A/N: Hey guys here's another chapter of this story. It would have been up sooner, but I was camping this weekend and very, very busy. You'll probably see some updates from me between now and tomorrow night because I'm leaving to go to Seattle on Tuesday. A friend and I are meeting another friend up there to go to the Half Blood Prince premiere! I am so freaking excited!!!! Anyway, enjoy this chappy and it's from Harry's point of view. Also, chocolate chip pancakes from last chapter are Tom Felton's personal favorite just FYI :) Enjoy!
Chapter 3: A New Friend?
I stared up at my nemesis surprised to see him in my kitchen and smiling at me, kindly at that. I had no idea what he was doing there, but when I looked around I remembered everything. I had a serious breakdown last night on my nineteenth birthday in front of Draco Malfoy of all people. How embarrassing. He understood though. Nothing like I expected. I imagined him going back to his flat and calling up all his former housemates and sharing with them all that thee great Harry Potter has finally cracked up and it's time to break out the champagne, but here he was, in all his glory, lending an ear to me. It's amazing really. I realized that I had been thinking that a lot in regards to Draco. Oh, now he's Draco, how interesting. Well he might as well be. I'm Harry to him now and considering he watched me breakdown and he was still here the next day that must make him more than just Malfoy. What an upside down world I was in at the moment.
He shooed me to the shower then offered to make me breakfast. Malfoy, I mean Draco, was making me breakfast. It was, well, only one word to describe it, amazing. I welcomed the time to myself once I shut my bedroom door behind me. Not that I was annoyed that Draco was in my flat once again because I found that I actually appreciated it. It's for damn sure Hermione and Ron weren't here making sure I lived through the night. I glanced at the clock noting that it was rather early and maybe I wasn't giving them the benefit of the doubt. It didn't matter. I'd explain it away and things would be fine once again. They would go back to their busy lives and I would go back to wallowing in self pity every night. Maybe not with firewhiskey, but maybe chocolate or biscuits or something, not that those choices would be any better.
I stepped into my bathroom and into the shower. My body hurt badly and as soon as the warm water hit me I moaned at the way it felt against my tense muscles. I wondered if Draco was really here out of concern for me or if he just wanted to be the first to know that I had finally kicked the bucket. The more I thought about it I realized that I didn't want to die. I was very depressed, I'd admit that, but I didn't work so hard to rid the world of Voldemort to just take myself out of it. I know my friends love me, but they do have lives outside of me. I guess I need to find something more out of my life and get out of the rut I'm in. Maybe join a writing class or a book club or something. I grimaced at the thought of that. It wasn't really high on my list of wants. I'd figure it out eventually.
I turned off the shower and reached for my towel. I slipped it around my waist and opened the bathroom door and nearly had a heart attack when I saw Draco standing in the middle of my room. He looked like he was heading towards the bathroom. He stared at me, his eyes as wide as saucers. I felt myself blushing as his eyes carefully looked from my dripping wet hair to my feet where the water was pooling. He blushed then too.
"Sorry, I was, uh…." he closed his eyes for a minute taking a deep breath and then he opened them again, schooling his features. "Breakfast is ready," he finished and then he turned around and left my room closing the door behind him. I stood there for a moment, speechless. Had he just seen me like this or was I imagining things? Not sure why it bothered me so much I mean it's not like I've never been seen like this by anyone else. For some reason though I was more bothered by Draco seeing me this way than anyone else and I wasn't sure if it was a bad bother either. I shook my head and quickly dried off. This was a bit much for me to wrap my head around.
When I walked out of my bedroom Draco was sitting at my small dining table that was really only meant for one. I could still see a bit of pink in his cheeks and it brought mine back. This was a weird, weird day. The smell of the food distracted me and I grinned. He had made my favorite breakfast food.
"Wow this is great! This is my absolute favorite breakfast food!" I exclaimed as I sat down in front of him happily and began cutting into them. He looked up at me in surprise. "What?" I asked with a mouthful of pancake.
"These are your favorite?" He asked quietly.
"Of course. They're the best, although I can never make them this good. Think you could make them every day for me?" I joked.
His eyes widened and I stopped chewing to stare at his confused look. Did I say something that bothered him? I quickly thought through the brief conversation and found nothing that was really of concern.
"Um, these are my favorite too. Sorry I think you're the first person I've met who's actually had these as a favorite. I'm glad you like them," Draco responded. He said it in a way that seemed peculiar, but I couldn't quite pinpoint why it sounded so strange. I smiled and continued eating happily. He ate as well, I think, but it seemed that he was staring at me more often then eating.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" I asked him.
He blushed again which I found amusing. I've never seen him blush before today. "Sorry, it's like I'm looking at you for the first time or something," he murmured thoughtfully.
I didn't know what to make of that statement. It was too early to even begin to decipher it so I pushed it away for now. We continued eating in silence and this time he didn't even look at me. It bothered me almost as much as his staring at me, but I noticed that it felt differently. I really had no idea how to explain this weird morning with him.
