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Firstly, apologies on the spelling mistake... I now realise "Auror" is not spelled "aura", so if I confused you, I'm sorry.

Harry felt as though he had been bit by a hippogriff when he woke up the following morning, he felt terrible and his head pounded. He hadn't slept well again last night, the nightmares that had suddenly occurred over the last couple of nights had ensured his sleep was broken and disturbing. He hadn't realised this was going to affect him to the degree it had and wondered if his naivety had really been shining strong for him to miss the signs before it all blew up in his face.

Looking over at the time on the wall he audibly sighed before pulling back the covers and setting his feet on the cold harsh floors. He cradled his head gently as it pounded and once he'd taken a couple of deep breaths he stood with the intention of grabbing a shower before he rose for the day. Sure it was early but it was better to occupy his mind with study than to lay there and over think everything that had been going on.

Reaching the Grand Hall at breakfast, he was surprised to see that he was not the only one in the hall, seemed there were a few other tired looking faces among the seating as well as a couple of Professors and of course the army of Auror's stationed every few meters. He found himself a seat by the wall and pulled out his study material, he had nearly compiled a generously sized study guide that had everything he thought would be covered in the exams so was going to read over it rather than writing till his hand cramped. As he skimmed over the first page he reached out and grabbed a piece of toast, the dry texture he believed was all he deserved this morning considering how he was feeling.

He had been there for a good ten minutes and was thoroughly engrossed in his work when someone came and sat next to him, not that it really concerned the teen that someone was near him but when he spotted something frighteningly familiar he had to tense and look at the boy accusingly.

"You lost?" He sighed at the blonde headed boy before readying himself with a hand on the sleeve of his brown robes in case he needed to grip tightly onto his wand.

"I wanted to say thank you… For yesterday." Malfoy replied as he helped himself to breakfast.

Harry was almost struck down gob smacked at the admission. He and Malfoy had never gotten along, he afterwall was partly the reason the ex-Slytherin had been expelled in the first place when he was attacked by not only him but Goyle and Crabbe as well. Speaking of Crabbe though, he wondered where that fat Slytherin had gone seeing as he wasn't at Durmstrang. However the thought was cast aside as quickly as it was thought so Harry could focus on his study, the thought that the blonde could curse him at any moment at the forefront of his mind the whole time.

That, of course, was until the mail arrived and an owl came to drop several letters off for Harry before it flew away. He hadn't gotten a good look at the owl so he couldn't tell where the letters had come from but he decided to read them anyway to curb his curiosity and set his study material back in his bag as he reached for the first letter. It was from Hermione, well on closer inspection there were two from Hermione judging by the writing on the envelopes so he took one and opened it.

Harry,

It's hard to hear you aren't having a good time at Durmstrang, believe me we miss you too and are eager to hear what will be happening to your living situation at the end of the year…

There was another letter that slipped out from underneath this one that caught his attention and he frowned when he saw the writing because it wasn't any that he recognised yet it had come in the same envelope.

Hi Harry,

I was over hearing Hermione and Ron talking about you one day and couldn't help but wonder how you were getting along. They seem to think that you are unhappy at Durmstrang and this saddens me. I know we sort of left on the wrong foot but I want you to know that I truly do care about you and the fact that you have transferred schools is not only confusing but upsetting because I can't see you any more. You may think my reason is selfish but not seeing you every day has left a hole in my heart. I don't mean this in a relationship sense, I just want my friend back and I can't help but feel guilty for the way I reacted when you clearly are in love with someone else.

Please write back and let me know how you are, I can understand if you don't however.

Blaise

He quickly looked to his right where Malfoy was sitting and found the boy looking at him with a weird look in his eye. He promptly scrunched the letter in his hands and placed it in front of his plate before it burst into flames, not only surprising himself with the brutality of the destruction of the letter but also Malfoy. Neither of them said anything about this, even when Harry went back to read his other letters, this time angling them away so prying eyes couldn't see the contents and saw Hermione's other letter sitting in front of him. Picking it up, he leaned on the table with his elbow, supporting his head.

Harry please tell us you are okay? Ron and I have read the news article, I can't believe this has happened. Write back, this isn't a question, please tell me you weren't involved in this scandal!

