{A/N: The conversation takes a bit of a dark turn at the end of this chapter, so I'm going to TW/ dark, intrusive, and depressive thoughts. I'm also going to TW/ death. No one dies, but death is discussed quite heavily}
"How long have you been awake?"
"Dunno. Just been staring at the ceiling. Do you want breakfast?"
"I want you to tell me what's wrong," Draco replied sincerely, pulling Harry to rest against his chest.
"Just another one of those days where I wake up with a bad feeling."
"Then let's stay here all day, the three of us."
"If only it was that easy, Malfoy."
"Why can't it be?"
"Because avoiding my problems won't make them go away. Besides, I don't know how to avoid them. You know I can barely sit still as is, I've been trained to always jump into action. I don't know how not to do that."
"I suppose I could tie you up."
"Was that supposed to sound as suggestive as it did?," Harry teased.
"I swear your mind lives in the gutter."
"I'd let you if you asked nicely," Harry whispered in Draco's ear.
"Can you stop deflecting my concerns with your suggestive commentary?!"
"You're no fun," Harry replied with a sigh. "I'm just worried about dinner is all."
"Ah yes, with the Weasley's whom you haven't seen in months."
"Precisely."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"You'd do that for me?"
"Of course I would."
"It's something that I have to do alone, but I appreciate the offer more than you'll ever know."
"Then let's go out to lunch today. Take me somewhere."
"Where do you want to go?"
"Wherever you want to take me."
And so that's how Harry spent his morning, putting in as much effort as possible to show Draco a good time.
"The fountain!"
"I'm going to introduce you to a muggle tradition. It's a wishing fountain."
"A wishing fountain?"
"You grab a coin, close your eyes, make a wish, and throw it in the fountain."
"So you throw away money?," Draco asked horrified.
"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a tad silly-"
"Let's do it."
As the coin left his hand, Draco wished for more days like this.
"What did you wish for?"
"I thought I wasn't supposed to tell?"
"Touché."
"Did you make a wish?"
"I did."
Harry had unknowingly wished for a similar thing to Draco. He didn't want this to end.
"Help me walk along the edge of the fountain again?"
"Don't fancy falling in?"
"Not after last time."
"We did get some nice pictures though."
"Yes, that's all fine and dandy when they're trapped in your little box."
"They're not trapped Draco, I can get them whenever I want."
"How am I supposed to get them?"
"Just put in the passcode."
"What's the passcode?"
"Oh. Erm, your birthday in reverse order."
"Why Potter, I'm flattered. Come walk with me."
Draco pulled Harry up onto the fountain ledge, and Harry pulled Draco forward to keep him from falling in.
"Thanks."
"If your hair gets wet I'd never hear the end of it."
"We should go out more often."
"You know, you can ask me to go out instead of coercing me into asking you."
"Where's the fun in that?"
"You can show me things that you find meaningful."
"I like when you take me out into the muggle world. I truthfully don't think you'd find anywhere I could take you very interesting."
"I'm always interested when I'm with you."
"Trap another picture of us in your tiny box."
"You're quite endearing sometimes, do you know that?," Harry asked fondly.
Draco blamed the warming sun for the color on his cheeks.
"I'll think about places to take you. They'll almost certainly be out of the country though."
"And you said it wouldn't be interesting. Do I look like I go anywhere?"
"To bed maybe," Draco replied with a snicker.
"Is that an invitation?," Harry teased, stepping off the fountain as he laughed, extending a hand to Draco.
"It might be, depending on how our date goes," Draco replied, taking a step closer to Harry.
"Then I guess I better bring it. Come on, I promised you lunch and we haven't even eaten yet."
With an arm slung across Draco's shoulder, the two men turned to walk away.
"Excuse me!," someone called.
Turning around, Harry noticed a young mother with a small child in a carriage, laden with bags.
"I'll be right back."
Nodding, Draco kept an eye on Harry as he walked over to help.
"Hi, is there something I can help you with?," Draco overheard Harry ask, as he reached out to grab some of the bags.
Draco watched Harry laugh, nod, and then scratch the back of his neck nervously. He wondered what the conversation could be about, and raised an eyebrow when Harry took out his phone.
"So, how did it feel to be 'picked up'?," Draco asked stiffly.
"You tell me?," Harry asked mischievously, picking Draco up and tossing him over his shoulder.
"Potter! I demand that you put me down."
"Oh you're cute when you're demanding. I also have a very nice view, what a shame that you're missing it."
Draco fell silent as he realized he did in fact have a very nice view.
"She didn't try to pick me up, I'm all yours you know."
"You pulled out your phone thing. You told me it's used for communication too."
"It is. I don't know how to even explain what Bluetooth is to you."
"If you have blue teeth you need to go to Saint Mungo's at once!," Draco declared, absolutely horrified at the implication.
