Sorry I didn't get this out sooner. I've been busy this week with school... Had a nasty Cognitive Psych test on Wednesday that kicked my butt. Not good... Anyway, I did happen to get some writing done this week amidst all the chaos. I have another chapter ready to be typed up, so that should be up next week. I know, this chapter isn't super long, but it's the best I can do at the moment. Read on and enjoy!
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Insomnia
Chapter 4: Looks Can Be Deceiving
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What an insufferable day! Harry was more than thrilled when dinnertime arrived,
because that meant his classes were done for the evening. It wasn't that he disliked
his classes. It was just that he had been having trouble concentrating lately, mostly
due to his abominable quality of sleep. Lucky for him that his friends always helped
him in class when he started to doze or space out, which was happening more and
more frequently.

Sighing wearily, Harry plopped down at the already crowded Gryffindor table and
began blindly piling food onto his plate.

"You all right there, Harry?" Ron asked in concern as Harry tried to stab his goblet
of pumpkin juice with a fork.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," he said brightly, stuffing his mouth full of bread pudding as if
to prove his point.

Ron and Hermione exchanged uncertain glances. They didn't know whether or not
to believe Harry, but they just shrugged it off and continued eating.

Hermione didn't want to push Harry's strange behavior. Even now, his strange
behavior was becoming his normal behavior. She knew that he was still suffering from
You-Know-Who's final attack. Who wouldn't be? She suppressed a shudder. She just
wished that Harry would talk to her, Ron, anyone, to release some of that pent-up rage
and fear.

But Hermione knew better. Harry wouldn't talk until he was good and ready. So
she watched him, every day becoming more and more withdrawn from them but trying
harder and harder to act normal. Harry may have been able to fool Ron, but not her.
Never her.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Hermione happened to glance at the Slytherin table.
She was surprised to see that Malfoy was not in the thick of the House's conversation.
In fact, he wasn't at the table at all. "Hey guys, Malfoy isn't at dinner."

"So? It's not our jobs to keep tabs on the ruddy bastard." Ron said with contempt,
slamming a fist on the table and upsetting a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Hey!" came the protests of a handful of Gryffindors who got soaked.

"It is if he's up to something," Hermione reminded him.

Ron launched into a tirade about having to baby-sit the Slytherin, but Harry tuned
him out. For some reason, this nagging feeling developed in the pit of his stomach. It
was not a feeling he liked, and he knew that it had something to do with his arch-rival.

All throughout dinner, he couldn't shake the feeling, and it was unnerving him. That
decided it then and there. After dinner, he was going to find Malfoy and make sure he
was all right. Why did he care, anyway? He had no earthly idea. Maybe it was
because he was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and that was how he was supposed
to react. No, that wasn't it. Maybe it was because he felt pity for the other boy. No,
that definitely wasn't it.

Harry made sure to keep his seat until his friends had finished eating. Following
them back to the common room, he headed straight for the trunk at the end of his bed.
Retrieving the Marauders Map, his emerald gaze searched methodically for the bright
glowing dot accompanying Malfoy's name. So far he was having less than no luck.
There were too many people milling about.

At last Harry spotted the name in a section of the school he had never been in. It
was upstairs, in the opposite direction from Professor Trelawney's classroom. Why
would Malfoy be somewhere over there?

Throwing his friends some excuse about studying, Harry ducked out of the
common room and up the stairs, being careful to dodge the sets that moved. Once he
made it to the top of the stairs, Harry consulted the map once more. The Malfoy dot
was still there, at the end of the hallway. Harry took the corridor to the left, watching
his own Harry dot as it ambled along on the map. He still had a long way to go.

All of the doors looked the same down this hallway, and they gave no indication as
to what was hidden in the rooms behind them. He didn't guess they were classrooms,
since he never heard anyone talk about going in them. Well, that and the layer of dust
he was currently kicking up was a sufficient indication.

Glancing down at the map again, he saw that he was almost to the Malfoy dot,
which wasn't moving. Five rooms to go, then four... Two now... Finally he stood
outside the room that the Malfoy dot inhabited. Wasting no time, Harry slowly opened
the creaking door. He stepped into the dimly lit room, temporarily halting in his search
so that he could survey what he had just stumbled upon.

