Warning: I have rated the story a PG-13 because there will be an eventual
Harry/Draco slash pairing. So please avoid this fic if you do not like the
idea of a same sex romantic pairing.
Disclaimer: Everything is the property of J.K. Rowling. I'm just a humble dog not even worthy of dusting her shoes.
A/N: Thanks to Obake for beta-reading this chapter and offering so much help!
The Untold Want
Chapter 4: Jealousy will eat you alive
Harry woke up, crept out of bed, fumbled with his pajamas, brushed his teeth, combed his unruly hair, tied his shoelaces, munched his cornflakes, sipped his coffee, argued with Seamus over Quidditch and rushed to the northern tower; all while the vision of Malfoy hovering outside the window circled endlessly in his mind, intruding on him without respite.
He thought long and hard about it, while everyone else was snoring during Divinations and finally decided not to tell Ron and Hermione. He hated keeping secrets from his best friends but he wasn't sure about their reaction. Hell, he wasn't sure about anything, apart from the fact that he would have to confront Malfoy soon and demand explanations. At the same time he hated he idea of having to see him again; the madness of the past days was beginning to tire him. He needed a quiet year and Malfoy as far away from him as possible.
After Professor Trelawney's class he and Ron waited for Hermione, who was taking an Advanced Charms course with Professor Flitwick, instead of Divinations this year. They were going to the dungeons for the second class of the day, Double Potions with Slytherin, when they saw her coming hurriedly towards them, looking pale and depressed.
'Hey, good work Granger!' Blaise Zabini commented as he walked past them, Pansy Parkinson hanging on his arm. He patted Hermione on the back, half- encouragingly half-mockingly, while Pansy just giggled.
Hermione didn't reply or even turn around, she just bowed her head and stared at her feet, pulling at a seam in her robes.
'Hermione, what's wrong?' Ron frowned in concern.
'It was terrible... so humiliating...'
'What was so terrible?' Harry asked, putting his arm around her shoulders protectively. 'Come on, you can tell us about it.'
'Did Zabini do anything to you? Cause I swear if he did...' Ron hissed.
'No, no!' Hermione interrupted him weakly. 'It's all my fault.' There was a sudden spark of anger in her eyes. 'Or rather Goyle's, since he is the one who broke my wand in the first place! Oh, no!'
'What? What?' they shouted in unison, finally losing their patience.
'We were practicing an advanced Levitation Charm and my stupid wand backfired, so instead of levitating my desk I levitated myself.'
A little smile was making its appearance on Ron's face, matching the one Harry felt spreading on his own. Hermione the bookworm, doing a simple spell wrong! The very idea!
'And I was just hovering in the air, knocking everyone's hat off. God, I even managed to kick Dean in the face, till I ended up on the top shelf of the bookcase in the back of the classroom... Are you two feeling all right?'
Harry choked, trying to stifle a snicker. Ron's face was beginning to match the color of his hair, he looked as if he was about to explode.
'And that wasn't the worse part. Professor Flitwick was trying to help me down, and I was doing the charm again and as I was waving my wand around the duck tape came off. The broken piece fell and hit Professor Flitwick straight between the eyes. He is with Madam Pomfrey now, he needed stitches... Hey are you laughing?'
Harry couldn't take it any more. He burst into laughter and laughed and laughed till his stomach ached, his ears buzzed and he was out of breath. He leaned against Ron, burying his face in his shoulder to support himself, but Ron seemed to have trouble with his balance too, so they ended up pirouetting across the corridor in each other arms, tears of mirth rolling down their cheeks.
'Well, well it must be love indeed,' a familiar voice commented and they stopped abruptly, releasing each other.
'Shut up Malfoy!' Ron hissed, straightening his robes.
'What a comeback Weasley, I'm impressed.'
The words were calm and calculated, dripping with cool sarcasm but there was nothing calm or calculated about Malfoy's expression. His bloodshot eyes were torches flaming with hot anger, he was gritting his teeth furiously.
'What's you problem, Malfoy?'
