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Draco’s day was going well; he finally solved the Warington case, after days of working on it and he got to leave work early. So his day was splendid.
Until a fucking knob bumped into him and spilled his coffee over them both.
"Watch where you're going—Potter?" Draco exclaimed.
"Malfoy?" Potter looked just as gobsmacked as he was.
"Use your fucking eyes when you walk you pillock."
"Me? You're the one who bumped into me!" Potter exclaimed.
Draco would not let his beautiful day get ruined by the likes of Potter. A fight with Potter in public was the last thing he needed. He could see the headlines on the Prophet the next day: “Ex-Death eater tries to kill the Saviour” or some other bullshit that would make his life ten times worse. Again.
"Whatever Potter, fuck off." He grumbled and turned to walk away.
"Whatever? You can't just leave like that." Potter hissed.
"I can't leave? Aww, does the precious saviour not like when people don't want to talk with him?" Draco sneered.
"Oh fuck off. You never change, do you?"
"Now who's leaving?" Draco yelled as Potter stormed away.
Well, as long as he didn't see the twat again.
—
He did see the twat again. The next morning, in fact. In the queue for coffee. In the coffee shop Draco went to every single fucking day.
"Potter! What the fuck are you doing here?" Draco hissed.
"What the fuck am I— Malfoy, it's a bloody coffee shop. What the fuck do you think I'm doing here?" Potter scoffed.
"I don't care. This is my shop, find a different one." Draco snapped.
"No fucking way. I like this one, you find a different one."
"POTTER!" The barista's voice cut through their bickering.
"This isn't over, Potter."
Potter rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
—
The next time he bumped into Potter was right below his apartment.
"Not again. Merlin's saggy balls, Potter, quit following me or I'll get a bloody restraining order." Draco snarled.
"Following? How dare you? I wasn’t following you. I live down the block!" Potter exclaimed.
"What?"
"You're the one who keeps following me!"
"Me? Potter, I live here!"
Was Potter out of his mind? First he stalked Draco, then accused him of stalking?
"Oh."
"Yes, oh. Get your sorry arse out of my face and don't wander near this area again. I swear to Merlin I'll bring you in for harassment."
"Harassment? What the hell are you talking about? MALFOY, COME BACK HERE!"
Potter's voice faded into the chaos of the street as Draco ran up the stairs.
—
Life was playing some sort of sick joke on him. Of fucking course he kept seeing Potter.
First it was the coffee shop, then his favourite Thai restaurant, and now his salon. Since when did Potter of all people decide to groom his hair? Hair wasn't even the appropriate word for it, it looked like a fucking bird's nest.
"Potter, what the fuck." Draco sighed.
"What did I do? Can't a man cut his hair in peace?"
"Must you barge into every corner of my life?" Draco muttered.
"I don't barge into your life, you're just.. there."
"Oh, like that is so much better." Draco scowled.
"Oh shut up, it's the truth." Potter protested.
"Whatever."
"Hey, listen.." Potter started.
"Chop chop Potter, I don't have all day."
"Stop interrupting me, you pillock. Now that we live close, we're probably going to end up seeing each other a lot. So. Truce?"
Draco stared at him. Truce? Was Potter hit in the head?
"What? It's a perfectly nice solution. Better than fighting with you every time we cross paths anyway." Potter argued.
"Whatever, I'll think over it."
Draco was horrible at making the right choice when it came to Potter, something Pansy always loved to throw at him. So what he meant by ‘I'll think over it’, was that he would tell her about this and she would think over it. Potter didn't have to know that.
—
Pansy told him to suck it up and agree to the truce. Traitor.
Draco love, it's past time you got over petty schoolboy grudges, yes? she'd said. The audacity, honestly. It wasn't a petty grudge. Potter had humiliated him in front of everyone. She wouldn't understand that. She was probably corrupted by whichever girl she was fucking this month. Not fucking; dating apparently. They even moved in together a month ago and Draco still didn't know who it was. Draco was more mad about her moving away from him. Her flat was awfully close to his, he could walk over any time he wanted. But now, they had to meet at pubs, since she refused to tell him who she lived with. Anyhow, Draco would get it out of her in a few days.