"You know how magic is a connection you can't see but you know it's there?"
"Of course."
"Bluetooth lets you send things through the air, kind of like how magic travels. So she sent me something that way. I don't have her number, she doesn't have mine."
"Oh," Draco cleared his throat. "What did she send you?"
"She took some photos of us. Said that with how happy we were it was a shame someone else wasn't there to capture the moment. Someone did that for her and her husband once, so she wanted to repay the favor."
"That was very kind of her."
"You look as stunning as ever in all of the photos."
"You'll have to show me, once you put me down."
"I know you love it."
"That is neither here nor there."
"We're almost there anyway. Here."
Harry was replaying their morning in his head when it was time to get ready to leave. He had decided to go early to be able to speak with Molly and Arthur, and was putting on his boots before he lost his nerve. With one last kiss to Felix's head, he knocked on Draco's door.
"Try to have fun tonight will you? This is your family."
"Easier said than done these days. I just don't want them to be upset with me."
"You can't please everyone Potter, trust me."
"It was easier when I had no one to let down."
"I don't think that's true. Instead of placing the burden on yourself, you have others to share it with. If something goes terribly wrong and you have to leave, tell them you have to check on Felix. You didn't want to overwhelm him by bringing him to see so many people, and you yourself are feeling overwhelmed. Mrs. Weasley seems to be very kind, I'm sure she'll understand."
"You don't even know how glad I am to have you talk me down."
"Someone has to be your voice of reason. You've clearly been lacking one all these years," Draco drawled.
"Well, I'm glad it's you," Harry replied softly. Kissing Draco quickly on the cheek, he promised to see him later.
Closing the door, Harry leaned against it, not realizing Draco was doing the same on the other side, with a very pink face.
"I'm screwed aren't I?," he asked Felix with a sigh, sitting on the floor next to him. "I must be, I chose to sit with you on the floor instead of the bed. He's given me mixed signals lately. We joke around a lot, and he flirts and sometimes I flirt back, but how do I know that he actually means it?"
Felix simply looked at Harry and cocked his head.
"I'm not asking if that's what you're implying. Perhaps I should book a solo session with his healer and try to figure things out. I'm too closed off emotionally. I think I'll hurt him, and that's the last thing I want to do. I don't know. Grab me some parchment will you Felix?"
Harry missed Draco and Felix's company as soon as he stepped through the floo. He knew this was something he had to do alone. Walking with his head held high, he walked into the kitchen.
"Harry dear you're here! Oh let me look at you, it's been so long!"
"Hello Molly. How are you?"
"Oh I'm well, it's so nice to have you back home dear."
She swept him up into a massive hug.
"Arthur, Harry is here! Tell us dear, how has everything been going?"
Harry slowly relaxed as he filled them in as to what was happening. George came downstairs and pulled him into a massive hug, chiming in to what Harry was saying. As he was finishing his explanation, the floo flared up, and Ron entered, followed by Hermione.
"Oh, Harry, I didn't know you'd be joining us," she said curtly.
"Is there a problem?," he asked, eyebrow raised.
"Harry mate, did you ever try those new sweets I gave you from the shop? Let me show you what else I'm working on."
With an arm slung around Harry's shoulders, George led him upstairs.
"Thank you."
"So, what's that all about then?"
"Where do I begin?"
Everything seemed to be going well, until the end of dinner. Hermione was fidgeting the whole dinner, and it was throwing Harry off. He knew that something was coming, he just didn't know what. It soon made itself apparent, just as he was offering to clean up the dinner table.
"So Harry, how's your new friendship going?," she questioned, her even tone betraying her attempt to look casual.
"It's going fine, thank you."
"And just how is Malfoy doing? It must be such a challenge rooming with someone like him."
"Hermione, drop it," he warned.
"All I'm saying is that you used to go on for hours about how he was up to something, and now you have nothing to say? No comments about what the death eater is doing?"
"What is your problem?!," Harry demanded, standing up and slamming his palms on the table.
"You never used to react like this, he's changing you!"
"This reaction is what happens when I try to keep my emotions in check. You should try it sometime," he offered sweetly, smiling viciously at her.
"How dare you!"
"How dare I? You're getting yourself involved in something you have no business being involved in."
"Malfoy will always be a death eater. He's using you to gain everyone's trust. When he betrays you, don't come running back to me because I don't want to hear it. I'll tell you that I told you so."
The last thing Harry heard was the sound of glass shattering, and then he took off.
Draco only knew Harry was back because Felix seemed to be on high alert.
"Pot- Harry what happened?," Draco asked in concern.
Harry looked extremely disheveled and he was shaking horribly.
"Stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you!"
"Harry, you would never hurt me," Draco reasoned, taking a step closer.
"But I did! I sliced you open because I'm a monster."
