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Flashes went off in Harry’s face as he stumbled through the crowd.
“Harry! There have been quite a few comments about you coming back to Hogwarts! Some say that you should head straight to an Auror position while others say you should be Minister!”
“Are the rumors true that you’re getting blatant favoritism from the Headmaster and teachers when you’re at Hogwarts?!”
“Harry, Harry! There’s been unconfirmed word that you’re a shoo-in for multiple awards, your thoughts?!”
At last, the train doors opened, and Harry was one of the first people to board. He quickly moved toward the back of the train, hurling himself into the last cabin before grabbing his invisibility cloak and draping it over himself.
He only had time to take a couple of deep breaths before the door banged open for a couple of seconds and then slammed shut. Malfoy locked the door with a silent cast, huffing as if out of breath as he sat on the opposite bench of Harry.
Then, as if nothing had happened, Malfoy whipped out a newspaper, skimming the pages. Harry’s mouth flattened at that—the exact same time as Malfoy rolled his eyes.
“Bloody vultures,” Malfoy muttered to himself as Harry’s eyes widened in surprise. “We’re not even of age yet.”
Harry—feeling stupidly annoyed—mouthed his agreement.
“‘The Ravenous Enchanter. Sexiest wizards of the year.’ Just what we needed. And look, the daft savior is here,” Malfoy scoffed, and Harry closed his eyes in embarrassed acceptance. “I’ve seen better-looking blokes.”
Harry felt weirdly offended by that, wishing he could say something awful about Malfoy’s appearance back. Even if it would be a lie.
“Though he does have a nice arse,” Malfoy added thoughtfully.
Wait what—
Harry dropped his satchel. The bag flipped forward and took the invisible cloak down with it. Harry froze before slowly dragging his gaze back to Malfoy and giving him a sheepish smile.
“Er, hello?” Harry said as he gave Malfoy a small wave.
Malfoy’s face flickered between disbelief and annoyance before finally settling on a mix of annoyance and exasperation. With a wave of a hand, he wandlessly unlocked the door for Harry.
“Potter. What a delightful surprise,” Malfoy snarked.
Harry winced at the sardonic tone. “Uhm, it’s good to—”
Malfoy made a face at that. “Yes, because we’ve always been best mates. Ever since you told me that you could ‘tell the wrong sort’ for yourself and the years that followed.”
Harry forgot the situation in only moments, angered at that, “Bollocks, you started it! If my mind serves me correctly, didn’t you say, ‘Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley.’ What were you expecting? Another servant to do your—“
“I never said I wasn’t in the wrong,” Malfoy snapped. “In fact, here I am stating that. I, Draco Malfoy, was in the wrong. My apologies to you, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger for all the absolute shit I did to you guys when I was younger. I will not make excuses for my actions as I have learned that I am indeed the problem. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve to look over the rest of this idiotic magazine in silence, you absolute dolt.”
It was completely quiet for a couple of minutes as Harry gaped at Draco’s outburst. He stared for a couple more, but of course, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut for long.
“Where the hell did you learn that?” Harry muttered in awe, as Draco took in a big breath as if to calm himself.
“I thought I told you to stay quiet.” He huffed when Harry kept gawking and took to glaring. “It’s called maturity, something that happens when you start to grow up. Don’t worry, I"m sure you’ll get some soon. Or else the whole Wizarding World may fall apart,” he added sarcastically.
That had seemed to shake Harry out of his trance, dazed and shaking his head in bewilderment.
The door slid back open, and the Trolley Witch smiled at the both of them. “Anything you two would like off the cart?”
Harry shook his head politely, “I’ve got all the snacks I need.”
The Trolley Witch nodded and turned directly to Draco.
“Two treacle tarts please,” he said, pulling out a couple of coins and handing them over.
She passed the tarts over to Draco before presenting them both with a smile as she shut the cabin door.
