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“Psst!”
Harry sat up with a start, fumbling around in the dark for a wand, his glasses, a light.
“Oh stop it silly.” whispered Luna, matter of factly lighting her wand with a quick “Lumos.” She was sitting on the edge of his bed, peering at him with an exasperated expression on her face. “Didn’t you remember? We’re going to see the unicorns tonight!”
Running his hand through his crumpled hair and finally pulling his glasses on, Harry stood up from his bed and slipped his feet into his slippers.
“Look, in the muggle world we have alarm clocks you know, they save us from these kind of awkward encounters - and how did you get in here exactly?” He hissed to Luna, following her outside of the dorm quietly. “Ginny let me in, of course,” she replied, “though I already knew the password. No one keeps it a proper secret. I can’t believe you don’t have more things stolen!”
Making their way into the common room, Harry saw Ginny and Hermione waiting for him and Luna in their pyjamas.
“Let’s go already. You’re so slow Harry.” Hermione rolled her eyes at him, waving her wand at the portrait hole in the wall, which swung open silently. The four of them clambered through, Harry and Hermione arguing under their breath
“You’re calling me slow? I can’t believe you’re even here Hermione. Miss Goody sneaking out and betraying the house.”
“Oh shut up Harry. Like you care. And anyways, when else are we going to get to see unicorns? Plus you were all for this idea when Luna and Draco suggested it - look!”
She stopped, seeing Draco standing at the end of the hallway, rocking from one foot to the other nervously, but straightening up as he saw them. “You all are awfully loud.”
Harry jabbed Hermione in the side with a finger, nearly making her yelp. “Oh jeez, we don’t have time for this.” complained Ginny, “Can we go already?”
“Hey there Draco.” said Harry quietly as he followed the girls down the back staircase and a nearly empty hallway. “Having a good night?”
“Not bad. I mean we could get caught and expelled or something and my fathe-” stammered Draco, chewing the edge of his blazer distractedly.
“Don’t worry about it, Draco.” replied Harry, cutting Draco off. “It’s going to be fun. Not like there’s any, uh, mysterious Basilisks haunting the school this year.”
Draco laughed nervously. “One of those would be a bit of a damp squid.”
Luna wrapped an arm around Hermione’s shoulder and took Ginny’s hand in her other as they ducked under a low doorframe and into a scarcely lit corridor. Harry and Draco followed, their eyes darting up and down as they picked their way through the dark and attempted not to stare too long at each other when they caught the other in their sight.
Luna hummed a quirky tune contentedly as they arrived outside, tilting her head back to admire the crystal clear skies and the stars above. Draco gave a sigh of relief - as a pureborn Slytherin, he was still shy about rule breaking from time to time, the danger of upsetting his father always a thought in the back of his brain. Harry attempted to give him a pat on the back, trying to convey some … comfort, or something. Draco stiffened for a second, but then reached up his hand to take hold of Harry’s, leaving Harry’s arm slung across Draco’s shoulder. The two of them walked on, cautiously.
Hermione kept peeking behind her, letting out little happy giggles and whispering to Ginny and Luna, and eventually the two boys leaned into each other more comfortably as they neared the pens a few yards away from Hagrid’s hut, outside of where Care of Magical Creatures lessons were held.
"Look! There they are!” Exclaimed Luna, no longer caring much about keeping quiet. “They’re so beautiful.” And, indeed they were. Three young foals and an older mare stood in the pens, looking around dreamily and glowing in the moonlight.
Luna stepped further forward, pulling out a sugar cube from one of the many pockets of the sweater she was wearing wrapped over her nightdress, and extending it in her hands towards the closest unicorn. “Philippa Beck in sixth year says they’re more comfortable around the company of women but that the young ones aren’t terribly skittish. Come on guys, they aren’t going to bite you.”
The smallest unicorn approached her slowly, picking its way through the long grass, and eventually nuzzling its head into Luna’s hand, licking up the sugar cube contentedly.
Hermione propped her elbows on the low fence and rested her chin in her hands, gazing curiously at the other beasts in the pen with a delighted expression on her face.
Ginny and Harry hung back behind Luna, not comfortable enough yet to get close. However surprisingly, Draco, having let go of Harry’s hand, stepped up closer and leaned over, sucking in a breath of cold air and whistling quietly as another unicorn lifted his head up and gazed at him.
“Harry! Are you seeing this?” he gasped.
Harry nodded his head, then spoke up as he remembered that Draco couldn’t see him. “Yes - I thought they wouldn’t go near boys?” he asked Luna quizzically.
She shrugged one shoulder. “Clearly they like him.” and gave Harry a little wink. He opened and shut his mouth for a moment, owlishly, then pushed his glasses up his nose and walked gently towards Draco. “Do you think they’ll let me near Malfoy-” he begun, but Draco put up his index finger in a shushing gesture and touched it to Harry’s lips shushing him. “Wait.”
And as they stood still, the last unicorn colt stepped closer and closer to Draco and Harry, who were now close enough to hear each other’s quiet breath, puffing in and out slightly out of sync with each other. And now it was right in front of them. The unicorn lifted its head and blinked at the boys for a long moment, before whinying and turning away, prancing back towards the mare. Hermione and Ginny burst into laugher, and the other colt skipped away from Luna nervously.
Luna laughed too, lifting one eyebrow and peering at the moon above. “We should head back.”
Hermione and Ginny nodded and linked arms with Luna, heading up the soft slope of the hill back to the castle.
Harry and Draco stayed still for a moment, both the sight of the beautiful unicorn dazzling in their minds and the knowledge and presence of the closeness of each other pausing their reaction to follow the girls immediately.
Draco looked up and down for a second, pulled his hands down by his side self-consciously; then with a burst of courage leaned in to press a quick kiss against the corner of Harry’s lips. Pulling back just as fast, he rocked on his heels for a second, looking slightly abashed. Harry blinked, just the slightest bit surprised, but reached for Draco’s hand, leaned in. Planted a tiny kiss on the other boys cheek.
The two stared at each other for a moment, then let out a tiny chuckle, breaking the silence of the moment. They headed forward, walking quickly to catch up with the girls waiting expectantly at the top of the hill; looking up at each other every few moments as they had on the way from their dorms, yet now giving a quiet smile each time.
When they had all separated and fell tiredly into their beds, both Draco and Harry had a grin on their faces that would be there until morning. No matter what tomorrow would bring, it would also bring the sight of each other again.
Each slept well and dreamed of unicorns.