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It was nearing one A.M. as Harry made his way to the prefect's bathroom. He had been plenty lonely lately, without the company of either of his closest friends; Ron and Hermione. They had both gone off together to pursue their ambitions, while Harry stayed at Hogwarts to make up for his lost time there. He wanted to complete his time at school, even the years were a bit broken up.
Harry entered the pristine room of the Prefect's bathroom. He gazed at the swimming pool sized depression in the floor for a moment. It would make a perfect place to let himself think once filled up, and that was exactly what Harry planned to do. The ebony haired male turned on the water, and in response the many taps began expelling water and different colors of soap. He smiled at this familiar view; it reminded him of his fourth year, in which he used this same bath to solve one of the challenges in the Triwizard Tournament. He then quickly tried to clear his mind of that memory. The last tournament had turned sour; The other Hogwarts Triwizard Champion, Cedric Diggory, was murdered by Peter Pettigrew that year.
Harry sighed; none of his memories seemed to be happy anymore, not even those with Ginny. They had split up not long after the Battle of Hogwarts, due to the fact that neither of them seemed to have much chemistry with each other anymore.
Harry sighed, stepping into the warm, bubbly water. It calmed him ever so slightly, and he began letting his thoughts and memories take over once more. He trailed back to his fourth year; the year he and Draco had begun dating. Harry toyed with his hands uncomfortably. He desperately missed the close moments with the platinum haired man. Being able to touch him. Being able to feel the soft lips of his love touch his own.
They had lasted only two years together, but Harry thought of those two years as the best he'd had in Hogwarts, perhaps even in his life. He couldn't deny he still had feelings for Draco, but he didn't know how to deal with them. They had left off on decent terms when their break-up happened; Harry didn't want Draco to get in trouble for being so close with him. He didn't want to be the reason that Draco possibly lost his family members. Harry now realized that ending the relationship was a mistake, but he couldn't simply go back in time two years to change it and not mess anything up.
Suddenly, a creak sounded from across the room. Harry's emerald green eyes traveled up from the water to see Draco standing at the entrance to the room. The gazing eyes of Harry filled with remorse.
"Harry?" Draco said quietly, sounding surprised. "What are you doing up so early?"
Harry flushed pink as he turned away. "Erm, nothing special. Just needed some time to relax," He replied nervously. "What are you doing up so early?" He repeated Draco's words, putting emphasis on the word 'you.'
"Same as you, I suppose." The platinum haired man responded. Draco's pale face quickly turned scarlet out of embarrassment, "" He asked.
"Fine." Harry obliged, crossing his arms. "I won't look." He said stiffly. The truth of it was that he'd give anything to gaze at the expense of milky white skin once more, although that was completely inappropriate at the moment.
Draco rolled his silver-blue eyes. He hesitated at the first button of his shirt, but quickly undressed as to not make Harry uncomfortable. The Slytherin stepped into the water carefully, sitting across the bath from Harry. He sheltered himself with bubbles, pulling them in to cover what he didn't want to be seen.
"So," Harry broke the silence, "Ehm, how've you been?"
Draco crossed his arms anxiously, as Harry had done. "Decent." He lied easily; too easily.
Harry noticed he didn't sound sincere. He shifted in the water, "You sure?" He asked, concern flooding into his emerald eyes.
Draco hugged his knees close to his chest. "Yes." He replied rather snappishly. This had annoyed him.
Harry flinched at the tone of his voice. He leaned back slightly. "Okay. Don't talk about it, then." He said, a hint of annoyance evident in his tone.
Draco crossed his arms tighter. This was too tense for him. He didn't like it one bit. Silence took its place between the two for a moment, and only that. "...You and Ginny still together?" He asked, the corners of his lips pointing downward.
"Nope." Harry sighed. "Guess her and I weren't meant for eachother. We split up around a week after the Battle. It's not that big of a deal."
Draco looked up at the ceiling, then closed his eyes. He let out a small sigh of relief. Maybe he could win Harry back; but how? "That's…" He trailed off. "Are you sure it's not a big deal to you?"
Harry twiddled his thumbs. "Yes." He almost snapped. "I lean towards the other crowd anyway. You know that better than anyone."
Draco felt his face warm; he knew it was turning even redder. He rapidly searched for something to say, something that would release this tension like a cloud of smoke wafting away with the help of a breeze.
"I kept it." When Harry looked at him, confused, he plowed on to explain. "The watch. The one that records how long it's been since we fell in love." The blond felt tears welling in his eyes and stubbornly wiped them away. It felt as if a whole swarm of bees were buzzing about in his stomach and chest, stinging his internal organs and causing this near pain.
Harry gritted his teeth out of anxiety, staring anywhere but Draco. He could tell that his ex-lover had more to say, so he nodded in an invitation to continue.
"It never stopped counting the days."
Those words made both of them freeze. Harry felt the strong urge to throw himself into Draco's arms and kiss the living daylights out of him, but he wouldn't dare carry out that urge.
"What?" Harry asked stupidly.
"It means you're still in love with me, you idiot." Draco rolled his eyes. "And…" There it was again, the swarm of bees. "Maybe I am too." He finally choked out, covering his face as if it'd save him from the rejection he expected.
Time seemed to stop once again as both young men stared at each other, their eyes seemingly boring into each other's souls. There was still love there in that gaze, a faint sensation of fireworks exploding under their skin just from looking. Neither dared to touch each other, but both were yearning for a physical touch after the horrific day of The Battle Of Hogwarts.
"Oh...I, erm…" Here it comes, Draco thought. "It isn't wrong." He said in the smallest voice Draco had ever heard, so meek and quiet that he could barely hear it.
After another moment of silence passed, Draco abruptly stood. Harry immediately averted his eyes, staring at his palms. "We should get out." Draco said firmly, and Harry almost shuddered.
"Why?"
"Because I'm not going to talk about this while we're both naked in a giant bathtub, okay?" The blond muttered, shaking his head as he slid into his pajamas. When they were both dressed and dried, Draco pulled Harry into a tight and unexpected embrace. The raven was stiff for a moment, but he eventually melted into Draco. They stood there for what could have been only minutes, or could have been hours. Neither knew.
"I want to be with you again." Draco said bluntly, although his voice was laced with emotion. "I'm...I'm not complete without you. You're like my other half. I don't know how I lasted two years without you." His voice was slowly trailing off, slowly becoming more unstable and more crackly. "I did some horrible things in the war, I know I did, and I hope you can forgive me. I couldn't have changed my side. He would have killed my family."
"I know, Draco, I know." Harry said into Draco's neck, his voice just as emotional as the other's. "You didn't want to. It's okay; it was war, we all did things we regret." His voice had a soothing effect on Draco. He hesitantly pressed a chaste kiss to Draco's lips; a very soft, feathery kiss. Harry cupped the blond's cheek and forced them to be face to face. "I didn't break up with you because I didn't love you anymore." He whispered. "I was scared. Terrified. I didn't want you to get hurt because of me."
Draco nodded fervently, and then they both slid down the wall to the floor, sitting in each other's arms. It was silent as they did so, silent except for an occasional sniffle from Draco or a deep breath from Harry.
Harry gently kissed Draco's head. "I love you," He said in a barely audible whisper, but they were so close that Draco could hear it. "I never stopped."
The blond tensed a bit at the words. They felt familiar, but the type of familiarity that's vague, like a memory of something done at a young age. He gulped, and then choked out, "I love you too."
For the first time in a long time, the pair was sure they would be alright. With a bit of time and work, they could resolve any remaining issues left between them. All was well, for the time being.