'Nothing Potter. Just commenting over the romantic scene I happened to witness.'
'Any more comments?'
'Not really, Granger. Only that you dubious charms seem to be lost on Weasley, he obviously prefers Potter. But any wizard with some sense in his head would prefer even a blast-ended skrewt over a mudblood like you.'
The viciousness of the assault took Hermione by surprise. Still in turmoil over the Levitation incident she opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish out of water, then not founding anything to say she hurried to the classroom with uncertain footsteps.
Ron glared at Malfoy venomously, hesitated, then run after her.
Draco and Harry were alone in the corridor. Their eyes met challengingly, opponents preparing for combat, sharpening their knives, grey against green. The stone walls around them echoed with deathly silence and it occurred to Harry that for some reason his presence was making Malfoy uncomfortable.
Draco noticed out of the corner of his eye that Vincent and Gregory were already in the classroom and they were waving at him to join them. He was about to head to their direction when a hand gripped his shoulder firmly. 'Can I be of any assistance to you Potter?' he asked, raising one eyebrow.
'Yes, as a matter of fact you can Malfoy!' Harry snapped and swiftly removed his hand from Malfoy's shoulder when he noticed the way Malfoy was staring at it, as if repulsed by the close contact.
'You can start by explaining what the hell you were doing last night!'
'Last night? I don't think my personal life is any of your business Potter!' Malfoy retorted, equally angry.
'Don't pretend you don't understand Malfoy, you were hovering outside my window in the middle of the night!'
'What in Merlin's name are you talking about Potter? Me hovering outside your window? What do you think I am, an owl?' Malfoy asked in utter confusion.
'You were on your Nimbus. I saw you, so don't try to lie.' Harry said, feeling a lot less confident than before.
'You think I'd leave my warm bed, sneak past Filch and risk the danger of a detention just to watch some Gryffindors snoring?' Malfoy snorted in sincere amusement.
'But I saw you.' All color drained from Harry's face and a drop of sweat trickled on his forehead as he began to realize that all this was probably a huge mistake.
'Did anyone else see me?'
'Nnnoo..' The words had all dried up in his throat.
'I wonder why. You're delusional, Potter you need to get your head examined'
'Why you...'
'You've been dreaming about me Potter, how flattering indeed.'
The color came back rushing in Harry's face, his cheeks suffused with red, he pushed Draco out of the way and disappeared into the classroom with bowed head. Such embarrassment, making a fool of himself in front of Malfoy of all people. Or course it had been a dream, he should have figured that out before.
Draco smiled nervously and turned to leave, stuffing his trembling hands in his pockets. Well, that went pretty well. So easy to fool the innocents, they think everyone lies as badly as they do.
'The Frigus Niveus potion can prove to be rather complicated for the less gifted among you.' Professor Snape commented with a disdainful glance at Neville, who turned red and tried to disappear behind his cauldron.
'You know,' Harry whispered grimly at Ron and Hermione, 'I'm doing my best to like him after the Triwizard tournament but he isn't helping me at all.'
'...the Frigus Niveus potion will turn any object it touches into ice...'
'Hard to believe he's on our side' Ron remarked, measuring carefully the ingredients.
'...add three polar bear hairs and stir three times clockwise...'
'Appearances can be deceiving.' Hermione pointed out. 'I mean Malfoy looks pretty angelic but...'
'Angelic? You must be joking!'
'... two spoonfuls of.....'
'Where does Snape have the Death Eater Mark?' Ron asked, when their potion was almost ready.
'Here.' Harry took Ron's arm and showed him, touching the wrist lightly. He had carelessly dipped his sleeve into the Frigus Niveus potion and a drop fell on Ron's hand.
'Ouch!'
'Oh, sorry Ron,' Harry apologized while mechanically rubbing Ron's hand to warm it up. 'I didn't notice.'
What was going on? They were holding hands now?
The room began to spin, nausea welled up in him and his knees gave way, Draco clutched at the front of his desk frantically, trying to steady himself. His eyelids were wet with some obscure moisture, the lights were slowly dimming. The candles on the walls became ghostly halos, the figures of the students blurry shadows, flickering in the enshrouding mist that darkened his vision.