Hermione

His friends concern was heart warming, and for the first time he actually felt obligated to write back and let them know he was okay. However before he could get up and reply to the letter another owl swooped down and deposited a letter in front of him, this owl was black and menacing looking and he felt as though it was familiar in some way though he couldn't pick out where he'd seen it before. Opening the letter his jaw physically dropped and his heart beat furiously, so much so he thought it was going to burst right out of his chest.

Professor Dumbledore told me, are you okay?

The writing gave him away instantly, it was from Severus, the man had actually written to him and asked if he was okay. He ignored the anger that was flaring inside him at the prospect of Dumbledore having told the staff who had been involved with this altercation but he had hoped, prayed to Godric Gryffindor that it had only been Severus that was told and no one else. He wouldn't be able to get past the sympathetic looks from the Professor's if he ever stepped foot into the school again. He re-read the note again and something that felt like hope blossomed in his chest, he knew he should send a reply but then he was reminded of something buried deep in his trunk and a plan formulated in his chest. First though, he was going to study.

"H-Hey, Potter!"

Malfoy's voice rung clear after him as they entered the corridor and Harry threw his arms into the air half-heartedly, as if to surrender from the impending pain that was going to follow. He looked at the boy tiredly, not even caring if the teen did hex him, he thought that he even deserved it at the moment. However this was not to be the case as the blonde looked at him with a cocked head and then shook it as if not understanding why he was reacting that way.

"Come on, if you're going to curse me just get it over and done with. I'm tired of this game."

"I'm not intending to… I actually wanted to… You know, shadow you. I don't fancy having those guys after… Me… Again."

"They attacked you before?" Harry quizzed and the boy nodded, much to Harry's surprise, "Well if you must. I still don't trust you though." He continued and the teen nodded before following Harry as he made his way to the library.

"Have you heard back from Harry?" Blaise asked Hermione when she came to sit next to the boy in Potion's that afternoon.

She shook her head sadly and watched his features change, a range of emotions seemed to flick through the Slytherin's face before he settled on an ambivalent face and turned to the front where their Professor was trying to get their attention.

"I hope that you are all well prepared for this exam next week. You will be expected to relay theory and knowledge around everything we have covered this year instead of brewing in a practical situation," He paused at this point, Hermione was the only one in the class aware of why this was, "So consider this last lesson as a last ditch attempt at getting all the information you require. I will take your questions, as I'm sure most of you have some, during the lesson."

The class went silent, not used to such a kind manner in which their Potion's Professor was offering them his time. Hermione on the other hand seized the opportunity to ask a question and watched with interest as he started speaking animatedly to answer her question rather than ridicule her for asking one. She took heavy notes in response to all the questions asked that lesson, so much so that her wrist and hand had cramped up with the pressure of writing as possible. She had just looked up at her Professor as he held up a vial of bright purple liquid when it seemed to slip through his fingers and she watched it fall to the floor, the substance splattered over the man's shoes as well as the cobbles as it made contact with the stone. Her gaze immediately went to the spot that her Professor was looking before understanding what must have happened.

Severus stared in a mixed of shock and excitement, his wrist hadn't tingled like this for a very very long time. It was a simple message that he was reading, the little green letters on the bangle shining brightly as he held his arm out, still in the position from holding the vial. Harry had messaged him, he was okay, and he had let the man know that he was doing alright.

"Sir, are you feeling okay?"

Severus heard a female voice to his left which effectively snapped him from his daze and he cleared his throat before glancing down at his potion spilt shoes and waved his wand at the mess before continuing where he had left off in his mini speech.

"What you had been looking at was the correct colour of a peace draught. I hope you all took note of the colour as it is very distinct and can be mistaken as another potion, can anyone tell me which potion that would be?"

He waited as a couple of unsure hands rose in the air and he took that chance to think over what had just happened, the main one being, crisis adverted, in reference to him dropping the potion. He had no idea who had roused his thoughts but one glance at the bushy haired know it all in front row told him she knew what had just happened. He wasn't going to let anything else slip from behind his masks, he had heard from Harry and whilst his mind and heart were racing he knew that he could deal with this after class, which so happened to be finishing within the next fifteen minutes.

