Part X: Confliction

He noticed that he was no longer moving, that he was sitting, or so he thought, that someone's arm was possibly around his shoulders, and that he was being comforted by an unknown figure. Little did he know, that person was none other than…

Harry looked up at the figure after many minutes, wanting to know who was comforting him in this time of need. Vision clearing, he couldn't believe his eyes. He rubbed at them roughly, looking up at the figure once again.

"Snape?" Harry was nervous now. He had been crying in front of the professor that hated him. He was so embarrassed; a blush crawled across his cheeks and down his neck, showing his true feelings of embarrassment.

"No need to blubber, Potter. Draco will be just fine." There was the Snape that Harry knew; blunt and straight to the point. No care in his voice, well maybe just a little.

"Are you sure? He was bleeding badly, and it was all my fault," Harry tried to quiet his crying. He was succeeding with being quiet but the tears were still coming. Knowing Draco was hurt because of him did not settle right with him. He felt Snape pat his back lightly. This was as good of comfort as he was gonna get right now, so he didn't mind it. Images flashed before his eyes, of Draco bleeding out and lying on the floor dead. He gasped in a breath, scared of the images and hoping they wouldn't become reality. It was a while later when Snape stood up. Harry looked up as Snape went to the door and left. Harry was confused now. He started to shake, wondering if something was suddenly wrong with Draco that Snape needed to be with him for. Harry was still terrified by what he had done. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to forgive himself; especially if something was wrong with Draco.

He thought about what he had seen in the library; what had happened with him and Draco over these last few weeks. Could he truly believe that all that Draco and him did together, said to one another, was all just a lie? It hadn't been to Harry, but from what he saw in the library, Harry felt like it was all a lie to Draco. He replayed the scene of Draco and Pansy kissing in the library over and over in his mind. Had Draco seemed like he was enjoying the kiss? Harry didn't remember Draco's arms being near Pansy at all, he even maybe seemed stoic, but Harry could've just been seeing things, right? The words that Draco said after he saw them kissing…his voice sounded scared, maybe even with a hint of desperation, but could that have all been an act too? As Harry remembered running from the scene, tears flooding his vision, heart pounding in his ears, thinking back he thought he maybe heard Draco's voice booming angrily in Pansy's direction, but he couldn't really be sure. Maybe it would be best to talk this out with Draco instead of blowing him off. Harry just wishes he could've made that decision before he had to go and shove Draco so hard into the wall that he lost consciousness and an excess amount of blood.

Snape flooded into the room once more several minutes later telling Potter to follow him. Harry, knowing that Snape was still his professor, knew that he needed to follow behind him without question. Harry just hoped that he was being taken to Draco. That's exactly where he landed 5 minutes later: the Hospital Wing. Harry had been there quite enough already in his years at Hogwarts, so he knew the place like the back of his thumb. Madame Pomfrey was near one of the end beds; the one he assumed was Draco's. No other students were in the wing, which Harry was thankful for. Once Harry moved closer to Draco's bed, Snape said something to Madame Pomfrey and they both left the room. Harry glanced at the door, wondering if they were just giving him a few minutes, or if he would be, could be, alone with Draco for the rest of the night.

Harry was conflicted. He felt responsible for Draco being here and felt like he should stay with him, but he also felt angry and hurt, still not believing that all Draco and him shared was really real. Harry hadn't looked at Draco yet. He knew that if he did, he would probably break down again. He knew that he had to get closer though, so a few minutes later, he did. Harry grabbed a chair from the corner and pulled it toward Draco's bed, sitting down on it and finally looking at Draco's face and body. His face was pale, more pale than usual, he had bruises on and around his eyelids and he had gauze wrapped around his head. That was just a precaution, he knew that, but it was scary to see Draco like this. Tears started flowing again, yet now Harry couldn't be sure why. He was upset at Draco for kissing Pansy and possibly lying to him about everything for the last few weeks; but he also was upset that Draco might now wake, and that Harry would be the one responsible for killing him. He wasn't exactly sure how bad the injury was, but Madame Pomfrey was the best, obviously, so Harry tried to tell himself not to worry. Harry stayed all night, falling asleep at some point, and not waking until he felt something push against the top of his head. Harry stirred a little, but tried to pull away from the pressure to his head, wanting peace so he could sleep again comfortably. When the pressure didn't let up, maybe even becoming more insistent, Harry blinked his eyes open and looked around the room slowly. He then realized where he was. He was still in the hospital wing, and the only person other than him in here was…Draco. Harry's head snapped over to look at Draco's face and his beautiful grey eyes were shining down at him. Harry sat up, wiping his face, hoping to hide the tear tracks that were there from Draco.

"Harry?" Draco sounded confused, and Harry grabbed his hand, hoping to calm him.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What are you doing here?" Harry smiled shyly, not looking at Draco.

"I wanted to make sure that you were okay…I mean, it was my fault. My fault that you're in here." Harry whispered and Draco squeezed his hand gently, which made Harry look up at him once again.

"But you're mad at me, Harry. I've never…" Harry shushed him, not wanting to get into now. Harry knew that Draco needed his rest, and Harry wanted to make sure that he recovered well.

"Sleep, love. We'll talk about all this later, okay?" Draco's eyes became glassy at the term of endearment, and Harry bit his lip nervously. The term of endearment kind of just slipped out automatically, but Harry knew now that Draco liked it and that he missed it.

"Are you going to, um, st-stay?" Draco asked Harry nervously. Harry could tell that Draco wanted him to. Maybe Draco hadn't been lying after all. It was the little things that Draco did that made him see the real him, at least that's what Harry noticed from their few weeks together. Harry nodded at him and Draco visibly relaxed. "Thank you, Harry. I know that you're…well, anyway, I'm glad that you'll stay with me." Draco whispered before smiling shyly and closing his eyes once again. He drifted off in seconds and Harry lay his head back down on the bed beside Draco's waist. Falling asleep once again, Harry didn't even bother unclasping their hands.

To be continued…

Note: Just wanted to say that this story is soon going to be over...I have chapter 11 written and am working on chapter 12, which I'm planning to be the last one. I'll be sad to see this story end, but will be happy to have time to work on other fics that I have "abandoned" thus far. x :)