Title: When Scarred&Lonely Met SerpentinePrince

Disclaimer: I own nothing of these characters or their world. J. K. Rowling, undisputed Queen of the World, owns it all.

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Warnings: Language. I got a little bit nasty with the verbage at one point.

Summary: Draco and Harry are each finding solace in a mysterious stranger online. What happens when they meet offline?

A/N: This was a picture fic, like almost all my oneshots it was a request; this one by Luna Wyllow. Enjoy!

Harry Potter had everything.

He had money – both the Potter and Black fortunes were piled high in their vaults in Gringotts.

He had fame – he couldn't step outside for a breath of fresh air with getting his photograph taken, or being mobbed for an interview or an autograph.

He was universally adored – he had defeated the most powerful and wicked wizard of their time, and was lauded with praise and admiration for it.

He had friends – Ron and Hermione, his best friends, the Weasley family, Luna, Neville, and many others who had fought alongside him in the war.

He even had a girl he could call his girlfriend with just one word from him – or if he didn't want her, he could have his pick of thousands of other girls – or boys, for that matter. Men and women of all ages were lining up to try and seduce the Saviour.

He should have felt lucky – and he did, sort of. But most of all he felt lonely.

He had an aching empty void inside his chest, and nothing could fill it. All he wanted was someone to talk to about it who could relate. It just seemed like there was no one who could.

Draco Malfoy was a very lucky guy.

He had few real friends – but he had loads of money, connections, and status.

His had made a lot of bad choices – but he had a mother who loved him no matter what.

He was ordered to kill one of the two most powerful wizards alive by the other most powerful wizard alive, or have his whole family killed – but he didn't have to do it in the end and his family was spared.

He'd had the Dark Lord living in his home for a while – but the Dark Lord was gone when he had a chance to help Potter and redeem himself somewhat for his choices.

His father was a Death Eater – but his money, connections, and the fact that he'd defected at the end of the war got him a slap on the wrist.

He was a Death Eater – but the Saviour himself testified at his trial and got him set free.

He'd almost died and watched one of his few friends die in a horrible way – but the Potter saved him.

Draco Malfoy should have been happy to have survived the war relatively intact. And he was, sort of. But most of all he felt empty and nothing he tried could fill that emptiness.

The few people he could talk to didn't know what to say to him, and it was clear they didn't get it. He longed for someone to understand.

Harry bought the computer at Hermione's suggestion. They worked on it together and it was a nice distraction, a fun project while they figured out how to make it run on magic. How to use magic to tap into the world wide web. Harry didn't feel so empty when he was busy tangling with magical theory and electricity and internet.

Once he got online he started to explore. He discovered many interesting things online, but something in particular that caught his interest were the blogs. The idea of being able to just pour his heart out, anonymously appealed to him.

He started a blog, and called "Scarhead's Story" – a tip of the hat to Malfoy, he thought, sardonically. He settled in and began writing his story. No more sugar-coated lies to make his friends feel better and keep them from worrying. Muggles could take it as fiction. He would simply tell the truth.

XXOXXOXXOXXOXX

Malfoy bought the laptop on a whim. He'd read about them in muggle studies, and decided that he'd like to see why muggles thought they were so amazing. It took a lot of work to get it to run off of magic, and even more work to hack into the world wide web, but once he was done he begn exploring the internet.

He was fascinated. Everything and anything was available online. If it existed, it was there, in some form or another. He was hooked.

Something that really caught his attention were the blogs. He laughed at the Bloggess, empathized with SuburbanMom31, and was moved by the pictures of SteveIsGreat. He even created his own account so he could comment on the posts of his favourites.

Then he stumbled on one called, "Scarhead's Story." He smirked, remembering the good old days when his biggest concern in life was how he could torment Potter. He began to read the blog, and was instantly captivated. All the names were changed, but it was easy to recognize the characters and the setting. It was obviously written by a wizard, as it told Potter's story, from Potter's point of view. The only thing he disliked was the author's portrayal of him. Clearly, the writer didn't like him very much.

