Chapter 2
As soon as he hit the first floor landing, Harry had looked back. He wasn't sure why, he knew no one would be there. It wasn't Snape's style to track him down. He would just make Harry pay for it later. And that was if Snape had even realized Harry was in the dungeons when he certainly wasn't supposed to be.
He made his way towards the Great Hall, sounds of students gathering for breakfast already reaching him. It had barely been early morning when he started wandering the castle. How long had he been in the dungeons? And what was up with Malfoy standing around in nothing but his skivvies? He was hurt, Harry could tell that much. It sounded to him as if Malfoy was also in some kind of trouble with Snape. Would Snape hurt a student like that? Harry didn't think so, but Malfoy seemed almost scared when they had heard him coming. Harry sighed. All he wanted was to have a normal school year, just once. He knew it was impossible, but he still wished it. It was the first week of school and something weird was happening already. Except, it was happening to Malfoy. Or Malfoy was involved somehow. He wanted very much not to care, but it was just too weird.
He took his usual seat at the Gryffindor breakfast table, next to Ron, across from Hermione. The way they grew silent as soon as he sat down told him they were probably definitely talking about him.
"Morning," he said more casually than he felt.
"Harry! You look positively dreadful! Didn't you sleep at all again last night?" Hermione fussed over him. He regretted telling her he had had trouble sleeping since the summer. He hadn't heard the end of it ever since.
"Thanks, Hermione." Harry tried to flatten his hair and sweep it to one side. He felt it flop back over his forehead.
"That's not what I meant, Harry, it's just that-"
"Hey mate, have some eggs!" Ron interrupted whatever Hermione was about to say, piling steaming scrambled eggs onto the empty plate in front of Harry. Harry gave him a weak smile.
"Harry," Hermione started, "where's your cloak?"
"Oh, Herm, lay off him a sec, will you? He's had a hard night, obviously, and-"
"Thanks, Ron, but that's okay." Harry said, stopping Ron in the middle of his tirade. His cheeks grew hot and he suddenly felt very tired.
"Did you forget it?" Hermione kept on, "Ron can run back up to the dorms and grab it for you." She ignored Ron making gestures where he thought Harry couldn't see. "It's just that it will be points from our house if you don't have your full uniform and we have Potions first and you just know Snape will be waiting for an excuse."
"I didn't forget it. I left it in the dungeons."
The two sat gaping at him as he realized what he had said. Sometimes his honesty ran away with him. He hadn't even decided if he was going to tell them what had happened that morning.
"What were you doing in the dungeons, mate?" To Ron's credit, he only had a little bit of egg in his mouth.
Harry sighed. "I couldn't sleep-"
"I knew it." Hermione interjected. Harry gave her a look and continued.
"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk. I wanted to be alone, so I went to the dungeons." Harry pushed the eggs around on his plate with a fork. "I saw Malfoy."
Ron made a noise in disgust, but Hermione could see the struggle on Harry's face. She was always terribly good at reading him. He hated it. She nodded, urging him to continue. "And, well, something was very wrong with him."
"More than usual?" Ron muttered into his orange juice.
"Way more than usual", Harry agreed. He knew he couldn't stop now, his friends would be too concerned. He leaned in and continued in a hoarse whisper, "he was hurt, you guys, like.. I don't know. And he almost seemed afraid of Snape."
"Hurt like what, Harry? And what does that have to do with why your cloak is missing?"
"It's not missing." It was like they weren't hearing anything he was saying. "I gave it to Malfoy because he was standing around the dungeons in nothing but his underwear." He finished in a rush, grabbing a piece of toast and shoving it into his mouth, so he wouldn't have to talk anymore.
His friends looked at each other, at Harry, then back at each other. Ron made a face. "Gross! Harry, how did you even stand it, that's just-"
"Not helpful, Ronald." Hermione chided. "You said something was wrong with him, Harry, what do you mean? And why would he be afraid of Snape?"
Finally, Hermione was getting it. He suddenly thought about the huge hand-shaped bruises going around Malfoy's throat. He thought of how he had touched Malfoy and he felt his face grow hot again. For some reason, he didn't want to mention either of those things to Hermione and Ron.
"He was acting strange. I think he actually got tired of insulting me while we were talking", Harry said instead. His two friends exchanged glances. It was happening entirely too much for Harry's taste. He was always the last to know. "Something I don't know?" he asked irritably.
