A/N: Sorry guys, between exams and getting back home things got hectic. But I'm back in a rhythm now, so updates shall continue again :)

Chapter Ten

The shadows crept across the room slowly as Draco sat and waited for Potter to return.

He hated to admit it, even to himself, but Draco knew he had been out of line. After being quite forcefully reminded of Potter's power over him – not to mention Potter's power in general – he sorely regretted losing his temper. Potter was a prick, but until Draco's slip he had been indulging his hero complex. Now, though, Potter would tire of playing the Saviour, especially with no audience to impress, and Draco would be at the wrong end of his temper and his wand. He might even begin to miss Azkaban if he pissed Potter off enough.

With his memories of Azkaban fresh in his mind, the darkness began to move and writhe in Draco's head. The light flickering from the fireplace danced with the shadows of the dying day as Draco listened to the screams and cackles echoing in his mind. As if from a distance, the small part of Draco that remained lucid dispassionately observed and noted that his sanity was nearly gone.

A door opened in his mind. No, wait, that was an actual door opening, wasn't it? Slowly, Draco turned his head, blinking. Standing across the room, his arms folded coolly across his chest, was Potter. His posture was unmoving but composed, and his face was completely blank. Staring at him, Draco was not entirely sure he was not hallucinating.

Finally, after watching his face for a few minutes, Potter spoke. "We need to set some ground rules," he said calmly. "Neither one of us can afford to lose our tempers if we want to make this work without killing each other."

He paused and looked at Draco expectantly. Was he waiting for a response? Draco's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but when the silence lengthened, he slowly nodded.

It seemed to satisfy Potter, for he continued. "Neither one of us wants this. Tough. We're stuck, and I'm not going to go and destroy a room every time you piss me off. So we're going to work out how to not to antagonize each other."

After another pause, Draco nodded again, this time more promptly. He had no idea why Potter was waiting for his agreement, it wasn't like he had any say in the matter. If Potter told him to dance around and trill like a phoenix he'd have no choice but to obey; why treat him like they were negotiating? Was he mocking him?

Potter moved further into the room. He stood above Draco, his face still blank and unreadable, forcing Draco to crane his neck up to look at him. After a moment of this, Potter turned and sat on the opposite couch facing him.

Abruptly, Potter said, "I don't know how any of this works. Obviously the Vow doesn't care much about intent, since you've had to obey me even when I didn't mean things as commands. So. I'll have to try to watch what I say, phrase things as questions and such, so I don't accidentally order you to do anything I don't mean. I'll probably slip up though, I'm not really all that good at thinking before I speak. So if I ever order you to do something unintentionally, will you tell me so I can fix it?"

This time Draco knew an answer was expected. He nodded again, wondering suspiciously why Potter seemed so calm and rational. He was afraid to open his mouth, lest he say something regrettable that would send Potter back into a towering rage.

A flash of irritation began to cross Potter's face before it faded back into smooth blankness. "Right," he said impassively. "I'll be watching what I say, and you'll need to as well. So any insults, mentions of the war, comments about our families and friends, and our – situation – should probably be off limits, don't you think?"

Draco realized with a start that Potter was actually asking him to avoid making a direct command. An unexpected and rather unwelcome wave of gratitude rushed over him. Meeting Potter's gaze, he said evenly, "I agree."

Finally, some emotion, as Potter looked genuinely surprised for a moment before continuing. "Honestly, it would probably be best if we avoid each other as much as possible for the next six months. This is a big house, we should be able to get away with going days without seeing each other once you're healed. The less time we spend together, the less chance we'll slip up."

Potter glanced at the piano suddenly, looking pained. "I completely forgot to give you the potions," he muttered. "Malfoy, how do you feel?"

Draco thought for a moment, debating how much of the truth to tell Potter. But after seeing Potter's face slide back into the frozen mask, he relented quickly. "Dizzy," he admitted reluctantly. "And nauseous and sore, and I can feel something rattle when I breathe."

Potter looked alarmed. "That can't be good," he said idiotically. "I know you probably can't eat much, but I don't think you're supposed to have all these potions on an empty stomach. Here, eat what you can and we'll see what happens."

With a wave of his wand Potter Summoned the food, still fresh from the Preservation Charms, and fixed them both plates for lunch. Draco watched him impassively place the food in front of him, wondering if Potter was aware that he had just given a command.

Apparently he was, because as Draco hesitated for as long as the Vow would let him, Potter met his gaze clearly and without pity. "Eat," he said plainly, "But only what you can. This is about your health, Malfoy, I'm not going to bother fighting with you over this."

Draco wanted to argue for the sake of arguing, but he couldn't. Before he realized what was happening, he found himself grabbing the nearest bowl of soup and digging in. Giving up the fight, he sat there and ate with Potter in silence, the trembling in his hands the only visible evidence of any emotion in the room.

Malfoy was shaking, and Harry's stomach was again flipping with guilt.

He honestly did not want to eat, afraid that he would throw up anything he tried to choke down. But he didn't want Malfoy to sit there and eat alone in the silence, and to keep himself from saying anything to make things worse, he mechanically shoveled food into his mouth.

