Desperately Seeking Seekers (Drarry)

A Cold January

"How about this one?" Hermione asked Ron, holding up a maroon jumper with a twinkle in her eye.

Ron scoffed, and nudged against her shoulder playfully. "Not even if it was 75% off."

Looking over the table of folded jumpers, Harry felt a little overwhelmed. Did he really need anything, even if the prices are good?

Passing Ron a small pile, Hermione pushed him towards a change room. She turned towards Harry, cocking her head a little to the side. "Do you want any help picking some out?"

He shrugged. "Do I really need new clothes?" When Hermione had sent them an owl after Christmas suggesting this get together in London, Harry hadn't thought they would be spending so much time in the crowded muggle department stores.

"Harry! Yes, yes you do," Hermione chuckled, stepping to his side and digging through the jumpers with determination. "We spent the last year living in the rough and have either worn out or outgrown everything."

She held up a cable knit to him, and he grudgingly accepted it. Working together, they found a few others in his size.

"Don't you see, Harry?" Hermione said softly as they looked through a rack of shirts. "It's just like how you decided to let a healer get rid of your scars and fix your eyesight. About wearing your hair like that. You can pick the clothes that suit the man you are now. You can let go of the past and do what feels right."

Harry gave her a half-smile. "Some people find it strange I'm trying to look so much different. Like I'm rejecting the past. Trying not to look like my father as much."

She shrugged. "People are always going to talk, especially about you. I think you are just trying to define yourself, like everyone else our age is. Decide what to do for our careers, our future."

In the change room, he pulled on a teal crew neck. When he looked in the mirror, he found that the color made his eyes look even greener. Without the glasses, they seemed more prominent on his face already. Was that a good thing?

When he came out of the change room, Hermione smiled and nodded. "That's good on you. You look quite handsome."

His face heated a bit at the comment, and he went back into the change room. Gazing into the mirror a little longer. Would Draco like this? When they were back at Hogwarts, would they be dating? Going out together? Should he get some nice clothes, just in case?

What the fuck. No matter what happened with Draco, Hermione was right. He was an adult now, and it was time he bought some new clothes.

After that, he was much more motivated. Working their way through the store, he ended up with jeans, shirts, shoes and a new coat as well. Hermione had bought a fair amount as well. Ron hadn't, claiming if he was accepted into the auror program, his uniforms would be provided. Hermione and Harry knew it was mostly his lack of money, but kept their mouths shut.

But Ron's comment reminded Harry just how little time they had left. Six more months, and Ron would likely be working in Magical Enforcement. Hermione would likely be in some research program, surrounded by stacks of books as tall as she was. And who knew where Harry would be? With Ron, or with a professional Quidditch team, like Viktor suggested? It was so strange, thinking about living in a completely different place, far, far away from everyone he knew.

While waiting for Hermione to go through a checkout, he dug through a clearance bin, and found a soft cashmere scarf in Slytherin green. He went to an open cashier, and quietly bought it, slipping it discretely into a bag with his other purchases.

...

"This round is on me," Hermione said insistently, and waved the server over.

Ron and Harry mumbled their thanks, both of them subdued.

Nearby, the Hufflepuff team was celebrating noisily. Hannah, Zacharias, Ernie and Justin had played well together, and Harry couldn't be mad at them for winning. But it didn't stop him from glaring at Seamus, who was playing as one of their Chasers. Seamus had looked slightly guilty at first, but into his second butter beer, he was singing Hufflepuff songs with the rest.

"You should be celebrating with your teammates, Draco," a woman said from a table on their other side.

Harry would recognize Narcissa Malfoy's voice anywhere, and tried to be discrete as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting with Draco, likely up to watch his Quidditch game and taking him out for a casual meal afterwards. It was brave of her to show her face here, without her husband at her side. He had always come to Draco's games in the past, his long silver blond hair easy to spot in the stands. Watching Draco with his head held high, sneering at Harry Potter whenever he had a chance. But he was in Azkaban prison since his trial in the summer.

"It's fine, mother," Draco replied, in a low tone. Sounding flat and unenthused, despite just winning an important game. Despite beating Harry to the snitch.

Hermione reached across the table to rest her hand on Harry's forearm. "Would you like to move to a table a little further away... from everyone?"

Her concerned eyes just made him shake his head and sit up a little straighter, throwing his shoulders back. So what, they had lost the game today. So what, it was the closest he'd been to Draco in a month. So what, the other Seeker hadn't looked him in the eye since coming back to school in January. Hadn't talked to him, and seemed to not even see him in the hallways or classes.

"Here's fine, Hermione," Harry said stubbornly, and took too big a swallow of his drink, ending up coughing and sputtering a little.

Ron whacked his back a few times. 'You OK there, mate?"

Hermione just sighed. "Obviously not. Did he ever even talk to you, Harry? Explain why things had changed so suddenly?"

"There was nothing to explain," Harry bit out, keeping his voice down. "He didn't break any promises to me or anything. You know what it's like at school sometimes. Sometimes people try things out, experiment...but realize it's not really for them."

The only good thing that had happened in January was that a new scandal had come out in regards to Dolores Umbridge's love life in her youth. The juicy story had seemed to wipe Harry Potter and his 'Seeker Obsession' from everyone's minds. He hadn't appeared in the Prophet or even the Oracle for weeks. It was blissful to have people whispering about someone else for a change, and he didn't get as many looks as he walked around the school.

Perhaps it was good that things had fizzled out. Clearly Draco had changed his mind about Harry for some unknown reason. At least they weren't sharing lingering glances or anything else to feed the old gossip.

Only Ron and Hermione seemed to recognize how crappy Harry felt about it. They were giving him frequent concerned looks and trying their best to distract him and keep to upbeat topics. All Harry really wanted was to be left alone. He'd get over it in his own time.

When he had returned to Hogwarts after Christmas, he had been so excited to see Draco again. Hug and kiss him hello. Perhaps arrange for a proper date. The idea of spending time together, dating openly, being able to kiss and touch...it had kept Harry going all through the holidays.

Instead, Draco had avoided his gaze, and given him the cold shoulder. Turning towards Blaise and Pansy, shutting him out. Even in the dorm or the showers, Draco seemed to stuck close to Blaise. Avoiding being alone with Harry, it seemed.

Harry felt crushed. A complete fool. He had taken the undershirt he'd stolen from Draco out of his trunk, and left it in a pile of his dirty clothes. Whenever he opened his trunk, he saw the green scarf, wrapped in holiday paper, mocking him. He really should get rid of it, but he hadn't had the stomach to do it yet. Some part of him was holding on to the hope that things could somehow change back.

Nodding, Hermione changed the topic to the newest information about Umbridge. "Do you hear when she travelled in her Gap Year, she was photographed smoking gilly weed and riding centaurs?"

Ron was laughing hard at that. "Do you think she was just going through a rebellious period before becoming such an uptight dictator?"

Harry smiled and acted like he following along. But whenever he could, he snuck a glance at Draco. Sullenly drinking his beer as his mother chatted on, seeming to try to cheer him up.

...

-A/N: The boys are on a bit of a rollercoaster... Thanks for reading!