1A/N: Writte nfor Hogwarts assignment 5: Citizenship task 1 - Write a fic set over a long period of time (at least one year).
Word count: 3,351
Winter
Percy stepped into the flat, and immediately, the cold seeped into his bones. It was well and truly winter, his least favourite time of the year. Without stopping to remove his cloak, he aimed his wand at the fireplace. The fire roared to life, and Percy crowded in close, fighting off the cold air that had permeated the flat while he was at work.
He glanced at the clock. There was still an hour until Draco would return. Percy had come home from work early—something rare for him—purely to have time alone before Draco got there. They'd only been living together for a weekend, and he wasn't used to having a flatmate.
When he had first left the Burrow, he'd sworn he'd never live with another person again unless it was a family of his own (which would be much smaller than the one he'd grown up in). It had been such a relief to escape his childhood home where he'd never truly been able to get a moment's peace. Even when he was in his room, he'd hear the constant footsteps and shouts of his family. Unlike certain siblings of his, he hadn't dared cast silencing charms on his room and break the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. After he'd turned seventeen and been allowed to cast the charm, life had been a bit more bearable, but he'd still felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders when he settled into his own flat and experienced true peace for the first time in his life.
It had taken years for the silence to grow unnerving. Still, he had resisted the idea of finding a flatmate and giving up his solitude. If Draco hadn't made a comment at work about wanting to get away from Malfoy Manor, Percy never would have taken the risk of searching for someone to share the flat with.
He still wasn't sure he'd made the right decision. Percy had been keeping his distance from Draco since the younger man first joined the Ministry. While Percy certainly wasn't proud of his own behaviour during the war, it paled in comparison to what Draco had been up to, and now the former Death Eater was living in Percy's flat. Percy had spent days questioning his own sanity.
He hadn't been sure he'd wanted a flatmate at all, and now he had the most questionable one of all sleeping across the hall. He'd had to give up his home office, leaving his bedroom packed with his desk and books. And, most of all, he could no longer guarantee that he'd have solitude when at home.
Hence his decision to leave work an hour early, scandalising his coworkers in the process. He had plenty of holiday time saved up, and he needed to ease himself into the new living situation to make sure he didn't lose his mind.
It didn't help that Draco wasn't keen on conversing either. Percy should have been thankful for the silence, but instead, it made him uneasy. If another person was going to be in the flat, he'd have preferred to get the occasional sign that they were still alive. The quiet rustling of someone trying not to make themselves known was far worse than stomping feet.
The heat from the fire was finally permeating the whole room. Percy slipped his cloak off and settled onto the sofa, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He had one hour. He should have been using it to work on some of his personal projects, but the weekend had been so hectic. He could use a moment's rest.
On Saturday, he had listened to Draco move his things into the flat. (His offer to help had been firmly rejected, and he hadn't seen any of Draco's family either.) On Sunday, Draco had stayed in his bedroom, only leaving to use the toilet or grab food. Percy had been on edge the whole time, waiting for his unexpected appearances.
The extra hour he'd given himself slipped by quickly without him making any real effort to work on his projects. Right on the hour, the fire's flames flickered briefly to blue, and Draco came tumbling onto the hearth. He landed with a grace that Percy wished he possessed when using the Floo. (There was a reason he preferred Apparition.) His eyes caught Percy's immediately, and he stiffened.
"Hello," he muttered in a quiet voice. "Nice evening?"
Percy bit back a sigh. If they were always going to be this stiff and formal, it was hard to imagine their living situation working out long-term. "Yes. You?"
Daco nodded. "Yes."
The silence was even more awkward than it had been over the weekend. Draco stood stock still in front of the fireplace. Percy watched him, waiting to see if he would sit down or escape to his room once again.
Finally, Draco cleared his throat. "I still have some things to unpack. I should…" He motioned at the hall that led to their bedrooms. Percy nodded, which Draco seemed to interpret as permission that he didn't need. He fled down the hallway, leaving Percy sitting on the sofa by himself.
