Blackberry Jam (A Drarry FanFiction)

Chapter Thirty

   Draco lead them on for another five minutes, until they rounded the corner and found themselves confronted with a most delightful sight.

It was a small lake, or a large pond, depending on how you looked at it. It was a sort of kidney bean shape, surrounded by trees, and with a small rowboat tethered to a short dock on the side closest to them. On the opposite bank, beyond the few trees by the water's edge, was an open field, its grass lush and green from all the recent rainfall. The lake itself looked full and fresh too, and the small, shallow streams to the left and right that permitted continuous flow were running hurriedly. Harry guessed it was several feet wide, from the dock to the field, and then there was probably thirty or more feet between the streams feeding into and out of the lake.

"Draco," he breathed in awe. "It's...it's simply marvellous, I've never seen anything so beautiful."

He turned to see Draco appraising his reaction most favourably. "I knew you'd like it," he said happily. "Isn't it a brilliant little secret?"

"Shall we take the boat out then?" Harry said eagerly by way of a response. But Draco looked affronted, and Harry might have thought he'd really wounded him if it hadn't been for the crinkle of mirth around his eyes.

"On a day like this?" he scoffed. "After weeks of being cooped up in a classroom looking at the rain, after a sticky bike ride like that? Are you mad, man!"

And then he did something that almost made Harry's heart stop. He lowered his bicycle to the ground, dropped his school bag, and began tugging at his shirt. "What are you doing?" Harry asked uncertainly.

Draco though wasn't perturbed, and just grinned as button after button yielded to his long, nimble fingers, gradually exposing his chest. "Going swimming of course," he cried.

It wasn't as if Harry hadn't seen more of his best friend than was strictly polite over the years – they did share a bathroom after all. But there was something about what was happening, out in the middle of nowhere, that made his skin tingle in an anticipation that he wasn't entirely sure was from wonder or fear.

"Come on!" Draco crowed, and Harry seemed powerless to disobey.

He was still, to a small extent, haunted by his actions two years ago when he had almost ruined their friendship beyond repair and kissed Draco on the lips, lost in a moment of lunacy. It had taken several months for them to recover from his reckless actions, however Draco had not only forgiven him, but promised faithfully that Harry had not disgusted him. They had fallen back into a pattern of careful familiarity entailing a strict list of what kind of touches were acceptable, and when and where they were allowed to be close; this felt like they were crossing a line Harry hadn't even known had existed.

But Draco was so happy. He just wants to go swimming, Harry chided himself, trying to relax. They would horse around for a little while to let off steam, then head home. Nothing inappropriate had to happen.

So he worked his shirt off with more enthusiasm, wanting Draco to know he was excited about the amazing surprise he had orchestrated. "Is the water deep?" he asked.

Draco shrugged, slipping his belt off. "Theo never wanted to swim," he said. "And I felt like a pillock doing it by myself, so we'll have to find out!"

He undid his trousers (like he did every day before going to bed, Harry reminded himself fiercely) and pushed them to the ground, leaving him only in his white skivvies. Harry was wearing the same, as Mrs Figg bought them the same brand of boxer shorts, but Draco's skin was so pale there was hardly a difference between that and the colour of the underwear. For a second he couldn't tear his eyes away from his lean chest, no longer skinny like a boy's but toned like a man's, until he realised that was definitely crossing a line, and hastily looked down to take off his own shoes and trousers.

His heart was thumping so loudly against his chest he feared Draco must have undoubtedly heard it. But his friend was too preoccupied rushing over to the little dock to sit and swing his legs over the side. "Brr!" he cried dramatically as his feet splashed into the water. "It's a bit chilly!"

Harry kicked off the rest of his clothes, leaving them both only in boxers. He took a deep breath and reminded himself this would be what they would wear if they were at the beach, it was no different, and darted over to sit by Draco's side. "It can't be that cold," he said with false bravado, then inhaled sharply as his feet and calves dropped into the waters with a splash. "Bloody hell!" he yelped, and Draco laughed loudly at him.

"Such a baby," he said with a grin.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Harry resorted to his usual trick when Draco was getting too mouthy, and tickled him instead. Draco jerked and tried to twist away, and before they knew what was happening they were tumbling into the little lake with a shout.