hobaggins @ June 12 2003, 19:55:51 UTC

Maybe they were reading UL!13.

But on a more serious note, I think M.B. was trying to do her part to fix thing. She has been so very good to Draco since the match. And she has been nothing but concern and mild friendly banter with Harry. She wants this fixed. She is sincerely worried about the state of affairs I think.

fourscore @ June 12 2003, 20:01:32 UTC

I thought they were talking? On old threads?

hobaggins @ June 12 2003, 20:12:25 UTC

They were talking, but it felt really distant. Wasn't very friendly

Or I might be wrong

Anonymous @ June 12 2003, 20:52:01 UTC

Hmm, there was something in the "Where are you, Potter?" that sounded almost needy to me. That after all those comments on all those threads, and all the dodging about, that was the point. Draco missed Harry.

The comments themselves: Draco seems to be saying, over and over, You hated me. And Harry seems to be saying back, I don't any more; that was a long time ago; why are you bringing it up? There's almost an unvoiced apology in Harry's comments. Why would Draco be focusing on this, is what I want to know. Why would he feel the need to go back and revisit what their relationship used to be like? Why would he do this before he was willing to speak to Harry again, because it is clear that this is the first time they've spoken since whatever it was that upset them.

Harry's replies seem subdued, as if he is afraid to say something that might spook Draco. He gets a little bolder at the laundry comment, but that seems to be in response to Draco's teasing. The most hopeful bit, I think, is where Draco tells Harry, "You're just going to have to learn to deal with it." And Harry, after asking what he is looking for, says Okay, which I take to mean that he is willing to learn to deal with it.

I didn't think that this unfriendly, personally. I imagine that Draco is examining their relationship with more focus than he had ever shown before, and Harry is willing to sit quietly while he does it, and answer Draco's questions as they arise. If anything, it seems like they've resumed on a deeper level than they were at before they split, which might offer some clue to what the split was about.

sistermagpie @ June 12 2003, 21:27:15 UTC

The comments themselves: Draco seems to be saying, over and over, You hated me. And Harry seems to be saying back, I don't any more; that was a long time ago; why are you bringing it up?

I couldn't say why Draco's doing it but somehow it still makes sense to me. It's like...you said all these things about me, you thought all these things about me. It was real. I never changed...why did you change your mind?

From Draco's pov it's just one day Harry started being nice to him. Then he finds out Harry is gay and has a bit of a crush on him...but Draco essentially says that's not going to happen and Harry's still sticking with him. If I were Draco I think I'd feel very unsure of myself. I'd probably wake up every morning wondering if Harry was going to change once more and hate him again. Harry thought Draco was dirt before their friendship, and since they've been friends Draco's pushed him away more than once.

I doubt Harry's ever really made it clear to Draco just what made him change his mind about him (if he could do it) and what he likes about him now. Draco would hardly give him a chance given that he always has to act like he thinks he's God's gift to everyone. But really I think he would like to know and feel like his friendship with Harry wasn't just some strange whim or a mistake on Harry's part.

And I totally agree these exchanges sound much deeper than anything before, for all their vagueness. What sounds like unfriendliness is, imo, a lack of artifice and awkwardness about not being able to say what he wants. The very fact that they take place on very old enteries without an audience says to me Draco's ready to drop a mask or two and talk to Harry for real. As further proof...look at his lines. There's no stage voice, none of the usual flourishes and turns of phrase: "Nothing." "Likely." "It wasn't that bad, considering it was the Cannons." Short sentences. To the point. Very un-ps. Sometimes he lets a quote speak for him and just signs his name. This isn't potterstinks talking, it's somebody underneath that persona. JMO.

theantimodel @ June 12 2003, 22:18:24 UTC

You know it's interesting becausese I know that so much of PS is posturing, looking good for everyone else, and I don't think that he lets his guard down easy, but I get the impression that with Harry it just kind of happens. I'm not sure how deep their relationship really is, but it really seems like Harry has gotten to know Draco on a deeper level than he knew him before.

I look at how easily they fall into the witty snarky comments, how easily they can mess with each other and how, at the same time, neither one seems to notice that they are reaching for the other. When Draco wanted his snitch back, Harry brought it to him at 4:00 in the morning without even thinking about it (it seems), and all of the casual where are you's, and the casual lets meet up's.

To me, it seems like even though they still posture, they've let their guards down at the same time. For PS to be going back in time and looking at the old posts it's like on the surface, not a ton has changed, their comments now are laced with humor instead of hatred, but fundamentally neither has given in and "joined" the other side (on multiple levels). So on one level he's kind of saying "why are you doing this? I haven't changed", but on another level he is acknowledging that in fact everything has changed.

I don't know if that made as much sense as it does in my head. But I tried.

tabiji @ June 12 2003, 22:37:19 UTC

Well said. I can't see them sitting and having had any sort of conversation about how Harry's feelings/opinions of Draco changed. It looks like Draco's trying to work that out himself. He's managed to pick out posts that seem to tie in with the changes.

