"I think it's time for you to go Harry."

Harry had once again overstayed his welcome, and this was a habit which was becoming increasingly

infuriating for Draco, and yet he still frequented these midnight meetings, not wanting to miss

one because he enjoyed the company of someone he could trust. Sure, he did like Harry. Up to a

point. But he still had difficulty looking past the fact that they had once been enemies. There

had been no change on his part to provoke the sudden interest that Harry had now. In a way this

made it all the more sweet for him and it was true, they did have a good understanding of each

other; once you looked past the stereotypical bad and good labels they had ended up with they

were very similar characters. Draco hated this stereotyping, sure he was a bully sometimes, but

wasn't everybody?

Harry's sudden interest had been sparked off by chance. Snape had placed them together in class

for a team project on potions, thinking that it would do them good, but rather hoping that the

partnership would be destructive. It wasn't and now they were friends. But Harry seemed to be

taking the friendship too far, he wanted to see Draco as often as he could, and this was a mental

strain on Draco. But he couldn't help laugh every time Harry said that he needed Draco, it was

just too funny to find that the 'hero' of the school suddenly needing someone deemed unworthy

by the general population of Hogwarts. What would they say if they knew? If only they ALL knew,

as opposed to just Harry's select circle of friends. Ron and Hermione. They had always been

loyal to Harry throughout his time a the school and know, almost on a whim, he had left them in

the dry in preference for Draco. It pleased Draco when he thought about it properly, the best

known pupil at school being friends with the most despised. But he felt sorry for Harry's friends, they thought badly of him and they had good reason to. After all, they took the brunt of his

insults.

It hadn't always been in his nature to insult people, and he didn't know when or how it had

come about. However, there were a few reasons he could think of. Of course, the main being he

took after his father. He had seen his father in action, insulting their house elf, Dobby, at

every possible moment. Draco had felt sorry but he couldn't show this in front of his father,

he would have been considered weak. Another possible reason was jealousy. Ever since Harry had

come into the school he had had popularity and support from all the teachers and understanding

friends. He had wanted to be like Harry, or at least have friends like he did; those who would

be there in his time of need. He felt bitter and resented Harry's friends, but not Harry himself;

he had a liking for him. But either way, Draco had become cold-hearted and cynical of the world

around him.

The meetings with Harry had started no more than two weeks ago, upon the whim of Harry. Since

then Draco had learned more things about Harry than most knew, which was saying a lot considering

he was a main conversation topic for most in the school. He knew how Harry felt about everything, and the feelings, in general were shared. They met in

an empty room that they had found one night when wondering through the corridors. It had been

rather funny how they had found it really; one night they had heard footsteps in the corridor

ahead of them and coming closer. Not wanting to be caught, the pair had dived into the nearest

room. It had turned out to be what they presumed to be one of the older common rooms; however,

it was still well furnished with sofas and armchairs and a small fire which lit immediately when

they entered. They were at no risk of being caught and so they decided that they would meet

here every time. It had a warm homely feeling, which appealed to Draco after the cold common

room of Slytherin where everybody looked at each other with contempt. It wasn't as if they were

holding grudges, it was how they were towards everyone, but Draco hated it.

Looking across at Harry, seated a short distance from him in one of the armchairs, he examined

him. Harry's scar was his outstanding feature; not much else about him was particularly special.

For Draco, outward appearance was important but Harry didn't seem too bothered about it. Draco

liked this about him, he liked seeing Harry's hair as a shaggy matt; it was amusing but Harry

also managed to wear it well. Harry seemed, to all around him, laidback and cool. From his

experience Draco found this not to be true. Draco could understand why Harry felt the need to

keep that side of him in though. But Harry had opened up to Draco; he seemed to trust him

more than anybody else.

'I think it's time you should be going Harry.' Draco signalled to the door, motioning to get up

as if in mock imitation of Harry.

'Do I have to? It's only just gone 1, we normally have more time than this.'

'I'm tired now though, we have been meeting here all week and I haven't had a good night's rest

for a while. Let's go now, if you won't then I will,' replied Draco, his voice

resonating around the empty room.

Seeing there was no point in complaining, Harry reluctantly raised himself from his spot on in

the armchair and slowly dragged himself over to the door. Nodding an acknowledgement of thanks

to Draco and lifting his hand he wave he signalled goodnight and sullenly stepped out into the

dank corridor, beginning the long trudge up to the Gryffindor common room, and his dormitory.

Just for security he put on his father's cloak to ensure that no one caught him. Taking one last

look into the room at Draco, who yawned slightly and pushed himself slowly up off the chair, he

set off slowly.



