twenty
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this morning was a rough one.

he'd conversed with myrtle into the early hours of the morning, and had only just fallen into a deep slumber when hermione arrived to wake him for breakfast.

however, when she saw the bags under his eyes and the obvious exhaustion clinging to his bones, she sighed and left him to sleep a while longer.

she was not so kind to her boyfriend though, and yanked him out of his warm bed mercilessly, hissing at him to be quiet because harry is sleeping and your whining will wake him up.

by the time harry was roused to consciousness by a dream– not a nightmare, just a completely normal dream–, both hermione and a fussy ron were dressed and ready to head to breakfast. they kindly waited for him to freshen up a bit before dragging him downstairs.

he was tired of course, and half heartedly munched on a satisfactory, hermione-approved amount of eggs. once he ate enough for his friend to stop glancing at him every few minutes to make sure he was eating, he plonked his head down on the table and prepared for a nap.

just before he could fall into the hazy area between consciousness and slumber, hermione spoke up.

"harry," her voice was gentle, motherly.

"hmm?" he hummed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes so he could pay full attention to her.

"we've noticed that you've...been spending a lot of time with malfoy lately..."

harry blinked. "we're...partners for the potions project..."

"how's that been going? he...he hasn't been mean to you has he?"

he shook his head, smiling drowsily with his eyes half closed. "no, no, he's- he's been great...beautiful eyes..."

ron nearly spat out his pumpkin juice. "sorry, what?" he blurted, sounding oddly sick.

"harry, are you okay?" hermione fretted, studying his swaying figure with wide eyes. "you sound mad..."

"what?" harry shook his head, trying to clear a bit of the heavy haze hanging over his thoughts. his lips were numb and drawling, and it seemed in his fatigue, he'd forgotten his filter. "no, sorry. i'm just tired. but no. no, draco is great—"

"draco?" ron spluttered. the color drained from his face. "you're on first name basis with that git?"

harry scratched the back of his neck, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "well, yeah. he's changed a lot, and...we're friends."

ron gaped at him. "pinch me, i must be dreaming."

hermione obliged.

when he opened his eyes and he didn't wake up in his bed, his face twisted into a pained expression and he hung his head in resignation. "welp, it was bound to happen at some point."

hermione nodded in agreement, and harry was just confused, looking between them for an explanation.

raising his eyebrows at harry's blatant puzzlement, ron elaborated. "you stalked him for years, harry. you never stopped talking about him–mostly about what he was plotting–but talked about him nonetheless. and sixth year, ugh, you were obsessed with him."

"it was only a matter of time before you two realized how similar you were and stopped your petty rivalry." hermione finished for him.

harry blinked.

was it that obvious?

oh merlin, how many people knew?

he paused in the middle of chewing his toast, eyes going wide at the possibility of the entire school thinking he was obsessed with draco. he glanced around at the other students–wondering how many of them knew–and frantically looked at ron and hermione to ask.

luckily, the two of them had known him for years, and knew what he was thinking before he said it out loud.

the ginger boy just chuckled and patted harry in the shoulder. "don't sweat it, mate. the only ones who've noticed are us and the guys in the dorm."

harry relaxed significantly, although he still felt a bit awkward.

hermione, who'd been pretty quiet for the past few minutes, no doubt lost in thought, spoke up once the other two fell silent.

"are you- are you sure that's it? you two seem closer than just project partners–you and draco, i mean."

harry looked down at his half-eaten toast, pondering if he should tell them about the greenhouse meetings.

sure, they might want to know where he was going in the middle of the night, and someone in the dorm was bound to notice his disappearances, but...

it felt like he would be betraying draco.

their greenhouse meetings felt like a precious secret. those few marvelous hours they spent underneath the stars, surrounded by flowers, in a corner of the universe that felt like theirs.

to let someone into that sacred place would shatter the safe haven they'd created.

so harry didn't tell them.

"well, we've met a few times outside of classes, and we stray off topic a lot while working on the potion."

hermione seemed somewhat pleased with his answer, and didn't pry anymore.

another wave of exhaustion hit harry like a truck, and it took all he had to keep his eyes open. he rubbed his face furiously to wake himself up, and failed to stifle a yawn.

hermione watched, frown tugging at her lips, and began to prepare a large cup of coffee for her sleep-deprived friend. "merlin, harry! when was the last time you had a full night's sleep?"

he pursed his lips, trying to remember. it had been a long time, that's for sure. he shrugged, preparing himself for the lecture that would surely follow.

"harry potter." she said sternly, but the crinkle in her brow showed how worried she was. "you can't keep living like this. it's really not healthy, please just take a dreamless sleep potion."

harry fidgeted, not meeting hermione's eyes. "i would, but i really don't like them. they make me feel drowsy and unfocused."

hermione sighed, placing his coffee in front of him. he always said that.

"thanks." harry mumbled, sighing contentedly as he sipped the warm drink.

"can you just do it once a week?" her voice tricked him into looking up.

he met her eyes, immediately feeling guilt twist in his gut at the raw concern he found there.

"can you take a dreamless sleep potion once a week? at least?"

"yeah, harry." ron added quietly. "you really need sleep."

and right then, with both of them looking at him like that, he realized.

they were his best friends.

they cared about him.

while he was focused on getting through life day by day, minute by minute, they were watching him.

they were watching him struggle to continue after the war, struggle to find a purpose after defeating voldemort.

everyday, they watched him struggle to survive.

and they cared.

they cared more than anyone ever had.

resisting the urge to cry, he muttered a soft, "okay." and he watched their faces flood with hope. they smiled, and harry's heart felt full.

and when they finally stood up to go to class, they engulfed him in a warm hug, hermione murmuring a gentle "thank you" in his ear and ron patting him on the back.

he felt safe there, sandwiched between his two very best friends in the whole world.

and he promised himself that he would try harder. he would try harder to take care of himself.

because he didn't want them to worry anymore.

a/n: ello!

did you like this chapter? i had to rewrite it a couple times because i couldn't get ron's character right. do you think i did a good job?

i'm not sure if you've noticed already, but i changed my username! :0

i am no longer Min_Yoongles_04! i will henceforth be known as _picturesque!

by the way, if you guys are looking for more drarry stories to read, my sister A_I_Neptune has two fanfics out, and it would mean the world to me and her if you checked them out.

one of them, you have me, is platonic (not romantic) drarry, because harry is asexual/aromantic.

that's all i have to say for now, so hopefully i'll see you soon!

love you, bye!

♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