“hey” whes loser, there is no istakg hi for a a ute, will you”
he grabs hi by the elbow and yanks hi bakward, the otion to hard, and it wrenhes drao around to fae hi “what?”
drao spits the word at hi and why should was harry’s best friend who threw hi out, after all “i’ sorry”
“you shouldn’t be” drao stared at the sky, and harry khe shaky way he was breathi he was tryg not to ry “he doeso five i did awful thgs”
“but you did good thgs, too” harry didn’t knoas so iportant to hi aybe he jt wawo people to be as iportaher as they are to hi “yood”
“not good enough and you shouldh, o was ant to fore al “you shouldn’t be here, you should go i doesn’t look like he really ans that “they’ll iss you”
“i dohey thk i do hi” it was true, suddenly, and harry khat he ould turn his bak ohe if they didn’t want drao, he would be willirade he was also stao hi now, so lose, lose enough to be gero, but harry annot ake hiself step away “i want this” a pae, where he got even loser, his hands on drao’s shoulders and his fig to the fabri of this shirt that was too thiher “i want you”
drao loses his eyes like it pas hi, and then bows his head so his forehead is pressed agast harry’s “we an’t”
“we an” harry says ‘we an do a, and dahe”
≈io so good, so perfet, that he realizes that it t be true ahose st few ihey are kissg it’s really , jt a ghost of a touh agast his sk, but it ould be, it ould be ore, until drao shoves the apart and starts to shake his head
“eps away, a vao awkwardness awo of the stariher uai”
he shakes his head ohen aparates leavg harry to turn bak to the party alone
chapter 16
drao
the silehe is stiflg
nht that he and herione would be able to et at their ual ti ahgs are noral, after what ron had said to hi a her ryg the iddle of her oart really expet it to bother hi all that uh a part of hi really had fooled hiself to thkg that this was jt a sort of aadei arra, that it orate ohey had figured out hootions work like this was a sort of we’re the only o people who an do it, so let’s all a true ork, and that the ihey were fihe shool yard tauntg he had done would rise up beeen the
clearly, like so ahgs, he was wrong, beaesta they were talkg stritly only about the p frohough it was a less like talkg and ore like ildly paniked sreaihe ould figure out n andthe oable) a to look at eah other out of the orheir eyes it seed that s the le of hard work as, they had beo friends
a was iable, when all the rando sraps of ratioher about their lives and their hopes start to pile up, or whehrows a b over her when she falls asleep on the ouh, or when he fie food ahe kithen is always stoked with it and he’s gd of it, really, but it does ake thgs suprely awkward, beae if he’s not istaken he hasfriend the boyfrie like
drao deides to be the brave oakes a deep breath, and then a shaky oheion with oion of the hand herione akes a sall est the bak of her throat, but drao was always uh faster t ae thais, there really is o do but start over “about st night”
“i waalk to you, too” she strearolls ahead, everythg og out a rh “ron had nht, absotely ried to talk to hi, but he jt ao see sense, you know how stubborn he is—”
“herione—”
“and i told hi that we were friends and behavior like that would ed iure, i havea over hi—”
“herione—”
“it was exable, and i jt want to say that i, for one, a sorry that you were treated like that whe y hoe”
“herio and aught her hands his own, spg the fro flyg around her head along with her words “it’s fi he did, is fied you to know that”
“it’s not” she was breathg heavily aga, angry as she always is at any ht of iely—”
“don’t he loves you” he squeezed her hands, and she ughed shakily, her eyes briiears she was always extraordio ake ry, but heas a weakness “he loves you, and i stood by while you were hurt when i ould have sped it, and i was ruel eve ler to be kd i’d hate , too”
≈ hate you” it atheti and see flisy exe, ao falter as soon as the words left her outh “he’s only stubborn he’ll o around”
“i would at the sa way” ro, was soone he ould uand hatred, ahese arehe knows well “if soo sobody i love like i did to you”
“we were hildre her eyes, and then siled, wikedly, a way that was sho