He regretted losing his temper earlier. In retrospect, he realized he had forced Malfoy to say what was on his mind, and so it wasn't entirely his fault. But hearing the filth that had come out of his mouth, Harry had been hard pressed not to curse him into oblivion. Why a few insults enraged him so much he would never understand; he only knew that somehow, Malfoy had always been able to get under his skin like no one else.

Glancing at Malfoy now, he wondered if he was even capable of feeling guilt over what he had said. It was obvious from the quivering hands that he was either afraid or furious, or perhaps both. He had certainly been trying to annoy Harry earlier by refusing to answer him out loud, no doubt sulking angrily. Anger, however, Harry could deal with – he and Malfoy had been fighting for years, after all. But if it was fear that left Malfoy shaking… well, Harry was used to feeling like a freak, but feeling like a monster was an entirely new and horrifying experience.

Eating was officially a lost cause. Grimacing, Harry put down the sandwich he had been staring at for minutes, lost in his thoughts. Malfoy didn't look to be doing much better; half a bowl of soup later, he too was staring at his food with a queasy look of distaste.

"You can stop if you can't eat anymore," Harry said quietly. Malfoy quickly shoved the bowl away, looking relieved. Harry gestured vaguely and Summoned the various potions Hermione had left. Catching them all deftly, he frowned and tried to sort out which potion was which, and in which order Malfoy was supposed to take them.

"Ok, I know this is a pain potion, which Hermione said you can't take until after you've had the others because it will interfere with them somehow…" he trailed off, staring at Malfoy, who was completely ashen and gaping at him. "What?" he asked, bewildered.

"You," Malfoy choked, "You just Summoned those wandlessly."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't realized he had openly done wandless magic; normally, he was much better about hiding his growing power, but he had gotten used to being alone and so had gotten lax.

"Yeah," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry. My magic has gone a bit haywire after – everything."

Malfoy continued to stare at him. Harry sighed and decided to move on with the conversation; they weren't going to get anywhere with this topic. He wordlessly held out first of the potions, waiting for Malfoy to take the hint.

Starting, Malfoy flushed slightly and accepted the potion. Without even looking at the label he downed it in one gulp, making a face as he did so. They repeated this until all of the potions were gone and Harry was relieved to see a bit of color had returned to Malfoy's face.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked again.

"Better," Malfoy answered reluctantly. "No pain, and the dizziness is better."

"And your lungs?"

Malfoy paused for a moment, taking a deep breathe. "Not as bad," he admitted.

"Good," Harry said, relieved. "Do you think you could stand? It's not late, but you'll need to get a good sleep, so I should show you to your room."

It seemed Harry had rendered Malfoy speechless again. "My room?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, I wasn't going to stick you in a cupboard," Harry said, grinning darkly.

Malfoy blinked, but apparently decided to ignore the comment. "I can walk," he said, rather stiffly.

"Good," Harry said absently, quickly thinking over the state of the rooms in Grimmauld Place. As the house had been largely uninhabited for months, the rooms had become rather run-down. Harry himself had taken over the master bedroom on the second floor, as it was the largest room and Harry had felt like indulging himself with the space. The only other relatively clean and habitable room was the room he and Ron had shared, also on the second floor.

"Alright," he said, decision made. "There's a bedroom upstairs that should work." He stood, gesturing wordlessly for Malfoy to do the same. Malfoy stood quickly, swaying alarmingly on his feet.

"Whoa," Harry said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Are you sure you can walk?"

Malfoy shrugged off Harry's hand as if it had burned him, a disgusted look on his face. "I'm fine," he snarled, "I won't have you carrying me again. I'll make it on my own if I have to crawl."

Harry resisted the urge to snap back. "Have it your way," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He turned and headed out of the room, refusing to turn and see how Malfoy was doing. It took a while, but Malfoy finally caught up, a pale face the only sign of his struggles.

Somehow, they proceeded up the stairs. Harry was grateful that their rooms were only one flight up from where they had been resting. Miraculously, Malfoy only stumbled once, emitting a choked groan as he fell against the bannister. Harry had instinctively reached out to help, but managed to stop himself before he touched Malfoy. He was grateful for his restraint, as Malfoy had straightened and proceeded onwards as if nothing had happened.

Finally, they reached Malfoy's room. Looking at the room from an outside perspective, it was smaller than he realized, but it would have to do.

He turned to Malfoy, feeling slightly awkward, and said, "I can take the second bed out tomorrow, to give the room a bit more space. But it's clean, and there's a bathroom right next door. My room is on the other side of the bathroom, in case you, you know, need anything…" He trailed off, unsure what else to say.

Malfoy nodded tightly. He moved past Harry into the room, surveying it quickly. "I'll manage," he said distantly. Harry nodded back, feeling incredibly awkward, and spun to make a hasty retreat.

"Potter."

Harry turned back, eyebrows raised. Malfoy hesitated, holding the door open with a strange look on his face. He stared at Harry for a long moment.

"Thank you," he whispered, before slamming the door shut firmly.

Standing alone in the hallway staring at the second door Malfoy had shut in his face that day, Harry gave a small smile and retreated to his room.

Thanks to darkmoonlady, lovergirl101,rosez-have-thornz, Death'sAngel18, AchillesTheGeek, Guest, MDarKspIrIt, Momo892, and allenx14 for all your comments and reviews! You make me WANT to keep writing, even when I have no idea what to write. Thus this chapter :) So please, read and review!