The Test

When he joined the Aurors, this was not what he expected. He wanted to prove everybody wrong. He was going to show the Wizarding World he was more than an ex-Death Eater. He was a person and he could accomplish things. He thought it would all go perfectly. The last thing he expected was to be partnered with Harry fucking Potter.

It was all Kingsley's idea. Some crap about them being two sides if the same coin and complementing each other perfectly. The fact they hated each other's guts was completely forgotten. So they worked together. They fought and yelled and insulted, but they stayed away from hexes and punches, both in fear of the wrath of the terrifying Head Auror. In the mean time they solved case after case. Before they knew it they were the best team in training. So they kept working together.

That was all more than a month ago. The fighting had stopped, but now they barely talked. They were not friends and they didn't like each other. That would've been fine if they weren't locked in a room together for 24 hours.

It was all part of a test, the final test they had to pass as a team. After this they would officially be Aurors, not Aurors in training, and permanent partners. This test was designed for the team to overcome their biggest weaknesses, but that was all they knew. The only thing Kingsley said before he took their wands and locked them into an unused office without windows was "Don't kill each other."

"So now what?" Potter asked.

"We wait."

Nothing happened for about an hour. They were both completely silent. Draco paced the room while Potter was slumped against the wall and looked like he was going to fall asleep any moment. Suddenly they heard a loud creaking noise and Potter jumped up. "What the fu…" he said before his eyes went wide and he fell silent again.

"What is it?" Draco asked and then he saw. The wall was moving. It was slowly but surely gliding towards them. After about half a meter it stood still again.

"Is that all?" Draco wondered out loud. "We're stuck in a room with moving walls? What's the point in that? It's not like they're going to crush us. Kingsley wouldn't have left us here without our wands." Potter didn't respond. In fact, he didn't even move. He was still staring at the wall with wide eyes and his mouth was slightly hanging open. "Potter?"

"Shut up."

"Wha…?"

"Shut up!"

"Fuck you, Potter! I didn't do anything!" What the hell was wrong with him? He just stood there gaping and yelling at Draco for nothing. Suddenly Potters knees buckled and he was once again slumped against the wall. Draco didn't know what to say. Getting in a fight right now probably wasn't a very good idea, so he bit back some insults and went back to his pacing.

About half an hour later the same thing happened. The walls moved, Potter jumped up, his eyes went wide and when Draco asked Potter what he thought the test was about he started yelling again.

"What is your fucking problem? We need to figure out what we have to do or we're going to fail!"

"I don't have a problem and we don't have to do anything!"

"Yes, we do! This is a test and we don't know what or weakness is or how to overcome it! So we have to figure it out!"

"We don't! Stop pushing, you fucking moron!" Potter was practically screeching by now. His eyes looked wild and he was waving his arms. Then something clicked. Potter didn't look angry, he looked absolutely terrified.

"You're scared."

"No, I'm not! I'm just saying you need to shut the hell up!"

"Yes you are. That's your weakness. You're scared of moving walls." Suddenly Draco felt laughter bubbling up inside of him. He didn't know how to contain it and ended up laughing hysterically.

"Oh Merlin, you're scared. Harry Potter is scared!" He saw a flash of hurt in Potter's eyes and felt immediately guilty. This was probably not the best way to handle the situation. He stopped laughing and wanted to apologise when Potter started yelling again.

"I'm not scared! You're the coward here! I'm surprised you're not blubbering in a bathroom yet!"

Draco gasped and felt pain jab through his chest. They didn't talk about their Hogwarts days. They didn't even fight about it. It was like they decided by mutual agreement that they would act like they hadn't known each other before Auror training. Besides, sixth year was still a sore point. Potter really kicked where it hurt.

"Fuck you."

Potter must've seen something in his eyes because he looked kind of sheepish and said: "I'm sor.."

"Leave it! I don't want to hear it."

They stopped talking once again. Every half hour the wall would move about 50cm and Draco would stop pacing to look at it and see if he could find something to figure the test out. Potter would just move with the wall and continue ignoring Draco. The room was about the size of a big broom closet when Draco noticed Potter was shaking.

"Potter?"

"Shu- shut up, Malfoy, please."

"No, I won't. You need to talk to me. What are you scared about? Moving walls aren't that bad, are they?" Draco tried to be gentle and comforting, but it sounded more like a drawl. He really didn't mean to, but apparently being friendly to Potter was difficult.