Don't you touch him, damn you. Don't you dare touch him!
Suddenly the anguish was gone and the hollow emptiness inside him was filled with a hot surge of hate, green poison curdling his blood. How could they do this to him! He closed his eyes imagining himself hovering over the two Gryffindors, an avenging angel, wielding an axe and chopping both of their hands off. He then proceeded into decapitating them, their blood splattering the stone walls; first Weasley, then Potter.
He had to do something.
What he did was perhaps not the smartest of actions but it definitely had results.
He kicked his cauldron with so much force that it broke and the contents were spilled everywhere, splashing everything in sight. All hell broke loose. And what a cold, frozen hell it was. Everything the potion touched, it froze immediately and in the blink of the eye the classroom had turned into a winter kingdom of ice. Long, transparent stalactites were hanging from the ceiling, a thick carpet of snow covered the floor, crunching under their feet.
There were cracks everywhere in the ice and Neville's chair was the first one that shattered under the weight of his body. The potion behaved like a living thing, sneaking to every corner, its icy claws grabbing and smashing everything. All the chairs and desks broke into a thousand pieces and everyone landed on the floor. Ron was swearing in panic, his breath coming out in thick puffs of steam, while trying to peel his frozen robes off his skin. Harry was struggling to save as many of their belongings as possible. The ink bottle had turned into ice and when he grabbed it, it broke, smearing his hands with the dark substance.
Some potion had landed on the chandelier above their heads, which was now creaking dangerously, freezing over. Harry looked around, trying to comprehend what was going on. His eyes focused on a solitary, wraithlike figure that stood erect, unaffected by the havoc that had erupted around them. Before he recognized who it was the frozen chandelier broke and the pieces fell on them like sharp hail.
Cries of fear and panic electrified the air and Harry, clammy with moisture and chilled to the bone, gave up his attempt to do anything. He pulled up the collar of his robes and just stood there, shivering convulsively.
'Who did this? Who did this?' Snape was screaming furiously while making his way through the classroom, leaving deep footprints on the snow carpet. But he stopped abruptly. Because it was evident to everyone who the culprit was. His favorite student was standing in the middle of the classroom, silent and immobile, almost a breathing sculpture, the broken caldron at his feet. He was covered by a thin layer of ice, like an unborn winter spirit protected in its delicate cocoon. His lips were thin and colorless, a little smile had frozen on them. The skin looked so translucent is seemed painted directly onto the skull. Only the grey eyes, sunk deep into the sockets, displayed any life. They were fixed on a certain young Gryffindor who was brushing the fringe off his eyes, smearing his forehead with ink.
'Bloody hell', Snape thought. 'Teenage love. Not again.'
He waved his wand muttering a warming spell. 'Five points from Slytherin,' he added reluctantly.
'My, what a strange day that was.' Dean mused, echoing everyone's thoughts. They were all sitting on their beds in Gryffindor tower, wrapped in every blanket Dobby was able to find in the whole of Hogwarts.
'Just five points from Slytherin!' Ron repeated for the hundredth time. 'If I had done it he would have taken fifty points from Gryffindor!'
'Malfoy gets away with everything' Seamus commented darkly. 'He goes and destroys the whole classroom and Snape doesn't mind.'
'But I don't understand.' Neville leaned earnestly forward. 'Why did Malfoy do it?'
'Just to piss us off probably.'
'But it doesn't make sense. I mean he froze...'
'Just go to bed now Neville' Seamus snapped, still suspicious that Neville was the one who used all the hot water in the shower. 'I was finally beginning to feel nice and warm and you had to go and remind me of all that ice again.'
...
'Ron?'
'Mpf?'
'Is everyone else asleep?'
'Yeah...'
'Are you asleep?'
'No, not any more. What's wrong Harry?'
'Do you remember why Malfoy attached me on the stairs? What did I do?'
