Albus Dumbledore's P.O.V
When Severus came charging into my office I expected him to come in complaining of another fight between Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, not crying. Anything but crying. Never in all the years I had know Severus had he ever shown more then the barest hints of emotion in my presence. Nothing more then a smirk or a scowl ever appeared on my old friends face. Never tears…..Yet there they were plan as day. Firstly, irrationally, I thought perhaps it was a joke. A students taking on the form of my schools potion master to trick me into thinking Severus had finally lost it.
But I was wrong. The person in front of me was none other then the very person he seemed to be. No matter how hard it was to believe. When I questioned him he showed me what had transpired in his class not an hour before through a pensive. How had I not realized? I knew they would not ravish him with love or attention….But to do this do a mere toddler? Was there no end to the amount of cruelty one person can do to another, with or without magic? I should have known…..I should have checked…How could I not have seen the truth? ...How could I ignore the cries for help that echoed in those emerald eyes? ….I had never checked out of fear of disclosing his whereabouts…..It was meant to protect him, not make him fell like he had no one…It's all my fault, Merlin have mercy on my soul…..I might as well have locked him in the dark myself.
Harry was vaguely aware of the faint feeling of being carried as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Whoever it was felt so warm and smelled so good, like a mix of honeysuckle and mint. It was nice to be cradled so tenderly even if just for a moment. Harry just wanted to stay like that forever. Warm and protected. He hadn't felt like that in such a long time. His hands wrapped around the person's robes as tightly as he could and with what little strength he had and buried his head into the folds. It was so warm. He almost drifted back to sleep listening to the soft thudding of his carrier's heart. He would have to if not for the sudden jolt of them stopping. His eyes were too heavy to open and when a breeze hit his face he felt two twin trails of tears on his cheeks. It made him shiver and the person held him closer, if that was even possible. Harry felt his weight shift as the person placed him on what seemed to be a bed. It was not nearly as warm as the person, nor did it smell as appealing. With sudden realization that the person was about to leave, Harry clung onto their robes as tightly as he could. Slim warm fingers wrapped around his own and pride them off gently. Harry was too weak to protest and let his hands fall limp at his side. He let out a pitiful whimper at the loss of contact until one of the hands returned to cup his face. A thumb brushed across his cheek to wipe some of the tears away, before moving higher to brush back a stray piece of hair.
"I'm so sorry." The person whispered in a sad familiar voice.
Harry couldn't place who it was before the presence was gone and he was already back to sleep.
Hermione barely held up her shield as another wave of powerful blue magic washed over her. It was a power one could only have when they were beyond reason and filled with only emotion. Anger, pain, hatred, love, lust, and any other emotion you could feel strongly. Right now all Draco felt was anger. Strong harsh unrelenting anger for those who had hurt the person most precious to him. Only after he had placed Harry in the safe hands of Madam Pomfrey did Draco allow the anger to surface into what it was now. He would have blown up the whole hall outside the hospital wing if Hermione hadn't used a spell to petrify him. He'd screamed for the mudblood to let him go, magic seeping out from ever part of his body. Hermione merely levitated him to a wall and began to walk in front of it muttering under her breath. With a faint pop the room of requirements appeared before them. Hermione opened the door and to a huge room with large wards on each wall that served to keep them intact under all kinds of magic. Only after placing herself under as many defense shields as she could remember at the moment did Hermione unbind Draco. The Slytherin was giving off so much power at the moment the whole room shook as the walls tried their best to keep the power contained.
The pureblood in his veins made Draco much more powerful then people realized, especially when someone he cared about was threatened. And there was no one Draco cared about more then Harry Potter. Somewhere along the line the Draco went from hating the boy to loving him. Beautiful, strong, clever, Harry whose mind he could never fathom and whose body he always craved. How could such an angel have been raised among such demons? How had Harry held onto all that he was when those muggles had tried to take way all the wondrous things about Harry? They would pay. He would make sure of that.
Draco let one last wave of magic lash out from his body that was stronger then the rest before he collapsed on the ground, his breaths coming out in sharp gasps. Hermione waited a few moments to make sure he was really done before she started to undo her shields. She walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Are you ready to talk now?" She whispered soothingly, putting years of insults behind her for Harry's sake.
Draco took one last deep breath before nodding. He knew this talk was long over due and knew to take Hermione's offer at face value for forgiveness. He at least respected this particular Gryffindor.
"Good, now would you care to explain why you nearly destroyed the school when you saw Harry was hurt in his childhood? I'm one of his best friends and even I didn't have that much anger. Why would you be so upset about what happened to your supposed enemy?"
