Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or settings in this story, as they are all the property of the wonderful J.K. Rowling, and Warner Brothers.
I would just like to apologize to all of you who have waited so long to read this chapter. I hope I haven't caused you to lose interest. I am incredibly sorry it took so long to get this out, but my beta reader insisted I rewrite the entire chapter. (i'm kind of glad I did, the other one was short) I made this one long for you guys so enjoy!
Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! Your love gives me the incentive to keep writing!
Warning: Slash! If you don't like guy on guy action, don't read the story!
\words/ denotes thought
Harry woke to a stream of sunlight on his face that had managed to get through the thick bed hangings. He groaned and rolled over, not wanting to get out of bed. Then he realized he couldn't hear anyone else moving about the room. He peeked through the gap in his bed hangings and was greeted by the site of an empty dormitory. He slowly dragged himself out of bed, threw on his school robes, and slowly trudged down to the Great Hall. He was dreading having to face Draco in Potions later.
As he walked into the Great Hall he saw Ron and Hermione and sat down across from them in his usual spot. Hermione gave him a pointed look.
"Harry, honestly, what is wrong with you? And don't try to tell me nothing because I've known you for almost 6 years now, and I think I can tell when something is." Hermione sat waiting for his reply while Ron shoveled more food into his mouth.
"Nothing is wrong, Hermione. I just haven't been sleeping well." Harry put his head down on the table, not really interested in the food. \How could I have been so incredibly stupid last night. I didn't want to make Draco think anything that wasn't true, and everyone knows he's gay. And I'm not./
"Harry does this have anything to do with Sirius? We know you miss him and hope you know you can talk to us about it." Hermione gently prodded.
"NO! Why does everyone keep asking me how I'm feeling about Sirius? First Dumbledore, then you guys? What is bothering me is no one will leave me alone about it!" With that Harry got up and stormed out of the Hall, and heading toward the Potions classroom. Classes would be starting soon so he wouldn't be there for long.
\Why does everyone keep asking me about Sirius? Can't they just leave me alone/ Harry started beating the back of his head against the wall.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up. I think there are plenty of other people who would do it for you." Draco came and casually leaned against the hard stone wall next to Harry. "What's wrong?"
Harry continued beating his head against the wall, ignoring Draco. Harry was still confused about everything that had happened the previous night.
"Harry, if you're ignoring me because of last night, I'm sorry. I never meant for anything to happen. I just want to be your friend." Draco Left it at that and pushed off of the wall as Professor Snape walked up. Snape looked as if he was surprised to see Harry there, with Draco, and they were not tearing each other limb from limb. He failed to comment however, as they walked into the dungeon and sat down.
Soon, everyone had filed in, the bell had rung, and Snape started class. "You will find your cauldrons exactly where you left them last time, and I think you will find they have matured enough for your next step. You know where everything is, begin." Snape sat at his desk and watched the students move about the room to collect the necessary things.
"I'll get the cauldron, if you can get the ingredients we need." Draco said to Harry, a sullen look on his face. Harry nodded and went to get the ingredients.
As class wore on, the boys barely spoke five words to each other. Harry did not want to speak to Draco, and Draco knew it. \What did I do wrong? I knew this was a mistake from the very beginning. Why would the Golden boy of Gryffindor want to be friends with me/
"Class is almost over, please start cleaning up, and place your cauldrons in the back." Snape announced with about 15 minutes left in class. As the boys were cleaning up, Draco bumped Harry, causing him to drop an empty vial. They bent down to clean it up, knocking heads.
"Watch what your doing, Malfoy. I don't need any more head injuries." Harry spat out, and with that sentence, things went back to the way they were before, at least for Harry. Draco looked startled. As Harry picked up a sliver of glass, it sliced deep into his finger. He winced as the deep maroon blood seeped from the cut to drip on the gray dungeon floor.
"Let me see." Draco said as he grabbed Harry's hand to examine the cut. Both boys felt the shock of energy that went through their bodies.
"Don't touch me!" Harry shoved Draco away, angry for no reason. "Don't ever touch me again!"
Harry got up and moved to the corner of the classroom to the stone basin, and rinsed his cut. He carefully removed the sliver of glass and let it run down the drain with the water. As he was drying his hands, the bell rang. He grabbed his things and walked toward the door, not even looking at Draco.
He caught up with Hermione and Ron, who didn't say anything as they walked towards Care of Magical Creatures. Harry saw Draco, Crabbe and Goyle walk past, Crabbe and Goyle guffawing loudly as Draco ignored them. Harry looked away and saw Hagrid feeding mice to what appeared to be rather large, spotted cats.
"Hagrid, what are those?" Harry asked as one of the cats hissed at him.
"Kneazles. Thought they would make an interesting lesson." Hagrid called the class to order, and had them break off into pairs of three; each with a kneazle and the Monster Book of Monsters open in there laps. The class passed in relative silence while they drew and labeled diagrams of the kneazle, which looked kind of like a spotted lion with large ears.
"Harry, I don't want to seem nosy, but are you sure nothing is wrong? I'm really worried about you." Hermione said as the kneazle curled up at Harry's feet and started purring loudly.
"Nothing is wrong. I'm just not getting enough sleep. And with Quidditch practice starting next week, I'm going to be getting even less." Harry was actually worried about practice starting the next week. He needed to stop having these dreams wake him up in the middle of the night before then. He needed to be in top form before the first match. He wanted the cup again.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Hagrid. "Ok. Class is over. You can bring your kneazles over here. Make sure you have your diagrams ready to hand in before next class."
Harry gathered his things and walked up toward the school with Ron and Hermione chatting about something or other. He blocked them out.
As they entered the Great Hall for lunch, he saw Draco walking towards them. "Err, Guys, I need to, um, go back up to the dorms. I, er, left my charms book up there. I'll see you later." With that Harry practically ran from Draco, clearly avoiding him.
-o-O-o-
After classes that day, Harry truly was exhausted. He needed sleep, but he also needed to do his homework. He had just managed to avoid Draco all day, once barely ducking into an empty classroom before he had been spotted. I don't need a friend around who is going to try to come on to me when he knows I'm not gay./ He thought on his way to the library, justifying his behavior to himself. As Harry entered the library, he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn't notice the silver eyes that followed his progression to the table in the corner. Harry set his things down on the table and went to gather the books he needed. When he returned to the table, Draco was sitting there waiting for him. Harry groaned inwardly.
"I've been looking for you all day. Are you avoiding me?" Draco asked quietly, as if he was afraid of the answer.
"Draco, um, maybe we… shouldn't be friends" Harry blurted out quickly, and then immediately felt guilty as he saw the sadness wash across Draco's face.
"Fine. If that's how you feel. Gryffindor's and Slytherin's don't make particularly good friends anyways. Gryffindor's expect too much." Draco got up from the table, grabbed his books and walked out of the library, an obvious droop in his step.
Now that you've read the chapter, I think you know what you should do! REVIEW! Reviews are like air to author's. So let me breath! ALOT!
You all owe your thanks for this long chapter to my best friend and lovely beta reader who catches most of my grammar and spelling errors before they get to you, Belle.
Luv ya guys!