Thank you to the wonderful beta of this story, AmbiguousGoldfish
Chapter Eleven - Slumber Party
It didn't take long for Ron and Draco to set up the tent and the three of them quickly moved Harry inside, out of the cold weather and onto one of the small cots.
Hermione cleared Harry's fringe out of his eyes, muttering about another haircut before placing a heavy blanket on top of him.
"I really wanted him to eat something tonight", Hermione fretted as she turned towards Ron. He didn't know it but ever since fourth year Hermione had been keeping track of Harry's eating and sleeping habits, and since they started this little adventure of theirs she had been keeping a closer eye on him. She wanted to make sure Harry got enough food into his system, usually trying to make high calorie meals for him, knowing that he wouldn't eat much. Keeping track of his sleep was more difficult since Harry pretended to fall asleep earlier but Hermione quickly learned the difference between faking and actually sleeping.
In his sleep Harry would toss and turn, muttering words she couldn't quite make out while beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his hands clenched the blankets as he held on for dear life.
"We'll get him to eat a big breakfast in the morning," Ron assured her as he sat up the small lantern next to the cot.
Hermione gave a small nod and tucked Harry in almost like a mother would. "I'll make us some dinner," said Hermione before turning towards Draco. "We normally don't sleep when Harry has one of his... episodes. We like to keep an eye on him, but you're welcome to take one of the cots."
"No...I can stay up," Draco said softly. Truth be told, he didn't feel comfortable going to sleep without knowing if Harry was going to be alright. How often did this happen if his friends had a system in place?
"Alright, I'll make us some food then," Hermione said before going off to the small kitchen with her bag.
"She's not that great of a cook, so do everyone a favour and pretend," Ron muttered once Hermione was out of ear shot. Draco found himself chuckling quietly as he nodded to the redhead.
Ron and Draco sat at the long wooden table in the dining room section of the tent, only a couple of feet away from Harry. A few minutes later, Hermione brought the plates over, setting out hot chicken sandwiches along with a pasta salad that she'd made from ingredients brought from the cottage.
Draco wasted no time digging in, finding himself starving. The chicken was dry and the pasta wasn't cooked all the way through but even so,he thought it was the best meal that he had ever had.
Ron and Hermione spoke to him as if he were their equal and the laughter and conversation the three shared between them was special to Draco. He couldn't remember ever having a dinner like this, not even at Hogwarts.
After dinner Hermione collected the plates and set them down in the kitchen, deciding to do them later before coming back with a deck of cards with the word Uno written across the box.
"I'm guessing you never played any muggle games before?" Hermione asked as she shuffled the deck.
Draco shook his head.
"That's alright, I've been teaching Ron. It gives us something to do," Hermione started to explain the game as she dealt out the cards. "You think you've got it?" Hermione asked, setting the deck in the middle of all three of them and flipped the top card over.
"...I think so" Draco muttered, taking in all the rules of the game.
After a few rounds of the game Draco began learning how to strategize. He was just setting down a draw two card when they were pulled away from the game by the sound of Harry speaking parseltongue. , Immediately their eyes flicked towards the sleeping boy, watching as he twisted his body in strange and uncomfortable positions as beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.
Hermione let out a small sigh, flipping her wrist over to check the time on her watch that she slipped on as she was making dinner. "Midnight," she said before getting up and making her way over to Harry, sitting on the edge of his cot.
"Shouldn't we wake him up?" Draco asked as he and Ron got up from the table.
"No!" Ron and Hermione said at the same time, startling Draco.
"Trust me, you don't want to wake him," Ron said as Hermione took Harry's hand and started to speak softly to him.
"You're alright Harry, I know...try and block him out, you can do it," Hermione murmured as Harry hissed, arching his back off of the cot.
"Does he know that you do this?" Draco asked, watching closely as Hermione calmed Harry down.
"No...and don't tell him. Harry is a private person and he wouldn't like the thought of us doing this. It's best if he doesn't know," Ron explained, standing back and allowing Hermione to take control.
"...P...p..p..pun...punish..ing," Harry muttered in his sleep.
"It's alright Harry, you're safe."
"...mmmm...mad...Draco...dead….mom...crying….upset," Harry moaned as he curled in on himself.
"It's alright Harry," Hermione said as she shifted, getting more comfortable. She was in for a long night. .
"My mom, crying?" Draco asked shocked, watching as Hermione ran her fingers through Harry's hair. "What about my dad?"
"Come on, mate, let's go back to the table," Ron said, leading Draco back to the table just feets away from Harry.
"It never occured to me that my mom would be upset...she was never the type of person to show emotion," Draco said quietly.
Ron stayed silent not knowing what to say that would make Draco feel better. Last month they were enemies, yet now they sat together in a small tent playing card games. Everything been turned upside down for Ron, he was so used to knowing Draco as an enemy.
It was an hour until Hermione returned. She could sense the awkward silence that filled the room, and cleared her throat to break it. . "He finally settled down. He should be fine for the rest of the night but I still don't want to leave him alone in case he has another attack," Hermione explained.
"Sit down then," Ron said, picking up the deck of cards and shuffling. "There's no point in you wasting your energy standing up and worrying. That won't do Harry any good."
Hermione sighed and nodded. She took her place at the table as Ron began to deal out the cards. The three spent the rest of the night playing games and getting to know each other, and Draco had to admit, it was the most fun he'd had in what felt like a lifetime.