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Draco couldn"t stand sharing a dormitory with so many other people. The past seven years had been bad enough, stuck in the same room as the other four male Slytherins and having to endure night after night of Greg and Vince snoring. It almost seemed like a competition between the two of them to see who could be the most obnoxious. Sometimes it was so bad that Draco was sure they must be consciously trying to make as much noise as possible just to annoy him.
But that was nothing compared to now. Now, he and all the other students returning for their eighth year had been moved to their own separate dormitory. The staff of Hogwarts and a number of volunteers had been working hard all summer to restore the school enough so that they could continue classes that September, and they hadn"t had time to do more than convert a few old, unused classrooms into a dormitory for the eighth-years. That meant that they"d only been able to create two separate dorms for males and females, connected by a large common room. The dorms were sectioned off by House, but it was a lot less privacy than Draco was used to, and all the boys had to share one large bathroom.
The events of the past few years had increased Draco"s tolerance to all kinds of indignities, but having so much of his personal space invaded by so many other people still threatened to push him over the edge on occasion. It was hard to get used to so many people he barely knew walking around the boys" dorm half-dressed, and there was always the potential of someone watching him stepping into and out of the shower, or worse, seeing him before he"d had a chance to fix his hair in the mornings.
Draco stared at his reflection in the mirror as he combed his damp hair, and stifled a sigh. As usual, he wasn"t alone in the bathroom, and he wanted to hurry up and finish so that he wouldn"t have to spend one more second under the others" watchful eyes than he had to. And he definitely didn"t want anyone to see his hair before he"d cast his straightening charm. Resisting the urge to glance around furtively — after all, he knew he wasn"t alone and looking around would only call further attention to himself — he first cast a spell to dry his hair, rapidly followed by another spell to smooth and straighten it.
It wasn"t so much that Draco"s hair looked bad — he didn"t know what he"d do if he had hair like Potter"s. But in its natural state, it was very light and fine, fluttering around his face in soft waves, completely unmanageable, and completely un-Malfoylike. He didn"t look bad, he looked . . . cute. His hair was so soft and fluffy that instead of looking like the powerful, distinguished Malfoy he tried so hard to be, he looked waifish, almost sweet. Adorable, even. And Malfoys were not adorable. It was unthinkable. And so he performed the straightening charm as fast as possible once his hair was dry and resented every second anyone from the other Houses saw him like that.
Unfortunately, right now, the charm didn"t seem to be working. There was a slight buzzing sound as the spell bounced harmlessly off his head, and nothing else. Frowning, Draco tried it again. Nothing.
He waved his wand a third time, speaking the incantation aloud this time in irritation. Still nothing more than a buzzing in his ears, and his hair continued to hang in his face in feathery waves.
A soft snort nearby met his ears, and he turned to see a boy from either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw standing at one of the sinks behind him, snickering openly. At him. With a snarl, Draco turned and pointed his wand at the other boy before he could react.
He fairly shouted the curse, even though he"d become skilled at nonverbal spells over the past few years, and his offender fell to the floor with a satisfying howl. The other two boys who were in the bathroom, watching the scene with interest, quickly turned back around and resumed what they were doing.
"Well, it"s not my wand," he said casually, then turned and strode back to his part of the dorm with his head held high, ready to glare down anyone who even looked in his direction.
Blaise knew something was wrong even before he saw Draco. The door hadn"t even clicked shut behind his best friend before he was calling out Blaise"s name plaintively, his light footsteps hurrying across the room almost to the point of running. Blaise turned around slowly, one eyebrow raised in question, to see Draco standing before him, his eyes wide and slightly panicked, not even attempting to project his usual air of feigned indifference. Which didn"t matter much, since Blaise had always been able to see right through his friend, yet still told him that this must be serious if Draco wasn"t even going to try to pretend nothing was wrong.
The next thing he noticed was Draco"s hair, and he immediately understood the reason for the panic. He managed to quell a sudden, intense desire to smirk as Draco looked up at him, very obviously trying to get himself under control.
