drarry oneshots

Roses - Rewritten

REWRITTEN: 3 July 2020

It was an autumn day. Far enough from summer to have lost the heat and not close enough to winter to have that bite of cold. The leaves had begun to fall and rain was in the forecast. Draco and his friends stepped on every crunchy brown leaf, savouring it, knowing after the rain they would be a soggy mess. This autumn breeze has a way of moving their hair, of tousling it into buoyant curls. It carries with it the fragrance of earth, soft after the washing of the rain and a sweet and steady sense of joy. And as it dances with the canopies of flame, it alights both eyes and soul, yet more as the feeling of a mother's lullaby, a comforting delight. The leaves in the wind are like sails without boats, carefree and joyful. Their colours sing to the blue of the sky and the green grass below. If you looked up, you'd be able to see Hogwarts Castle. The old castle stood on a rugged slope, moonlit snow drifts piled against half-ruined walls, the windows dark and gaping. It's battlements glistened with ice in the crystal cold air, their ragged outlines blending into the rocks behind. The leaves upon the ground were more dry than their mouths. Draco, after picking one up, closed his fist over them and feel them shatter, he doesn't need to open it again to know that the once whole forms are now only fragments of what they once were. But alone on the ground they are brittle, weak and the brown that comes before decay.

"Draco!"

The blonde immediately recognised the voice, which confused him greatly. Harry saw the shock register on Draco's face before he could hide it. A small smile played on Potter's lips, before he raised the bouquet into his view; then shoved it into Draco's arms. Draco held the bouquet, his hands twinged with sweat. He was nervous. Incredibly so. His heart ran with legs like a runner. His eyebrows frowned in worry and impatience. He glanced at his friends, who stood their in shock. Words left him. He stared into those emerald green eyes burning with passion, and Draco's heart fell silent.

Silence gnawed at his insides. Silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. The silence was like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything. The silence was poisonous in it's nothingness, cruelly underscoring how vapid their conversation had become. The silence was eerily unnatural, like a dawn devoid of birdsong. Silence clung to them like a poisonous cloud that at any moment could choke the life from them. Silence seeped into their every pore, like a poison slowly paralyzing them from either speech or movement. As it turns out, you can't think away silence.

"Well?" Harry whispered, his lips brushing against Draco's ear. But alas, Draco couldn't will his lips to move. As if stuck underwater, everything was slow and warbled as Pansy suddenly stepped forward. The girl smiled at Harry in a way that never meant good things, but nonetheless, this was one of Draco's friends and he had to be nice. She rolled back her shoulders and observed as his eyes were drawn downward. Tossing her dark hair she glanced Draco's way, into eyes she knew weren't mesmerized in the slightest.

"Everyone knows Draco likes Narcissus flowers anyway, at least do your research." Pansy drawled, in which Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Parkinson crossed her arms, making eye contact with Draco and they then proceeded to have a silent argument.

"Draco, don't you like them?" Harry asked, but Draco's mind was blank and his eyes wide as he stared at him in horror. Harry's eyes desperately searched Draco's... waiting. He had to say something! He searched his mind for something reasonable to say, but to his surprise his heart answered for him in inaudible whisper. "What was that?" Potter cooed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Draco unwillingly mumbled this time, yet it was still difficult to hear. "One more time--"

"Of course I like them..." Draco groaned, interrupting Harry. The flowers entwined between his fingers holding fast in his hand. "But, seriously, I thought we were keeping this a secret."

"I couldn't help myself. You're too adorable!" Potter chuckled, his arms encircling his waist and holding him close. When they finally clasped each other in a warm, slow and luxurious hug, they felt all oppositions to their love had melted. Draco resists the hug anyway, attempting to keep his reputation from crumbling more than it already has. The slytherin's snicker as they watch this whole interaction. Of course, they were happy for Draco -- but this was funny to watch.

"I love you, Harry." He murmurs with a tiny sigh, burying his head in Harry's chest. Harry whispered several, uncountable compliments into his boyfriend's ear and the outside world seemed to just melt away. Little did Draco know that behind his back, Potter was flipping off his friends. Crabbe and Goyle grunted before trotting away, whilst Blaise and Pansy raised their fingers straight back at him. But, hey, Draco didn't need to know anyway.