Swapped - Drarry

Chapter Four

Harry awoke from another nightmare, panting and out of breath. There was a slight shine on his forehead where perspiration had collected. Harry sat up, shaking slightly before realising it was just a dream.

"Are you alright, mate?" Ron questioned from where he stood on the other side of the room. "Since when did you start having nightmares again? I haven't seen you in that state since last year."

Harry just shrugged it off and rolled out of bed, walking over to his dresser. Expecting the usual maroon and gold colour scheme, Harry groaned when he found his new Slytherin-style robes.

That's right, today I'm officially a Slytherin. Just great.

After putting on his new robes, Harry turned around and saw his reflection for the first time that day. He looked normal, sans the new robes, but one thing that stood out to him more than usual was his ever-present dark circles, caused by lack of sleep. "Mate, you need to get some more sleep, or you'll die of exhaustion."

Harry just shook him off, and after saying his goodbyes, he headed to McGonagall's office. When he got there, all the students switching houses were there along with the house leaders. When Harry finally entered the room, he was met by the new head of Slytherin. The man motioned for Harry to follow him, then lead him down multiple corridors and winding staircases.

"Just follow me this way... Down here now... Ah, here we are!"

They stopped at a bare stretch of hard stone wall, and Harry made sure to listen to the password as it was being said. "Chaos", the Slytherin head said clearly, and the wall slid away, revealing a large, embellished door.

" Well, go ahead and open it!"

Harry's stomach twisted in excitement and anticipation as he reached his and out to the silver doorknob and twisted it. The door swung open, revealing the darkest, most green room he had ever seen.

The stone walls on each side of the room were adorned with intricate carvings and tapestries, with the occasional moving painting. At the furthest end of the room was a huge fireplace, surrounded by black leather couches. The whole atmosphere was overly dark, seeing as the room was underground, but there were dim green orbs floating in random spots around the room, lighting things up a little.

Directly to Harry's left was a staircase that lead to a mezzanine second floor, which presumably held dorm rooms of some sort. The air was unnaturally heavy, and that's when Harry noticed the wall on his right.

The whole expanse of wall was covered in a floor-to-ceiling window of thick glass, so Harry could see out into the dark lake beyond the glass. Strange fish and creatures of all kind swam past the glass, barely visible in the dim light deep underwater. Harry was bubbling with excitement, and he ran up to the glass wall with a huge grin on his face.

It was when Harry had his nose pressed up to the thick glass of the aquarium wall that he noticed there was not a Slytherin in sight. Turning to the Slytherin head, he asked. "Why is no-one awake yet?" Harry sounded curious but was actually relieved that he didn't have to face the judging stares and questioning looks of the Slytherins.

"They're all still probably getting dressed. I'll show you to your dorm, then I'm sure you'll be fine from there."

The mysterious Slytherin lead Harry up the stairs, and down to the very last dorm room. "The girl's dorms are downstairs, and I advise keeping away from there unless you want your head chopped off. Just yesterday a boy was caught trying to peek on them getting changed, and I hear he's still in the infirmary now. Most of the pain would be mental, I'm guessing." The professor kept rambling on, but Harry wasn't listening anyway.

Harry leant on the railing and looked at the whole place from a higher angle. He noticed more stuff than he did when he was down there, like a group of bean bags huddled around a small table in the corner, and a row of desks in the corner by the door, facing out towards the vast expanse of the lake.

"Anyway, I'll let you get to it. This is the room you'll be staying in, the bathrooms are just down the hall, and everything you need is beside your bed. Breakfast is soon, so you'd better be quick!" And with that he left, leaving Harry staring at the large door in front of him.

Well, I guess I should see who I'm rooming with...

Harry reluctantly reached his hand out towards the silver door handle, but before his hand even touched the handle, the door swung open to reveal a flushed, panting Blaise. "Harry? Oh... Yeah..." Blaise managed between breaths. He caught his breath before speaking again. "Harry, you'll be staying with us for a month, is that correct?"

But Harry wasn't paying attention to Blaise. Instead, another figure caught his eye. A pale muscled figure stood in the far corner of the room, back turned towards Harry. His gaze lingered, wondering who it was. They were the only other person in the room, after all.

"Harry? Hello? Harry!"

"I, uh, yes?"

That seemed to get the other guy's attention. He turned around, silver-grey eyes staring straight into Harry's curiously. The scars that littered his back, chest and sides were pink against his pale skin. Harry's breath caught in his throat. The person he was looking at was...

"Malfoy?"

Harry questioned across the room, completely ignoring Blaise. "What are you doing here, Potter?" Malfoy mumbled as he turned around. Blaise just sighed, already done with their nonsense. "Seriously guys, can you just get over it already? Yeah, you were absolute assholes to each other for seven years, but can you stop arguing for just one month? At least try, ok? You'll drive me up the bloody walls..."

And with that Blaise left, leaving an awkward tension between the two boys.

"So... That probably means we should at least try to get along, right? I mean, Blaise will go crazy if we don't..." Malfoy suggested, moving slightly closer to Harry.

Why is he being nice all of a sudden?

"Or we could just ignore each other. It would be way better than having to pretend to be friends." Malfoy continued, but it was still awkward. Draco sighed deeply, like he was about to tell a dark secret.

"Ok so I know we kinda hated each other until very recently, and we probably still do now, but Blaise has a point. If this is going to work, we need to try and get along. It might be hard, but I think it's doable. So from now on, I'm gonna try and be your friend. Ok?"

Harry just nodded. He didn't bother to reply, he was instead looking around the room for the first time, taking in his surroundings.

The room was a large hexagonal shape, just like the Gryffindor dorms, with a four-poster bed on each wall. Each bed was made of dark, ornately carved wood and had a matching bedside table, desk, and dresser. Each bed had dark green curtains for privacy, although none of them were drawn. There was a total of five beds in the room, but only two of them were messy.

"Wait, who else is in this dorm?" Harry questioned, not turning to Malfoy.

"Just me and Blaise... And now you as well apparently. Your bed's over there, but you can sleep anywhere since the other beds are uninhabited," He replied, pointing to an empty bed. Harry walked over to the freshly-made bed, taking note of the spare robes that lay folded on top of the dresser. Harry put his stuff away, already wearing his robes. He was about to leave for breakfast when something piqued his interest.

"Um, where do you sleep?" Harry asked out of curiosity, then immediately regretted it.

"And why, may I ask, would you want to know that?" Malfoy questioned with a smirk, clearly amused. Harry looked at him with an odd expression, eyes lingering on his bare, muscled torso. "Hey, my eyes are up here, Scarhead", Malfoy teased with a smirk. He was having a hell of a lot of fun.

"Well, maybe you should put a shirt on so I can actually pay attention to what you're saying!" Harry yelled, and Draco just smirked. "So I'm distracting you, huh?" He teased, and Harry flushed. "I never said that! Just hurry up, breakfast is soon and we're gonna be late. You don't want to be late, don't you?"

And with that they left, an awkward silence hanging in the air between them.