Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Harry woke up the next morning warm and cozy. The fluffy duvet was tossed over him but it was more than that-he felt safe. His mind was still mostly groggy when he realized they had somehow shifted in their sleep so Harry's head was in the crook of Draco's arm with his hand laying on Draco's chest. Despite having a brief moment of shock, he decided to double down on his luck and just enjoy being held by someone.

And no wonder couples constantly spent time laying about in each other's arms! Perhaps he enjoyed it so much because he was starved for someones-anyone's-touch, but he didn't ever want to move from his current position. That was, until Draco woke up.

He kept his eyes closed and his breathing even as Draco gently untangled himself and quietly closed the bathroom door. He rolled over, disappointed that Draco had left but not completely crushed like he would have been had Draco decided to freak out. A part of him had expected that, prepared him for it even, but Draco was surprisingly calm about it.

He heard the door open again and tensed just a little when he felt the bed dip behind him before relaxing completely as an arm slid under his pillow and another was wrapped around his waist. Harry felt himself smile the smallest amount and before he drifted off once more. He couldn't be sure, but he swore he felt Draco's lips graze the back of his neck just before sleep overtook him again.

The next time he woke, Draco seemed fast asleep. He yawned and stretched before getting up without jostling the blond. He had no idea that Draco was watching him-more specifically, that Draco was practically drooling while watching Harry's arse as he moved.

The two boarded the Hogwarts Express for their sixth year and found an empty compartment together. Draco stowed their trunks and Hedwig's cage on the racks above them and they settled in for the ride. They'd purposefully shown up early to avoid the crowd of perpetually almost-late witches and wizards dropping their children off at the platform. Draco started to read aloud-something that had started quite spontaneously when Harry had gotten curious about what he was reading. Draco tried, and failed, to keep the smile off of his face when Harry relaxed and laid down on the bench with his head on Draco's lap. He carded his fingers through the brunet's hair and read with the book levitating in front of him.

He noticed Hermione put a charm on their compartment door as she walked by, no doubt showing the younger years where to go. She returned after the train started moving and quietly stowed her things away. She didn't say anything but pointedly looked at Harry and back at him with an eyebrow raised.

"He spent most of the summer with me, you know that. This relaxes him." She sighed in resignation and sat down.

"So what's happened between you two?" Her question confused him. Happened how? How much did he say? How much could he say? Harry had explicitly told him he didn't want anyone to know how bad it was.

"I-I can't tell you, really, how this summer started. He told me he doesn't want me to talk about it, so I won't. But in the end, my father agreed to pick him up and bring him back to the manor for the rest of the summer. We've grown quite comfortable with each other."

"And the book? You were reading to him." Draco cursed himself as he felt a blush start to make itself known on his cheeks.

"I was reading one day and he asked me what it was about. Since I had just started, I went back and started reading out loud as a joke but he said he was interested in hearing the rest only a few paragraphs in." He shrugged. "I simply obliged him and it became a part of our routine."

"Yes, but Gone With the Wind? Seriously? I never thought you'd read anything written by a muggle but especially not that one!" He downright loathed that he could feel his cheeks grow hotter.

"Harry likes the ones with a love story best." She gave him a suspicious look, followed by a self-satisfied smirk.

"Anything else you'd like to tell me?" She paused before continuing. "You know, as his honorary sister, I'm sure there's something you must have forgotten to mention."

Draco felt well and truly cornered when her eyes narrowed in warning. Checking to make sure that Harry was actually asleep and not just dozing, he blurted, "Alright fine, I like him okay? What's so bad about reading to him if he likes it?" And there was that stupid smirk again.

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"What, and possibly scare him off? How absurd, I don't want to be the hero; swooping in and rescuing him from the big bad villains and then expecting him to swoon. How atrocious. No, I'd much rather friendzone myself than lose whatever it is we have right now."

"Oh Draco, you know it's not-"

"It is though! Don't you get it? He has girls practically lifting their legs at their hero. Think about it, he's a hero and everyone wants him because of that! Could you imagine how he'd feel if he thought I was manipulating my way into his heart simply because of his celebrity status? It's not worth it. I'd rather die."

"Don't be so bloody dramatic, you'll turn into a book character before long! Although, I do see your point. By the way, what was your opinion on the homework for history of magic…"

The two talked until she decided to go out and patrol the walkways and make sure there wasn't any funny business happening.

"About time, I thought she'd never leave!" Draco barely managed to not jump clear out of his skin.

"Bloody fuck Harry! How long have you been awake?"

"Somewhere between ancient runes and patrolling for troublemakers. Why?" Harry yawned and Draco had to look away, lest those emerald orbs manage to get him hard while Harry's head was using his lap as a pillow.

