The Scent Of Malice | drarry

twenty | a change in the fire

Then one frosty morning in the last week of term, Harry realised that his infatuation with Draco Malfoy was unexpectedly over, and in its place was complete and helpless love for the other boy.

He'd woken uncharacteristically early that morning and risen early too, which lead to his inadvertently following Malfoy down to breakfast, and catching him in a surprisingly gentle encounter with a House Elf.

"Master Malfoy," the elf was grovelling as it scurried to keep up with him down the long corridor, little head bobbing up and down like a dandelion in the wind.

Malfoy slowed his pace kindly, and looked down at the creature with a distinct lack of contempt which shocked Harry to his core. It was almost warm, the softest he'd ever looked to Harry, who dropped back to ensure his shock wasn't seen.

"Yes, Hokey?" Malfoy asked. Harry watched from afar as the other boy stopped entirely and then crouched right down to be at eye-level with the elf, the way one might address a small child.

"Master Malfoy, Hokey has supplied you with the new Potions book which you requested of Hokey," the elf reported shyly, and pulled the textbook in question out from behind its back with a flourish.

Malfoy accepted it with a grateful nod. "Very good of you, Hokey," he said, and if House Elves could blush, Harry knew Hokey would've done.

He marvelled silently to himself at the wonder of Draco Malfoy as the blonde bid a polite goodbye to the elf and strolled beautifully off down the corridor again, blissfully ignorant to Harry's stare. He was beautiful when he was cruel, but kindness morphed him from Malfoy to Draco in Harry's eyes, and made him ethereal.

The early morning rays dappled through the panes of the corridor's windows and bathed Draco's figure in silken gold as he walked, glimmering celestially off every blonde hair on his head. The soft light washed over his bare hands too, for once without his heavy rings as they peeked out of his robes, and the delicacy of the golden hue made them seem close to fragile.

For the first time since Harry had laid eyes on him, Draco appeared utterly incapable of inflicting pain on someone else, and worthy of complete adoration, which Harry was more than happy to give him for once.

Funny how something so simple as a kind word and a pretty light could spark such a fire inside Harry's existence. Except this wasn't a fire like the previous fires Harry had learnt to associate with Draco; not one of craving and lust, built on the kind of desire that was indistinguishable from anguish, but something entirely new and unfamiliar to him.

The flames of before had burnt his heart up from the pit of his stomach, but this new fire was slow, gentle, a warm glow which radiated all the way under Harry's skin and soothed his aching soul.

A rush of something untouchably precious rolled through him in that realisation, and he recognised it immediately for what it was. It couldn't be anything but love.

Despite Draco's arrogance, his history, his quickness for malice, Harry knew he loved him now, and he'd love him later, too. Perhaps that had always been the case, ever since they'd met.

He walked to class in a daze.

***

That evening Malfoy waltzed over to the Gryffindor table as Harry and his friends were leaving, and shoved a card unceremoniously into Harry's hands.

"Come or don't come, I don't care," the blonde shrugged carelessly as he turned to leave as quickly as he came. "I'll be out of my mind anyway that night."

The card was small and expensively thick, with silver embossed swirls on the corners and a little green Slytherin wax seal on the opening. Harry pealed it off gently, careful not to rip the paper or damage the pretty wax.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's an invitation!" Harry said in surprise, reading the shimmering printed message.

You are cordially invited to the Slytherin Yuletide Party as the personal guest of D. L. Malfoy on Friday 19th December 1996 at 8pm.

The theme is 'A Midwinter Night's Dream', so please dress accordingly for a night in the Slytherin dungeons filled with banquets, fairy wine, and bewitchment.

"How very bloody Slytherin," Ron scoffed at the whole formality of the exchange.

Harry didn't even hear him over the sound of his own panic.

"What am I going to wear, Hermione?" he asked in a slightly croaky voice. "Friday's tomorrow - this is the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me!"

"You fought a Basilisk, Harry," Hermione pointed out incredulously. "I think you'll manage an outfit for a Christmas party."

This didn't calm Harry's nerves at all. "I think I'd take the Basilisk right now," he said, loosening his tie with shaky hands and stuffing the card into his robe pocket as though that would get rid of his anxiety too. "God, is it really hot in here?"

"No, you're just going into cardiac arrest," Ron rolled his eyes in amusement. "Are you really that scared?"

"Yes!" Harry protested. "I'm not like Malfoy, Ron. I don't know about etiquette or dress codes or anything - I'm almost certainly about to humiliate myself again."

"You do that all the time in front of Malfoy, what's different now?" Ron asked, earning himself a swift elbow from Hermione.

"Thanks, Ronald," Harry said sarcastically. "You always know what to say, don't you?"

It's different because I'm in love with him, he thought. Because I want him to love me. And I'm sick of ripping my soul apart with all this trying.

The new fire flickered a little brighter in his core as he pictured the artfully nonchalant look on Draco's face when he'd handed over the card. 'The personal guest', it had read, words which sent shivers down Harry's spine. I'm Draco's personal guest. He chose me.

Whatever happened, whatever Malfoy said to hurt him in the future, however shitty he was, no one could take that knowledge away from Harry. Somehow, the thought comforted him.

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a/n: hope you enjoyed, sorry it's a bit of a filler chapter but i promise you the party will be fun so stick around for the next chapter 🤍

please vote and comment as ever if you enjoyed!! so much love

~ paradisedraco