A/N: Hey everyone! So, uhm, I've actually written this chapter for two weeks now, right after I posted Chapter 6, but silly Fanfiction wouldn't let me sumbit a document and only now it's working properly. Anyway, this chapter is quite the calm one, compared to the other ones xD I wanted to give the new trio a break. ^-^

Have fun reading!

P.S.: Thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed this story, you guys never cease to amaze me with all the emails I get about each new chapter I post, you guys make my day every time I see anything about this story because I'm really really attached to it. Hehe.
So, thank you, lovelies 3

Warning(s): For this chapter only a bit of language and I think no trigger warnings apply for this chapter.
Words: ~4.700


Chapter 7


"You think you're special because they want to thank you?"
"You've failed them again, Harry Potter. You truly have."
"They recognized you again. Everywhere you go, they know you."
"The great savior is nothing but a pathetic loser!"
"You're the reason they're all dead!"
"Dumbledore used you!"
"You're a murderer, Harry Potter."

Harry's body was shaking fully. His vision was blurred and his hands were clutching his head, tears making their way down his cheeks.

"Stop…" he whispered weakly, trying to block out the voices by talking over them.

"Again, Harry Potter, you're recognized as the savior! Some savior! You're useless! You didn't save anyone, you let them all die! They're all dead! You just died in the middle of the battle, leaving them behind!"

The voices kept adding to the images that flashed in his head.

"Stop it already! Shut up!" he screamed, the tears blinding him, his whole existence hurting. He needed to find something sharp. He needed to cut, he needed to direct the pain elsewhere, he didn't care about his hands but his head was vibrating from the pain and he couldn't handle it any longer. He had to find a way to hurt himself on another spot so his head would stop hurting from the awful images and flashbacks and the voices. The voices were the worst part.

The bathroom door swung open and Harry didn't even bother looking up. He tried to move away, get to a stall from where he was sat on the floor, but instead a pair of slender arms wrapped around him tightly, holding him with his back to the person's chest.

"Shh, it's okay."


A few hours prior


The weekend had finally arrived, and Harry was sat at breakfast with Hermione and Draco.

Ever since Draco had healed him in the Room of Requirement and not said anything about his condition, he'd been feeling less miserable.

The truth was that he hadn't cut in three days, and he hadn't had such strong flashbacks recently either. He'd only just felt empty, which was what he usually felt. Emptiness was much better than anything else. He was well aware that he needed help, but he didn't want to bother anyone, so he just kept quiet about it.

He nibbled on a piece of toast as he looked around the Great Hall, noticing that not many students were there. Very few students from the fifth year and above were sat for breakfast, sitting in small groups. The majority of students were kids that were in lower grades, but the Great Hall definitely had a buzz to it.

"Where's everyone from our year?" he asked. Nobody from the eighth year seemed to be around, and the students weren't that many anyway.

Draco looked up at the question, being slightly startled. "They're probably off to Hogsmeade, or studying in the castle," he replied nonchalantly.

Harry bit into his toast more as he thought it over. "I wanna go to Hogsmeade." He announced and got up.

"What, now?" Hermione questioned as she looked away from her book.

"Yes. Can we go?" Harry said.

"Alright…" Hermione mumbled, getting up. "Draco, are you coming?" she asked the blond.

"I'll join you." Draco said and stood as well.

The three of them walked out of the Great Hall, heading outside.

"We can take the shortcut." Harry suggested.

"What shortcut?" Draco questioned.

"Through the Shrieking Shack. How about it, 'Mione?" Harry said.

Hermione seemed to be thinking of it for a bit before finally smiling. "Alright, I guess we can take the shortcut." She said with a grin.

She went first and the two boys followed after her, walking through the grounds of Hogwarts in silence. They went to the secret passage that was rebuilt after the war and went through it, going underground.

"That's insane," Draco breathed. "How many passages are there?" he asked as they walked through the tunnel, wands in hand and lit up.

"A lot, actually. But they're quite old," Hermione stated.

"Well, it's been here since my dad and mum were at school, so…" Harry said quietly.

