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Chapter 10

Draco trudged slowly towards his Potions class, he had showered and dressed slowly not caring that he once again missed breakfast and not caring either that he was 15 minutes late to Professor Snape's class. Opening the door he found that everybody was present and Snape had taken the liberty to assign partners, unfortunately it was an odd number class so one group had to have three people in it. Snape raised his eyebrows at Draco's late entrance yet he merely said "Go ahead and join Blaise's group Mr. Malfoy."

Draco nodded glumly as he headed toward where he could see the Italian's head was bending over roots that he was currently cutting. He approached the table and stopped when he found that Snape had assigned the Weasel with Blaise. He sneered and spat "Weas…ley." He gritted at the end when the wizard's debt took effect. Ron smiled smugly at this "Bloody hell, Harry was right you are in a wizard's debt with him. How does it feel to have to submit to him ferret?"

Eyes flashing Draco snarled "I submit to no one."

Blaise muttered "That's for sure." Draco stopped at his statement and turned to look at Blaise completely forgetting about the Weasel's existence. "What's that suppose to mean?" Draco asked slowly at his best friend.

Blaise sneered "You know what I'm talking about." He nodded in the direction of Draco's left hand, Draco without meaning to, grasped his left forearm with his right hand. He paled significantly and felt a definite tightening around his throat and his chest when he realized what Blaise was doing to hurt him. His voice shook when he replied "I can't believe you…brought up something…so personal to deliberately hurt me." Blaise's sneer faltered a bit at the sight of his friend who was trying vainly to keep his eyes from tearing up. Pressing his lips together, he turned back and muttered "Whatever, get over it."

Draco lifted his hand up to cover his trembling lips and just walked on the other end of the table and sat on the other side of Weasley. Thankfully the weasel kept silent as he looked back and forth between the two Slytherins. Throughout the entire Potions class, Draco sat in a daze not looking at anything as he thought what Blaise did to him by bringing up the horrible memory. Weasley long ago gave up trying to get Draco to do something and just worked silently as Blaise cut up the ingredients. When Blaise got to the last root he started to cut them vertically, Ron looked over and said "You should cut the roots horizontally."

"Mind your own business on how I cut Weasel." Blaise snapped, Ron flushed furiously "Shut up prat, I'm just telling you it's easier if you cut them horizontally." Blaise ignored Ron's request and kept cutting them vertically. Ron rolled his eyes and said "Here, give me the knife and I'll cut them." He reached for the knife and Blaise jerked the knife away from him. "No," he said firmly pushing Ron away with his other hand "Give it!" Ron insisted. During the whole ordeal Draco emerged from his thoughts to gaze at the two fighting teenagers with little interest as he looked down at the table that held the roots whose juices were currently already oozing out. 'Doesn't matter if they're cut vertically or horizontally' he thought 'That kind of root…' realization hit him as he realized exactly what kind of roots Blaise had been dealing with. Whipping his head around he started to cry out a warning when Ron harshly shoved Blaise causing Blaise to cut his finger along the knife. Blaise looked furiously at Ron "Now look what you did you…" he was cut off sharply when Draco shoved Ron aside and had taken hold of Blaise's bleeding finger and covered it with his mouth. Blaise froze as Draco worked his finger furiously sucking and pulling on it, after about 30 seconds of Draco working over his finger he popped it out and spit out everything he sucked out onto the desk. Draco turned to Blaise in fear, "Are you alright?"

Blaise slowly unfroze and responded cheekily "Damn you are an expert at blowing, too bad you couldn't have been a girl when you did this."

Draco stared at him in horror before doing something he had never done before in his life…he punch Blaise in the face. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" he roared before covering his mouth with his hand and bolting out of the room. Blaise brought a hand up to the stinging cheek and looked at the open door in confusion, "What happened?" Snape demanded walking up to their table. "Weasley shoved me and caused me to cut myself." Blaise explained, Snape's eyes immediately turned to look at the roots "Were you cutting these when it happened?" Blaise nodded "Yes Professor, and when I cut myself Draco freaked out and sucked on my finger before hitting me and running off."

Snape straightened up and answered "I see, well 100 points from Gryffindor and 50 points from Slytherin for your absolute stupidity." "What?" Blaise and Ron protested loudly, Snape turned his nose up at them "And 150 points to Slytherin for Draco saving your life." At their confused faces, Snape turned to the entire class "Who can tell me what this root is?" Hermione raised her hand timidly, and at Professor Snape's acknowledgement she answered "It's the Jasmin root." "And what are the properties of a Jasmin root if it is handled incorrectly?"

