in a way, they had worked out, beause now here he was, still buzzing with the magi of the vow, sitting aross from drao malfoy like they were friends they almost were, and he knew, in time, they would be they had their whole lives to work that situan out but part of him wondered why he had done it of ourse, there was the onfesn that he had made to mgonagall, the one he knew beyond a doubt was true; he was in love with drao malfoy but it was hardly ommon for you to go from onfessing one’s love for the first time out loud to vowing to protet them, now and forever more, in the same day it was a bit romeo and juliet of him, he had to admit and even if he knew that his feelings were not entirely ued, he ouldn’t help but feel he had rushed
then again, what else was to be expeted of him? his whole life had been rushed he went from being a normal muggle kid to being the most famous wizard in the united kingdom, and possibly the world, in less than a day he beame the you seeker in ages in a simir way he went from an orphan to having sirius to being an orphan again in what felt like the shortest time ped imaginable his whole life hened too fast, and he hadn’t learned how to make deins in a timely, well thought out manner he had never had to develop the skill of thinking things out well that had always been herne’s job
there was a lot on his mind, to be sure, but the thought that most oupied him was how diffiult he was finding it not to stare at drao’s fae he knew he had forever and then some to memorize it all, but what he wanted right now, more than anything was to walk aross to where drao sat and hold his fae between his hands and just look at him look at him and run his fingers over the lines of his heekbones, his nose, his lips of ourse, he knew all too well what drao looked like, but he never been allowed to just look like he wanted to like he knew now that he was being ho to himself, that he always wanted to
“potter,” drao said suddenly from where he sat in his armhair, eyes losed as he rest his head on his hand
“hmm?”
“stop wathing me”
“i’m not”
“you are so,” drao replied, opening his eyes to look at the other man “you have guilt written all over your fae and don’t at like i don’t know what that looks like, i pratially have a dotorate in interpreting your faial expresns why are you staring, potter?”
“i never thought i’d see your fae again,” harry said, finally, ign the flutter in his stomah as he admitted it
“there were photos,” drao said, though harry ouldn’t help but notie the olor that ame to his heeks as he spoke
“not as good,” harry replied “besides, they don’t look like you do now”
“yeah? is how i look now better or worse?” drao sneered, although harry ould tell his heart wasn’t in it
“is that even a quesn? have you seen you?”
“i don’t think i look all that different,” drao shrugged
harry knew he had brought this n upon himself, but he felt he was getting too lose to saying too muh he stood up, paing between their two armhairs when his bak was to drao he spoke
“you look—i keep telling myself you must be a ghost or some extremely iive mirror of erised-esque vin i keep telling myself thetime i turn around, you’ll be gone or i’ll be having a moment of luidity in whatever st mungo’s bed i’m urrently stred into,” harry rambled, turning to find drao had also stood from his seat
“so i look like a ghost?” drao said, roahing harry slowly
“no, that’s not what i meant i mean, you’re pale, but—” harry trailed off again as drao took his arm by the wrist
drao took harry’s hand and ped it on his hest
“you’re hand doesn’t go through, does it?” drao asked, his voie impossibly soft
“no,” harry whispered drao’s sweater was thinner than he expeted, and he ould feel the heat from his body bleeding through against his hand
drao ped his other hand over harry’s, pressing it against his hest harder
“and i’ve a heartbeat, don’t i?” drao asked
“yes”
“do i feel like a ghost, potter?”
harry shook his head in the ive
“and what about a vin?” drao asked, studying harry arefully “is this that you’d see in the mirror?”
drao’s tone was flippant, but harry ould see in his eyes that he wanted he wanted the answer to be yes, he wanted to be the thing harry longed for most in the world and of ourse the answer was yes, but old habits die hard and he wasn’t giving drao any easy vitories, no matter how small
“no,” he said, pausing, and drao’s shoulders fell, only slightly, before he omposed himself, a bit more guarded than before
“then i’m not a vin, obusly,” he said, his voie tight around his nonhane
“if this were the mirror, you’d be shorter,” harry said
drao snorted, the tenn falling from him
“what? if i were having to onjure you up from memory, do you really think i’d give you this many advantages? the height, the hair, the—” harry trailed off, and in a mad moment of bravery, ran a finger along drao’s heekbone those hadn’t hanged muh in the time sine he’d st seen him, but they were still beautiful, and unfairly so “i think i’d imagine you more in my league”
“as if i ever was,” drao smiled, pressing his heek into harry’s hand
harry paused, seeing himself as if from the outside, one hand on drao’s hest, the other on his heek, and he was struk with the improbability of this very moment ever being real and yet it was
“what are we doing?” harry whispered, his eyes darting from drao’s eyes down to his lips
“don’t at like you didn’t know exatly where this was going the moment you brought up the bloody album”
“i wasn’t sure if you wanted it to go there, still,” harry replied