"Blaise," he said again, in a tone of desperate hopefulness, "you know how to do a straightening charm, don"t you?"
Blaise forced himself not to roll his eyes. "What do you think?" he said, gesturing to his own tight curls.
Draco gave him an impatient look. "This is serious, Blaise! I know you"ve seen me fix my hair just about every morning for the past seven years. You should at least remember something as simple as that." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Blaise"s hand and guided it through the wand movements he"d seen Draco perform every morning before leaving the dorm. "See, it"s easy. Now try it on my hair."
Blaise resisted the urge to perform a different kind of movement with his wand (really, Draco had no sense of humor when it came to his hair) and complied. Nothing happened.
"Try it again," Draco commanded, his voice rising slightly in pitch.
Blaise tried it several more times, to no avail. Seeing that it was useless, Draco collapsed onto his bed and buried his face in his hands.
"No," Blaise heard him whimper. "I can"t leave the dorm like this — I look ridiculous! What am I going to do, Blaise?"
Blaise sat down next to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "You"re going to go to class and act like nothing is wrong the way you always have. Because nothing is wrong. Your hair looks kind of cute like that. I really don"t know what you"re freaking out about."
Before Blaise had even finished speaking, Draco had raised his head and was giving him the kind of venomous glare he usually only reserved for Gryffindors.
"Malfoys," he hissed through his teeth, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, "are not cute."
Could"ve fooled me, Blaise almost said, but remembered just in time that he rather liked being alive and able to do things under his own power. "Draco," he said instead, "you really are making way too big a deal of it. I bet no one will even notice your hair, and maybe tonight you can figure out how to get it back to normal."
The look Draco was giving Blaise told him he didn"t believe a word Blaise had just said.
"Besides," Blaise continued, "hiding out in the dorms all day just because you don"t like the way your hair looks isn"t very Malfoy-like, is it?"
Draco glared at him. "Fine!" he raged. He seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "Some friend you are!" he finished, and stormed out of the room.
Blaise let out a long sigh as he sank back down on his bed. Sometimes, he thought, Draco"s prima-donna attitude really was too much.
Draco strode into the common room, fuming. How dare Blaise . . . He seemed to be having trouble figuring out just what Blaise had done, but it must have been something. Why else would Draco be so angry?
Greg and Pansy were sitting on a couch, waiting for him. An odd look crossed Pansy"s face as he approached, but it disappeared quickly.
"Draco," she greeted him. "You look . . . different."
Draco gritted his teeth. In the past few minutes, his irritation at Blaise had caused him to forget about his stupid hair, and Pansy just had to remind him all over again. He was sure everyone was staring at him and laughing to themselves. A quick glance around the room didn"t support this theory, but he decided they were all just being unusually subtle about it. Well, there wasn"t anything he could do now, not after the way he"d come storming out of the boys" dorm.
"Let"s just go to breakfast," he grumbled. Pansy gave him another odd look, but Greg was already up and hurrying out the door just like Draco knew he would be. Draco let out a small sigh, steeling his nerves against the reactions he anticipated to his hair, then followed him, with Pansy close behind.
The whole morning, Draco was unusually tense, certain everyone must be staring at his hair, but he couldn"t catch anyone at it, no matter how hard he tried. There were a few curious glances, but no one outright staring at him, or even a hint of a smirk on anyone"s face. It was actually rather infuriating that he couldn"t catch anyone laughing at him. If he could just make an example of one person, he thought, the rest of them would surely find somewhere else to look.
