As soon as Draco left the Great Hall he made his way out of the castle and to the lake. It was a clear blue day and he looked at the dreaded box and cursed to himself. "I swear that I shall never be humiliated again." He hurled the box as far into the lake as he could. He stormed back into the castle and found that he was late for his first class. Potions. He would have to deal with Potter and his Weasel and Mud-blood friends. He whispered the password and entered the dungeons and went to his dormitory. Luckily the dorms were empty and Draco threw himself onto his bed in frustration. He cried out as something small and sharp dug into his back. He opened his eyes and looked. The same small box; the size of his palm. The lid was still not fully closed and he looked inside and to his surprise there was a tiny piece of folded up parchment.
Draco quickly opened it up and it read:
Draco, Draco you silly boy
Do not treat me like a toy
You do not know the power I hold,
I shape the way that things unfold.
Try to be rid of me again
You shall find that you feel pain
Do not take this warning lightly
Results of this are quite unsightly
Draco scoffed at the poem and was about to throw it away when it simply disappeared out of his hands. Draco decided that he would skip potions and be rid of the stupid box forever. "I will not have myself singing in front of anyone here, especially Potter". Draco made his way up higher and higher in the school until he reached the North tower. He knew that the next class would be Potter's stupid Divination class so he had to be in and out. He climbed up the ladder and took the box to the window. He leaned out and could see the lake and forbidden forest. "Goodbye and good riddance" Draco dropped the box out the window, knowing, or so he thought he knew, that it would smash upon impact. Draco watched the box fall and waited for it to hit the ground but instead the box stopped a few metres before the ground and began to shoot upwards. Draco tried to pull his head into the window but it was too late. The box hit him on the square on the forehead and he collapsed onto the floor, everything fading into blackness.
Harry made his way up to Divination by himself as Ron had forgotten his homework. He reached the tower and climbed up the ladder to find an empty classroom, or what he thought was empty. He walked inside and took in a breath of the musty and smoky air. He walked over to the window in hopes of some fresh air and gasped in surprise as he saw the limp form of Draco on the floor. "Malfoy…What the hell…MALFOY" Harry ran over to Draco and saw the blood that was pooling around Draco's face. "Draco…"
Draco heard a sweet voice and opened his eyes…He gazed into them and saw bright green emeralds and felt a fluttering in his heart. "Wh…What happened?"
Harry breathed out a sigh of relief. "Draco, I found you in here…I have no idea why you are here…but you were on the floor and…"
"POTTER???"
Harry looked at Draco's face and saw anger and humiliation behind those stormy grey eyes. "Draco I…"
" Did you just call me Draco?" Draco asked, "I am quite happy with the way that we have things Potter. I am going to leave and don't talk about this to ANYONE. Especially the Weasel or Mud-blood. I didn't ask for your help, and I certainly don't want you to act like you care, so, let's just both go back to our lives"
Harry looked at Draco with pure rage flowing through his veins.
" All I tried to do was help Malfoy… Just get out"
Draco glared at Harry as he stood up and walked over to the trapdoor. He disappeared through the hole and Harry collapsed onto one of the beanbag chairs and ran his hands through his hair. Arrogant good for nothing little leech. Harry moved over to where he and Ron sat, and waited for class to begin.
Draco walked back to his dorms in a daze. Emerald eyes, he had liked them. He had never looked into Harry…Potter's eyes that way before, and he didn't plan to do it again. Draco didn't even notice that under his breath he had started to sing again, and in the palm of his hand, was the box.
Harry sat through the rest of Divination in a daze. Ron didn't really ask what was wrong, as he was busy trying to read in his crystal ball about the horrible things that were supposed to happen to him this week. "How could Malfoy be such an insufferable git?" Harry said to himself as he made his way back to the dorms with Ron.
"You even need to ask Harry? Malfoy is stupid. I just hope that he turns up to Care Of Magical creatures so we can laugh at him about his musical interlude this morning."
Draco did not turn up for any more of his classes that day. Instead he stayed in his bed with the curtains drawn around him. He looked at the box in total and utter disgust and frustration. He could not get more than one metre away from it before it flew back to his side. Draco could not get away. He sighed and looked into the mirror that hung on the wall by his bed. His hair sill had blood in it. Draco knew that he should go to Madam Pomfrey but he didn't feel that he could walk down those halls. Draco had seen that there was another piece of parchment in he box but he could not bring himself to read it. Not yet anyway… So, he had sat like this for hours until he finally plucked up the courage to pull the parchment out of he box.
