Harry was pulled from his slumber by an insistant shaking of his shoulder. Finally, he opened up his eyes and met Hermoine's ammused ones. "Did you know you snore?" she questioned.
"As long as I'm not the loudest one, I don't care," Harry replied groggily, pushing himself up to a sitting position.
"You didn't even bother to change," Hermoine noted. "You really must of needed that sleep. You look better for it"
nodded his agreement. He felt a lot better, although there was still some tiredness in his muscles. "How long was I sleeping?"
"About six hours. I made sure no one came up here to bother you, after lunch. You really looked like you needed the rest. I wouldn't of wanted to wake you up, but Malfoy is back and he refuses to move from in front of the Fat Lady unless he can talk to you. He's making quite a scene, you know."
He could see the annoyance in Hermoine's eyes and sighed as he got to his feet. "I guess it's too much to expect for him to be nice, even with the truce."
Hermoine smiled a little. "It's been a remarkable couple of days though. I never thought I'd see the day where you and Malfoy could be in the same room without arguing. Really, his behaviour is surprising. I hadn't expected him to actually keep up with your truce."
Harry shrugged. "Snape might cut him a break, but he'd be in just as much trouble as me with the other teachers, if he refused to do his work. I think the only reason we have any kind of peace between us is so he doesn't get into trouble."
"Still, it's nice while it's lasting, isn't it? He's barely said a word to all three of us, insult or otherwise. I didn't think it would be possible not to mind Malfoy's company. He's not as much of an insufferable git when he's keeping his mouth shut." Hermoine's lips quirked in a grin.
Harry found himself returning it. "Yes, he's much nicer to be around when he's not saying anything, isn't he?"
They reached the common room, and the conversation ended there was Harry made his way outside of their room. As Hermoine had said, Malfoy was waiting there, glaring at any of the Gryffendor's that walked past. Thankfully, netiher he nor they were saying anything.
Really, it was almost shocking, the way Malfoy's behaviour had changed. It was hard to believe that this was the same person standing in front of him as a week ago. Malfoy's expression was cast with a smug indifference, but the usual malice was gone from his eyes. Harry knew it was too good to be true that it would last once the Sarcio spell was done, but he couldn't stop a part of himself from hoping.
The first few days, it had simply been strange. The absense of insults and taunts had left Harry at a kind of loss, and the days had seemed almost boring. He hadn't realized how much... fun it had been to argue with Malfoy. Without that, the days seemed longer, duller. Without having to watch his words or keep a careful eye on his spells, the classes just seemed the same as any other day, without anything that got his pulse going.
Slowly that had changed, as he found a renewed interest for his magic, Harry found himself enjoying Malfoy's company. The other barely said a word to him, but as they had to sit next to each other in class, Harry found himself noticing things he hadn't before. It had become almost a game in Charms and Potions, to see who would finish first so that they could pointedly wait for the other. He had began to notice that Malfoy took almost impecable notes. Harry had to wonder why Malfoy's grades weren't as good as they could be, judging by how carefully he kept his attention on the task at hand.
That was another thing! Other than Hermoine, Harry had never seen anyone who could focus so completely on something. Malfoy's neat printing filled out his parchment with dedicated strokes that missed almost nothing that their Proffesor's said. Harry was unable to keep himself from sneaking peeks at the other throughout class, and every time Malfoy looked intent on the subject.
Harry had assumed that Malfoy's grades were a direct result of his schoolwork, that he didn't take down enough notes or something along those lines. Malfoy was in the top part of the class, of course, but Harry had honestly expected better way back when he'd first learned what Malfoy's father was like. It didn't seem as though there was any room for any kind of failure in that family, including not being the top of the class. Hermoine was in a class of her own, of course, but even Harry averaged a higher mark.
There were things he'd never bothered to learn about Malfoy. Well, many, many things. After all that Malfoy had done, Harry had lifted a mental sheild toward the other, almost obsessively forcing himself to ignore the other as much as he could.
Now, he found himself wondering many things, besides just the grades. Growing up, he'd heard the saying 'You can't know someone until you take a walk in their shoes' quite often. What would it be like to be Malfoy?
He'd gotten a bit of a taste this weekend. He could feel the undercurrents of emotion within Malfoy, none of which showed on his face. Malfoy always seemed cold and detached from what was going on around him. Now Harry knew it wasn't true. Malfoy felt just as much as anyone else did, his emotions strong and boiling right below the cool surface. Honestly, Harry suspected, Malfoy could be an incredibly passionate person, whether it be love or hate, if he were to allow his emotions more control of his self. Harry had seen only specks of it here and there over the years, just a bare amount that slipped through the cracks in Malfoy's facade during some of their fights.
Like the one that had happened just a few days ago. Malfoy had been furious, and Harry had managed to push that to the surface. Just as he had, Malfoy had lost some of that precious control and had let his anger and frustraition with their situation show.
