𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐆𝐨

𝐗𝐋𝐈𝐈𝐈

The next day just after breakfast, I searched the common room for Neville.

Draco was in our dorm, perfecting other contributions to what may have cause our potion to fail.

At last, I spotted Neville sitting alone in an isolated corner with a Herbology textbook and some half-filled parchment.

"Hi, Neville," I greeted, sitting myself down beside him.

Neville looked up from his book and grinned at me sweetly.

"Hello, Harry! What's up?"

"I need to ask you a favour."

He gave me a questioning look that urged me to go on.

"Remember when you, Ron, Hermione and I were in the library, and you had that bleeding plant with you that Ron complained about?"

"Yeah. Hydnellum Peckii," he said, nodding.

"Er– yeah, that," I stuttered, "Well, you mentioned that the liquid was one of the main ingredients in Blood Replenishing potions."

"Oh, yeah!" he said, "Madam Pomfrey introduced it to me in sixth year. Professor Sprout taught me about it. Why? Have you lost blood?" He sounded concerned as he spoke.

"No, not me," I said, "But the potion that Draco and I are concocting for Potions class accidentally evaporated all of Draco's blood."

Nevilles back shot out straight up when I said this.

"Holy hell! Is he dead?"

"No! No. I used a Bezoar. But the potion didn't work because of it."

"Well, of course you can borrow the plant if you need it," Neville said, "I'll go get it... if Theo's not in there already," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "That bloke scares the living daylights out of me!"

***

Neville gave me the Bleeding Tooth Fungus for us to use promptly. It made a mess of my jumper as I carried it down the hall, and when Draco saw it and the crimson liquid that covered me, his eyes went round.

"The fuck is that?" he asked, cringing.

"Hinel... whatever the hell he said," Draco's eyes only grew wider. "Bleeding Tooth Fungus," I clarified.

"That's the ingredient you thought of?"

"Neville said it's a vital ingredient in Blood Replenishing potions. Figure we could try it at least."

Draco paused for a moment, but told me to bring it over to him.

I watched as he extracted exactly half a cup of its liquid into a  glass vile, before pouring it slowly into the potion as he mixed it in.

"This better fucking work," he scowled as some of the red liquid stained his shirtsleeve.

"I think it will," I said, trying to be reassuring, "It'll help at the least."

Draco finished stirring and set the stir stick down on the table with a clang. He stared blankly at our concoction for a moment before exhaling deeply.

"Alright," he breathed, "Get the Bezoar ready."

I clenched the Bezoar in my palm and stood close to Draco's side.

"If this fails Harry, my last act will be to drown you with the rest of this potion."

"That's fair."

"I love you."

With a hand that quivered, Draco carefully poured a small amount of potion into another vile, and downed it almost immediately.

To get it over with, I presumed.

We waited in silence for a reaction. I waited for Draco to go pale again, I waited for him to shrivel up into a dried out heap of flesh and drop dead.

My arm kept flinching with the Bezoar in hand every time Draco even made a movement to breathe.

A minute went by. And then two. Nothing happened.

"Are you okay, Draco? How do you feel? Are you hurt?" I asked frantically when he still hadn't said anything.

He remained silent.

"Draco?" I touched his arm.

"I feel great," he whispered, still staring blankly at the cauldron.

"Great as in cured? Or great as in it's messed with your head and you're high on bloody teeth fungi?"

"I think it worked," he looked at me this time, the hint of a smile on his lips.

"Actually? How's your hands?" I gripped the hand closest to me firmly, checking for any hint of abnormalities, but the shaking had ceased.

"Harry," he placed his other hand atop mine, "Harry, I feel great."

A strong rush of happiness took over me, almost bringing me to tears. A happiness I haven't felt since before we started research for that project.

I practically jumped on Draco, wrapping my arms so tightly around him I bet that he was frightened for his lungs.

He held me back and swung me around happily, a beautiful beam sparkling on his face.

"Harry Potter, I love you so much," he exclaimed, setting me back down on my own two feet.

"I love you too," I returned.

"It's moments like these that I would want to shout to the whole world, but you're the only person I need to know," Draco told me, his smile never fading.

"It's moments like these that I want to scream and cry and kiss you all at the same time," I shook out the remaining tension in my hands,
"But right now, I only want to kiss you."

Draco grinned even wider, and leaned towards me slowly. Gingerly, he planted a kiss on my forehead, my nose, both my cheeks, and my lips.

He kissed my lips many times again, and I kissed him back every time.

***

"Harry! There you are! I've been waiting!"

"What? No Glasses today?" I smirked, the pure happiness from earlier still hadn't faded. "Nice to see you too."

"Harry. You're not going to the Great Hall, are you?" she asked, seeming frantic.

"Why not? It's almost supper."

There was a pause.

"I don't think you should go."

"Why not?" I asked, becoming suspicious.

Another pause.

"Ophiuchus. Why not?"