Delicate {𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪}

Chapter 21

Things had been going well for the two boys for the next week. Draco was in contact with his mother, finding new ways around the contract, and Harry was more than content to simply stay by Draco's side, comforted by the blond's presence.

However, the Sunday after their first week back at classes was when things began to go downhill. Draco knew something was wrong immediately when Harry never appeared at the library, where the two had scheduled to meet each other. Harry hadn't been late once before. In fact, he had always been early, desperate to spend as much time with Draco as he possibly could.

Some may have found it tiresome, but Draco only found it endearing.

The two had planned to meet at 11 in the morning. By 4 o'clock, the young Malfoy was frantic. He had checked everywhere and couldn't find Harry anywhere, so he, Pansy and Blaise recruited Weasley and Granger to help them in their search. By 5 pm, all five of them had become antsy. Harry should have turned up by now, for sure, no matter where he had been.

When the five walked into the Great Hall, they paid no mind to the staring faces as they made their way to the Gryffindor table. If anyone had any issue with the Slytherin prince and his friends being at the table, no one spoke up.

The group spoke in hushed whispers, trying to devise a plan on how to find Harry and debating whether or not to involve the teachers. They eventually agreed to do so if Harry hadn't appeared after dinner.

They proceeded to eat in relative silence, only speaking up when one had an idea about his whereabouts, which was not often considering they had checked the entire castle. Towards the end of dinner, the large doors opened, and Harry stepped in, Ginny Weasley close behind him. She seemed to whisper something in his ear before he nodded dreamily and made his way to the end of the table, taking a seat right beside the youngest Weasley.

Draco's jaw had dropped in shock when his boyfriend entered the room after having been missing the entire day, only to not even acknowledge his presence. He would have been angry if he weren't incredibly concerned about the boy. He knew exactly what Ginny had been subjecting his vulnerable boyfriend to and he couldn't fathom a reason as to why Harry would willingly be in her presence.

Harry didn't seem to be doing anything but sitting beside Ginny and starting blankly at her. He only spoke when she asked him a direct question and he failed to touch his food. As the meal wore on, Draco could feel himself growing more and more concerned about the wellbeing of the young Potter. Harry was behaving incredibly strangely, and the boy Draco was watching was most certainly not the boy he had come to know over the past few months.

However as the blond watched the two of them, he could feel doubts begin to creep in. In his head, he was aware that Harry was not acting like himself and this abnormal behaviour was a serious cause for concern. In his head, he was more than aware that Ginny had been hurting Harry, whether purposely or not, for months and that Harry would never willingly be in her company over Draco's.

However, years of self-hatred and masks, made Draco begin to doubt everything he and Harry had shared over the previous months. It made him think about things he usually would never, such as Harry being the saviour of the Wizarding World. He knew Harry would need to produce an heir, and quite frankly, so would he, as a Malfoy. He hated himself for having these thoughts, knowing it would break the boy he loved to know he was already seemingly giving up on him and going back to the titles he knew the younger boy loathed. He was seeing Harry as the 'Savior' despite his knowledge of how much those views damaged him.

However, despite what his brain was processing, Harry's tense shoulders and Ginny's smug look. Despite knowing, in his mind that something wasn't right and that, for Harry, he needed to dig deeper. Draco's heart was already building up an impenetrable wall, to protect it from any further damage. The two were deeply in love with each other, but the obstacles they kept facing, were only harming them.

The two loved in different ways.

Draco loved like the ocean.
Constantly moving and growing with each day. It came in waves, creeping up behind you, you couldn't see it. It was a quiet kind of love, ebbing and flowing with the tides but never retreating from view. However, when a storm came it was relentless, everywhere at once. You couldn't fight it, lest you be drowned in the currents, you could only submit to it, allow the current to lead you where you need to go, knowing the waters would protect those it loved for eternity. Nothing could prevent it from consuming all who it found deserving of its protection. You needed to surrender yourself fully or lose any hope you had of making it to the safety of the middle. However as strong as the currents that drew you in were, they could push you back out just as quickly. It was a form of self-preservation, that the blond wouldn't hesitate to use.

Harry's love was like fire, warm and welcoming to begin with, but hot and suffocating once it got going. You had no hope of ever escaping once you were pulled into its heat. It was intense and scary at first but once you reach the centre it's nothing but comfort and safety cocooning you inside its warmth like a blanket. The heat drew everyone in, but few made it to the centre, where you are kept forever, deep within the protective warmth his love provided. Once you had been accepted into the cocoon, you would never be released, no matter how much pain you caused Harry, your presence would always remain protected in the gentle arms of the fire. Harry loved like fire, and despite the pain Draco was causing him already, merely by losing faith in the boy he loved so quickly, his place would never be removed from Harry's heart.

Harry's love was like fire, and Draco would always be his true love. Harry was willing to overcome anything, no matter how hard, just to stay with him. But the other boy was already giving up on him.
Draco's love was like the ocean, and Harry could see the waves retreating, but no matter how fast he swam, he couldn't catch the retreating current.

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