Crying doesn't mean you're weak ... Sometimes it's what you need to do to get strong again" – J.W. Lynne

Harry stormed out of the great hall in a rush, slamming the door behind him after his ear caught a cheery laugh echoing in the hall from a particular blond; his blood felt to rush to his face; he was feeling feverish, his veins throbbing, and his head was about to burst as his brain was unable to comprehend what the fuck was going on.

He just paced towards the Gryffindor tower, ignoring the stinging sensation of burning in his hand and the blood dropping out of his palm. The glasses in Hogwarts were deteriorating in quality, but Harry didn't care because he knew Hermione would have fixed his mess the moment, he decided to make the reckless decision of storming out of the hall.

'Bloody Malfoy and his stupid banana, and his stupid tongue, and his stupid--"

"Ugh!" He clenched his fist and hummed in satisfaction when a small piece of glass still in the wound pierced through his skin, wishing the weird thoughts would go away.

'What in fucking hell is wrong with me?' Harry shook his head vigorously as his brain kept replaying the indecent display of... of... Harry's mind trailed off, unable to even find a word for the bizarre show of Malfoy and Zabini on the breakfast table.

Note... The breakfast table. Just right in front of his bloody breakfast-

"Baubles-" Harry spat at the fat lady's portrait, which tutted at him but swung open as he practically ran towards his dormitory.

He ignored the few "Heya Harry" and a few "Woah there, mate," as he stormed past a few students who either had completed their breakfast or most of the seventh-year students who, with the pressure of their upcoming NEWTS, preferred to savour every moment studying and eating in their beds instead of wasting their time in the great hall.

Harry finally reached his dormitory, and he hastily swung open the door. Well, or rather, he tried to, but to his immense frustration, the door was locked.

Harry frowned for a moment and pulled out his wand. "Alohomora" he whispered, and then with a click, the door unlocked. He then reached the doorknob and pulled the door open, only to gasp at the sight, his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped...

There in the middle of the four beads, on the tabletop, was Seamus Finnigan snogging... SNOGGING Dean Thomas, their bodies close, Seamus hovering over Dean, who was sitting on top of the table, his legs wrapped tightly around Seamus' arse as they kissed and kissed, their tongues chasing each other, their eyes closing, their lips occasionally smiling after small kisses, their hands roaming furiously over each other, and then Dean bucked...

"Oh, Merlin, baby, Yesss!" Seamus gasped, moaning breathlessly over Dean's ear as he took the curly afro in his fists, and that was all it took for Harry to drop his wand.

The wand dropped loudly, clashing with the wooden flooring, and in the very next moment several things happened: both Dean and Seamus halted in their 'positions' and let out loud squawks. Dean then kicked Seamus off himself, resulting in the Irish boy falling on the floor, which gave Harry the rather unfortunate moment of capturing the 'impressive' bulge. Harry hastily averted his eyes towards Dean, and to his most unfortunate luck, Dean's fly was open and hard, throbbing and thick...

"Ughhh!" Harry shouted, covering his eyes, and he heard Dean curse colourfully at Seamus for his 'Sucking Door Locking Charm" and shuffle of clothes around him... Harry then heard a distinct lock click.

Harry stayed there, frozen on the spot, his eyes closed, his thoughts running wild...

"Mate—" Harry heard Dean say, and he reluctantly opened his eyes to see now that Dean was sitting beside Seamus on Dean's bed with a blanket covering both of their lower halves, on which Harry forced his eyes not to linger.

He gulped and crouched down to pick up his wand and exhaled loudly before moving towards his roommates.

"So?" Seamus said, raising his brows, and Dean gave him an embarrassed smile that was borderline deadpan...

"SO— I— You— him— I-" Harry sputtered, unable to form proper sentences, as he was feeling as if his entire brain had been short-circuited.

"I think we broke him," Seamus said amusingly, and Dean elbowed him, making him groan.

"Behave," Dean muttered, but Harry saw Dean's hand find a way to wrap itself around Seamus' waist, to which Seamus scowled. Harry observed the boy's cheeks turn an impressive shade of red; the blatant display of affection churned Harry's stomach with some emotion that he could identify.

Harry took a few deep breaths in order to calm himself down before locking eyes with Dean. "You and Seamus?" He said.

"Me and Seamus—" Dean smirked at him, and Harry glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You guys are— are—" Harry's brain again stopped, unable to find the right word, and he groaned as his brain just kept lagging...

"Fucking," Seamus supplied, and he choked on the word.

