Mixed Messages (A Drarry Fanfic)

The Request

(Harry)

It was official. He and Ginny had broken up. He had tried begging, pleading, whining, denying, threatening, and even a terrible attempt at flattery, but nothing had worked. Ginny was crushed. She'd ran all the way to the Great Hall when Harry had finally caught up to her. She'd been sobbing- her face was red and puffy, but she didn't look sad- she looked FURIOUS. She'd caused a huge scene, and screamed at the top of her lungs
    "WE. ARE. OVER!"

All it did was give Harry a headache. Did he feel bad about what happened? Yes. Did he want to break up with Ginny? No. But was he enjoying not having to put up with her antics? Yup. In fact, he'd never felt better.

Except for Draco. Just the mention of his name, or the sight of his blond hair above the crowd, made Harry's stomachs twist with too many emotions to decipher. Pity. Guilt. And something else Harry didn't acknowledge. He'd been avoiding the Slytherin since he'd abandoned him on the rooftop of the Astronomy Tower.

To be honest, he didn't really know what to do about him. He had Potions class coming up, and there was no way to avoid him there. Harry didn't want to admit it, but he was nervous to talk to Draco.

It was probably just because he was feeling guilty about leaving him so suddenly. Totally.

Harry raced to class, already knowing he'd be late, but also knowing Slughorn wouldn't care in the slightest. He arrived just as Professor Slughorn had finished explaining. He gave Harry a stink eye, but just shook his head and gestured to where Malfoy was sitting. Crumpled. His head on his desk. His hair a complete mess. Something was definitely wrong.

Harry cautiously slid into the seat next to him, careful not to disturb him.
    "Ah... Malfoy? You doing alright?"

Draco didn't even lift his head.
    "Malfoy?" Harry tried again, this time gently shoving his shoulder.
Draco mumbled something incoherent, and proceed to shove Harry back, much harder than Harry had shoved him. Harry scowled.

    "Enough, Malfoy. Stop being a bloody prick! We have stuff to do."

Draco finally lifted his head, his eyes shrouded behind his fringe.
    "...Malfoy?" Harry murmured, slightly concerned.
Draco finally turned to him, making Harry start. His cheeks were flushed pink, his eyes were glassy, and his lips were chapped.

He'd never looked so beautiful.

    "...erm. Hi, Harry," he croaked out, still not looking at him.
Harry let out a low growl and grabbed his chin with his hand to turn his face to meet Harry's. He stared intently into Malfoy's nervous eyes.

    "What happened?" He demanded.
Draco flinched. He shook his head and rasped out, "not here." They worked in silence for the rest of the class.

When class finally ended and they had somehow successfully created a "Touch of Gold" potion, Harry grabbed Draco's arm, not caring about the whispers and dragged him to the Room of Requirement.

He sat Draco down on the comfy sofa that emerged and looked him straight in the eye.

    "Talk."

Draco swallowed and his eyes flitted about the room.
    "Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Draco asked, evasively.

    "Draco," Harry said in a warning tone.

Draco took several breaths, trying to compose himself, before he looked Harry dead in the eyes and said
  "The Dark Lord wants me to break in Death Eaters to Hogwarts."

His lower lip trembled as he nervously fiddled with his hands, like he was waiting for Harry to judge him.

Harry instead let out a string of curse words and a long, deep sigh. He reached over to the opposite couch and hesitantly grabbed Draco's hands.

    "You need to tell Dumbledore. There's no other way..."

Draco jerked his hands out of Harry's and glared, tears in his eyes.

    "Weren't you listening?! I can't. He'll kill me!"

Draco's words were filled with hopelessness and despair, which made Harry's stomach boil.

How could someone stand by and let their son go through so much pain, guilt and anger? How could a parent endanger their kid like that?

    "Don't." Harry snapped, making Draco's head whip toward Harry's.
    "Don't make excuses. We can do this together. In fact, I'll tell Dumbledore for you. We don't even need to tell him that you're the one letting them in, we just need to be prepared."

Draco looked at Harry, eyes unreadable.
    "You'd do that? For... me?" He asked in an wavering voice.

Harry smiled.
    "Of course. Besides, I'm doing it for everyone in the castle."

Draco crinkled his nose.
    "Are you doing it for... Ginny?"

Harry was momentarily stunned by Draco's use of her real name, before he laughed.
    "In case you haven't heard, we broke up. It's not like I'm just going to let her die, though."

Draco went silent, biting his lip slightly.
    "I know," he croaked out.

They sat there for a while, long after the bell chimed Dinnertime. Harry finally stood and stretched.

    "Well. I've got to tell Professor Dumbledore so we can start preparing."

Draco nodded, hesitantly, causing Harry to put a hand on his shoulder.

    "Don't worry about it, Malfoy. It's going to be okay."

Draco nodded, then quickly shook his head and grabbed Harry's hand from his shoulder.

He looked up with desperate eyes.

    "...can you... can you hold me, Harry?"

For a moment, Harry stood there, frozen. Unsure about what to do. Then he saw a single tear slip down Draco's cheek and his mind was made up.

He pulled Draco to his feet, wrapped and arm around his waist, and pulling there chests together as music suddenly flooded the room. He swayed with Draco, looking intently in his eyes. He never once looked away.

When the song came to a stop, Draco let out a shuttering breath, and rested his head on Harry's shoulder. Harry gently put his hands on Draco's back and rubbed in slow, soothing circles.

Draco finally pulled his face away from Harry's chest, leaving him with a sudden sense of emptiness. He looked at Harry and forced a smile.

    "Thank you so much, Harry. No one else understands like you do... no one else is there for me except for you."

Something snapped within Harry's heart in that moment, and something confusing happened. Draco pulled Harry in for one last hug, and maybe Harry wasn't thinking straight... maybe he wasn't thinking at all... maybe he was just caught up in the moment. Whatever it was, he found himself, in a daze, leaning in to Draco's face.

    "Harry, what are you-" Draco began, but was cut off..

When Harry's lips came crashing down on his.