The room was quite large, and it was decorated in reds and golds. Off to the side
was a tall four-poster bed with a gold coverlet and canopy. A mahogany table with
intricate carvings sat next to it, while a matching chest of drawers stood across the
room. Straight ahead were a couple of deep orange-red cushioned chairs, both facing a
fireplace that was lit.

This was what reminded Harry of the task at hand. Slowly he made his way
across the room, cautiously approaching the sitting area. One of the chairs was
indeed occupied.

Draco's eyes were closed, his platinum hair brushing against his cheeks. Was he
sleeping? He didn't move when the door had opened. Harry stood in front of the chair,
debating what to do. Should he leave the boy alone? Should he wake him?

No, Harry didn't want to wake him. He looked quite peaceful in the chair.
Unconsciously, Harry reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from Draco's face.

Suddenly he was met with the cool blue gaze of the other boy. "Potter?" Draco
asked incredulously.

With a slight flush, Harry slowly pulled his hand back to his side. "I'm sorry," he
apologized. "I didn't know you were awake."

"I'm awake. I'm always awake." Draco was fully aware of what he was divulging to
the Gryffindor. Why bother keeping the secret any longer? It was slowly driving him
mad, anyway.

Harry's brain processed these words, storing them for later use. First he wanted to
gain the trust of his longtime enemy, if such a thing was possible. Sitting down in the
second chair, Harry couldn't help but ask, "What is this room?"

Draco seemed surprised by the question. "I thought you knew?" When Harry only
shook his head in reply, Draco continued. "This is Godric Gryffindor's old bedroom."

At the words, Harry paled. This was the bedroom of his House's founder? No
wonder it was adorned in Gryffindor colors! Just then Harry noticed a crest with a lion
hanging above the fireplace. There was no doubt about it now. "How did you find this
place?" he asked, awed.

"A couple of weeks ago, I was in Professor Trelawney's classroom. When I left, I
must not have been paying attention because I was soon lost. Since I was here
anyway, I decided to explore, and I found this room. After that, I would come up here
to get away from everyone and everything."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," Harry started to rise from his seat.

"It's all right. Stay," Draco offered, and he meant it, which threw him. Since when
did he not mind Potter's company? Since a while ago, he guessed. For whatever
reason, Draco didn't seem to hate the other boy like he used to, and this confused him
to no end.

Harry watched Draco closely, seeing the brief stir of emotions flash across his face
before settling on indifference once again. Maybe now he could get him to talk.
"Malfoy, what's going on?" he asked gently.

Blinking at the question, Draco sighed. He knew he would eventually have to
explain himself, but that didn't make the task any easier. "I can't sleep. I have
insomnia."

Insomnia? That would explain Malfoy's strange behavior these past couple of days,
not to mention the potions research. "Have you tried warm pumpkin juice or--"

"I've tried everything," Draco interrupted, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice
but failing miserably. "This isn't a short-term thing. I haven't slept in twenty-two days
now."

Harry gaped openly. Twenty-two days? "But-but that's over three weeks!" he
sputtered stupidly.

"Good counting skills! Give the man a prize," Draco spit out sarcastically.

"I didn't mean--"

"I know. Sorry."

There he went again, using an un-Malfoy-like gesture. Harry could feel something
akin to understanding. In more respects, he had a problem similar to the Slytherin's.
Sure, he slept physically, but it was always ruined by nightmares of death and
destruction. Harry stopped, an idea forming. Maybe the reason Malfoy couldn't sleep
was because something happened to him three weeks ago. It was worth asking about.

"Maybe," Harry started quietly, "maybe something happened?" When Draco
looked at him questioningly, he rushed on. "To cause your insomnia, I mean. Did
anything happen three weeks ago that affected you?"

'What would affect me?' Draco thought in all seriousness. He was Draco Malfoy,
the richest student in school, the brilliant Slytherin, the son of Lucius Malfoy, the son of
a... "Father," he whispered, swallowing hard.

Leaning forward, Harry listened closely to the other boy. He didn't want to interrupt
for fear of scaring Malfoy off. Harry knew that whatever he was about to hear
desperately needed to be said.