'I think you sort of insulted his mother after he called Hermione a mudblood.'
'No, that was before, when we were still on Hogwarts Express.'
'I don't know Harry. It's late, I can't think properly.'
'Try to remember, will you?'
'You fret too much about Malfoy, Harry. All right, I will. Now turn the light off!'
Draco smiled in satisfaction remembering the embarrassment in Weasley's and Potter's faces when he made fun of them outside the classroom; the way they screamed when the potion splashed on their backs. He had managed to hurt them both quite effectively. But he had hurt himself worse in the process, his own cruelty stung back at him like a whiplash.
His smile disappeared and he turned around in his bed uneasily. He had made so many mistakes the past days, first loosing his patience on the stairs, then spying on Potter again at night. He hadn't even fled after waking Potter up, just stayed there calling his name. An act of supreme idiocy, worthy of a Weasley.
'It seems the master of deceit can't fool himself any longer.' The mirror snickered in the darkness.
'Shut up!'
'You've said that before' the mirror commented, sounding supremely bored. 'You knew it would come to this one day, my pretty one. You knew it the moment the bell rang behind your back at Madam Malkin's store and you turned around to see who was coming in.'
'I think I could deal with seven years of bad luck.'
The mirror took the hint and left him alone.
But he wasn't alone: even in the blessed darkness and silence of the dorm Potter was there, hiding behind the door, creeping under the bed, his reflection flickering on the oval mirror, his shadow darkening the marble floor. Draco could feel Potter on his fingertips, Potter in the hollow of his sweaty palms, Potter behind his closed eyelids, Potter under his skin, running in his veins, crashing his skull, gnawing at his mind, bleeding his heart.
Four years he had fought with every ounce of strength in his body, but he couldn't take it any more. And at 23.55 p.m., during the fourth day of his fifth year at Hogwarts, while lying in his bed at the Slytherin dorm, Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, finally surrendered and spoke the three dreaded words.
His voice wasn't a howl or a lamentation, just the purest sound ever born out of despair.
But at last sweet Morpheus was there, to save him from himself and Draco fell backwards, plunging deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Everything would truly begin tomorrow.
Disclaimer: Everything is the property of J.K. Rowling. I'm just a humble dog not even worthy of dusting her shoes.
A/N: Thanks to Obake for beta-reading this chapter and offering so much help!
The Untold Want
Chapter 4: Jealousy will eat you alive
Harry woke up, crept out of bed, fumbled with his pajamas, brushed his teeth, combed his unruly hair, tied his shoelaces, munched his cornflakes, sipped his coffee, argued with Seamus over Quidditch and rushed to the northern tower; all while the vision of Malfoy hovering outside the window circled endlessly in his mind, intruding on him without respite.
He thought long and hard about it, while everyone else was snoring during Divinations and finally decided not to tell Ron and Hermione. He hated keeping secrets from his best friends but he wasn't sure about their reaction. Hell, he wasn't sure about anything, apart from the fact that he would have to confront Malfoy soon and demand explanations. At the same time he hated he idea of having to see him again; the madness of the past days was beginning to tire him. He needed a quiet year and Malfoy as far away from him as possible.
After Professor Trelawney's class he and Ron waited for Hermione, who was taking an Advanced Charms course with Professor Flitwick, instead of Divinations this year. They were going to the dungeons for the second class of the day, Double Potions with Slytherin, when they saw her coming hurriedly towards them, looking pale and depressed.
'Hey, good work Granger!' Blaise Zabini commented as he walked past them, Pansy Parkinson hanging on his arm. He patted Hermione on the back, half- encouragingly half-mockingly, while Pansy just giggled.
Hermione didn't reply or even turn around, she just bowed her head and stared at her feet, pulling at a seam in her robes.
'Hermione, what's wrong?' Ron frowned in concern.
'It was terrible... so humiliating...'
'What was so terrible?' Harry asked, putting his arm around her shoulders protectively. 'Come on, you can tell us about it.'
'Did Zabini do anything to you? Cause I swear if he did...' Ron hissed.
