Harry stared up at the ceiling of the hospital wing, still trying to supress the anger and frustraition he'd been feeling all day. It had dwindled considerably when he'd had the pain of his injuries to deal with, but had come back in full force once the pain-killing spell had taken affect.
Unwillingly, Harry glanced over at the source of his anger, only a few beds away. Malfoy was still working on the homework Crabbe and Goyle had brought him, and thankfully hadn't said a word to Harry the entire time they'd been here. They'd missed all of their afternoon classes thanks to their fight. He'd only just finished his own homework, supplied by Hermione, a few moments before. He'd hardly been able to concentrate on it, his thoughts often trailing back to what had conspired after Potions class.
Advanced Potions was their first class after Defence Against the Dark Arts, their last class before their lunch break. Harry, for once, had been looking forward to it. Advanced Potions was one of the few classes he could think of that didn't need incantations in order for him to do his work. Grendall had said that he would inform their other teachers of their situation as soon as possible, but Harry knew that he wouldn't have the chance until the day's classes were over.
Unfortunately, that day, Snape had decided to teach them a particular potion that did need an incantation after brewing. Harry had kept his head down, following the instructions without saying a word, hoping that Snape wouldn't draw any attention to him. There were some days that Snape left him alone, although he usually turned his attention on some other poor Gryffendor instead.
The class was supposed to brew the potion, then would say the incantation when Snape gave them direction to. He and Malfoy had sat at their usual tables as far away from each other as possible, and Harry's plan was to wait until the moment they were to say the incantation, then say it along with Malfoy. He'd known that, since Malfoy didn't want to fail this lesson any more than he did, the blond would say the words as planned.
However, as his luck seemed to be nill that day, he wasn't really surprised when what he'd feared happened.
Once they were finished brewing, Snape glanced around at the class before his eyes rested on Harry. The youth sank into his seat, not meeting the other's eyes, hoping Snape would pass his gaze right along and decide to pick on someone else today.
Of course, it hadn't happened. "Potter," he said, "you start. Nessiso."
Harry's eyes had immediately snapped to Malfoy. The blond was watching him, a darkly satisfied expression on his face. His stomach sank all the way to his ankles. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Malfoy was not going to say it with him. Gods, he wished that Snape hadn't selected him out, had simply let the entire class cast the spell, so that things could of gone on without a hitch. Someone must of hexed him when he hadn't been looking, considering his bad luck. He could only prey that Malfoy would have a change of heart, as impossible as it seemed, and allow Harry to follow Snape's command.
Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and concentrated with every ounce of willpower he possessed. However, when he opened his mouth, the word caught in his throat just as he'd known it would, and he gave out nothing but a wheeze.
Snape's already hard expression hardened even more. "We're waiting, Potter," he snapped.
Giving Malfoy a desperate look, he saw that the other was barely containing laughter. After all, as long as Snape didn't know about the spell, he wouldn't get into any trouble. All at once, Harry's helplessness turned into anger and he glared at the other boy. "You sadistic bastard," he grumbled under his breath.
Too late, he realized his mistake. Snape was standing close enough to hear him and he immediately took defence. His ears were still ringing, hours later, from the verbal lashing he'd gotten for calling Snape such a name. Harry had tried to explain the situation several times, but was always interrupted before he could get more than a few words out. Finally, when Snape was finished and Gryffendor lost thirty points and he had a week worth of detention, Harry could do nothing but stare down at the floor, trying with all his might to resist the urge to storm across the room and strangle Malfoy.
Ron and Hermione had wanted to jump to his defense, but Harry told them to just leave it alone. He knew Snape would just twist the situation around and land them into trouble was well. He would speak to Professor Dumbledore the second he was given the opportunity, explain the situation, and he would fix the problem that way.
To make his situation even more degrating, Snape gave him a failing mark on the potion while Malfoy received a passing one without Snape even testing it. Harry knew that Malfoy hadn't been able to complete his potion, since Harry hadn't said Nessiso, or any other words, for the rest of the class. It had increased his fury at the other even more.
As soon as they were out of class, Harry had charged after Malfoy. He reached the blond just after ascending the nearby stairway, grabbing Malfoy's robes and throwing him against the closest wall.
"What the hell is your problem?" he had yelled.
Malfoy pushed him back. "You!" he returned.
Both of their tempers having raised beyond boiling point, frustraited and angry over their situation, no more words were exchanged as they'd gotten into a fight of shoving and punching. Harry was proud to admit that he gave as good as he got, although he had cursed himself an idiot afterward for picking such a stupid location to pick a fight.
During one of his attempts to throw Malfoy to the floor, they'd gotten too close to the edge and Malfoy slipped off the step. However, his hand was clenching Harry's robe and he'd been pulled after the other. A thirty-step stone stairway was not something he ever wanted to fall down again. They'd both been rushed to the hospital wing almost immediately after falling, carrying massive bruises and several broken bones.
Madam Pomfrey had lectured them both as she'd bandaged them up, using the words 'foolish' and 'careless' and 'your own damned fault' many times more than Harry would of liked to hear. It had taken several spells to heal the more serious of their injuries, and Harry was covered nearly head to toe with some kind of healing lotion that would take care of his bruises. Although she could usually mend bones without difficulty, there were just too many injuries to account for and she wanted to keep them overnight in case they had concussions or any kind of complications.
