Chapter 10

"What do you mean it isn't worth it?" Harry asked, his heartbeat increasing rapidly. Draco shook Harry off of him and stood up, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Telling you what happened," he replied hastily, walking over to the sing and washing his hands, avoiding his reflection. Harry bit his lip and leaned up against the wall, waiting for Draco to continue. "Harry, just drop it. Please." Draco turned to face Harry, looking at everything in the room besides Harry's eyes.

"No, Draco. I can't just drop it. "I want to know who did this to you and why," Harry demanded, stepping in front of Draco to prevent him from leaving the bathroom. He lowered his voice. "I care about you so much, and it breaks my heart that you're hurting and you won't tell me why." His words seemed to have an affect on Draco, because his facial expression softened and his shoulders dropped.

"Crabbe and Goyle."

Harry hadn't even realized that Draco had answered his question at first. He gave Draco a bewildered look before everything registered in his brain. Since Draco had finally seemed to calm down, Harry tried to hide his surprise, asking, "Really? How come?"

Draco sighed, exasperated. It was pointless to try to even lie about everything to Harry, so he told Harry the truth. He recalled everything that had happened to him, from the moment he walked into the bathroom and saw Crabbe and Goyle standing there to the moment that he heard the sound of their retreating footsteps. It pained him to see Harry's face twist and wince painfully with every detail, but Draco didn't want to leave anything out, and he didn't think Harry wanted him to, either. When he was finally finished, Draco watched Harry's face intently, waiting for an answer. Harry gave a small, sad smile and took Draco in his arms, hugging him tightly. "Draco, it's okay. It's okay," he repeated, resting his cheek on Draco's shoulder. They stood like that for a few minutes before Harry finally pulled away. "We should take you to Madam Pomfrey."

"No!" Draco shouted, his heart skipping a beat. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Believe me, that is the last thing I want. No one needs to know about this. I'll just go back to my room and pretend I'm sick."

"The rumor is spreading like wildfire, Draco," Harry explained. "Pansy was talking about it in the hallway. Well, she said you were in the infirmary, which was obviously false, but she said that she had heard that Crabbe and Goyle had beaten you up and broken your nose. I really do think your nose is crooked."

"You're friends with Hermione, you can ask her to fix it," Draco suggested. "But there is no way in hell that I am going to Madam Pomfrey. If Pansy is spreading rumors about me, the least I can do is not make them become true."

"But your nose is broken!" Harry exclaimed. "Please let me take you. Hermione is a great witch, but I'm not sure she would trust herself with something like repairing someone's nose."

"You're not taking me anywhere," Draco retorted, crossing his arms like a child. "The only place I'm going is to my room to get some sleep. Unless you want to sneak me into the Gryffindor common room and get Hermione to fix my nose." Harry sighed and agreed, admitting defeat. "She can probably fix your black eye, too." Draco smiled and strode towards the door. "Good."

Harry rolled his eyes in frustration and reluctantly followed Draco. They had just reached the door when Draco shouted out in pain. He brought his hand down from the top of his head. "There's a bump," he commented, gritting his teeth. Harry lifted his hand lightly touched the gigantic bump that was forming on the top of Draco's head. The shattered pieces of his heart broke into even more pieces. Draco was so broken. His nose literally was, and Harry could tell that his spirit and his confidence was on its way out. "Words going to get out about us, you know? This is probably going to happen again. To both of us." Harry hated to be a pessimist, and he knew he should have chosen more uplifting words, but he figured it was better to talk to Draco about it now than later.

"I know." Harry was surprised at Draco's answer. "And you're okay with that?"

"No, I'm not okay with being beaten up daily and losing all of my friends, all because I decided to date some stuck-up Gryffindor whom all of my Slytherin housemates absolutely loathe," Draco replied hastily, facing Harry, a grin spreading across his face. "But it's worth it to me if I get to date that stuck-up Gryffindor whom all of my Slytherin housemates absolutely loathe. Because I happen to really, really, really like him."

Harry's fearful expression morphed into one of pure joy and happiness. Draco took a small step closer to Harry and extended his hand. Harry took it, his heart beating faster and faster, his head spinning wildly, his hands shaky and clammy, as Draco moved closer, and closer, and closer...