Except for Potter, of course. All during breakfast, Draco had kept shooting quick glances over to the Gryffindor table, and Potter had been looking at him every single time. Draco was fairly certain Potter had had something to do with the current state of his hair, so it didn"t surprise him too much that Potter kept looking at him, probably to gloat over his handiwork. Besides, he did catch Potter staring at him fairly often during meals and classes, so it wasn"t particularly unusual. Sometimes, they would scowl at one another and look away, but most of the time, they would simply regard each other for a moment and then return their attention to whatever they"d been doing. Draco wasn"t sure what to make of it. He supposed part of it may have been because they weren"t constantly at each other"s throats this year. Since the Slytherins were now openly the outcasts of the whole school, he and the others had decided to lay low this year and avoid trouble, and that meant not picking fights with the Golden Boy.
Draco entered the Potions classroom and headed for his usual seat next to Theo and Blaise. A quick glance towards the back of the room caught Potter staring at him once again. Potter turned away hurriedly, looking decidedly guilty. Draco let a grim smirk form on his face.
Well, at least I know who the culprit is, he thought. Shouldn"t be too hard to prove he did something to my hair. If I"m lucky, I might even catch him bragging about what he did to his stupid friends. They"ve all gotten so damned cocky this year. Probably thinks he can just do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it. Draco scowled to himself. The problem was, that was probably true. Now that Potter was the big hero, everybody seemed to fawn all over him, including teachers. Draco didn"t even know why he"d returned this year. He doubted anyone would care what kind of marks the Savior got on his N.E.W.T.s. He could probably sleep through every test and still get all Os, Draco thought bitterly. Not that anyone will care even if he fails. They"ll probably just hand him whatever job he wants regardless.
Draco shot another glance across the room in time to catch Potter with an oddly dreamy expression on his face. This time, Potter turned slightly pink before ducking his head and pretending to pay attention to his work. Draco frowned slightly. Why is he acting all embarrassed? You"d think he"d be proud of himself, bragging and laughing about what he did to anyone who"ll listen. He has to know I"m on to him by now.
Draco turned around to give Slughorn his full attention. He wasn"t about to let stupid Potter make him look bad in his favorite class. Potter would have to cross his path eventually, and then Draco could get him to confess what he"d done to Draco"s hair so he could fix it. After all, the damage was already done; most of the school must"ve seen him by now.
He let out a slight sigh and willed himself to put Potter out of his head. There would be plenty of time to think of a creative punishment for him later.
As the day progressed, it seemed to Draco that people were acting more and more bizarre. He still couldn"t catch anyone staring and laughing, but there did seem to be an odd number of people, especially girls, smiling at him. They were subtle, but every now and then, he"d notice someone looking in his direction with the same dreamy smile Potter had had on his face earlier. As soon as he caught anyone"s eye, however, they quickly turned away. Draco didn"t know what to make of it. He had been prepared to deal with mockery, not this, whatever it was. With an annoyed sigh, he pushed his wispy hair out of his eyes for the millionth time that day before turning back to his lunch.
This time, the sound of girlish giggles met his ears, and he raised his head sharply to see a small group of Hufflepuffs quickly looking away. They were giggling and blushing, some even fanning themselves, in an almost caricaturish display of infatuation. Frowning slightly, Draco looked back down at his food, but continued watching them out of the corner of his eye. After a bit, he could see them looking at him again, nudging each other and giggling as they did. Curious, he slowly ran a hand through his hair again, letting the soft strands fall back in front of his eyes. This earned him another round of giggles, and he could swear one of them even pretended to swoon.
Stifling a sigh, he poked at the remains of his lunch. It was worse than he"d feared. Nobody was laughing at him, but the fawning was almost as bad. And it was much harder to deal with. Part of him was flattered that those silly girls thought he was cute — he supposed it was something of a compliment after all. But making some kind of example of them by calling them out and insulting them, the way he"d intended when he thought people were laughing at him, would be just the kind of mean thing he"d been trying not to do all year. No, he"d just have to deal with it until he could fix his hair.
Damn Potter, he thought, raising his eyes just in time to see the Gryffindor look away guiltily. This is all your fault.
"Draco, give it a rest already. He"s just eating, for Merlin"s sake."
Pansy"s voice beside him startled Draco out of his reverie. He"d almost forgotten she was there.
