Chapter TwoDreams and Potions
Later that night, Harry lay in bed, wishing for sleep so that he could dream of the mysterious voice, but sleep would not come. Instead, he found himself thinking of Malfoy. This angered him greatly, because he wanted to think of the invisible stranger. Malfoy's faint smile kept replaying itself in Harry's head, and the way Malfoy had looked at Harry, almost wistfully, as he left the Hall.
Finally Harry drifted off, but he was woken when he felt a hand on his face. His eyes fluttered open, but he couldn't see anyone. Knowing it was the invisible stranger, he said: "Hello. May I ask how you got in here?"
"I followed you, of course. I've been watching you sleep. Sorry to wake you. Go back to sleep."
"Nuh-uh, I'm not tired now. Tell me who you are," Harry begged.
"I want to, really, I do, but I can't… not yet."
"Why not?" Harry asked, disappointed.
"You're not ready to know," was the simple reply. The hand was stroking his head, lovingly. Harry loved the feeling, but he reached up and grabbed the hand around the wrist. The stroking stopped abruptly.
Harry sat up, and, still holding the wrist, reached out in front of him with his other hand. When he felt cloth beneath his hand, he grabbed it. The stranger gave a gasp, and Harry pulled.
The invisibility cloak slid off, to reveal none other than Draco Malfoy. The shock of seeing his arch-enemy woke Harry abruptly and his head collided with one of the posters on his bead. He moaned in agony into his pillow, trying to muffle the sound.
It was just a dream. Harry thought. But he was thoroughly confused. Shouldn't I be relieved that it was just a dream? And why would I dream it was Malfoy anyway? Suddenly, Harry felt so stupid that he banged his head on the bed on purpose.
"How could I not have noticed that before?" He asked himself.
The voice belonged to a male. I enjoyed the feeling of his breath on my ear, and his fingers on my lips. I must be gay. Wow, who'd have thought the Gryffindor Golden Boy would be gay?
Harry was surprised at his acceptance of this revelation. Although he had not taken an interest in girls after Cho Chang, he had never thought that he might be gay. He briefly thought that he should be shocked and appalled at himself for being gay, but he dismissed the thought quickly. The brief encounter with the stranger was too sweet. He was drawn to whoever it was, and whether they were male or female, it didn't matter.
The more pressing matter, however, was why he had dreamed of Malfoy under the cloak. But then he realised that he had been thinking of Malfoy just before he went to sleep, and decided that his brain had combined two events into one. It had nothing to do with the truth, or my secret desires, Harry thought.
Feeling wide awake, Harry glanced at his watch and groaned; it was only 6 o'clock. He decided to get up anyway, as he wouldn't be able to sleep again after realising that he was gay.
Harry showered and dressed, taking extra care of his appearance, and dismissing it as a 'being gay' thing, as opposed to a 'trying to impress someone in particular' thing. As he headed down for an early breakfast, he wondered briefly if the mysterious stranger was even a student at Hogwarts. All he knew was that he was a guy, and that Harry knew his face and his name, but had most likely hardly spoken to him.
Sitting in the Great Hall, Harry was completely alone. He chewed his toast thoughtfully, trying to imagine a face to match the delicate hand and soft voice. All he could come up with was a pale, thin face. His admirer was most likely not in Gryffindor; Harry would know them too well. He shivered, repulsed at a sudden thought that it could be one of the Creevey brothers, but he dismissed it, realising that they would not have as much stealth as his admirer.
Stealth? He thought, sounds like a Slytherin. At that moment, the object of his dream the previous night walked through the doors, determinedly not looking at Harry. This made him wonder about the truth behind his dream. At the very least, he decided that Malfoy had definitely changed, and it was worth finding out if it was for better or worse. On impulse, Harry walked over to the Slytherin table and sat opposite Malfoy.
The Slytherin boy looked up, and gasped, before recovering slightly and attempting a sneer. He either failed dismally, or decided on a different approach altogether, because the half-hearted sneer disappeared rapidly, and instead he looked at his breakfast.
"How are you, Harry?" He asked, shakily.
