Temptation on the Warfront

20

The snow begins to melt and the air gets warmer, and their days are filled with the kind of conversations they used to have, the ones that took place in front of warm fires and mismatched armchairs — only now they are different, because when Draco Malfoy sits down to listen too, no one tells him he shouldn't be there. At first, Ron makes uncomfortable huffing noises which make Harry want to hit him, but later that night Harry will catch enough hushed words between his two best friends to guess that Hermione is pleading for Ron's forgiveness on Malfoy's behalf, and that blackmail might be involved. The next time Draco sits stiffly by the fire, a little way behind them, pretending he isn't listening but giving himself away by the twitching of his lips when there is talk of improvised Divination homework, Ron acts as though he doesn't mind at all, as though Draco isn't even there.

The next morning, Harry walks up behind Hermione while she's attempting to catch fish by the river. She jumps in fright, her hair looking a little wild as she places a hand over her chest. The fish she may or may not have been close to catching is long gone, but Harry thinks it's worth it for the look on her face.

"Sorry," he grins. He's not sorry at all. He feels quite awkward, but if Hermione had the gall to pressure him into spilling the beans about his own private life, Harry thinks he should do her the honour of repaying the favour. "What'd you say to Ron?" He asks, trying to keep his voice light.

Hermione turns back to the river, but the curve of her cheek is flushed red, and Harry can't help but snort. She sends him an unhappy look which is both indignant and embarrassed, but her voice doesn't waver as she says, "I told him I wouldn't snog him unless he was nice to Draco."

Harry nods, it's as he was expecting, but his amusement isn't enough. "By 'be nice to Draco,' did you mean, 'pretend he's invisible?'"

Hermione chews her lip, shoving a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and frowning at the ground. She resembles a mother who has too many children and can't keep tabs on them all, and although Harry has been trying to keep a serious face, now he cracks, gives her a laugh which has her eyes going from stern to warm.

Later that afternoon, when Ron brings out a small chess set with an expression as though he's been sucking a lemon, and sets it up in front of Draco, Harry shares a look of surprise and knowing with Hermione, who sits knitting something monstrous in the armchair. She glances at him smugly, and then back to her work, a small smile playing on her lips.

It's a muggle chess set, and Harry presumes Ron got it from the Auror base, but Draco doesn't comment, in fact, his breathtakingly beautiful face is free from a sneer, and Harry knows that even if he may not say it, Draco is trying too. Harry hasn't had to bribe him with kisses, because those they share always follow sly touches and the brushing of fingers, when Ron and Hermione are away from camp. Sometimes they precede a hurried, fumbling, hot mess of hands and tongues and thrusts, until both of them are sticky and panting, pink-faced and avoiding eachother's gazes like guilty school boys. Harry looks away because he is scared that Draco will see something more than an outlet for lust reflected in his eyes, and because in Draco's eyes, Harry is scared of that being all there is.

Harry thinks a lot about the gift Draco made him, but he doesn't say anything. Maybe he's waiting for the right moment, or for the evidence of a reason within Draco's guarded eyes, so until then, Harry keeps it hidden in the depths of Hagrid's moleskin pouch, locked away in his heart.

Draco takes Weasley's rook with his knight. It's a pain to have to move the pieces by hand, and Draco is beginning to wonder why muggles bother living at all, when their whole lives seem to be made up of painstakingly slow movements and primitive choices.

Weasley grumbles and mutters something that sounds like 'cheating bastard' under his breath, and Draco is just about to roll his eyes and come up with a retort when he catches Harry watching him from the bottom bunk.