'No, no!' Hermione interrupted him weakly. 'It's all my fault.' There was a sudden spark of anger in her eyes. 'Or rather Goyle's, since he is the one who broke my wand in the first place! Oh, no!'
'What? What?' they shouted in unison, finally losing their patience.
'We were practicing an advanced Levitation Charm and my stupid wand backfired, so instead of levitating my desk I levitated myself.'
A little smile was making its appearance on Ron's face, matching the one Harry felt spreading on his own. Hermione the bookworm, doing a simple spell wrong! The very idea!
'And I was just hovering in the air, knocking everyone's hat off. God, I even managed to kick Dean in the face, till I ended up on the top shelf of the bookcase in the back of the classroom... Are you two feeling all right?'
Harry choked, trying to stifle a snicker. Ron's face was beginning to match the color of his hair, he looked as if he was about to explode.
'And that wasn't the worse part. Professor Flitwick was trying to help me down, and I was doing the charm again and as I was waving my wand around the duck tape came off. The broken piece fell and hit Professor Flitwick straight between the eyes. He is with Madam Pomfrey now, he needed stitches... Hey are you laughing?'
Harry couldn't take it any more. He burst into laughter and laughed and laughed till his stomach ached, his ears buzzed and he was out of breath. He leaned against Ron, burying his face in his shoulder to support himself, but Ron seemed to have trouble with his balance too, so they ended up pirouetting across the corridor in each other arms, tears of mirth rolling down their cheeks.
'Well, well it must be love indeed,' a familiar voice commented and they stopped abruptly, releasing each other.
'Shut up Malfoy!' Ron hissed, straightening his robes.
'What a comeback Weasley, I'm impressed.'
The words were calm and calculated, dripping with cool sarcasm but there was nothing calm or calculated about Malfoy's expression. His bloodshot eyes were torches flaming with hot anger, he was gritting his teeth furiously.
'What's you problem, Malfoy?'
'Nothing Potter. Just commenting over the romantic scene I happened to witness.'
'Any more comments?'
'Not really, Granger. Only that you dubious charms seem to be lost on Weasley, he obviously prefers Potter. But any wizard with some sense in his head would prefer even a blast-ended skrewt over a mudblood like you.'
The viciousness of the assault took Hermione by surprise. Still in turmoil over the Levitation incident she opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish out of water, then not founding anything to say she hurried to the classroom with uncertain footsteps.
Ron glared at Malfoy venomously, hesitated, then run after her.
Draco and Harry were alone in the corridor. Their eyes met challengingly, opponents preparing for combat, sharpening their knives, grey against green. The stone walls around them echoed with deathly silence and it occurred to Harry that for some reason his presence was making Malfoy uncomfortable.
Draco noticed out of the corner of his eye that Vincent and Gregory were already in the classroom and they were waving at him to join them. He was about to head to their direction when a hand gripped his shoulder firmly. 'Can I be of any assistance to you Potter?' he asked, raising one eyebrow.
'Yes, as a matter of fact you can Malfoy!' Harry snapped and swiftly removed his hand from Malfoy's shoulder when he noticed the way Malfoy was staring at it, as if repulsed by the close contact.
'You can start by explaining what the hell you were doing last night!'
'Last night? I don't think my personal life is any of your business Potter!' Malfoy retorted, equally angry.
'Don't pretend you don't understand Malfoy, you were hovering outside my window in the middle of the night!'
'What in Merlin's name are you talking about Potter? Me hovering outside your window? What do you think I am, an owl?' Malfoy asked in utter confusion.
'You were on your Nimbus. I saw you, so don't try to lie.' Harry said, feeling a lot less confident than before.
'You think I'd leave my warm bed, sneak past Filch and risk the danger of a detention just to watch some Gryffindors snoring?' Malfoy snorted in sincere amusement.
'But I saw you.' All color drained from Harry's face and a drop of sweat trickled on his forehead as he began to realize that all this was probably a huge mistake.
'Did anyone else see me?'
'Nnnoo..' The words had all dried up in his throat.
