OH MY GOD- We hit 500 reads?? Honestly I was NOT expecting that until I had fully finished this, so thank you all so so so much! This means so much to me <3

Sorry for the missed update! I was moving apartments this past weekend and I haven't touched my computer since like Wednesday. But I'm here now! I'm actually going to be uploading two chapters at once to make up for it!

Enjoy <3

*~*

"Thank you all for coming today." Harry cleared his throat and spoke as he gazed around the room.

Two weeks had passed since their initial meeting in the Hog's Head, and here they were, finally having their first, practical meeting. Everyone who had been at that meeting was sitting alongside him in the Room of Requirement. He was both relieved and worried that no one had dropped out. He didn't know everyone there, so how was he supposed to know if he could trust his peers?

Umbridge had already disbanded all student organizations. What would the repercussions be for going behind Umbridge like this, for going behind the ministry? Would it be detention? Expulsion? Draco couldn't afford to be expelled. Hogwarts had his home, he had nowhere else to go. What would he do, live on the streets?

He swallowed a gulp as Harry continued. "So, today, um,"

Draco shot a knowing smirk at Hermione, who returned with a glaring eye roll. "Are you sure he's up for this?" He questioned.

"Just give him some time, Draco," she whispered. "He just needs a minute or two to get comfortable."

Draco sure hoped so. Harry's nerves were not helping Draco feel any better.

"So today we are going to learn, or rather, practice two spells I'm sure most of you are familiar with. We'll start with expelliarmus-"

Draco sneered as he cut him off. "Isn't that some pansy-ass spell? You're really going to waste our time with-"

"Thanks Draco, for leading me into my first point." He shot a sickly smile, and Draco kept his sneer plastered on his face. Could he be any more condescending? "First of all, I have literally used this against Voldemort himself a few months ago. But my point here is that you don't need fancy, intricate spells to protect yourself. We all already have the skills to keep ourselves safe, we just have to learn how to use them the right way. It's better to find one spell that you know that you can always turn to, that you can use without thinking, than to know twenty spells you haven't yet mastered."

His sneer fell as he realized Harry had a point. After a brief demonstration, he broke them off into pairs, Draco with Ginny. "I want you to practice with your partner to your comfort level. The point of this exercise is to get the wand movement and incantation as engraved into your mind as possible, so repetition is key."

Draco and Ginny took turns going back and forth, each of them disarming the other. It wasn't a particularly difficult spell, but Draco got exhausted easily. Their professors never had them practice a spell this many times in a row, and his head was starting to hurt.

"If you feel comfortable, instead of taking turns with your partner, see who can disarm the other faster. Speed can make all the difference in a real life situation," Harry called as he circled around the pairs, observing, stopping every now and then to correct someone or give advice.

"Scared, Draco?" Ginny smirked as they moved to an appropriate distance for their mini duel.

He scoffed. "Of you? Yeah, right."

He should have been.

"Expel-

"Expelliarmus!" She shouted. She was quicker than him, stronger than him, and his wand flew ten feet away before he could even get the word out of his mouth.

"I, uh, I was not ready yet," he mumbled, retrieving his wand as she smirked. "Okay, again. Expellia-"

"Expelliarmus!"

Draco swore as his wand flew out of his hand, yet again, flying further this time.

"You were better that time!" She said. "You got a few more syllables out before I disarmed you!" He wasn't sure if she was complimenting him or mocking him.

"I think this is yours," he turned around to see Harry smirking at him, Draco's wand in his outstretched hand.

He sneered and grabbed it out of his hand. They set up again, Harry standing with his arms crossed behind Draco, watching them. He wasn't going to mess up this time, not with Harry watching him. No, he was determined to finally get it right.

"E-"

"Expelliarmus!" His wand flew out of his hand, once again. This time it soared over to Ginny, who caught it midair.

"That was brilliant, Ginny!" Harry beamed, his face lighting up as he went to get Draco's wand from her. She blushed.

Draco felt a pang of something in his chest. Sadness? Disappointment? Jealousy? Perhaps it was all three, sad that he couldn't disarm a fourth year girl, disappointed that he had done so in front of Harry, and jealous that Harry was giving Ginny all the praise.

"Hey, don't be discouraged. You were really good in practice," Harry said as he came over to Draco, handing him his wand back. "Your grip is just too tight. Loosen your fingers, it will help you do the wand movement faster."

"What? Are you saying I don't know how to hold my own wand?" Draco ripped his wand out of Harry's hand.

"No, that's not what I was saying! You just need to relax. Show me how you would hold your wand, as if you were about to cast the spell."

Draco did as he was told. He felt awkward as he shuffled his feet, just standing there.

"Relax-"

"I am relaxed!" He growled.

Harry sighed. "Here," he softened his voice as he moved behind Draco. "First of all, you need to relax your shoulders."

Draco felt his breathing stop as Harry gently placed a hand on Draco's shoulder, pushing it down.

"And second of all, you need to loosen your wand grip a bit. I would suggest," he felt Harry place his other hand on top of Draco's his fingers delicately, "loosening your thumb and middle finger just slightly, the rest of your fingers a little more." His voice was barely a whisper, his mouth just inches from Draco's ear, as he moved his fingers one by one.

