Chapter 3

Draco walked for almost ten minutes before his anger burned out and he sagged against the wall next to a portrait of o pair of witches playing some kind of card game. The one looked over at him curiously while the other took the opportunity to sneak a look at her opponent's cards. Draco slid down the wall with his hands covering his face, fingers buried in the silver locks of his hair. He didn't know why he had revealed so much of himself to Potter. They had accepted some kind of unspoken truce but still, this was Potter. Draco brought his legs up and linked his arms around his knees. Potter being civil was one thing, he had some kind of hero complex that compelled him to do things like that, but for a moment when he had seen those green eyes…if he didn't know better Draco would have said he had found Harry Potter attractive. Sure, for a while Draco had known he was at least bi-sexual but he had never looked at Potter in that way. Had he? He thought back over all their encounters in the last five years. Had there been anything more than animosity between them? Draco paled. He had directed a lot of his time and thoughts towards getting the raven haired boy's attention, true it was through unfavourable situations but after Potter had rejected him in the first year he could not have been seen to grovel. He put his head back into his hands. "Oh Merlin, I'm attracted to Harry Potter." With his head in his hands he didn't see a pale face float back into the wall down the hall.

Harry was walking the corridors trying to find Draco. "If I were Draco where would I go?" He stopped dead. He just referred to Malfoy by first name. He shook his head; the display of emotion Dra-Malfoy had shown in the library had obviously thrown him. He carried on walking trying not to think too much about a blond haired Slytherin. Suddenly a wispy shape floated out of the wall in front of him. The girl smiled, "Hello, Harry." Harry did his best to smile and not grimace. "Hi Myrtle." She floated around him in a circle and he turned his head trying to keep sight of her, after the incident in the prefects' bathroom during his fourth year he always liked to be able to see exactly where she was. She smiled brightly at him, which was unusual enough, the fact that when she spoke she sounded positively overjoyed just furthered Harry's suspicions that something bad had happened. "I know something that could be very interesting to you." She twirled her phantom pony-tail in her spectral fingers, "I could tell you, but it might be much more fun to let you figure it out…." She giggled and it sounded like breaking glass, high and tinkling. Harry relaxed a bit, Myrtle was just trying to create some fun for herself by getting him all worried. He sighed, "Myrtle I really don't have time to play your games right now. Go find someone else to bother. Anyone else, because I'm not going to play along." He swept past her and muttered to himself "I've got an upset Slytherin to find." As he rounded the corner he heard Myrtle cackle wickedly and he almost turned back to find out what she had been going to say but he spotted the huddled form of his blond adversary at the other end of the corridor.

He felt him sit next to him but Draco didn't move. Of course Potter would have come to find him, that damn hero complex kicking in again. He asked without removing his head from his hands, "Why are you here anyway? Don't you go back to muggles every summer or something?" When he didn't get a reply straight away he raised his head, the other boy was staring forward, his face betrayed the turmoil of his thoughts perfectly, so Gryffindor he couldn't help but smile. He's thinking that if he tells me why he's here I'll tell him why I'm here. Draco gave a small shake of his head while he tried to disguise the smile playing over his lips, Gryffindors were so naive. The boy next to him suddenly decided to come to a decision and turned abruptly to face Draco. Which left Draco staring at those swirling green eyes from only inches away. His breath caught in his throat, his own surprise was mirrored in the eyes before him but before he could analyse it further he turned away, scared of what Harry, no, Potter would see in his eyes. Potter had frozen but once Draco broke the eye contact he took a shaky breath and answered Draco's question; "Um…well, to cut a long story very short, I'm not exactly my Aunt and Uncle's favourite nephew, so when Dumbledore sent me a letter saying he wanted me to come here I jumped at the chance." He paused and Draco wondered how bad Harry's summers were, "But Dumbledore left me a letter this morning saying he had to leave for a few days So I'm not entirely sure why I'm here really." Draco could feel the emerald eyes boring into his skull, willing him to speak. He wasn't going to reply but he found himself opening his mouth and blurting out the reason for his presence. "It's my mother. She sent me here. She says this way I'll live through the war." He looked at the other boy, "Don't get me wrong, I never really wanted to be a Death eater, it's just what Lucius wanted. But once he was sent to Askaban I had sort of accepted that I would join. But about a week ago Mother came to see me and told me she was going to disown me so that I could leave the Dark Lord." His eyes were left moist with tears as he remembered his mother. He rested his head on his knees so Harry wouldn't see him cry again. He felt a warm arm around his shoulders and he let himself lean into it. "I doubt I'll see my parents again. One he's out of Askaban, the Dark Lord will kill Lucius. If he hasn't already, I'm sure he'll kill my mother too." He looked up at green eyes filled with sympathy, "Looks like we'll have something in common Harry. Both our parents will have been killed by the Dark Lord protecting us." He buried his face back into his knees.

