_|~O.O~|_
"Wait, what?"
It was the third time Harry had explained how the stylus worked, but he wasn't getting frustrated, because the expressions on Draco's close face were hypnotic and he would repeat himself a thousand times to see those expressions for the rest of his life.
"You just press the quill-like object onto the screen and drag upwards to scroll the page. The blue words are words that lead you to another webpage."
"But-"
"Here, maybe it would be easier to just show you."
Draco watched, fascinated, as Potter pressed the screen too rapidly to follow along with. He stared as a Youtube video popped up.
"Wha-"
Harry slapped his hand over Draco's mouth and said, "Just listen, Draco."
Draco's eyes crossed to look at Harry's hand and he licked it.
"Ew!" Harry said, wiping his hand off on his old shirt. Draco smirked.
Harry pulled out his earphones, connected them, and stuck one in his left ear. He gave the other to Draco.
"You don't expect me to stick that tiny little thing in my ear. What if it gets stuck in there?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "It won't, trust me."
Draco looked at him straight in the eyes. "Okay then. But you have to put it in."
Harry ignored the flush climbing up his neck as he pushed a lock of silver hair out of the way before gently inserting the earpiece into Draco's (quite red) right ear. Harry rearranged Draco's hair and then turned abruptly to the Palm Pilot, as if he just realized what he was doing.
He hit play and suddenly, sound flooded Draco's ear. He jumped, frightened, and glared at Harry when he burst into laughter.
He looked back at the hand controller, or whatever it was called, and there were moving pictures on the screen. One waved at him.
He gasped. "Can they see us?" he whispered to Harry.
One busty girl winked at him and blew a kiss.
Harry laughed again. "No, that's just the camera. It's like a wizarding photograph, but longer and it usually makes a story. It's called a video. This one's about a guy who ate a green pickle and barfed it all over his girlfriend, so now he's single."
Draco stared at the screen in confusion. "Why would somebody sing about that?"
Harry shrugged. "I dunno. It's a nice beat, though. Let's dance."
"What?"
"Come on, let's dance!" Harry dragged a protesting Draco up from the bed and, securing his earphones, did the sprinkler. Draco just shook his head at him.
"Oh, my giiiirlfriennnnd, she dumped my SORRRY AASSS, yeah my GIRRRLLFRIENNND she dumped by SORRY ASSS over a pickle."
Harry laughed and looked at Draco "But it was a groooss pickle, a short, thin wimpy pickleeee"
Draco snorted and sang along. "Yeah it was a gross, short, thin, wimpy pickle,"
"And that's why my girlfriend dumped my SORRY ASS!" (1)
_|~O.O~|_
Draco tried not to think about how fast the summer was slipping away from him, and with that, Harry, so naturally, he busied himself with other things, like looking through Harry's room.
Harry had just stepped into his room after a shower and saw Draco's butt in the air.
"Uh, Draco? What are you doing?" Draco got up from his position under Harry's bed and hit the back of his head on the way up.
Rubbing his head, he said sheepishly, "I'm just exploring…"
Harry smiled at his expression. "You want to help me sort out letters?"
"Sure," Draco said, and blushed as Harry easily slipped his arm under the bed and retrieved the sack Draco was trying to retrieve before.
"Brace yourself," Harry said before he dumped the entire bag of letters on the rug. But they kept on coming. Harry laughed. "Oops! It must've been an extendable bag."
The letters flowed out of the bag until they had a pile nearly as tall as Draco in the middle of the room.
Draco groaned. This would take forever.
He sat down with Harry on the cleanest-looking portion of the rug and began on the letters, hyperaware of Harry's knee brushing against his own. He looked at Harry's knee and then at Harry, who looked back at him and smiled softly, making Draco's heart do strange things.
He looked down again as he reached for the first letter, his hair slipping out from behind his ear to hide his smile. He was hopeless.
Harry read the first letter aloud. It was from ten years ago.
Hello, Mr. Harry
My name is Caesura and I am 7 years old. My mommy said that I shud owl you bcuz she does not like constent fangriling. I dont now what that means but it is a big word and my daddy says that I am a big girl so I now this stuff. I think you are very breve bcuz you fite the bad man. I lov you so much.
