Title: Insanity

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco

Warning(s): DH spoilers? Really vague ones, if any.

Genre: Angst-ish

A lot had changed since the war's end. Harry and his friends had many friends to bury, and it was tough. It had become so tough that he had thoroughly immersed himself in his Auror training, until he had become one of the greatest among his ranks. He didn't have time for much, and expressed this to Ginny, which she took with care, but little enthusiasm. It was a mutual feeling. In his grief he had managed to push everyone but Ron and Hermione away, but even they had their own way of finding solace in grief. That was, in each other. He couldn't quite find that with Ginny, but he was sure something would work out someday, if she was willing to wait.

It wasn't long before Draco Malfoy joined the ranks as well. There was a lot of mistrust for him, and it took Harry of all people to convince them that Malfoy was too bloody cowardly to pull anything funny. Ron couldn't believe Harry would stick up for the stupid bugger, but a small part of Harry felt sorry for the guy. He was dragged into a lifestyle he probably didn't choose, and there was still the Sectum Sempra incident that weighed on Harry's mind every so often. He thought Malfoy deserved a shot at a decent life.

Not that Malfoy was even remotely grateful. He gazed at Harry with contemptuous eyes for the longest time, lined Harry's coffee with enchanted powders that would induce massive nose bleeds and profuse sweating, and tripped him in hallways. It was childish, but perhaps the worst thing was that Malfoy would no longer jeer at him. He would just pierce Harry with icy looks and be on his way. It wasn't until Malfoy dumped an entire kettle of day old tea over Harry's head that he snapped and shoved Malfoy into a wall, bearing his teeth and shaking his fists clenched in the former Slytherin's robes.

"What's your effing problem, Malfoy?"

"Hmph," said Malfoy, wiping bits of spit from his face. "Say it, don't spray it, Potter."

"Do you think I'm in the mood for all your little pranks? Because I'm not."

"And you think I enjoy living like this? Near YOU, seeing YOU everyday, and worst of all being indebted to YOU. Now in more ways than one. What a joke."

"The only joke I see here is you!"

"Really, then why did you help me?"

Perhaps Harry didn't have an answer for that. Perhaps he'd never know. All he knew was that on the brink of going insane from hiding from his sadness, and trying not to break Malfoy's face, he thought of Professor Moody bouncing around a most pissy ferret and started to laugh. Without knowing why Malfoy joined him in laughter, and the fact that Malfoy was laughing made it even funnier.

END