Seeing she had his attention, Pansy motioned toward his half-full plate. "Now forget about Potter and eat something. You"re much too skinny."
Draco rolled his eyes. Pansy was such a mother hen, and she seemed to get worse every year. "Yes, Mother," he said snarkily, poking at his chicken without much interest.
Pansy let out a loud sigh. "Honestly."
"If you"re not going to eat that, can I have it?" Greg was eyeing Draco"s plate hopefully, the way he inevitably did towards the end of a meal.
"No," Pansy told him sternly. "He eats too little and you eat too much. Why do boys have to be so difficult?"
Draco gave her a sympathetic smile. "Being a mother hen is a full-time job, isn"t it?" He ducked out of the way of the biscuit she threw in his direction with a smirk. After awhile, Pansy and Greg resumed up their usual lunchtime argument as Draco went back to brooding over what Potter had done to his hair. Potter was going to pay, Draco thought. He would make sure of it.
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Draco calmly shut his Ancient Runes textbook and slid it into his schoolbag before walking towards the door in a cool, controlled manner. What he really wanted to do, however, was slam the book shut and run screaming down the halls, giving release to the pent-up aggression that had been building inside him all day. But he was a Malfoy, after all, and Malfoys didn"t scream, no matter how much he wanted to every time he caught some girl batting her eyes at him. Or the time he"d overheard someone in the hallway between classes saying, "What did Malfoy do to his hair? He looks so cute!"
He wasn"t quite sure how he had managed to keep moving without giving any indication he"d heard that, although he"d been grinding his teeth so hard it was a wonder they hadn"t broken. Right now, it was certainly taking every ounce of willpower he had just to walk out the door with the poise that was usually so effortless. It had been a long, long day.
It seemed that luck was not on his side today, and he"d only just stepped out the door when he heard a voice calling his name. He turned, frowning, to see one of the girls in his Ancient Runes class looking up at him nervously.
"Malfoy? Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked hesitantly. A few years ago, he wouldn"t have even acknowledged her, and a part of him sorely wanted to tell her to bugger off because he was tired and irritated and just wanted to get back to his dorm. But he"d been trying so hard to behave himself all year, and he wasn"t about to let all his hard work go to waste just like that. Besides, she was kind of cute, even if he did generally prefer boys. Particularly boys with messy hair and green eyes — no, he wasn"t about to go there.
"I guess," he said.
She smiled in obvious relief. "Well, you"re really good at Ancient Runes, aren"t you? I mean, the professor always compliments your work so much."
He shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose." Of course, he was one of the top students at Hogwarts, but he tried not to project too much of a scholarly image. He didn"t want people to think he was a nerd.
"Um, well, I was really having trouble understanding what she was talking about today. Do you think you could help me over the weekend? I mean, you always seem to catch on right away, and—"
"Why are you asking me?" he interrupted before she could start to babble. "Everyone knows Granger"s at the top of our class."
She was starting to fidget. "Well, yeah," she said, toying with a lock of her hair. "But so are you. And she"s not as cute as you."
Was everyone in the entire school going to call him cute today? He let out a long sigh, fighting to keep control of himself. She must have picked up on his irritation because she started to look more nervous than ever.
"You"d actually lower yourself to flirting with a Slytherin?" he snapped before he could stop himself. "Why are you bothering me? I thought the whole school was afraid to be seen associating with us."
"Well, I — I don"t know," she said, turning pink. "You just seem different today for some reason. Like, almost approachable somehow. Guess I was wrong." She turned and fled down the hall, leaving Draco staring after her in bewilderment.
He shook his head, unwilling to believe what he"d just heard. Approachable. She"d just said he seemed approachable. What was the world coming to? He shook his head again. It was bad enough that everyone thought he was cute, but now he was approachable? This simply couldn"t be borne. Draco turned sharply and headed for his dormitory. He would find Potter and get him to fix his hair if it was the last thing he did.
