Bound by Love

Chapter 10: Trust in the Quiet

Harriet's POV

Draco's arms around me were warm, solid, and for the first time in a long while, I let myself truly relax. I didn't have to pretend, didn't have to hold up walls, didn't have to be anything but myself. It felt strange, but it also felt right.

I hadn't known what to expect when we met in person, but somehow this-the quiet, the way we fit into the silence between us-was more than I could have hoped for. I closed my eyes briefly, leaning into the embrace, allowing myself a moment of peace.

When we pulled apart, it wasn't awkward. It was as though the hug had been the next natural step in whatever this was between us. I looked up at him, feeling lighter than I had in months.

"Thanks for that," I said quietly, brushing a curl behind my ear.

Draco's gaze softened, and for once, I didn't feel like he was scrutinizing me, judging me the way he used to. "I think we both needed it," he said, his voice just above a whisper.

I nodded, taking a deep breath. He was right. We both had been carrying so much weight for so long, but right now, in this clearing, with the world at bay, it felt like we could just... exist. I hadn't felt like this in so long-maybe not ever.

We sat down on the cool grass, side by side, our shoulders just barely brushing. I could feel the warmth of him next to me, but it wasn't suffocating. It was comforting. The silence stretched on again, but it didn't feel heavy. Instead, it felt like we were giving each other space to just be.

"I think I've spent so long trying to be what everyone needed me to be," I said after a while, staring up at the stars, "that I forgot what it felt like to just be myself."

Draco nodded, his gaze following mine up to the sky. "I get that. I've spent most of my life pretending to be something I wasn't. Trying to live up to what my father wanted, what the Malfoy name was supposed to mean."

There was a bitterness in his voice, but it wasn't directed at me. It was at himself, at his past, at the expectations that had been placed on him since birth. I understood that better than anyone.

"I think that's what's different about this," I said softly. "We don't have to pretend anymore."

Draco turned to look at me, his eyes serious but gentle. "No, we don't."

The quiet between us deepened, and for the first time, I realized how much we had both been running-from our families, from expectations, from who we thought we had to be. But here, with him, I wasn't the Chosen One. And he wasn't the cold, calculating Slytherin heir. We were just two people, trying to figure out who we were without all the labels.

"I'm scared sometimes," I admitted before I could stop myself. It wasn't something I said aloud often, but here, now, with Draco, it felt right. "Of what's coming. Of what people expect me to do next. It feels like there's always another battle to fight, and I don't know if I can keep doing it."

Draco was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "You don't have to be scared all the time, Harriet. Not with me."

His words were simple, but they hit me in a way that I hadn't expected. I turned to look at him, and for a moment, I saw the boy who had been raised in a world just as demanding as mine. He was trying, just like I was, to figure out how to let go of everything.

"I'm scared too," he continued, his voice low. "Of not knowing who I am without everything my family expected of me. But with you... it's different. I feel like I can figure it out."

I let out a small breath, feeling the weight of his words settle between us. This wasn't just about letting go of expectations. It was about finding out who we were beneath all of that-and somehow, in this hidden place, we were doing that together.

"I feel the same way," I said quietly. "With you, it's easier to just... be."

Draco didn't say anything for a moment, but he didn't have to. The way he looked at me, the way his eyes softened at my words, said everything. We were in this together now, even if we didn't fully understand what "this" was yet.

"I like it," I added softly. "Not having to be in control. Not having to be the one who has all the answers."

"You don't need to have all the answers," Draco said, his voice gentle. "Not with me."

His words sent a wave of calm through me, and I found myself leaning into the quiet again, into the way he made me feel like I didn't have to carry the world on my shoulders. Maybe I didn't know where this was going, but for now, it didn't matter.

For now, we had this.

Draco's POV

Harriet was sitting so close, and yet I could feel the space between us in a way I never had with anyone else. It wasn't the kind of space that felt like distance; it was a quiet understanding, a shared burden that didn't need to be spoken about. She wasn't the girl I had spent years competing with. She was softer now, and so was I.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. The way her curls framed her face, the way her eyes held both strength and vulnerability-it was something I hadn't noticed until now. There was a softness to her that I had never allowed myself to see before, but now that I had, I couldn't look away.

"I think we've both spent too much time trying to be what everyone wanted us to be," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "It's time we figure out who we actually are."

She smiled softly, nodding. "Yeah. I think so too."

The weight of those words settled between us, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wasn't pretending. With her, I could let my guard down, and that was something I hadn't done with anyone else-not even myself.

"You make it easier," I said, almost to myself. "To let go."

Harriet looked at me, her green eyes catching the light of the stars, and I knew then that whatever this was between us, it was real. We had found something in each other that we hadn't known we needed.

"Same," she whispered.

And just like that, the space between us didn't feel so large anymore.