DAY 25. Harry Potter. Harry/Draco. First Fight Title: First Fight Author:digthewriter Word Count: 1400 Rating: R Warning: EWE. Auror Training Academy. Made up stuff. Pretend Relationship. Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. Author's Notes: This story is going to be called "Nothing Ventured. Nothing Gained." Each chapter is going to have a unique title but it'll all be part of one big story. I hope! AO3 link for all chapters in a row! All my thanks to nia_kantorka for the beta - omg best alpha/beta ever!
"I knew it!" Padma announced, a little too loudly for Harry's own good when Harry told her he and Draco—he was Draco now—were actually an item. They were standing in line to order coffee from the corner shop before heading back to training. "I told you. I told you he liked you from the start!"
"What is she on about?" Draco walked up to Harry and placed an arm around his shoulder.
"I was just telling Harry here—"
"Padma!"
"Oh, right!" At least she had the decency to look sheepish. "Nevermind. So, will you tell me what you and Theodore have been secretly meeting about or am I going to have to withhold sex from him to discover it?"
"You what?" This time it was Harry who was confused and curious.
"I...I can't tell you," Draco said, visibly turning red. Harry hadn't seen him this embarrassed in a very long time. Not since he'd been turned into a ferret and then turned back into human.
Draco quickly turned around and walked away, leaving Harry and Padma alone to join Nott by the pastries. Harry turned and looked at Padma with one eyebrow raised.
She shook her head. "Poor bloke. I suppose I shouldn't be so harsh to him. I mean, I did find it already..."
"Find what?" Harry asked; this wasn't getting any more clear.
"His Christmas gift for me," she said. "I was afraid it was going to be something really bad so I went snooping around. I didn't want his gift giving to go completely horrible. And then I found it."
"What was it?" Gods, she was being so cryptic, it was driving Harry mad.
She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "An engagement ring."
"Oh..." Harry said, eyes wide. "Aren't you a little young...?"
She shrugged. "Maybe. But engagement doesn't mean marriage tomorrow. I reckon we'd have to get through the academy and the next year before we can discuss anything serious. Besides, he'll have to come and ask for my hand in marriage from my parents, of course. I think that's why he's been meeting with Malfoy in secret. Malfoy would have more information on traditional pureblood wedding customs that aren't all that British. He's well-versed in all of them. It's too bad Theodore's family didn't focus his education..." She trailed off and Harry had stopped listening.
Draco had been meeting with Nott in secret? He had no idea. Pretend boyfriend or real one, Harry usually always knew Draco's whereabouts. He started to worry if there were things he'd missed about Draco and whether he should have been paying more attention. Harry wanted to be a good boyfriend, and didn't want Draco to think he was taking him for granted.
Eventually, the queue moved up and they ordered their coffees. On the way back to the academy, Draco slipped his arm around Harry's and they walked slow. "What was Patil on about anyway? What did she know?"
Harry shrugged. "Just..." He paused for a second. "Draco, did you tell anyone? About us I mean? Before we became official I guess." The words were coming out slowly, as Harry was carefully calculating what to say. The snowfall was heavy and they were trudging through it, leaving foot marks as they walked. If the coffee in the academy cafeteria weren't utter shite, Harry and his friends wouldn't be making this trek almost on a daily basis.
"No," Draco said without hesitation.
Oh. "Very well, then."
"Did you tell Patil?"
Gods, he really was such a know-it-all wasn't he?
"Maybe. I needed to talk to someone about it..." Harry whispered, afraid he was going to upset Draco.
"Potter, I told you not to!" Draco all but yelled. Padma and Nott were walking far ahead of them so they didn't hear, or if they did, they didn't turn.
"Calm down. She won't tell anyone. Not even Nott."
"But that's not the point—"
"Will you relax?"
"Relax?" Draco roared. "You had one fucking job, Harry. I asked for one bloody favour!" Draco stormed off away from him and Harry chased after him. But, they'd already reached the academy and were getting ready to go into training. Whatever it was, it was going to have to wait until later.
0-0-0
When Harry is back in his quarters after training—he and Draco were in separate groups today—he finds Draco sitting on his bed reading the paper. The Prophet has published another article on their dating life, and Draco is scowling at it.
"What? They got the wrong angle of your face again?" Harry teased, but Draco didn't move; he didn't acknowledge Harry's presence.
He walked up to Draco's bed and sat down. Draco shifted in his position, angling himself away from Harry. "Draco..." Harry tried to reach out and Draco moved away again.
"What is your bloody problem?" Harry snapped.
"I don't have a bloody problem!"
"I get you're pissed off at me. It's fine for you to be cross but I don't understand why you're this upset. I told one fucking friend. And she promised she wouldn't tell anyone. She didn't even tell Nott! And I took you to the Burrow under the pretence of you being my boyfriend. No one knows. It's not going to come out or anything and now we're actually together. What's the harm?"
"Why did you have to tell her?" Draco asked, still angry, but Harry could tell his resolve was slightly melting.
"I had to tell someone. Talk it out. I'm not like you. I can't be all Slytherin and sneak around and plot and plan on my own. I need friends."
"Didn't realise we weren't friends."
Harry rolled his eyes. "We weren't friends. I thought you hated me. You barely looked at me and the only time you talked to me was when you needed my celebrity status!"
Draco's eyes widened with surprise and he got up off the bed. Harry immediately followed him. "I didn't mean that."
"Fuck off."
"Draco..."
"FUCK. OFF."
"No!" Harry grabbed Draco by the shoulder and turned him around. "No. You are not going to push me away. I said the wrong thing, I know, but I'm not going to let you punish me for trusting my friend."
Draco tried to free himself from Harry's grasp but Harry was holding on tight. So Draco stomped on Harry's foot and then punch him, albeit lightly, in the stomach. All the hand-to-hand combat training they'd received in their first term was finally paying off. Draco was small but he used his size and strength against Harry.
Harry didn't want to hurt him, but he didn't want to be pushed around either. He grabbed Draco by the wrist and twisted his arm; making sure his other arm was pinned under Draco as he pressed Draco against the small counter in their kitchenette.
"Will you just listen?!"
"NO!"
"Why? Why are you being like this? I'm not going to let go until you tell me why!"
Draco sighed and pushed back against Harry, and even if they were fighting, the fact that Draco's arse was rubbing up against Harry's groin was making him hard. This was not the time to get aroused, Harry thought, and if this were anyone else, a criminal perhaps—this was not the reaction Harry was going to get. He pushed his cock against Draco's arse and pinned him down.
Draco let out a small whine, that was equal parts frustration and equal parts arousal. "Because, you'll leave me too. Even if you want this to be real. You'll get sick of me—"
Harry let go of Draco right away. He turned Draco around and grabbed him by his shoulders. "That's not going to happen."
"It's—"
Harry silenced Draco with a kiss. He grabbed Draco's face, all but digging his fingers in Draco's skull. He tried to kiss the living fuck out of him; to tell him how he felt and he could never feel like that for anyone else, didn't want to feel like that for anyone else, and Draco was crazy to think after all this time he was just going to leave.
Then, Draco was kissing him back; giving it just as good as he was getting it. Harry parted his lips and Draco slammed his tongue in, fucking Harry's mouth with it and Harry groaned, equal parts frustration and equal parts desire.