Heartbreak Warfare

Chapter 20

Draco met Harry by the Black Lake. This time he was dressed appropriately for the weather. He tightened his scarf around his neck and stepped into the trees. Harry stood up when he saw him.

Harry grabbed onto Draco's scarf and pulled him down for a kiss. "I have a surprise for you," he said.

"Oh?"

Harry let go of him and walked behind the trees. When he came back, he was holding two brooms. Draco grinned.

"I figured that you'd be missing it so I thought we could fly around," Harry said and handed Draco a broom.

"Thanks."

"Now let's find out if this Quidditch break has made you rusty."

Draco mounted his broom. "Up for a race? Unless, you're scared, Potter?"

Harry grinned. "You wish." Then he shot into the sky.

Draco followed after him. He forgot how much he missed this. Missed the wind in his hair and the thrilling feeling of being so high up. Draco doesn't remember smiling this much in his entire life. Harry started to show off but Draco rose to the challenge, showing off tricks that he had learned from years of playing Quidditch. He got to his feet, balancing on the broom while soaring over the lake. Draco turned to gloat to Harry but lost his balance. He teetered and fell off his broom.

The thought that ran through Draco's head as he was falling was how attractive. He was inches away from the water when Harry grabbed his arm and swung him up behind him. Draco's arms wrapped around Harry's waist as he flew toward the beach. They landed and Harry turned to grin at him.

"A bit rusty, I'd say."

Draco huffed out a laugh. "Nah. It was a faulty broom."

"A faulty broom that Madam Hooch is never going to see again."

"The golden boy stole? How shocking."

Harry's smile widened. "I'm known for breaking the rules when it suits me."

"Or for the greater good, of course."

"That too," Harry kissed him. "Though, I'd break a lot of rules to get you to smile like that again."

****

"You're looking a lot better," Blaise observed as they walked to class.

"I'm feeling a lot better too," Draco admitted.

The last few weeks being with Harry was doing wonders for his health. He's been sleeping a lot more at night. The thought of Harry usually kept the nightmares away. He still got them from time to time but thinking about his time with Harry was usually able to lull the nightmares away. He was also eating more, which was due to Harry as well. Whenever they'd meet up, Harry would always have food handy. Draco was starting to gain some weight, so he was no longer drowning in his school robes and suits.

If this had been another world, Draco and Harry could have been a normal, happy couple. A couple that doesn't have to sneak out at night and catch kisses in dark corners and closets. In another world, he would be able to tell everyone that Harry was his. But, Draco was just content to have him at all.

"I'm glad things are working out," Blaise said.

"For now."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You don't have to think of everything having an expiration date."

"It's more realistic that way."

"Yeah, and it's also a shitty way to look at things. Can't you just appreciate the fact that you're happy?"

"I am and I do," Draco argued. "It's just that I know that this mission is going to ruin everything."

"If you go through with it."

It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes. "You know I don't have a choice. This is my family we're talking about. I won't let them get hurt because I was a coward."

Blaise sighed. "Fine. I'm not having this argument with you again. Just, hold onto this relationship as long as you can. You need him."

****

Harry was feeling ridiculously happy given the fact that the source was Draco Malfoy. Though he was forced to come back to reality when he was with his friends. Ron was still upset with him, though not to the point that he would ignore him completely. Ron only talked to him when he saw it was necessary and was probably only hanging around him because of Hermione. Neither of them had brought up what had happened but Harry knew it was weighing over all their interactions.

"Is this secret friend not just a friend?" Ron blurted out.

They were all sitting in the common room, working on various assignments.

Harry closed his book with his half-finished essay inside. "What do you mean?"

"Are you not telling us because you're secreting dating someone? Someone that's in Slytherin given that Blaise knows this person?"

Harry tried to hide his shock. "What makes you think that?"

Ron was growing frustrated and looked to Hermione for help.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. The only thing that we could think of that you would keep from us," Hermione said.

"We're mates. We shouldn't have secrets between us."

"Like the secret of you two fancying each other?" Harry snapped. "Granted, you two were extremely obvious about it, but neither of you told me."

The other two were blushing profusely.

"That's different," Ron spluttered.

"It's not," Harry said. "And I'm allowed to have some secrets, same as you."

Before his friends could say anything else, Harry stuffed his book in his bag and headed to the library.