Abseiling

The One And Only Chapter.

One summer, in light of the recent triwizard tournament debacle, Dumbledore thought it to be a great idea to have the entirety of the school go to a muggle activity centre and stay there for a week. Each year got designated a different centre so it was more manageable and dorm rooms were assigned as they would be in the school and by that I mean by house and gender. Each year groups was split up into different groups randomly to encourage house unity and for people to make new friends.
This is where the problem rose as for one Harry Potter this meant he wasn't with his friends Ron or Hermione let alone anyone in his dorm room but to make things worse he got stuck with Malfoy. The upside was that Malfoy was actually civil towards him for once but that could also be because his goons Crabbe and Goyle were put in another group and he was just as alone as Harry was.
The things that they actually had to do wasn't that bad for Harry even that instance or in this case instances that he and Malfoy had to hug for problem-solving which included passing a circle of rope around everyone and since this was the easiest method they were forced to hug each other as tight as possible for a bit.
The next day after that they had to go and do high ropes and since they were supposed to go in pairs for crate stacking they had to go together. Harry didn't want to get stuck with someone that was his fan or just plain hated him ( the latter of which Malfoy couldn't really fit in anymore)and Malfoy because no one else minded being with him. It was this that led to Malfoy learning he had a fear of heights last minute. Harry didn't know what to think of that part. After kicking the crates down they spent a whole dangling and bumping into each other a lot and I mean a lot.
Skipping forward in time to when they went weaselling, Malfoy had a much easier time going through the holes while Harry preferred just climbing over the rocks and regretting the fact he hadn't bought his camera. It was at this point in time that one of the people in their group had to go the toilet and so that was the day that Michael Corner peed in a Bush and wiped his bum with a fern leaf . Truly the peak of being a teen. After they went for ice cream at this farm and since Harry forgot his money Malfoy offered to pay for him and so Harry owed Malfoy a whopping £2.64 in muggle money. After that Harry decided to drag him to see the cows and was then promptly traumatised by watching a cow poop in front of them by accident. Let's just say it wasn't the highlight of their trip and neither was it when a donkey decided to bray at Malfoy when he tried to pet it following Harry's lead. Malfoy got convinced that the donkey hated him and proceeded to be adamant about not going near it again while Harry laughed in the background. They get back on the coach after that ( did I mention they were using muggle transport?) in which Harry decided he wanted to go to sleep and spent the entire ride just sleeping until eventually when they got close to the centre when he proceeds to lay his head on Malfoy's shoulder. Malfoy by now was panicking because Harry just put his head on his shoulder which should not be comfortable at all considering that he felt his shoulder bone touching his head and he is wondering if normally friends cross theses boundaries after two days of being civil towards each other. Luckily the ride stopped in a bit  and they get off, Harry making no mention of the incident and just walked away while Malfoy was still reeling from what had just happened.
Cutting forward again, Malfoy and Harry have been sticking to each other throughout each activity and have resorted to calling each their by their first name. This time they were set to go canoeing and so they change into less important clothing so they wouldn’t mind them getting wet. There were an odd amount of people so they had to go in a canoe with McGonagall. Harry sat in the front, Draco in the middle and the teacher at the back. For some odd reason they were one of the faster canoers out of the group. After the little session the instructors had originally organised for them to dive off their canoes but due to the time they got to only wade in and swim around for 20 minutes. Draco decided to just stand while Harry was like a fish in water and was swimming around floating and generally having fun dunking himself in. Granted Harry is not the best at swimming but when you have a buoyancy aid, a helmet and shoes on you really have nothing to fear. Eventually Draco got out and looked at Harry while he proceeded to float on his back and try to swim than proceeded to get lake water in his mouth all while shouting at Draco his every thought. They eventually go back and on the next day Harry realises he got sunburnt and proceeds to be confused for the next five minutes. Draco doesn't get sunburnt because he used the high SPF sun cream instead of the low one like Harry and actually wore a shirt instead of a tank top and shorts.
Now as mentioned before Draco has a newly acquired fear of heights which was especially true abseiling off 80ft bridges. So as they make plans to go last and swap reading books to read the ending of the other’s book , they find out that they can go together or in tandem as they call it. So this leads to then holding onto the railing as they start trying to kneel on the edge of the bridge, the instructor tells them to hug each other and to have only one of them pulling the rope. So naturally the person doing this is Harry since Draco was too scared to. Now Draco was slightly panicking because his arms were around the midsection of his possible crush who is basically stuck to since they are both attached to the same rope. They get down safely but not without Draco panicking a little and McGonagall taking a video of them for reasons once down they unclasp themselves and have a friendly race to the top which Harry wins because Draco isn't nearly as fast as he is. After they get to the top they realise that they can go again but instead of lowering themselves down the instructor would so naturally they go again and Draco and Harry get to spend some time hugging each other their faces an inch apart and Draco being the panicking mess he is panics.  Not only because of the general closeness that makes him think of kissing Harry(and isn’t that something to unpack ) but also because as he was looking around the beautiful scenery he realised how beautiful it was and how beautiful Harry was. He even said out loud that it was beautiful even though he did not know what he meant by that. They get down, they unclasp themselves, have another race, walk back to the coach and go back to their usual routine of Harry sleeping albeit not on Draco but that made it easier for his sanity even if he was slightly disappointed. They end that week with them making promises to send letters to each other at some point and with both of them gaining new crushes.