"I'm fine thank you. How are you?" Harry replied politely, his face not betraying his confusion. Why on Earth is he being civil?
"Oh, I'm alright. I've been meaning to thank you."
"Oh yeah? For what?" Harry could not help let a hint of annoyance into his voice, assuming that Malfoy was being sarcastic.
"For sending Lucius to prison." Malfoy replied. Harry tried, and failed, to see or hear anything akin to sarcasm.
"Are you serious?" Harry asked, genuinely confused, and letting it show in his face.
"Of course. I meant to write you a letter over the holidays, but… I thought you wouldn't believe me. And, plus, I heard about your Godfather. I'm sorry." Malfoy said sincerely.
"Uhhh… thanks. And… you're welcome, I guess." Harry said, looking down. It was then that he noticed Malfoy's hands. Pale, and delicate, with long fingers. He jumped up, suddenly. "I have to go." He said, and ran out of the Hall. Had he looked back, he would have seen a hurt and confused Malfoy look down at his hands, and then back at the doors, a look of dawning realisation on his face.
Harry sprinted up three flights of stairs, and, panting, leaned against a wall on the third floor, in the corridor that had been home to the three-headed dog in his first year. He did not make the connection, however, as he was too busy with all the thoughts whirling around his head. The thoughts were all of Malfoy. Malfoy and his hands. Malfoy being polite. Malfoy looking wistful last night. That voice, what had it said? Something about knowing their name and face but not who they were.
Of course! I took it too literally. I don't know who Malfoy really is, I only know the shell. The shell which is no longer required because I sent his father to prison. That's all it was, Harry realised, a shell. He probably never really hated me. Harry felt awful. He had truly hated Malfoy. But, he tried to reason, the Malfoy shell gave me every reason to hate him. And now I have a chance to get to know the real Draco Malfoy.
Feeling relieved, Harry walked up the remaining four flights of stairs to the Gryffindor common room. "Treacle Tart," Harry said, smiling. Ron had chosen the first password for the year, picking Harry's favourite dessert in an effort to show he really did care, even if he was a bit distracted at times.
Harry still had half an hour before anyone else would be heading down to breakfast (it was only 7.30) and decided to write a note to Malfoy, to apologise for leaving so abruptly. He tried to make it sound like he hadn't made the connection between Malfoy and the invisible stranger.
Draco,
I'm sorry I left so suddenly, I remembered that I promised Ron I would wake him up at a quarter past seven. He was a bit annoyed that I woke him up 15 minutes late, but he'll forgive me.
I think we should talk. Let me just say now that I'm sorry for treating you terribly for five years, but you must agree that you gave me every reason to. I want to give you a chance. I know it seems abrupt, but I've been playing with the idea for a while, our conversation this morning just finalised my decision.
Why don't we meet in the library after dinner tonight?
Harry
Satisfied, Harry took the note to Hedwig in the owlery before returning to the common room to wake Ron up. (Truthfully, Ron was a grump if anyone woke him before 7.45, but Harry didn't want Malfoy to feel hurt that Harry had left in a rush.)
"Mmmmph. Good dream." Ron grumbled, as Harry began poking him periodically, his favourite method of waking his best friend, as it brought out the most entertaining comments.
"What did you dream about, Ron? Or should I have asked who?" Harry teased.
Ron sat up, blushing. "Nothing, nothing," he dismissed, waving his hand.
"I've eaten already, but I guess I have to come down to get our timetables anyway." Harry commented, as Ron gathered his things and headed to the showers.
"Uck!" Hermione stated, as she looked at the timetables. Harry and Ron could only agree. They had double Potions, followed by double Care of Magical Creatures, ("I wonder what life-threatening beast we'll have to deal with today," Ron growled), followed by Divination.
"At least I've got Arithmancy last. What's your last lesson?" Hermione said, peering over Harry's shoulder. "HA!" She shouted. "That has got to be the worst combination of lessons! Oh, I do feel sorry for you, really, but it does make me feel a smidgen better about my day." Hermione added, seeing the look on Harry and Ron's faces.
