The Ugly Truth 〚drarry〛

truth #8

October 29

Truth #8: "I'm always here for you."

When Potter didn't walk into his classroom, Draco grew concerned. Lunch started almost half an hour ago; where was he? It was nearly two months into the school year. They've spent every lunch together for almost two months, so why was he not here?

Draco knew he should just sit at his desk and focus on something else instead of worrying—he wasn't the worrying type, he shouldn't care all of a sudden—but he found he really couldn't. Hesitantly, he got up from his desk, and made his way out the door. He took one last look at the undone work on his desk and decided it wasn't important. This was Harry Potter, the man he might one day call him best friend, and the man who'd saved him from a fire; he was heartless if he said he didn't care about him.

He walked to Potter's classroom, which was just across the hall. He was about to knock to be polite, but decided to fuck it. He opened the door.

He didn't really know what he was expecting. Maybe an empty classroom, or maybe Potter caught up in a larger workload than normal. Maybe he was smoking or talking to his wife or something. But Draco walked in, and he didn't see any of that. Instead, he saw Potter at his desk, looking more disheveled than he's ever seen him. His tie was completely undone, hanging loosely around his neck. His glasses were abandoned in front of him on his desk. His head was titled down completely so his eyes were obscured. His fingers were all caught in his thick and untidy hair. Yes, of course he looked as attractive as always, but what mattered to Draco was how tired and downcast he seemed.

Potter looked up at the sound of the door opening, but he didn't greet Draco in any way. He didn't seem to be crying at all, but his eyes were red, probably from rubbing at them. Dark circles were prominent. Draco felt his stomach drop to the ground at the sight, and he closed the door behind him, rushing up to Potter's side.

"Are you okay?" He questioned, but he found he was being stupid. Of course he wasn't okay. He looked like a beautiful disaster, to be honest.

"Yeah," Potter said, and they both knew it was a lie.

Draco somehow felt like he was trespassing, but instead of leaving like his mind told him to (the moment seemed awfully private and he was intruding), he pulled up a chair right in front of Potter.

Boldly, he reached out his arm and delicately grabbed hold of Potter's jaw before turning him to make eye contact. His hand lingered there for a bit on the warm flesh before he pulled away. "You don't need to lie to me, Harry," he said, figuring that first names should be used in moments like these. "If there's any way for me to help—"

Draco never really took Potter for the affectionate type, but his words were cut off by Potter reaching out and roughly pulling Draco's body to his own in a tight embrace. He buried his face in Draco's shoulder, and his heart rate sped up drastically as he wrapped his arms around Potter. He felt a strong need to dissect the situation, as it really was unusual, but he found he couldn't think at the moment, so he settled on doing what he believed was right. Harry's breath against his shoulder was ragged, but he wasn't crying. Draco tightened his grip around the math teacher.

"I'm always here for you, Harry," he murmured gently into the other's ear, rubbing small circles on his back with his thumb. It was oddly intimate, and Draco wasn't used to affection of any kind, but he knew he had to comfort Potter even if he was slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't, though, he found. Hugs were unfamiliar but they seemed okay.

Potter abruptly pulled away from the hug and sighed deeply. "Sorry about that," he said, "you don't really seem like the hugging type."

Draco tried his best to smile despite his concern. "It's fine, really," he reassured. "You want to go get gummy bears or something...?" Draco hesitated, not sure how to make it better.

"I'm not hungry," Potter said, and Draco raised an eyebrow. He never thought that he'd hear Potter saying that. "It's just, I don't know, my marriage... I'm not sure if it'll last," he admitted, looking down at his lap instead of at Draco.

Draco blinked in surprise. He didn't know what he was expecting, but this wasn't it.

"I don't know what to do," Potter breathed out, and Draco found himself hesitating.

"I think you should try your best to make it work," he found himself saying. "Try not to fight as much, invite her on dates and buy her flowers, all that cheesy high school stuff. But if you're not in love with her anymore, you can't really force that kind of stuff..." He really wasn't that great at relationship advice, since he was single and all, but he'd try. For Harry.

"You're right," Potter said, finally looking up at him. He smiled a little bit, his lips curling in that way Draco found he admired, and he felt his concern melt away. "Thanks."

"I'm shit at advice, but I'm always willing to try and help," Draco admitted, smiling back. "Like I said, I'm always here for you, even if my advice sucks."

Potter's smile expanded, and Draco loved the sight of it. "Now, what about those gummy bears?"

Harry laughed, and Draco grinned back. "What're we waiting for? Let's go."

They quickly left the classroom, on the way to Draco's car. He found his eyes wandering repeatedly to Harry, who was walking by his side, smiling despite his earlier bad mood. He really was a cute little thing.

"Wait," Draco suddenly said, and Potter stopped, looking at him questioningly. "Your tie."

Potter glanced down at his undone dark red tie, and smiled at Draco sheepishly. "Um, thanks, but uh, I wasn't thinking when I untied it, it was suddenly suffocating me, and I really should have left it done up, and um, I don't know how."

Potter's words were so quick and sloshed together that Draco barely caught any of it. "Come again?"

Much to Draco's amusement, Potter blushed, nearly as bright as his tie. "I don't know how... Ginny usually does it for me."

Draco snorted mockingly. "What a loser," he teased before grabbing Potter by the tie and pulling him closer. It made Draco slightly nervous, being so close to Potter that they were nearly touching. It was different than when they were hugging, and he could feel warm breath on his face. He told himself to focus on the tie.

He pulled away as quickly as possible, feeling his face heating up a bit. When he looked back at Potter, though, his face was dark as well. "What a nerd," Draco mumbled under his breath again. Potter shoved him teasingly.

"Go away, loser. You owe me two coffees."

Draco found it was kind of awkward having a crush on his closest friend, but at times like these, he wouldn't trade his friendship for the world. Sometimes, it felt like it was just him and Harry, and those moments really made him glad to be alive.

And God, he was thankful.