—
Draco couldn't get it out of her. It had been months since they talked about the truce. All she was interested in was knowing about Potter.
Not only about Potter, about them. Potter confessing he liked Draco was the most ridiculous thing that had happened to him. Ridiculous, but not unwanted. They'd fought over the war and Potter had stormed out. A day later he came back and apologised. And then asked Draco out. Those two days were the weirdest days of his life.
Dating Potter—no, Harry—was better than he could have imagined. The sex was great, of course, but Harry understood him. He knew when to push Draco, and when to step back and give him space. It's not like they didn't fight; they did. A lot. But at the end of the day, they always came back to each other. Well, back to Draco's flat. Harry claimed his flat didn't feel like home, Draco's did. As much as it was sappy, the fact that he never showed Draco his flat bothered him everyday.
So today, he'd managed to convince Harry to go to his flat.
“Uh, hey, Draco?” Harry mumbled, looking nervous.
Draco pinched his nose and sighed. “How many times have I told you Potter, I do not care if your flat is unkept. You practically live in my flat. I know how disorganised you are.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
Draco looked at him expectantly. After a pause, he said, ”Well, go on. Spit it out.”
“So.. remember when you accused me of stalking you?” Harry looked down, fiddling with his thumbs. Blood rushed to Draco's face. He had Potter's attention all this time. He was aware this was borderline creepy and people were arrested for less, but he thought it was romantic.
“Aww, so you did stalk me.”
“Oh, sod off.” Harry rolled his eyes.
Draco nudged him.“See? I’m always right about everything. Just like I’m right about the elf problem you’re having with Jones.”
“So.. you’re not mad?” Harry asked him hopefully.
“Of course not. I don’t know if you noticed but I was, ah, quite taken by you. I liked it when you stalked me. Your attention in any form was; enticing.”
“Oh.” Harry looked at him gobsmacked.
“Yes, oh. Stop overworking that non-existent brain of yours.”
“So, you won’t be mad if I told you that I might have stalked you before I moved here? And that I might have a picture or two of you from the prophet?”
Draco’s brows shot up in surprise.
“You what now?” Draco laughed.
“I know it’s creepy, I’m sorry but I forgot to throw them away and—”
“Don’t worry your pretty head over it, I might have a picture or two of you stashed in my bottom drawer as well.”
“What? Really?” Harry exclaimed, a grin forming on his face.
Draco stopped dead in the middle of the hallway.
Harry said, “So you did like me back then. Ha! I wasn’t the only—Draco? Hey, why’d you stop?” but Draco couldn't pay attention to his ramblings because the flat in front of him looked very fucking familiar.
—
Pansy owed Draco everything. After the war, Draco took her in when her mother disowned her. Draco, who had no money, no name, nothing. They worked day and night, at both muggle and wizarding places to provide for themselves. He took care of her when no one else did. He believed in her when no one else did. She asked him multiple times how she could repay him for his kindness. But he always shut her up, saying that it was nothing. She had to do something for him. But she didn't know what she could give him. He had pretty much anything he ever wanted.
Well, except Potter.
So when she saw Ginny Weasley in a gay bar, she found her way in. Seducing her was easy as fuck, easier than expected. The real problem was asking about Potter without making her suspicious. At first she didn't talk about him, but then, slowly, she started opening up about him. It started with their relationship, their intimacy problems and how they lost their connection. The day Ginny told her Potter was Gay, was probably one of the happiest days in her life. That was when she knew this ridiculous plan of hers was going to work.
Step one was to get Ginny to talk about Draco with Potter. That failed miserably. Ginny hated Draco as much as Potter did, apparently. So she was stuck for quite some time.
The perfect opportunity presented itself when Ginny asked her to move in with her. According to her, Pansy lived at her house most of the time anyway. Which was true, she'd grown quite fond of the redhead. Falling in love with her was not something Pansy expected to happen, but it did, and it was the best thing that happened to her.
She offered to give Pansy the number of an estate agent if she decided to sell her flat. Talking about how he was discreet and productive, that even Potter was using him to find a flat.
Potter was in need of a flat.
If she couldn't get Ginny to talk about Draco, maybe Potter could bump into Draco.
So, hypothetically, if she had bribed the agent into selling her flat to Potter, well, nobody had to know.