Draco cast a quick glance around as he entered the library, but nobody even looked in his direction. He held one hand in front of his face and was pleased by how perfectly invisible it was — in all his years sneaking around Hogwarts, he"d become quite skilled at casting a Disillusionment Charm.
Satisfied that no one could see him, Draco looked around the library for Potter. He"d heard Granger nagging him about studying earlier until Potter had agreed to spend the evening with his books, so Draco was confident he"d find him here sooner or later.
Now it seemed that luck finally was on his side, as he found Potter sooner rather than later, sitting at a table in a remote corner of the library with Longbottom.
Perfect, Draco thought happily as he sank into a chair at the far end of their table. He was far enough away that they should be unaware of his presence, but close enough to hear every word they said. And Draco was sure that Potter wouldn"t let such a wonderful opportunity to brag about what he"d done to Draco"s hair slip away from him. So he waited, listening intently.
"I don"t know, it"s been such a weird year," Potter was saying. "Everything has changed so much. I guess I just wish something was still the same."
"I know what you mean," said Longbottom. "But I don"t think I would"ve gone that far." He chuckled to himself.
"Whoever would"ve thought I"d actually miss arguing with Malfoy?" Potter mused. "But I really do miss his snarky comments. Some of them were pretty clever, you know?"
"I still can"t believe you would mess with his hair just to provoke him," said Longbottom. "What did you do to it, anyway? He looked pissed off all day."
Potter smiled, almost the same dreamy smile Draco had seen earlier. "He sure did," he said. "I cast a spell that blocks his straightening charm. I"m surprised he hasn"t killed me yet."
I knew it! Draco thought triumphantly. He was about to stand up and reveal himself, but something made him keep still and listen a bit longer.
"It"s funny," Potter was saying. "Every year I"ve wished things would just be normal, and now that they are, I"m bored out of my mind. Fighting with Malfoy was never boring, I"ll say that much. He always knew just how to get under my skin. Now, he just seems so . . . so dispirited. I don"t like it. I miss the snarky little prat, however strange that may sound."
Draco blinked hard at Potter"s words. Surely, Potter knew he was there and was putting on this little act in order to trick him somehow. Why else would he say those strange things?
Longbottom was saying something that Draco didn"t quite catch.
"Yeah, I know," Potter said. "But that"s why I"m talking to you. Ron was understanding enough when I told him I like guys, but this is different. When I cast that spell, I really didn"t know what was going to happen, you know? I mean, I didn"t know he would look so . . . " He actually blushed, ducking his head down before finishing his sentence. "Cute."
Draco gritted his teeth. If one more person called him cute today . . .
Longbottom grinned. "I can see Ron freaking out if you started going on about Malfoy being cute."
"Yeah, and that"s not even what I was trying to say," Potter continued. "I mean, it doesn"t even make sense to me after he"s been such a prat all this time. And Ron would really freak out if he knew the truth."
"What"s that, Harry?"
Potter shook his head in agitation. "I don"t know — I mean, I haven"t been able to stop staring at him all day, and now here I am, actually missing his stupid insults." He sighed audibly. "I think I have a crush on Malfoy."
I think I have a crush on Malfoy.
The words echoed in Draco"s head as he sat, frozen, staring across the table at Potter in shock. He barely heard the rest of the conversation, unable to move his mind past that unexpected revelation. It wasn"t until Potter and Longbottom stood up and left the table that Draco was brought back to the present.
Oh, no, you don"t, he thought, jumping to his feet and hurrying after Potter. After all that, you and I definitely need to have a little talk.
Once he was alone, he undid the Disillusionment Charm and resumed following Potter. At some point, he and Longbottom had parted ways, leaving Potter by himself. Draco hurried down the hall after him, and it didn"t take Potter long to realize he was being followed.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Potter demanded, turning to face him.
Draco gave him an exasperated look. "I think you know," he said. He slowly ran one hand through his feathery hair, delighting in the way Potter"s eyes widened and he licked his lips before turning pink and quickly looking away.