Percy sighed, running a hand over his brow.
He'd been right when he moved out of the Burrow. Living with people was a nuisance. He'd been better off living alone.
Spring
Their relationship remained frozen throughout the winter and didn't thaw as it turned into spring. When Draco was at the flat, he stayed in his own room as much as possible. A lot of the time, Percy forgot he even had a flatmate, and it was unnerving. A person could only take so much silence.
It was a lot like living with a ghost, except not the more casual ones at Hogwarts. It was more like living with a poltergeist who might jump out and scare you at any moment. Not that Draco had ever purposefully scared him, but after seeing him so rarely, him so much as sticking his head out of his room could make Percy jump.
It didn't help that the flat still looked exactly the same as it had when Draco first moved in. He kept all of his personal belongings in his room, meaning all of the decor in the living room and kitchen were things Percy had bought himself. Draco's food in the kitchen took up exactly one cabinet shelf and one refrigerator shelf despite Percy clearing half the space for him. He didn't want to know how often Draco needed to go shopping considering how little he bought each time. Of course, it helped that he rarely ate at home if he could avoid it either.
Percy had had enough. Saturday morning, he got up early and made himself a cup of tea to sip on while he waited at the kitchen table. It only took an hour for Draco to emerge from his room. He stepped lightly past the kitchen door, clearly trying not to make much noise, but unfortunately for him, Percy had been waiting.
"Going somewhere?"
Draco froze just outside the doorway. He turned to Percy, looking sheepish. "Yeah, I was going out."
Percy raised an eyebrow. "You know you're allowed to spend your weekends relaxing at the flat now and then, right?"
He'd meant it as a joke, but Draco clearly took it as a criticism. He cringed and hung his head. "Sorry, I don't want to be a bother. I know this is your space—"
"Draco." Percy tried to keep his voice soft, something he'd never been good at. "It's your space too. I wouldn't have asked you to live here if I expected you to shut yourself away in your room every day. Besides, if we're going to live together, I'd rather we be friends, not strangers."
Draco stepped into the kitchen, and Percy didn't miss his furtive glance at the teapot.
"Would you like me to make you a cup?" Percy asked.
Draco's eyes widened. "Oh, er, yes, please. Thank you."
Percy smiled as he got up and poured him some tea. He grabbed the milk from the fridge and placed it in front of Draco. Draco hesitated a second before pouring it, as if scared Percy would withdraw his permission to use it at the last second.
For a few minutes, they sipped their tea in silence.
"You really want to be friends?" Draco finally asked, staring into his cup.
"Sure," Percy said with a shrug. "I recognise that we're very different people. Maybe we'll never be best friends, but I'd at least like to be friendly with each other."
Draco took a long time to think, and Percy was sure he was going to try to escape again, but then he said, "Okay. Sure. That sounds nice. It was getting rather cramped in that room."
Percy cracked a smile. "I'm sure it was. You know I also won't shove your things off the kitchen shelves if you use them, right?"
Draco blushed. "Yeah, I know."
Percy shook his head in amusement. "I was going to make a trip to Diagon Alley today anyway. Would you like to join me?"
It was perhaps the boldest thing he'd said so far. Telling Draco he didn't need to shut himself away in his own flat was one thing. Inviting him to hang out in public was another. Their coworkers were familiar with both of them, but within the wider wizarding world they were sure to get stares as a Weasley and a Malfoy spending time together. Percy had to admit that it intimidated him too, but when Draco nodded his head yes, Percy was surprised at how happy it made him.
Draco smiled back, and Percy's stomach fluttered. He really should have done it more often. Even at work, he often looked moody and uncomfortable, like he was scared of being yelled at over any little thing. Percy couldn't entirely blame him. He'd had a rough start at the Ministry in the immediate aftermath of the war. Many weren't forgiving.