Harry was sitting on the edge of his bed, his trunk now up on top of the covers so he could properly inspect the contents of it. He had thought the best way to contact the man directly was to slip the bangle back on and send him the message that way. He hadn't elaborated, all it had said was I'm okay, but thought that that would make the man happy. He just didn't know what else to say. As he sifted through his trunk, he came across his old school tie and swallowed a lump in his throat, he was certain that he hadn't packed this with him going away and he hadn't seen it up until now either. He frowned, deep in thought before another flicker of silver caught his attention and the necklace came into view, a pang of regret and sadness wrapped around his heart and unfortunately made him feel more angry than anything else.

He didn't know how much time he had been sitting there for but he figured that classes at Hogwarts had most certainly finished but he hadn't received a reply to his message, then it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps the man had given up as well, taking the bangle off. He was most certainly frustrated, how could I have been so stupid? He didn't really know where the question was really directed at, there were multiple situations where it applied to and this made him even more upset at the way he was living his life currently.

As for Severus, he was now locked away in his living room nursing a tumbler of whiskey, he knew that after the performance the night prior he shouldn't have even been touching the stuff but he thought about endulging this one time. He was also mulling over what he should reply with, that's good to here? I'm sorry that this happened to you? I miss you? I want you still? All these were possibilities but he didn't want to seem presumptuous considering they hadn't spoken in so long. He dragged out a long sigh, he had really gotten himself into a position that, by the looks of things, he wasn't going to get out of any time soon. In the end, he didn't reply to the teen, he considered it too painful acting as though they were still together and slung back the rest of his drink. Looking over at the time he saw that he could brew something before dinner, he had to keep his mind occupied as the aching in his heart continued to wriggle its way into his soul.

At dinner, the majority of Gryffindor house had sat down and were speaking in nervous tones about the upcoming exams. Hermione was the one stressing out the most though she was the one constantly with her nose within the pages of a large tomb. Ron on the other hand was grumbling about the exams although he was quite happy about not having to sit a Potion's final. He had expressed his delight also at the fact that their Professor was clumsy but Hermione had soon straightened him out by telling him he wasn't looking deep enough at the situation.

"Honestly, Ron. Can't you see that something isn't right? I know he was looking at the bangle, Harry's bangle that he gave him. They obviously haven't been speaking and with the tone of Harry's letter the other day can you not see what's going on?" Hermione had managed the whole conversation in a whisper but had fallen on deaf ears as the hall went deathly silent when their Potion's Master walked through the main doors.

"Blimey." Ron said, trying desperately hard to hold in his laughter, the shaking of his shoulders getting worse the longer he held it in.

"It's not funny, Ron I wonder what happened?" Hermione asked in awe.

"Who cares? Git deserved it." Ron snapped back before he let out a loud howl as his laughter broke out.

Severus had had an accident with his potion, both due to the fact he hadn't been concentrating on the potion and because he had been thinking about Harry, and the cauldron had exploded in his face. No matter how hard he had tried to flatten out his hair he couldn't and if you looked really closely you could have seen the frayed ends that had caught fire. He would have stayed in his rooms the remainder of the night if not for the fact he was hungry and would have still had to face the students the following day, better let them get their jokes out of the way now, he had thought when leaving his living quarters.

Just after this had all happened, everyone turned their attention to the owl that squawked as it flew through the open window in the rafters, Hermione and Ron recognizing it instantly as Harry's owl as it deposited a letter in the main bowl of mashed potato.

"I swear that bird has it in for us." Hermione muttered before she cleared of the potato so she could read the letter.

Do I have "sexually assault me", written across my forehead?

Both of the Gryffindor's looked at the letter, both sets of eyebrows raised before they turned to one another. Hermione looked on in disbelief where as Ron looked like he was going to be sick.

"If I ever see that bastard, I'm going to kill him." Ron said with his teeth gritted.

"This must have been what Harry messaged him about in class. Do you reckon he would have said anything in detail about it?" Hermione wondered but Ron simply shrugged his shoulders.

"You'd have to ask that slimy git and I doubt he'll be very easy to get information out – Ow, what was that for?" Hermione had slapped him over the shoulder with her book she had hidden on her lap during dinner and he wasn't happy about the abuse.