"Seamus!" Dean exclaimed, slapping the Irish boy on his shoulder, but didn't deny the statement, so Harry again braced himself and finally asked.

"You and Seamus are..." he pointed out the state of the boys, "shagging," he added, and both boys had the audacity to grin at his obvious discomfort, making him more agitated by each and every passing second.

"You are cheating on Ginny." Harry raised his wand to point at Dean, who stopped grinning and immediately raised his hand in the air.

"Oh... Geez... Harry, stop! I am not- '' He tried to say something, but Harry didn't lower his wand but raised his brow at the last statement.

"Explain," he ordered as he observed Dean looking embarrassed for some reason and Seamus' lips twitched.

"Yes, love, explain—" Seamus said in a sickly-sweet voice, giving Harry a distinct recollection of Umbridge.

"I- err... I made a deal with Ginivera," Dean muttered, looking down at the floor and making Harry frown.

"A deal?" Harry asked, and Dean hummed.

"Yes, a deal. We both wanted to make our crushes jealous. She helped me with my wardrobe and style in exchange for five public snogging sessions, and for me, it worked." He smiled at Seamus, and Seamus leaned over and pecked his cheek.

"So Ginny knows?" Harry gasped and lowered his wand, making Dean relax a little as he grinned at him.

"She knows I don't like her, yes. We were going to end the pretence after making the last show today, but thanks to you, I didn't need to snog her anymore." Dean made a funny face at the last bit, and Harry tilted his head in confusion.

"I- but why?"

"Oblivious as always, Harry." Seamus sighed, and Dean chuckled at him.

"Mate, she was trying to make you jealous; she likes you..."

And on that, Harry laughed, "She- she- likes me and is snogging half of the Hogwarts boys in order to make me jealous-" Harry said in disbelief, and Dean nodded at him.

"Well, yeah, that does sound rather stupid," Seamus said, smirking at Dean, who elbowed him again, making him grunt in pain.

"Love is stupid," Dean shrugged, ignoring Seamus and Harry. Unable to say anything, he just nodded.

They all stayed silent for a few moments before Dean decided to break the silence.

"So... er, you are alright with us?" Dean asked in a steady voice, but Harry noticed his eyes were showing uncertainty, as did Seamus' shifting anxiously in his seat to lean against Dean, and Harry finally smiled at the duo.

"Well, it is not my place to say whom you shag." Harry shrugged before scrunching his nose, "As long as you lads stay away from my bed and burn this table that is—" he gestured towards the table, and Dean and Seamus broke into laughter.

"Oh, I can kiss you, mate; it is my first time coming out to someone who didn't turn out to be a homophobic prick." Dean beamed at him, making Harry shift awkwardly on his steps.

"Err... Thanks but I refuse." Harry replied, and Dean snorted at him.

"You won't tell anyone else, right?" Seamus asked in a worried tone, making Harry sigh at him.

"No, I won't," Harry replied, as much as he wanted to tell Ron and Hermione it wasn't his place to tell them, and watched the Irish boy finally relax.

"I think I do need to give Ginivera the last snog she owed me if we want to keep it a secret from her; I don't think it will do us any good if she finds out about us and starts the gossip." Dean hummed, and Seamus sighed at him.

"The last right?" Seamus turned to face Dean, and Dean smiled at him.

"Yeah, the last, love, we are going to pretend that the Christmas break made a divergence in our 'relationship '" Dean sneered at the word "relationship," and Seamus gave him a light peck, making the dark-toned boy beam at him.

"Uhuh-" Harry cleared his throat before the innocent kisses would lead to something intense, and they both turned to face him.

"The Transfiguration class is in seven minutes... I gotta go-" Harry informed them and then rushed out of the dormitory towards the class with his mind on fire.

It wasn't the first time Harry had encountered two men kissing, but it was definitely the first time Harry had seen the looks of fondness exchanged between them that made something in his chest churn, to burn... he wanted...

He shook his head recalling the first time he had seen people in rainbow costumes marching the alleys in muggle London on a fateful day when Aunt Petunia had taken him out for grocery shopping, or to be precise, for him to hold all the shopping bags, his aunt had sneered at them and referred to them as "freaks.". Harry was eight and rather surprised to hear the word being used to refer to someone other than himself.

The more time he spent in the 'loving care' of his 'family' the more he started to believe everything the Dursleys despised was good—even the best in nature.

