To Fall In Love

If there were an emotion so strong it could freeze time for a single moment, it would be this one.

The feeling Draco felt as they made eye contact across the platform.

This was the last time he would ever see those eyes.

He'd thought this before, at Malfoy Manner, the day the Snatchers found him. And again, the day of the war, as he watched Hagrid carry him back to the castle, limp in his arms.

Potter seemed to think the same thing, and he gave a silent nod, his lips pulled into a frown.

Draco nodded back, watching as he turned away, away from Draco, away from the pain and loss of war, away from it all.

And Draco turned too.

~~~♤~~~

If there was an emotion so strong it could stop your beating heart and steal the breath from your lungs in a single moment, it would be this one.

He wasn't sure he'd ever see those eyes again, staring back at him across the ministry floor, two years after their last silent goodbye.

Potter gave him a strange look, as though he didn't recognize him right away.

Maybe he didn't, Draco was different now, older, nicer. A lot of folks had forgotten his association with the Malfoy family entirely. He was Draco now, nothing more.

But Potter, his perfect posture and business like expression, his wand held tight in his hand from inside the pocket of his robes and eyes that never stopped assessing, he hadn't changed that much at all, not to Draco at least.

And this feeling, it was so strong he wondered how the world hadn't stopped moving around them. This moment was so small, yet it was everything.

Someone grabbed Draco's attention and he turned, away from Potter, away from the strange flicker of understanding in their gaze, away from the memories of all that used to be.

And Potter turned too.

~~~♤~~~

If there was an emotion so strong, it could tear out your heart and shock you to your core all in one moment, it would be this one.

This feeling Draco felt as he watched Potter step up on stage.

He'd only seen him a handful of times in the last year since their run in at a Ministry event. And each time Potter looked worse than the last.

Now, as he stood, his knuckles white from his grip on the podium, looking out into the crowd as though scanning for danger, Draco felt his heart give a strange lurch.

Their eyes met, and Potter's felt strangely empty, as though seeing Draco standing there were no different than if it had been a stranger, or a house plant.

He gave a quiet speech about the fundraiser, thanking everyone for coming. His voice was so soft that the none of the guests made a single noise, a quill dropping would sound like a firework.

After his speech, Minister of Magic Hermione Granger reached out a hand and escorted him off stage.

Draco supposed it was meant to look official, but he couldn't help thinking back to his Hogwarts years, whenever Potter had gotten into trouble and Granger had to help him out of it.

The event continued without sight of Potter again. Draco wondered if he was okay, he looked gaunt, almost fragile in a way he never had before.

Draco sighed and pushed the thoughts away, the worry for Potter, the fear of finding out news he never thought he'd have to hear again, the understanding that this was the war, this was what the war did to them.