Harry had never seen this part of the castle, they seemed to be in the very heart of it, dust covered the edges of sconces that had been left untouched for decades.

Malfoy dragged him into a classroom, seemingly at random and Harry was hit with another shock. The room had been mostly emptied of desks and chairs, there were pillows from the looks of them stolen from the Slytherin common room. There were blankets and quilts, books, and even games stacked in the edges of the room.

"They keep thinking we're stealing them back home. They check our bags and cloaks at the end of every year, apparently they never thought of checking their own castle." Malfoy sounded smug, as he pointed to the door with his wand. A sigil appeared on the back, and Malfoy sauntered over to the games silently setting up a chess board.

Cautiously Harry sat across from Malfoy and after a moment helped place the pieces. Silently they played a round, and then another, by round three however Harry was out to avenge himself and couldn't help voicing his frustrations. "How are you so good at this?" Harry sighed as his last knight was given a new crack and retreated off the board.

Malfoy laughed, "Believe it or not I am a Slytherin. Strategy is something I'm good at." Harry pouted slightly as he moved a pawn only to have it meet the same fate as his knight. "I'm a little out of practice but I didn't think I was this out of practice. Normally I can put up a challenge."

Malfoy moved his queen forward, and Harry realized he was doing poorer than he thought. "Check, focus now Potter."

Harry took a breath looking up from the board and noticed something strange. Malfoy wasn't paying attention to the game, he was looking at Harry.

"What?" Harry swallowed, looking Malfoy over. The boy was relaxed, his arms resting on his knees, he was hunched slightly. "You're not even processing anything, It's me, the guy you hate. I'm the guy you've been practising quidditch with for weeks now. You could've died moments ago, I bring you to this secret hidden room in the middle of the castle. You haven't reacted to any of it."

Harry shrugged, "I dunno this stuff just happens. The flyer had to be someone, I knew there was a chance of surviving the fall, and I'm just happy I don't have to go back to the common room. I can't fight any of that."

The short lived conversation paused, and Harry moved his king. Malfoy moved a long forgotten rook at the back of the board and sat up straight. "Check mate."

Malfoy was staring point blank at Harry and pushed the board aside before Harry could begin to set up again. He pulled Harry close, and Harry could hear the boy's heart thumping fast as a race horse.

"Potter, look at me, what is with the bullshit?"

Harry pushed against him, "Just drop it!" He looked away, refusing to give Malfoy the satisfaction of seeing the fear in his eyes.

Malfoy held tight and stared at Harry a moment. He spoke reluctantly, "Look, flying with you was the best part of this whole year Potter. I almost lost that, I want to know why."

Harry pushed harder feeling his face getting hot, "It doesn't matter Malfoy I'm going to be dead in a couple weeks anyway. I'm fighting a dragon. I'm fighting a real fucking dragon, I'm going to die regardless of what I do. I wanted it to be on my terms not this stupid, fucking, unfair…"

Harry's voice caught in his throat. He stopped fighting the arms around him. He let his own arms drop and pressed his face into Malfoy's sweater. "It's so god damn unfair, I didn't put my name in that goblet. No one believes me. I stayed as far away from that thing as I could. I wanted one year to be normal. I wanted one year!"

He was sobbing, he couldn't muster any emotion when he had made the decision to let go of his broom. He hadn't thought about why he had to face the dragon just that he couldn't. It was a weird horrible nightmare realizing how unfair the situation was. How the only person listening to him was someone who hated him.

"Harry you…"

Harry looked up to take in a deep breath of air, before he rested his head on Malfoy's shoulder. The other boy stopped himself, seeming to decide it better to stay silent. He waited until Harry's breathing started to sink up with his own steady breaths.

"Harry you have to say something, this is madness. Allowing you to compete doesn't even make sense." Malfoy spoke in a low stern voice Harry had only heard the tone once when Pansy had hurt her hand during Potions. It was authoritative and Harry knew it spoke the truth, and yet here they were.

"It's some kind of a contract. I think I die in a worse way if I don't participate." Harry's voice was barely a whisper, his eyes were puffy and his throat felt inflamed. He hadn't said it out loud since Hermione and Ron, he waited for Malfoy to turn hopeless. Instead the other boy glared hard, thinking.

"Fine, I'll help you then, we've got a little over two weeks that's just enough time. I'm sure between me and that bookworm Granger we can find something."

Harry had felt everything slowing down as he and Malfoy sat in that room. It really hadn't felt like Harry had ever really stopped falling until the reality of Malfoy's words hit him. Then Harry's world seemed to come to a crashing halt.

"What?" Harry said stupidly.

Malfoy pushed Harry away so they could look each other in the eyes. "I couldn't let my flying partner be swallowed up by a dragon now could I? It'd be rather difficult to fly all across the world from the stomach of a dragon." Harry could tell that Malfoy was trying to make him feel better. Somehow this moment seemed the most unreal to Harry. Malfoy matched up with the flyers' words.

It made his stomach turn thinking of how much time he and the Flyer had spent. He had still been arrogant and self righteous but he had also seemed human. They had talked about Quidditch mostly but he had insight into the leagues and the maneuvers. He had reminded Harry of himself, like he had a quidditch book or two memorized back to front. It was strange how intimately he had spoken with the Flyer, Harry had felt like he wouldn't be judged. Turns out he was talking with one of the most judgmental people he knew at Hogwarts.

"Give me a day to make friends with Granger, I suppose I'll have some making up to do with her… Potter I don't want our flying to stop. I want to help you." Malfoy grabbed Harry's arm, his eyes wide, hopeful even.

Harry could tell Malfoy was dead serious, but Harry was sure he didn't fully grasp the situation. Hermione had been barely helping. Neville was trying his best but was mostly lost on what to do, and Harry hadn't told him about the dragons yet. It was weird having someone knowing the full extent to which Harry was truly fucked, look at him and actually be willing to help him.

Harry's hands shook and he found he still couldn't look Malfoy in the face. Harry nodded speaking softly, "Okay."

Malfoy held Harry's hands still, "You are going to live Potter."

Harry was looking off at the night sky and he felt as Malfoy moved to sit next to him, speaking clearly, "You are going to live, okay?"

Harry took a moment to calm down before softly repeating, "Okay."