"You know why I did that. He's a Professor and if our friend is… You know… Then you should respect that." She hissed quietly at him and he blushed at her words.

Meanwhile up at the Head table, Dumbledore was watching his Potion's Master out the corner of his eye in concern. He couldn't remember the last time the man had had an accident and he wasn't going to be surprised if his laspe in concentration was due to a recent event involving someone he deeply cared about. It saddened him to see the man so down but there were rules and policies around this sort of thing so safeguard the students from situations such as what had happened at Durmstrang, the only thing was that his hands were tied.

"Are you alright, Severus?" It was Flitwick who what sitting beside him but the man didn't answer, only grunted as he looked down into his meal, his appetite disappearing.

"I'm going to write back." Hermione suddenly announced to Ron and when she went to stand up he looked at her imploringly.

"Can we not finish dinner first?" He asked but she was off with her book in hand to write back to her friend.

Ron sighed, he too looking down into his food as he contemplated what was happening at the moment. He missed the looks we was getting from his sister and the rest of his friends that surrounded them, little did they know what was going on, but he wasn't concerned about that right now, he just wanted everything to go back to normal and that meant having his friend back in Hogwarts.

That night, Harry found himself in the presence of Malfoy again, the notion of them becoming friends very far fetched but he supposed that the boy wasn't actually that bright so if he was going to hurt him, he would have done it by now. They were currently sitting in the Grand Hall for dinner where Harry was trying to ignore the fact he was there but found it difficult when the blonde was trying to strike up conversation with him.

"You ready for the first exam tomorrow?"

Harry couldn't believe he was trying to be so civil, what did Malfoy expect him to say? Yeah sure, it's going to be great? He rolled his eyes instead and kept to himself for the rest of the evening.

The next morning however, Harry was running down the corridor towards the hall for his first exam, after breakfast he had received another letter from his friends and it had made him a little upset. So much so that he had lost track of time and was now on the way to being late for the Transfiguration examination. Luckily he had made it in time and was able to find a seat before the large doors were closed, locking them inside its walls.

He was ready.

Walking out of his last exam a week later, Harry let out a long breath, looking out down the corridor he would see the sun shining so he thought about going outside to catch some rays and to unwind. Exams had been brutal and he somewhat felt under prepared after the first few he had had, he was able to asnwer all of the questions however, but he just felt that a little more indepth would have gotten him the higher scores. As he closed his eyes after laying down in the grass he let everything disappear from his mind, this is what the Occlumency mind block was about and now that he had finished his finals there was some time where he could work on this.

The mental strain from the memories being extracted and the interrogation by the Ministry had been rather tolling and if not for his start on Occlumency he knew that some of Severus's memories would have been mixed up in there. That was one thing he could give their late Professor Viktor credit on, teaching them the basics of this memory magic, it was almost as if he knew something like this would happen but in the end it was of no avail to him, he had been caught.

Harry squinted when something blocked his sunlight and he groaned when Malfoy's blonde hair caught the sun and he grumbled, asking what he was doing.

"You didn't wait for me after the last exam, I was wondering if you wanted to unwind." He offered and sat next to the ex-Gryffindor who was now eyeing him suspiciously.

"Unwind? And what do you class as unwinding, Malfoy?" His voice was almost bitter but he didn't feel bad what so ever.

"This?" He replied and pulled out a flask, the Malfoy family crest on the front of it.

Harry found it on his lap within a couple of seconds and he picked it up to check it over, if he was right about the contents he would definitely join the boy in downing the rest of where ever it came from. They shared a small smile between the two of them and Harry unscrewed the lib before taking a sniff of it, the smell reminding him of a better time and his mind raced when he realised he could get plastered.

"It's Wizarding Firewhiskey. A lot stronger than Muggle alcohol…" He trailed off as Harry nodded before glancing around them.

"Your dorm. We're going to finish the rest of this off." Harry said standing and this time he waited, helped Malfoy up even, before they hightailed it back into the castle.