Harry eyed the treacle tarts with clear interest while Draco sighed and looked out the window. It took less than a minute for Draco to break, and seemingly begrudgingly, offer Harry a treacle tart.
Harry gave him a surprised smile, “Oh, er, thanks. I didn’t know you liked these.”
“I like most sugary things.”
“Except pumpkin juice,” Harry added with his mouth full.
Draco made a face at his bad manners but raised a brow and a frown appeared, more curious than anything. “How do you know that?”
Harry blinked twice at him before looking at him in confusion. “It’s rather obvious, isn’t it?”
Considering that Draco’s own family and friends never really noticed—no, it’s not that obvious.
“How do you know that?” Draco repeated.
“Oh, uh, well you’ve never touched pumpkin juice. Not during lunches or at any events, you prefer, ah, tea? You’re always drinking that fancy Chinese green tea from the kitchens, so I’m just guessing honestly.”
Draco stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“Do I like chocolate?”
“Uhm, yes, in most things, though you don’t enjoy white chocolate.”
Draco gave him a weird look. “Right and what astrology sign am I?”
“You’re a Gemini.”
He gaped at Harry.
“What are the classes I do best in?”
Harry gave Draco a weird look back. “You’re brilliant in Occlumency if that counts. You’re also exceptional in Potions and Charms, and you’re good in Transfiguration.” He suddenly flushed before continuing, “Objectively speaking. Now, are you going to tell me why you’re interrogating me about you?”
“Now how in the bloody fuck do you know all that?”
“Er, I noticed it?”
Draco scrutinized him with a disbelieving gaze. “You mean to tell me that you’ve figured that all out yourself?!” And then he muttered, “My younger self is rioting currently.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Do you eat Muggle sweets?”
Ah, Harry thought he already knew where this was headed. “Yes, and it’s not something you can insult me for—“
“That’s true,” Draco agreed. “They don"t randomly change flavors and at least it doesn’t try to run away from you.”
“Exactly—Wait, you eat Muggle sweets?”
“Yes, though I can’t eat too much of the sour ones.”
“Don’t you, like, think Muggles are inferior and never go to the Muggle side of the world?”
“Yes, and no. Muggles are still definitely inferior, but some of their inventions aren’t bad and I have to go to the Muggle now. They don’t allow Death Eaters in a lot of places nowadays.”
“But you already had your trial—”
“That’s not how most people view it.”
Harry frowned. “You’ve got your punishments already. What else are they expecting?”
“I don’t know,” Draco sighed. “Considering the majority of them are your followers, you tell me.”
“You think I ought to talk to them?”
“Are you asking me?” Draco questioned, eyes almost budging out of his head.
Harry flushed but shrugged. “I mean I’m not sure, how much it would, er, help.”
“I don’t need your help,” Draco snapped. And then muttered lowly so Harry couldn’t hear, “I need more help than Merlin could ever give when it comes to us.”
“You—? Are you mocking me underneath your breath?”
Draco smiled sweetly at him and in a regular tone said, “Of course, Potter. Haven’t you heard? Everything must be about you—even my undies have your name printed on them. ‘Harold the Boy Who Made These’ has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
Harry felt himself blushing. “I’m—I’m terribly sorry, I must have misheard you. Malfoy, did you just make a joke about my status?”
“Why? Are you offended? If so, most definitely.”
“That’s—” Harry laughed loudly, surprising the nonchalant Draco in front of him, as he played along. “You know my full name is still Harry, right?”
Draco nodded, a snobbish sniff as he said, “Well, Harold James Potter would sound a bit off. Unnatural if you will.”
Harry only grinned and shook his head. Then it was silent for a few moments. He felt like saying something more, like doing something happy.
“Say, Malfoy, do you think you could win a game of cards? Uno?”
“One what? Why are you speaking Spanish now?”
“No, no, ‘Uno’ is a card game.”
Draco was not impressed and raised a sarcastic brow. “How original and unique.”
Harry just grinned and grabbed a pack from his bag as he got up.