Hermione swallowed before answering "Fever, delirium and eventual death."

"What makes these symptoms possible?"

"…W…When the roots juices enter a cut."

At this answer there was a dead silence as Snape turned back to the two teenagers who were stunned. "100 points from Gryffindor for nearly killing a student," Snape clarified "50 points from Slytherin for not knowing any better and 150 points to Slytherin for Draco for some reason beyond me thought your hide was worth saving." Snape finished as he stalked towards his desk "Zabini, to me! I need to cover your wound. Weasley clean up that mess. Potter! Take Draco's bag to him as he will be indisposed for a few days."

Blaise followed Snape to his desk still trying to process the fact that he almost died without even knowing it and Draco saved him. As he approached Snape, Snape whispered to him sharply, "If you ever…bring up my godson's past to hurt him like that again; I'll make sure you wished the root had killed you." Snape's eyes challenged Blaise's as he whispered his threat. Blaise swallowed with difficulty before nodding having no doubt in his mind that the potion's master will carry out his threat with no problem. He hesitated before asking "Professor? Why is Draco going to be indisposed for the next few days?"

Snape stared at him a bit before answering "He saved your life but now has to suffer the consequences of sucking out the poison."

Blaise stared at him with wide eyes "What consequences are those?"

***Harry POV***

Thinking over what had happened Harry shook his head as he walked slowly toward the hospital wing dragging Malfoy's bag behind him. 'Why do I have to bring him his bag? And why will he be indisposed for the next few days?' he thought finally reaching the door of the hospital wing. Harry found out his answer soon enough as he opened the door to the hospital.

At first he saw nothing and heard nothing until he heard BLEARGH! Curious, he poked his head around a pulled curtain and what he saw made his heart freeze. Madame Pomfrey was rubbing Malfoy's back as he was currently puking into the basin she had procured for him. What had made Harry's heart freeze was the fact that the contents that were coming out of Draco's mouth was…RED. Malfoy was literally puking his guts out and with blood dribbling down his chin it didn't look like it would cease anytime soon. Madame Pomfrey soon discovered Harry's frozen body behind them and said "What is it?" Harry shook his head to break his gaze and said "Professor Snape wanted me to bring him his bag…what's wrong with him?"

Madame Pomfrey shook her head "He sucked out a dangerous poison; however he might have ingested a slight trace of it, so I had to give him a draught that will force him to purge all traces of the poison." The door opened again and several voices could be heard "Madame Pomfrey! There was an accident with a plant in Herbology" Madame Pomfrey replied "Oh dear, Harry dear please look after Mr. Malfoy and see that he goes to bed after he's done."

"Er, I don't think…" Harry started, "Thank you dear," Madame Pomfrey said firmly leaving no room for argument. Harry nodded, as she bustled away he turned back to the still puking Slytherin, he tentatively patted his back and murmured "Never took you as someone who would do something like that."

Draco glared up at him through the mirror somehow still retaining his dignity despite having blood on him "Wouldn't you have done the same thing for your friends?"

Harry nodded "Well yeah…but..."

"Don't act like you're the only one who would do this for his friends." Draco spat out interrupting him before leaning over again and puking up some more blood. Harry dropped his head as he thought about Malfoy's words "Yeah, you're right sorry" he muttered, if Malfoy heard him he made no indication and opted for puking some more.

"Merlin!" he gasped out "It hurts!" he doubled over with both arms crossing his stomach at the pain. Harry moved directly behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist and forced him up some more "Hang on, you're almost there" Harry said softly as he poised Malfoy over the basin once again this time practically carrying Malfoy in his arms as the Slytherin's legs could no longer support him.

Malfoy did not protest to being in Potter's arms, most likely he may have forgotten that Potter was there as he continued to puke. Shivering he could feel himself burning up, his pulse racing as the side effects of the poison were starting to get to him. Harry frowned when he felt Draco grow lighter in his arms and smaller too…he shifted his head to look at Draco in the mirror and realized that Draco had once again turned into a girl and was hanging her head over the sink on the verge of losing consciousness.

"Hey, stay with me!" Harry demanded shaking her a little she mumbled "Leave me alone, I'm tired."

