When the Snow Melts

I Drew This

After he had recovered from the initial shock of finding out that the Slytherins got their own private rooms, he cast an appraising look around. Draco's room made him feel a bit claustrophobic – it had way too much furniture for such a small space. A couch and two fluffy chairs were set dangerously close to the front of the fireplace, a work desk and bookshelf took up the entire length of the far wall, and a large 4-poster bed filled out the remaining space leaving just a tiny path to navigate around on. While living in a dorm had its drawbacks, at least he had room to breathe.

"I thought the Slytherin dorms were under the lake?" Harry asked with a frown as the thought had occurred to him.

"The Common Room is, but the dorms...I'm not sure exactly how it works. Nothing about the layout of Hogwarts makes much sense. The location of the dorms in relation to the Common Room..." Draco trailed off with a shrug. "Nothing connects like it should. It's all sorts of wonky."

Harry peered thoughtfully out the window. It was slightly unnerving to think that if he left out of the door behind him and walked down the tower, he would be stepping into the Slytherin Common Room which was hidden underneath the lake he saw shimmering in the distance. His mind was boggled.

"But," Draco interrupted, forcing him to turn around. "That's not why I brought you here."

Draco squeezed passed the bed to get to his work desk where he picked up a familiar sketchpad and then crossed over to sit on the couch, beckoning with his eyes for Harry to join him.

"I checked out a book on the basics of drawing from the library," Draco explained excitedly, flipping through the pages of his sketchpad until he had arrived at his more recent work.

"See," he said, pointing to a page with various colored shapes. "I started out practicing light and shadow like the book said. It was rather easy given my previous experience."

He flipped a few more pages, stopping on a sketch of Harry napping on a bench in the courtyard.

"I've started drawing people now. I'm concentrating on getting the proportions right. There's a whole formula in there," he said, gesturing to the book still lying on his desk.

Harry fought down the urge to grin at the sight of Draco babbling on like an excitable child showing off his favorite toys. He was worried that Draco might think he was mocking him.

He flipped another page and there was Crabbe and Goyle scowling as they hunched over their cauldron in Potions. "This one was really hard – they're just so lumpy," he commented.

The next page was Ron, glaring across the dinner table in the Great Hall. "I had to draw this one in between feeling like I was going to retch every time he started talking with his mouth open. I guess with all those kids, his mum couldn't be bothered to teach them all proper manners."

Before he could argue with him, Draco had flipped the page again. It was another one of Harry, sitting in his favorite window ledge on the third floor, looking out at the grounds. It was a bit unnerving to realize that he must have been terribly oblivious to not have noticed Draco there, drawing him.

"So, what do you think?" Draco asked, eyes wide and eager, begging for praise.

"I'm surprised," Harry admitted. "I had only been joking, but you might make it as an artist after all."

Draco scoffed, fighting to suppress a satisfied grin. "Don't be stupid, Harry. Art is not a respectable profession. I'm only doing this for fun."

"Who cares about being respectable?" Harry questioned, a little upset with how quickly Draco had shot his idea down and more specifically upset with the mocking tone of voice he was using to do it in.