Chapter Text
Whenever Harry passed Malfoy in the corridors, he would blush scarlet and quickly look away. Part of it was shame, and the other part was embarrassment. He should have been more careful, and now it had resulted in a private part of his life been exposed. If Malfoy told his friends, or used the newly found information against him, everything could get so much worse. He really didn’t need another horrible article written about him.
It had been a week since the bathroom incident, and so far nothing had gone wrong. In potions, Harry had awkwardly stumbled into Malfoy, and instead of the usual insult, Malfoy had given him a half smile and carried on retrieving ingredients from the supplies closet. Harry felt weird after that. Did Malfoy feel sorry for him after the incident? Was he going to stop the bullying for a bit? Harry would certainly welcome a break from their usual bickering.
Although potions with Slughorn was alright, defence against the dark arts was not the most enjoyable. Snape seemed to be in a horrible mood as always, and docked 30 points off of Harry for being two minutes late to class. Throughout the lesson, Harry found his eyes drift towards Malfoy every now and then. A few times he simply studied his features absentmindedly, but there were a few awkward moments when Malfoy caught Harry’s eye. That resulted in his checks heating up, and the floor becoming very exciting to stare at.
That evening in the Gryffindor common room, Harry found himself zoning out of Hermione’s usual homework lectures. Although, a quick glance at Ron’s face, and Harry could tell he wasn’t the only one.
“Harry, for the last few days you’ve been awfully distracted in class,” Hermione continued, looking up from her planner with a frown. “Are you sure there’s nothing bothering you?”
“Oh, um, yeah there’s nothing bothering me,” Harry replied quickly. “I’m just a little sleepy most of the time.”
Worry highlighted Hermione’s face in the candlelight.
“It’s important that you don’t stay up too late Harry. It will affect your grades long term.”
Harry found himself become a little annoyed. It wasn’t his choice to stay up all night, it was the bloody nightmares. Not that he’d admit that though, Hermione might make him ask Snape for a dreamless sleep potion. No ways in hell was he going to ask Snape for a favour any time soon.
Ginny had been listening to the conversation from the couch next to them. She sauntered over and crossed her arms in a cocky way.
“I think Harry’s in looove,” she crooned, giggling at his suddenly flustered face. She turned to Hermione and Ron. “He’s usually half asleep, but for the last few days I’ve noticed him staring at someone in the great hall whenever we eat. But before you ask, no I don’t know who it is. There’s a lot of people in the great hall you know.”
“Harry’s got a crush!” Hermione giggled, and a few kids around them looked towards Harry.
“No I don’t!” Harry Insisted, his ears growing hotter by the second. He didn’t know how they had jumped to that conclusion, but the attention on him was unnerving
“Yeah right mate,” Ron laughed, knowing that he wouldn’t openly admit it any time soon. Harry was fond of Ginny, but right now he was greatly annoyed. She seemed to know him better than he did himself most of the time.
When she initially crushed on him in her first year, something happened that made her stop abruptly. Harry wasn’t sure why, but Ginny seemed ok with whatever knowledge she picked up. Actually, he needed to ask her about that some time.
Once again, Harry was awoken by the stench of sweat and bad memories that night. His mind had swept back to his eight-year-old self, and the day that Dudley had pulled his pants down in front of his classmates. That was the first day he had fought back and slapped Dudley in the face. It wasn’t much help though. Harry found himself so black and blue with bruises that his Aunt and Uncle made him stay home for a month to not worry the teachers about his appearance.
The moon peeking through the arched window sent a cold gloom into the dorm room, and Harry felt the vibration of his shoulders shaking with fear. He knew that the Dursley’s could do no harm while he was here at Hogwarts, but every summer, he returned to Privet Drive, and the fear returned once again. He was almost old enough to live alone, but not quite there yet.
Sweeping his invisibility cloak on, he sneaked out of Gryffindor tower and looked for a place of solitude. Pacing down empty corridors, Harry eventually found a spot in the castle where he could sit and stare at the many stars in the sky. It was such a peaceful spot that he undid his cloak, and creaked the window open. The crisp cool air made his ears numb, but it did calm his racing heart. There was a small chance that a teacher could find him out of bed, but it was more likely that they were sleeping in their chambers.
Harry didn’t know how long he sat there for, but it felt like minutes after when the sound of faint footsteps echoed against the stone. Recognising the pale hair of Draco in the minimal moonlight, his tensed shoulders relaxed knowing it wasn’t a teacher.
“Can’t sleep?” Draco whispered, setting himself down next to Harry with an air of elegance. “I can’t either,” he added, sighing in deep thought.
Harry’s response was a small shrug, not knowing what else to say. Draco seemed to have a different side to him lately, and it was such a new experience for Harry. Suddenly remembering about the bathroom episode, Harry quickly turned to Draco.
“I never thanked you for helping me,” Harry began, a little bit embarrassed. He wasn’t the best at apologies. “I feel really bad that you had to find me like that, but thank you Draco. Thank you for saving me.”
Draco looked as awkward as Harry felt, but smiled softly as he looked down.
“Don’t worry about it Harry, but I do hope you realise how serious self harm is.”
Harry felt a tingle go down his spine when Draco lifted him arm up gently. A few minutes of speculation, and Draco looked back into Harry’s wide eyes. Oh wow, had Malfoy’s eyes always been so silvery blue?
“It doesn’t look like you have any new scars, but when I check again don’t let me find any more,” Draco advised. Harry shuffled his feet uncomfortably, not wanting to argue with him.
They talked into the early hours of the morning, enjoying each other’s company, and Harry found the idea of someone looking out for him very comforting.
Maybe a new friendship was starting to blossom.