A Little Better - Part 2 of A Different View

[sesheta66]

Title: A Little Better (2/? of A Different View)
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG
Word Count: 485
Pairing/Characters: Harry, Draco
Challenges: awdt's prompt of "Christmas Balls," slythindor100's holiday challenge #29 - Author's choice - I choose "Christmas Balls," and my GJ 100_prompts entry #097 - "Always".
Summary: Draco tries to make things a little better for Harry this Christmas.
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

To see all parts of A Different View, click here.



Draco had fled Grimmauld Place an hour ago. He and Potter weren't friends. They barely tolerated each other while they both worked on rebuilding Hogwarts. So why did he feel obliged to do anything now? Potter's pain was in the past.

That day, they had gone to Grimmauld Place to gather up some items, and Draco had volunteered just to get away from Hogwarts for a couple hours. It was just his luck that he'd be there when the package had arrived. Of course Draco couldn't resist rifling through Potter's things when given the chance. Anyone else would have done the same.

The letter he had found had shattered his image of Potter. He had been raised to believe that Potter had lived a sheltered childhood, but the boy who had written that letter was definitely not a coddled child. Now Draco wondered about everything he'd ever been told, everything he'd always thought about Potter. Did he even know the man at all?

But where was he to go from here?

Draco was warring with himself. He could certainly follow his natural instincts and return to Hogwarts, put in his hours, and be done with it, be done with Potter. But he wasn't so sure he could do that now. Somehow he needed to find out who Potter really was.

More than curiosity, though, Draco felt a strong pull inside him. He had no idea why, but he felt the need to do something, to try to make things right, or at least a little better. He pictured the dreary sitting room at Grimmauld Place and made his mind up at once.

---

When he arrived back at the house, Potter was asleep on the sofa, the letter clutched in his hand.

"Potter, wake up!" he called.

"Wha?" Potter replied groggily.

"I have something for you," Draco offered.

Potter turned away and mumbled, "I don't need your pity, Malfoy."

"You won't get it. The past is the past, isn't that what you keep telling me?" He looked at Potter with a challenge in his gaze. "Well, I won't feel sorry for you because you had a horrible childhood, but I would like to do something for you to perhaps make up for a bit of it." He pulled a few boxes out of a bag he had brought.

Harry looked sceptical. "With what?"

"Christmas balls. I figure you probably never really got the chance to decorate when you were a boy, so I thought you might want to put up a tree now."

Draco needn't have worried about Harry's reaction, if his smile was anything to go by. He looked inside the boxes and raised an eyebrow. "Gryffindor colours?" he asked.

As he led the way to the back door to go cut down a tree, Draco shrugged. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

Part 3 - Magic
.

Comments

[softly-sweetly.livejournal.com]

*squishes Draco* he's so lovely sometimes. And startlingly wise words from him *is impressed*

Lovely, x

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

He managed to catch the Christmas spirit. *squishes him too*

Thanks, hon.

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

Aw, Draco is a marshmallow inside!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

See? I told you it was safe. :o)

[svgurl.livejournal.com]

Oh Draco!! *hugs him* He's so adorable ... I love him. Harry's not alone anymore! The boys are cute together, aren't they?

thanks for writing this! I'm absolutely loving it!

Here's your pic of everyone's other favorite brunette.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/svgurl/pic/000293k2/)

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Yup, yup - the boys are cute. Glad you're enjoying it so far. No talking about the past yet, though. Too early.

Aww ... your icon is cute. The pic is mysterious/intense though (mmmm).

[lire-casander.livejournal.com]

You know, even before reading Harry Potter, the Christmas balls in my house were always Gryffindor colors!

Nicely done, dear. I can feel Draco's insecurities and doubts, when everything he once believed ends up shattered by the truth.

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Red and gold are definitely Christmasey colours. Then again, so are silver and green. *nods*

Draco doesn't quite know what to do; he just knows that he needs to figure things out for himself.

[winter-june.livejournal.com]

*hugs Draco silly*

I'm so proud of him!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

He's still not sure what to do, but it's a start.

[gurliemoviegeek.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just wanna give Draco the biggest hug right now!!!
The way he handled things was just perfect!!!

The last line is a killer - so very Draco!

I can't wait to see what happens next...

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Hee! He's off to a pretty good start.