Malfoy's dorm wasn't much different to his own, there were a lot of Qudditch posters and the like around, he even spied the blonde's Nimbus two thousand and one resting up against the side of a wardrobe. He looked back at the teen who was now sitting on the edge of what was presumably his bed before Harry joined him. It was weird, he would never have guessed he would willingly walk into the same territory as Malfoy but he supposed that the boy had alcohol.. How Slytherin of me, he thought distractedly before he found himself holding the flask to his lips and the burning feeling flowing down his throat.

It took all of ten minutes for them to polish off the flask and when Harry went to stand the room started spinning around him, he heard a small snort from beside him when he gave up and flopped back down onto the bed, his arms splaying out beside him. He knew he was a light weight, he didn't drink that often but aparently a trend was occuring when he did drink. Surely it's not healthy, he thought but then let his eyes roll when he continued that thought with, Severus would have a fit. He was having thoughts about such man too often lately and he had to wonder whether this was anything to do with the fact that he would be going back to Hogwarts between Durmstrang finishing them finishing up as well.

"I wanted to 'hic' ask y-you something." Malfoy's voice cut through his alcohol filled brain and he turned his head sideways dramatically to look at the boy who was still sitting upright.

"Shoot." Harry replied before his eyes closed again.

"I heard you were involved with Viktor." At this, Harry's eyes shot open and his sat up, way too quickly, and had to blink to focus on the boy in front of him, "I thought so." He continued and Harry stood, pointing his finger at the blonde accusingly.

"Is that why we're here, right now? You want to get the juicy gossip?" Harry said and tried to move away.

"No, it's not that." Malfoy replied and his softer tone made Harry turn around.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me." He sighed when he saw the look on his face, it was clear he had something to do with it as well, this day just gets better and better.

He went back over and sat down, he couldn't leave the boy like this, but more importantly he was going to have to sober up before trying to attempt a journey back to his own room. They sat in an awkward silence before Harry watched him reach down into his trunk and pull out the bottle of alcohol they had been drinking and took a massive swig. If he hadn't been drunk he would have told the blonde to stop but he almost felt the pain that the blonde was going through so he didn't stop him, instead he joined him.

The last thing he remembered that afternoon was falling backwards so he was laying across the bed.

Waking the next morning, Harry couldn't understand why the room looked so different. That was until he felt something warm across his stomach moving and he looked down to find Malfoy sidled up to him. Oh, Merlin, he thought in dispair and noted that there were only two beds occupied apart from the one they were on and everyone apart from Harry was asleep. He didn't know what to do, but mainly he knew he had to get out of there, today they were going to be leaving and he only then realised he'd missed the goodbye feast.

He froze when he felt the boy next to him move but luckily the Malfoy rolled away and Harry used this as his chance to get out whilst he still could. He grabbed his boots off the floor and his brown jersey, not really sure how it had ended on the floor in the first place as well as finding his wand under the bed, what did I do last night? He wondered before looking back at the sleeping teen. He almost felt bad, they had shared alcohol and some of the other stuff was a little hazy and now he was leaving.

"I suggest you just bolt." A deep voice came from behind him and he jumped when he saw a boy sitting up in bed looking at him tiredly.

"He does this all the time, just go otherwise you'll be told to leave." He continued and Harry nodded, if not hesitantly before making his way to the door.

He felt terrible, he completely deserved it however and as he walked the length of the corridor, fresh air filling his lungs, he felt his stomach churn, uh oh, he started running and found the nearest toilet and doubled over. He emptied the contents before dropping to his knees and the harsh cold floor gave him a sharp pain before it wore off and he threw up again. The last time he had been in this position, the bathroom had atleast been clean and he regretted having no one to give him some water to wash his mouth out. So staggering to his feet he dragged himself over to the wash basins and rinsed his mouth before taking in his complexion, groaning as he did.

Ever since he had arrived at Durmstrang he had slimmed down and his face gaunt with the lack of sleep and food but this, this was far worse and he looked as though any moment to drop dead. Realising the implications of showing up in front of his friends looking like this he decided to get himself smartened up, dress robes were required today as it was the last day of school. In some ways he was happy, in others he wasn't really sure. It was all very complicated.

Never the less, after checking himself over again in the mirror he headed towards his own dorm, a shower and then some food, that's what he needed right now.