Changing Minds in Hard Times

Draco lay on Harry’s bed, naked as always, and stared at the scattered rose petals that adorned the bed around him. There were also several vases with intact roses placed around the room – courtesy of Neville and Luna.



Neville of course, had grown the flowers, but Luna, his current girlfriend, had taken it upon herself to arrange them and, she had said, to make sure no Lumpy Limpgets snuck into Harry’s room by way of the petals.



Draco had been the one to open the door and accept the various vases from Neville and Luna, since Harry had been occupied in the bathroom at the time. He had always thought Luna was a bit insane, and that Neville was a shy, naive sort of fellow. However, the pair was so nice to him, despite the fact that he had been rude to them in the past, and that he had shown up to answer the door wearing only a pair of Harry’s black boxers, they treated him as if he was someone worth speaking to. And Draco liked that.



After having spent so long as the whore of Voldemort’s court, it felt nice for anyone to be speaking to him normally, without condescension in their voices and hatred or lust in their eyes. Even Luna’s comment about Lumpy Limpgets made him smile. He thanked the pair with genuine gratitude, and after they had helped him place the rose filled vases around the room, he had enlisted the pair to try to get Harry out of the bathroom.



The brunette had locked himself in the bathroom since about 8 a.m. that morning, and seeing as how it was nearing noon, and Draco didn’t care for taking a piss on the floor, he really had to get Harry out of there.



To his defense, Harry was having a legitimate panic attack. Today was the day he and Draco had to create the weapon…the child that would be the weapon. He couldn’t say he wasn’t having second thoughts.



On one hand, he would love to have a family, and Draco, despite his snarky attitude and constant sneering of the past, was quite the catch for any man…or woman, for that matter. But on the other hand, if he and Draco did this, together, there would be no way out. And what if this wasn’t the right thing to do? What if he was just using Draco? What if they shouldn’t have a child together? What if Voldemort got ahold of Draco and the child…and what if they died?



Harry knew if he bonded with Draco, and the child they planned to create became a reality, his life would revolve around those two alone. He would do anything to protect them…to save them from pain, death, or anything else that could hurt them.



The knocking on the bathroom door roused him from his thoughts. “Harry…” It was Neville’s deepening voice that came from the other side of the door. “Draco has to use the bathroom, so could you come out for a minute?”



He heard a female voice interrupt Neville’s, and suddenly Luna was addressing him. “Harry, surely you’ll want to come out of there. I’ve heard rumors of Skin-Boring Skeetle-Been’s coming out of the toilets, and I’m sure I’ve told you before how painful those are to remove.”



Harry sighed and picked himself up off the toilet, which had been his seat between pacing sessions. He knew Luna would keep telling him about the various odd unseen creatures she knew about if he didn’t come out. And besides, Draco was surely upset about him hogging the bathroom. He cast a quick Tempus to see the time, and groaned when he realized he had been in there for almost four hours.



He opened the door, and took in the view before him. Draco, still wearing only a pair of black boxers, stood a ways behind Neville and Luna. His arms were crossed and he seemed to be considering the pair before him, who had successfully gotten Harry out of the bathroom within three minutes.



Harry smiled awkwardly and greeted his friends. It was uncomfortable for him to be facing the pair when they had to realize what he and Draco would be doing later that day. It seemed the news had spread all around the castle, and now everyone knew that Harry had agreed to create a child with the young Malfoy.



Harry was nervous about anyone knowing about his sexual life. It wasn’t like people weren’t in every other aspect of his life, couldn’t he just have this? But the answer was always no. People loved to know who the Boy-Who-Lived wanted to sleep with. Scandal was always drawn to him.



Luna came forward the few steps it took to get to him, and drew Harry away from the doorway a bit so Draco could slip by. As Draco headed for the bathroom, he pulled Harry to him for a quick kiss for only a moment, before he slipped through the doorway and disappeared behind the closing door.



Harry turned his attention back to Luna and Neville, and blushed. He wasn’t used to people seeing his private moments with the blond man. The two didn’t seem to mind though, and they had already settled themselves into the nearby chairs near the fireplace.



He looked around the room, and his eyes caught on the rose filled vases sitting around the room. “You guys brought the roses?”



“Oh yes, Harry. We wanted your special night with Draco to be romantic.” Luna said, flicking her hair over her shoulder and bending to examine the arm of the chair she was sitting in.



Draco chose that moment to come back in from the bathroom, and came over to join Harry, who was still standing but a few feet away from the bathroom door. His arms wrapped around the brunette’s waist and held him tight.



Neville was beginning to look uncomfortable as the two men before him had a seemingly private moment. He shuffled his feet, and finally stood, before clearing his throat to get attention on him again. “Well, we better be going, Harry…Draco.”



Draco nodded in response to being addressed by his name, and looked over at Luna, who was still examining a spot on the arm of the chair.



She suddenly looked up and over at Harry. “Harry, you have a Black-Bodied Korlack just here, don’t you know?”



Harry grinned at his friend. It was just like her to be obsessed with the odd creatures that nobody else saw. “Oh yes?”



“Yes…well I don’t suppose you would mind if I took it with me, would you?”



“Not at all, Luna.”



Luna smiled and took a minute to detach the small, nearly invisible creature from Harry’s chair, before turning back to Neville and leaving out the door from which they came.



When they were gone, Harry heard Draco snort to himself. “What’s that about?” He asked the amused blond man.



“I always thought Luna was nuts, but now I find myself more interested in being around her then ever returning to my haughty pure-blooded family or the world I grew up in.”



“Some things change, Draco.” Harry said, with love in his voice.



“Yes, Harry. Sometimes things do change.”