Chapter Four
*~*~*
I don't like to be alone in the night
And I don't like to hear I'm wrong when I'm right
And I don't like to have the rain on my shoes
But I do love you
~But I Do Love You by Leanne Rhymes~
*~*~*

Harry spent the next week avoiding Draco. It wasn't exactly hard, since Draco seemed to be doing the same thing. Potions was particularly like hell lately, and Harry couldn't wait to get out of the stuffy dungeon classroom and into the open Great Hall. He hadn't told Ron or Hermione about his detention, though they had asked a few times. He felt almost ashamed that another boy had a crush on him. Not like he himself had control over it, but still.

Hermione leaned over the pots of herbs their Herbology class was tending that week. "Harry, you've been so much quieter and more subdued since your detention. Did Malfoy beat you up or something?" Harry shuddered involuntarily, knowing that he did much worse.

"Hermione, I really don't want to talk about it."

"It's not healthy for you to keep things in like this! You have a lot of stress. You have to talk about stuff, or it'll build up inside you! That's what made a lot of wizards turn Dark, you know."

Harry looked around. They were in a far corner. Ron was even across the room, because he had been paired up with Neville. Harry looked back at Hermione, and took a deep breath. "You really want to know what happened?" She nodded.

"Malfoy and I had a little… chat. He told me some things I never knew… well, let's just say he's not the guy we had him pinned as."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What'd he tell you?" she whispered.

"Stuff about how his father has always thought for him, spoke for him, lived for him. And how he's never had control of his feelings before, and now there's this one that's killing him inside…"

"He told you all this?" Hermione asked in awe.

"What, you think he'd lie about something like this? You don't think he'd tell me?" Harry snapped. He was suddenly feeling more protective of Malfoy.

"Harry, calm down! I didn't mean anything by it, I swear." Hermione looked at Harry warily. He took a deep breath, and nodded. "What's this one feeling?

"He, ah… he has feelings for someone that he definitely should not have feelings for."

"Really? Who?"

Harry didn't know if he should tell her, but the look on her face convinced him that he could trust her.

"Me."

Hermione burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the rest of the class. "Sorry!" she gasped. "Funny joke." Turning back to Harry, eyes wide once again, she swallowed her laughter when she saw the look on his face.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Really Hermione, would I joke about something like this?"

Hermione frowned. "I suppose not. But why would he say something like that?" Harry shrugged.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" she asked. Harry choked.

"What do you mean, do about it? Are you suggesting I…"

"What? No! No, Harry, but you can't just leave Malfoy hanging like that. He told you something serious. I doubt it was a joke. Not even he would joke about something like that. And if he is telling the truth, he is still a person that just let his innermost feelings out in the open to be ridiculed. You can't just ignore him. You have to set him straight, one way or the other."

"One way or the other? Really Hermione, do you want me to start dating him or something?"

"Harry, you know what I mean! You know," she said, staring off out the window, "I bet there's a lot of stuff we don't know about Malfoy. Maybe if someone took the time to find out, he wouldn't be such a dunderhead." Hermione smiled a bit and returned to their herbs, leaving Harry to think.

There was a lot they didn't know about Malfoy. Heck, there was a lot Malfoy didn't know about Malfoy. What he needed was a friend to help him figure it out. As much as Harry hated to admit it, Hermione was right. Malfoy was looking less like the jerk who had tortured them for six years, and more like a person in need of guidance and courage.

Harry and Hermione whispered all throughout Herbology until it was time to leave the greenhouse and make their way across the lawns to Hagrid's hut. Of course, the arrival of a new class meant the Slytherins once again, and it was time for Harry to put his newly formed plan into action.

Harry waited with Ron and Hermione around Hagrid's front door until he saw the Slytherins coming over the hill and down the lawn. Once they joined the rest of the class, Harry ran over to Malfoy.

"Hey, could I talk to you for a second?" Malfoy looked ready to curse Harry, but didn't argue. Harry pulled him away from the class' hearing range. The rest of the Slytherins stared at Harry's courage.

"What do you want?" Draco sneered.

"Listen, I know we haven't said two words to each other for the past week, but I think it's time I said something." Draco just stared him down. "I… I want to be your friend."

"Excuse me?"

"Above the whole… feelings thing, you need a real friend Malfoy. You need someone to help you realize who you are and stand up to your father. I want to help you."

"Potter, I don't need your help. I like who I am now just fine, thank you very much. And about what I said during our detention, I was just delirious or something. Not enough sleep, too much dinner, vice versa, whichever. Don't take it personally."

Draco started to walk back to class, but turned and looked Harry right in the eye. He saw a trace of what he'd seen that night, but it was soon gone. "Really, Potter, who's got a crush on who? I think you need to get your feelings in check before you try this again." Harry was left staring after him.

Malfoy had just suggested that Harry liked him! It was absurd! But then, Harry thought as he made his way back to class, if I don't like him, why did I try to help him? The thought turned his stomach, and he ignored Draco for the rest of class.

* * *

Draco sunk into an armchair in a corner of the Slytherin common room. He had had a very long day.

"Hey Draco, you coming to dinner?" Crabbe asked from the doorway.

"Not tonight boys. Go ahead without me. I need some sleep, I think."

Crabbe and Goyle grunted in response and left for dinner. Now Draco would have a good hour and a half before they came back. They were such pigs.

Glancing around to make sure no one was left, he got up and made his way to the staircase leading to his room. He wasn't prepared to find someone waiting outside of it.

"Draco!" Pansy exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck; he groaned inwardly.

"Yes, hello Pansy…" he replied.

"I was wondering when you'd come upstairs. Do you want to go for a walk around the lake with me?"

"Why aren't you at dinner?" he asked, ignoring her proposal.

"Because you weren't down there, and I want to be with you, silly!" she cried out, grabbing his hand. Suddenly, he had an idea. If this couldn't get him to stop thinking about Potter, nothing could.

"Hey, Pansy…" he said slowly. She looked at him. "What's say you and me skip the walk?" Pansy raised her eyebrows.

"But Draco… I thought you said we had to stop that. I thought you said I made you sick. I thought you said I was the worst you've ever had. I thought-"

"Pansy, forget what I said. Come on, I'm feeling daring." Opening his door, he pulled her inside and locked it. He had told Crabbe and Goyle he needed to sleep, anyhow…