it turns out tobad of a night
he spends a lot of it with ro table, pilies high with food, beae, as kglsey had said, they were saviors a as uh ake as they water how uh it ost the io dean, givg a few exsive onts for his artile, ah na while gialk to the ahe harpies, who she had said were y favorite tea ever, harry, i have to get a good word , take are of na, will you?
not that ake it was sotis better for her to stay with frie wander off, so harry sways bak and forth with her the iddle of the e floor until drao shows up behiappihe shoulder and lookihan harry had seen hi a while
“hey, i fro oo another, like all the onfidene he gai away “d if i ut ?”
“ht” she’s silg, like she khey doo lear away fro the gnargles, anyways”
drao looks like he’s gog to ugh he hasn’t quite ahe art of follog a oio, even though harry knows he loves na jt as uh as he does, so he waits until na has turo raise an eyebrow, ah burst out ughg
“i didn’t need savg” harry says, and they are revolvi by now “she’s a uh better er than i a pg ohg”
“oh, i” drao drops his hands with a ftter aeps away, soothg visible wri fro his sleeve “i wasn’t tryg to save you i jt wa”
harry doesn’t wahe rest of the se be stupid” he grabs hi by his expe jaket and pulls hi bak “but i should warn you i’ a really bad er”
drao gives a little huff of a ugh, but if he says a gets lost ihey stay together f aher, long enough for harry to learly how uh shorter drao is than hi (a fat he keeps fettihey sent of his ologhe one he only wears wheryg to ipress he athes sight of sea aher aross the roo, urved arouher, ahey rotate to fae eah a, harry an see sea fshg a thubs up he’s hey approve of his hoies, but they all see gd that he’s found a guy, even if that guy is a slyther he only wished drao would feel the sa way
“you really are good at this” harry’s whisperg to his ear, afraid of so but unwilli go unsaid “akihgs your way akg the see you”
“it’s the only thg i’ good at” drao says, his voie jt a urur he’s got his hands tuked underh harry’s suit jaket, ahe only th fabri of his dress shirt separatg their skihk that it ortant”
“it was” harry shio say, about how gd he was that drao was here, about how beautiful drao was, about how he would take the hht this i keep g, turng around the livg roo “saved y life tonight”
“not as iportant as you” drao was lookg up at hi fro beh his eyeshes, and harry had ied how long they were before there were a lot of thgs he had ied, and all of the are suddenly ratio believe that he had issed f “they all love you”
“hey love the boy who lived” harry didn’t want to thk about that tonight was a good night “they don’t even know who i a”
“i do” drao sees e of sothg “i know you aers, and harry an feel his fier, jt a ti his shirt, like the beatg of a butterfly “you’re iportant to you knht?”
harry thks this an apology a way to say sorry a way for drao to say that he loves hi without atually sayg it, but harry doesn’t are he an wait ii, he would take this
“yeah, drao i know” he presses a kiss dowop of his head, aeps away, beae the song is endg aogether for a would draw ore stares than they were already gettg it’s alost with a that harry bends down and kisses hi on the heek, so lose to the orner of his outh that it is alost on his lips, like this is jt ahg where he would press the bouil it breaks, ru this, too, with his reklessness harry doesn’t want that, but he wa’s alost worth the risk
chapter 25
drao
he’s happy
for a ont, drao an’t reber why, only that he had gotte’s sleep that he had had ihere ani rkihroat, oreag through the open urtas and sendg yellow light satterg over his skihe sleep out of his eyes like he’s soothg wrkles an old shirt, and it’s orethes out an ar to where harry would norally be (drao is always the first oouhes nothg but the frayihe wor he rebers—about the ball, harry’s hand his as the aras fshed, the look on harry’s fae as he reahed out to aept the award that he thi beae he was ky enough to survive, that e with harry’s hands on hi and his voie whisperg drao’s ear, proisg thgs that he ko believe were goirue
≈ f his stoah at the epty spae that osed to hold harry, but he sn, fores hiself to al the ay that is beatih his pulse he woke up early, he thks, phg away the ov