At that moment, the owls came in. Harry glanced up to see Hedwig swoop over to Malfoy. Although he wanted to see whether Hermione or Ron had noticed that his owl was delivering a note to Malfoy, he couldn't look away from the Slytherin.
Harry watched Malfoy look at Hedwig, clearly recognising her, before tearing open the letter. When he finished reading, Malfoy looked up and met Harry's gaze, with a faint but genuine smile, and nodded almost imperceptibly. Harry's heart leapt.
They finished eating, and headed back up to the tower to get their books.
"I have to tell you two something later," Harry said, feeling a weight settle in his stomach. He wanted to tell them about being gay, the mysterious stranger and Malfoy, but he didn't want to know what their reactions would be.
"Ok, mate, we'll talk at lunch," Ron said.
"Yeah, but right now, we'll be late for potions if we don't run!" Hermione said, dragging Harry and Ron by the arms.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were just in time; they were sitting down together when Snape walked out of his office. He scrutinised Harry, but didn't say anything.
"Before we begin, I will be placing you with partners for the entirety of this year. NEWT potions is much more difficult than OWL potions. How some of you got into my class-" he glanced pointedly at Neville – "I'll never know, but I will arrange partners so that those of you who are less fortunate in the brain department-" he looked this time at not Harry, nor even Ron, but surprisingly, at Crabbe and Goyle – "can be helped by those who are more capable." Typically, he looked at Malfoy for the last comment.
"I will read out your name and your partner's name and one of you will move to sit next to your partner. No questions, no complaints. Potter, Malfoy." Snape read.
Harry looked at him in astonishment. Surely Snape wouldn't want to taint Malfoy by placing him with Harry? But Harry saw Snape look at Malfoy and give – a wink? Harry looked at Malfoy in disbelief, and had the pleasure to see him blush slightly and avert his gaze. Harry stood up, oblivious to Ron and Hermione's groans, and deaf to Snape reading out his list of partners. He walked over to Malfoy, and sat down next to him, not taking his eyes off the Slytherin.
Malfoy looked up and Harry gave him a reassuring smile. Malfoy smiled back, widely this time and said, "Ron forgiven you yet?"
"Yeah, he's alright. So, what do you reckon Snape's up to? Surely he wouldn't want to torture you by making me your partner?"
"Uh, well I… kind of told him I wanted to be friends with you, so he decided to try and help. I didn't ask for this, I swear I didn't-"
"Hey, I'm joking. I'm pleased. So, you coming tonight?"
"Ummm… yeah, I am."
"Good."
"Yeah."
"So."
"Silence!" Snape said, glaring at the class. "Your instructions are on the board. This is a highly complex potion. You have the rest of the lesson. Begin."
Harry and Malfoy copied down the instructions silently. Then Harry got the ingredients, while Malfoy prepared the cauldron. They passed the rest of the lesson in silence, until they had finished – which was half an hour before everyone else.
"I think that's the best potion I've ever made," Harry commented, looking proudly at their potion.
"Yeah, me too." Malfoy agreed.
"You're kidding, right? You always get everything perfect!" Harry protested.
"Nah, I don't, really, I'm probably about as good as you, Snape just favours me. But somehow I don't think he hates you so much now."
"Hmmm… could that have anything to do with you?" Harry wondered aloud, smirking.
"Well… maybe," Malfoy confessed.
"So…Malfoy, what do you plan to do for the rest of the lesson?" Harry asked.
"Call me Draco. I plan on chatting with you, Harry. What are your plans?"
"Same, I guess, Draco." Harry shivered at the sound of the name on his lips.
"You alright?" Draco asked, noticing Harry's shiver.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a shiver up my spine."
"Potter! Malfoy! What are you chatting for?" Snape asked, having walked right up to them.
"We've finished, sir." Replied Harry, interested to see if he really had made an effort to change his treatment of Harry.
"Well, bottle it and clean up. Then you may go. 5 points to Slytherin and Gryffindor."
Harry stared. So did Draco. So did the rest of the class.
"What?" Snape snapped, before winking at Draco and walking back to the front of the class.