Friendly Competition

[10] A Long & Lonely Road

Harry found himself strangely reluctant to part ways with the castle the next morning. He even almost thought about asking Draco at breakfast if he wanted to go down to Hogsmeade together and wander around just to draw out the inevitable trip back to Grimmauld Place. Maybe they could even have lunch together.

But then he remembered what had happened at the feast last night and felt a bit awkward about it. Was this really so strange, though? Didn't coworkers spend time together? What did they think was so suspicious about him and Draco?

He looked over at Draco, who was petting Saphronia with a small, indulgent smile, rewarding her horrid behaviour as she stole a sausage from his plate.

"Pretty soon you're going to forget how to hunt," Draco admonished, but he failed to sound like he really meant it. "You'll just fatten yourself up on sausages, and then what will you do when there's nobody to steal from, hm?"

She hooted softly, and he rubbed her cheek affectionately with his thumb and sighed. "I suppose I'll let you get away with it. Only because you're a very pretty bird."

Hmm. Maybe they...were kind of...friendly.

Harry had very reluctantly admitted to himself that they talked and spent time together out of more than just rivalry, even if he sometimes liked to pretend he hadn't, but they did it out of necessity. At least, he thought so. They were sort of...involved a little more than they had to be, though, he hesitantly acknowledged. Draco was friendly with his owl, and had even been the one to name her. And...Harry kind of liked Draco's company. Draco wasn't such a prat anymore, and, he didn't know. They kind of got on well?

But just because they might be friends, and might have been friendly for a while didn't really mean anything particular! Harry had plenty of friends! Nobody had ever accused him of wanting to bonk Neville, so he didn't know why this was any different.

~*~

Draco spent the first part of his summer holidays doing some Thinking™.

He had noticed some little things here and there, and had had a sneaking suspicion that some people thought he and Harry may be together for whatever reason, but he'd never expected a few ridiculous, unfounded rumours to blow up into something so spectacular. But it did make him think a bit.

He had been trying to tell himself that he and Harry weren't friends, not really — although he'd long since stopped trying to delude himself that he didn't enjoy his company. Honestly, the idea of Harry bloody Potter, The Boy Who Lived and Draco Malfoy, Death Eater and former school rival being friends was ridiculous. It was just something that was not meant to be, and Draco told himself he shouldn't get his hopes up about it.

But— But having it all laid out like that — how close they actually were, even if none of it meant what those silly little students thought it did — just really drove home in a way that knocked the breath straight out of him the inescapable conclusion that they might just already be friends, regardless of their thoughts on the matter.

That was indeed the problem, though. Their thoughts on the matter. Harry had seemed... Well, Harry had seemed rather bothered during that disaster at the End-of-Term Feast. Perhaps it was the idea of being thought to be so closely involved with another man in general, rather than Draco specifically that was bothering him, but that didn't make sense to Draco. Hadn't he been raised by Muggles?

Admittedly, Draco didn't know much about Muggle customs, but he had been taught that they were often the opposite of the more 'civilised' wizarding ones, and the wizarding world in general was pretty accepting nowadays, but pure-blood tradition still tended to disapprove of queer relationships. Families hushed them up and sometimes even turned to Dark spells and potions to ensure more 'proper' matches, all in the name of fulfilling their duty and carrying on their bloodline.