A/N: Hey all. I"M BACK!! hehe and I've got the next chappie. And guess what!! ITS HAPPY! --does victory dance-- go me! Anyway this chapter is 374 words longer than the last. Great isnt it? I'm making them longer now. It makes me so happy.

By the way: I wanted to explain Poppy's personality last chapter. YOu know how she was herself when she talked but she was always joking to herself. Well the nurse at my school is a lot like Poppy you know very strict in her office and such but I caught her once when she thought she was alone and she was being such a dork.

Warnings: None for this chapter cause its HAPPY!!

And: This is slash meaning Male Male relationships. You dont like dont read. Flames will be used to make smores and nothing more thank you.

Also: the poem before hand is one I wrote last night and it just worked so well. I hope you think so too.

Ramblings: My fourth of July sucked by the way. But I got to play mechanic. My friends car broke down and I had to fix it. well tried to at least. And I was dressed in white. Almost ruined one of my favorite outfits it sucked. Now you wanna hear somethin sad. My lifes turning out a lot like DRaco's--screams--its not fair!! my friends have all turned against me. --pouts-- anyway thats ok cause if they were really my friends they wouldnt do that right. O well. heh. I"m watching charmed right now does anyone here like that show. Anyway ill let you read now. ciao!

Friendship

The one thing

I've always wanted.

Someone to care for

Who cares in return,

And someone

I can count on

To always be there.

I've searched my whole life

For a friend that is true

And now that you've

Come into my life

Could this friend be you?--Me

Chapter 7

Awakening...and friendship?

"Where did you run off to after Potions Harry?" Hermione asked him later on that evening. The moment Harry had emerged into the common room, Ron and Hermione had followed him up to the boys dormitory and trapped him.
"I went for a walk Herms," Harry replied calmly sitting upon his four- poster. He looked back and forth between his two best friends before continuing, "I thought you two would like some time alone. After all you don't always need me around."
"Oh?" a small smile played across the brunettes face as she stared at her dark haired friend. "That was thoughtful Harry."
"Yeah mate, I guess I did like having Mione to myself. No offense or anything."
"But Harry, you know that you're always welcome to spend time with us."
"I know Herms. But you two deserve some time alone together. You are after all a couple now and couples need their alone time," Harry of course had his own plans for this so-called alone time he was giving his two best friends. His agenda however was not something that he wished to discuss with them now.

That conversation had taken place nearly two days ago and Harry now found himself seated beside the still unconscious form of his former enemy. He wasn't exactly sure when his feelings for the blond had changed from enmity to concern and tolerance but sometime along the way they had done just that and Harry found that he wasn't exactly appalled by this strange turn of events. In fact he was particularly happy with this new development.
It had taken quite a bit of persuasion on not only his but the Headmaster's part as well to get Madame Pomfrey to allow the dark-haired Gryffindor to remain in the Hospital Wing with his former nemesis. In the end, however, she had reluctantly given in and allowed it. So, Harry now spent his evenings by the other boy's side awaiting his awakening and taking over the watch so that the school's nurse could return to her other patients.
After the first night of Draco's stay he had been moved to a private room away from the prying eyes of his peers. The room wasn't very large; the only furniture that adorned it was a single bed, end table and chair—in which Harry could frequently be found. The walls were white, much like the rest of the infirmary and a single window faced the forest.
The small young man on the bed had stirred quite a few times during his stay but Madame Pomfrey had quickly administered a dreamless sleep potion; saying that he needed his rest if he was going to recover properly. Harry easily understood the purpose for this course of action but frequently found himself worrying about the other boy.
Draco had always been rather small and thin for his age and from the looks of it he was outrageously underweight when he first arrived two days prior. The fact that he hadn't been able to eat at all during his stay so far wasn't helping this fact in the slightest and Harry found himself hoping that the other boy would wake soon, not only so that he could make amends with his rival, but so that the small boy could begin his mental recovery and receive the nutrition his body so obviously needed.
The starched white blankets were pulled halfway up the blond boy's chest though the bandages, which covered the wound on his abdomen, were still slightly visible above the fabric. Harry found his eyes wandering to the slightly off white cloth and remembered what Draco had looked like when he had first entered the small room the first night.