'I wonder why. You're delusional, Potter you need to get your head examined'
'Why you...'
'You've been dreaming about me Potter, how flattering indeed.'
The color came back rushing in Harry's face, his cheeks suffused with red, he pushed Draco out of the way and disappeared into the classroom with bowed head. Such embarrassment, making a fool of himself in front of Malfoy of all people. Or course it had been a dream, he should have figured that out before.
Draco smiled nervously and turned to leave, stuffing his trembling hands in his pockets. Well, that went pretty well. So easy to fool the innocents, they think everyone lies as badly as they do.
'The Frigus Niveus potion can prove to be rather complicated for the less gifted among you.' Professor Snape commented with a disdainful glance at Neville, who turned red and tried to disappear behind his cauldron.
'You know,' Harry whispered grimly at Ron and Hermione, 'I'm doing my best to like him after the Triwizard tournament but he isn't helping me at all.'
'...the Frigus Niveus potion will turn any object it touches into ice...'
'Hard to believe he's on our side' Ron remarked, measuring carefully the ingredients.
'...add three polar bear hairs and stir three times clockwise...'
'Appearances can be deceiving.' Hermione pointed out. 'I mean Malfoy looks pretty angelic but...'
'Angelic? You must be joking!'
'... two spoonfuls of.....'
'Where does Snape have the Death Eater Mark?' Ron asked, when their potion was almost ready.
'Here.' Harry took Ron's arm and showed him, touching the wrist lightly. He had carelessly dipped his sleeve into the Frigus Niveus potion and a drop fell on Ron's hand.
'Ouch!'
'Oh, sorry Ron,' Harry apologized while mechanically rubbing Ron's hand to warm it up. 'I didn't notice.'
What was going on? They were holding hands now?
The room began to spin, nausea welled up in him and his knees gave way, Draco clutched at the front of his desk frantically, trying to steady himself. His eyelids were wet with some obscure moisture, the lights were slowly dimming. The candles on the walls became ghostly halos, the figures of the students blurry shadows, flickering in the enshrouding mist that darkened his vision.
Don't you touch him, damn you. Don't you dare touch him!
Suddenly the anguish was gone and the hollow emptiness inside him was filled with a hot surge of hate, green poison curdling his blood. How could they do this to him! He closed his eyes imagining himself hovering over the two Gryffindors, an avenging angel, wielding an axe and chopping both of their hands off. He then proceeded into decapitating them, their blood splattering the stone walls; first Weasley, then Potter.
He had to do something.
What he did was perhaps not the smartest of actions but it definitely had results.
He kicked his cauldron with so much force that it broke and the contents were spilled everywhere, splashing everything in sight. All hell broke loose. And what a cold, frozen hell it was. Everything the potion touched, it froze immediately and in the blink of the eye the classroom had turned into a winter kingdom of ice. Long, transparent stalactites were hanging from the ceiling, a thick carpet of snow covered the floor, crunching under their feet.
There were cracks everywhere in the ice and Neville's chair was the first one that shattered under the weight of his body. The potion behaved like a living thing, sneaking to every corner, its icy claws grabbing and smashing everything. All the chairs and desks broke into a thousand pieces and everyone landed on the floor. Ron was swearing in panic, his breath coming out in thick puffs of steam, while trying to peel his frozen robes off his skin. Harry was struggling to save as many of their belongings as possible. The ink bottle had turned into ice and when he grabbed it, it broke, smearing his hands with the dark substance.
Some potion had landed on the chandelier above their heads, which was now creaking dangerously, freezing over. Harry looked around, trying to comprehend what was going on. His eyes focused on a solitary, wraithlike figure that stood erect, unaffected by the havoc that had erupted around them. Before he recognized who it was the frozen chandelier broke and the pieces fell on them like sharp hail.
Cries of fear and panic electrified the air and Harry, clammy with moisture and chilled to the bone, gave up his attempt to do anything. He pulled up the collar of his robes and just stood there, shivering convulsively.