Percy hadn't thought he would be once upon a time, but now he found himself wanting nothing more than to make Draco Malfoy look comfortable for once in his adult life.
Merlin, he needed help.
Summer
Everything changed after that conversation. It took time, but eventually, Draco stopped looking like an easily spooked cat whenever he used the shared parts of the flat. His food started taking up more shelves in the kitchen. His toiletries sat next to Percy's on the bathroom counter. He even added a few touches to the decor in the living room. After years of living alone, Percy finally had another person around daily again, and he was surprised by how much he enjoyed it.
Draco was far better company than Percy could have imagined. Percy hadn't expected them to have anything in common, so he was surprised to learn that they had the same favourite books and the same love for astronomy.
As the air grew increasingly warm as they moved into summer, they spent more and more of their evenings outside staring up at the stars. They usually brought a blanket with them, laying back to look up at the sky. Sometimes they bothered with telescopes, but often, they didn't, viewing them as too much of a hassle.
"Draco's becoming more easily visible," Percy said one night, pointing at the constellation in the far northern sky.
Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, it is that time of year now, isn't it?"
Percy turned his head to look at him, his eyebrow raised. "Are you not a fan of your namesake?"
Draco shrugged. "I don't know. I used to be. Growing up, my mother said she named me Draco because she wanted me to be as fierce as a dragon. I loved it, but… I'm not fierce like a dragon. It feels wrong."
Percy stared at him. Draco had been fierce in some ways as a child, but it had been in all the wrong ways. He hadn't been particularly fierce during the war, which was probably a good thing all things considered.
"You're fierce at work," Percy said.
Draco rolled his eyes.
"I'm serious," Percy pressed on. "You're a better public speaker than I'll ever be. You can convince people of whatever you want. The two of us could make the same proposal, but while people would fall asleep during my speech, they think everything you say is brilliant. And you constantly push for what you want at the department. There are so many things that have actually changed over the past few years because of you. Things that I've wanted since I started but never managed to make happen. You've done it in a fraction of the time."
Draco stared at him, his mouth hanging open. Percy looked away, suddenly aware that he'd rambled. His cheeks were warm despite the bite of the night air. He looked up at the constellation Draco hanging in the sky.
It hadn't just been nice having a person around. It had been nice having emDraco/em around. He'd never connected with someone the way he had Draco. If the amount of time Draco was willing to put up with him was any indication, there was a chance Draco felt the same way.
He swallowed. He was a Gryffindor for a reason. Some things were worth the risk.
He turned back to face Draco, and the blond was still staring at him with a look of awe. When he realised he'd been caught, the lightest dusting of pink coloured his cheeks.
"You're as beautiful as the stars too," Percy whispered.
Draco's eyes widened, and his blush deepend, but he didn't run away. His eyes flickered down to Percy's lips, and that was all the encouragement Percy needed. He lifted his head off the blanket and rolled onto his side, covering Draco's lips with his own. Draco's hand came up to cup his neck, pulling him closer.
Percy's mind was in overdrive. It had been a long time since he'd kissed anyone. He'd always been terrible at dating and few people captured his attention. Sure, he noticed when people were attractive, but he found himself being turned off by their personalities more often than not. Never before would he have expected that Draco Malfoy would be the person to so thoroughly ensnare him in his grip, but there he was, completely losing himself in their kiss.
Suddenly, Draco pulled away. His eyes went wide again, but this time there was a hint of fear.
"Draco?" Percy asked, panic rising in his chest. "Are you okay?"
Draco sat up, and Percy mimicked him, watching closely but being careful not to reach out when he wasn't sure if Draco wanted to be touched.
"I— I have to go," Draco stammered. He scrambled to his feet.
"Wait." Percy tried to stand, but his foot got caught on the blanket, causing him to stumble. "Please. Can we talk?"
