Disclaimer – Still not making any money.

Author Notes – Yeah, you have probably all noticed the fact that I don't have a beta for this. I have spell-check on the computer and I do my best in going over it but, well, it's easy to get a bit blind when you know exactly what it's meant to say. Also, I'm Swedish so I claim the right to mess up when it isn't even my language! But if anyone feels up for the job of betaing this, both to check grammer and such and to maybe give me some pointers when I'm going of track then I would greatly appreciate it! Just send me a message and I'll get back to you.

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Chapter 12 – Connecting

The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad.

- Salvador Dali

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"Scott seems happier today."

Harry looked up as Daisy flopped down on the seat beside him. They were outside for the first time in what felt like weeks, the storm having finally subsided during the morning, and most students chose to escape the confines they had been forced to for so long. It was not exactly sunny and warm, the clouds still took up most of the sky and a cold breeze came in from the west, but it was at least tolerable.

"So?"

"I'm just saying, something must have happened to lift his spirits," Daisy said matter-of-factly but Harry noticed the small quirk of her lips and the seemingly ever present glint in her eyes that told him that she was saying more then her words.

He turned away from her and looked up at the sky. "Wasn't even aware he was down."

"Sure ya weren't," Daisy said and Harry saw her shake her head from the corner of his eye. "'Cause you never pay any attention at all to what Scotty does."

He clenched his teeth for a second and then took a deep, calming breath. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know. You like to pretend that ya don't but you're not as stupid as you try to make people believe."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Life would be easier if you didn't pretend." She dragged a hand through her hair. "And it's not exactly hard to notice that something's up between you and Scott, had to be blind not to."

He sneered. "Nothing's up. And you must be blind if you think there is."

Harry was surprised when Daisy actually giggled next to him. "I see right through you, ya know," she said, leaned over and knocked him on the head.

Harry jumped about a foot in the air and then swirled around and glared at her. "The hell's wrong with you?" he yelled and glared even harder when she giggled again.

"I haven't had this much fun in ages!" she laughed and smiled at him. "Dunno what I did before ya got here."

His eyes widened as he stared at her. He had written the goth of as crazy the first time he met her and this just strengthened his belief. An insane asylum would be much more suited for her 'special needs'.

"Yeah, well, I don't really like you so I can't say the feelings mutual."

"Don't worry, Harry, that'll change soon enough."

He snorted. "Sure it will."

Letting his mind drift away for a second he stared up at the sky again. He did not really know how he felt about the night before, how Scott had come after him after he had left his bed and how Harry had just started talking. He had never talked about that with anyone before, not even Cedric, and it felt a bit weird that Scott knew. Sure, so maybe Harry had not given all that much detail about what had happened but Scot still knew the important parts.

He felt a bit . . . exposed. To let someone see him at his weakest moment was something he had told himself that he would never do. It gave them an opening, a way to get in beneath his tough exterior and hurt him much more deeply. He had built walls around himself for a reason and he was not ready to let someone get passed them.

But it had felt so right to talk to Scott. Harry did not know why the blonde had such a strong affect on him but he did. He was more relaxed around him then he had been in years and it felt so good. To just being able to breath without feeling like he was suffocating.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, a small smile gracing his lips. It was amazing, even the thought of the other boy made him breath easier.

"Scott's not the only one who seems happier today."

He huffed in annoyance and gave Daisy a quick glance before he closed his eyes again. "Haven't you left yet?"

"Nah," she said. "Got no better place to be. Although, the sun is kinda startin' to get on my nerves."

Frowning, he looked up at the sky. It was still cloudy. "Seriously, never thought you might be taking this goth-thing a bit too far?"

"Goth-thing?" she sneered. "I happen to like the dark, thank you very much, and don't take too kindly on people passing judgement."

He snorted. "No judgement, huh? And what do you call what you go around doing?"

She stuck up her nose. "I tell it as I see it. No judgement, just critic and suggestions."

Harry could not help it, he actually laughed at that. "You really are batshit-crazy, aren't you?"

She smiled back at him. "Like they say, takes one to know one."

He laughed again and shook his head. So maybe Daisy was crazy and most of the time annoyed him so much that he wanted to strangle her but, he had to admit, she could be pretty funny too. In small doses of course and only when she was not trying to bug him about things better left alone.

Harry absently scratched at his arm as he looked around at all the students milling about. The whole place was like that actually. Crazy and down right annoying but in small doses and when people minded their own business it was a pretty ok place to be. Sure beat being at the Dursleys – although they had not exactly put up a high standard – and his regular school was a real dump in comparison. He was far from ready to admit it out loud but maybe he did not really mind being stuck here. Maybe it had been a good thing.

"You look like your doing some serious thinking in there," Daisy said, breaking him out of his thoughts, and pointing at her own temple. If he was lucky she might have actually learned the no-touching-rule.

"Yeah, well, some of us have more then elevator music buzzing around in our heads," he answered with a smirk and glanced over at her.