Unlike Potter with his superiority complex, this writer didn't see Potter as a hero. The writer, Scarred&Lonely, made Potter out to be a very flawed boy who was forced to become a man too soon – a victim of circumstance rather than a hero, a lucky underdog rather than a Saviour. This was a Potter he could have been friends with. This was the Potter he'd hoped to meet that day on the train when he held out his hand.

What captured Draco most of all, though, was how clearly the writer understood what it meant to be empty. Finally, he had found someone who understood.

Harry loved writing his blog. He loved the feeling of relief that came with each telling of his story, each outpouring of his soul. He loved the feedback he was given – all of it from muggles who thought he was writing a novel, but they wrote about how they related to the characters and their feelings and it soothed him. They might not have endured the horror he had, but they still related to him in various ways that gave him some comfort.

In particular there was SerpentinePrince, a commenter who didn't really update his own blog, preferring to comment on other's. Serpentine Prince was empathetic and sent him a private message – some of his fans did from time to time and he enjoyed the contact with them far more than with his fans in the wizarding world – and shared some of his own story with Harry.

He had lived through a war – what war Harry didn't know, and didn't ask; SerpentinePrince could live anywhere in the world, and Harry did not keep up on wars in the muggle world. He had been on the losing side – the wrong side, he called it. He admitted to doing things he was not proud of, which Harry could relate to.

He'd used Unforgivables during the war, and a goblin had died because he'd been ordered to go and hide where no one would find him under the Imperious Curse. Since Harry forgot to take it off, the goblin had starved to death, hidden away, and an excavation in the tunnels intending to build more vaults turned up his emaciated body. The knowledge of what he'd done haunted him, despite the fact that he was given a full pardon by the Wizengamot.

SerpentinePrince had feared for his family's safety, and had done dreadful things to ensure it. He'd witnessed and partaken in horror, and lived with the constant threat of death. He'd been scarred and broken, and was left feeling empty. Just like Harry.

Harry felt he had a true friend in SerpentinePrince. Their conversations filled the gap in his life. SerpentinePrince was rapidly becoming the most important person in Harry's life. Soon it was not enough that they chatted online. He wanted more. He wanted to meet.

Draco's heart pounded when he read his latest email from Scarred&Lonely. He wanted to meet! Draco was over the moon. He had ached to meet this person, this other self he'd met online. He had bared his soul to this stranger, told him things he would never tell to anyone else, stripped his heart naked and paraded it on display for Scarred&Lonely's eyes.

Draco was falling in love with someone he'd never met, and he wanted to rectify that. There was only one problem – he was fairly certain that Scarred&Lonely was a wizard, but he needed a way to be certain without breaking the Statute of Secrecy.

Scarred&Lonely had admitted to living in the UK, but had offered to meet anywhere in the world that Draco wanted. He responded enthusiastically, offering the London as a meeting point, mentioning a small muggle café near Diagon Alley he had been to once or twice, and offering up a day and time.

He then typed the words that would determine whether he was meeting a muggle – which Draco knew would be a disaster if his parents found out their son had fallen in love with a muggle man – or a wizard, which would involve far less fallout.

He wrote, "Does the name Voldemort mean anything to you?"

"Does the name Voldemort mean anything to you?"

Harry stared at the words. It was followed by, "If not, that's alright. If it does, I understand if you don't want to meet with me anymore. But if you do, I know a lovely café in London called "The Happy Place". I'll be carrying a blue rose." It continued to offer a day and time to meet.

Harry thought long and hard about it. It was obviously a wizard he was writing to, one who had been on the wrong side of the war. From the name, SerpentinePrince was probably a Slytherin. But whoever it was didn't know who Harry was and liked him anyway. Whoever it was, he was willing to meet with him even if Harry was a muggle.

And whoever it was, Harry was falling in love with him.

SerpentinePrince obviously regretted the wrongs he'd done, and had changed. Clearly, his ideals had changed if he had feelings for Harry thinking he might be a muggle. What's more, he felt like the missing piece of Harry's life. Harry couldn't let that slip away just because of some prejudice against Slytherins or an inability to forgive someone for being on the wrong side – which from what he understood was more due to the other boy's family than any decision on his part.