Hermione leaned forward and whispered, "You mean you haven't heard?"
"Heard what, Hermione? It's like the third day of school." He rubbed his tired eyes in annoyance. The pounding in his head was worse today. He hadn't even wanted to talk about Malfoy in the first place. Forgetting it was probably better.
"Fourth, actually. Well, there's rumors going around saying that Malfoy is going crazy."
Ron nodded vehemently. "Complete nutter. Probably all the deatheater stuff."
Hermione shot him a look. "Well, I was chatting with Parvati and she heard from her sister in Ravenclaw who heard from a boy in Slytherin that Malfoy hasn't slept in months and when he does sleep, he's got horrible nightmares. Like screaming fits, waking everyone up. And.."
Harry had no idea Hermione was such a gossip. "And..?" he urged.
"And he's got.. self-inflicted wounds", she said with a wince.
Harry's mind went to the bruise around Malfoy's throat. That couldn't have been self-inflicted, could it? Now that he thought about it, he remembered seeing dozens of scars, all over the other boy's body. At the time he thought it was the low dungeon light but he had dismissed it. After all, Harry himself had lots of scars, famous one included.
Hermione must have noticed the faraway look in his face because she asked, "What is it, Harry? Did he say something to you?"
Suddenly Harry wasn't sure if he could confide in her without the whole school knowing. Or at least the Patil twins knowing and them telling the entire school. "It's nothing."
"Harry, you really didn't know?" Ron asked through a mouthful of eggs.
"No, I didn't," he replied with a sigh. Harry craned his neck for a better view of the Slytherin table. Malfoy was nowhere in sight. Instinctively he looked towards the teachers' table at the front of the hall. Dumbledore wasn't there. Neither was Snape. Harry felt his stomach flip flop. "If he is nutters," Harry started slowly, "what would do with him?"
"Probably send the git to Saint Mungo's don't you think, Herm?"
Hermione nodded, maybe a bit sadly.
"How long has this been happening?" Harry asked.
"Oh, maybe just this past summer, according to rumor. Why?"
"Well that's when.." Harry hesitated to speak his thoughts.
Hermione waited, looking as if she were trying very hard to be patient with him.
"That's the same I started having nightmares as well." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the pounding in his head growing.
"Yes, but Harry, it's not exactly new for you, is it? I mean, this has happened before." She stared at him. "Is it your head again? Should you go see Madam Pompfrey?"
"Herm, stop fussing over him. Harry can handle it and if he can't, he'll tell someone." Ron turned to Harry and nodded in an I-got-your-back sort of way.
"Harry, all I'm saying is, your dreams and your circumstances are vastly different than Draco Malfoy's." She said his name with a disdain that made him feel odd. Trashing Draco Malfoy was commonplace in his friend circle but today it felt different. Harry couldn't put his finger on it.
He dropped his eyes to his untouched breakfast plate. "What if it's not?" he said quietly.
"Yeah," Ron said loudly, "You know he's going to be a death eater soon, if the prat isn't already." Harry remembered last year, when it seemed the students were forced to pick sides. Good or evil. Dumbledore or Voldemort. Malfoy had been against them from the start. He bristled with the memory.
"Do you think it has to do with You-Know-Who?" Hermione said. Every other time Harry had had these sorts of headaches or dreams, it was a direct link to Voldemort. It wasn't something Harry hadn't considered. It was just something he hoped it wasn't. If Malfoy was having similar symptoms, what did that mean? And what did Snape have to do with it? Harry decided to let the question hang. Ron went back to chewing his breakfast. Hermione looked over her shoulder at the Slytherin table.
"He's not there." Harry said absently. Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "What?" Harry asked her, feeling defensive for some reason.
"You know Harry, you might want to, you know.." She waved her hand in the air, as if that made her point. Ron and Harry both stared at her. "You know, talk to him!" she finished quickly and a little too loudly.
Ron let out a gaffaw. "Get serious Hermione! That prat isnt even capable of normal conversation. We only look in his direction and hes calling us Weasel, Mudblood, and Scarhead! I mean we'd have to be -" Harry raised a hand and cut off Ron's rant.
"You guys don't understand. It was weird. Malfoy wasn't himself and Snape.. It was like Malfoy was afraid of Snape."
"You didn't say anything about Snape, Harry." Hermione's head swiveled to the teachers' table.