Draco had never been one to share information about his personal life, especially
about his feelings, but he needed to get this out. His thoughts were swimming in his
head, starting to hum. He knew the only way to get rid of them was to confront them.

"My father. Three weeks ago, he was hauled off to Azkaban." Why hadn't he
made the connection before? It had been quite the drama at the time. Cornelius
Fudge and other Ministry officials had burst into their home with hard evidence that his
father had been supporting the Dark Lord. For his actions, Lucius Malfoy would spend
the rest of his days imprisoned. And Draco didn't care.

Once his father realized that Draco had no intention of joining Voldemort's quest to
rule, Draco had been virtually disowned. The split was a double-edged sword for him.
On one hand, he did not have to support the side of Evil. On the opposite end of the
spectrum, though, his home life had been destroyed. When he turned his back on his
father, Draco had also turned his back on his mother. He went days, sometimes
weeks, without seeing either of them. And when they did happen to run into each other
by chance, one person ignored the other.

When his dad was taken away, his mother had also left the house. She just
disappeared one day and never came back home. Apparently the house-elves reported
this to the Ministry, and they informed Dumbledore. This was how Draco found out.
He had been pulled out of Arithmancy that morning and taken to the headmaster's
office. When he heard the news, he didn't get angry. He didn't break down into
hysterical sobs. He didn't do anything.

Since he was almost a legal adult and had no living relatives, the Ministry decided
that Draco could live on his own. He had technically inherited millions along with
Malfoy Manor, but he had no intentions of going back there anytime soon. Just the
thought of being in that huge place alone, save the house-elves, was enough to make
him shudder. He was now alone, completely alone.

And he told Harry this. He told Harry everything, about his parents and the way he
felt, about feeling empty inside, about not knowing who he was supposed to be now.

Harry just listened. He sat patiently while Draco spilled forth his secrets,
discarding them one by one into the air to be carried away. At one point, while he was
talking about his mother, Draco has this look on his face like he might break down.
Not knowing what else to do, Harry reached over and placed a hand reassuringly on
Draco's arm. The blonde gave a brief look of surprise before continuing on with his
story.

The words came tumbling out of Draco's mouth faster and faster. He wanted to get
rid of them, to make these feelings go away. Because the fact was, he did care. Sure,
he knew he was better off on his own than with his parents, but he wasn't ready to be
alone. He told Harry so.

"But you're not alone," Harry told Draco, hand still on his arm. "You have the rest
of your House, Dumbledore, even Snape." He tried to say this last name without
curling his lips into a sneer but didn't quite pull it off.

At this, Draco gave a weak grin. "He's not as bad as you think," he defended his
House leader.

"He took points from me after I brought you to your dorm the other day."

"Well then, maybe I'll do something to lose points so we'll be even again. It's only
fair, you know, since you were helping me."

"Just think of this as a free one. Next time you need my help, though, it'll cost you."

"And what makes you think there'll be a next time?" Draco demanded, feigning insult.

Harry smiled. "Don't worry, There's always a next time." Removing his hand from
Draco's arm, he glanced at his watch and sighed. "We should probably head back.
It's getting late."

"It's not that late," Draco argued. He briefly wondered why he was even trying to get
the other boy to stay. Maybe it was because he enjoyed the other's company, or he
felt calm around him. Or maybe, just maybe, it was something else entirely.

He just didn't want to be alone yet again.

Sensing this, Harry had a quick debate in his head. Technically, he should just
leave. They were in a part of the school he was pretty sure they weren't supposed to
be in, and it would be curfew in another hour or so. Not only that, but he was with
Draco Malfoy, of all people!

Then again, when had Harry ever cared about being in a place he wasn't supposed
to be in? And he snuck out after curfew all the time. And sure, he was with Draco
Malfoy, of all people, but that was all right.

More importantly, Harry wanted to be there.

Settling back into the chair's soft cushions, Harry noticed the look of relief that
crossed Draco's face. With that one glance, he knew it was going to be an interesting evening.
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There ya go, some insight into Draco's problems. Poor guy didn't even realize where his own problems were coming from. Must've been that craziness from the lack of sleep. Anyway, I know there's no wonderfully fluffy action going on yet, but I believe the chapter after next will have some good stuff. Please review! I post faster that way, I really do. And I love hearing your opinions!