It read:
Draco, Draco can't you see?
You cannot be rid of me!
This simple curse is placed on you
Until the time you've paid your dues
You'll tell the truth, tell it in song,
And everyone will sing along!
And for that tower incident,
It's high time that you repent.
Out of the box came a small bolt of electricity that hit Draco in the forearm, giving him a small scar. Draco cried out in anger and thought about throwing the box against the wall, but remembered the tower so he roughly shoved it into the pocket of his robe. He had nothing to say, nothing to do. He was cursed. Not with the sorts of curses that his father had taught him, or those that they had learned in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but this was just as powerful. Forcing him to tell the truth was just not something that Malfoys did. Who would do this to him? Weasley? No, he couldn't afford it. Granger? She had the brains, but she wouldn't do anything to ruin her precious reputation. Potter. It had to be Potter. With grim determination Draco set off through the school, looking for Harry.
Harry woke up in the middle of the night with sweat running down his face. He couldn't remember his dream but all he knew was that he couldn't fall asleep again. Harry pulled himself out of bed and got dressed. He put on his invisibility cloak and got his wand before leaving the common room. Harry walked for over an hour until he found himself in a disused classroom. He went and sat on a desk and gazed out the dark window for what seemed like an eternity, lost in a dream state, but was pulled back to reality by someone entering the room. It was Malfoy. He looked directly where Harry was sitting.
"You can take your invisibility cloak off Potter, I know you're here."
Harry looked at Malfoy in surprise. Yet, he felt compelled to do what Malfoy said. Harry slid the cloak off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor.
"Why are you here Malfoy? And how do you know where I was?"
Malfoy glared at Harry,
"With all of the noise that you make rustling around the school. It sounds like a bloody herd elephants!"
Harry shook his head and picked up the cloak. " I don't need this Malfoy, I'm leaving. Please don't STALK me again"
"You think that I WANT to follow you Potter? All I want is for you to take this curse off me so I don't make an idiot out of myself. So kindly…?"
Harry gave Malfoy a look of confusion, and then he smiled.
"You're cursed Malfoy?" Harry clamped his mouth shut and began to turn red he tried not to laugh. Draco looked at Harry with anger.
" You know exactly what I'm talking about Potter. This little singing spell, I won't stand for it. Take it off now or I go to Snape!"
Harry couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
"Singing spell? Why would I cast a singing spell on you? Honestly Malfoy, don't you think I have better things to do with my time than think about ways to hurt you? I hope that's not all you do Malfoy, because that is just sad"
Malfoy looked at Harry with confusion and frustration evident in his face.
"But…if it wasn't you…"
Malfoy walked right up to Harry, Harry, unfamiliar with being this close to Malfoy unless they were fighting took a step back, but Malfoy stepped in closer again.
"Potter, look at this. And you don't have to step away, I'm not going to attack you…unless you annoy me"
Harry looked as Draco pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to Harry. Harry looked conspicuous but looked inside, then tried to shut the box.
"It won't… It won't close. Let me try…"
Harry stepped away from Draco, but Draco was forced to take another step as the pull of the box made him stay close. Harry smiled. Then, Harry began to run to the other side of the room. Suddenly, he was flying backwards and landed on top of Draco.
"Kindly, GET OFF ME POTTER! Just what the Hell were you trying to do? Kill me?!"
Harry got off Malfoy and threw the box back onto him. Malfoy had a look in his eyes that Harry hadn't seen before. Concerned, he bent back down and looked Draco in the face. "Draco? What's wrong?"
Then Draco finally snapped. He couldn't hold it in. He stood up, looked Harry right in eyes and sung:
Help! I need somebody,
Help! Not just anybody,
Help! You know I need someone, help.
Harry stepped back from Draco, but the Slytherin boy stepped forward again. Harry was forced to move further back until he was sitting on the desk.
When I was younger so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in anyway.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind I've opened up the doors.
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around
Help me get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me?
Those steely grey eyes… they looked so desperate and Harry's heart jumped at what he saw there.
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know I've just talked to you like I've never done before.
Help me if you can I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me?
Draco turned and looked out the window. An expression of sadness washed over his face.
When I was younger so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured.
Now I find I've changed my mind I've opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me.
Harry looked at Draco with a look of sympathy on his face. " Draco. I… I didn't know that you needed any help. You seemed so… I didn't know…"
Draco was still looking out of the window.
"There are a lot of things that you don't know about me Harry..." he said softly. Then he turned and left the room. Harry was left staring after him before realising, "He called me Harry…"
T.B.C…