"How do you know?" Draco asked.

"I assumed so because the passages are old," Harry lied.

Draco huffed. Harry was a horrible liar, but he didn't persist on the matter any more. "You need to stop being so secretive."

"Can't help it, Malfoy," Harry replied and kept walking.

Draco simply rolled his eyes, muttering something about Harry being an insuferable Gryffindor under his breath.


Soon enough they reached Hogsmeade and were walking on the main street, looking around.

"So, where do you want to go?" Hermione asked.

"Honeydukes." Harry replied.

Hermione sighed. "You and your sweet tooth."

Draco remained silent until they reached the shop, looking around and shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat. It was already the middle of October, and the weather was starting to get chilly.

They walked up to the store and got in. Harry started going from shelf to shelf, observing all the sweets and picking out some that he liked. He got a pack of chocolate bites filled with caramel and also some licorice wands. He went up to the registry and paid for them before reuniting with the other two.

Draco looked at the sweets Harry had bought. "What's in those?" he asked, pointing at the chocolate bites.

"Caramel," Harry replied, stuffing some of them in his mouth. "Want some?" he offered.

"No, I'm good."

Hermione had gone and bought herself a chocolate frog but Draco hadn't picked out anything.

"Won't you get anything?" she asked him.

Draco shook his head. "Although I do enjoy sweets, I buy them on very rare occasions."

Hermione gave him a puzzled look. "Well, it is kind of a rare occasion. We don't go to Hogsmeade every day. I think you should get something, even if you don't want to eat now," she advised.

He sighed. "Wait for me outside." He said and went over to the shelves to get something for himself.

Hermione chuckled and pulled Harry out of the shop, watching him bite a licorice wand.

"He's really something." She said.

"Mmm..." Harry hummed.

"Have you guys started getting along at all? I've had a few chats with him, and he's changed a lot since... last year." She said, quickly changing what she wanted to say.

"Well, he's not as a much of a prick as he used to be. He's a quiet roommate, really." Harry mumbled, taking out another licorice wand and biting one end.

Hermione smiled. That was the most words he'd said to her in a long time. She had become really worried with his behavior after the war, imagining what it must've been like for Harry now that it was all over. She knew in how much pain he was that all these people were lost. With Remus and Tonks dying, she noticed he started mentioning Teddy a lot. And about Fred's death, she wasn't sure how Harry had taken that.

She knew that there was something going on with Harry. She was just waiting for him to talk to her because pressuring him always ended up in him not talking at all.

Thanks to the whole mix-up of the houses in the eighth year dorms, she was starting to get to know a lot of other students. She'd become friends with a Ravenclaw girl, and they spent a lot of time studying together for their final exams at the end of the year.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Draco announcing his presence. "Good, let's head to The Three Broomsticks then, now that you've got everything?" She said.

Draco nodded. He'd bought for himself a bag of sour apple bites and a few sugar quills along with a cylinder that had bright pink letters that read: "Pink Coconut Ice"

"What's that?" Harry asked, intrigued by the sweets.

"Fancy coconut cubes." Draco replied with a chuckle, opening the lid. "Try." He offered.

Harry reached into the tube and took a cube out, placing it in his mouth. He chewed for a bit before making a disgusted face, trying to get rid of the taste by chewing some of the chocolate bites. "It tastes awful." He gasped.

Draco laughed. "You should've seen your face, it was priceless."

Hermione chuckled at that, simply watching them interact. "Coconut isn't something you're used to, hmm?" She grinned.

Harry made a grimace but nodded. "Coconut is not my thing," He agreed.

Draco chuckled and closed the tube, putting it away into his pocket after shrinking it. He also put in his pocket the bag of sour apple bites and took out one green sugar quill, taking the wrapper off.

The three of them started heading towards The Three Broomsticks, all of them occupied with the sweets they'd gotten. Draco was religiously sucking on the sugar quill, determined to finish it before they reached The Three Broomstiks.

