Life goes on... (drarry)

[2,3] REMASTERED

The next week, Draco left Slytherin common room early on Tuesday evening to make his way to the portrait of the Hogwarts founders. They had agreed upon this spot as their meeting place for their first tutoring session together. Draco arrived a few minutes early, having almost sprinted there to make sure he was on time, so he leaned back against the wall to quickly catch his breath.

"Malfoy." Draco turned to look at Harry, who was making his way towards him. His hair was messy, much more than it normally was and his face had a slightly pink tint from the cold outside. "Potter," Draco answered, standing up quickly, so he wouldn't have to look up at Harry from the floor. They made their way to the classroom Slughorn had prepared for them to be open after hours but didn't speak another word until Draco started to instruct Harry on the potion-brewing process.

He sat back to let Harry do the dirty work, cutting up and measuring the ingredients, stirring the liquid in the cauldron, and making sure the heat was at the optimal setting. Clearly he was enjoying this a little too much, it was starting to show on his face and this didn't go unnoticed by Harry, either. At first he felt annoyed by this, it was so much like Draco to make Harry feel inferior. But as time went on, it was hard for him to ignore the feeling of endearment rising in the pit of his stomach, how his heart fluttered when he saw the look on Draco's face after he gave him an order, even if the way he spoke to Harry annoyed him. After a while all the ingredients had been added to the cauldron (Draco had made sure that Harry made no mistake, he had never expected it to feel so satisfying to be strict) and it was time to let it simmer.

"You better keep a close eye on that potion. As soon as it starts boiling, you turn it off," Draco was standing only a few steps away from Harry, so close he could almost feel the heat radiating off him. "I can't concentrate if you keep looking over my shoulder," Harry's neck was burning with the feeling of him standing so close. It was a distance where he was sure, as soon as he turned, he would look him right in the eye and that made him impossibly nervous. He gulped, resisting the urge, and kept his eyes firmly glued to the bubbly liquid brewing in front of him. Draco still didn't move. Harry was clearly nervous by him standing so close and this amused him, even if he didn't understand why. "Just checking," a smirk spread across Draco's lips. They had spent a few hours together now. The small window on the far side of the room, that you couldn't really look out of and was only there for ventilation, showed that the sun had set a long time ago. The longer they were with each other, the more comfortable it started to feel, even if they didn't exchange many words. It became easier to resist the urge to keep snapping at each other at any given moment as well. Draco studied Harry's side profile while the other boy was preoccupied with the potion. He admired his long eyelashes, the bright green of his eyes in the dimly lit room. He imagined what it must feel like to touch his soft cheeks and to run his fingers through that messy black hair. His heart skipped a beat whenever Harry's eyes met his, asking for what to do next or just looking to read Draco's expression on how he was doing. It was all too much too soon, but Draco had a hard time looking away.

The rest of the time passed quickly. As soon as the potion started boiling, Harry turned off the heat as per Draco's instruction. They filled a small vial with a sample to give to Slughorn the next day and cleaned the rest of the place in silence. Draco had finally gotten over himself and turned his back to Harry. His mind was running a thousand miles an hour. Had Harry noticed the way he kept looking at him? He must have been freaked out, why else would he be so quiet? Should he say anything? Should he try to make conversation, or would that come off as unnatural? The decision was taken from him when Harry spoke up instead.

"So what's up with you?" When Draco lifted his head and turned to look, Harry was leaning back against one of the other tables. He couldn't tell if he'd been standing there just looking at him for a long time already. "What are you talking about?" The question was so sudden and Draco had no idea what he was implying. He turned away again and kept cleaning out the cauldron. Footsteps came closer. Harry was definitely walking towards him, but how could he turn to look at him now? He had no idea where Harry was standing when the steps stopped. Slightly to his left maybe, or right behind him. "No insults, no teasing. You haven't tried to kill me yet, are you ill?" Harry almost sounded amused. This conversation was not what he had expected.