazing, your recovery has been so smooth and your body is beautiful no matter what. You're healthy and you made yourself healthy without harming yourself. You're fucking perfect, Draco. I'm so, so fucking proud of you."

"Look at the progress we've made." The blond smiled since Harry couldn't see him. He was blushing crazily. "We're both doing amazing. We're both healthy. We're recovering."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

I love you, Potter.