never let me go

trust

Ben Howard – Promise

"Tearing down the doors of time

Shelter as we go."

Harry was very satisfied with how last night had gone. Not only had he come out to the rest of his friends (at least in eighth year, there was still Luna, but he had a strange feeling that she already knew), but it had also been a success with Malfoy. Everyone had been accepting of him being there and had helped to make him feel comfortable, and he knew he owed a great deal to Hermione in particular for that. He had even taken his time getting drinks at the bar so that they could have a one-on-one chat, and sure, Malfoy had felt like that was his limit and wanted to leave afterwards but Hermione had reassured him that their conversation had gone really well.

Over the course of the next week, Harry and Malfoy's Potions project started to move along more, and they began having study sessions outside of class. Harry also invited him to join in on group study sessions for other classes, and sometimes he would, sometimes he wouldn't. But he was always there for the one-on-one sessions, and Harry definitely counted that as a win.

It was at one of these study sessions, however, that Harry noticed Malfoy's dark circles were returning.

"Hey, are you getting enough sleep?" he asked.

"What?"

"I just want to make sure you're sleeping okay."

Malfoy rubbed his eyes. "Is it that obvious?"

Harry gave small smile as he said, "Just a little."

Malfoy sighed and sat back in his chair. They were sitting at a table in a secluded alcove at the back of the library, away from the distraction of other students – or at least, that was the reason Harry had told himself when he chose the spot. He watched Malfoy, who was looking toward a nearby window but didn't seem to actually be seeing out of it, like he was deep in thought. Harry had started to recognise the small crease between his eyebrows when he was contemplating sharing something.

"Do you ever get nightmares... about the war?" Malfoy asked.

Harry knew this was important, and he wanted to make sure he didn't scare Malfoy into closing himself off again. So he went with honesty. "Yeah, sometimes."

Malfoy closed his eyes, that crease in his brow stubbornly remaining. "I get them every night. And sometimes they feel so real that I forget that the war is over, that he's dead, and I'm safe. And when I wake up, I don't want to go back to sleep because I don't want to feel that way again. I don't want to see his face again." He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes but still looked towards to the window. "Sometimes I end up going for a walk so just so that I don't fall back asleep."

"Where do you go?"

"The Astronomy Tower, usually."

Harry hadn't expected that, would've thought it more likely that the Astronomy Tower would hold too many bad memories for Malfoy. But he supposed it made sense if nightmares that made him dwell on the past would draw him to a place of such significance.

"Well if you ever get tired of trekking up those stairs, you can always knock on my door instead."

Malfoy looked at him, grey eyes shining and a grateful smile on his lips. Harry's breath caught for a second, but he told himself it was just because helping out a friend meant a great deal to him. And he wanted to help Malfoy, he really did. Because he was his friend.

They returned to their work after that, and Malfoy's smile lingered for a long time.