Chapter 26
Harry shot awake, his heart pounding and his face sweaty.
It's not real, it's not real, it's not real...
Taking a deep breath, he rubbed at his face before looking around the dark room.
He frowned.
Is it just me, or did something in that corner move...?
Leaping out of bed, he barely paused to grab to his robes before rushing downstairs, only calming when he reached the peaceful atmosphere of the late-night common room.
Spying Draco talking to Blaise and Theo on the couch in front of the fire, Harry immediately walked over, collapsing in his lap and curling up on him, arms hanging loosely around Draco's neck as he buried his face into the blonde's chest, breathing in his scent to calm his racing heart.
Draco, to his credit, didn't even flinch, and merely altered his seating to make their position more comfortable for them both, his own arms wrapping around the smaller boy's waist protectively.
It was times like this, that he was guiltily glad Harry had been on the streets for so long, for the lack of food and nutrients had resulted in him still being quite small, hence allowing Draco to cuddle the slight frame relatively easily.
"-and then McGonagall just lost it!" He finished, grinning at his friends, "Went completely crazy on them, and gave two weeks' worth of detention for-"
He abruptly stopped.
There it was again.
A sniffle.
Looking down at the face hidden by a mess of black hair, he frowned, "Harry?"
Another sniffle.
But no other response.
Turning back to the other two, he gave Blaise a meaningful look, and thankfully, the older boy caught on.
Standing up, he turned to Theo, "Hey, Nott, remember those Herbology notes you had to give me?"
"... No".
"Yes, well, neither can I. So let's go find them" He finished, even as he dragged the boy away.
Turning back to Harry, Draco gently peeled his arms from around his neck and pulled back to look at the boy.
Teary emerald eyes stared back up at him.
Sighing, he tugged the younger even closer, and rested his chin on top of the messy hair, "Another nightmare?"
Harry nodded, burying his face into the blonde's chest once more, the familiar scent calming him.
"Want to talk about it?"
"... No".
Taking a deep breath, Draco pulled away once more, and forced his friend to look back up at him, "Harry, we've been over this... You'll have to tell someone eventually".
"But I don't wanna" He whined, and the blonde sighed once more, "I know you don't want to talk, trust me, I know... But it's been nearly three days, Harry, and you still haven't told me what you're dreaming about. Despite using me as a human pillow every time you wake".
He blushed and looked away.
Smiling, Draco lifted his head back up, "I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You're a cuddler, I get it... In fact, I think it's rather cute".
And it was at this moment, that their three missing Professors finally showed up, and one in particular blew everything out of proportion.
Stepping into the common room, Tom yawned and looked around.
It was late, very late, and the majority of his students had gone to bed early once realising the next day was Monday, and they had school in the morning.
The only people left, were a group of first years sitting cross legged on the floor, still young enough to have bundles of energy, Blaise and Theo who was standing in the corner, poured over some school books, and... and Harry and Draco.
Sitting in front of the fire, he stared as Harry pouted and Draco laughed, the blonde boy gently holding Potter's chin. They were curled up together, close enough to practically be the same person, with Harry sitting across Draco's lap, both of his hands fisting the older boy's shirt as the blonde continued to grin at him.
Tom snarled and immediately took a step forwards, but Lucius grabbed his arm.
Rounding on him, he growled dangerously under his breath because he is touching Harry, my Harry, and how dare he be that close with my Harry when he is mine and not his and-
"Stop that right now! Lucius whispered harshly, "My son is well aware of your claim on that boy, or have you forgotten who told you about Harry's feelings? There is a perfectly good reason why they're sitting so close like that, so calm down before you further mess up your chances with Harry, and take your anger out on my son!"
Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he turned back to the scene in front of him, only to find Draco staring at him, frowning at the obvious anger on his face.
Turning to Lucius, the boy was met with a blank face, and so, he turned to Severus instead.
The Potions Master merely raised an eyebrow at him, sending a pointed look his way.
And then Draco realised the positon he was in.
Gulping, he turned back to the boy on his lap, "Ah... Harry?"
"Yea?"
"Remember... Remember three nights ago? On Friday? When we found out about..." He trailed off, before starting again, "Well, anyway, I kind of freaked out and told Blaise to get Tom but he wasn't there and neither was my dad or Sev and we couldn't find them yesterday or today either so they have no idea what happened and- and- and... well... they've just arrived back now, and they're kind of staring at us cause out of context this looks pretty bad, what with you on my lap and all, and we all know how obsessed our Head of House is with you, and... I just... I think Tom may about to kill me".