As morning eventually blanketed Hogwarts and dusk had gone to sleep, the two had long separated to their own tables, returning to their own surroundings. Back to normalcy, where it had never crossed the people's minds that the former enemies would even spare a minute to converse.
Hermione's chatters droned on and on, and Ron himself looked like he was about to sleep right on top of his cereal bowl. Harry shared the same sentiment, he was incredibly exhausted out of his wits.
His eyes travelled far to the Slytherin table, where Draco was sitting next to Pansy Parkinson. She was chatting animatedly, with hypnotizing hand gestures that would surely bring livelihood to a conversation; but Draco had been unbothered, seemingly as tired as Harry was.
Draco Malfoy was pushing around his plate of peas with a fork, Pansy's chatters had became background music to his ears. He really needed a slap of energy, maybe he could go on to Pomfrey later on for a vial of energy potion.
Feeling someone eyeing him, he looked up to see Harry Potter's eminent eyes along his way. His gaze held such a sense of paramountcy that it pinned Draco down by a mere tease of an eye. Harry himself looked tired as well, and a frown flew up the blond's face as he realized that he had been the one that caused Harry's fatigue.
This has to end, he couldn't bring someone else to deal with his own problems, he didn't want to be selfish. He knew that he needed to do this alone by himself, he cannot bear to know that he had depleted other's energies just for the sake of saving himself.
A smile laid on Harry's face, dimples showing. Draco held a confused expression until he realized that the smile was directed to him, a shy smile graced Draco's face as his face turned steaming red.
"Draco, darling, are you feeling alright?"
He was snapped out of his staring contest with Harry, turning to his left to meet his friend's gaze instead. She had adapted a worried look on her face, her plump lips marred down into a frown.
She continued, "I don't think you've been listening to what I was talking about earlier."
"Yes, I did listen." He lied.
"No you didn't, I can see through you," Draco hated it when he's transparent like that. "Your mind's been somewhere else since this morning, and you look quite red. I would think that you have a fever, seriously Draco; are you okay? Should I bring you over to Pomfrey? Because-"
His headache doubled up by Pansy's incessant worrying, "Pans, I'm alright. Seriously. You needn't worry."
As Pansy's not convinced by his statement, she still continued to ramble about how worried she was and how she noticed he's been distant lately.
Harry, on the other table, was trying so hard not to fall asleep surrounded by Hermione's rants about the effects of Dragon blood. It bore him through his skull.
Draco raised his eyes again discreetly, meeting Harry's orbs. The raven leered on to him from the distance and signaled his head towards the Great Hall entrance. Draco nodded at the request.
"Harry."
"Harry!"
Once he processed that it was Hermione calling for him, he tore his eyes away from Draco to an irked looking 'Mione.
"What is wrong with you? Did you get sleep last night? You— no, you and Ron are looking like bloody inferis–"
"Actually, Hermione, I happened to left something up in the dorms. I'll see you guys later in class." He stood up abruptly, deaf to his two friends complaints, and gesticulated for Draco to exit too.
Harry immediately jogged out of the Great Hall, unaware of the stares that followed him. Draco too, was trying to leech himself of Pansy, and with much trying, he too finally exited the room.
Draco cautiously scanned around the hallways, "Harry? Where are you?"
A tap on his shoulder startled him off his trance, yelping as he jumped slightly in surprise and was even more surprise feeling Harry's large hands in both of his shoulders, calming him down.
"Woah, easy there." He chuckled, that dorky grin back to his countenance.
"Salazar," He muttered. "So why did you need me?"
"Huh? Oh, I didn't have any need, I just needed to get out of there for a bit."
"That's still a need, Harry."
"Oh, yeah, fuck."
Silence loomed around the two of them, it became more awkward when Harry dropped his hands from Draco's shoulders.
"Um, so I was thinking-"
"Harry, I need to tell you something-"
At the clash of the two, Draco flushed pink at the Gryffindor's chuckle, "You first." Harry offered.
"No, no you first." Draco bid, twiddling with his fingers.
Always the stubborn pair, the two of them.
"Okay then," The raven smiled, amused. "I was wondering if you would like to meet Teddy?"
"Teddy? Edward?" Said Draco with a knit of the eyebrows.
"Yeah, the Metamorphmagi. Your cousin, too. I'll be heading over to Andromeda's soon and I wonder if you'll like to come, and-"
"Andromeda? Andromeda Tonks?" Draco choked up, the last time he remembered visiting her was at mother's old dim residence when he was about 4 of age.
"Correct– are you okay?" Harry worried, the blond seemed a little bit concerned about this matter. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, I'm just offering."
"No, I do. But doesn't Andromeda hate me?"
"Why would she hate you?" Inquired Harry, confused.
"Well, you know, given the reason that she's my mother's sister, and how you know my own family is affiliated with the Death Eaters, I reckon Andromeda would hate me for being one too." Draco finished, chewing on his lip anxiously.
Injected with overflowing worriment and the perpetual fear of rejection, he can't help but feel that way. His father had been nothing but loyal to the Dark Lord and a radical pureblood, filled with anti-Muggles ideologies for the whole time that he was breathing. And didn't Andromeda married a Muggle?
He remembered Lucius spatting about how Andromeda is ruining the Black lineage, and his mother's lips thinning at the sour mouthing of her own dear sister. Surely the topic of his father's words has reached Andromeda?
Draco wouldn't be surprised if his own aunt hated him.
A warm hand made its way to Draco's shoulder, bringing a foreign sense of comfort, "I promise you. Andromeda doesn't hate you, you are not your father, Draco."
Those words did partially lift the burden from his body, but he just can't help but feel a little tingling of guilt.
Ever so slowly, he succumbed and nodded, "Alright, I'll come."
"Yeah? Thank you! You can train with Teddy together." Harry offered a smile, hand still not leaving his shoulder. Although, his face scrunched up to confusion just a second later, "What was it that you wanted to ask me?"
Once again anxiety washed Draco up like a vicious wave, "I think we need to stop this...arrangement for ourselves." He uttered.
"What arrangement?"
"You know, helping me conceal being whatever this thing I am right now."
Managing to surprise Draco once more, the hand that had been in his shoulder had made its way to grab his hands now, "Why do you think that?"
"W-well, I think it's unfair that you have to feel exhausted for helping me. This is my own matter, anyways. I can't possibly have you help me continuously, you'll be really exhausted at one point, Harry," He uttered his worries that he had harbored. "I can't force you to do this."
His mouth was slightly open at the statement, before pursing thinly, "Nonsense. You didn't force me into anything, I offered and it was my choice to help you. I can't care less if this is energy draining, I can't have you do it by yourself. You'll reach your breaking point one day and collapse, Draco."
Harry was now grabbing both of Draco's hands, face marred with worry. "I can't let you go through that, at least not alone, I'm here for you."
The blond's face slowly contorted, as he realized as drops of salty tears were leaking down his cheeks and his hair shifting into moonlight grey.
Unconsciously, he flung his arms around Harry's, seeking the comfort that he never thought he would have throughout the years of his life.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm here for you, I promise that on my life, Draco." Harry whispered slowly into his pinna, the words mollifying his anxieties to sleep.
Draco was overwhelmed with the amount of attention that the latter was giving, the feeling alien to his whole.
He cried and cried inside the crook of Harry's neck, feeling the arms around him hugging him tighter and bringing him home to comfort, "Thank you."
—
tbc