Harry was having one of the most confusing days ever. First he had discovered Draco Malfoy was here, and then said Slytherin had acted contrary to everything Harry thought he knew about him. He had found himself hugging the Slytherin in the corridor, holding him as he cried. What he had said about them having something in common had struck a chord with Harry and for some reason he trusted the Slytherin now. Which was why he decided to invite him to stay in Gryffindor with himself. He didn't think the boy should be on his own right now. However he was still mildly surprised when he looked over to see the blond asleep on a couch in the Gryffindor common room. All this was confusing but what was most confusing to Harry was the moment when he had turned to explain to Draco why he was here and he had met those molten silver eyes from mere inches away. He had stopped breathing for a moment. Draco had looked equally surprised, he thought. He sat up straighter, he had just called him Draco again. But then hadn't the other boy called him Harry in the corridor? He watched the blond sleeping; with his face relaxed by sleep he looked more like he had in the library. Scowling makes him much less attractive, thought Harry, he's not making the best of himself. Harry swore softly, he wasn't attracted to Malfoy. He wasn't. He stared at the boy with a growing horror.

Draco woke first the next morning. He looked around, why was he in the Gryffindor common room? He saw Harry sitting on a chair not too far away and he remembered. He hadn't wanted to be alone and Potter had offered to let him stay in Gryffindor. There was a table set up on the other side of the common room with two place settings and a pile of food. So the house elves knew about his change in accommodation. He looked around at the portrait and hole and sure enough, just inside the entrance, was his trunk and broomstick. He stood and walked over to the sleeping boy; kneeling next to him he poked his shoulder gingerly. When he received no reaction he poked a little harder, "Ha-, I mean, Potter. Wake up." The raven-haired boy stirred and opened his vivid eyes. Seeing Draco he sat bolt upright and looked around. Draco laughed and walked over to the table, "Don't worry Potter, you invited me remember?" The other boy stood up and yawned as he walked over to join Draco, "Yeah I remember. I just didn't expect to wake up to see you." Draco pulled a funny face; he was sure that Potter was blushing but he ignored it and sat down to eat.

As he ate his breakfast Harry kept glancing covertly at the boy sitting across from him. He had been dreaming about the blonde in a way that convinced him that he was very attracted to Draco Malfoy. There was no way that the blonde would reciprocate his feelings though, sure, he might now begin to think of him as a friend but Draco Malfoy was proclaimed by all the girls in Slytherin, and quite a few in other houses to be a sex god. There was no way he could be gay. Harry shook his head he would have to be content with being friends. Friends with Draco Malfoy. He never thought those words would apply to him, it was strange to be sitting here eating breakfast with the man he had, only yesterday morning, thought of as his nemesis. He shook his head again. Malfoy was looking at him strangely, "Is there something wrong Potter? Only, if you keep shaking your head, you'll pass out." He smiled "As funny as that would be, I would lose the only person around here that I can converse with. So please, stop?" Harry blushed, "Sorry, I didn't realise I was doing it." He picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet that had been left next to the food. Across the front the words "Lestrange Spotted Near Scottish Border" was emblazoned. Underneath it was the picture of Bellatrix Lestrange that Harry had seen before on wanted posters. He passed it over to Draco without a word. The blonde glanced at the paper and his already milky complexion paled further. He looked at Harry and there was fear in his silver eyes. "D'you think she's coming here?" Draco shook his head "I just don't know. Aunt Bella is a little, unbalanced. She's unpredictable in all but one thing, she's fanatical about the Dark Lord and serving him. If she feels I've lapsed badly enough, which she almost definitely does, she may try to get to me." Harry stood up and walked to the portrait hole, "That's it we're going to find McGonagall." As he turned the portrait opened and admitted a rather flustered looking Professor McGonagall, "Potter, don't stand so close to the portrait hole!" She said in her thick accent. She spotted Draco and visibly sagged in relief. "Mr Malfoy! There you are! I had visions of you being snatched right from under my very nose and…well." She smoothed her robes, "What matters I suppose it that you're safe. I trust you have seen the newspaper?" Draco nodded mutely but Harry spoke, "That's why we were coming to get you Professor. What are we going to do?" She looked at him, "Do? We aren't going to do anything. Dumbledore is on his way back as I speak and I have set extra wards around the castle." She looked apologetically at the two boys, "You will have to remain in here until the headmaster arrives. I will seal the room and place extra wards around it. I'm sorry boys, I know there is some animosity between you but I trust by the fact that you were here together that this can be put behind you?" Without waiting for a reply she retreated out of the portrait hole with an assurance of "It will not be for long boys!" and then she was gone. Harry felt the pressure change and as the room was sealed. He turned to Draco "She sealed us in!" Harry touched the door and he felt a surge of magic before he was flung away from the wall and landed hard hitting his head on a table and passing out.