Harry's eyes travelled at the image of Draco sucking on the green sugar quill more than once, each time averting his eyes just in time before he could get caught. He really couldn't shake the image from his head and as they walked, it became more difficult to pay attention to the road in front of him. Draco sucking on a sugar quill was really the sight, he admitted to himself. The boy knew how to suck and he was doing a great job at it.

Harry shook his head and kept walking. He couldn't be attracted to Draco, could he? There was no way. He didn't feel any of the things that people claimed to feel when in love, and he'd never really felt in love with anyone either, as far as he could remember. Sure, he liked girls, but he never felt anything that was strong.

He was always too busy fighting, trying to end the war, trying to keep everyone safe. He sighed and lowered his head, continuing to walk by them. He was feeling somewhat better due to this trip to Hogsmeade.

He also missed spending time with Teddy. He wanted to floo to Andromeda's house but he didn't want to bother her without notice. A fire-call seemed a better idea and he could ask if she'd mind him dropping by. He decided that he'd do that as soon as he was back at the castle.

Harry didn't realize that he'd started spacing out, and even so whilst looking at Draco.

"What are you looking at?" the blond questioned, the sugar quill bobbing between his lips as he spoke, making Harry blush ever worse.

Harry felt as if his face was burning. "Nothing. Just spaced out." He muttered quickly, looking away.

Draco kept sucking on the sugar quill and soon enough they'd reached the Three Broomsticks. They all walked inside, heading towards a table.

"I'll go order for us." Hermione offered and went up to the bar without even asking them. She knew what they were having anyway, even though they were of age, it was too early to drink alcohol and butterbeer tasted nice.

Harry and Draco sat down across from each other. Draco had finally thrown away the sugar quill and Harry sighed in relief; he was starting to quetion whether it was even possible to be friends with Draco, let alone be anything else.

"It's been a long time since I've been here…" Harry muttered quietly, looking around.

Draco nodded. "Same. With everything that happened, you know… People didn't really give me a chance to come here, being the Death Eater scum and all," He said.

Harry sighed and started playing with a napkin from the container that was on the table. He fiddled with it for a bit, waiting until Hermione got back with their drinks.

"The weather's changing again these days." Draco noted.

Harry hummed. "Halloween's in two weeks," he muttered.

"Time flies." Draco said with a smile.

"Yeah, it does." Harry said, looking up again and seeing around him nervously. He didn't want anyone to start going on about how he saved the world and how he was the famous boy who lived and all those things they always said about him. He wanted to be just Harry for once, drinking a butterbeer with his best friend and Draco, discussing about stupid matters and not caring.

"So, you're interested in becoming a healer?" he asked the blond, turning to look at him. He figured that in order to be friends with Draco, he should ask about his interests to get to know him better. After all, he didn't know Draco at all.

Draco was surprised at the question."Yeah, actually I am. I've been studying a lot lately about it, and practicing spells." He said, clearing his throat and trying to hide the surprise in his voice.

Harry nodded and the conversation was interrupted by Hermione coming back to the table. "Our order will be here in a minute." She said with a smile.

"What did you get?" Draco asked.

"Butterbeers for all of us. It's going to take a few minutes though, because there are a lot of customers." She explained.

Harry couldn't shake the thoughts from his head. He was the one who said he and Draco should become friends. Hermione had told him he was nice and Draco had properly apologized at some point for the things he did. And then when Harry was in the Room of Requirement and he found out that Draco had healed him, he knew that he wasn't that bad.

He sipped his butterbeer in silence and listened as Hermione got in a conversation with Draco about something. He tried paying attention, but it sounded too complex for Harry and he just shrugged it off, looking around. And then he spotted her.

"Guys..." he whispered softly, making them stop talking.

"What is it?" Draco said in a similarly quiet voice, having sensed that something was serious in Harry's tone.

"Rita Skeeter." Harry replied silently, slightly bending his head towards her direction as he looked back at the two of them.

"What's she doing here? I thought the Ministry had her restrained." Hermione said under her breath.

"Whatever it is, she's not here for good. She better not see us." Harry muttered and looked at his drink, trying to hide his face.

