The Ugly Truth 〚drarry〛

truth #9

November 28

Truth #9: "I'm bisexual."

The coffee in Draco's hands was already growing cold when Potter finally decided to make an appearance.

"Where have you been, dickwad?" Saying Potter was late was a bit of an understatement; 40 minutes of lunch had already passed.

"Sorry, didn't know I was obligated to entertain you every day." Draco knew it shouldn't have and that it was probably just a joke, but the sentence stung a bit. Did Harry not want him here? The sting increased—had he been bothering Potter for the past three or so months?—and Draco got up to leave, abandoning his coffee. Potter stopped him on his way out, looking at him with a confused expression. Draco didn't look at him. "Did I say something?"

Draco mumbled no and went to turn the doorknob, but Potter stopped him again by placing his hand on top of Draco's. Draco finally looked up at him through the blond hair hanging loosely in his eyes.

"Hey, don't go," Potter whined, pouting, and Draco wanted to stay, but somehow his mood for the day was ruined by the thought of him burdening Harry all this time. I'm an idiot, he thought. A simple thought shouldn't affect him this way, but the thought somehow made him sick to his stomach.

"I have stuff to do," he said, and walked through the door. Potter, of course, followed him. Draco felt an urge to slap himself; why was he getting so upset over a simple and untrue thought? He found it didn't really matter, he just wanted to be alone, but Potter kept walking at his side. "Potter, I'm busy," he said half-heartedly.

"For some reason, you've got an extra thick stick up your ass, and I get that, but I won't leave you alone."

Draco didn't reply to that.

He simply kept walking without a word, and when he reached his classroom, he walked in, half-hoping that Potter would leave him alone. The wish was half-hearted; Draco didn't think he truly wanted to be alone, but his bad mood was suddenly so suffocating and he knew he couldn't possibly be good company when he was feeling this way.

He needed to get it together. Mood swings were for teenagers going through puberty, not for Draco Malfoy.

He sat at his desk and watched out of the corner of his eye as Potter grabbed his chair and sat down next to him. He began marking tests, wondering if Potter would take a hint, but the math teacher stayed seated.

The room was completely silent except for Draco's pen scribbling against paper. He rarely ever felt awkward around Potter, but this was one of those moments; for once in his life, he didn't know what to say, so he settled on saying nothing.

He glanced at Potter, whose head was in his hands, only to find that he was already looking at Draco. Finally, Draco gave up, and put down his pen with a sigh. He looked at Potter, wanting to start a conversation, but his slightly under-the-weather mood made it nearly impossible to find something to say.

It came to him quicker than he expected. "Tell me something about yourself," he eventually said, finding that he really did want to get to know Potter more than he already did.

Potter thought for a few moments, his eyes narrowing in thought and his nose twitching slightly. "My parents died when I was 1. My godfather Sirius raised me with his husband Remus," he finally said, and Draco raised both eyebrows.

"Well, that's depressing." He didn't really know what to say to that.

"Personal, I know. Sorry. What about you? Anything depressing I should know?"

Draco barely had to think about depressing moments in his life; there were certainly more than a handful. "My parents forced me to participate in their criminal activities when I was a young teenager," he finally said, deciding to settle on that.

"That's depressing... I'm married to Mrs Weasley's sister-in-law," Potter said, and Draco noticeably flinched.

"Yikes, that's awkward... I'm confused, are we trying to one-up each other in depressing moments, or awkward ones?"

Potter thought for a moment. "Depressing. The marriage was arranged before Ginny was even born," he added, and Draco cringed.

"Um..." Draco had to stop and think. He definitely had a few more depressing moments, but he felt they were too personal even though he'd known Harry for three-ish months now. "I'm bisexual," he finally admitted, his throat seemingly closing up.

"Me too," Potter admitted, and Draco let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Why were you upset earlier?" Potter asked suddenly.

Draco fidgeted lightly in his seat before realizing he had no need to lie although it was a bit embarrassing. "I just thought of something, that's all," he said, and Potter beckoned him to explain further. "I just... I wondered, what if you actually don't really like me that much, what if I've just been a massive burden these past three months but you're too polite to say anything?"

Potter blinked a bit, absorbing the information. "Oh," he finally said, and Draco twitched lightly out of nervousness. "Draco, no," Potter said. "You're probably my favourite person here, which means a lot, since Mrs Weasley is pretty cool and is actually kind of family, so... don't worry about that."

Draco didn't really know how to react. He couldn't stop himself from smiling at Harry's words, but on the inside, he was mad at himself for being so vulnerable. Why would he admit something like that? Especially since it happened only a few moments ago?

"Draco, we're friends," Potter said in reassurance, and Draco told himself to breathe. Potter wouldn't hurt him, he told himself, Potter would never hurt him. "Trust me, if I didn't like you, you'd be able to tell. Just ask Mr Snape," Potter joked, and Draco could breathe. They were okay, they were going to be okay.

"Thanks, Potter," he said quietly, letting himself smile. Harry smiled back.

"Any time, Malfoy."