That was it! Being friendly to Potter was difficult!

"Potter! I know! I need to be comforting. That's my weakness. We don't get along and we need to!"

"I don't care, Mal- Malfoy, just leave me alone. Ple-ease…" Draco heard a dry sob and saw Potter hug his legs tight to his chest. He fell to his knees beside him and tried to be gentle again.

"Potter, Harry, you need to tell me. Whatever this is, it's obviously your weakness and if we get through this, then we pass the test. We'll never have to do this again."

Then the wall started moving again. Potter scrambled away from it and his breathing became laboured. Draco saw a trickle of sweat running down his temple and Potter's shaking was now painfully obvious. When Draco tried to put a hand on his shoulder, he flinched away and let out a wounded noise.

"Hey. It's all right. We'll be ok, come on relax, Harry."

Potter took a deep breath and whispered: "I'm claustrophobic." Ow. Draco felt momentarily stupid. Of course he's claustrophobic. What kind of weird person is scared of moving walls?

"That's ok, we can handle that. You just need to calm down. Nothing is going to happen."

"I'm not a child! I'm fine! Just let me be!"

He didn't know what to do. Harry wouldn't let Draco touch him, he didn't want to talk and the room would probably get smaller still. He decided to sit beside Harry until he changed his mind. He would talk eventually. The wall moved two more times before something changed. It had just stopped moving the second time when Harry pulled himself in the foetal position and started shivering uncontrollably. He kept hiccoughing and his fringe stuck on his forehead because he was sweating so much.

"Harry? Harry… It can't get much smaller now. It's almost over. I promise we'll be alright. There has to be something I can do?" That friendly thing was coming along nicely. Draco thought he couldn't have been mean now, even if he wanted to. Harry looked so frightened and small. Not at all how Draco usually thought of him.

If he envisioned Harry Potter, he saw a strong, young man. Stubborn. Brave. Obnoxious. Handsome. Yeah, Draco really thought Harry Potter was handsome. He blamed the Auror uniform. Harry looked invincible in his deep red robe and black boots. Draco wore the same thing, but it didn't work on him like that. The red made his skin look even paler than it already was and while the shiny buttons made Harry look polished, they made him look girly. Draco felt much better in his black suit. The Auror uniform didn't do much for Harry right now either. He looked like a child in his father's clothes and the collar of his white shirt was probably choking off his airway. Draco felt helpless.

"Harry, please, tell me what to do…"

"I don't kn- know."

The sound of Harry's dry sobbing became too much. Draco took off his robe, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and knelled beside his partner's trembling form. He put a hand on his shoulder and made a shushing sound. Harry might not be a child, but he was frightened and Draco remembered clearly how his mother used to calm him down. He still recalled her holding him close the night he took the Dark Mark. He could almost hear her soft voice as she told him stories. Stories he had long since forgotten, stories about him playing with Pansy in the rose garden, about the time he discovered his father's potion ingredients and almost set the Manor on fire, about the first time he rode a broom,…

"My parents bought me a pet kneazle for my seventh birthday. I was so angry. I really wanted a snake, you see, but my mother thought that was too dangerous. So I named the kneazle Sissel, to piss my mother off. That didn't work. Do you know why?"

Harry looked confused, but shook his head anyway.

"Because I had a lisp at that age. So every time I would call my kneazle it would sound like 'Shishel'. It didn't make my mother mad, she found it hysterical." Draco snickered at the memory of his mother trying to contain her giggles whenever he played with his new pet and he was glad to notice Harry unclenched his fists and gave a short laugh as well.

"I loved him, you know, Sissel. He was very loyal, used to follow me around everywhere. I spent hours petting him and running around with him in the gardens."

"What happened to him?" Harry whispered.

"I don't know. One day he just disappeared. I think he got in the wrong hands. Our visitors weren't exactly animal lovers…"

"I'm sorry."

"That's alright, it's a long time ago."

And so Draco continued. He told one story after another. He told Harry about Christmas at the Manor, about teaching Vince and Greg how to swim, about whining until his mother took him to Quality Quidditch Supplies,… After every story Harry would relax a little more. Sometimes he would say something or ask a question with a quivering voice and eventually Harry managed to sit up straight, next to Draco.