“Where are you going?”
He waved Draco down as he sat, “We can hardly play on opposite benches, so I thought we might as well sit on the floor.”
“With dirt?” He looked appalled but Harry just raised an eyebrow. “Fine. But I’m doing some maintenance first.” With a swish of his wand, Draco placed a few simple cleaning spells. “Much better.”
Then they both sat across from each other as Harry explained the rules and they started to play. A few minutes went by before…
“Malfoy.”
“Potter.”
“You can’t charm the cards.”
“Well, clearly I can…”
“There are rules to the game, y’know.”
“You know your word isn’t actually law, Potter. Where’s the rule book?”
“Malfoy.”
“Ugh, and here I was, believing you to be the rule breaker between the two of us. There we go, a new card.”
Harry paused. “Malfoy, that card is also charmed.”
“No, it’s n—oh. Oops.” Draco pursed his lips. “I may have charmed them all.”
“Well, not permanently…” He looked away. “Right?”
“I said ‘oops’.”
“You’ve just ruined my pack of cards!”
“Well, you ruined my win! Surely you have another game we can play,” Draco scoffed. And when Harry stayed quiet, he said, “Oh you imbecile! What kind of person only brings packs of cards with them!? And only one at that!”
“And what kind of person destroys another person’s stuff?!” Harry growled back.
Draco huffed. “Fine. I’ll give you that. Nevertheless, you still stole my win so I’m claiming this as a draw.”
“We never even really got to play!”
“That’s Muggle games for you.” Draco sniffed, “Always trying to pull a fast one.”
Harry muffled his laugh with his hands. “Jesus, Malfoy.”
“Who?”
“Merlin, never mind.”
And till the very end of the train ride, Harry had been grinning and shaking his head as they traded witty remarks and tugged on each other’s stereotypes. A strange type of fun it was as if they were only petty strangers that had a sudden connection. Harry denied the thought of it though—there was no way anyone knew Draco Malfoy’s plans better than he did. Draco Malfoy would always be a Malfoy.
Suddenly, Harry’s eyes latched onto something behind him, suspicion clear in his face. All the previous friendly peace was shattered.
Draco paused his dramatic story of how Harry became the Golden Boy and raised a brow. “What?”
“What is that?”
“What is wha—” As Draco turned, Harry jumped for Draco’s bag, grabbing the letter whose edge had been sticking out. “That’s private!” Draco shrieked, tackling him and pulling backwards, making the two fall backwards onto the ground.
Harry was surprised by Draco’s sudden strength as they scrambled. And limbs were harshly pushed to the point of bruises before Harry finally got the upper hand. In just a few moments, he was smashing his hand behind his back against a wall with the paper while Draco tried to circle him.
“Have fun reading it like that,” Draco said in a haughty tone. “Better hope you can read through your fingers.”
Harry smirked. “Or. I could wait.”
Draco narrowed his eyes just as their section of the train screeched to a stop. “Until wha—”
And in one fluid motion, Harry ran faster than if he was being chased by Voldemort. His legs were burning within just a few seconds, but the furious screams of Draco Malfoy made it all worth it. He flew out the doors of the trains and went around in a few circles until the first few boats had started being walked towards. Racing to the closest boats, he hopped in and started to row.
A horribly loud shout of “Get back here, Potter!” made Harry laugh loudly and flip the bird toward Draco’s direction.
However, he quickly realized he had made a grave mistake after just a minute of rowing. Harry had been so focused on Draco that he hadn’t even looked at who was in the boat with him. He gave an awkward wave to the group. “Er, hullo there.”
Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, and a fifth-year Slytherin stared back.
“Hey,” Goyle responded softly, looking down between his knees and at his feet.
“Hi,” Blaise said, still slightly wide-eyed at the sight and giving Harry a small nod.
The random Slytherin gave him a weird look but a quick backhanded slap on his arm made him sit up straight. “Hello.”
Harry Potter grimaced. Fuck.