She nodded seriously. "Touché."

Harry could not completely contain the smile that blossomed on his lips – feeling so relaxed and content right then – but quickly wiped it away again and looked away with a frown.

What was he doing? He did not want any friends and he did not want to let people get close so why was he suddenly opening up to Scott and joking around with Daisy? And this place, he wanted to get away from here not settle in. He had let these people in way too far already and allowed them to get familiar when he should have been keeping them at arms length like he used to. He was a loner – a bloody basterd – and he was much better of without them.

"Now, don't do that!" Daisy cried. She wagged her finger at him with narrowed eyes and he realised it was the first time he saw her show any form of anger. She looked pretty scary.

"Here you were, finally starting to relax a bit and not being such a nasty son of a bitch, and then you make a complete 180!" She glared at him. "What's that supposed to be good for?"

He stared at her, surprised by her he anger, before he narrowed his eyes and glared right back. "The hell do you care? Not like we're friends or anything. Your memory suck too or don't you remember me saying that I don't even like you?"

"Don't give me that bullshit," she sneered. "Ya can pretend all ya like but it don' matter. I see you like the scared little kid that ya are and I know you're not as nasty as you want people to believe. And you can't be so fuckin' naïve that you think you're the only one here that's ever had it hard."

He gapped at her. It was the most straightforward Daisy had ever been with him and seeing her so angry shocked him to the core.

Of course he did not believe that he was the only one here who had had it rough but he still did not think anyone had been through some of the shit he had been. They were all too happy and outgoing to have really suffered. Right?

"You don't know a thing about me," he said, his words almost a whisper, and Daisy finally let the glare slip as her eyes softened.

"But I do," she said just as softly. "Maybe not the details but I know you're scared. You afraid to let anyone get close 'cause you think they'll only hurt ya like everyone else has. And ya cut yourself open because it easier to bleed then to acknowledge the pain."

Harry looked away, his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage, and suddenly it felt like something was pressing down on him, suffocating him. He blinked his eyes to clear the fog that had settled over them but it did not go away.

"But you're not alone, Harry," Daisy continued. "We've all been there some time and some of us still are. But ya have to acknowledge the pain before you can get rid of it and pushing everyone away won't help."

She silenced and he pressed his eyes close against all the unwanted memories that tried to push their way to the front of his mind. He did not want to deal with them right now and he just wished that Daisy would stay quiet. He hated how she opened him up and just saw everything he wanted to keep hidden.

"I whacked my dad in the head with a seven-iron golf club," she said with a sigh.

Eyes wide Harry looked up at her. She was the one staring of in to the distance now, hands clasped in front of her and her back bent like she was trying to shoulder something far too heavy for her small frame.

"It was just the final straw, ya know?" she continued but did not stop to wait for a response. "He'd been a real piece of shit for years but when he finally picked up the courage to take a swing at me I had had enough."

She silenced again and Harry kept staring at her for several long moments, seeing the girl in a whole new light.

At last, with a nod towards her, he said, "You got him good, right?"

A small smile graced her lips as her eyes came back in to focus. "Yeah. Yeah, I got him real good."

"Good," Harry said with another nod and turned his eyes away.

"Made this real dull sound," Daisy said, her smile getting wider. "Like I banged on something hollow."

Harry snorted, shaking his head. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"I've been told."

The clouds cleared a bit, allowing a few rays of sunlight to pierce through them, and Harry saw Daisy wrinkle her nose in annoyance. A tiny smile graced his lips.

"You could go inside if the sun bothers you."

She shook her head. "Nah, not yet. You're too much fun right now, can't let the moment go to waste." She turned to look at him with searching eyes. "Now that I've done my bit of sharing it's only fair that you do too."

He frowned in irritation but had to admit that she had a point. "Alright," he said. "One question. But I reserve the right to refuse to answer if it's something I don't want to talk about."

She looked deep in thought for a few seconds, one of her hands coming up to scratch her temple, before she turned towards him again. "Had any boyfriend?"

Harry felt his stomach drop. Forcing air in to his lungs he contemplated if he really was ready to talk about that. It was a touchy subject and he had never talked to anyone about it before but maybe it was time. After all, he had not planned on telling Scott what he did last night but he had to admit that he had felt a little bit better after.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Cedric."

She tilted her head, obviously wanting him to elaborate, and it took him a moment before he was able to.

"We met a bit over a year ago," he continued. "Went to the same school although he was a few years older. Bugged the hell out of me in the beginning but he kind of grew on me." A smile graced his lips as he remembered the way Cedric used to follow him around and trying to talk to him no matter how many times Harry blew him of. "He never cared what anyone else said either. Made his own opinion."

"What happened?" Daisy asked when Harry broke of and he took a deep breath before he could continue.

"He died," Harry said. "Got hit by a car. He smiled at me and then he was just gone."

She stared at him but he could not make himself meet her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said and it sounded like she meant it.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, me too."

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