It turns out to bad of a night.
He spends a lot of it with Ro table, pilies high with food, beause, as Kinglsey had said, they were saviors a as muh ake as they water how muh it ost the mio Dean, giving a few exlusive omments for his artile, ah Luna while Gialk to the mahe Harpies, who she had said were my favorite team ever, Harry, I have to get a good word in, take are of Luna, will you?
Not that Luake it was sometimes better for her to stay with frie wander off, so Harry sways bak and forth with her in the middle of the e floor until Drao shows up behiappihe shoulder and lookihan Harry had seen him in a while.
“Hey, Lui from oo another, like all the onfidene he gai away. “Mind if I ut in?”
“ht.” She’s smiling, like she khey doo lear away from the gnargles, anyways.”
Drao looks like he’s going to ugh. He hasn’t quite mahe art of following a oio, even though Harry knows he loves Luna just as muh as he does, so he waits until Luna has turo raise an eyebrow, ah burst out ughing.
“I didn’t need saving.” Harry says, and they are revolvi by now. “She’s a muh better er than I am. ping ohing.”
“Oh, I.” Drao drops his hands with a flutter aeps away, smoothing invisible wri from his sleeve. “I wasn’t trying to save you. I just wa.”
Harry doesn’t wahe rest of the se be stupid.” He grabs him by his expe jaket and pulls him bak. “But I should warn you. I’m a really bad er.”
Drao gives a little huff of a ugh, but if he says a gets lost ihey stay together f aher, long enough for Harry to learly how muh shorter Drao is than him (a fat he keeps fettihey sent of his ologhe one he only wears wherying to impress. He athes sight of Seamus aher aross the room, urved arouher, ahey rotate to fae eah ain, Harry an see Seamus fshing a thumbs up. He’s hey approve of his hoies, but they all seem gd that he’s found a guy, even if that guy is a Slytherin. He only wished Drao would feel the same way.
“You really are good at this.” Harry’s whispering into his ear, afraid of some but unwilli go unsaid. “Makihings your way. Making them see you.”
“It’s the only thing I’m good at.” Drao says, his voie just a murmur. He’s got his hands tuked underh Harry’s suit jaket, ahe only thin fabri of his dress shirt separating their skihink that it ortant.”
“It was.” Harry shio say, about how gd he was that Drao was here, about how beautiful Drao was, about how he would take them hht this mi keep ing, turning around in the living room. “Saved my life tonight.”
“Not as important as you.” Drao was looking up at him from beh his eyeshes, and Harry had ied how long they were before. There were a lot of things he had ied, and all of them are suddenly informatio believe that he had missed f. “They all love you.”
“hey love the boy who lived.” Harry didn’t want to think about that. Tonight was a good night. “They don’t even know who I am.”
“I do.” Drao seems e of something. “I know you. Aers, and Harry an feel his fier, just a ti his shirt, like the beating of a butterfly. “You’re important to me. You knht?”
Harry thinks this an apology. A way to say sorry. A way for Drao to say that he loves him without atually saying it, but Harry doesn’t are. He an wait. Iime, he would take this.
“Yeah, Drao. I know.” He presses a kiss dowop of his head, aeps away, beause the song is ending aogether for a would draw more stares than they were already getting. It’s almost with a that Harry bends down and kisses him on the heek, so lose to the orner of his mouth that it is almost on his lips, like this is just ahing where he would press the bouil it breaks, ruin this, too, with his reklessness. Harry doesn’t want that, but he wa’s almost worth the risk.
Chapter 25
Drao
He’s happy.
For a moment, Drao an’t remember why, only that he had gotte’s sleep that he had had ihere ani lurkihroat, oreaming in through the open urtains and sending yellow light sattering over his skihe sleep out of his eyes like he’s smoothing wrinkles in an old shirt, and it’s orethes out an arm to where Harry would normally be (Drao is always the first oouhes nothing but the frayihe wor he remembers—about the ball, Harry’s hand in his as the ameras fshed, the look on Harry’s fae as he reahed out to aept the award that he thi beause he was luky enough to survive, that e with Harry’s hands on him and his voie whispering in Drao’s ear, promising things that he ko believe were goirue.
& f in his stomah at the empty spae that osed to hold Harry, but he sn, fores himself to alm the ay that is beatih his pulse. He woke up early, he thinks, pushing away the ov