"There, try it like that," he said. Draco turned his head to look at Harry, who was staring into his eyes with a look that Draco couldn't decipher, causing the knot in his stomach to erupt into butterflies.

Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?

"And remember to breathe," he took a step away, Draco's body screaming at the loss of contact, begging for Draco to reach out and touch him.

Why is this happening to me?

He tried to shake the thoughts out of his head, focusing on his grip. But all he could think about was Harry's fingers intertwining with his, and-

Stop it.

He took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders back. He was tensing up without even realizing it, and he had to focus to change the way his fingers around his wand.

"Ready?" Ginny called, and he nodded.

"Expelliarmus!" He yelled before Ginny could even get a sound out. Her wand didn't fly across the room, but he managed to be faster than her. Harry was right, relaxing had allowed him to move his wand much quicker. A smile started to make its way onto all three of their faces.

"Brilliant!" He yelled, tossing Ginny her wand. "Now focus on putting a little more power behind it. Try leaning into it a little, pulling the strength from your legs."

He smiled at Draco before he left to help another pair, and that smile got him through the rest of the lesson.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

"Now we let it simmer for, twelve minutes, correct?"

Draco rolled his eyes. He had been partnered with Harry for potions, so naturally, he had taken over and done almost all of the work. He let Harry have some fun, as he made him dice all the ingredients for him. "I think you should get your glasses checked. The board says twenty-four."

"Oh, well I thought if we turn the heat up twice as hot then we could cut the time in half and leave class early."

Draco nearly choked. "Do you really think that's how it works?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess I know nothing about potions, sorry I'm not a potioneer prodigy like you."

"Seriously, Potter? Do you even realize how many potioneers you have in your bloodline? And you can't even manage to muster up a simple wit-sharpening potion."

"What are you on about, Malfoy?"

Draco gasped. "Do you seriously have no idea?" Harry shook his head. "Your grandfather invented Sleekeazy's hair potion, you at least know that?"

"I mean, that's just one person-"

"Just one person!" Draco scoffed. "Well, what about Linfred of Stinchcombe, the founding patriarch of the Potter bloodline? He invented Skele-Gro and Pepperup Potion? He basically founded medicinal potions!"

"Well, clearly the gene skipped over me." Harry rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed at Draco.

"Mhm, you are just so special. You should take some of this wit-sharpening potion once I do all the work to brew it. Maybe then you will grow that big brain of yours." He teased back, trying to lighten the mood. He enjoyed teasing Harry, he liked getting a reaction out of him. But he didn't like it when he cut himself off and didn't play back.

"Thanks."

"Did you know you are the first person born into the Potter line who is not a pureblood?"

"Does that matter to you?" He snapped. Apparently Draco had crossed a line.

"Of course it doesn't, you know that," he softened his voice. It really didn't matter to him, at all. Over the past few years, Draco realized more and more that blood status was a social construct, that it had no role in a wizard's magical abilities. He hated that he was spoon fed all that crap for years. He didn't know why he had even brought it up.

"Why is it that you know so much about my family?

Draco stuttered as he tried to defend himself. "I-I know about all the British wizarding families, of course. The French ones too." He wasn't lying, he had learned about all of them growing up. He focused mostly on the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but he still knew plenty about the other predominant families, such as the Potters. But he totally didn't brush up on his Potter knowledge, ever.

"Yeah, okay."

"Besides, you are just kind of famous, I don't know if anyone has told you about that-"

"Shut it, you git!" Harry chuckled. Finally. There it was. He could do this playful banter all day.

"Mr. Potter," Snape sneered as he dragged out the last 'r'. He had managed to sneak up behind them, somewhere in Draco's bantering. "Is it your intent to distract your partner, who is only trying to help you?"

Draco looked down and bit his lip so that Snape couldn't see him holding back his laughter.

"I-I, no." Draco wished he could see Harry's face, he was sure that he was pissed at Draco.

"No, what?"

"No, sir."

"Hm." He hummed and spun around, walking away, his cape flourishing as he moved.

"It's really not fair that you're his favorite," Harry said once Snape was out of their range.

"Snape does not have favorites," Draco smirked. "And it is not my fault that I am the only person in this room who has an ounce of competency in this subject."

"You know, you could actually try to help me, then. I spent so much time helping you yesterday, it only seems fair that you return the favor." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him.

"I mean, you could start by just reading the instructions-"

"You don't even read the instructions!" He protested. "Every time I try to go by the board, you sit here and go no, the board is wrong! And the second I decide not to go by the board, you say we should go by the board! I can't win." He huffed and slumped back in his chair.

Draco chuckled at his annoyance. You're so adorable when you're frustrated.

"Don't laugh at me."

"Okay, fine. How much potions theory do you know?"

"Theory? Don't you just follow a recipe?"

Draco groaned and put his head in his hands. Dear God, Harry Potter was going to be the death of him, in every single way possible.

*~*

Reminder, double update! So there's another chapter after this one already up :)