Harry and Draco made it back to 12 Grimmauld Place, and Draco was astonished by the way Harry had tried to lighten up the place.
"You really went all out to make this place bright and happy, huh?" Draco asked, glancing around at the room.
"All in my attempts to block the war nightmares out of my mind, Draco," Harry explained, leading him into an empty guest room that contained nothing but a mattress and a couple desks.
Draco took one look and rolled his eyes at Harry. "Seriously?"
"Would you rather sleep on a mattress in a house or on the ground in the woods?" Harry pointed out with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, I'll take it," Draco says again, walking into the room to check it out.
Harry found himself smiling despite himself. It was nice to have someone to keep him company, even if it was a Death Eater, but it was Draco Malfoy, and for some reason, that was okay to Harry.
"You know, I would've expected something more like a grand mansion, for the famous Harry Potter," Draco said, spreading his arms and smirking at Harry.
"Yes well, the famous Harry Potter would much rather just have a little house that can remind him of family."
Draco let his arms fall, and looked at Harry with a concerned look. "Doesn't it remind you of death?"
"What do you mean?"
"This place. It doesn't remind you of death? You know... It was your godfather's... He's dead... Didn't the Order of the Phoenix meet here? A lot of them are dead..." Draco raised his eyebrows, giving Harry a wry grin.
"Wow, thanks for the reminder, Draco."
"I don't know, Potter, but did you ever think that maybe living here triggered your nightmares?"
"The war against Voldemort triggered my nightmares, thank you very much." Harry sighed, and walked into his small kitchen. "Have you had a proper meal since the war ended?"
"Yes, Potter, I had an eight-course meal with appetizers and dessert the other day."
"Harry," the boy corrected, before starting to cook.
—
"I never knew you could make such good food from scratch," Draco said, digging into the food again.
"Merlin, Draco. It took me an hour to make this. You're going to devour it in less than five minutes." Harry stared at the blonde, who was stuffing food into his mouth.
Harry would never have admitted it, but seeing Draco satisfied and seeing him finally get a good meal, made Harry happy.
Before he knew it, Draco had finished the entire meal.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly as Harry's jaw dropped at how fast he had eaten it.
"No worries," Harry laughed and shook his head. "I had a big lunch. I wasn't that hungry anyway. You should probably go to sleep."
Draco nodded, getting up out of his chair and heading toward his room. He looked back at Harry, leaning against the doorway, and smiled a genuine smile, for the first time in a long time. "Thanks for this, Potter."
The blonde heads inside, but then pokes his head out again. "Harry," Draco corrects himself with a grin.
Harry found himself wearing a giddy smile when he dozed off to sleep in his own bed. Perhaps it was merely the company of having another human being in his house again, or perhaps it was something more.
—
"Draco!"
Who was that?
"Please, my lord, please no..."
Slowly, Draco forced his eyes open and pushed himself on his feet.
He looked up to find Voldemort holding his wand to Blaise Zabini's throat, and Pansy Parkinson kneeling at the ground near his feet, crying her eyes out.
Draco tried to move, but he felt paralyzed. He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth.
"Draco, why aren't you doing anything..?!" sobbed Pansy, her eyes showing betrayal and her face streaked by lines of tears.
He hated seeing her like this. He hated seeing her weak.
I can't, thought Draco, and his throat closed.
Helpless.
Voldemort laughed, almost insanely, and turned to Draco, his teeth bared in a smile that seemed almost painful.
Stop, Draco tried to yell, Don't.
But the words were caught in his throat.
"Avada Kedavra!!"
Draco watched the green light hit Blaise, watched the light leave his eyes.
He seemed to look right at Draco before he fell to the ground, as if saying: 'Why didn't you help? You could've done more.'
Draco screamed and sobbed, but was silent.
He heard his name being called over and over somewhere, but he cared not.
He cared only about Voldemort in front of him, who had now turned toward him.
"Your turn, Malfoy..." He bared his teeth and raised his wand. "But not for the painless death."
Draco felt the terror rise up like fire in his stomach.
"Crucio!!"
Draco screamed.
—
"Draco! Draco, wake up!"
The blonde finally snapped his eyes open, gasping for air and for breath, clutching at anything near him.
"He killed him!!!"
Harry jumped back, shocked at his sudden awakening, and frightened by the panic in Draco's eyes.
"Who? Who killed who, Draco?"
"H-him!! He killed Blaise! He killed him and I stood there doing nothing unable to move and I was useless, do you understand, I couldn't do SHIT and h-he was about to torture me, I-"
"It's okay, Draco, it was only a nightmare."
Draco's breathing had slowed, but only by a little. Tears flowed freely down his face and he clutched to Harry as if he was his lifeline.
"Harry... Harry is this real?"
"I'm real, Draco. Can you see me? I'm here."
Draco let out a shaky breath, still crying. "I don't know. I just don't know if this is reality or a dream. Oh god, Harry help me please.."
Harry was starting to lose feeling in his arm, Draco was clutching it so hard.
"Alright, well, um, I'm real, Draco. I'm here. You know, the Minister always used to tell me, to count fingers when I wasn't sure if it was real or not. If there were more or less than ten fingers, you were dreaming. If there was ten, it was real. It always calmed me down. Okay? Draco?"
The blonde shut his eyes tight, panic rising like bile in the back of his throat. He hated this so much, the feeling as if his heart was about to explode.
"Draco!!"
Harry's voice sent him back to reality, and he opened his eyes slowly, sucking in rapid breaths.
"Count with me, Draco."
Harry started to hold up fingers. "One. Draco, count! One."
The sight before him was blurry and could barely be seen through the thick film of tears. "O-one," Draco repeated, trying desperately to slow his breathing.
He saw Harry hold up another finger, and let out a choked sob, a headache plaguing his brain. "Two," he said.
"Three."
Draco felt the pain begin to ease.
"Four."
He felt his lungs begin to function again.
"Five."
His heartbeat slowed to a steadier beat.
"Six. Seven."
The tears stopped streaming down his face, and Harry let out a relieved breath.
"Eight. Nine."
Draco's grip on Harry's arm released, and Harry felt the blood go to his arm again.
"Ten."
Harry closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He opened them again to see Draco leaning back on his bed, staring into Harry's eyes.
"See, I'm real," Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Thank you," Draco said, closing his eyes again and hiccuping. When he opened them, Harry's heart broke.
He saw nothing but pain in those silver eyes. Nothing but the broken remains of a strong man.
It was strange, seeing Draco like this. It saddened Harry greatly.
"Your eyes are so green," Draco breathed, leaning back on his pillow.
Harry's heart skipped a beat against his will.
"Thank you, Harry. I don't know... I don't know how I can..."
He didn't finish his sentence before his breathing slowed and he had fallen asleep. His grip on Harry's arm completely loosened.
Harry took a deep breath. And he didn't know what compelled him to do it, but he leaned down and kissed Draco's forehead.
"You're welcome, Draco..."