Lonely No More

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Leaky Cauldron was blessedly quiet as Harry led Draco up to his room and he was thankful for the small reprieve. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. The room was simply furnished - it had a large bed, a desk with a rather rickety looking chair, and a chest of drawers. His trunk was at the foot of the bed, and Hedwig's cage was on the windowsill. It was empty; its occupant had flown off on one of her mysterious trips.

Draco sat down at the edge of the bed, and took a deep breath. He felt the air burning through his lungs with an ache as real as it was certain. His head buzzed, and his body hurt; he wondered dimly if Harry could see how much it hurt him.

"You need to get that cut cleaned up," Harry said, as he handed him a towel. "The bathroom's through that door."

Draco took the proffered towel silently, and their eyes locked briefly. Harry saw, all right. Draco could tell that much by the way Harry was looking at him. He looked down at the floor.

Draco didn't move, in fact he wasn't sure he could. The aftershock of the curse and the mad dash through the streets had cramped muscles and made his very bones ache. Could it cause long-term problems? he wondered. Affect his ability to think ... fly ... walk ... write? His head ached as well, a sick nauseous pain that left him with blurred vision and a buzz in his ears. All he wanted to do now was to curl up and sleep the pain away.

Harry came to his side. "Do you need any help?"

Draco looked up and shook his head. "No," he lied.

Harry suppressed a smile, an instinctive wariness settling in. He watched as Draco made his way with deliberate slowness to the bathroom.

Thunder rolled outside, and the rain started to splatter through the open window. Harry crossed the room and quickly pulled the window shut.

The sound of smashing glass from the bathroom made Harry jump. He walked quickly to the bathroom door and paused. "Malfoy?"

Draco was sitting on the edge of the bath, shoulders bowed, hands hanging limply between his legs. Shards of broken glass littered the floor.

"I'm sorry." Draco muttered, sounding embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter." Harry responded automatically, as he gathered up the pieces. A jagged piece pricked his thumb, drawing blood but he said nothing and quickly cleared the mess up.

"I was trying to move the bottle and it slipped." Draco's hands were trembling.

"Really, it doesn't matter." Harry repeated, without turning to look at Draco.

Draco had made no move to deal with the visible signs of his father's attack and from his posture and manner, it was clear he wasn't dealing with the mental aspects of it either. He sat there, looking pale and forlorn.

Harry turned and took a single purposeful step forward, and crouched beside Draco. "Do you want me to heal that?"

"You can try, but it won't work."

"Oh?"

"He's charmed them so no one else can heal them with magic." Draco touched his temple gently. "That way I have to ask him to get rid of them." He lowered his eyes. "He's done it countless times before."

Harry's eyebrow rose. First Lucius hit Draco, then cursed him with one of the Unforgivable curses, and as a final punishment, he charmed those injuries so Draco couldn't heal himself. Harry felt his stomach tighten. "Well, we'll just deal with it some other way then," he bit out.

"Okay," Draco conceded, without looking at Harry.

Harry walked out of the bathroom and returned with the chair. "Take off your cloak, and sit down here."