Truths and Dares

Alt. Ending - Part IX

"So, how's it going with finding someone for the Yule Ball?"
Harry spins around, shocked. Someone who hadn't heard the news was rare; the Ravenclaw girl had told everyone what had happened between him and Draco, and she had gone into pretty gory detail. He'd heard at least twelve different versions by now, the most accurate being the original, the least accurate being a version where Draco literally swept him off his feet, kissed him until he couldn't breathe while holding him in his arms, and made him beg for Draco to take him to the Yule Ball. He'd heard them all, mainly because, while he isn't vain, he likes knowing what people say about him. Probably from three years of rumors, lies, and false stories. Or maybe he is a bit vain. He doesn't like to think about it, what he is, it just makes things more complicated for him when he's trying to figure out what to do.
Anyway, he spins around, startled that there's still someone who hasn't heard, until he realizes that it's just someone talking to their friend. They're not talking to him. Harry breathes a sigh of relief. He doesn't want to answer any more questions about his love life.
Somehow, Rita Skeeter found out about their game and published a story about it in the Daily Prophet. It was complete with lies about him, Seamus, and Luna, and it slandered Ron for "being the only person to come without an established relationship." According to the section, "Ronald probably thought it would be fun to mess with the others and watch what they did in an attempt to learn more about love, as he was horrible at the game of love on his own." Ron had gotten a load of hate mail after that article was printed, but at least he was only in the spotlight for a few days.
The next person Rita had preyed on: Draco.
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Draco sighed. He couldn't go a single day without someone passing him in the hallways and making a snide remark to their friends that was loud enough for him to easily overhear. Usually it was about him being a fag, or something along those lines.
There were so many rumors. Not just about him and Harry, but also about him alone. He heard them being passed around in the corridors when he was walking to class: that he was secretly a girl—because wasn't Harry straight?—that Harry was just using him to get someone's attention (and vice versa), that he was in other relationships as well and that he was just playing around with Harry's heart in order to break it, that he was adopted because his parents would never have a gay child, that they had somehow had a child (which was ridiculous; they were both boys). All lies. And it was annoying him out of his mind. He needed to get out.
He decided to go for a jog, clear his mind, and then come back and shower in time for dinner.
As he quickly changed into a pair of lighter pants and a white t-shirt, he couldn't stop thinking about that awful article. The awful words that Skeeter had written about them, the horrible effects it had on the other student's view of them. "The Heir to the Malfoy Legacy," she had written. "A young, lonely, powerful wizard—or so people expect. However, Draco Malfoy may not be as lonely as people think.
"On Monday, Harry Potter asked Draco to go to the Triwizard Tournament's Yule Ball with him. Needless to say, Draco accepted the offer. For how could he turn down such a nice, strong, famous young man? Especially one who was Hogwarts' Triwizard competitor, besides Cedric Diggory, of course?
"However, this endeavor may not be as innocent as it seems. And the two may be much more connected than originally thought.
"According to Raina Tempeston, a young Ravenclaw girl who saw Harry ask Draco to the Ball, they were enemies for years, until, or so it seems, one day they decided to set their differences aside, and become boyfriends. "I always knew Draco hated Harry," she tells the Daily Prophet in an interview, "but I never thought they had any sort of bond."
"The two rivals story of hatred and finally "love" started in their first year, before the Sorting, when Harry turned down an offer from Draco and instead became friends with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.
"The next year, their hate ran deeper, as Draco catcalled and bullied poor Harry.
"In their third year, apparently Draco was growing less icy. However, there was nothing to precede something like this.
"I can conclude, from my extensive research into these two young boys' backgrounds and history, that Draco Malfoy is most likely just playing with Harry's heart for fun, and that Harry should run from any sort of relationship with Draco if he knows what's good for him."
Honestly, who did the bastard think she was? "Extensive research", for Merlin's fucking sake? What?
And yet, everything in the article could be true. They had hated each other for so long—well, Harry had hated Draco for so long—that it wasn't surprising that he almost believed the article. He didn't know what to believe anymore.