Draco woke up the next morning, feeling quite stiff and cold. And...wet? He sat up abruptly, looking around him. He was laying in the grass, covered in morning dew, lying next to Harry Potter. Everything from the previous night came rushing back and he started to panic. "If my father hears about this..." He muttered to himself, looking around anxiously. He was supposed to be trying to capture Harry, not developing a stupid schoolboy crush on him...

"Harry, wake up." He shook Harry gently, but he just groaned and rolled over, his face in the dirt. Draco snickered as he also sat up abruptly, wiping his face off.

"What happened, why am I...oh." He made eye contact with Draco and frowned. "We fell asleep, didn't we?" Harry said stupidly, causing Draco to laugh again. "It's not funny, we need to go!" He scrambled to his feet and grabbed Draco's shoulder, yanking him up.

"You're right, I'm never late to class." Draco said frantically, taking off towards the castle. "We'll talk in Potions!" He yelled over his shoulder, hurrying off to take a quick shower and try to look presentable. Malfoys always had to look their absolute best, and now he was covered in dirt and dew and his hair was messy and his muscles were stiff. He rushed through the dungeons and finally entered the common room, slinking past Pansy and her friends and heading upstairs to the showers.

He sighed with relief as the warm water ran over his shoulders and down his back, relaxing his tense muscles while he scrubbed away all the grime of the night before. But something was worrying him: he knew no matter how many times he showered, he wouldn't be able to wash away the feel of Harry...let alone the way he smelled and tasted and looked...

He finally got out and dressed in his best robes, looking in the mirror to make sure his hair was flawless. He had to keep up his appearance of normality as best as he could, the more times people noticed Draco being suspicious the more they would go digging for the reasons why, and he most certainly could not have that.

He wouldn't have much time for breakfast, but he felt that he should go anyways so people didn't notice his absence. He hurried to the Great Hall and sat at the Slytherin table, not daring to look in the direction of where Harry sat every morning. He stared down blankly at the table, lost in his thoughts, until something landed directly in front of him. He saw an envelope and looked up to see his eagle owl soaring overhead. Draco swallowed hard and picked up the envelope, turning it over and seeing the bold, simple handwriting. He didn't have to open it to know it was from his father, and his father never wrote to him unless it was to admonish him or tell him bad news.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching him, and then carefully tore it open and pulled out a thin piece of parchment.

We need to meet early, the others are worried that things are not progressing as according to plan. You have a trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow afternoon. We will talk there. Come alone.

Draco read it once before folding it up carefully and tucking it into the pocket of his robes. He stood up and walked quickly out of the Great Hall, all the talking and laughing and noise suddenly becoming far too much for him. Everything seemed to be closing in around him, the pressure was rising fast. His father and the Death Eaters were pushing him towards the edge of a dangerous cliff and no one seemed to be there to pull him back and it was just a matter of time before he gave up and stopped resisting and let them shove him off to his demise.

He found an empty bathroom and looked into the mirror at himself. He tried to remember himself as a little boy, but he realized he hardly knew who he was anymore. Draco wondered why his father had even wanted a son. Did he really love him, or did he just want someone to carry on the family bloodline? Someone to do Voldemort's dirty work so his father wouldn't have to? He was just a stupid pawn in his father's life, easily able to sacrifice, a tool he could use to get what he wanted.

Draco stared harder at himself, the cold gray eyes and the pale hair and skin. He was turning into the spitting image of his father, and he wouldn't allow himself. But who else could he be? He had spent his entire life being raised to be a perfect Malfoy, but how many times had his father told him he was a disgrace to the family name. If he couldn't be a Malfoy, and he couldn't be anyone else, he would just have to settle for nothing.

"I am nothing," He said firmly to himself, before turning and walking out of the bathroom down to the dungeons to tutor Harry for the day.

He burst into the class, which had already started, and everyone turned to look at him. Blaise gave him a confused look, but Draco wouldn't look at him. "Ah yes, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter is waiting for you in the storeroom." Slughorn smiled kindly at him as he walked by his desk and into the small room.

"Hello," Harry said, looking up from the book with a look of utter confusion on his face. This made Draco smile a little, because he simultaneously got a look at Harry's face and remembered that he was excellent at potions, so maybe he wasn't nothing. He forced down his anger and sadness from before like he had done so many times before, wondering how many more times he could do that before he cracked. He suspected it wouldn't be long now, he couldn't take much more.

"Right then, I see you haven't managed to explode anything yet. That's a good start." Draco teased, gesturing for Harry to get up as he took his chair and started reading over the lesson for the day.

"Hopefully you don't make another love potion, Malfoy." Harry bantered, coming up and putting a hand gently on his shoulder, and Draco smiled more. This was real and this was right, joking with Harry and forgetting the rest of the world outside and just brewing stupid, first year potions together.

"No, I don't think I need to." Draco smiled slyly to himself as Harry sat next to him, and they got to work on the potion.

Sorry for Draco being so angsty in this chapter I know it was pretty abrupt, but it's just part of his character development. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing I love you guys 3