From,
Caesura Jenaomi
Harry smiled so wide his face might've fallen off if Draco didn't say "Well that was cute and all, but your face is in danger of falling off."
Harry turned to him and gave him a huge smile. "Isn't this great? These are real people with real stories! Let's reply to them!"
Draco sighed. "Oh, please. This girl is in her seventh year somewhere in the world and she'll be mortified if she sees your response to something she sent when she was seven!"
It was fruitless, as Harry had already started on the reply. Draco read it over his shoulder.
Hello, Caesura!
The ministry had been blocking my letters, so I only just got this. I really appreciate the support and love from everyone! Your handwriting was adorable, and I love the "i's" with the flower dots! J
I am working hard on staying alive, at this point, because Voldemort (yes, you can say it too) is stronger than ever. The ministry finally opened their eyes and now there's widespread panic, but I'm just here to let you know that I'm working on fixing this and letting people feel safe again.
Thank you for the letter!
Harry James Potter
"What'd you think?" Harry inquired, looking behind his shoulder. His breath caught as he saw Draco's face only inches away from his own. Draco leaned infinitesimally closer. Harry could see the dark flecks of grey in his eyes, which had just turned down to his lips-
The front door of the Dursley residence slammed open they heard Petunia scream. Harry jerked away and breathed again. Ushering Draco into his closet, he wrenched the door open and raced downstairs, his hand on his concealed wand, prepared for a death eater ambush. He reached the end and ran into the foyer, where he saw Dudley bloodied up on the couch, whimpering and clutching his arm. He sighed.
"Aunt Petunia, is Uncle Vernon home yet?"
Petunia was rustling in the kitchen to dampen a washcloth, a worried, anxious expression on her face.
"No, he'll come home in two hours time."
Harry ran upstairs again and grabbed Draco as well as a book on healing and his Ministry book. He explained what happened on the way and Draco was unusually quiet.
He disabled the tracking spell and set a timer for half an hour, then got to work. He kneeled down in front of Dudley as Draco flipped through the healing book for a medical scanning spell.
"Here. Expiritu Probleies"
Harry smiled at him in thanks and scanned Dudley. A broken arm and minor bruising.
"So," Harry said mildly, "who beat you up today?"
Dudley scowled at him and sent a dirty look at his wand and at Draco, who was watching the healing process fascinatedly.
"Shut up, freak. And keep your pointy stick to yourself."
Draco looked up at Dudley sharply and narrowed his eyes. "You shut it, ungrateful brat. Harry's helping you."
Dudley sized Draco up with a scrutinizing look and a sneer. Draco was painfully reminded of himself.
"And who are you, another freak? Wait till Dad hears about this, he'll flip! Hey, Mum! Harry's got a boyfriend!"
Draco stood up faster than you could say armadillo and leaned in close to Dudley.
"Maybe he does."
Dudley made a face and scrunched up his nose, leaning away. "Ew! Queer! MUM!"
Harry looked at Draco, amused, and said, "Don't be stupid, Dud, chill out. At least wait until your hairline fracture has mended."
"I don't want any freak magic in me! Get it away!"
Draco spoke up. "Well, you are a squib, so that's unlikely to ever happen."
Harry shot an inquisitive glance at Draco, who nodded.
"Mu- Muggleborns are descended from squibs of pureblood families. With crossing over, genes exchange information and if two squibs have offspring, enough magic can make a very powerful muggleborn. I read it in your closet," Draco added for good measure.
"You what? MUM!"
Petunia came in with a damp washcloth and aspirin. "What is it, Duddykins?"
"THERE'RE QUEERS! EVERYWHERE!"
Petunia frowned and checked his temperature. "Darling, you should rest a bit. It looks like you're running a fever. Boy, go get him some bacon, will you?"
Harry stared at her, bewildered. "At 8:00 at night?"
She shot him a look and stuck her hands on her bony hips. "Yes. Now."
Draco got up. "I'll go. Harry's the mediwizard here anyways."
Petunia pursed her lips at the uncommon term, and Harry got up.
"No, it's alright, I'll do it. I can't do anything else without bruise paste, and those will just heal with time." He told Petunia to wash off the cuts with a gentle hand and left to the kitchen, Draco following.
