Standing in the Rain
By: Amanda Lily Potter
A/N: OK I should be working on my other stories but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. I've already started on chapter 2 so tell me if you like this. Oh, and beforeI forget, THIS IS NOT SLASH! not that there's anything wrong with that.
Disclaimer:I own nothing to do with anything that you may recongnize, I only own the plot.
Summary: When Harry Potter needs to think and it's raining outside he goes to the astronomy tower. What happened when it was raining outside and Draco Malfoy goes up to the tower one night to find Harry Potter standing on the ledge, ready to take the last plunge of his life? Will he save him or only make things worse for the raven haired Gryffindor? Not Slash.
Warnings: Implied Suicide Attempt
Chapter 1: How it all started
Whenever it was storming outside all occupants of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would be sitting indoors by a nice warm fire, all except an unruly haired emerald eyed bespectacled teen. Harry Potter was usually sitting in the astronomy tower, just watching the rain fall. He only ever felt at peace when it rained, he felt as if the rain washed away all his problems.
That night however, was different, for Harry wasn't sitting inside the tower, he was standing outside on the ledge of the tower just feeling the rain fall around him. He stood there, with his arms wide, feeling clean and refreshed and ready to face the world. He didn't know how long he had been standing there must have been a couple of hours before he heard footsteps climbing up the tower.
He didn't even bother to turn around, didn't think about how he would look to an outsider, he just stood there feeling content. Harry only looked up when he heard somebody shout.
"Potter, what the hell are you doing!"
Harry spun around, but before he could see the face of the speaker he lost his footing and fell off the ledge he was standing on. Harry knew he was going to die; he had just closed his eyes when he felt two hands grab him under the arms. He looked up to see none other than Draco Malfoy looking down on him.
"Potter, are you ok?" Malfoy asked, and he sounded truly concerned.
Harry went to nod but banged his head on a sharp rock on the wall. Blood started to flow from the newly formed cut on his forehead. Squinting up at Malfoy through the blood running into his eye, he slowly shook his head.
"Alright, I'm going to pull you up," Malfoy had to practically yell over the rain.
It took a good twenty minutes for Draco to pull Harry back up inside the tower. Once both boys were safe, Draco laid down so the other boy's head was resting in his lap. Draco ripped his own shirt and gently started to dab at the gash on Harry's forehead. He noticed Harry's eyes start to droop and shook the other boy's shoulder.
"Come on Potter, stay awake," Draco urged.
Draco continued wiping Harry's cut cleaned. Once he finished, Draco sat Harry up and let him lean against Draco's chest as Draco ran his fingers through Harry's hair. Harry once again started to fall asleep but Draco kept him awake by talking and asking random questions that would cause the other boy to think. Draco knew that Harry couldn't go to sleep after a bang on the head like that; he could end up with a concussion.
They sat like that for another half hour before Draco realized how late it was and he reckoned that by the time Harry got into a bed that it would be alright for him to sleep. Looking down he noticed that Harry was already looking half asleep and that he probably wouldn't be able to make it to the Gryffindor common room on his own without collapsing half-way, if he even made it half-way.
Still running his hand through Harry's hair he softly asked if he would like Draco to help him back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry just shook his head 'no'.
"Well I'm not going to let you stay here all night," Draco said as he stood up, bringing Harry up with him. He took off his cloak and draped it over Harry's wet clothes as he say the shorter boy shaking, "Do you think you can make it there on your own?"
Harry nodded and went to take a step when he collapsed. He would have hit the ground if Draco hadn't caught him right before the impact. After making sure Harry was alright he stood the other boy back up and put an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders and pulled him in so Harry was leaning against Draco's chest.
"Com on then, you can come sleep in my dorm. At least I can make sure you get there safely. Come on then, that's it, nice and steady," Draco urged Harry on as the slowly made their way to the dungeons.
Harry had to stop a couple times because of drowsiness, but other than that they made it down to the Slytherin common room without incident. The only problem they encountered was when they actually reached Draco's common room. Draco gave the password, but when they entered Draco wished he would've taken the chance of walking Harry back to the Gryffindor tower; inside the Slytherin common room was none other than Blaise Zabini.
Blaise looked up from the book he was reading when he heard somebody enter the common room. He was surprised to see Draco half leading half carrying an unconscious Harry Potter. He was about to question it when Draco gestured for Blaise to be quiet and follow him.
Once in their dorm, Draco sat Harry on his bed and covered him with the quilt. Sitting down beside Harry, Draco pulled the smaller boy beside him and started running his hands through Harry's hair. Looking down he noticed that Harry had fallen asleep.
Draco looked at Blaise, who was sitting on his own bed, and he began to explain, "As a prefect, I'm supposed to do rounds o the school. I was checking the astronomy tower when I saw Potter standing on the ledge. I don't think he was going to jump, but when I called out to him I guess he slipped and fell. I managed to grab him, but he smashed his head. He looked dead on his feet, so I brought him here, so I could make sure he would be alright. Are you ok with this?"
Blaise looked like he was going to comment, but Harry started to violently shake in his sleep. Blaise got up and tried to help Draco calm Dumbledore's Golden Boy. Nothing they did seemed to work until Draco started rubbing circles on Harry's back. Blaise took this as his cue to leave and went back to the common room with his book.
As he started to wake up, Harry was aware of somebody rubbing his back. Feeling content he shifted in the strong arms holding him. Just then he became fully aware of the arms holding him. Looking up he saw the worried face of Draco Malfoy looking down on him.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked.
Harry only nodded.
"Why don't you go back to sleep? I'll sit with you if you want."
Again Harry only nodded.