[idontgiveafaux.livejournal.com]

YAY for draco making harry happy again and it was so sweet that he pretended he didn't realise that the baubles were gryffindor-coloured. ::is happy again:: XD

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Glad you're happy again. What? He didn't know. :D That's hisstory and he's sticking to it. ;)

[idontgiveafaux.livejournal.com]

surrrrrrre. i believe him! ;)

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

;D

[jamie2109.livejournal.com]

Awww what a sweetie Draco is. I'm enjoying this!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

*squishes Draco* Glad you're enjoying it. I'm looking forward to the next prompt.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Draco being subtle; you subverted a lot of my expectations with this one but in all the best ways. I love all the unspoken parts, and the spoken ones are just so perfectly right for the two of them. I am so happy that this is ongoing!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Draco still isn't really sure what he's doing, only that he needed to do something. They aren't even friends at this point, so I think too much said wouldn't ring true. That'll have to come later.

[idontgiveafaux.livejournal.com]

hey hon, your christmas gift!fic is here A Midnight Snack (http://idontgiveafaux.livejournal.com/32218.html)

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

*is excited* Muah!

*goes to read*

[kaykayen.livejournal.com]

*squishes Draco* This is so perfectly Draco. He's got a lot to figure out but wants to do something and his gesture is lovely and his demeanor is still just so Draco.

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Yup, yup. This is a good start/peace offering.

[caro-di-tutti.livejournal.com]

oh god that first part was so bloody sad, and then this i think it was the
"Gryffindor colours?"

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

that i loved the most!!!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yeah, Draco's just a softy pretending not to be. ;)

[lackofmendacity.livejournal.com]

Hee, sure Draco hadn't noticed. *cuddles him*

And yay, you are making this happier, yay to Draco for figuring out what to do. :D

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

He's just a sweetie at heart.

[juwel-fic.livejournal.com]

awww cute!

lol the Christmas balls on my tree are also red and gold. Hmm, maybe I should add some green and silver, lol.

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ... perhaps green and silver will come into play later ... ;)

[alaana-fair.livejournal.com]

Aww... *snuggles Draco* Such cute boys. *g*

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

They are, aren't they?

[alaana-fair.livejournal.com]

*g* Hey, did you see that I wrote angst with character death? *thud*

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

I saw that you posted something to "make up for the angst" you wrote. But I was too busy reading all the stuff for the Prophet that I basically couldn't fit anything else in, besides writing my own stuff.

I have to go back & catch up. Is it one of the boys that dies? If so ... I dunno. And if it is, who are you and what have you done to my friend Elektra?

[alaana-fair.livejournal.com]

*giggles* It's only 100 words and it's not THAT bad. Okay, it is, but it has a moral befitting the Christmas spirit.

*headdesk*

Who am I kidding? I was depressed and I dreamt it. I woke up at 3 in the morning and just typed it out. And yeah, one of them dies. *sniffles*

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

I really need to be in the mood to read a death fic where one of them dies (frankly, I don't care if anyone else does). Now probably isn't the best time for me. You might need to nudge me later on, 'kay? I love angst ... just not death.

[thrnbrooke.livejournal.com]

Oh Draco! You darling!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

*squishes him* - such a sweetie!

[nocturnali.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying this little series.
Don't normally like H/D but I like your portrayal of them. Not sappy, not hating each other...just normal.

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Glad you're enjoying it. ;)

[nillaskye.livejournal.com]

Oh, how sweet! *hugs Draco* Can't wait to see what happens next!

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Hopefully the prompt works with part 3, and I'll post it tomorrow.

[sassy-cissa.livejournal.com]

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

*snuggles caring Draco*

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Hee! He doesn't quite know what to do, but so far, he's doing pretty well. *smooches him*

[andrea--88.livejournal.com]

Awww how sweet :) Draco is trying to do the right thing. So glad Harry gets to decorate a tree! And in Gryff colours! Draco really is being sweet.

Excellent :o)

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Yeah ... Draco is definitely a sweetie underneath it all. But shhh ... don't tell anyone! ;)

[andrea--88.livejournal.com]

His secret is safe with me ;o)

[mtranc3.livejournal.com]

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

*snorts*

Count on Draco to understand Harry's reactions and needs! They are not paired up for no reason, after all... :)