Harry pulled out the bacon from the freezer and got to work, pouring oil into the pan. While waiting for it to heat up, he turned to Draco and smiled. He seemed to be doing that quite often.
"How long do you have until your shift ends?"
Draco ran his fingertips across the sparkling clean counter. "One more week."
Harry's smile turned painful and he turned back to the bacon. "You do know you're welcome to stay here longer."
Draco frowned. "I couldn't do that. I must already be overstaying my visit."
Harry turned back to Draco. "Oh, come on, Draco. I'm not that bad of a host, am I?" he said, playing the right cards carefully.
"No! Of course not!" Draco added quickly, "It's just that, well, aren't you getting tired of this?"
Harry frowned. "Tired of what, you?" Draco cleared his throat nervously and ran his hand through his perfectly laid hair, mussing it up and leaving one strand standing.
Harry reached up and smoothed the hair down again when he didn't answer. Draco blushed. "Well?"
"I-" He hesitated, and wondered if he should tell the truth. He bit his lip.
Harry's eyes followed the movement, then looked up at Draco, who was staring at him intensely. He got closer-
The oil popped loudly and splattered on Harry's hand.
"Agh, fuck!" Draco whipped out his wand and disabled the tracking spell before incanting a cooling charm. The tension was thick in the air. Harry grabbed a bag of ice and set it on his hand, frustrated by the constant interrup-
Draco turned him around and set his hands on Harry's waist. "We are going to do this." Harry's breath caught in his throat and his heart pumped hard in his chest. He licked his lips and looked at Draco through his lashes, noting how dark those silver flecks in his eyes and faint the freckles across the bridge of Draco's nose were. Harry looked back into Draco's eyes, and his expression was intense.
Harry's world turned and tipped as Draco's lips collided with his. A waterfall of emotions cascaded down: relief, happiness, love… Harry deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around Draco's neck, bringing him closer. He could feel Draco's body on his own, wondering if Draco's heart was pounding as hard as his, or if he was feeling anything akin to the hot fire of desire that had settled deep in his gut.
Draco sunk into the sensuousness of Harry's soft lips, warm and yielding body, and wet tongue, surrounding himself in the smell of Harry and the taste of his cherry lollipops. He felt a tingle shoot down his spine as their bodies touched, leaving his head light.
Harry couldn't breathe. He pulled back and opened his eyes slowly just in time to see Draco's eyelids flutter. He was panting.
He couldn't believe he had reduced Draco Malfoy to such a tangle of emotions. Harry dragged his fingers through Draco's hair and smiled as he felt his shudder.
"It looks like I caught myself a boy-who-lived," Draco spoke, his voice rough.
Harry laughed breathlessly and slapped his arm playfully. "Shut up."
The corner of Draco's mouth tugged upward, leaving him with a half-smile, and Harry's stomach writhed. He pressed his free arm against it, and the movement didn't escape Draco's notice.
"What's the matter? Is your stomach hurting?"
"Not exactly," Harry blushed and turned towards the bacon and over-heated oil, trying to hide his burning face. "I'm just all fluttery."
Draco laughed. "Well, nice to know I provoke such fluttery emotions. Damn Potter, you're a butterfly."
Harry turned to him, his cheeks still flushed and eyes still bright, and raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"A butterfly."
_|~O.O~|_
After that, they left their relationship secret, which was both thrilling and frustrating at once. Draco had to go back to the Malfoy safe house provided by the Order and, with the help of Sirius's old mirror, they communicated frequently. At Hogwarts, it was all night-time business. It was entertaining to Hermione, who most likely knew what had happened and needed no explanation, especially when they would pretend to fight in the halls and, hours later, could be found in a broom cupboard or in the Slytherin Dorms.
The secret smiles, fights in the hallways, and nudges under tables kept them alive.
A/N: (1)- Aight. There is no such a song, but I'm fearing copyright.
Also, earphones like the modern kinds werent created until years after 1997 (when the real HP is set) but its fanfiction, so all is well.
That's the end of the story! Let me know if you would consider a sequel!
Muchas gracias, y adios!
CM007
PS: to all the "Harriet Potter: A Cinderella Story" readers out there, I'll update soon. Thank God for Winter Break, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Y'ALL