Demons » Drarry

22 | Cloudy

Chapter 22: Cloudy

It was a rather rainy Tuesday, the Forbidden Forest a mere shadow through the haze of fog covering the Hogwarts grounds. September was coming to an end and October brought with it a crisp chill, encouraging students to bundle up before braving the outdoors. The cold, wet forecast was particularly upsetting to the Slytherin Quidditch team, who had booked two hours of pitch time for practice that Flint was determined to utilize. In the dormitory, Draco pulled on his Quidditch kit and his warmest layers, huffing and pouting as he did so.

"If you cast a warming charm and an Impervius, it really won't be that bad," Harry offered.

"Easy for you to say, you'll be nice and cozied up inside," Draco scowled at him, but the expression lacked any malice.

"I'll sit outside for the next two hours if it would make you feel better," Harry shrugged, his lips quirking upwards into a lopsided grin.

"I'm sure you would, Potter; you're one of the most stubborn people I've ever met. Not to mention your total disregard for your own well-being..." The blonde paused briefly to shoot the shorter boy a deliberate look. "But I think I've moved beyond finding joy in your suffering, so there wouldn't be much point."

The former Gryffindor chuckled, shaking his head amusedly, "I care about you too, Draco". Leave it to Malfoy to state his feelings in the most diplomatic way possible... The blonde simply hummed in response, picking up his broom and glancing at the door warily. Sensing his hesitation, Harry took the opportunity to get up from the end of the bed, where he had been sitting. "Before you go, I've got something that will help keep your cheeks warm," the raven-haired boy added.

"If you mean a scarf, I've alr—" Draco was cut off by Harry pulling him in for a quick but passionate kiss. Just as the shorter boy had expected, the blonde's once-pale cheeks had flushed an adorable shade of pink.

"There, nice and warm now," Harry winked, opening the door to the dormitory and gesturing for Draco to exit.

"You're a git, Potter," the taller boy huffed, but his words were softened by the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Have fun at practice, Malfoy," Harry responded with a cheeky grin before gently pushing the blonde out the door. Pissing Draco off really never gets old, does it?

Harry decided that while the blonde was at practice for the next couple of hours, he might use the time before dinner to go train. He didn't have any assignments coming up, the weather was too unpleasant to want to go outside, and he wasn't eager to face Hermione and risk her questioning him about Draco... So a little flying session sounded like a good idea. It would calm Harry down, keep him occupied, and it was also really fun. With his mind made up, Harry headed towards the Room of Requirement.

As life seemingly always went for the Golden Boy, he made it up one flight of stairs before he encountered his first obstacle.

"Hiya, Harry!" Fred quipped cheerily.

"Long time no see," George followed. Harry smiled at the boys, who closed in on him quickly.

"We were starting to think you'd actually gone snakey on us," Fred started, pausing so his twin could continue.

"Especially with all the time you and young Draco seem to be spending together," George prodded, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Fred sighed, clasping a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. "Really is a fine line between love and hate, isn't it mate?"

"Not to worry, though," George added. "We support you!" The twins exclaimed simultaneously.

Harry glanced between the Weasley twins, mouth slightly agape as he tried to formulate a response. The Gryffindors chuckled at his gobsmacked expression before casting a silencing charm around the three of them.

"What are you guys going on about?" Harry asked, still reeling from how quickly the twins had come at him with all of this information.

"We heard through the grape vine that Malfoy stood up to goonies for you," George started listing. "And we've seen you two sitting together in the Great Hall every day..."

"Plus Ronniekins keeps grumbling that you're replacing him with Malfoy," Fred added matter-of-factly.

"Oh, and we saw you kiss him by the Quidditch stands then run away that one time," George finished with a knowing smirk.

"That wasn't—" Harry started to protest. "We aren't— It's not— We're not. We're not. We're just friends... I think," the Slytherin shook his head in exasperation. "I don't even know, to be honest."

"Mmmhm," Fred hummed, rolling his eyes.

"Can't blame you for taking an interest in him, Malfoy's quite the looker," George nudged Harry playfully.

"You can't tell anyone," the former Gryffindor insisted, eyes pleading. "I still need to figure out what's going on between us, and I really don't need everybody else's opinions getting in the way of that."

"Your secret's safe with us," Fred assured him.

George nodded, giving Harry a comforting pat on the back. "We just wanted to make sure you knew that you have our support, no matter what."

"And if you ever need some advice when it comes to blokes..." Fred winked and took down his silencing charm.

"Er, thanks, guys," Harry responded, confused but grateful for their brief interaction.

"Anytime," the boys said in unison before walking in the direction of the dungeons.

Shaking his head to clear it, Harry continued on his way to the blank wall in the Astronomy wing of the castle.

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Dinner was almost over when Harry finally made his way into the Great Hall. The shorter boy's expression was tranquil as he plopped down next to Draco, whose untouched plate of food was now cold from how long he had been waiting for the former Gryffindor to arrive. The blonde reached for Harry's hand under the table, delicate fingers wrapping around his wrist.

Where were you?

Training, the shorter boy's voice rang dreamily in Draco's thoughts, accompanied by the tingling, electrical sensation of the amoeboid inheritance magic trickling back to its pool in Harry's magical core.

How long were you training for? The blonde responded, meeting the former Gryffindor's eyes with a look of concern.

Harry hesitated when those stormy grey eyes swam with distress. Three hours, maybe? I kind of lost track...

Can you make sure you eat something, please? Your body needs fuel to sustain the inheritance magic and you always skipping meals worries me.

Missing dinner is nothing compared to living with the Dursley's, I promise. Harry saw Draco's brows furrow with concern again. I'm not skipping dinner, though, I'm here! I just got caught up in training so I didn't check the time. I'm okay, I'm sorry for worrying you.

Eat, Harry. We only have five minutes until the Hall closes, Draco moved his hand to interlock their fingers briefly, squeezing reassuringly before letting go to pick up his own fork. From the Gryffindor table, a pair of puzzling brown eyes caught glimpse of the maneuver.

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Author's Note:

hello! sorry this upload took so long, i swear i had to write every sentence out like 3 times before i was happy with it

apologies to anybody expecting smut this chapter, it will likely come in chapter 24 or 25 if things go as planned<3 (i realized i was a little unclear about the timeline in my last chapter note)

anyways, i hope y'all are still enjoying the story, because i am really trying to make it work from all the weird bits and pieces teenage me started writing. it's been an interesting... exercise in creativity, shall we call it? but i'm having fun writing again which is really nice. i'm glad i picked this story back up:)