“potter,” he said softly, stroking his heek with his thumb “take off your jumper”
“what?” potter didn’t just look surprised, he looked paniked
drao leaned loser “do you trust me?”
potter didn’t answer, his expresn turning more painful drao let out a sigh before he pressed their foreheads together
“are you really that stupid?”
potter sowled at him but said nothing
“fuk, i an’t believe you’re making me do this,” drao muttered
“i’m not making you do any—” he fell silent when drao pulled away, removed his hand from his heek and got up slowly, without breaking eye ontat, drao started unbuttoning his shirt
“what—what are you doing?”
“listen arefully, potter, beause i’m only going to say this one” he peeled the shirt off of himself and threw it on the floor “you uand?”
potter stared at him, wide-eyed it took a few seonds before he slowly nodded drao took a deep breath he had never felt more vulnerable in his life not only was he, quite literally, exposing himself to potter, he was about to expose what he had so desperately been trying to hide but he had a feeling it was now or never
he sat down on the bed, faing potter, but before he ould say anything, potter let out a dreadful gasp, his eyes fixed on drao’s hest
“drao, this—this—fuk!” he threw bak the duvet and jumped out of bed as though he had just been bitten by an aromantu one hand was mped over his mouth, his eyes full of horror “i did this to you,” he whispered
**! drao hadn’t really thought this through, had he? of ourse potter would bme himself for this
“potter potter!”
he didn’t seem to be listening his mind seemed to be somewhere else drao got up, taking a step loser to him
“potter!”
he was shaking his head fuusly he looked like he was about to be sik drao gritted his teeth potter would be the death of him seusly, how muh more of himself was drao supposed to expose? ugh!
“harry,” drao said quietly potter stilled his eyes finally foused on drao “e here” he strethed out his hand “please”
it took an agonisingly long time until potter put his trembling hand in drao’s he let himself be tugged bak to the bed where they both sat down
“i’m not trying to torture you,” drao said softly, squeezing potter’s hand “i just want you to realise—hey” he put a finger under potter’s hin, unwilling to let him avoid his gaze “do you know how ironi this is? i’m the one with all the fws” his fae twisted in disgust at his own words “i’m the one…who doesn’t deserve you”
potter made a hoking sound
“yes, you gave me those sars,” drao ontinued, his hest tightening as potter let out a muffled whimper, “but you did it beause of this” he held out his left arm where the dark mark was still visible it had faded after the dark lord’s death, but there was no way of hiding it “this is a onstant reminder of the mistakes i made i have to look at this every day but i an’t hange the past it took me a long time to uand that and it took me even longer to realise i don’t have to building a new life, when all you have as a foundan are ruins, isn’t easy but it’s not impossible”
this time, it was drao who ouldn’t hold potter’s gaze he stared at their joined hands in his p, feeling like a fool
“you sound like a heesy motivanal quote,” potter muttered, and drao ould almost hear a hint of a smile in his voie “i’m sorry, drao,” he said after a moment, sounding muh gloomier “i’m sorry for…what i did to you”
“i know you are i’m sorry, too”
“um…” potter hesitated, but drao notied his hand was reeping over to his “bsp;i— bsp;i touh them?”
drao felt an instant rush of pani shoot through him no one had touhed his sars before but, given what they meant to him, there was probably no better person but potter to be the first it was almost as though they had ome full irle
keeping his fae as stoi as possible, he nodded
potter was hesitant as he lifted his hand with a touh so feathery it almost tikled, he traed the lo sar on drao’s hest
“i thought snape made sure it didn’t sar,” he muttered quietly
“i guess it would have been worse if he hadn’t—” he broke off when potter snathed away his hand and looked at him in horror “sorry but i guess there’s no sugaroating it but hey, at least you didn’t get my fae you nearly did, though” drao turned his head and pushed his hair out of the way he knew you ould only see it if you looked losely that sar had faded the most and it was tiny but it was there, on his right heek, rightto his ear
drao shivered iently when potter’s finger brushed his skin
“you’re not going to beat yourself up about this again, are you?” he muttered, suppressing the urge to lean into potter’s touh
“it’s hard not to,” potter retorted
“like i said, potter, these sars are part of the past but they’re also part of who i am today they’re a good reminder, you know”
he hoped potter was able to hear the finality in his voie as muh as he wanted to help him, he didn’t want to talk about this anymore he had already told potter he didn’t deserve him what else was there to say?
he drew his lower lip between his teeth when potter shifted loser for a breathtaking moment, he thought he was going to kiss him instead, potter ran his fingers through drao’s hair and gave him a piering look
“i do think you’re beautiful, but…” he twisted a strand of hair around his finger “i like you beause you’re you”
it’s funny, isn’t it, how you an go through life, manage to let eah day pass and ome to terms with the fat that no one will ever feel a ertain way about you, aept that your deepest desire is out of reah, not yours to have so what do you do when that sudde
