Bliss My Eyes

Bliss My Eyes

By Rae

Part Eight: Etch-A-Sketch of Love

The next day, Ron and Hermione tell Harry that they know. He is fidgety as they speak, shuffling his feet a bit and unable to raise his eyes from the spot on the floor he's fixed on. The two of them launch at him in a group hug. Then they tell him about their being together, which he laughs at and shakes his head.

Taking a deep breath and clutching her hands tightly at her side, Hermione tells Harry, "We want to spend time with you and Draco together." Deep exhalation of breath as she glances at Ron, who also looks unsure but nods encouragingly. "We'd like to..." She looks down at her shoes. "...get to know him."

"Make sure he's nice to you," Ron adds. "And that you aren't blinded by uh, stuff."

Harry looks from one to the other. "Well I, uh, guess." And then he frowns. Why do I know that this a terrible idea? But he is grateful for his friends' reactions and loves they all the more for it.

So, later that evening, the four of them are together in Harry's room. It is the first time that Draco has been there and, pleased to find the Gryffindor common room exactly as he'd imagined, he is also pleased to find that he likes Harry's decorating skills.

Ron decides to try and break the slight awkwardness by showing Draco how to use the Etch-A-Sketch, which he keeps with him for boring classes. They sit on the floor talking quietly as Draco attempts to use it and Ron watches over his shoulder, Hermione and Harry sit on the bed, side by side, talking as well.

Frustrated, Draco turns to Ron. "But you can't make any of the lines curve!" he says, his voice sour.

"Well, you can sometimes," Ron replies, feeling rather protective of it.

"But it's so random when you actually can that you haven't a clue how to do it again, so you try and bloody try and it won't! It won't and it mocks you saying Look, the heart you made is square! Ha ha!" Ron quietly takes it out of Draco's hands, watching the other boy curiously as he pouts and mumbles, "Fucking Muggle-made toys."

Watching this, Hermione lets out a snort. "Oh I see now. He's charming in that not-really-at-all-charming-sort-of-way."

Harry looks at her with a frown on his face, blinks. "You don't know him."

"And you do?" she replies. He nods and is about to reply when Draco walks up, mumbling about ridiculous square shaped hearts and lousy Muggle inventions, and gives Harry the Etch-A-Sketch.

"This is for you," he says and goes back over to Ron, sitting down and continuing to pout.

Hermione and Harry exchange glances, both of them surprised. Harry himself is still not used to Draco's being sweet and considerate. Weird, he thinks.

"Okay, maybe he's a little bit cute," Hermione admits.

Harry looks down at the toy then back at Draco, eyes glazed over with love. Then he gets up and goes to sit next to Draco, asking Ron to excuse them.

Ron goes over to Hermione and the two of them watch as Harry pecks Draco on the lips quickly and then the boys stare at each other, foreheads touching, fingers interlocked.

Hermione looks at her boyfriend and comments, "Ron, I'm feeling kind of strange about both Harry and me having boyfriends.

Ron nods. "Imagine, Malfoy being tolerable." He makes a face. "You haven't seen pigs flying about, have you? Or heard about hell freezing over?" She shakes her head. "Right."

Hermione raises her eyebrows at him. "I thought that you were the one who understood all this madness?"

"Acceptance is not understanding. Harry is my best friend and if he has feelings for Malfoy, fine. If Malfoy treats him well, fine. But begin to comprehend what happened here? Not a bloody chance."

They watch the boys in silence, still vaguely shocked.

"If Harry and Malfoy are together," Ron says suddenly. "Am I still Harry's sidekick?"

Hermione hasn't the slightest. She smiles at him sweetly and says, "You could be my sidekick!"

Ron rolls his eyes. "Right." She smacks him, hard, and he flinches away from her. "I mean, yay," he lies, trying to sound enthusiastic.