"I know but you can't fall asleep," Harry answered, he shifted his arms that were around her waist and brought one hand up to gather up her hair away from her face. She blinked at him blearily before giving one last purge of her stomach and finally slumping down and losing consciousness. Harry sighed before carefully bringing his arm under her legs and depositing her gently on the bed, he released her hair and thought with a start 'My god, it's like liquid silk' he stroked her hair softly with increasing wonder at the softness of her hair, 'it's like I'm touching my invisibility cloak' he thought. Madame Pomfrey came into view "Oh good," she said "Looks like she's done for now. Could you please make her more comfortable by removing her robes for me? I have an incoming quidditch team that thought training with the Whomping Willow was a good idea. The tree thought otherwise." Harry nodded and smirked at the thought of the many injuries Madame Pomfrey was going to have to treat.

He turned back to look down at Malfoy who was sleeping with a peaceful look on her face. He unzipped her robes and gingerly moved her around to remove the robes. After tucking the robes away he dragged her bag over by her bedside. Before he started to head out, he couldn't resist anymore and gave in to the temptation of stroking her hair again, amazed at the unbelievable softness her hair had. 'I wonder if guy Draco's hair is just as soft?' Harry wondered curiously as he continued to stroke the hair absent-mindedly now. At the sudden shifting of Draco's body he froze with his hand still in her hair looking down at her.

****Draco's POV****

She felt warm and safe; she hasn't felt like that in a long time. Dimly she became aware that someone was stroking her hair softly and with a pang she realized that it's been a long time since anyone has stroked her hair the last one being 'My mother,' Draco thought wearily 'She used to stroke my hair when I was sick or when I was crying when I was a child.'

She shifted around to get a better feel for the hand who was stroking her hair. The hand froze all of a sudden, she frowned softly opening her eyes and trying to focus on the person who dared to stop stroking her hair. Unable to focus, she realized with horror that the hand was pulling away from her, desperate she grabbed the hand and held on as tightly as she could and choked out "P…Please don't leave," she whispered her voice threatening to turn into a sob "Everybody always leave…so please…don't leave." Her voice turned into a whimpered as she closed her eyes again preparing to harden up at the eventual leave of this person. When the hand didn't release her hold and instead clasped her hand in their own she let out a sigh of relief and smiled softly when the other person's hand started to stroke her hair again. She looked up and smiled softly "Thank you," she whispered one last time before losing consciousness for the rest of the day.

***Harry POV***

Harry stared in amazement that his most hated rival the Slytherin Prince was capable of such a beautiful expression that he forgot how to breathe when she gave him such a breathtaking smile. 'I doubt though, that she realized who she was thanking.' Harry rationalized trying to downgrade her expression of tenderness and vulnerability. 'If she realized it was me, she would have never smiled at me much less say thank you.' However try as he might he could not get the image of her smile out of his head, 'Well now Malfoy,' Harry thought 'It looks like these days I'm seeing so many different sides of you than just the slimy git who lives to make my life miserable.' Harry thought back to the different sides he's been able to see of Draco in the last few days, 'He's fiercely loyal, he can actually laugh, he doesn't hate just me, and he has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen." Harry thought as he gazed upon the sleeping beauty 'Why can't I ever see that side? It would make it harder to hate you, either as a guy or girl.' Then a voice at the back of his head whispered 'It's because his loyalty, his laughs and his smiles are not for you, they are for someone else.'

'Blaise' Harry thought bitterly 'Looks like he's the only one privileged enough to see this side of him every day.'

After some time stroking her hair, Harry had to reluctantly stop and softly pulled away from her. She whimpered softly at the loss before turning her head and started to cough harshly, blood dribbling down her chin again. "Dammit!" Harry cursed looking around to find an empty pan and thrust it beneath her mouth as she puked once again before falling silent never regaining consciousness throughout the ordeal. Harry sighed as he washed the pan out of her blood, as he watched the consequences of her actions he thought about his own friends. Oh he had no doubt that he would have done the same thing, were he in Malfoy's shoes, however he couldn't help but wonder that if his friends knew ahead of time what waited for them as a consequence of sucking out the poison would they have done the same thing with no hesitation?

Madame Pomfrey came bustling back in "I'm sorry my dear but would you mind staying with Ms. Malfoy since I have so many students in need of medical care? She won't regain consciousness but she will continue every now and again purge the poison out of her system, and you just need to use that pan to catch it." Harry answered "Er, I don't mind but what about my classes?"

"Already taken care of," Came the answer, she smiled at him before walking away to treat the other students.