-----------------Flashback---------------------

Madame Pomfrey turned and walked through a small oak door to the far right of the infirmary and was followed closely by a curious and concerned Harry.
The sight that the 16 year old met upon his entrance was far from anything he had expected. The unconscious boy on the bed had numerous scars covering his chest and arms. The thing that caught Harry's attention, however, was the blood-soaked bandage that covered his stomach.
Harry watched as Madame Pomfrey removed the bandages and his eyes widened at the sight that met him. Running from Draco's side to just above his other hip was a deep gash that was still bleeding freely. He found his eyes drifting between the uncommonly pale boy's face and the deep wound that marred the pale flesh.
The emerald eyed boys eyes remained on the place where the gash lay hidden for a few long moments after Pomfrey had rebandaged it before turning to look up at Malfoy's face. Even in slumber the boy seemed to be in almost constant pain.
It was at that moment that Harry had known for certain that whatever happened to his former foe over the summer holidays was something that he wanted to keep from reoccurring at all costs.
Glancing once more at the other boy's pale arms he asked the nurse, "Do you know what those are from, they don't seem as new as the wounds from today but they aren't exactly scars yet."
The nurse looked sadly over at the other boy and replied, "I do know mister Potter but it is not my place to tell you. All I can say is that he refuses help for it." She then looked at him curiously for a moment before continuing; "Perhaps he would talk to you about it. Would you be willing to talk to him?"
Harry nodded, he had an idea of what the scars were from but had never thought that Draco could be capable of doing something like that to himself. Hoping that he was jumping to conclusions and overreacting, Harry decided to wait for the other boy to wake up and attempt to get some answers from him then.