"Harry, I tried to hurt you first. That wasn't your fault," Draco replied, taking another step forward.
"But it was! I used a spell I didn't even know and I almost killed you! I'm evil, you need to stay away from me."
"I have a habit of following evil," came Draco's dry reply as he lifted up his left arm. "Tell me what happened."
Draco's comment seemed to snap him out of it a little bit.
"You're not evil. Don't ever say that to me."
While Harry ranted about all of the ways that Draco was certainly not evil, Draco lunged forward and pulled him into a hug.
"Harry you're burning up."
"I said not to come closer!," he panicked, trying to squeeze out of Draco's grasp.
Grabbing Harry's face, Draco leaned his forehead against Harry's.
"Look at me," he instructed quietly. "You won't hurt me because you don't want to hurt me. You have to tell me what's wrong. Look at how out of sorts you are. Felix won't even come close right now."
Looking up, Harry frowned, noticing how Felix was doing circles around him. He took a shaky breath, and his lip quivered.
"Come with me."
Draco gently pulled Harry towards the window. After opening it, he helped him climb out on the balcony. Sitting down, Draco pulled Harry to sit in between his legs, with Felix cautiously placing his head on Harry's lap.
"You have to talk to me darling."
"I hurt her."
Draco didn't respond, leaving space for Harry to continue.
"She was being absolutely vile towards you. Trying to expose our friendship to everyone like we're doing something wrong. She will never understand that you're everything to me, and that without you I would be dead. Those nights when I wake up and I feel like life isn't worth living anymore, you're right next to me, curled up into my side or stealing all of the blankets. Sometimes I shift and you follow right along in your sleep, not wanting to lose contact," Harry continued with a soft smile.
"It makes me want to continue on, to see what happens next. Some days you smack me with a pillow and tease me relentlessly. Other days you let me cook for you and talk to you about all of my plants. You go on walks and picnics with Felix and I. You're helping me research my family so that I can learn more about myself. You do such thoughtful things for me that I never thought I would be able to experience because I didn't think anyone would ever care enough to get to know the real me. But you Draco, you do.
That's why I can't stand anyone treating you like you're lesser," Harry's voice grew dark again, and Draco felt him once again tense up. "You saved my life, and all people see is that mark on your arm. You took it to survive! Everyone has their moments of weakness when they're scared! Ron abandoned us during the horcrux hunt. I almost didn't come back once I died, but I did.
I didn't want to return to a world of pain and suffering. All of my life I've lived for everyone else, and no one can let me have anything! I'm finally becoming happy again, and then I get so angry, so overwhelmed that I completely lose sight of myself, and my magic gets the better of me.
She tried to say that you were using me. If anything, I'm using you. You give me so much, and what do I contribute back? I'm so fucked up I can't even foster proper relationships.
So, I lost it. Stood up, slammed my hands on the table, and I saw red. I heard the glasses shatter, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had to leave to gain control, but I can still feel the magical buildup inside of me. It's just waiting to break loose, and I cannot hurt you Draco. I would rather die than ever put you in harm's way, and that's all that I seem to be doing."
"We're going on a walk."
"Didn't you hear anything that I just said?," he asked in exasperation.
"I did. You have a magical buildup. We're going to release it. Get up."
"Draco-"
"Move your arse Potter."
It took Draco nudging Harry's back to get him to move.
"Grab the cloak. I know where to go."
As soon as Draco walked into the common room, Ron shot up and marched towards him.
"Where's Harry?!," he demanded.
Harry could've kissed Draco for what happened next. He watched Draco's face drop in concern.
"What do you mean where's Harry? He told me he was going to dinner with you and your family? Did he not show up?"
The concern was evident in Draco's tone, and Ron narrowed his eyes in suspicion, wondering if he should believe the snake.
"Where are you off to?"
"It's time for Felix to take a walk. But what happened to Potter? Where is he? Don't tell me you lost him!"
Ron scoffed, digging the toe of his sneaker into the carpet.
"I didn't lose him, he just... left."
"And I take it by your tone that it wasn't a good parting."
"He and Mione got into it again," Ron said with a sigh, sitting defeated on the couch. "I'm sorry for coming at you like that, I just want to make sure he's okay. When he leaves like that, his emotions get the best of him. We're all worried."
"If I see him on my walk, I'll let him know you're looking for him. If he's not at home, then he may be on a walk somewhere. He likes to foolishly isolate himself when he's upset."
"I tried to check Grimmauld and couldn't get through the wards. He might be there, trying to cool off. I wish he would stop shutting everyone out, but I don't blame him.
Look, we'll never be best friends. Frankly there's too much history between us, but I've fucked up in my life too. Survival looks different for everyone, that's what Harry has taught me. You didn't kill anyone, and I can't fault you for trying to stay alive. If you had identified Harry, Voldemort would have won. For some reason, you didn't, and that's what matters to me.