Harry shook his head at the presumptuousness of the healer before turning back to look at Malfoy. "Looks like it's just you and me, Malfoy." Harry muttered to himself before settling himself down to read a book.

***6 hours later***

Harry looked back down at the still sleeping figure from the window he had been staring out of for the last hour; she had her last episode of purging an hour ago and according to Madame Pomfrey meant that it may have been the last purging. Yet the Slytherin still showed no sign of waking up, Harry sighed, disentangling his hand from her hair yet again and slowly released his hand from her grasp before walking toward his bag and started to stuff his books into it. 'It's dinnertime,' he thought as he glanced at the clock 'Madame Pomfrey was nice enough to get me lunch but that was hours ago.' With his stomach gurgling he glanced back at the still form and thought 'I'll just grab something really quick and be back in 10 minutes.' With that in mind he heaved his book bag onto his shoulder and walked quietly out of the room. Not even thirty seconds later another figure entered the room, Blaise looked around wearily for sign of the healer. When he found no evidence of her presence he walked toward the bed that held his best friend. Approaching her bedside he looked down in agonizing pain as he took in her frail form, he had been in a catatonic state all throughout the day ever since Snape told him what had awaited his silver-haired friend

Flashback

Blaise stared at him with wide eyes "What consequences are those?"

Snape sniffed and answered "A purging drought, Draco's body will purge all traces of poison in his system, and more often than not he will be puking torrent amounts of blood."

Blaise's own blood froze, he asked softly "Was Draco aware of this?"

Snape nodded "I don't doubt that he was already aware of his consequences when he saved your life. He wouldn't have been able to react as quickly had he not already known."

Blaise hung his head in shame, Snape assessed him before adding "There is nothing that can come between you two that you can't work out. Draco for all his faults is your childhood friend, he is caring, loyal, emotionally fragile and shared everything with you yet you betrayed his confidence on it like it was nothing. He in turned saved your life without a second thought and without any regard to his well-being…friends like that…no true friends like that are as rare to find as a unicorn."

End Flashback

With Blaise's eyes brimming with tears he lifted his head and started to stroke Draco's soft hair and placed his hand into her open hand, he paused lightly when she shifted around in her bed. His breath caught when she slowly opened her eyes to look up at him, he waited with trepidation for her angry words to be flung at him. When her eyes addressed him fully her face softened to a smile instead of the anger that he was expecting. "You didn't leave me…" she whispered hoarsely, bringing her hand up to lightly touch Blaise's. Blaise shook his head "I could never…" he choked out "I…am…so sorry! Please forgive…me!" Blaise managed to get out before squeezing his eyes shut to keep the tears from leaking out. Draco gazed at him with a soft look before slowly hoisting herself to a sitting position; she brought her legs up slowly beneath her. She looked up at him with a determined look on her face "There's nothing to forgive," She responded slowly "I only did what you would have done for me too, that's what friends are for." Blaise opened his eyes to her, he shook his head "I'm a terrible friend, if I hadn't pushed you…again we wouldn't have fought, I wouldn't have hurt you so much and you wouldn't be lying here in the hospital."

Draco sighed "I was the one who hurt you first; you were lashing out as expected. If I hadn't done what needed to be done when you got cut I would be standing over your grave right now, with my soul breaking apart to nothing. We both had done and said things that hurt each other, we have a chance to patch things up and make our friendship stronger." Blaise stared at her before whispering "You saved my life, Dray." Those words started to form the same bond and pull that Draco had developed with Potter however her words stopped it "You owe me nothing, Blaise the debt is paid." Blaise gasped as she stated the words without hesitation. Blaise dropped his head "How did I end up getting a friend like you?"

"I'm Merlin's gift to you," Draco smiled warmly at him, he laughed a little before reaching up and stroking her hair again "Your hair," he murmured "Is just as soft as when you're a guy." She smiled "I guess you're the only one who knows how soft it is."

"I consider myself very privileged then," Blaise answered, dropping his hand down to cup her cheek as she gazed at him with a soft look in her eyes. She brought her hand up to caress Blaise's cheek where she had punched him, "I'm fine" Blaise answered her unasked question "I deserved a lot worse." She nodded however still not removing her hand from his cheek. There was a muffling sound of something dropping; they both turned their heads toward the disturbance but found nothing there at the doorway. As they turned their attention back to each other they never heard the receding footsteps as Harry walked back to the Great Hall to dump the extra plate he had brought with him.

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