Mostly Harry Potter One Shots

The Smile

It was the very first Care of Magical Creatures class of Harry's third year. The class was following Hagrid along the forest's edge.

Since Ron and Hermione weren't talking to each other, Harry was watching Malfoy, hoping he wasn't still making fun of him for the dementor attack. But to Harry's surprise, Malfoy was listening as Pansy Parkinson talked animatedly about something.

It wasn't unusual to see her hanging about him, but Harry had never seen her so genuinely excited and happy, she usually looked condescending or mean or mocking. And even stranger was Malfoy actually actively listening to someone, his expression interested and soft.

The class had reached their destination, and Harry purposefully positioned himself close to Malfoy and Parkinson. He looked at his friends, wanting to point out the interesting interaction, but found they were purposefully looking in opposite directions.

He sighed, glancing back at Malfoy just in time to see him smile. A real smile. His face relaxed and open, his eyes sparkling. Harry's mouth opened without his consent, and words he could never take back came out.

"You have a nice smile, Malfoy."

The entire class turned to look at him, even Hagrid, who had just opened his mouth to begin the class. Harry felt his face burn, but at this point there was no going back. He kept talking.

"You should smile more often, it suits you."

"Mate!" Ron hissed under his breath, looking incredulously at him. Hermione's face matched Ron's. Harry avoided their gazes and pointedly put his attention on Hagrid, hopping the lesson would start now so everyone would stop staring. Thankfully Hagrid seemed to understand and asked them to pull out their books.

Both Harry and Malfoy stayed very quiet for the next few minutes. Harry assumed Malfoy was thinking of the best way to use this outburst to make Harry's life even more miserable. He refused to look as embarrassed as he felt, even if he couldn't control the blood flow to his face, he tried to make his posture and eyes look relaxed and unbothered. He was dying inside.

When the hippogriffs were revealed, Harry was almost happy to have an excuse to look properly nervous. He let Hagrid call him up to be the first to pet one and even let himself be talked into riding Buckbeak.

As they flew away from his classmates, Harry groaned in frustration. What was wrong with him? Why did he say such a stupid thing? He knew he had a problem keeping his mouth shut when he was angry but this was new for him.

He just wanted to crawl into bed and die of embarrassment. Unfortunately the rest of the day still had to happen. Once the lesson was over and the three of them were out of earshot of the Slytherins, Ron turned to him.

"Seriously, what was that all about?"

Harry shook his head. He didn't know what to say. He didn't have any answers that made sense.

Hermione looked genuinely concerned. "Harry, maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey." She peered into his eyes questioningly, as if hoping to see a clue of his mind being shattered.

"Stop that," he said, turning away from her. "If I skip my next class to go to the Hospital Wing, it will be noticed. I don't need a new rumor started that the dementor addled my brain. I'm fine."

His friends stayed quiet at this, and Harry had a feeling they were wondering if that was true. He sighed.

Luckily for him, he had no other classes with the Slytherins that day, and when dinner came, as much as he wanted to skip it and hide under his covers, he joined his friends at the Griffindor table. He was carful to place his back to the Slytherins.

He waited for the loud sounds of mocking laughter to emerge from where Malfoy normally sat, but was quite surprised to hear none. He dared a glance over his shoulder and found that the signature blonde head of hair was no where to be seen.

Harry let out a breath of relief. Maybe he could just go up to his dorm. The still concerned glances from his friends was grating on his nerves. He piled a few more hefty bites into his mouth, hoping not to have to go to sleep hungry, mumbled an excuse to his friends and exited the Great Hall.

Harry made his way to the nearest boys room, his anxiety making him need to relieve himself sooner rather than later. Flich must have oiled the hinges in this corridor recently, because the heavy restroom door opened noiselessly.

Harry froze at the threshold. Familiar blonde hair was just visible against the farthest wall. Harry peered around the corner, trying to make sure it wasn't someone else. His bad luck won out once again. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of one of the many mirrors. Harry was about to make a silent getaway but Malfoy was doing something weird.

It took him longer than it should have to realize Draco was practicing his smile in the mirror. Harry's heart swelled. It was a unique feeling, unlike one he had experienced before. His own face broke into a smile and he had the urge to go talk to the Slytherin. Like actually talk, not bicker or mock or punch. It was weird.

He forced himself to step back into the hall though, he felt too fragile to take a beating from Draco right now, he was sure the blonde would shatter this warm feeling he was experiencing, and he didn't want that.

As Harry made his way to the next closest bathroom, he vowed to compliment Draco more often. He was sure he wouldn't run out of things he liked about him anytime soon ❤️