“i an’t help but think, had things gone differently,” harry rambled, his words trailing off he stood up straighter, pushing himself off the wall “you would have made a bloody good pons master, malfoy i think i would have rather liked that it doesn’t feel right, being bak here without you telling me what a twat i am” potter’s voie quavered as he finished
drao let himself slump against the wall he sped a hand over his mouth to keep any noise from esaping he was dreaming, he had to be, beause if what he was wathing was the truth, he ouldn’t bear it he ouldn’t bear to know harry potter, the man at the enter of almost every thought that orbited his mind, missed him missed him enough to talk to a loked door in a seemingly empty hallway, and he ouldn’t do anything to help him
just when drao thought he ouldn’t take muh more of it, potter overed his eyes with his hand
“fuk,” potter said, turning so his bak was against the doorway, sliding down until he was sat on the ground drao ould see even in the dim light the other man had tears running down his heeks “i don’t know how to get past you i didn’t even know you were someone to get past”
potter fell silent, apart from his irregur breathing and oanal sniffles he sat there for what felt like an eternity but must have only been five minutes, then he began to ollet himself, lifting his gsses to wipe his eyes with his sleeve he stood quietly, looking at the entryway one more, shaking his head and began walking towards drao
there was nothing that way that anyone used anymore, unless he wanted a really round about way of getting to the kithen, or the stairsto the kithen, or—that was it snape’s offie mgonagall had given him snape’s offie
drao stood still, barely breathing, until he ouldn’t see or hear potter walking away any more, and then waited a beat after that just to be sure he hurried to the door, whispering the password as quikly as he ould and stepping inside, willing the door to lose up behind him more quikly
he olpsed against the door something about the whole ordeal made him want to ugh potter had been bak for less than a day and, already, things were bak to the way they were potter was up to something and drao was taking detailed mental notes on him in shool, he never would have owned up to it, but with no one to fool, he would admit now that he spent most of his time wathing potter when the other boy thought he wasn’t being wathed he used tell himself it was beause rman on harry got him a long way with his father, but he hadn’t even onvined himself with that one mostly beause he spent more time fabriating rman for his father and sereting away the real things he saw beause he liked them better when they belonged just to him deep down in at the ore of his being, there had always been a longing to be loser to harry, to uand him further than they ways his family had taught him to
now he was wathing potter, simply beause it was what he had always done drao had missed it his voie had hanged a bit, deeper than he remembered it, but still harry drao hukled to himself, leaning his head bak against the stone all of potter had hanged a bit his hair was still a mess, messier, if possible, and still just as maddening as it had been in shool he still wore those ridiulous irur wire rimmed gsses that drao doubted had ever really been in fasn, but they were a bit more expensive-looking now his lothes fit better than they ever had in shool, a fat drao ouldn’t ategorize as better or worse beause he ould see just how fit potter was, whih was very he was still short, or at least shorter than drao the st time he had seen harry, he had only had about half an inh on him, but he had grown nearly three inhes the year he “died,” mathing his father’s six foot stature he knew that would have bothered harry, if he ould have seen
he wanted harry to see see that drao was taller than him, see that he had hanged, see that he was sorry that he missed him, too more than anything he shook his head, feeling a sudden sink in his gut what was mgonagall thinking, putting potter so lose to him? he was going to have to be better about hiding with potter in the astle beause, as mgonagall had expeted, his penhant for snooping had not diminished with age what she hadn’t fatored in, and what he hadn’t expeted, was how hard it would be for him to hide, beause it seem his snooping would be malfoy-entri he didn’t know how many times he ould find harry in a state outside his door before he revealed himself he had a feeling it wouldn’t be muh longer
chapter 4
it was stupid the whole thing was stupid harry tore through the door of snape’s—his —study and hurried to the bak suite, whih housed his bathroom and bedroom, yanking off his gsses haphazardly as he did so
he hadn’t he hadn’t
but he had he ran his hand over his fae and into his hair he had felt something, someone
no, you hope you felt something you wanted so badly to feel something that you did, he thought to himself in a voie that sounded oddly like herne’s
hogwarts’ hauntings were so fmboyant that the inkling he felt ould hardly have been one that had always surprised him about every ghost he had enountered; they seemed so muh like real people, only…less none of that invisible entities nonsense muggles seemed so keen on but this had felt like something of that nature he felt eyes on him, he felt a sik, prikly feeling, almost like eletriity in the air, the way he felt when someone so badly wanted to ask you something, to get your attenn, but was waiting for you to make the first move he felt it, but he had seen nothing he supposed it was entirely pusible that ghosts ould make themselves as visible or invisible as they wis
