Star Quality

Chapter 11

To Harry's deep relief, the world's media appeared to come to the conclusion that the sight of Draco on a rooftop, brandishing an 'impressive toy wand' as he yelled Latin to the night sky, was both adorably eccentric and totally British. They had less to say about Harry, his 'partner in crime', even though he appeared in all the photos too. He wasn't holding Draco's hand so much as clutching it, Harry thought, a vision of the two of them popping into his brain whenever he tried not to think about it. And his expression, as he stared at Draco . . .

"The media clearly think you're a harmless idiot," Pansy said with too much enjoyment. "No one could possibly believe Draco would fancy you," she added unhelpfully. "Not when you're wearing that hat, at any rate. I wonder why it is that Draco looks adorable in it, while you look . . ." She tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Unspeakable," she concluded.

"I told you the hat was a great disguise," Draco said smugly to Harry. "Oh ye of little faith."

It was a bit rich of Draco to pretend he'd planned it, after his little performance on the roof, but Harry was so glad the cameras hadn't captured either him on his knees, or Draco's bone-breaking, desperate hug, that he decided to let it go. "Ha ha," he said, and suffered Pansy patting him unsympathetically on the cheek.

Besides, Luna had spent the whole flight from Berlin to Turin scribbling frantically on a pad of paper and muttering under her breath, and by the time Turin had become Barcelona, she'd somehow managed to design, organise and make a dozen new costumes. Draco debuted the new look in the Estadi Olímpic that night: flowing black robes studded with crystals, a ridiculously tall pointed hat, and a diamante-encrusted wand that emitted a stream of light when you pushed a button.

Blaise had been flown in specially to choreograph a new routine, and the sight of his handsome, insufferable face put a dent in Harry's amusement at the sight of Draco looking like a complete tosser, but even so. The vision of Draco Malfoy, of all people, dressing up as a Muggle wizard was still almost too funny to bear.

Besides, there was more for Harry to worry about than whether Blaise was standing too close to Draco or not. Pansy, despite her constant mockery of Harry, the 'wizard's assistant', was furious with the both of them, and Harry began to find it difficult to get Draco on his own. Whenever he tried, there Pansy was, shooing Draco away to another engagement, or insisting Harry let Draco rest. Their hotel rooms were no longer next to each other, and whenever Harry tried to find Draco's, a bodyguard would pop up to usher Harry back to his own room.

It was infuriating, but at the same time, Harry found it hard to argue with Pansy's assertion that Draco needed his sleep. Harry already felt knackered himself, and if he was tired, how must Draco be feeling? He never seemed to stop. When they weren't on a plane or in a taxi, Draco was rehearsing, or sound checking, or performing, or talking talking talking: to his fans, to the media, to his crew.

It wasn't that Harry felt neglected, exactly. That would be stupid. And he didn't think Draco was happy about the situation either; he was unfailingly polite and friendly to everyone around him apart from Pansy, Harry noticed. And he noticed – trying not to notice – that Draco was always scanning the room, looking for him. He immediately looked away if he saw Harry had seen him do it, but that almost made it worse. Sometimes, Harry could feel Draco looking at him across the room, and it was doing amazingly fucked up things to his insides.

Harry had almost started to watch Draco to stop him watching him. Except, in some ways, that made it worse. Because it made him think too much. About how, in some ways, Draco was exactly the same as ever: vicious, sharp, shitty. But in other ways, he . . . wasn't. Was it just Harry's wishful thinking, seeing what he wanted to see? Making excuses, because being in bed with Draco was just so fucking incredible? Because he appeared to need to keep Draco on side to have a chance of getting home? He wasn't sure. But . . . in this odd, wish world, Luna liked Draco. And so did Ron. And Hermione and Parvati were in love with him, pretty much, and he was talented, and funny, and kind to his fans, and . . .