Valerie walked slowly into the house once Draco had left. She set James' gift on the side table beside the door before closing it behind her and looking to Harry for an explanation, but the darker man was pacing across the floor with his hands gripping his hair. He turned with alarming speed and moved towards the door. It was like he looked past her as his hand reached the door knob. She placed a slightly smaller hand on his forearm.

"He's gone, Hare."

It was if her voice shattered his thoughts. His eyes, no longer glazed over, snapped to her then to the present on the table. He tugged on an achingly authentic smile.

"You should take it up to him," he said as he picked up the admittedly heavy box and handing it to her.

"There was a celebrity crying on your porch. Something tells me you need me more than James needs a birthday present right now. " Harry chuckled though nothing was particularly funny.

"It's a long story," started the messy haired man as he scratched awkwardly at his neck. "I was going to tell you at some point, yeah, but not so soon. It's gonna make you view me a bit differently. I wasn't quite ready for that. I was kind of enjoying being normal."

"Look, I already assumed he was like a past boyfriend. If you're bi or something that wouldn't change my view of you. You can still enjoy being normal. I don't see-" She had stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I wish it were that simple seriously." He took a deep breath and smiled at her again. "You should really take James his gift first. I'll be...here." He moved back into the living room. As the muggle moved up the stairs he started taking the charms off of some of the pictures that stopped the wizarding photographs from moving and off of others that showed his pregnancy.

Valerie came back down the stairs with a soft smile as she turned towards the living room. Harry saw the moment where she started to become uneasy. She looked around him at the pictures and blinked a few times before her eyes focused back on him.

"Are those like the frames that can do- er- slideshows and stuff with your photos? Do you just leave them off all the time. I've never seen them move before and-" Harry shook his head at her until she stopped speaking mid sentence. "So how does it work?"

He shrugged. "Magic."

"Yeah," she chuckled while she sent him a thankful smile as if he were just joking around. "Magic."

"Magic," Harry said again quite seriously as he raised his wand and froze all the pictures mid-transitions. One picture of him with a baby James had stopped just as the boy had attempted to smile for the first time.

"Magic," but this time she spoke softly in awe. She moved into the room and started re-examine the pictures around the room that she had seen plenty of times in their frozen states over the past year that she had been dating the green eyed...magician(?) in front of her. She turned to him quickly and he unfroze the pictures again. "So what are you? Some kind of magician or something?"

"I'm a wizard," he laughed.

"A what?"

"A wizard."

"You mean like with potions and spells and brooms and- well everything?"

"Actually, I'm pretty rubbish at potions," he said awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. " Dra- I mean, DL, he used to be great at them. A sodding prodigy, I bet. He was gonna open an apothecary before the war mucked everything up." He sat on the couch as he thought back to that darker time even if only for a moment.

"You did that before. You were going to call him by something else. I kind of assumed DL Black was a stage name, I mean, what kind of name is that any-wait the war? What war?" She sat down next to him softly, laying a hand on his knee. His head snapped up to stare into her face as if he had forgotten she was there while he reminisced.

"Oh, it's a long story, but the short version is there was a war while we were in school. I don't really like to talk about it. It was mostly a battle for magic and power, muggles wouldn't have noticed anything but maybe some off the wall weather."

"Muggles...?"

"Uh- people without magic." He thought for a minute. "Do you remember when the bridges collapsed?"

"Yeah, of course. The Millennium and the Brockdale, I think right? Yeah, it was a suspension issue. My teacher talked about it for ages during second form."

"No, it was an assault. Our minister was asked to step down or risk the lives of muggles. He refused to step down. That was one of the first attacks to start the war." He shrugged sadly then shook his head as though to clear it.

"So this war-" Valerie was closer now, running fingers through his hair the way she knew he liked.

"I seriously don't want to talk about it." He placed his head on his knees, but allowed her to continue her ministrations.

"You brought it up, Hare," she said softly.

"Because as much as I hate it..." he took a deep inhale before slowly exhaling. "It's a part of who I am. I can't pretend it never happened, but sometimes-not all the time- I just really wish it hadn't. So many people died. And it's my fault. If I'd-" He was crying now. There was a knock on the door that seemed much louder in the terrible silence.

Valerie stood to answer it. When she opened it, Draco stood there with his head down, but his arms crossed. He didn't look up until he spoke, but he still looked absolutely wrecked, himself. He held his head high with an almost perfect sneer.

"Why do I feel like Potter is swimming in a pool of self pity?"

"Git!" yelled Harry thickly from the couch.

"Yeah, I know," Draco said with a small smile as he motioned for Valerie to let him in as more of a question. He whispered in her ear as he passed. "It's like a sixth sense."

She watched him confusedly as he brushed past her and headed towards the darker man on the couch. He had just left crying not too long ago, but here he was when the ravenette needed him the most. Valerie wondered if that's how it had always been between them.

It only took seconds for the elegant blonde to lower himself gracefully onto Harry's lumpy secondhand couch and reach a hand out to run through the dark messy strands as if that was where he had always been. She tried to muster up the anger to be jealous, but she just couldn't. Harry needed this right now, and she knew it. Someone who understood exactly what he was going through without needing to use words.

She came closer but sat across from them in an armchair near the fireplace and she watched the two interact silently for a moment before clearing her throat. Harry looked up at her surprised and then playfully shoved the blonde away with a small wet smile of thanks.

"It was bad," he finally said looking up at her, before letting his head droop down again. "And for the most part it was my fault. I feel like it always is."

It was Draco's turn to shove at him.

"It wasn't your fault. Never has been. Vold-The Dark Lord was a maniac. That wasn't your fault."

"Your father liked to think so."

"My father also liked to think I was straight. He has a tendency of being wrong."

"You thought so too," Harry said quieter.

"I am my father's son," Draco shrugged.

"Am I missing something again?" asked Valerie, looking between the two.

"We were on opposite sides of the war," said Draco looking away before pinning his eyes on hers proudly. "You are dating the saviour of the wizarding world, after all."

"Dray-"

"What? It was a compliment this time." His head snapped towards Harry. "Am I not supposed to mention it at all?" Harry rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were quickly darkening as the blood rushed to his face.

"S-so when you said you owe him your life-"

"Half the bloody population owe him their lives, but he saved me from a place I'd never thought I'd get away from. I owe him everything."

-&-

hey futher muckers

another chapter...cause im in a bad place
i mean not terrible, but im just a bit down today so

i decided to write some more and share it with you lot

soooo bonus chapter x2

love y'all

-- angel janeé xoxo 💋