Draco agreed to what Harry said. Rita Skeeter never meant any good for any of them. She'd written so much crap about all three of them, that if she saw them all gathered like this she'd write all about it in a newspaper and sell false information, thus turning even more people against all of them. He wasn't surprised that she was here.

"I say we split and leave the store one after another." Draco suggested.

"I could cast a Confundus on her while you two get out, I'll leave last." Harry said and both Draco and Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "What? You're not the only ones with a plan." He said quietly.

Hermione smiled. "Alright, I'll go first and make sure I cover my face on my way out. Her table is near the entrance, so, try to cast the spell as soon as I reach a close distance with her. Then, Draco will come out second and Harry last." She said, downing her butterbeer in a sip.

Harry nodded. "Sounds about right."

Draco sighed. "I hope your plan works, Potter." He muttered and watched Hermione getting up and pulling the collar of her coat towards her chin.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Draco asked when she left.

"Trust me." Harry said, glancing at him.

Draco nodded. "Do it, she's almost at the exit." He said.

Harry took out his wand and cast the spell wordlessly on Rita Skeeter, making her look away and get sidetracked, allowing Hermione to escape outside.

"Nice work. My turn," Draco said and got up, walking through the tables and keeping his face low, not wanting to be recognized by anyone else.

As soon as Harry saw him reaching the exit, he cast the spell again, feeling glad that it succeeded. The only thing left was him getting out. He wasn't good at glamour spells and he'd forgotten to ask Hermione to cast one, but even Rita Skeeter would be able to tell if she saw him. So, he had to count on her not seeing him. He really would hate the mess it'd create.

He sat up, leaving his butterbeer behind, and since Hermione had already told them she paid for them beforehand, he started walking slowly. He lifted the collar of his coat as well and kept his head faced towards the floor, wand at hand on his side.

He was just reaching the exit and he tried aiming at the woman, only to find out she'd left her seat. He lifted his head and looked around carefully. He was quite sure she had vanished or gone somewhere else before he heard a voice.

"Mr Potter, lovely to see you here!" a man's voice came from the bar. The man was sitting on a barstool, and he smiled at Harry. He was holding a big glass filled with dark beer, his wand at the other hand against his knee but not in a threatening position. Harry started feeling uncomfortable and he nodded his acknowledgement at the man before his way got blocked.

"Found you!" a female voice said and Harry got startled.

"Skeeter." Harry hissed. "Let me go through." He said, trying to walk past her and keep himself from shaking.

"Not so fast, little Harry." She smiled and clicked her fingers. A wizard came up to her with a camera, snapping a picture of Harry. The flash blinded him and he started feeling a knot in his throat.

"Tell us, savior-boy. What's it like, knowing you've taken down a dark wizard? Is it rewarding? Is it making your self-esteem explode?" she grinned.

"Leave me alone." Harry croaked, his throat starting to burn. There was a sudden movement that startled Harry even more, but that one was from Rita Skeeter's pen and notebook that started spewing lies on paper.

"Why are you behaving this way? I'm sure you got your revenge after all. Dumbledore used you, so many of your loved ones died, the war ended but people are still chasing Death Eaters. Come on, you must feel something!" she pressured.

Harry backed away from her, tugging on his shirt for air and starting to panic. Everything around him was starting to become blurry, and his heart was beating fast. "Leave me alone, please, I did what I had to do, I didn't want anyone to get hurt…" he muttered.

Skeeter's pen started writing furiously on the paper and the woman looked pleased. "Well, I've got one more question for you dear. Did it feel good killing You-Know-Who?" she grinned and pushed her glasses up on her nose.

"No, no, I just did what I had to do." He said, the air becoming heavy around him. He backed away even more, running into the bathroom.

He tripped and landed face first on the floor, gasping for air. "No, no, no stop…" he breathed, clutching his head.

Voices started filling his mind, and images flashed through his eyes. Green lights and screams were the main theme.

"You think you're special because that man wanted to thank you?"
"You've failed them again, Harry Potter. You truly have."
"They recognized you again. Everywhere you go, they know you."
"The great savior is nothing but a pathetic loser!"

"You're the reason they're all dead!"
"Dumbledore used you!"
"You're a murderer, Harry Potter."

