When the Snow Melts

Hot and Cold

Harry was tossing fretfully in his sleep, tears streaming silently down his face. It pained Draco to see him like that, but he just didn't feel right giving him more Dreamless Sleep Potion, especially when he discovered he had been receiving it while at St. Mungo's. He needed time to detox or else it would slowly kill him.

He brushed messy bangs out of the boy's face and Harry settled slightly at Draco's touch. Frowning, Draco moved closer to the him, noting that Harry relaxed further the closer he got. Harry still looked distressed, but he wasn't tossing and turning anymore. Maybe it was the warmth of Draco's presence that soothed him?

When they woke up the next morning, Harry was confused by the fact that Draco's back was pressed against his side, but he felt like he'd been able to fully sleep for the first time in weeks.

"Morning," Draco announced with a sleepy yawn, unperturbed by Harry's confused expression. "You were crying in your sleep," he explained. "You stopped when I got close to you. Sorry about that, but I needed my sleep too. So..." He shrugged, indicating their close proximity with a dismissive wave of his hands.

"Oh," Harry replied uncertainly.

"Want to go to the Air Park again?" Draco asked, hesitating briefly at the strange expression on Harry's face.

"Uh... sure. Sounds like a good plan. I just need to get some of my school work done first or Hermione might actually kill me. I imagine they're both still pissed off at me and since we go back to school in just a couple of days..." He trailed off with a shrug of his shoulders. "No need to throw gasoline on the fire."

"I can help if you need," Draco offered.

"It's fine," Harry responded dismissively. "I can do it on my own."

Draco eyed him in suspicion, worried he'd crossed some sort of line by soothing him in his sleep. "Are you mad at me?" he questioned suddenly.

"What?" he sputtered in surprise. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"It's just... never mind. Finish your school work and I'll sketch some of the flowers we saw last week. Afterwards, we can go flying and practice more of the drills I did with my private instructor... unless you prefer your method of Quidditch practice," he teased, holding up his fists to indicate what he meant.

Harry unexpectedly smiled. "I'd be better than you at that too," he shot back in a self-assured drawl.

Draco smirked back at him, falling easily into their usual banter. "Tch. Your punches are more like cotton balls," he announced with a scoff.

"Cotton balls that break noses," Harry teased.

"That's only because of your moronic animal strength," Draco retorted. "You're practically sub-human."

"You're just jealous," Harry continued. "It's fine. It happens to me a lot."

Draco rolled his eyes at Harry's antics. "That bloated ego of yours will be the death of you," he warned.

"Probably," Harry conceded with a shrug before sullenly heading over to the desk in their room and pulling out a few textbooks.

Something had happened there, something strange. Draco couldn't wrap his head around Harry's ever-changing moods.

"I've decided to go back to Hogwarts," Draco announced, interrupting Harry's studies.

The boy turned to him with a grin. "Why'd you change your mind?"

"Just thought since I'm not going to be the Head of the Malfoy family anymore, I need to come up with a new plan for my future. Can't get a job if I don't have a proper education."

A shadow briefly crossed Harry's face, but he kept the smile artificially fixed to his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Draco let out a sigh before heading to his usual chair, sketchpad in hand. Dealing with Harry's moods was absolutely exasperating at times.

<<<<<    >>>>>

Harry was pacing back and forth in a state of advanced agitation.

"Just got a letter from The Order. The car to take us back to Hogwarts will arrive tomorrow at 9 AM," he announced with a frown. "I'm just assuming you're included, but it didn't say anything."

"It's fine," Draco soothed. "If not, I can find my own transportation. It's not like I'm completely useless."

"Do you think they'll ever forgive me?" Harry blurted out in reference to his friends. "I mean, it was pretty terrible what I did to them. What if they hate me?"

"If they hated you, they wouldn't have visited you at St. Mungo's," Draco replied with a sigh. No matter how many times they went over this subject, Harry still seemed convinced that his friends would hold a grudge. It was getting old.

"But..."

"Fuck, Harry," Draco exclaimed at last, nerves frayed. "If you don't stop freaking out about tomorrow, then I'm going to make sure that you don't get a tomorrow."

"But, I just know that everyone is still upset with me," Harry complained, a hurt look on his face at Draco's sharp tone.

"Oh no," Draco bemoaned dramatically. "The Mudblood and the Weasel don't want to be your friend anymore. That must be the worst. Whatever will you do?"

Harry bristled and shot Draco a murderous glare. "That's rich coming from the guy who was all like, 'I don't want to go back to Hogwarts, everyone is going to be mean to me. Can't I just stay here and mooch some more?'"

Now it was Draco's turn to bristle. "At least your friends will eventually come around," he growled bitterly. "I've got nothing but vipers to return to. They're going to kill me." He gave Harry an anguished expression, but there was a fire in the boys eyes that seemed undeterred.

"Who could blame them really?" Harry pointed out, not pulling any punches. "Were you ever actually friends with any of them or were they just a means to an end?"

Draco's eyes widened in shock as Harry continued unabashedly.

"You use people, Draco. Why bother pretending like you care?"

Although the accusation was not far from the truth, it still hurt Draco to hear it. Hurt turned to anger as Draco glared at the boy he had assumed was his friend.

"Says the boy who keeps getting people killed," he snarled.

Harry looked like he'd taken a punch to the gut. Draco knew all about Harry's nightmares – nightmares that had only gotten worse after Draco had cut him off from the Dreamless Sleep Potion. It was a low blow, one that he instantly regretted the moment the words left his mouth. He wanted to backpedal, but he didn't know where to begin.

"At least people care enough about me to make those sacrifices," Harry hissed. "Who do you have?"

Draco faltered, unsure of himself, Harry's unwavering glare piercing him to his very soul.

"If you find my presence so intolerable," Draco wondered aloud, clinging to the hurt he felt in this moment in order to distract himself from the sick feeling settling in his stomach, "then why did you force me to come here?"

"Force you?" Harry snorted incredulously. "I only invited you here because I was under the impression that you had nowhere else to go. Turns out that was a lie. Wasn't it? Professor Snape offered to take you in, but you turned him down. You..."

"Fuck you, Potter," Draco shouted, cutting the other boy off with a wounded expression. "I didn't ask for this. Next time you want play the saint, just leave me the hell out of it."

Draco gathered his things and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Harry's insides went cold. He'd let the stress of the situation bring out the worst in him. The two had been fighting with one another for so long that he had simply slipped back into old habits the minute things got heated. He had no idea how he was going to make things right between them or if he should even try. After all, things at school would be better if they kept their distance from one another. Perhaps this turn of events was for the best, but he couldn't shake the image of Draco's face right before he stormed out.