"Oh and sorry about earlier in my room. Usually I am all dry and dressed before I come out of the bathroom, but I forgot to grab some clothes before going in there. Of course then again I wasn't expecting you to come in," I teased. I watched his expression change as I brought that up. He blushed again and shifted in his seat. That caught my attention more than the blush.
"Its fine, I just wanted to let you know that breakfast was ready. I should have just waited or something. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable," He said quietly.
I scrunched my eyebrows together at his comment. I hadn't been uncomfortable at all. It's not like he's the first bloke to see me that way so I told him that. "Well, it didn't make me uncomfortable per se. I mean it's not like you're the first bloke to see me like that," I answered with a shrug. I didn't want to admit to the thoughts that it did evoke that I kept completely to myself. I thought for a moment that he knew those thoughts with the way he was looking at me now.
"You mean that you've been seen, like that, from another bloke?" He asked me incredulously.
"Um yeah, did you guys have separate showers in the dungeons at Hogwarts or something?" I asked just as incredulous.
Draco sighed in what looked like relief and relaxed. He chuckled and shook his head. "No we did not have separate showers. I just thought you meant, you know, outside of Hogwarts," he replied with a blush.
I twisted my face up in confusion as I processed what he meant. When it finally hit me I knew my face was burning red. "Um…no…no one has ever, what I mean is that," I cleared my throat and blew out a puff of air blowing my bangs up. "No one has ever seen me, well like that, ever," I finished. He nodded slowly and I knew I was still blushing deeply. Could this be any more awkward all of a sudden? He studied me for a moment.
"Well then I guess it's just my lucky day," He said with a laugh. I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment and he laughed a bit harder. We were interrupted by a knock on the door. I looked up knowing who was probably going to be on the other side. I sighed and started to get up, but Draco reached out and touched my arm stopping me. I was shocked by the warmth of his touch because I always imagined that it would be ice cold. It was a good feeling though. It seemed that he noticed it too. He stood and walked to the door. I felt the absence of his touch and I found myself wanting it back.
I watched as he opened the door and of course who I thought would be there was. Before I could blink I had a face full of bushy brown hair. She was mumbling into my chest and then stepping back and placing her hands on my face and mumbling some more. I had no idea what she was saying except that she was crying profusely.
"Oh Harry! You're okay! I was so worried! Don't ever do that to me again! You need to talk to me!" Hermione wailed.
I stared at her feeling a bit angry. "If you were so concerned why didn't you come back last night?" I asked, ice dripping from my words. She stepped back and stared at me in shock. She was biting her bottom lip.
"Harry, you told me to leave. I wanted to respect your wishes," She whispered.
I stared at her and sighed. I couldn't be mad at her for this. It was my fault. "I'm sorry Mione. It's my fault. I shouldn't have kept it in for so long," I replied hanging my head. I heard Draco gasp from the doorway. I looked up at him and he looked angry.
"Harry, no. It's not your fault. You've been hurting for so long and I should have paid more attention. I just became too wrapped up in my life. I'm so sorry," She whispered again. She looked at me with those big, brown pleading eyes of hers and I couldn't help, but believe her. I pulled her into a hug and when I looked up from her I saw a pained expression on Draco's face that I didn't understand. Man he was putting me through the ringer with all his crazy emotions.
"Well what are we going to do then? I know you won't always want to talk to me or Ron, but you need to have another avenue to get your feelings out," Hermione said. She placed a hand on her chin as she thought about what I could do.
"I've got Draco. He's offered to lend his ear if I need it and he also suggested writing in a journal. I think I might try that as well," I said to her. I glanced back at Draco who had replaced his pained expression with a smug smile. I chuckled and Hermione turned to look at Draco and then back at Harry.
"I didn't realize that you two were becoming such good friends," Hermione said unsurely.
I smiled at him then and he returned the smile. Hermione looked between us again. "He came back and stayed here all night and he made my favorite breakfast without even knowing it was my favorite."
Hermione's eyes widened and she turned to Draco. "I didn't realize you cared so much," she said to him.
Draco's smile came off his face then and it was replaced by the similar coldness that I had seen when he was a child. "There's a lot that you don't realize about me Granger. Um, Harry I need to go to work so I'll see you around okay? I'm here if you need me. Don't forget that," Draco said.
"Thanks for staying and for making breakfast. I truly appreciate it," I said to him. I couldn't help but feel bummed that he was leaving. He nodded at me and then left my flat disappearing in the direction of his own. Hermione turned back to me and looked at me quizzically, but she didn't say anything.
"Well, are you ready to go or did you want to take the day off?" She asked me.
"Um no, let's go. I need to get out of here. We should find a journal for me," I said as we started walking towards my door. We walked out closing the door behind us and started heading down the hallway.
"We should stop at Luna's antique shop. I saw this great journal there that I think would be perfect," Hermione suggested. I nodded and followed her to the apparition point. I was feeling much better today and more able to handle life. I think a lot of that was because of Draco. I don't think he knows how much he helped me today, or maybe he does. If not I am going to tell him. He deserves to know that he saved my life last night.