He unconsciously grinned, recalling that he had drawn the rainbows on the door of 'his cupboard' with Dudley's broken crayons, thinking that the 'freaks' worshipped some rainbow gods who would certainly come to free him from the hell house, as he was one of the 'freaks' after all.

But Alas-

Harry halted in his pace and looked down at the trail of blood drops he was making, and he groaned, "Episkey--" He muttered and felt the skin of his palm heal, but the pain didn't go away. He knew that was not enough, but he would live—besides, he needed the pain to concentrate.

Especially when he had to face 'Bloody Malfoy' sitting at the back of the class with Zabini by his side...

'Zabini looks like a lost puppy trying to get Malfoy's attention' Harry thought as he observed the boy sitting beside Malfoy throwing Malfoy looks filled with concern and longing ...

Harry felt a sudden surge of rage in his veins, and he bit his tongue, making it bleed, to concentrate on how to change a mouse into a jewellery box.

~~~

Draco rubbed his forehead with a sigh of relief. His schedule was clear, his last class was over, and as luck was with him that day, he could just hide from Pansy and Blaise for the rest of the day.

He was feeling slightly better that day... After the eventful breakfast drama where he laughed freely after months, his best friends didn't have the opportunity to confront him as they all had Transfiguration class and after that their schedules either collided or they had free periods, unlike Draco, who had to sit and endure a double History period as his last class.

Draco looked at the time and smiled as the clock read seven twenty-three. Blaise had an invitation to Slughorn's party, and he was taking Pansy as the plus two, so he didn't need to worry about them bumping into him as he sneaked into the common room in order to get into his room. After that, all the students will board either the late-night train or the early-morning train to King's Cross station.

Draco smiled to himself as he zipped his bag, and he wondered whether he could ask the room of requirements for some cups of coffee, as his plan was to go into the Slytherin common room to check the names of snakes who were staying in the school instead of returning to their respective houses, and then, after making sure everything was alright, to lock himself in the room of requirements to pass the night and the dawn.

He was rushing his way back to the dungeon, ignoring everyone, and climbing down the stairs when he halted and frowned when he heard a faint sound of thumping as well as struggling coming from a dark corner of the fourth floor. He swore and gulped as he took out his wand from the arm holster as made his way towards the source of the sound.

Draco found the source was from a dark corner of the gallery, where he saw three fifth year Hufflepuffs whom he had seen in quidditch practise hovering over a small silhouette of a girl. Draco inhaled and braced himself, taking a step closer to understand the situation and praying the girl was not one of his snakes.

And Draco stiffened when he saw the girl was the same girl Lovegood had pointed out for him, her frizzy black hair even darker stained with her own blood, her brown eyes almost red, shining with tears as faintly as the light from the candle above the wall.

Draco knew he didn't have to do anything... He knew his loyalty was only with snakes, and he could just turn away and run or anonymously inform a professor, but he couldn't. Not when the girl was trying to scream and not a single sound was coming from her mouth as the Hufflepuff girl among three kicked her stomach.

'Silencio' Draco's mind supplied as he observed the situation: the Hufflepuff girl was sneering at the raven with her two goons hulking over her body...

Draco couldn't just watch anymore as he ran towards the scene and shouted, "STUPEFY!" The spell hit the Hufflepuff girl as taken by surprise; she fell to the floor, one of her goons tried to steady her, and another raised his wand at Draco, who sneered at the boy.

And before the boy could even try to speak the spell, "Expelliarmus," he non-verbally muttered it in his mind, and the wand of the other boy flew at his hand, making him smirk. He stepped closer towards them, and "Expelliarmus" he thought again, making the other boy, who was holding the Hufflepuff girl in his arm's wand fly at him, which he caught.

He twirled his own wand in his hand and grinned maliciously at the boys, "Now, now... Can we stop the foreplay?" He smirked as the boys gulped, perhaps picturing his knowledge of dark spells.

"Stay out of it, Malfoy," one person spat, and the other sneered at him, making him smirk even further.

"You're scared, aren't you?" He cooed in an innocently sweet voice, and out of the corner of his eyes, he observed the Ravenclaw girl to be staring at him with her eyes filled with hope, making him gulp as he pointed his wand at the goons to whisper the incarcerous, but before he could...

"Expelliarmus-" A familiar voice shouted behind his back, and his wand flew out of his hand. And the very next moment, he was slammed against the floor, his head hitting the floor, and he groaned in pain as his head started to become dizzy, and then he felt a punch land on his face, making him groan even further.