"Yes, I did. He's not there either."
Hermione gave him a sour look. "You think Professor Snape is involved?"
"Of course he is, Herm," Ron started, "it's all of them. Malfoy, Snape, probably Malfoy's dad too. He's probably the head Death Eater by now and they're staging a takeover!"
"Really, Ronald."
"Yes, really," Ron was nodding his head, as if that helped make his point valid. "My dad talks about the weird stuff Malfoy Senior does at work all the time. And you know they're all pretty much back and stronger than ever. Last year proved it."
Harry's stomach turned as he thought of Sirius. He pushed back from the table and stood up.
"Where ya goin' Harry? You didn't eat anything, mate."
"I think I'll go and get my spare cloak before class." He probably wasn't going to, but he couldn't sit here and listen to this any longer.
"Okay Harry, but don't be late. Maybe you can talk to-"
"Oh Hermione, you sound like my mum! Harry's not going to talk to Malfoy. Right, Harry?"
They both turned to look at him.
"Uh.. yeah, sure. Whatever. See you in class." He turned and hurried towards the door before they could say something else to further drag him into another argument. An argument about Malfoy no less, he thought. What a weird school year this is shaping up to be. Harry walked quickly, absorbed in his thoughts. Before he knew it, he had turned towards the dungeons and suddenly ran into something very hard. It caught him by surprise and he fell backwards. Two shoes entered his field of vision and he realized he had run into a person, another student.
"Sorry," he muttered while adjusting his glasses. A pale hand with long fingers came into Harry's field of vision. He took it in his own and looked up. His breath caught in his throat. As if his thoughts had materialized, Draco Malfoy was now in front of him. Before he could react, Malfoy was pulling him to his feet. Up close and in better lighting, Harry could see the dark circles underneath Malfoy's eyes. His eyes flew to Malfoy's neck- he could barely make out the hand-shaped bruises underneath his upturned collar.
"Um, thanks," Harry said a little awkwardly.
"Don't mention it, Potter." Malfoy almost sounded normal, not snide or condescending. For a brief moment, they locked eyes. Harry had never noticed that Malfoy's eyes were more stormy grey than blue. He thought he saw something there, something very different. Then it was gone. Malfoy's eyes were no longer stormy, they were made of ice. Malfoy lowered his steely gaze to their still clasped hands. Harry's eyes followed, suddenly realizing he had never let go of Malfoy's hand. Harry felt his cheeks go hot and drew his hand back as if the other boy's hand was made of fire.
Malfoy cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. "Where were you going in such a hurry, Potter? Someone else in dire need of saving?" A familiar sneer snuck its way onto his face. Suddenly Harry didn't want to talk to Malfoy at all. Ever again.
"Look Malfoy, I was just going to Potions, so if you'd get out of my way.." Harry side-stepped around the other boy.
"Oh, so now I'm in your way, Potter?" Malfoy stepped in front of Harry, blocking his path.
"Malfoy, this isn't funny." Harry tried again, stepping in the opposite direction.
"Oh, but it is." Malfoy smirked at him, clearly enjoying this. The taller boy blocked him again.
"Malfoy. Move."
"And what if I don't?"
"Then Snape will have both our heads."
"Ah. Ah. Ah." Draco waggled a slender finger back and forth in front of Harry's nose. "Correction: Your head. I'm his favorite student, remember?"
"Oh, really? And all this time I thought you were only kissing his ass."
Malfoy laughed. It wasn't his usual snicker, Harry noticed, but a real laugh. It sounded odd, as if he didn't practice it as much as he should. It made Harry uncomfortable.
"Yes, well, if you're finished Malfoy, can I go to class now?"
"Oh, come now, Potter. Sarcasm suits you beautifully."
Harry's face started burning uncontrollably. He couldn't believe Malfoy was making him blush. Judging by the healthy smirk on his face, Malfoy was enjoying himself. Harry prepared himself for the onslaught of insults that was sure to follow.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Malfoy bend over and retrieve something from the floor. "Potter." His voice was devoid of feeling again. "You dropped this earlier."
Malfoy was picking up Harry's cloak, giving it a good shake. The fabric made a snapping sound in the air. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but it was already in his hand, a tidy folded bundle. Malfoy's face held a glimmer of a smile and then he turned to leave, brushing Harry's shoulder with his own. Harry watched him until he was out of sight.
