Friendly Competition

[20] A Pair Of Shining Rings

Four and a half years later, Draco and Harry were practically a legend at Hogwarts.

Every year, the new first years learned a few things quickly from the upper years: First, that their Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher was just another boring teacher, and the fact that he happened to be Harry Potter really wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Second, that you may as well forget anything your parents have said about the Potions Master having been a Death Eater. Maybe he had been, and maybe he could be strict, but he was pretty nice, all things considered. Third, that those two were totally getting it on in secret, and they weren't even that sneaky about it.

First years always tended to be sceptical about all of those points, until they saw it for themselves and became the ones trying to warn the next year's first years.

Harry and Draco privately found it pretty amusing.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder if they'll ever look back and realise that we couldn't possibly have been that clueless and sloppy," Draco mused, one night. "If any of them have ever put it together that we just don't care, but we're still going to be spitefully stubborn as all hell about admitting it."

Harry laughed. "I wonder too. I think we may be the reason some of those students got into investigative journalism. I see Nancy Greenwood from that original sixth year class in the Prophet all the time now."

"We're inspirational," Draco said loftily. "I told you it was a good thing to be stubborn."

Harry snorted. "I'm honestly a little proud of them."

Draco hummed. "Me too. They were annoying little bastards at times, but I'm proud of them."

They laid there in contented silence for a few moments.

"D'you ever think it's a bit cruel the way we tease the seventh years sometimes?"

"Cruel?" Draco waved his hand dismissively. "Pssh. No. If they weren't such nosey little so-and-sos, we wouldn't have to do it."

"True. And it entertains Neville too, at least."

Draco laughed. "Oh, he enjoys playing stupid when they try to squeeze information out of him too much."

Harry grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers and pulling them up to press a kiss to the back of Draco's. "Yeah. We've all gotta get our kicks somewhere, though."

~*~

When they came back from the winter holidays, however, it wasn't just the usual sly comments and suggestive behaviours that got students talking.

It was the matching rings on their middle fingers.

Speculation ran rampant through the castle, but ultimately the fact that the rings weren't on their ring fingers kept it ambiguous and left them all stumped.

Right after Draco had proposed to Harry on Boxing Day, he had held out a hand to stop him from sliding the ring onto his finger.

"I should warn you," he had said, "they're magically paired, so whatever finger you choose is where mine will be appearing on me, and they won't be budging until we get married or call off the whole thing entirely, so we may want to think through how obvious we want to make it."

Harry had stared at him for a moment, and then cracked a smile. "You want to keep up the charade even now that we're engaged? You're awful."

"And they should have all minded their business if they wanted to know," Draco had said firmly.

Harry had laughed and held out his right hand, sliding the ring that Draco was still holding out onto his middle finger. "There." He had leaned in to kiss him. "I love you."