After he had recovered from the initial shock of finding out that the Slytherins got their own private rooms, he cast an appraising look around. Draco's room made him feel a bit claustrophobic – it had way too much furniture for such a small space. A couch and two fluffy chairs were set dangerously close to the front of the fireplace, a work desk and bookshelf took up the entire length of the far wall, and a large 4-poster bed filled out the remaining space leaving just a tiny path to navigate around on. While living in a dorm had its drawbacks, at least he had room to breathe.
"I thought the Slytherin dorms were under the lake?" Harry asked with a frown as the thought had occurred to him.
"The Common Room is, but the dorms...I'm not sure exactly how it works. Nothing about the layout of Hogwarts makes much sense. The location of the dorms in relation to the Common Room..." Draco trailed off with a shrug. "Nothing connects like it should. It's all sorts of wonky."
Harry peered thoughtfully out the window. It was slightly unnerving to think that if he left out of the door behind him and walked down the tower, he would be stepping into the Slytherin Common Room which was hidden underneath the lake he saw shimmering in the distance. His mind was boggled.
"But," Draco interrupted, forcing him to turn around. "That's not why I brought you here."
Draco squeezed passed the bed to get to his work desk where he picked up a familiar sketchpad and then crossed over to sit on the couch, beckoning with his eyes for Harry to join him.
"I checked out a book on the basics of drawing from the library," Draco explained excitedly, flipping through the pages of his sketchpad until he had arrived at his more recent work.
"See," he said, pointing to a page with various colored shapes. "I started out practicing light and shadow like the book said. It was rather easy given my previous experience."
He flipped a few more pages, stopping on a sketch of Harry napping on a bench in the courtyard.
"I've started drawing people now. I'm concentrating on getting the proportions right. There's a whole formula in there," he said, gesturing to the book still lying on his desk.
Harry fought down the urge to grin at the sight of Draco babbling on like an excitable child showing off his favorite toys. He was worried that Draco might think he was mocking him.
He flipped another page and there was Crabbe and Goyle scowling as they hunched over their cauldron in Potions. "This one was really hard – they're just so lumpy," he commented.
The next page was Ron, glaring across the dinner table in the Great Hall. "I had to draw this one in between feeling like I was going to retch every time he started talking with his mouth open. I guess with all those kids, his mum couldn't be bothered to teach them all proper manners."
Before he could argue with him, Draco had flipped the page again. It was another one of Harry, sitting in his favorite window ledge on the third floor, looking out at the grounds. It was a bit unnerving to realize that he must have been terribly oblivious to not have noticed Draco there, drawing him.
"So, what do you think?" Draco asked, eyes wide and eager, begging for praise.
"I'm surprised," Harry admitted. "I had only been joking, but you might make it as an artist after all."
Draco scoffed, fighting to suppress a satisfied grin. "Don't be stupid, Harry. Art is not a respectable profession. I'm only doing this for fun."
"Who cares about being respectable?" Harry questioned, a little upset with how quickly Draco had shot his idea down and more specifically upset with the mocking tone of voice he was using to do it in.
"I do," Draco shot back, his smile rapidly turning into an irritated frown. "Just because you have no sense of class or how the wizarding world works..."
"Are we really having this argument again?" Harry cut him off with an exasperated look.
"Sorry," he grumbled as if it pained him to say it.
Things had been going so good and then, like a switch had been flipped, they were back at each other's throats.
"I'm sorry too," Harry whispered, watching Draco sheepishly from the corner of his eye.
Draco nodded, his features smoothing out as the irritation drained away. After an overly long silence, Draco put his sketchpad back and pulled out his potions textbook. "I guess I'll get started on that essay Professor Snape assigned us."
"Me too," Harry replied, pulling out his own work.
This felt better – more familiar – both boys working in companionable silence as the minutes ticked by. Harry felt his eyelids growing heavy, the grip on his quill loosening just enough so that the quill slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor, his chin resting gently against his chest as his head tipped forward.
/
A clattering sound caught Draco's attention, his eyes lasering in on the quill that had fallen to the floor. He glanced up at Harry and saw that the boy had nodded off, his head hung low at an awkward angle that made Draco feel uncomfortable just to see. With a sigh, he set his essay aside and moved Harry's own work off his lap. He stirred ever so slightly as Draco picked him up, navigating the too cramped bedroom, to place Harry on his bed.
"Shhh," Draco soothed as he settled his covers over the boy. "Go back to sleep."
Harry drifted off with a sleepy nod.
/
Harry was having the strangest dream. He was resting against the body of a giant silver dragon, its body radiating a pleasant warmth.
He opened his eyes, blinking blearily about the room and reached for the nightstand to grab his glasses, but his fingers met with nothing. The room was cast in the strange glow of twilight.
"About time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty," Draco teased.
"How did I.." he started, peering around at a vaguely familiar yet blurry room. He sat up suddenly, his heart thundering frantically in his chest as he remembered where he was.
"You know," Draco said in a drawling voice, interrupting his moment of panic. "You really need to stop dozing off all over the castle. Somebody with less than honorable intentions might take advantage of you."
Harry didn't have to see the boy's face to know that he was smirking at him.
"Here," Draco said, handing Harry his glasses. Everything came back into sharp focus when he put them on.
"Although I am only half joking about that," he continued. "I've noticed you keep making it a habit to take naps in the courtyard. Why exactly is that?"
Draco was staring at him with penetrating silver eyes. He shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, his eyes breaking away from the intense look on Draco's face.
"The cold grounds me," he explained. "It makes my dreams not feel so real."
Draco's face took on a slightly angry expression and Harry was afraid for a moment that he had upset the boy again. He wracked his brain trying to figure out where he had screwed up this time. Had he said the wrong thing?
"Harry," he growled. "I was serious when I told you about Pansy. You can't just go falling asleep all over the castle. Something bad is going to happen to you if you do."
Harry felt a twinge of guilt. What he had mistaken as anger on the boy's face was actually Draco's weird way of showing concern. Draco let out a long-suffering sigh, moving so that he was inches away from Harry with an intense and unreadable expression on his face. Harry's eyes dropped away from his gaze, furiously studying the comforter.
"In the future, if you want to take a nap, you can take one in my room. If the cold helps you that much, you can put out the fire and open the window. I don't care what you do, really. Just stop taking naps out in the open," he pleaded.
Harry looked up in surprise, his eyes meeting Draco's.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Harry asked, a little fearful of the answer.
"Isn't that how friends are supposed to behave?" Draco replied, his face still very close to Harry's.
Harry nodded, swallowing against the nervous feeling that was making his throat feel tight. Draco broke away at last, moving to the window to gather his broom.
"It's time for dinner," he announced, holding out a hand for Harry to join him.
Endnote: They are so cute, don't you think? How many people thought they were going to kiss right there? I am ever so evil.