Harry's body was shaking fully. His vision was blurred and his hands were clutching his head hard, tears sliding down his cheeks.

"Stop…" he whispered weakly, falling to his knees and trying to block out the voices.

"Again, Harry Potter, you're recognized as the savior! Some savior! You're useless! You didn't save anyone, you let them all die! They're all dead! You just died in the middle of the battle, leaving them behind!"

The voices kept adding to the images flashing in his head.

"Stop it already! Shut up!" he screamed, the tears blinding him, his whole existence hurting. He needed to find something sharp. He needed to cut, he needed to direct the pain elsewhere, he didn't care about his hands but his head was vibrating from the pain and he couldn't handle it any longer. He had to find a way to hurt himself on another spot so his head would stop hurting from the awful images and flashbacks and the voices. The voices were the worst part.

The bathroom door swung open and Harry didn't even bother looking up. He tried to move to a stall from where he was sat on the floor, but instead a pair of slender arms wrapped around him tightly, holding him with his back to the person's chest.

"Shh, it's okay."

Harry turned around to look at who was holding him and saw Draco. "Make it stop, please." He whispered at the blond.

Draco seemed to nod before pulling out his wand and placing the tip of his wand at Harry's temple, muttering a spell that Harry couldn't recognize in his confusion.

Soon enough, the spell calmed him down, sending the voices and flashbacks away, leaving Harry in a shuddering state.

"Let's get you out of here, Potter." The blond whispered and helped Harry up, holding him close. He put a cloak over Harry and held him tight as he walked out. The cloak hid Harry's face and Draco had glamoured his face already.

They made it out of the store and got reunited with Hermione. "What happened to him?" she gasped, seeing Harry completely incoherent.

"Let's just get him back to the castle. I'll take care of it, don't worry." Draco reassured, holding Harry up.

Harry's whole body felt weak and he needed to be alone. He wanted to be alone so badly so he could cut, but being held up by Draco felt comforting. He hadn't felt comfort in a long time.

His eyelids betrayed him and his eyes fell closed, his body feeling numb suddenly.

"Harry?! Harry!" a voice came from far away and Harry felt himself falling. Everything blacked out.


"That evil bitch, I should've forced her into that trial from years ago when she harassed Harry the same way as now!" Hermione was shouting, a rhythmic sound of her pacing filling the room.

Harry was unconscious on his bed and Draco was sitting next to him, trying to figure out what had happened to him.

"Hermione, calm. We need to figure out what she did to him. I'll see his memories, make sure that he doesn't wake up before I finish watching them." Draco ordered before casting Legilimens on Harry, diving into his memories.

He was looking at Harry having his way blocked by Rita Skeeter and then a photographer coming up to him. He looked around at the scene, searching for people who would have a wand out or anything suspicious.

He then noticed a man on a barstool that was sitting by the bar, drinking dark beer. He had his wand out against his knee, pointing it at Harry.

Draco watched the man closely and soon enough, the man cast a spell at Harry. Stupidly enough, the man didn't do it wordlessly, so Draco could hear the spell.

He gasped as he was violently forced out of Harry's memories, gasping at the loss of the connection.

"Make it stop!" Harry was begging, clutching his head again and Draco was left on the floor, panting heavily.

"I thought I told you to keep him asleep!" he shouted at Hermione.

"He woke up and I didn't even have time to act, I'm sorry!" Hermione said in panic.

"Alright, let me just do my job." Draco said in a calmer tone and walked up to Harry. "Harry, look at me. Look at me, I'll fix this, I'll make it stop, just look at me," He said calmly and grabbed his arms softly, trying to pull them away from his head.

"Make it stop…" Harry whimpered, his eyes filling with tears.

Draco looked at him in the eyes, his cold gray ones meeting Harry's vibrant green. Harry really was in a horrible amount of pain. "Finite incantantem," He whispered, pressing the wand at Harry's head.

Harry's eyes calmed and his tears stopped, his body relaxing. "W-What just happened?" he breathed.

