In Your Mind's Eye.

Chapter Thirteen.

Harry fought back tears. Crying felt too used lately, too old and familiar. But where was he supposed to escape to if he couldn't hide in his own mind?

His thoughts came to an abrupt stop, as he heard voices from the other room. Curious, Harry turned on his heel, quietly opening the door and peering around it to look.

The kitchen was empty, but the noise was coming from the living room, words slightly muffled.

He recognized Malfoy's voice, but who the boy was conversing with remained a mystery until Harry moved closer.

Draco was sitting in front of the fire, talking into it. He looked slightly anxious, face paler than usual, and hands clasped tightly in his lap.
"I told you about it, Mother." He was saying, exhaling, "I wrote to you.

"I know, Draco." came a female voice, soft but with the same familiar coldness that the Malfoys often possessed. "But you can't just not come home. It's Christmas."

Narcissa, Draco's mother, was in the fire. Her head was turned in her son's direction, eyes sharp but sad as they studied him.

"I'm sorry." Draco replied, frowning slightly, "But I'm sure I'm even allowed. I have to-"

"Have to? You've been forced to spend time with Harry Potter." She said firmly. Harry couldn't tell if Narcissa was angry at him or at McGonagall. "Isn't that cruel, considering all that's happened? I hardly think the boy would want to spend his holiday with one of his enemies."

Harry may have imagined it, but Malfoy seemed to wince at that statement. But...it was probably a shiver. The house was quite cold after all.

"McGonagall said that was the point." Draco looked down at his bare feet, fiddling with his jumper, "Becoming fr- I mean, just finding civil ground."

Narcissa tilted her head, silent for a few seconds, then sighed, and said quietly,
"You may dislike Potter, but you know that I take debts very seriously. It would be a lie to say he has not saved your life, more than once. You could be friends, Draco. If you tried."

Almost at once it seemed to Harry, Draco's jaw clenched, and his muscles tensed up,
"No." He said sharply, "We can't. Ever."

Of course, Harry thought to himself bitterly. It wasn't that he cared. He didn't.

It was at that moment, coincidentally, that Draco suddenly paused, and turned his head quickly. Seeing Harry as he stood there in the doorway, his face remained emotionless, but his hands seemed to shake slightly as he turned, said a brief goodbye to his mother, and then extinguished the fire.

Harry was expecting a reprimand, a fight, an angry comment at least, but Draco did...nothing. Only walked straight past him without a word said.

~

Although Draco was trying his best to stay calm and collected on this particular day, Harry Potter was making it extremely hard. Firstly, the longer Draco actually spent with the so called 'Chosen One', the more he frustrated him. Harry, he was sure, had not eaten since they had arrived. The boy was not sleeping properly, was always throwing up- and it was making Draco feel more and more agitated by the second.

He didn't care...that much. It was only that- well, could he be charged with murder if he just let someone waste away like that? How could he possibly make him eat? Draco had already considered force feeding, but eventually he came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be welcome. At all.

And the second thing, was that Harry kept looking at him as if he was expecting Draco to suddenly whip out his wand and start hexing everything in sight. At the rate this Christmas was going, there was a slight possibility of this, but being treated like a villain 24 hours a day got tiring.