~~~

'Bloody Malfoy' was the only thing on Harry's head that day; he couldn't eat... He couldn't think, he could not concentrate on the lecture, and he had excused himself from the classes for bathroom breaks, where all he did was take out the Marauder's Map and watch the dot of Draco Malfoy.

That's how Harry found Malfoy in the scheduled corner of the fourth-floor corridor, tormenting the lower years, and he saw red. He disarmed and then slammed Malfoy's head on the floor and punched the git right on his irritatingly pointy cheekbone, and he smirked in satisfaction when the git groaned in pain. He observed two boys run away with an unconscious girl in between them, throwing thankful smiles at him, and he punched the git again, this time on his eye, and he knew from his personal experience that would have hurt like a bitch.

"Fight back," he spat as he noticed Malfoy hadn't been fighting back as he used to and was just letting Harry punch him. "Bloody fight with someone who has the same strength as you, Coward, " he growled, taking Malfoy's collar in his hand, and he froze when the Malfoy opened his eyes, the silver eyes becoming red, and Harry swore he saw tears start to develop in Malfoy's eyes, and perhaps Malfoy realised that too as he shoved Harry off with all his strength with he could muster which wasn't a lot but Harry was still in shock with the look in Malfoy's eyes fell on the ground and he saw Malfoy stand up and two distinct wands dropped the floor with loud noise as Harry watched Malfoy run away.

Harry exhaled loudly, patting his chest, and he turned around to find a little girl crying in the corner of the room with no sound coming from her mouth and her limbs bound in ropes. Harry hastily waddled towards the girl, his blood boiling in rage towards Malfoy as he muttered "Finite" under his breath, then sighed in relief when the ropes dropped on the floor and the girl gained her voice back as the sound of small sniffles echoed the hall.

"Hey... there," he tried to touch the girl, but the girl looked up and glared at him with as much force as she could as if Harry had not saved but molested her. Harry's throat tightened when he saw the look of pure disgust on the girl's face, and the very next moment the girl slapped him.

"Wha–" taken aback, he gasped, placing his hand on his cheek, and the girl slapped him again on the other side.

