Drarry - The Boggart

EIGHT

Harry sat in front of the window in the owlery. He couldn't help but remember his first encounter with Draco in the halls at night. He looked flustered and scared and alone. He remembered what the boy had said. The words echoed in his mind late at night when he couldn't sleep.

'I was headed for the owlery'

But Draco didn't have an owl. Nor any papers to send. Harry looked over the edge of the wide open window, just a bit. It was a long fall. The ground was far enough that if someone fell, they wouldn't make it.

Harry knew that emotions didn't have anything to do with the heart and that was all in your brain, but he felt his heart lurch. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he'd save Draco. From what, it wasn't very explicitly confirmed. His father? His family? His fate? Himself? It was all very unclear. 

Harry wasn't sure if he should hate the whole incident with the bloody boggart, or be glad that it happened. On one hand, it lead him to Draco, whom he could now hopefully help. But on the other hand, it caused so much rubbish to take place,, it almost wasn't worth it. Now kids were bullying the poor Slytherin, and everyone looked at him differently. But again, so was Harry, and in that case it wasn't a bad thing. 

Harry balled his fists and slammed one hand into the stone wall. He didn't know what he thought that would accomplish, but it did accomplish bloody knuckled and a sore, throbbing hand. Fantastic.

~~~

"Is something wrong Harry, you look rather pale." Hermione mentioned in the dining hall at dinner. 

"Yeah, you know, if you need to talk to us about something- anything- you can." Ron said, looking concerned. 

Harry was getting a migraine. His head was spinning with questions, and no answers were in sight. How much had he changed if he couldn't trust Ron and Hermione? Should he tell them? What was there to tell? What would he do about Draco? Did he really know the boy that well? Why did he feel like it was his responsibility to help him? Why did he feel like what he and Draco had was different from friendship, and what was it? As all of these questions swarmed his mind all at once, Harry couldn't take it any more and he stood abruptly.

"No, I can't!" He shouted, louder than he'd intended. If you ever want know how to get the eyes of hundreds of Hogwarts students on you at once, do what Harry did in answering his friends like a maniac. Everything was quiet, and Harry heard an 'oh dear' from Luna at the Ravenclaw table. 

McGonagall stood from her seat.

"Is there anything stopping everyone from eating?" She asked, addressing the entire dining hall. All eyes were still on Harry. 

"No." He quickly responded, swiftly getting away from his chair and leaving the room as quickly as possible. As soon as the doors closed he held his breath, listening through the heavy double doors. After one long, long moment, the feast seemed to have commenced again and Harry gave a breath, melting against the wall. What was going on with him? 

After collecting himself- and summoning the strength to not feel like putty- Harry got up and started on his way to the Gryffindor common room. The questions kept swimming around his mind, but if he could just burry his head in his pillow, maybe they'd go away. He quickened his pace. 

Harry was almost halfway there, turning a corner when he heard hurried footsteps coming after him. He turned curiously just in time for a flustered Draco to slam right into him.Luckily, neither of them fell this time (mostly thanks to Harry catching the boy when he was halfway to the ground). 

"Sorry!" The Slytherin squeaked. Harry only laughed and propped him back up. He sounded out of breath and winded, as if he'd run at the speed of light to get to Harry. 

"Well, we should apply for a world record book or something, bumping into each other- literally- twice in one day." Draco laughed. "But, um, really the reason I'm here is cause- I just... I have something to ask you, and kind of say to you I guess." He paused, catching his breath. "Ok, so, you've been very kind to me these past few months while I've been utterly mopey and plainly rude." Draco blurted. He seemed to stop and think about the fact that he'd just apologized to Harry Potter, and complimented him. He kept going though. "Anyways, I just wanted to know if maybe you'd like to meet somewhere else than that hallway tonight. I just feel that we shouldn't only be able to talk late at night in a quiet, hidden hallway." All of Draco's normal features of calm, cunning, and pride seemed to be out the window, but he fixed this by straightening his posture and trying to go on. Harry wasn't sure what to think right  now, but this sure was interesting to watch.

"I just refuse to meet somewhere where I will be forced to speak at a whisper when talking with a friend. It makes no sense and I won't stand for it." He regained his normal demeanor. Harry just looked at him, one eyebrow raised as if telling him to continue. 

"And where would we meet, then?" He challenged 

"At the lake. Tonight, the normal time will be good. Well, yes, I'll be on my way." Now he was just being strangely fancy and annoyingly obnoxious. It was as if he'd demanded that Harry meet him there. Like his old self would have . He turned precisely and started walking past the corner again. 

What an odd encounter? What had just happened. Harry frowned from how Draco was acting. Were they back to square one? He turned, a sallow look on his face, and was about to be back on his path to the common rooms when he heard the same rushed footsteps as before.

"Wait!" Draco said quickly, grabbing Harrys wrist loosely, as if asking him to turn back. Harry did. He felt a kindle under his skin, as if Draco's touch had lit it. The blonde seemed to notice Harry staring at where he made contact with him, because he dropped his wrist and moved his hand back to his side.

"I'm sorry. That was- I'm just... I'm still new at this 'making new friends' thing. The friends that I have now have been around me and my family forever. Making friends on my own... its not something I've had much practice with. I forgot to say please." Draco adduced. "I should have said please. I'm sorry." 

Harry sniggered. He couldn't have Draco acting all stiff around him now. So he gathered himself up in a perfectly fancy position, as if he were a server taking care of a rich house. 

"I would be contented to meet with you at the the lake tonight, Mr. Draco Malfoy." He made a false, obnoxious, I've-got-money-and-I-know-it face and bowed, embellished with the flourishing of his hand about in the air as he did so. 

"Sounds lovely, Mr. Harry Potter" Draco copied his actions, a smile breaking his acting mask. 

Harry then turned on his heels as promptly walked down the hall. He didn't hear Draco's footsteps going back to the dinning hall until he'd turned the corner at  the end of the hallway. 

And Harry smiled, leaning against the wall for support. What was this boy doing to him? 

~~~

"Hermione, Ron, theres some stuff I think we should talk about." Harry said as soon as they walked in through the portrait hole- the first ones back from dinner. The two looked at each other with glee coating their faces, then ran towards Harry. Who, of course, jerked back from this sudden lack of respect for his personal space.

"Finally! Spill!" Ron insisted. He instantly got elbowed by Hermione.

"Ron! Don't be so crude!" She scolded, then went on to face Harry and beg him to tell them why he had been acting so weird. 

"Hermione thinks it's cause you fancy someone, but I think she's got it all in a twist. I think it's something to do with Draco." Ron continued. 

'What if it's possible that it could be both?' Harry wanted to ask. 

He told them everything that had happened, from his confused thoughts on Draco, up to what had happened just that night, an hour or so earlier. Ron and Hermione both ended staring at  him, eyes wide open, jaws practically glued to the ground. Hermione managed to pick hers up long enough to make the next comment.

"Harry! You've got a date tonight!" 

(Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry if this chapter sucks or seems half-assed, it completely deleted and I had to rewrite the whole thing and it sucked, but I hope it's as good as the first time I wrote it!)