Draco Malfoy and The Aeternum Caput | Drarry

The Auction

TW: Mention to claustrophobia and mild violence.

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy entered the small and poorly illuminated hallway that would take them to the heart of one of the major operations that The Golden Butterfly carried so far. Both of them had their wands at ready, but the hallway was empty. There were few places to hide, and the more they walked, the heavier the air grew. They were going down to the castle dungeons.

The low murmur of voices was starting to resonate in the walls as they got further down, but before they could make the final turn, Harry held Draco's arm again. He signalled for incoming people, approaching from behind. Draco answered with a silent gesture that meant "Should we engage in a fight?" Harry shook his head 'no'. It was best not to start a commotion just yet; backup could take a while to arrive.

Then Harry pulled Draco back to the only door they had passed ever since they entered that hallway. It was just a couple of steps behind them, and Harry didn't even look what was inside before pushing Draco in, following him inside and closing the door behind them. The steps that Harry's sharp hearing had listened just made the turn, and when three masked people passed through them, Harry let out a relieved breath. He casted a wordless Muffliato, but when he turned, he almost stumbled on Draco, who had his back against a wall just a couple of inches away from him.

That was not a room. It was a cupboard. When Harry realized that his eyes went wide, and his hands started to shake.

– Shit. – He whispered, and instantly closed his eyes, feeling the usual claustrophobia kicking in. After the time he lived in the cupboard in the Dursleys, being in small and closed spaces had always been unnerving.

– What's wrong? You heard something else? – Draco took a small step closer, already too close to Harry to begin with.

– No, it's just... I don't like small and closed spaces... – Harry whispered. He felt his breath going shallow, and desperately whished that it was not another panic attack. There could not be a worse timing for that.

– Hey... – Draco whispered, and Harry felt Draco's hand sliding on top of his own and squeezing it lightly. – Who said we're in a closed space?

– What? – Harry frowned and opened his eyes. Draco's silver eyes were really close.

– Close your eyes again. – Draco said, softly. – We're not in a closed space. We're in... We're in Elena's quidditch pitch. Right?

Harry smiled and then he closed his eyes.

– Right. The quidditch pitch... – Harry agreed, immediately letting his mind fly to that immense and open space under the beautiful Norwegian night sky. Harry had just bested Draco to the snitch and fell down on top of him.

Then, Harry's heart started to race in his chest for a whole different reason. He looked back at that specific moment with a different set of eyes and realized that he and Draco had actually flirted a little after that game. Oh, that was also not a good moment to dive into that particular world, because a world where he flirted with Draco Malfoy was one that he didn't know how to make sense of. But then again, a world where he was in a life and death mission with Draco Malfoy was also not one that he could fully understand.

– Wait a sec, ok? Just step a bit back. – Draco pushed Harry gently against the door. – This is just the door to the broom house, but we're still outside, alright?

– Yeah. – Harry kept his eyes closed and felt Draco's breath caressing his skin. He wondered if Draco had always been this gentle. Could the cold-hearted bullying pureblood prick he knew at Hogwarts had always been this kind on the inside?