-----------------------End flashback-------------------

Harry glanced over at the sleeping boy on the bed. He looked more comfortable now than he did then for his face no longer portrayed any type of discomfort. The fact that he was still unconscious after two days is the only thing that had the boy-who-lived nervous at the moment. Madame Pomfrey had not given him any dreamless sleep potion since the night before and that normally would have worn off by now. It was supposed to have worn off approximately two and a half hours ago actually.
Sighing, Harry reached into his bag and pulled out his potions book. 'Might as well get this done' he thought to himself as he opened it and began reading over his homework. Potions had never been Harry's best subject and the fact that his mind kept turning to the boy on the bed did not help his concentration in the slightest.
The dark-haired boy opened his eyes and looked about the room. It took him a moment to register that he was still in the infirmary and why he was there before thinking to himself, 'Must have fallen asleep.' He glanced over at the still form on the bed before looking at the clock. It read 3:30 am. 'Wonder what could've woken me up.'
It was at that moment that the boy heard a soft groan from the bed beside him and the blond boy stirred slightly. Setting the still open and almost forgotten Potions text on the end table, Harry stood up and walked over to the single bed. Resting his hands on the edge of the bed he leaned over and looked into the now open eyes of Draco Malfoy.
Dull silver met bright emerald for a moment before either boy so much as moved.
"Potter?!" Draco exclaimed. He moved to sit up but, wincing at the pain it caused, was forced to lie back once more. The pain evident in his eyes for only a moment before the cold mask fell into place.
"It's about time you woke up," Harry replied simply, a slight smile on his relieved face.
"Sorry to disappoint you Potter but I had no plans on dying." Harry opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a question from the other boy. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Madame Pomfrey needed to be able to care for the other students so someone needed to sit with you just incase you started to wake up," Harry answered with a grin.
"No...I mean why."
"Well..." Harry paused for a moment before he continued, "concern I guess. I mean after witnessing what happened to you in Potions I'm certain everyone that was there was concerned for you."
"I don't need pity Potter," Malfoy stated, his icy grey eyes narrowing. "Especially not yours."
"It's not pity Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed. "It's compassion."
"They're the same thing!"
"I don't pity you," Harry said, lowering his voice once more. "What happened to you in Potions really got me thinking. I didn't pity you. I was concerned. I was worried about you Malfoy. That's why I'm here. That's why I've sat by your bed the past two nights just to watch you sleep and make sure you were alright. I was worried because..." he paused for a moment looking down at the startled blond, "for some reason I don't hate you anymore. I'm actually starting to realize I never really did. It was just a pitiful schoolboy rivalry. Well, I'm sick of this rivalry and I'm sick of arguing with you all the time. The fact of the matter is that some time over the span I've been sitting here I've stopped thinking you of the enemy. I've started to think of you like a friend." "A friend?" Draco asked, barely able to mask the shock in his voice. "If you remember correctly, I've offered you friendship before," he continued, his voice growing icy.
"That was five years ago Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed. "Don't tell me your still sore about that."
"I'm not sore, I was just stating a fact." Harry found himself resisting the urge to laugh as the other boy pouted.
"The fact is that it's in the past and people change. Besides right about now you really could use all the friends you can get. I'm offering you friendship and whether you accept mine or not I will still consider you one."
Draco looked questioningly up at the emerald-eyed teen that stood above him. Could they be friends? Was it possible to put their pasts behind them? What would happen if Lucius found out? Would Harry be in more danger than he already was because of their friendship? Questions like these ran through his mind as he watched the other boy. He was brought out of his thoughts however when Harry spoke again.
"What do you say we start over from the beginning?" Harry asked him, not missing the distant look that had appeared in his eyes.
"Well...I guess," Draco replied some reluctantly. "But this doesn't mean that I'm going to be friends with Weasley and Granger."
"All I'm asking is that you start no fights."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"Alright then." Harry reached out to the boy on the bed and said, "My name's Harry...Harry Potter. But call me Harry."
Draco looked at the offered hand uneasily for a moment before slowly grasping it in his own. "Draco Malfoy."
Neither boy could suppress the smile that lit their faces that dark night. Each had found something they had undoubtedly needed. One found the comfort of a friend in a world where he was now outcast and in a time where his life had gone into an unmistakably downward spiral. The other had found a kindred spirit with whom he could finally connect in a way he couldn't with his dorm mates or even his closest friends. He had found someone whom would finally understand him. At least more than anyone else ever could.
In short the two lonely souls had found each other. That night, each of them made a silent vow that they would never let anything take the other away from them. They would allow no one, NO ONE to come between them. Or so they hoped.
A/N: SO so so what did you think huh. I liked it personally. hehe. anyway I guess you should review so that I know what you thought huh. Oh and guess what I am on 21 ppls author alerts now and its basically because of this story so thank you all so much i love you all.

Now for your shout outs

Jessi Malfoy: My sister says thanks for the cake and gift. Heh. I hope you liked this chapter!!

silverblueeyes: Thanks so much for the confidence booster. I hope this chapter meets with satisfaction. And well...as long as you dont mind losing sleep and study time then I dont either I guess. I'll go back and look for those errors you mentions thanks for telling me.

kt: thanks for the review

BioHazrdusMatrial3: Wow now thats a super confidence booster. Thank you so much that meant a lot.

Darkened child: It brought you to tears? Wow! Yea its done that to me too. And believe it or not I dream this stuff. Isn't that weird? I dream up everything I write. And yes I have really messed up dreams.

Lanne666: I hope that clarrified that Pomfrey knew. Oh and dont worry about the Slytherins they come in next chappie hehe and thanks for telling me about the errors I'll fix em.

alrighty then --Hands out Pictures of Blaise Zambini along with little darts-- trust me you'll want these. (hint hint)

Thanks again everyone and I'll see you next Tuesday

Kaydera

Oh and the next chapter is all Slytherin. Its their time to shine and your gonna really hate them after this. Hehehehe --evil laugh--