Closing his eyes, Harry seethed. If Malfoy hadn't been such a selfish jerk, they wouldn't be in this mess. He should of spoken to the other before heading to Potions, should of suspected that Malfoy would pull something like that on him.
Harry opened his mouth, ready to start yelling at the other, when his mouth snapped shut again and he gave a frustraited groan. Common sense had suddenly slapped him in the face once that day, and Harry realized that he couldn't retaliate against the other boy no matter how badly he wanted to. For a brief moment he felt cheated, as though some kind of right had been pulled away. If he and Malfoy continued to fight then it was highly likely they wouldn't cast their spells together. And Harry didn't welcome the thought of failing every class he had for the next week.
Movement out of the corner of his eye alerted him to the fact that Malfoy had finished his homework. Harry watched him putting his books away, continuing to completely ignoring him, before laying down.
"You know, we have to work something out eventually," Harry commented.
Malfoy didn't bother to reply.
Taking a deep breath to keep his temper under control, Harry turned onto his side, ignoring the twinge in his leg. "You can ignore me all you want, but that doesn't change our situation. Snape might look the other way for you, as Hagrid will for me, but the other professors certainly won't. Unless you want to fail every class for the next week, which I don't, we'll have to figure something out."
For a long moment, Malfoy didn't reply. Then he slammed his fist down on the bed, the hand that wasn't broken, and cursed. "That stupid Grendall. I'll see that he gets fired for pulling such a stunt," he growled.
"Grendall isn't what we need to be discussing," Harry pointed out, although for a brief moment he almost agreed. He knew it was just his frustration and injuries talking, but he wasn't very sympathetic to the professor right now. "What we need to be concerned about is how we're going to manage for the next week. Whether we like it or not, we're stuck having to work together."
"A fate worse than death," Malfoy commented, his words laced with bitterness and sarcasm.
"Yeah, well I'm not exactly jumping with joy at the idea either," Harry snapped.
There was a long stretch of silence as both of them tried to reel in their temper. Finally, Harry felt he was calm enough to speak again. "Look, we don't have to get along. We don't even have to speak to each other. We do, however, have to put up with each other long enough to cast the necessary spells to keep ourselves out of trouble."
Malfoy remained quiet for a few moments longer, long enough that Harry began to suspect that he was being ignored again. "Look, you were a real wanker today, you know that? I came out having the worst of it today, but I could have just as easily done it to you and landed you in trouble," he pointed out. "You're lucky we ended up in the hospital ward instead of in the rest of our classes, otherwise I would of done so."
"You wouldn't of had the guts," Malfoy taunted.
"Don't test my patience, Malfoy," Harry growled. "I might not be able to hex you, but even you can't deny I landed some pretty good shots in our fight."
"Yeah, then you pushed me down the stairs. And I thought you were obsessed with your goody-goody image. Wait until everyone finds out what a dirty fighter you are," Malfoy returned, a smirk rising on his lips.
Harry slowly counted to ten, taking a deep breath. "Look, will you stop being such a prat for a minute and just listen to me? We have to do something about this situation, and you're not helping matters. How are we supposed to work together if you won't keep your big mouth shut for more than two seconds?"
"You're arguing just as much as I am," Malfoy pointed out.
Harry couldn't comment on that one, since it was true. He sighed, falling onto his back once again. "I guess there's no helping it. We're never going to get along long enough to do our work properly. Unfortunate, considering we have a test in Transfiguration in two days," he said.
Silence reigned once again and Harry closed his eyes. Obviously, they wouldn't be able to come up with a solution. The best he could do would be to get a good night's sleep, then speak to Professor Dumbledore in the morning about their problem. He needed to discuss Snape's punishment with the man anyway. Maybe Dumbledore would be able to pull a few strings, as unlikely as it sounded, and help him out. Harry didn't want to be scrubbing the Potion's classroom floor with a toothbrush every afternoon, on top of everything else that was going on.
"A truce," Malfoy said suddenly, startling Harry out of his thoughts.
"What?" he asked.
"As much as I hate it, the only option we've got is to make a truce," Malfoy explained.
Harry raised an eyebrow, turning to find Malfoy's grey eyes fixed on him. "What kind of truce? I won't kill you if you don't kill me?" he asked.
Malfoy snickered and Harry felt himself grin. Then, realizing that they were actually sharing a joke, both boys glared at each other once again. It was an automatic response.
"What I mean is, we do what is necessary. I don't plan on failing my lessons, even if it means having to work with you. You just keep your nose out of my business, we'll cast the spells we have to cast during classes, and then we'll avoid each other as much as possible," Malfoy stated.
Harry thought about it for a moment, then found he had to agree. He couldn't think of a better idea, so this would have to do. "You can't pull what you did today again, though. If I keep up my part of the deal, you have to as well," he stated firmly.
Malfoy made a face. "Fine, whatever," he said.
The discussion ending on that note, Harry turned his back on the other. He closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep. Still, he could only wonder how long this truce would actually last.