'Who did this? Who did this?' Snape was screaming furiously while making his way through the classroom, leaving deep footprints on the snow carpet. But he stopped abruptly. Because it was evident to everyone who the culprit was. His favorite student was standing in the middle of the classroom, silent and immobile, almost a breathing sculpture, the broken caldron at his feet. He was covered by a thin layer of ice, like an unborn winter spirit protected in its delicate cocoon. His lips were thin and colorless, a little smile had frozen on them. The skin looked so translucent is seemed painted directly onto the skull. Only the grey eyes, sunk deep into the sockets, displayed any life. They were fixed on a certain young Gryffindor who was brushing the fringe off his eyes, smearing his forehead with ink.
'Bloody hell', Snape thought. 'Teenage love. Not again.'
He waved his wand muttering a warming spell. 'Five points from Slytherin,' he added reluctantly.
'My, what a strange day that was.' Dean mused, echoing everyone's thoughts. They were all sitting on their beds in Gryffindor tower, wrapped in every blanket Dobby was able to find in the whole of Hogwarts.
'Just five points from Slytherin!' Ron repeated for the hundredth time. 'If I had done it he would have taken fifty points from Gryffindor!'
'Malfoy gets away with everything' Seamus commented darkly. 'He goes and destroys the whole classroom and Snape doesn't mind.'
'But I don't understand.' Neville leaned earnestly forward. 'Why did Malfoy do it?'
'Just to piss us off probably.'
'But it doesn't make sense. I mean he froze...'
'Just go to bed now Neville' Seamus snapped, still suspicious that Neville was the one who used all the hot water in the shower. 'I was finally beginning to feel nice and warm and you had to go and remind me of all that ice again.'
...
'Ron?'
'Mpf?'
'Is everyone else asleep?'
'Yeah...'
'Are you asleep?'
'No, not any more. What's wrong Harry?'
'Do you remember why Malfoy attached me on the stairs? What did I do?'
'I think you sort of insulted his mother after he called Hermione a mudblood.'
'No, that was before, when we were still on Hogwarts Express.'
'I don't know Harry. It's late, I can't think properly.'
'Try to remember, will you?'
'You fret too much about Malfoy, Harry. All right, I will. Now turn the light off!'
Draco smiled in satisfaction remembering the embarrassment in Weasley's and Potter's faces when he made fun of them outside the classroom; the way they screamed when the potion splashed on their backs. He had managed to hurt them both quite effectively. But he had hurt himself worse in the process, his own cruelty stung back at him like a whiplash.
His smile disappeared and he turned around in his bed uneasily. He had made so many mistakes the past days, first loosing his patience on the stairs, then spying on Potter again at night. He hadn't even fled after waking Potter up, just stayed there calling his name. An act of supreme idiocy, worthy of a Weasley.
'It seems the master of deceit can't fool himself any longer.' The mirror snickered in the darkness.
'Shut up!'
'You've said that before' the mirror commented, sounding supremely bored. 'You knew it would come to this one day, my pretty one. You knew it the moment the bell rang behind your back at Madam Malkin's store and you turned around to see who was coming in.'
'I think I could deal with seven years of bad luck.'
The mirror took the hint and left him alone.
But he wasn't alone: even in the blessed darkness and silence of the dorm Potter was there, hiding behind the door, creeping under the bed, his reflection flickering on the oval mirror, his shadow darkening the marble floor. Draco could feel Potter on his fingertips, Potter in the hollow of his sweaty palms, Potter behind his closed eyelids, Potter under his skin, running in his veins, crashing his skull, gnawing at his mind, bleeding his heart.
Four years he had fought with every ounce of strength in his body, but he couldn't take it any more. And at 23.55 p.m., during the fourth day of his fifth year at Hogwarts, while lying in his bed at the Slytherin dorm, Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, finally surrendered and spoke the three dreaded words.
His voice wasn't a howl or a lamentation, just the purest sound ever born out of despair.
But at last sweet Morpheus was there, to save him from himself and Draco fell backwards, plunging deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Everything would truly begin tomorrow.