Madam
Pomfrey gasped with surprise as she saw Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy enter the
hospital wing, Harry's arm around Draco's waist. She noticed that the blonde
boy had been crying and this surprised her, the Malfoy's didn't usually express
their emotions openly.
"What's
going on?" She addressed Harry because he seemed more controlled.
Harry
glanced at Draco and Draco nodded.
"Mal
– I mean Draco's mother has died and I thought you could give him some
dreamless sleep potion like you gave me when Ced.. Well at the end of the
fourth year." Harry trailed off but Madam Pomfrey understood. She turned to
face Malfoy and speaking softly she said. "I shall have to inform the
headmaster of these events but rest assured neither he nor myself will tell
anyone else if you don't want us to. I'll have the potion ready in a couple of
minutes." She turned to Harry, who was standing next to the bed looking
uncertain. "You can go now Potter, thank you for bringing Malfoy here, he'll be
all right once he's had the potion." Harry moved towards the door but suddenly
Draco spoke, "please can Harry stay until I fall asleep?" Madam Pomfrey looked
at Harry who looked surprised but nodded.
"Very
well, I'll just go and contact Professor Dumbledore and I'll get the potion."
She
bustled off leaving Harry alone with Draco.
"I
don't understand, I thought you wanted me to go?" Malfoy nodded but didn't look
at Harry. "I changed my mind." He said simply, Harry decided he would leave his
other questions until Draco had slept.
Harry
sat by Draco's bedside watching as Draco's tense expression relaxed as the
potion began to kick in. He reached over and took Draco's hand in his own,
holding it as he watched Draco fall asleep, clutching Harry's hand. When Draco
had finally fallen asleep, Harry bent down and kissed him on the cheek before
making his way out of the hospital wing.
When
he finally arrived back in Gryffindor tower it was almost dawn. After he had
left the hospital wing he had gone for a walk in the grounds to think about the
evening's events. He wandered around for hours in an attempt to organise his
thoughts but they were far too confused so he gave up and went to bed.
Lying
in his four poster unable to sleep he felt a confusing mixture of emotions,
sexual frustration was there certainly, after all his meeting with Malfoy had
not turned out the way he had expected, but he was also experiencing other
emotions which were new to him. He had realised tonight that he cared a lot
more for Malfoy than he had thought. This was perhaps the most confusing
emotion of all – was he becoming fond of Malfoy?
The
next morning Harry clambered out of bed feeling decidedly worn out, he had
spent the night tossing and turning – unable to sleep.
He
walked blearily down into the common room, rubbing his eyes as he went.
On
his arrival he spotted Ginny Weasley sitting in an armchair by the fire,
reading a book. He walked over and sat down next to her, she looked up as he
sat down.
"Hiya
Harry, you look a little tired – you didn't have any nightmares did you?" She
looked at him, her eyes full of concern. Harry blushed,
"No
I just couldn't sleep."
"A
lot on your mind, hey?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded.
"Well
if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Ginny smiled making Harry's
heart flip.
"Thanks
I'll remember that and the same goes for you too." Ginny reached over and took
Harry's hand in her own; they sat together for a few moments just enjoying each
other's company.
Just
then Ron came in through the portrait hole, he approached the corner where
Harry and Ginny were sitting, grinning happily.
"Malfoy's
in the hospital wing, I hope he's really ill." Harry grimaced, he didn't know
whether to tell Ron what was wrong with Malfoy but then he would have to
explain to Ron how he knew and he didn't want to do that just yet.
"Are
we going for breakfast then?" he asked, getting up and holding out his hand to
pull Ginny to her feet.
"Hold
on, where's Hermione?" Ginny asked, looking around for the other girl.
"She's
in the library, she said she had something she wanted to look up." Ron told
them, neither Ginny nor Harry looked surprised.
"Doesn't
she want any breakfast?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head.
"She
said she would go and get something from the kitchens later if she felt like
it."
They
headed out of the common room and down to the Great Hall. Harry didn't really
feel like eating, what he really wanted to do was go and see how Malfoy was.
Ginny
leaned over and whispered in his ear.
"Are
you worried about Malfoy?" Harry looked at her surprised, she grinned.
"I'm
a lot more observant than my brother, I've seen the way you and Malfoy look at
each other." Harry blushed unsure of what to say, he didn't want to lie to
Ginny but he didn't want to ruin his chances with her either.
"I…"
But Ginny stopped him, placing a hand over his mouth; on impulse Harry kissed
her fingers. She smiled and took her hand away.
"Go
up to the hospital wing and see Malfoy. I'll be in the common room when you get
back, we can talk later." She squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.
"You're
right." Smiling gratefully at Ginny, Harry got up and left the room.