Draco gathered himself up from the floor and closed his eyes for a moment, imagining a better setting for this conversation. The walls shifted around him as a new background filled its place. Draco thought up a small parlor like his mother's at Malfoy Mansion and gave it a warm fire place and a neutral light blue color. When the room had settled into place Hermione and Draco sat in fluffy armchairs across from each other. Draco closed his eyes a moment longer before deciding how to explain his relationship with Harry.
"You'd be surprised how long we haven't been enemies." Draco whispered softly.
"We didn't want to cause an uproar among the houses or lose any of our old friends because they didn't understand."
"I would have understood." Hermione muttered grudgingly.
"We were more concerned about certain red heads then you Granger." Draco explained off handedly.
"Ron can be a little insensitive at times…" Hermione defended softly.
"I could have handled insensitivity, it's the threats to my life that would have concerned me. Weasley's not the most understanding person when it comes to me."
"Why should he be after what you've done to him?! You treated him like dirt and provoked him every chance you got! He has every reason in the world to hate you!"
"So did Harry, but he understood! He tried to give me a chance when the war was over and he let me explain why I had to do the things I did and the things I said! He was willing to see past what I've done and see me as I was on the inside! It wasn't easy being a spy for the Order Granger! I was 10 years old when they recruited me! How would it have looked if I was nice to muggleborns or people like the Weasley's? My father would have disowned me! What good would I have been to the Order if I was an orphan like Harry? I had to make my father think I hated you all, most of all Harry! Had my father known I'd had a crush on Harry Potter of all people he would have-"
"You have a crush on Harry?!"
Draco looked like he might wet himself as the puffy haired witch gaped at him.
"I didn't mean it like that Ganger, I meant-"
"What did you mean then Malfoy?"
Draco looked at her terrified, mad at himself for having said something like that out loud.
"It's nothing, Harry's not like that anyway. Forget I said anything!"
Hermione gave Draco a calculating look for a moment before shaking her head slowly.
"I don't think that's possible Malfoy, not anymore."
"Please Granger! I've never had someone try to understand me like Harry. He was the one who asked me to be his friend. He wanted to help me and when he offered me his hand I took it. I took it and never regretted it. If you try and tell him I swear I'll obliviate you so much they'll have to teach you how to read again!"
Draco's voice went from begging to threatening in seconds and Hermione wasn't sure which surprised her more.
"It's your job to tell him Malfoy, not mine. I honestly think a relationship with you might do Harry some good."
"What?" Draco asked in quiet astonishment, not expecting this reaction at all.
Hermione bit her lip and seemed to be debating something in her head.
"Harry…Hasn't known a lot of happiness in his life Malfoy. Perhaps even less then I though he had. He was always trying to be what was expected of him and not let his true emotions and reactions show."
She looked at him measuringly like she was trying to figure out a complex formula.
"Yet he always reacted to you. He brought a fire in his eyes that me and Ron never could. Even at his worst Harry only had to see you to be okay. I think that's why he kept your fights going so long. It made him happy. That's probably why he decided to be your friend too. Harry always did want everyone to be safe and content in his life. He never wanted to disappoint people. He felt he could never disappoint you because you were the only one who expected nothing from him. Harry just always had to deal with being the Boy Who Lived with everyone else, but to you he was just Potter. Nothing special or worth getting excited about. He was always grateful for that. That you saw him. Under the right circumstances it wouldn't have surprised me with you two had been friends from the start."
Draco stared at the bushy haired witch for a moment before smiling and nodding his head.
"That would have been nice." He admitted, gracing Hermione with a smile that sent other girls and boys mad with desire.
"I guess in a way I relied on Harry too. I was always surrounded by my friends because they were loyal to me or afraid of me, but I never felt more alive then when I was with Harry. All it took was a word or a motion and nothing in the world mattered, but him. I never really got into that whole Boy Who Lived thing. I never saw what the big deal was. I'm grateful he lived, but no need to throw a parade about it. Harry's amazing in his own right here and now, but people should know him before they go around giving him stupid names. Don't you think?"
Hermione smiled at Draco softly and nodded.
"You may understand Harry even better then I do Malfoy. Perhaps when he's better me and Ron could be your friends too. Ron will be more willing to accept you if he has both mine and Harry's reassurance that you're good. In fact, he's probable awake by now, we should go check."
"Granger, can I ask one more thing?"
"Yes, what is it Malfoy?"
"Do you…Do you think Harry could ever like me back, the way I like him?" Draco asked nervously, something that a Malfoy never did.
Hermione just smiled at the endearing sight of Draco acting unsure of himself.