~-~

Harry left the room and turned down the corridor, moving swiftly after his initial slow,

ambling pace. He didn't want to look behind; looking back at Draco would have been too much

for him. Harry once again felt unfulfilled, these meetings with Draco were becoming more

frequent and yet he was getting nowhere with him. He wanted more than he was getting from

Draco, and he knew that Draco, in effect, was using him, using his popularity around the

school and with the teachers to gain popularity for himself. But he couldn't let go of

Draco, not yet anyway. It seemed that no one understood that, Harry needed Draco and was relying

on him more and more to be able to make him happy. At first Draco did this easily, but now he

wasn't able to comfort Harry so well. He was slipping, tumbling down into an abyss, away from

his friends, Ron and Hermione, and into darkness. He was alone, completely and utterly alone.

As he carried on moving down the corridor, covered by his father's cloak and treading carefully

to avoid making any unwanted noise, he thought of his friends. Ron and Hermione, who had stood

by him through everything in these years at Hogwarts, were becoming more distant to Harry. They

were no longer friends, more acquaintances; he no longer ate with them and very rarely spent time

with them. When he wasn't training on the Quidditch pitches he was wandering the school alone or

with Draco discussing his life and his problems. The thing that made Draco stand out against all

of his friends was that Draco appeared to listen to Harry. When Harry was talking, Draco's eyes

would sparkle, and he would remain, head cocked to one side, listening throughout whatever Harry

said, not interrupting to offer advice or stopping to tell him he was wrong. He heard him out,

and this was why Harry couldn't let him go just yet. Neither Ron nor Hermione would understand

if he told them he was lonely, they couldn't comprehend how someone so popular could be so lonely.

But it doesn't matter how popular you are. It matters how many of those friends understand, and

currently Harry didn't think any did. He felt alone with his problems and had no way to vent them,

apart from playing Quidditch and talking to Draco.

When he was on the pitch, soaring above the crowds, listening to the screaming fans

urging him on, he felt free. He could soar like a bird, drifting on the wind to wherever he

pleased if he wanted. The adrenaline rush was valuable too; it was increasingly becoming the only

exciting thing in Harry's life. He loved flying high and feeling at one with the wind, floating

effortlessly. He knew that he could escape if he wanted, but what was the point? After all,

Dumbledore would know exactly where he was.

Harry's problems stemmed from the fact he had no real parents. His aunt and uncle

were no compromise to what real parents would be in his mind. They tormented him, and it

led to his attitude becoming one of self- deprecation. Harry was always beating himself up

when nobody else was around. He was reaching too high for goals that he couldn't achieve,

and yet he knew he shouldn't aim so high. He couldn't help it; years of torture at the

hands of his uncle had led him to be like this. He become increasingly infuriated with his

friends when they told him he shouldn't be so hard himself too, and this was another

reason for the steady decline in amiability between Ron, Hermione and himself. He felt

alone in the world, and was being suffocated by those around him. What's more, he was bored.

Bored of his friends, bored of school, bored of his tedious life. For Harry now, Draco

was the light at the end of the tunnel, the one who could save him from falling.

He knew how much pressure he was putting on Draco but he was sure he could take it.

Draco was mentally strong, unlike Harry. Or at least if he wasn't, he kept his feelings

covered up better than Harry did. It was as if a wall was placed around Draco, preventing

him from being affected by anything happening in the world around him. Harry envied him for

this; he loved Draco's carefree attitude and found his take on life exciting. Harry had

also enjoyed watching people, and there was no one in his mind more interesting to watch

than Draco was. That was another reason that he had been spending so much time with him

recently.

But maybe there was an ulterior reason too, a reason which Harry had thought through and denied vehemently. Could he

have feelings towards Draco? The boy who had been his enemy for so many years at the

school, and now become his friend, his saviour even. This notion seemed absurd to Harry,

but he suspected that Draco thought there was some physical attraction on Harry's part. He

wasn't in the slightest bit modest after all and attributed even the slightest looks of

physical affection to the fact that he thought himself was attractive to the opposite sex.

Suddenly a noise coming from further off in the main hall distracted Harry. Harry waited a few

seconds, thinking over what to do, wondering whether it was the wind, a teacher or

something else. After a few seconds perusal he decided to investigate himself, after all,

he was cloaked.

He arrived in the main hall, still stepping stealthily to avoid unwanted noise, to

find the door swinging open and blowing in the wind. In the distance he could see a streak

of red running off under the cloud of night.

Harry's heart started beating at double speed. He sat down heavily, knocking the

wind out of him. He began to cry silently. He knew that into the dark had stepped Ron, almost

certainly to his death. The chances of retrieving his friendship now were even slimmer than

before.