The Pursuit of Happiness

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::The Pursuit of Happiness- Ruining the Mood::

Draco straightened his tie, as he looked at his reflection in the full body mirror. “Damn, I’m gorgeous.” The blonde practically purred at his reflection and then started when he saw Blaise Zabini’s grinning expression appear behind his own.

“That would be a large understatement, my dear friend.” Blaise reached around Draco and replaced the blonde’s hands with his own. He flattened Draco’s tie against the smooth front of his shirt and then allowed his hands to slip down further, tucking in Draco’s shirt along the way.

“Tease.” Draco grinned and pushed Blaise’s hands away, before walking over to his bed and picking up his cape.

“It’s only a tease because you allow me to go no further.” Blaise pointed out, his arms crossed stubbornly across his chest. “I suspect that makes you the tease.”

Draco scrunched up his nose and sniffed. “I guess it does.” He muttered, as he slipped his cape on and tied its strings. “I never have understood, Zabini. Do you just want a fuck?”

Blaise rolled his eyes and made his way over to his bed, falling back on it as if in a faint. “If all I wanted was a fuck… I suppose any Gryffindor would do, Draco.” Blaise lifted his legs up on the bed and straightened himself out. “ The problem is, any Gryffindor won’t do. No Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw will suffice. Hell, I’ve made my way through the Slytherins hoping for at least one to have your… I don’t know. Spice?” Blaise laughed contemptuously. “None of them match up to your brand of cruelty. I guess that’s what I like about you, so much.”

Draco’s hands dropped to his sides. “My brand of cruelty?” He asked in an almost conversational tone.

Blaise chuckled. “Remember back when you thought you had that Hippogriff taken care of… What was his name? Buck Fleas?”

“Beak.” Draco stated without any real emotion.

Blaise nodded. “Then all those time you made Granger cry like a stupid little Muggle girl. No Witch worth her salt would cry in front of her enemy. Then, there was… Harry Potter. Always Harry Potter. You were always especially cruel to him.” Blaise bit the inside of his mouth and scowled over at Draco.

Draco felt the look of loathing his friend was sending him and he could hardly stand it. “Yeah, I really was a right pillock… huh?”

Blaise smirked and shook his head. “Was?” His smirk vanished and he drew himself up off of the bed. “Thought as much.” Blaise stood up and walked over to his blonde counterpart, tipping his chin up so that their eyes met. “You aren’t playing a cruel joke on him, are you? You are planning on shagging him. Not out of spite or out of meanness. You are going to do it out of some sick type of lust that you’ve developed and you are tricking yourself into believing that it is okay. You almost have yourself convinced that you like him. Don’t you?”

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He couldn’t exactly protest… but how did Blaise know all of this?

“I followed you.” Blaise stated, darkly, letting his hand fall away from Draco’s face. “You’ve spent way too much time in the Library Draco. It’s unlike you. So, I keep a look out. I make sure nobody disturbs you while you do your thing and… Then came Harry Potter. You were both in there for so long that I had to… I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were fucking brilliant weren’t you? Bit of frottage on the library floor? Humping like horny pups?! Salazar!” Blaise gripped his head and turned away from Draco, as if the image were burning his mind at that very moment.

‘Blaise saw everything? That must mean he heard most of everything…’ Draco reached out toward his friend, but then at the last moment pulled back. Blaise wouldn’t look at him, let alone allow him to touch… ‘Oh, damn. Why is everything always so difficult?’ Draco turned back toward the mirror and realized that his face was paler than normal. He was almost translucent. “I’m going to go get a carriage. Do you want anything from Hogsmeade?”

Blaise turned a dark smile on his friend and shook his head. “What makes you think I’m not going? Think that leaving me to my own devices means locking me up in the tower?” The darker boy wiped the tears from his eyes and shrugged. “It’s a brand new day. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Maybe I’ll just go get laid while I’m out. Have fun fucking your honey. Make sure nothing mean and nasty gets him.” With that Blaise turned on his heal and stormed out of the room.

Draco, try as he might, could not get the horrible feeling of (guilt, hunger, pain, sadness, love, lust, angst) hurt to leave him. His stomach churned with it and his heart was very heavy. Draco pushed the dark thoughts away and made his way out of the dungeons and up toward the front of the school. On his way he met Professor Snape in the hallway and stopped to say hello.

“Hello, Draco. What seems to be on your mind?” Severus smirked at his godson’s look of annoyance.

“Blaise and I are on the outs. We are not so much agreeing to disagree on a few minor subjects.” Draco put on a small pout and crossed his arms across his chest.

Severus looked thoughtful. Then he gave Draco a scrutinizing look. “Minor subjects like Divination or minor subjects like Harry Potter?”

Draco passed a dark look at his godfather and sighed. “The latter.”

Severus Snape almost winced, but he stopped himself in enough time so that Draco couldn’t catch it. “Potter showed you compassion and Blaise didn’t visit you once, while you were sick. It does seem to show you who makes a better friend… or is it lover?”

Draco shrugged. “The latter?”