Harry responded, telling SerpentinePrince he'd be there. And he added, "The war changed us all. I'm surprised a Slytherin would want to meet me thinking I might be a muggle. I'll walk over to the man with the blue rose, and you'll know it's me because I'll say, "The Battle of Hogwarts changed us all.""

He knew that would confirm his status as a wizard, and no doubt set the other man's mind at rest. He might be willing to love a muggle, but it didn't mean he wouldn't be relieved to know he was actually meeting a wizard.

Harry frowned. He knew how he felt, but he'd never actually confirmed it with SerpentinePrince. What if his affection was one-sided?

He added another note.

"What are we? Are we friends or something more? I need to know."

Draco's mouth went dry as he read Scarred&Lonely's response to his email. It was a wizard! And it was someone who guessed he was a Slytherin, and was alright with meeting him despite his position in the war. The final question took his breath away. He responded immediately.

"Something more, I hope."

He soon got an answer.

"Me too. I'd like for us to be more, too."

Draco did NOT get up and dance around his room. Such behaviour was unbecoming of a Malfoy, and since there was no one there to see, no one could claim otherwise.

Harry entered the café and stood stalk still, staring. He'd entered the café and looked for the man with the blue rose. He spotted him easily, and stared in horror. There had to be some mistake. The man he'd been corresponding with – fallen in love with – was none other than Draco Malfoy.

After a long moment, he mentally catalogued the reasons he should leave. Then he looked at the reasons he should stay.

He wondered if the reasons he should leave, all the reasons to go, were even valid. If he'd even known Malfoy at all in the real world. Who was the real Malfoy – the prat who'd made his life miserable, or the man he'd fallen for online? He remembered the Astronomy tower. He remembered the Manor. He remembered the Fiendfyre and how he couldn't let Malfoy die.

He walked over to the table.

Malfoy was jittery and nervous. He had no idea what his mystery date looked like. All he knew was that at any moment someone would walk up to him and say–

"The Battle of Hogwarts changed us all."

The voice was soft, barely audible. Draco looked up quickly, and stared. Standing in front of him was Harry Potter.

A thousand different things rushed through his head. A thousand different reasons to leave. To run. To hide. But all he managed to do was to croak out one word.

"You?"

"Me," nodded Potter, giving him a crooked smile. His heart pounded and blood rushed to his face, his pulse roaring in his ears. Potter sat down without being asked. Draco swallowed and managed another word.

"Why?"

Potter was silent a moment before he answered. He played with the salt and pepper shakers that were sitting on the table while he collected his thoughts. "Because the internet was the only place I could be myself," he answered finally. "I thought it might be the same way for you." He looked up at Draco, his eyes pleading. "Tell me it was real. Tell me the person I fell in love with exists."

Draco could think of a hundred different ways to answer Potter, to crush him, to deny everything and save face. What stopped him was that one thing Potter had said. "The person I fell in love with."
Harry Potter was in love with him. Harry bloody fucking Potter was in love with him, Draco Malfoy. He laughed.

Potter looked hurt, and rose, moving to leave, but Draco jumped up and stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Merlin, Potter," he breathed. "Bloody Salazar, I just… I want… Merlin." He shook his head, and those were NOT tears in his eyes, damn it; he had allergies. Because Harry Potter loving him was not enough to make him cry.

Harry looked at him, and began smiling. He wrapped his arms around Draco, and whispered in his ear, "What is it that you want, Draco?"

Draco whispered back, "You."

And Harry Potter kissed Draco Malfoy, there in a café in muggle London.

And Draco kissed him back.

A/N: Here's a link to the picture that inspired this fic. :) I'm a trial admin on the page; vote for me! w w w. face book DOT com / photo .php?fbid=511230112264090&set=a.391702784216824.95843.391199857600450&type=1&ref=notif¬if_t=like&theater