"Y-Y-ou ar-e-" the girl gasped, her voice rising as she slapped him for the third time, "an utter arse Harry Potter," she spat with disgust, and then, without saying anything, she ran away, limping in the same direction Malfoy did, leaving a perplexed Harry behind.

~~~

Draco ran and ran in the deserted hallway, his chest clenching, his head throbbing, his vision stinging, but he just ran, not even caring where the fuck he was going. He felt the stairs shift below him, and now, instead of going up, he was going down the floor. He didn't care... He needed to fucking hide... He needed to breathe...

That's how Draco found himself in the second-floor hallway. He heard loud chattering and the thumps of footsteps rushing towards him, so, without thinking, he slammed the first door he could reach open and threw himself into the dark room.

His entire body was aching... His heart was stinging... His breath was shaking, his eyes burning. His nose was clogged. He curled himself in the foetal position, his back against a cold wall, his brain went blank, and he was surrounded by pitch darkness. Like in a whirlpool of grief, he was stuck... He felt as if nothing was left in his world...

'Coward' the word echoed in his mind, and he tried to laugh, but all that came out of his mouth were broken sobs...

'Oh! He knew he was a coward...'

He couldn't save his mother... His father was still in Azkaban... And here he was perfectly fine, even laughing. He was a coward—a worthless bastard. He should have died...

"Cry..." A voice above him said, and he jumped, his head whipping upwards, and he saw a silver silhouette of a girl hovering in front of him, but he couldn't make his eyes focus to tell whether the girl was a ghost or whether the girl's body was illuminating with the moonlight coming from the window...

"Cry... Let it go... Sometimes it's okay to cry... I won't mock you, I promise... I won't tell anyone, please..." The feminine voice echoed in the room, and Draco, unable to stop himself, let it go...

He broke...

He cried... and cried, not even bothering to hide his sobs anymore... For minutes he just cried, and his brain registered that his cries mingled with another person's, and he very clearly registered that the girl was also crying for some reason, her voice so loud and screechy that it suppressed the voice of his sobs, for which he was glad.

Seconds passed, which turned into minutes, which turned into hours... He just sat there with his head on his knees, but then he felt somehow lighter, and he braced himself, collecting himself as he raised his head, and with the hem of his robes, he wiped the tears and the mucus off his face, and he registered he was in a bathroom... the gloomiest bathroom he had ever seen. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror was a row of chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched, and one of them was dangling off its hinges.

He then registered that the girl he had seen was indeed a ghost, smiling at him, showing her silvery teeth and her silver eyes twinkling underneath her round glasses, and he found himself giving a small smile back at the ghost.

"Thank- you," he muttered, and he saw the ghost blush silver.

"It's okay... It's okay to be sensitive... Sometimes you should not be afraid to show emotions..." The ghost girl grinned at him, and he nodded, not knowing what else to say.

The girl frowned, watching his face, and then leaned forward, invading his personal space and making him shift uncomfortably as the girl raised her translucent hand as if she was trying to touch his face with a forefinger...

"That ought to hurt..." she whispered, and Draco sighed. With his hand, he fiddled with his robes and took out his wand.

He pointed his wand towards his face, ignoring the shriek of protest from the ghost girl, and muttered the healing spells every Slytherin is taught the moment they get into their common room. He sighed as he felt the warm magic of healing spells wash over his face.

He then looked at the girl who was googling him like an owl goggles a mouse. "You are good with spells," the ghost said in a breathy voice filled with awe and he rolled his eyes.

"Used to them—" he muttered, and the girl gave him a knowing look, and then she smiled warmly at him, raising her translucent hand in front of him.

"Myrtle, Myrtle Elizabeth Warren--" she said, and Draco eyed the hand for a second before raising his own hand adjacent to hers, not touching the silhouette in the air. He mimicked a handshake. "Draco Malfoy—" he replied, and the ghost beamed at him.

"It's nice to have you in my bathroom; no one comes here, you know, not if they don't want to play 'Myrtle Dart,' " she said, and her nose twitched as if she were sniffling a cry.

"Myrtle dart?" Draco raised an eyebrow, and she did sniffle at that.

"Yeah, let's all throw things at Myrtle because she can't feel it...Ten points if you can get them through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head! Brilliant game, right?"

"It's dreadful," Draco winced, and Myrtle gave him a toothy grin, her eyes oozing silver teardrops...

"I know it right; I tried to kill myself, but then..." Myrtle giggled, and it turned into a sob in the middle, making Draco shift uncomfortably, "-B-But I realised I was already dead-" she sobbed.

"I am sorry," Draco said, not knowing how to comfort the ghost, and she sniffed, nodding and blowing her nose on her tunic.

"It's okay... I am used to it-" she repeated Draco's dialogue, and he sighed, dropping his head again over his knees; his head was feeling lighter than usual, and the clenching sensation in his chest was not that bad anymore...

Crying does indeed help...

"You won't tell anyone, right?" He asked, peeking through his legs, and the ghost girl shook her head vigorously.

"Oh no! No! I would... I'm very good at keeping secrets. You can tell me what's wrong, and even if I accidentally did, no one would believe the Mourning Moaning Pimply Myrtle..." Her voice broke as she again broke into sobs, making Draco wince...

"Okay-" he muttered and struggled to stand up. He straightened his robes, threw some cleaning charms over himself, and looked in the mirror to sort his appearance. He needed to be presentable before saying goodbye to the Slytherins and going on the two-week vacation before he could lock himself in the room of requirements.

He noticed his cheek was slightly puffed up even after the healing charm, so he again pointed his wand towards his face and muttered a glamouring spell, making Myrtle gasp at his spell's success.

"Perfect," he muttered as his face morphed back into its original state, again hiding every evidence of the fight he had endured, and he then walked towards the door of the bathroom, which was surprisingly shut tight.

"You will come back, won't you?" Myrtle asked in an anxious voice, and he turned back towards her, raising a brow, "No one comes to talk with me," she trailed off, and Draco smiled against his better judgement.

"I will," he promised, and to his surprise, the door automatically creaked open, and Myrtle grinned at him, flickering her hand at the door. With that, he cast a tempus charm, and looked at the clock in the air, indicating that it was thirteen minutes before ten o'clock, the curfew time, and the time before the students had to board the platform in Hogsmeade. He sighed. He needed to get into the Slytherin common room...

But before he could open the door, the ghost girl again spoke, stopping himself: "Don't think of killing yourself, alright? As much as I will enjoy sharing a toilet seat with you, I want you to kick the arse of the ones who made you like this."

"I can't..." Draco blurted out before he could stop himself, "I am a coward—" his voice stained, and the ghost girl blinked at him, observing his face as if she were looking into his very soul.

"You are not... I think you can!" Myrtle grinned. "I believe you can do it, even if no one else does!" With that, the ghost girl flushed herself into the toilet seat, leaving Draco alone.

~Love-K.D