"You can"t prove I did that," said Potter, but he didn"t sound very sure of himself.
"Can"t I? I was just in the library, Potter. I heard your little conversation with Longbottom. Very incriminating."
"So you"re spying on me now?" From the look on Potter"s face, Draco could tell he was going over everything he"d said to Longbottom, trying to figure out what Draco might"ve heard.
Draco shrugged. "I knew you had something to do with my hair looking like this." He ran his hand through it again, enjoying Potter"s reaction. "So I figured if I listened long enough, I"d overhear you bragging about what you"d done to it."
Potter"s eyes followed Draco"s hand as he replied. "Yeah? Hear anything you didn"t expect?"
Draco considered him for a moment. "Maybe I did and maybe I didn"t, Scarhead. Gryffindors are so pathetically obvious. You"ve been blushing and giggling like a damn Hufflepuff every time I looked in your direction all day." He suddenly realized this was true, but Potter didn"t need to know that. "So, what, you like me now?"
Potter was looking thoughtfully at him the entire time he was speaking. "Well, it"s nice to see your ego is still intact, Ferret-face," he said finally. "I have to say, this new you has been getting a bit boring."
Draco inhaled sharply and stepped closer to Potter. "Oh, I"m boring you, am I? Well, somebody call the Ministry! I"m sure boring the Savior of the Wizarding World is a punishable offense."
Potter grimaced slightly at the nickname, but held his ground. "For you, it should be," he said. "You used to be interesting. Now you just sit in your little corner and stew with the others. It can"t be healthy."
Draco"s nostrils flared as he moved even closer, forcing Potter against the wall behind him. He could see the spark of excitement in Potter"s eyes as he did, and he didn"t even try to hold himself back. At this point, he wasn"t even sure he could.
"What the hell do you want from me, Potter? I"ve behaved myself all year and nobody appreciates it! Maybe I should stop wasting my time and go back to being a bully again. Would you like that? I"m just trying to survive this year so I can graduate and get on with my life but nothing I do seems to be good enough for anyone anymore. Well, I"m fucking tired of it! All of you can just piss off because I don"t want to play this stupid game anymore!" He was breathing hard by the time he"d finished his rant, and he couldn"t remember the last time he"d felt this angry. Potter was looking back at him unflinchingly, his eyes bright.
"Feel better?" Potter inquired sweetly, when it was clear Draco was done talking.
"Fuck you, Potter. You"re not my damned therapist," Draco grumbled, but most of his anger had already passed.
"Draco?" Potter said as Draco opened his mouth again. "When are you going to shut up and let me kiss you?"
"What—" But he didn"t get any further than that before Potter wrapped his arms around Draco"s neck and brought their lips together.
Draco kissed Potter back, letting himself get swept away by the delicious sensations. Potter felt wonderful pressed so tightly against him. They fit together so perfectly, Draco thought, almost as if they had been made for each other. He almost regretted that they had spent so much of their time fighting one another for all these years, and yet, fighting with Potter also seemed right in some way he couldn"t define. It almost seemed like a form of foreplay, he thought, and he wasn"t completely sure he wanted to stop.
Potter"s lips had made their way down Draco"s neck, and he was sucking and biting on a particularly sensitive spot with a ferocity that Draco knew would leave marks later. His hands hadn"t left Draco"s hair the entire time.
"I was going to ask you," Draco said, trying and failing to sound casual. "What exactly did you do to my hair?"
Potter pulled away with obvious reluctance. "Nothing," he said innocently.
Draco ran a hand through his hair impatiently. "This is not nothing!"
"What"s the big deal?" Potter said with a smirk. "I like it better this way. It"s adorable." And he pressed his lips to Draco"s once more, before he could protest being called adorable. Draco let himself get caught up in the moment. Kissing Potter was entirely too great a temptation to resist.
But he would make Potter tell him how to fix his hair eventually. Because, after all, Malfoys were not adorable.
~ fin ~
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