Really, Harry had to wonder exactly how much Malfoy kept secret. Crabbe and Goyle were the only two people Harry saw Malfoy hang out with, but they were more like assistants than friends, it seemed. Did Malfoy have anyone he could trust to tell his secrets to? Did he have anyone to just hang out with, joke around with? When he was stressed, did he have anyone who could help him through his problems?
Harry couldn't even imagine what the last five years would of been like without his friends. Hermoine and Ron had stuck by his side through thick and thin, despite the danger it had put them in. Hagrid was always there to help the three of them out as well, and even Dumbledore had come to their aid on more than one occasion. Without them, Harry suspected he wouldn't of fared nearly as well through his years at Hogwarts. Without them, he probably would of gone insane, if he hadn't been killed, from all the troubles that had plagued him. They were there to cheer him up, to help him out, and give him the support he needed in all aspects of his life.
Malfoy didn't even have family to lean on. It seemed that his father was more like just having another teacher than a father. Malfoy didn't get along with any of the other teachers in the school, other than Snape. But Harry doubted Snape was the kind that you could bare your soul to. The Slytherin's had an almost awed respect for Malfoy, but Harry couldn't think of one that he'd seen Malfoy talk to any more than he had to.
To be alone so much... how could Malfoy handle it?
The silence between them had stretched to several long moments, Malfoy's eyes carefully taking in Harry's expression. Self-conciously, Harry realized that his clothes were wrinkled from being slept in, and he was sure at least some of his hair was standing on end. Again, it struck him how messy he was in comparison to the other. Malfoy didn't have a hair out of place, didn't have one spot of dust on his immaculate robes.
"Time to reverse the spell?" Harry questioned, having to clear his throat first and make sure that no one was in ear shot.
"Yes," Malfoy replied shortly. He glanced around as well, as though not trusting Harry to make sure the coast was clear, before he lifted his wand.
Harry did as well, but couldn't stop himself from asking, "What was that, today, with your father? Does he usually run you through training like that?"
Malfoy paused, his expression still unreadable. "Why?"
"Just curious."
"You know that I go home almost every weekend. Every two months, I show him what I've learned in school so far. Every once and a while, he tests my ability."
"Malfoy, that was more than 'testing your ability'. You were casting defensive spells right and left."
"Just testing my speed."
"But the pain, when we couldn't get the spell cast in time.... If I could feel it that strongly, I could only imagine what it was like for you."
This time there was a long silence, and Harry could see an undercurrent of anger smouldering in Malfoy's eyes. "My father just wants me to be the best. It's none of your damned business, Potter," he snapped.
"I know there is more to it than that," Harry replied, his tone a little short.
Malfoy's eyes narrowed and he spun on his heel, storming down the stairs. Harry stared after him for a moment, moving to the top of the staircase. "I just want to help you out," he called after the other. That was the truth, he was almost surprised to realize. It was in his nature to worry about others, even if that 'other' was Malfoy.
"I don't need your help!" Was Malfoy's biting remark before the other disappeared down a hallway.
Harry took a deep breath, then suddenly realized he could still hear Malfoy's voice. They'd completely forgotten about reversing the joining spell in wake of their argument. For a brief moment, Harry was tempted to run after Malfoy so that they could reverse it, but realized that would probably just result in them arguing more. He'd wait until Malfoy had cooled down.
Harry made his way back into the common room, and flopped down on the nearest chair. "What did Malfoy want?" Ron questioned as he approached.
The question caught him off guard, although he realized he should of expected it. "Uh, he just wanted to check and see if the Sarcio spell was still on us," he stated. It was a lame excuse, but no one in ear shot caught him on it.
Ron rolled his eyes, taking the seat across from him. "You'd think he'd believe the professor when he said it would take a week. Anyway, only two days left, you must be looking forward to everything going back to normal."
Harry nodded absently, a little caught off guard. Two days, that was all. In two days, they would go back to sitting in their seperate seats and hating each other.
Would Malfoy revert back to the jerk he'd been before? Would the truce cease to exist, and Harry would have to go back to hearing the taunting barbs and sabotagued potions? Just a few days ago, he would of been grateful. Now....
He didn't want them to be enemies. Obviously, he hadn't hated Malfoy as much as he'd thought, for it to disappear so easily. They weren't even close to being friends yet, but so much had happened, Harry couldn't imagine everything just going back to the way it had been before.
He recalled what Malfoy had dreamed, stubbornly ignoring the physical part and thinking of the words he had said.
It almost seemed as though, deep down, Malfoy wanted them to be friends. As though Malfoy wanted some kind of approval from him. As rediculous as it sounded, what else could he get from those words?
'I love you.'
Harry mentally shook himself of the thought, and forced himself to focus on what Ron was saying. There couldn't be any meaning to the dream. It just didn't make any sense.