"You'll have to ask him yourself Malfoy. Even I don't know everything."
Despite what Hermione thought, Harry was not awake by the time they got there and Madam Pomfrey was looking rather worried.
"He should have woken up by now." She fretted.
Ron was as Harry's side and gazing worriedly at his best friend.
"Wake up mate." He whispered.
Snape was in a corner of the room flipping wildly though a large book of potions. The panic that was slowly filling the room was shattered by the entry of the one and only Remus Lupin.
He burst into the room with a fire in his eyes that was directly aimed at their school's potions master.
"You nasty greasy haired git! You just can't let the rivalry end till every Potter is in the grave can you?! Are you happy now!? You know very well that potion could have killed him if he drank too much, yet you made him take it anyway! I should hex you on his behalf this very minute! You have no idea how much pain this is going to bring him do you?!"
Remus looked like he might have very well carried out his threat if Snape hadn't looked so shocked.
"How in the high heaven would a little recollection potion have killed him?! Snape snapped.
"You know very well what happened to Lily you fiend! Everyone knew she was allergic to leech eyes! The potion made her relive her worst memories and fears for a week! The strain nearly killed her! Of course Harry could have the same reaction!"
"I wasn't in your potions class everyday you Mutt and I didn't hear about every little thing that happened to your little group the instant it happened!How was I supposed to know this would happen?!" Snape screeched.
"You think I wanted to see a six year old child get locked in a damned hole in the ground Lupin!? Potter or not that is not something that should ever be done to a child!"
Remus looked like he couldn't decide if he should just hex Snape first and ask questions later or not.
The choice was taken out of his hands when Hermione came up to Remus and looked at him worriedly.
"Professor Lupin, what happened to Lilly exactly?"
Remus's eyes became very sad as he looked at the young witch.
"It was a horrible experience Hermione. The potion back fired and caused her to relive her worst memories for a week. Everyday she had a worse and worse recollection. The last one was the only different one. Instead of the worst it was her best. What you saw today wasn't ever the tip of the iceberg. The memories are going to get a lot worse."
"Worse?" Draco rasped in fear. The others in the room had the same though as they all turned their gaze onto Harry. He looked pale as a ghost, even against the already white hospital sheets.
"Oh dear, Mr. Lupin I remember that week. Poor little Lilly nearly used up all her magic surviving that potion. It took so much of her energy just to keep herself alive. I didn't think she'd ever wake up." Madam Pomfrey fussed, worriedly.
"Snape, Lupin come with me. We need to see if we came make a reversal of the elixir. I still have my notes from Lilly's case."
Remus opened his mouth to say he would sooner die then work with Snape, but one glare from Madam Pomfrey stopped him.
The three left quickly, leaving only Ron, Hermione, and Draco in the room with Harry.
Draco was the first to make a move as he took a seat on the opposite side of Harry's bed. Ron finally noticed Draco and scowled at him.
"Why are you here Ferret?! In case you haven't noticed Harry isn't in any condition to be dealing with you right now! If you had anything to do this though I'll kill you myself!"
Draco was about to make Ron shut up in a way that involved him spewing purple goop, but Hermione beat him to it.
"Ronald Weasley! You know very well that Malfoy did not intend for this to happen! Harry didn't even know that he'd inherited his mother's allergies! How was Draco or Snape supposed to know!? This was no ones fault. Malfoy is just as welcome to sit at Harry's bedside as we are!"
"But Mione that's Malfoy!" Ron stuttered, flabbergasted that Hermione had just defended Harry's sworn enemy.
Hermione just rolled her eyes at her friend.
"You're going to be seeing a lot more of Malfoy from now on so get used to it Ron!"
Ron opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when Hermione raised her hand to silence him.
"Deal with Malfoy or no kissing for a month!" She threatened.
Ron paled and glared at Malfoy for having made his girlfriend do this. Before he could ask Hermione if she'd been hexed though, Harry turned in his sleep.
His hands clutched the sheet tightly and he inhaled sharply. Hermione and Ron both froze, but Draco just leaned foreword and pushed a piece of stray hair behind Harry's ear.
"Shhh." He whispered softly, cupping Harry's face in his hand. Harry leaned into the touch and slowly loosened his grip on the sheets. With one last dreamy sigh Harry settled back into a deep sleep.
Draco let his hand drop to his side and turned to look at Ron.
"I'm staying." He announced, letting no hint of uncertainty enter his voice.
Ron could do nothing, but nod.
Reviews please! This is one of the longest chapters I've ever done! I worked really hard! Tell me what you want to happen next and what you think!
Yours truly,
Lacy Fairgold