The Ugly Truth 〚drarry〛

truth #5

September 26

Truth #5: "Yes... unfortunately."

The door opened to his classroom, and Draco didn't have to look up to know who it was. Potter walked up to Draco's desk and took the spare chair nearby that Draco set out specifically for him. It had been about three weeks since school started, after all, and he was used to Potter's visits during lunch.

"Didn't see you in the staff room, so I thought I'd come here," Potter said, leaning against Draco's desk, which was scattered with unmarked tests.

Draco hummed in reply before finally looking at Potter. His glasses were slightly smudged and he was caught mid-yawn. The bags under his eyes suggested that he felt just as tired as Draco did. "Sorry if I'm not talkative today, I'm a bit busy," he said looking back down at his papers, wanting Potter to know he was just busy, not rude.

"I can go if you want?" Potter questioned, and Draco quickly looked up again.

"No, no. I appreciate the company, I just don't want you to think I'm a jerk if I'm not as lively as usual."

At this, Potter snorted in laughter. "That's funny. You should know by now, Malfoy, that you've always got a stick up your ass. I'm used to it, trust me."

Draco put down his pen specifically to have a free hand to push Potter with. The math teacher nearly fell off the chair with the force of the playful shove, and he laughed after bringing himself back up. Draco found he rather liked the sound of Potter's laugh.

"You can be a real dick sometimes," Draco said, although he found he didn't really mean it. Potter was a good friend, he supposed.

"Shut up, you know you love me," Potter retorted, and Draco rolled his eyes playfully.

Silence settled upon them, but it wasn't awkward. Potter was watching as Draco carefully looked over each paper, considering every word of every answer before marking it accordingly. Personally, Potter thought that Draco was a pretty decent teacher when he wasn't yelling. Not that he yelled often, anyway.

"Have you heard what the kids are saying about us?" Potter suddenly spoke up, and Draco's eyes were drawn to him. He felt an urge to play dumb, but he decided not to lie if he didn't need to.

"Yes... unfortunately," he replied, before going back to grade the papers. For the first time ever, he found himself slightly uncomfortable near Potter. He tried to ignore it.

"The ship name should be Matter," Potter said after barely a minute of silence.

"Huh?" Questioned Draco, "why Matter?"

When he looked up at Potter, he found that he was smiling, and his eyes were crinkling at the corners. His eyes really were pretty, even with dark circles under them.

"Malfoy and Potter. It makes sense, too, since you're a science teacher. Matter. You know, like—"

"I get it," Draco interrupted. "Matter sounds kinda shitty, though."

Potter gasped mockingly, pretending to be offended. Draco smiled. "Excuse me? How dare you insult the ship name that I have so carefully crafted?"

Draco shoved him playfully again, but thankfully it was lighter this time, so Potter didn't almost fall. After a few more seconds of silence, the thought came to Draco's head.

"Drarry," he said, glancing at Potter, who raised his eyebrow. "Drarry sounds way better than fucking Matter."

Potter rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Don't insult my ship," he said, and although Draco knew they were only kidding, he glanced at the golden ring on Potter's fourth finger. He felt himself frowning and had to remind himself that Potter was his friend.

"Um, this might sound weird, but are you single?" Potter asked, and Draco scoffed at the question. He looked back up at Potter and found himself thinking, really thinking, for the first time in a while. He never really had the emotional space for a partner of any sort. No one fit the bill, anyway. If he couldn't find a good friend, then he definitely couldn't find a partner. But then he met Harry Potter, his coworker, and he clicked with him so instantly it was almost scary. He wasn't the type to make friends easily, but somehow, a friendship between the two teachers sparked easily.

"Yeah," he finally replied, fearing that he'd been staring at Potter for too long, when it was really only a few seconds.

"No wonder, it's hard to find a partner when most of your life revolves around your hair products and your many cats," Potter teased, and Draco smiled despite himself.

He took a good look at Potter for a second. His lips seemed soft and were on the thin side. His teeth were slightly crooked but it somehow looked cute and endearing. Small freckles dotted his cheeks, and his hair was perfectly disheveled. He had a pretty smile, too, and Draco thanked God every day that he could see it so often.

He looked back down at the unmarked tests and tried to concentrate, but for some reason, his eyes kept wandering to the golden ring on Potter's finger.

Soon, his thoughts caught up with his emotions, and dread filled his stomach at the realization of what exactly was going on with his feelings.

Shit. Not good.

"You okay?" Potter spoke up, probably concerned with the silence. Draco swallowed the sudden nerves and looked at Potter, smiling as best as he could.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking I'd much rather shit a brick than write all these tests," he replied.

Potter chuckled, and then turned around to glance at the clock.

"It's 11:48, Malfoy, I should get going, class starts soon," Potter quickly said, getting up and tucking his chair in. Draco looked up and smiled.

"Yeah. See you soon, Potter, unless something goes wrong during chemistry and I end up dying."

Potter rolled his eyes at the dark sense of humour before walking towards the door. "Bye," he said, and then he was gone.

Draco sighed and looked down at his lap. So what if he had a bit of a crush on the math teacher, who was also his good friend? It was just a crush. It would be over soon, he was sure of it.