Snape chuckled. “You don’t sound so sure.”

The blonde boy sighed gustily and shook his head. “I’m not.”

“Well,” Severus started walking down the hallway, once more, and tried to think of something comforting to tell Draco, “you don’t have to be.”

Draco gave Professor Snape a searching look and shook his head. “I don’t?”

“No.” Snape stopped walking and looked over at the young man. “It’s a big decision. We all make these sorts of decisions and they can be important. Take your time.”

Draco had a question burning the inside of his brain. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, so much as had to know. “Well, what would you decide?”

Severus shrugged. “I’m not sure what I would decide now, but I can tell you the decision I made.” Severus smiled, almost sweetly at the boy. “I kept my Blaise and dropped my Harry.”

Draco nodded, dumbly. ‘He stayed friends with my dad… and dropped his lover. Now, he’s alone and -his friend- (Salazar, don’t even want to go there…) married a woman, had a child, and left him behind.’ “Thank you.” Draco gave in to an uncharacteristic feeling and threw his arms around his godfather, hugging him tightly. “If you hadn’t have kept your Blaise, I might be dead.”

Severus patted the boy’s back and released him easily, pushing him toward the front of the school. “Go to Hogsmeade and eat candy or something. You’re still a child, after all.”

Draco grinned back at Professor Snape and then hurried toward the group of Seventh Years Gryffindors standing over to the side of the front hall. He found Harry standing in between a flustered Ron, who had a giggling Hermione sitting up on his back, and Neville Longbottom, who was busy trying to take a Cheering Charm of said giggling girl. Draco rolled his eyes and headed over toward the group. He flicked out his wand and…

“Harry look out!” Seamus Finnigan jumped out and pointed his wand in between Draco’s eyes. “You best be stepping back, Mr. Malfoy, if you don’t want cockroaches crawling around in your brain.”

Draco took a step back and lowered his wand. “I was going to help with the Cheering Charm, but I see that your friend has it under control.” Draco looked down at the floor, where Hermione now laid rolling back and forth, and crying with her mirth. “It is nice to see he so happy, for once.”

“Dra… Malfoy.” Harry stepped forward and pushed Seamus back. “It’s okay. We’re trying to mend our differences.”

Draco looked Harry over and smirked. He leaned in closely and pointed his wand at the boy’s chest. He noticed an absolute stillness fall over the crowd of Gryffindors and it made his blood pump faster. He smiled and whispered a few words, which made Harry’s face go red as his tie turned green. “Now, you look ready for our date.” He whispered to the other boy.

Harry nodded and gulped, audibly. He realized that not only Hermione, but Ron too was now on the ground rolling. “Neville?” Harry questioned.

Neville shook his head. “It wasn’t me. The moment your tie turned green, he just kind of fell over.” The boy shrugged and gave into his frustration. He sat down where he had stood and casually tried to turn cobblestones into moss-covered tiles.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Harry and Draco walked around Hogsmeade in silence. They took in the beautiful surrounding and just enjoyed each other’s presence. Harry was the first to ruin the mood. “I was the ghost at the Shrieking Shack our Third Year.”

Draco nodded slowly. “I know.”

Harry kicked some snow with the toe of his boot and sighed. “You were acting like a prick toward my friends. I had to defend them.”

“I know.” Draco stated, with little to no emotion.

“I’m sorry about the times I did start our little battles.” Harry continued uncomfortably.

Draco smiled quietly and nodded. “I know that too.”

Harry sighed. “What about you?”

Draco shrugged. “I’m sorry if I ever really hurt you, but I doubt that I did. You’re stronger than that.”

Harry nodded. “So, in essence, you are sorry for nothing?”

Draco nodded and sighed. “Pretty much. Yeah.” Therefore, Draco was the second to ruin the mood, causing them both to fall into an uncomfortable silence that followed them for the next twenty minutes. It followed them through the town and out t the woods, near the Shrieking Shack.

When they reached a clearing, Harry stopped and sat on a tree stump. He frowned down at his feet and shook his head.

Draco knew that he was being a jerk, but in all honesty he didn’t know how not to be. He wasn’t treating Harry any worst than his best friends… “Harry, I’m not good at this. I don’t know how to apologize. I’m terrible with feelings and words. I don’t know if I want to be friends with you or just fuck you, but…” Draco saw at the expectant look on Harry’s face and smiled. The boy’s shining green eyes looked up at him in a way that made them glitter in the passing sunlight. His face was beautifully shaped and even that damned scar looked beautiful. Then, topped off with the messiest mop of brown hair and… “You are gorgeous.”

Harry’s shock was evident. “Me?”

“No, that invisible person sitting next to you… Yes, you.” Draco crouched down next to Harry and took the boy’s hand into his own. “Harry…”

“You aren’t about to propose, are you?”

Draco laughed, loudly, falling back with a thud… his ass hitting the damp, cold snow. It was almost impossible to know who had ruined the mood more.

TBC

Sorry for the slow update. I’m so very busy. Please review and I will love you forever!