Draco laid down on the bed and went to pull back but Harry had a death grip on Draco's school robes. Draco closed the curtains around his bed as he laid down beside the distraught boy in his arms. He pulled Harry towards him and put the smaller boy's head onto his chest. He wrapped his arms around Harry to offer comfort.
Harry leaned into the embrace and started to fall back to sleep when he heard a loud buzzing sound. Looking up he saw Draco push a button on a wizarding alarm clock. As he was looking at the clock he noticed that classes would be starting in an hour's time. He started to sit up when Malfoy pulled him back down and began rubbing circles on Harry's back.
"Go back to sleep. You'll be ok. I'll get Blaise to make thorough notes for us to copy," Draco said, recovering them with the quilt.
Harry shook his head and attempted to sit up again. This time Draco sat up with him and put his hand on the raven haired boy's back to keep Harry steady. The two stood and Draco helped Harry get dressed into his, now dry and clean thanks to the house elves, Gryffindor uniform before getting dressed himself.
After they got dressed, Draco led Harry through the Slytherin common room, ignoring all the looks he got as he went. Harry was more aware of where he was going, but still stumbled. When they made it to the Great Hall, Draco led Harry over to the Slytherin table to sit next to Blaise.
"Good morning," Blaise greeted, looking up from his book, "Potter, nice to meet you when you are actually awake."
"Umm…you too, I guess," Harry replied looking at his hands.
"Morning Blaise," Draco greeted, putting food on both his and Harry's plates.
After telling Harry to eat, Draco started to eat his own breakfast. After five minutes, Draco felt a pressure on his left shoulder. Looking over Draco saw Harry using his shoulder as a pillow. Draco wrapped an arm around the other boy's shoulders as a source of warmth. Hearing footsteps Draco looked up and saw Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley looking at him with looks of pure hatred on their faces.
"Let him go Malfoy," Ron demanded.
"And what if I don't?" Draco challenged.
While Draco and Ron were arguing Hermione was trying to ease Harry away from the Slytherin table, but once again Harry proved to be stronger than he looked by grabbing Draco's cloak. Hermione tried to guide him to the Gryffindor table when he flinched away from her touch.
Draco, who was getting annoyed of being pestered by Gryffindors, motioned for Blaise and Pansy to help him out. It turned out they didn't need to help because at that moment Professor Snape walked up behind Hermione and Ron.
"And what seems to be the problem here?" Snape asked, startling both of the angry Gryffindors.
"Nothing Professor," Draco replied, "We were just talking, honest."
"Granger, Weasley; go back to you table or leave the Great Hall. Either way, I want you both out of my sight now," Professor Snape said in a deadly whisper.
As the two scurried off, Severus Snape had a clear view of Harry. Raising a questioning eyebrow, Snape gestured to Harry with his hand.
Draco leaned down and whispered something to Harry. After receiving the smaller boy's nod, Draco told the professor that they would explain after potions class, which they both had first.
Accepting this answer, Professor Snape stalked down to the dungeons to prepare for his first class. Draco mentioned for Blaise and Pansy to follow him as he helped Harry stand. They left twenty minutes early so that they would have plenty of time to get to the potions classroom. They were the first ones to arrive. They sat in a corner at the front of the room; Draco and Harry sat at the desk by the wall, Blaise and Pansy beside them, and Crabbe and Goyle would sit at the desk behind them.
As if on cue Crabbe and Goyle walked into the room and sat at the desk. Not too long after, all the other students started to arrive. Ron and Hermione were two of the last students to arrive. Glaring at Malfoy, they took their usual places at the back of the class.
Professor Snape walked into the class and looked around at the changed seating plan. He did a double take when he saw Harry Potter sitting with the Slytherins. He noticed the Gryffindors giving Harry dirty looks, while the Slytherins didn't seem to care. To him it seemed that Draco and his group seemed to be blocking Harry from the Gryffindors' looks.
The class went by a usual, Neville made his potion explode twice. By the end Harry was again using Draco as a pillow. Snape walked over and noticed that Draco was half asleep. After the class was dismissed he waited until the last person left before turning to the two boys in front of him. Severus decided that Harry should tell his story before the boy actually did fall asleep.
"Every night, I go to the astronomy tower to think. I usually sit inside the tower, but when it rains I stand on the ledge. It makes me feel…alive I guess. Last night I heard footsteps and a voice, I went to turn around, lost my footing, and fell," Harry explained, shrugging his shoulders and still not moving his head from where it was resting on Draco.
"But that doesn't explain why you're so tired," Professor Snape said.
"I just haven't been sleeping properly I guess," Harry shrugged.
Professor Snape looked at Harry curiously before asking Draco for his side of the story.
Draco told the professor the same thing he told Blaise late the night before. While he was talking he realized Harry was already asleep. He finished his story and looked at the professor to see what he would say.
Professor Snape looked thoughtful before saying, "Take mister Potter back to your dorm, and make sure he sleeps. Stay down there, I will tell your professors that you will not be attending classes for the rest of the day. I want both of you to come back here at seven tonight."
"Yes sir," Draco replied, gently waking Harry up.
Harry managed to stay awake until they made it to Draco's dorm. The two boys took off their cloaks and sat down on the bed. They sat in a comfortable silence with only the sound of breathing filling the room.
Surprisingly it was Harry who broke the silence, "Thanks," he mumbled, looking at his hands.
Draco looked up surprised, "For what?"
"For helping me," Harry still didn't look up from his hands.
"No problem," Draco replied.
Silence filled the room while the two boys were thinking about the last couple of hours. While they were thinking they both thought of the same question, 'why are we enemies?'
A/N: If you made it this far that means that you must have read this and at least partially liked it so give me a review to tell me what you think or how I can improve. Thank you!
A.L.P