"Just curious on how long you were plotting my demise." They laughed and Draco continued reading.

Harry cursed, thankful for the silencing charms on his curtains. This was the third night in a row that he just couldn't sleep. The first night back was easy; he was so exhausted emotionally from the mass of students demanding his attention and from catching up with friends that he barely hit the pillow before he was asleep. The second, third and now fourth night were absolute torture.

He'd made sure he was safely ensconced in his bed before Ron came up for the night each day and was proud to say that his wards around the bed worked rather well, if the loud complaint was to be believed when Dean touched the curtain.

The brunet cursed again and finally decided to bloody well get up. It was just after midnight, and since the next day was the start of the weekend, he decided to just get up and go for a walk. The teachers stopped patrolling around midnight anyways so they could grade in their rooms and have a bit of a lie in. He swung the invisibility cloak around himself and departed without a sound.

This was how he liked Hogwarts best. It was quiet, the walls splashed with the moonlight from the windows and Harry loved it. You could practically hear the castle breathing magic. While he walked, his mind wandered. He desperately wanted to know why he was having such a hard time falling asleep.

Really not much had changed in his routine since coming back to school, other than the school part. He woke up at the same time every day, went to bed at the same time, ate at the same times...the only thing he wasn't doing now that he was at the manor was sleeping with Draco next to him and listening to Draco read fiction novels. Now Draco was prone to reading textbooks to him, although he'd promised to switch back to the fiction novels during the weekends when their homework was done. Harry was still bitter about that decision, he wanted to know what happened to Scarlett already!

That only left sleeping next to Draco. Just the thought of laying next to him with a warm blanket practically knocked him out standing up. He was just having trouble sleeping alone, that was all.

He turned and made his way to the hospital wing. The bags around his eyes had caught Hermione's notice that morning, and he wasn't about to let it happen again without seeing Madame Pomfrey first so she couldn't lecture him again. He took off the cloak and turned the corner while hoping that he wasn't going to be disturbing her too much.

To his surprise, he saw her handing a potion to someone with shocking blond hair-what would Draco need from Madame Pomfrey at this time?

"Harry?"

"Draco?"

"What are you doing here?" They asked each other.

"Uh...I couldn't sleep again," Harry muttered. He mentally kicked himself for the 'again' slip but hoped that Draco wouldn't latch onto that little chestnut.

"Again?" Harry sighed.

"Yeah," he admitted. Madame Pomfrey sent Draco on his way and instead of just giving him a potion so he could sleep for the night, she had him sit down in her office. The plush armchair was soft and comfortable, much more so than the old, worn-out armchairs in the common room.

"I understand you're having trouble sleeping?" Harry nodded, curious as to where this was going. "Have you given any thought to why that might be?"

"I spent the summer with the Malfoys. I simply got used to sleeping next to someone, I think. I'll be okay, I just have to relearn how to sleep alone." She gave him a knowing smile and pulled a tea service out from seemingly nowhere. He gladly accepted a cup and settled in while she thought about what to say next.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm rather curious. The staff and I have noticed you're avoiding Ron Weasley and I was wondering why. And keep in mind that anything you tell me I won't be allowed to tell anyone else. Just between us." Harry hardened himself, preparing for an interrogation.

"So I haven't been spending as much time with him. It's no big deal."

"And do you think that maybe your issue with him is making you too tense in the dorms to sleep properly?" Harry simply shrugged.

On some level, he knew she was right. He knew he was stressed and tense and anxious, especially at night when he knew Ron was in the same room as him. But he also knew that she wouldn't be telling him this if it wasn't important.

"Have you noticed you're tense or particularly stressed out lately?"

"Yeah, I have been."

"And does it get worse when you're near Ron?" He wanted to scream no, that she was wrong, that Ron was a good friend and was just going through a phase. He always had a temper and Harry wasn't about to let that ruin his friendship. And yet, a very small part of his mind told him that not even Seamus would treat him the way Ron had been for quite some time.

"Maybe it does, but that's besides the point! The point is I want a potion or something that will let me sleep-just for tonight. I haven't slept for so long, I'm desperate to get some rest." His vision swam with his desperation and in a flurry of emotions ranging from anger at himself for not admitting the full truth to hysteria from sleep deprivation, he stood.

"Thank you for your time, Madame Pomfrey. I appreciate it." Suddenly feeling quite numb, he turned and made it to the entrance of the hospital wing where Draco was leaning against the wall. Draco held his arm and guided him to the Room of Requirement where they both slid under the duvet in the bed provided and fell asleep.