It all went well, until of course the wall started moving once more. Draco knew this would be the last time. The room was now just big enough for two people. Draco couldn't stretch his legs anymore, but he was comfortable. Harry obviously had a different opinion. His eyes went wide again and for the first time Draco saw a tear running down his cheek. Harry tried to rub it away with a trembling hand, but failed. So Draco did it for him. He resumed his shushing noises and slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. He was happy to note Harry didn't even flinch.

"This was the last one. It can't be much longer now. We'll be alright." Harry gave a shaky nod and rested his head on Draco's chest. Draco could hear him trying to contain his breathing and stroked his hair. Fifteen minutes later Harry fell asleep.

Draco listened to Harry's soft breathing and let out a huge sigh himself. He didn't know where that came from. He might have thought Harry was handsome a few times, but he still didn't like the man. For some reason seeing him so vulnerable for once, instead of the other way around, made him change his mind. Harry was always confident or at least he looked that way. After he defeated the Dark Lord people both envied and feared him. He was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived To Save The Wizarding World. When he decided to be an Auror no one questioned him, when he broke things off with Ginny everyone supported him, when he wanted to date men as well as women people accepted it without complaints.

Things were not that easy for Draco. He had to fight every step of the way. People laughed in his face when he mentioned he would like to become an Auror and when he came out as gay, he got called every name in the book. Draco was not the strong, confident man Harry was and he hated it. Seeing that even Harry Potter had a weak spot, put his mind at ease. He stared at Harry's relaxed face a while longer and fell asleep himself.

"Good job, you guys. Congratulations, you can now officially call yourselves Aurors."

Harry and Draco jumped up at the same time. Before Draco could blink, Harry had pushed Kingsley aside and ran out the door into the brightly lit hallway. He took gulps of air as if there hadn't been enough inside the office and looked incredibly relieved. Then he glanced at Draco and his expression became sheepish. He turned a nice shade of crimson and mumbled something under his breath before he took off. Kingsley cleared his throat.

"He's probably embarrassed. That was quite a day. I suggest you go get some decent sleep. I'll expect you in the office on Monday."

"Yes, sir."

Four days later and Harry still wasn't back at work. Draco hadn't heard a thing from the man himself. Kingsley stated he took some days off, assigned him a temporary partner and that was that. Draco was not happy. He couldn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't stop thinking about Harry. What was wrong with him? Was he just embarrassed, like Kingsley said, or was it more? The more he thought about it, the more Draco realised he missed Harry and that was just not acceptable. So when Harry finally returned on the fifth day, he was irritated and refused to speak to the man.

"Good morning." Harry said sheepishly. Draco childishly looked away.

"Draco?"

"…"

"Are you ignoring me?"

"…"

Harry huffed.

"Fine."

He sounded hurt. When Harry jerked away and turned to his own desk, Draco felt guilty again. He remembered how well his partner had fitted under the crook of his arm and couldn't help but wonder if Harry remembered it as well. Still he refused to admit to himself he wanted to be friends, let alone something more. They did not even like each other. They didn't. Really.

So they fell back in the routine they established before the test. They solved every case they got in record time and they barely talked while doing it. Draco would sometimes catch Harry looking at him wishfully, but he continued to ignore it. He barely even remembered why.

In the meantime Draco did his own bit of looking. Harry had returned to being the self-confident man in uniform Draco knew and disliked. Only this time Draco recalled how soft his wild hair was and how heartbroken he made Draco feel when his eyes were red rimmed. The disliking part was barely noticeable. It took Draco weeks to let the walls he had been putting up without reason back down.

When he noticed Harry's hopeful gaze was on him again he said: "Like what you see?"

Harry bristled.

"N-No."

"No?"

Harry looked away.

"Then why are you watching me all the time?"

"Because I… You… Why are you…? I don't understand."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Then why…?"

"I don't know. We don't like each other."

"Yes, we do." Harry whispered.

"I know. Why did you run?"

"I was embrssd…" came the mumbled reply.

"Why?"

"Don't know. Why were you mad?"

"You ran."

"I'm sorry."

"I was nice to you and you ran."

"I know."

"Don't do that again."

"I won't."

"Really?" Draco took a step forward.

"Yes, really. I won't run." Harry took the second step.

"Alright then."

Draco didn't know who moved first, but before he knew it their lips touched. It was soft and sweet and really not that extraordinary, but Draco found it perfect. It was Harry.