The dream starts off simple, like it always did.
In the dream, they are in 5th year, before everything went to hell. Him and Harry, curled up on one of the fluffy carpets in the room of requirement. Harry was laughing, messy hair and rumpled sweaters, his tie undone and the buttons opened on his shirt. Draco sits there too, watching the fire and the shadows and the boy lying next to him, listening to him talk about everything and nothing all at once.
It had been a lazy afternoon, and they had spent the entire night and a good chunk of the day just talking and laughing and kissing. They lay there now, watching the sun trace patterns over the wooden walls, streaks of gold and bronze and amber.
Draco wonders, just for a moment, if this was how life would be if they were still together when they left Hogwarts.
He chases the thought from his head, the thought of the war and the death eaters and Voldemort hanging over them. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that everyone would be fine, that they could escape without some sort of consequence. No, he knew that their luck was running out, that it was all borrowed time anyways.
But by God, he would enjoy it while it lasted.
He reaches over, laces his hands through Harry’s, content to just lie there next to him while the day turned to night. Harry smiled, pressing his face to Draco’s neck, and they lay there for a while, breathing each other in.
The setting sun had turned the whole room gold when Harry speaks. His voice was muffled, his lips moving against Draco’s neck, as he says, “God, I wish it could be like this all the time.”
Draco freezes, just for a moment, as he marvels at how alike him and Harry were. He reaches over, smoothing the hair from Harry’s face. “Yeah. Me too.”
The silence stretches again, comfortable and warm, and Draco smiles, seeing Harry snuggled up next to him. Harry reaches over, interlocking their fingers as he whispers, “Can I…can I tell someone? About us?”
It’s as if someone poured ice-cold water on top of him. Draco feels his stomach clench, his mouth go dry as he swallows carefully. “What do you mean?”
Harry glances up, eyes narrowing in concern. “It’d only be Ron and Hermione…” He trails off, noticing the look on Draco’s face. “Why? Are you…do you not want anyone to know? Is it…. is it me?”
Harry’s face is calm, but Draco knows better. Draco has spent hours examining that face, those emerald eyes and ebony hair and that streak of angry red through his head. He sees the hurt in Harry’s eyes, and he feels panic uncurl in his stomach, because he has to make Harry see. “No! No, I’m fine! It’s… I’m…” He stumbles, tripping over the words, desperation filling his voice. “Look, Harry. I…” Draco curses.
“Fuck it. Harry, I love you. I love you so damn much that there is nothing I wouldn’t do to save you. Nothing. And that terrifies me. Because I know that if Voldemort got you…if anybody captured you…there’s…there’s nothing that could stop me from tearing the world apart to save you.” He looks up, into Harry’s eyes. “And if people knew that…that that’s what I felt…what’s to stop them from capturing you to force me to do something?”
Harry’s eyes are dark, thunderstorms and lightning and clouds. Draco stares into them, and suddenly, he knows that Harry would do the same, that he would tear the world open to save Draco. The thought terrified him, how similar they were, and he exhales slowly. “Don’t you see? If people knew -“
Harry cuts him off. “Yeah. I know, Draco. I know.” He lies back down, resting his head on Draco’s shoulder once again. “It’s fine. We’ll wait. After the war’s over, someday we’ll tell everyone.”
Draco can feel Harry’s lips curling into a smile as he pulls Harry into a kiss. “Someday…”
Draco wakes with a bolt. For a moment, his heart aches, the feeling of Harry’s head on his shoulder a phantom weight. It was a long time ago, those two boys, and he wasn’t sure where any of them were now. He rubs his neck, wincing at the sore muscles and glances at the clock.
He jumps out of bed, swearing. The Quidditch match was today, Gryffindor and Slytherin, and he was supposed to be down there 10 minutes ago.
Draco races down the corridor, past the Great Hall, and sprints outside. He passes the Greenhouse, and for a moment he smiles, his hand brushing his lips as he remembers kissing Harry there a week ago. He had thought, naively, that one kiss would be enough, that it would be like the old times.
They both had scars, the two of them. Harry still woke up screaming sometimes, for someone named Sirius and Fred and Lupin. On those nights, all Draco could do was hold him, brushing kisses to his forehead until the night turned to day and Harry stopped crying.
Harry had to do the same as well, when the darkness of the room looked like the darkness of that cellar, and the familiar numbness turned his body to ice. Yes, they both had scars, and it would take a damn long time to mend.
He shakes his head, sprinting down, onto the Quidditch Pitch and into the change rooms. For a heartbeat, the cheers of the crowd sounded like the screams of the muggles, and Draco’s heart clenched before he forced the memory away.
He strides into the change room, ignoring the questions, and grabs his robes. He heads into a stall, locking the door behind him, and starts to pull the robes over his head. He knows not to change in public now, knows the glares and the sneers that filled people’s faces when they saw the scars and the burns and that Dark Mark.
He shakes the thought, pulling up that smirk onto his face from deep inside of him, and steps outside. He grabs his broom, the weight familiar, as his team steps onto the Quidditch Field.
He sees the Gryffindor team, scarlet and crimso and gold, sees Harry standing tall and he smiles bitterly. They both had their roles to play - Harry the Savior and Hero and Draco the Arrogant Prince. He scoffs slightly, before striding across the pitch to shake Harry’s hand.
Harry’s palm is soft, warm, and Draco squeezes it slightly before letting go. He turns his back, heading back to his team and mounts his broom.
When the whistle blows, he’s up, the wind in his hair and the sun in his eyes. It’s always been like this, the freedom that only comes with being so high up, and he swoops low, skimming the ground with his toes before shooting up into the clouds.
He glances around, looking for that familiar glint of gold, and he flies down. The air is cool and clear and he sucks in a breath, letting the cleanliness erase the stain of the past few years from his mind.
A blur of movement catches his eye, and he whirls, his gaze falling on that tiny gold speck near the middle of the court. Draco accelerates, his broom vibrating as he speeds towards the Snitch. Out of the corner of his vision, he sees another figure, one of red moving towards the Snitch as well. Draco laughs, moving faster, lighter then he has been for a while as he thrusts his hand out to grab the Snitch. Harry reaches out too, at the same time, and Draco smirks as they both catch the Snitch, trapping it between their two hands.
For a moment, time slows, and Draco stares at Harry. Harry’s face is flushed, his hair messy and his glasses askew, eyes shining and robes fluttering. He looked so young, still whole and invincible and immortal, and Draco smiles, pulling Harry closer.
He hears Harry catch his breath, the air between them warm as Harry whispers, “Draco…you sure?”
And maybe they are both young, maybe they are both reckless, maybe they are just too broken to ever mend. But they’ve survived a war, lasted this long, and so Draco smiles, pulling Harry closer, until they are pressed up against each other. “I’ve never been so damn sure in my entire life.”
Then they are kissing, in front of everyone, the Snitch beating like a tiny heart beat between them, and Draco feels Harry smiling against his lips as he brings them closer. Their hands are still locked together, and Draco reaches up with his free hand, tangling it in Harry’s hair. He knots his finger in it, the strands of onyx and ebony and midnight, pressing their bodies closer, kissing him like they had all the time in the world.
And they did, didn’t they? Him and Harry, nothing but a promise of a better world, and as the crowd erupted, Draco knew that all was well.