I'm sure you'll hear it from Harry, but I don't agree with what Hermione has been saying. I don't think you have any ulterior motives. I see how you take what everyone says to you, what they say about you and your family. You could easily stop it, but you don't, because you think you deserve it.
What I'm saying is, I think you're alright Malfoy. You clearly care a lot about Harry, and you're trying to shield him from whatever is going on behind the scenes with you. If you see him, let him know I'm sorry and I want to talk to him, when he's ready."
Opening the common room door, Draco turned back to Ron.
"Thank you Weasley. For what it's worth, I truly am sorry. None of you deserved what I did. I'm trying to make it better."
"You've already picked up that actions mean more than words. You're doing an alright job of showing you mean it."
With one final nod, Draco walked out, trusting that Harry was following him. They didn't speak until Harry recognized where they were going.
"Draco, I can't."
"Yes, we can. It's time."
Reaching out, Draco gently removed the cloak and took Harry's hand.
"You're my brave Gryffindor. Be brave for the both of us."
"Okay."
Holding hands, they walked in front of the wall three times, and then waited.
"Let's go."
With a deep breath, Draco was the first one to walk into the room, Harry and Felix trailing behind them. Closing his eyes, he pushed away images of fire, flames, and a falling body. Instead, he focused on the tight grip of Harry's hand, and the way his body pressed into Draco's own.
"Okay?," he asked breathlessly.
"Okay," Harry replied, keeping Draco close to him. "It doesn't even look like anything happened in here."
"That's the magic I suppose."
"Why are we here?," Harry asked a few moments later.
Draco concentrated, and soon the room transformed.
"This just looks like junk."
"Precisely. Smash it."
"What?"
"You told me one night that after what happened with your godfather, you felt better after destroying his office. So, here's useless things you can destroy."
"After what Ron said, I don't know if I can."
"Aren't you mad that Granger called me a death eater? That she thinks I'm using you? I'm corrupting you and your poor dog? Maybe she's right. These are things I say to myself anyway, she's just confirming it."
"Stop it, that's not true."
"Isn't it though? Everyone says it, so it must be true. I'll never amount to anything, and I think I deserve it."
Draco felt the blast of magic before it struck. Harry was angry, and had finally lost it. Things went flying, and Draco was thankful the room provided cover for him to remain safe. He couldn't tell if Harry was going at it for minutes or hours, but when he was done, he collapsed on the ground, Felix carefully going over to him. Cautiously, Draco followed suit, helping Harry get onto a couch the room had provided.
"Did that help? Did I go too far?"
"I dunno, I'm exhausted now."
"You can't bottle everything up and push it away Harry. You have to let yourself feel. You're burning up darling."
"It happens sometimes."
"I'm taking you to the hospital wing."
"Draco I'm fine-"
"I want to be sure. If you are fine, then humor me."
"Fine, be that way."
The hospital wing confirmed that Harry was not, in fact, fine. He was dehydrated and had a low grade fever. Madame Pomfrey clucked her tongue as she cast diagnostic spells, and then gave him potions to regulate his body temperature and fluid intake.
He was quite grumpy by the time he finally made it back to the eighth year tower. Ron had resumed his waiting on the couch, and jumped up when the three of them returned.
"Harry is sick, we just came back from the hospital wing. He'll speak with you tomorrow. He was dehydrated and he has a fever, probably from overexertion. He'll find you when he's ready, Weasley."
At Harry's nod of affirmation, Ron nodded at Draco, hesitated, and then stuck out a hand.
"Thank you for taking care of my brother."
"As long as he'll have me. Have a goodnight Weasley. Come along Potter, you need some more water."
Harry was still huffing after he changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed.
"You're cute when you're grumpy, did you know that? Your nose wrinkles up like a pygmy puff."
At Harry's continued silence, Draco finished getting ready for bed himself.
"Goodnight Potter," he called from the bathroom, making sure he opened his own bedroom door loudly enough for Harry to hear.
"You're not staying?"
"Did you want me to?"
"Don't be daft. What if something happens in my sleep?"
"Then I'll be blamed for actually succeeding in killing you. That would be one hell of a headline. 'Ex Former Death Eater Reclaims Family Name, Joins Father in Azkaban.' I can see it now."
"Over my dead body," Harry replied automatically, curling up into Draco's side.
"It would be over your dead body, that's the funny part," Draco teased.
"Thank you for today. Even if I'm stubborn as hell, I appreciate you not giving up on me. And taking the time to talk to Ron. For treating him well."
"Of course Harry. We'll talk tomorrow yeah? It's been a long day, we all could use our rest. Felix is already sleeping."
"Goodnight Draco, sleep well."
"You too Harry."