Draco's grandmother's funeral made a big impact on him, and even though there's been talk recently about how Draco, Pansy and Millicent seem to have a special bond because their families aren't particularly supportive, when Draco left his parents in Cannes he went to Harry.

I wonder if Draco's freak out was as simple as that - Draco becoming aware of how important Harry has become to him, and that at an emotional low point it was Harry that he wanted to be with instead of his family or his other friends. He would already have been in a vulnerable state, and then had the added realization that he was turning to someone that he hated not too long ago.

Anonymous @ June 13 2003, 00:43:42 UTC

From Draco's pov it's just one day Harry started being nice to him. Then he finds out Harry is gay and has a bit of a crush on him...but Draco essentially says that's not going to happen and Harry's still sticking with him.

After the 200-comment thread about Literati after Millicent locked them in the hole together, I can't say that I'm convinced that Draco's telling him that that's not going to happen. I think that homophobia aside, or homophobia taken into account, even, that it already has happened--Millicent's comment about sounds not counting, and Harry's comment about Crabbe having a point seem too pointed to be misinterpreted. And if it has, I think that this would clear the path for bigger and better freakouts than a tentative friendship ever could.

Obviously, no matter what else, they are becoming friends. But I don't think that I am being overly squeeful to believe that they really have gone past that now.

sistermagpie @ June 13 2003, 06:47:24 UTC

Oh, I think you should be free to squee, absolutely! Really I was thinking about before anyway, that even when Draco was making big noises about never ever being interested in Harry Harry still stuck with him as a friend. Harry may very well have good reason to think it will happen now, but he wouldn't have gotten there if he hadn't stuck by through the NO WAY times.:-)

la_trix @ June 13 2003, 08:04:11 UTC

I guess you can't blame me, then, for giggling when Draco got beautifully enraged at Millicent's comment that she and he were having hot sex but had promised to keep it a secret ...

kearie @ June 12 2003, 20:14:42 UTC

Talking, but it was more like Draco was puzzling some things out on his own by going over old threads and just decided to post while he was there.

lunastarr @ June 12 2003, 20:15:25 UTC

It's not like they're not talking to each other, though... :/

dragynville @ June 12 2003, 23:07:14 UTC

And what about Draco's post about the Daily Prophet article? He's drawing attention to something that nearly no one is talking about (and pointing that fact out as well). He's even got both the Ministry and his father somewhat upset with him over it.

Is he just saying 'here look, it's happened, he's back, it's real, get your heads out of the sand'? Or is this some strange subtle show of support for Harry? Or is this a mini 'declaration of independance' from his DE parents?

theantimodel @ June 12 2003, 23:14:11 UTC

could be a mixture of both? In his response to Mr. Ministry I get the feeling that it is mostly about the fact that everyone is ignoring it, but I can't help but think it is also about Harry.

He just found out that Harry's scar has been hurting. It is possible that although Draco's dad is a DE the whole thing has never really affected him personally before. So the fact that Harry is affected by it, coupled with the fact that they're friends now, seems to be pretty significant. Like maybe it is finally being brought home a little more, now that it is affecting one of his friends in a negative way.

dragynville @ June 12 2003, 23:31:05 UTC

In the past, he's always 'towed the party line' of his parents. Now, suddenly (and publically!) he's exhibiting opposing behavior. Almost making a stand (not quite yet, but a beginning).

He seems to be making a step away from his parents and, at the same time, a step towards Harry.

sistermagpie @ June 13 2003, 07:54:56 UTC

This is the second time he's made this kind of interesting move, though I don't know if I could yet say what he's moving away from or towards, you know? He sent Harry Lucius' e-mail and now he's presenting the Prophet story with no comment whatsoever. I look forward to his possible response to Lucius. He definitely seems to be doing something and getting some independent ideas about this whole issue. I don't think he's ready to pick a side yet.

lunastarr @ June 13 2003, 00:19:53 UTC

I think Millicent was just making fun of Harry's scar, I don't understand how it had to do with Draco...he just commented on it but Millicent didn't say anything about him at all. O_O

Anonymous @ June 13 2003, 00:24:16 UTC

Yep.

dragynville @ June 13 2003, 00:50:14 UTC

It just seemed like she went to too much effort to find out about the scar just for the purpose of antagonising him over it. And then with Draco popping up with a snipey comment to her, I thought maybe that was her goal (to get him defensive on Harry's behalf, or break the ice between them). But the star points to no. ;D

ex_meiko437 @ June 13 2003, 04:17:07 UTC

and draco piping in with the caps on the I NEED ICE deal makes it seem like he still is seeking attention from harry about being this injured, seeing as though it takes place in harry's journal.

Anonymous @ June 13 2003, 10:20:19 UTC

Since that came right after the hot sex comment, I was thinking maybe he hit his knee against the desk or something, whether from jumping in shock or just laughing really hard or what, I don't know.

-HedgeMouse

Anonymous @ June 13 2003, 00:21:12 UTC

Hm, I don't think Millicent had Draco in mind when she was talking to Harry. It seems to me that she's delighted by his scar.