Instead of answering, Draco turned on the spot, Apparating away. Dejected, Percy stared at the place he'd been standing.
He didn't understand. Everything had been going so perfectly. He hadn't imagined the way Draco had kissed him back or the look of awe in Draco's eyes right before they kissed. He knew he hadn't, yet Draco had fled, leaving Percy alone under the stars.
Autumn
The weeks that followed the kiss were even more agonising than the ones that had followed Draco moving in. Draco's things stayed in their rightful places around the flat, but Percy never saw Draco himself. He'd been wrong when he compared Daco to a ghost before because now he truly knew what it meant to have a flatmate you never saw. Most of the time, Percy wasn't sure if Draco was even in the flat or not. The few times he knocked on Draco's door, he didn't get an answer.
At first, Percy understood it. He felt incredibly guilty about the kiss. He never should have done it, or at the very least, they should have had a conversation first. Draco had probably been worried about getting kicked out of the flat if he didn't accept Percy's advances. That must have been why he reciprocated at first. It couldn't have possibly been because he liked Percy back; he'd made it abundantly clear that he didn't since that night.
As time went on, Percy's patience faded. He staked out the flat much like he had the first time he'd spoken to Draco except more sneakily. He made sure to open and close the door to make it sound like he'd left the flat in the morning. He casted a silencing charm to muffle his footsteps and waited. Sure enough, it wasn't even fifteen minutes after he supposedly left that Draco's bedroom door opened.
He tried to rush back in as soon as he saw Percy, but Percy called out, stopping him. "Draco, wait. Please. We need to talk."
Draco deflated, turning around to face Percy. He entered the sitting room and perched on the very edge of an armchair. "What is it?"
He probably thought Percy was about to kick him out. Percy bit at his lip. That wasn't what he'd wanted.
"I'm sorry I kissed you," he said. "It was stupid of me. I'd been developing feelings for you over the previous few months, and I allowed myself to believe you liked me too. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."
Draco's eyes widened. "You think I don't like you?"
"Of course." Percy's brow furrowed. "You made that very clear, did you not?"
Draco shook his head. He looked more confused than Percy did. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to run away. It's just— I was overwhelmed. I've never liked anyone the way I like you, Percy, and I never expected you to like me back. You're a Weasley, and I'm a Malfoy. It felt doomed from the start, so I didn't let myself imagine it. Then you kissed me, and I let my brain convince me it was all going to fall apart. I realised that I fucked up the second I left, but i was too scared to go back or face you."
Percy stared at him. That was lightyears away from what he'd expected. "Let me get this straight. You return my feelings, but you ignored me for months because you were too embarrassed to apologise?"
Draco's cheeks turned a bright pink that would have put the entire Weasley family to shame. "That's not how I thought of it. It was more that I thought you'd never forgive me. I thought you'd emwant/em me to stay away from you."
Percy shook his head. That was undoubtedly something they were going to have to work on, but it wasn't like Percy was perfect either. For better or worse, he found himself forgiving Draco quickly. Any anger he might of felt was overshadowed by the giddiness of knowing that he hadn't imagined Draco's feelings back in the summer.
He moved to the edge of the sofa and reached out, covering Draco's hand with his own where it rested on the armrest.
"You foolish, foolish man," Percy said, unable to hide his amusement.
Draco stared at him, his mouth hanging open. He shook his head as if checking that what was happening was real. "You're not angry with me."
"Draco, I was emworried/em about you. Now that I know what you were thinking, I'm more relieved than anything, but if you ever pull away without talking to me like that, I will be pissed."
Draco cracked a smile. "Does that mean you still like me?"
Percy shook his head in exasperation. He leaned forward, covering his lips with Draco's. It was an awkward position, but they made it work. Percy relished having Draco close after months spent hardly seeing each other outside of glimpses and short exchanges at work.
He pulled away with a smirk. "Does that answer your question?"
Draco nodded, looking dazed. "I think it does."