"That guy that you saw at The Three Broomsticks. He cast a spell on you. It's extremely dark magic and it's used for torturing victims with images and flashbacks of traumatizing things they've been through. It is used in victims who have had something majorly traumatizing to extract information from them whilst torturing them, offering to finish the spell if they reveal information." Draco explained quietly.

Hermione looked at Draco and sat down on a chair. "The Reminiscing Curse." She muttered.

Draco nodded. "I read about it when I was going through the chapters referring to mind healing. I've done some research on it, and the only way to end it so far is by using Finite Incantantem. The victims are usually left in a traumatized state, both their mind and body suffering from the flood of memories going through their brain."

Harry shuddered and pulled his knees to his chest, hiding his face against his knees. "Stop," he whispered weakly.

Draco swallowed hard. "I'll go get you some tea," he offered.

"I don't want tea, just leave me be!" Harry shouted, his whole body shaking again.

Draco sighed and stood up. "I'll be back in 5 minutes," He said and motioned Hermione to follow him.

"Is he going to be okay after this?" she asked as soon as they were outside, standing in the hallway.

Draco rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily. "I don't know. I've not researched it that extensively, but he'll recover. I'll make sure he does," he said stubbornly.

"You really care for him, do you?" She asked with a small smile as they walked down a set of stairs.

"No, I do not! He's my first patient. I want to become a Healer, so he's the person I'm working with for practice. I'm not experimenting on him, if that's your concern. He's got real issues he needs to deal with and if I can help whilst practicing at the same time, I won't hesitate. It's not about caring, it's about wanting to heal people." Draco argued, his face turning slightly red.

Hermione smiled. "Go get him that tea. I'll go; I've got so much to study. Our trip to Hogsmeade was fun, Draco," she said with a smile and waved goodbye at him, heading back inside, to the eighth year tower.

Draco sighed. "Can't believe she can be my friend after all I did to her…" he muttered to himself. The war had made him realize that life was more than bullying people that others told you to hate. He'd made sure to apologize to her during one of the times they'd sat together at the library, and she'd started forgiving him slowly.


Harry was curled on his side, his back to the room and his face hidden under his pillow when Draco entered their room.

"Harry?" he called softly.

Harry slowly pulled the pillow from over his head and looked over his shoulder. He saw Draco looking at him, holding a steaming mug in his hand.

"I don't want tea," he grumbled and looked away again.

"You need to drink what I got you. Do it for me," Draco said and left it at Harry's bedside table, going over to the desk the room had, taking out a book.

Harry slowly shifted and looked at Draco. The blond had sat on the desk without a word and seemed to be studying. He slowly moved, crawling on his bed towards the bedside table and looking at the drink. It seemed tasty. He took a sip and closed his eyes. The taste was good.

"Thanks." He called.

"Don't mention it," Draco said, scribbling something on a parchment.

"Are you doing homework?" Harry asked silently.

"Yes, I am. I've got a two page essay for Monday on healing spells for third degree burns and possible alternatives for non-skilled spell casters," He said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I'll leave you to it," Harry said quietly and kept sipping at his tea.

He already felt better. The tea had calmed him down a bit. He sat back on his pillows, bending his knees close to his stomach and holding the mug with two hands as he sipped.

Draco stayed at the desk for many hours, scribbling and deleting things, but he was honestly enjoying what he was doing.

Harry had fallen asleep, curled in a ball on his bed. He'd finished the tea Draco got for him.

Draco finally got up from the desk, having finished his essay and being quite pleased with it. He stretched his arms over his head and looked over at Harry. He'd put a bettered version of Dreamless Sleep that he'd developed, one that would allow Harry to avoid getting nightmares in his sleep.

He smiled to himself and went to his bed, starting to undress. He folded his clothes on a neat pile and placed them in his drawer, staying in only his boxers and getting under blankets like that. He stared at the ceiling for a bit, thinking of how peaceful Harry was sleeping and realizing he could keep doing it, so Harry could finally get some sleep.

He tossed around in his bed for a bit, before drifting off to sleep.


A/N: That was it! I hope you enjoyed :3
~Ven