AN: From now on there are longer versions of these chapters, which would be good to read to understand some things. Such as Harry's ring:
Prologue - broken heart
Chapter 1 - The other woman
Chapter 2 - The body of Harry Potter
Chapter 3 - Night of grief
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 9 - Pain- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Harry brief moments later arrived in the Gryffindor common room he suddenly had second thoughts about the whole thing. He had been told that Draco still loved him, but how could he know for sure? As far as he knew Draco had made no suggestions such as that he was still interesting in him. In fact, he had looked very much in love with that Moranna girl.
Doubts pledged him and he found himself placing himself in that old usual couch in front of the fire, pondering on what he should do. Finally he settled on that he would send him an owl in the morning, asking him to meet someplace to talk things out - thoroughly. Even if it was so that Draco still didn't want him, he still wanted that full explanation Draco owed him.
With that thought in mind he went to get his homework, seeing the huge pile of homework that Hermione was working with. Settling down next to her he planned on getting some done too, and then he buried himself in the books.
Two hours later he felt how a nasty headache made itself noticed behind his eyes as he tried to finish his essay for the Transfigurations class the following day. Taking off his glasses for a moment he rubbed his eyes and tried to relax, though knew that he probably would be unable to relax at all during the night.
"Headache?" Hermione asked without looking up from the things she was writing and heard him hum an answer that she took as a yes.
She flicked her wand towards his head and muttered a spell and at once he felt some of the pain vanish, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks a lot.
"Don't mention it," she mumbled, scribbling down a couple of words after checking in her book. "And I would try and drink some water if I were you. That should take care of the rest of the pain.
Harry followed her advice and then again returned to his homework, aware of that the common room grew quieter as people went to bed due to that it was about 1:AM. Ron had been one of the first to retreat, he had been completely exhausted after the extra Quidditch practise he and Ginny had earlier, but neither Harry or Hermione had paid much attention to that, both being buried behind those great towers of homework.
When Hermione later on placed down her quill Harry looked up and studied her, seeing tiredness in her entire face. Not until now he noticed that her face seemed somewhat thinner, that she had spent so much time working that it showed on her features. However he was subtle enough to understand that this was not the time to be blunt. After all, Halloween was just a few days away and then she would get time to rest.
"Time to hit the hay?" He suggested in a brotherly tone.
She grimaced and then shrugged her shoulders. "I should really be finishing Snape's essay.
"We don't have our next Potions class until in one and a half week," he reminded her. "It can wait.
Biting her lip as if she wasn't sure she finally nodded. "But don't tell Ron about this," she said and pointed a warning finger in his direction, Harry who just smiled at her.
"It will be our little secret," he promised. "Now shooÉ off to bed you go." He gently pushed her from her place and motioning for her to the girls' dormitories.
"What about you, Harry? Not in need of sleep, are you?
Her voice had a certain tone of amusement as if she thought he was going to find himself someone to amuse himself with, but he ignored it, pointing a finger in the direction to the dormitories.
"Go. Now. Or else I'll go and tell Ron about you ditching homework.
She fled instantly.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Harry really hadn't planned on doing anything special once Hermione was gone, just leaned back in his place and tried to relax, yet there was something lurking in the back of his head that told of that there was something he had forgotten, something important.
Though the more he thought about it the more his head seemed to hurt, and thus he finally gave up, taking on time to scribble down some things on a left-over piece of parchment. Before he knew it, he had written that letter to Draco about seeing one another to discuss things out, but had left it out for him to decide when and where. And there he sat with that God damned letter, flipping it over in his hands a few times before turning it into an envelope and sealing it, deciding that he still would wait for the morning before owling it.
Then he spent a good thirty minutes leaning back and relaxing, finding himself staring at the envelope, the name "Draco Malfoy" written with his scribbly handwriting. The whole thing seemed to be screaming 'send me away' and finally he groaned out loud, rising from his seat, grabbing his dad's old cloak and the Marauders map to send it away.
'Better get it out of my mind or I'll be going nutters, he thought as he stood dead still in a corner while watching Snape patrol the corridor. Not until he had passed the corner the boy exhaled the breath he didn't knew he had held, then walked the last bit to the Owlery in silence.
Taking the cloak off he saw Hedwig up on a beam, and she came flying down to him, landing on his shoulder then to nibble at his ear in an affectionate way.
"I'm sorry, Hedwig, but this message isn't for you," Harry said as he tried to pat her, just to have her look offended and try to bite him in his hand, then to soar off with much displeasure.
Harry sighed inaudibly and then called for one of the school owls, a large brown owl, which he handed the letter before turning around and leaving the same way he came.
Returning to the Gryffindor tower without bumping into anyone he shouldn't, he found himself a bit restless, but decided to go to sleep. Tomorrow was school, he reminded himself as he walked up to the boys' dormitories.
Loud snores came from Neville's bed and Harry groaned inwardly. It would be another one of those nights.
Silently he packed down his things, dressed in his pyjamas and crawled into bed, pulling his pillow over his head not to hear the sounds from the sleeping boy in the other bed. The sounds were indeed somehow muffled, but not enough, and after a little while Harry stretched out his hand, grabbing for his wand on the bedside-table, muttering a silencing spell to his bed, finally getting some quiet.
Then he finally managed to drift away to the land of sleep, dreaming of incoherent things that didn't matter at all.
After all, it was sleep, and that was enough.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -The following morning Harry awoke, he felt it as if his head had been jammed together with the Hogwarts' express. As if this wasn't enough his scar prickled in an annoying way, bringing even more pain to his mind. Finding Hermione the first thing he did she looked about as tired as he was in pain.
"Got no sleep?" He asked.
"Got headache?" She responded, and they both nodded as answering the other one's question. "Sorry for the pain, that might be my fault. Might have exaggerated the movement.
Instantly she repaired the damage by the same spell as yesterday, and this time the pain fully vanished.
"Now what to do about your lack of sleep?" He muttered to himself, then came to think of something. "I forbid you to do homework tonight. And no protests, you've already done the ones we've got for tomorrow.
She pouted for several seconds and looked really sour, and Harry just smiled with that mischievous look upon his face.
"If you don't stop pouting I'll tell Ron about last night.
At this she darkened severely, throwing him murderous looks.
"You would never
"Oh yes I would.
"Blackmail," she snarled.
"Yes, but it's for your own good," Harry remarked at her.
Perhaps two seconds passed before she nodded shortly.
"Fine.
At this Harry smiled and raised his hand to pat her on the head, but stopped himself as he caught her glaring eyes.
Ron chose that moment to appear in the common room, looking as if he hadn't been able to sleep for a week, hair standing straight up at his head, and Hermione and Harry just couldn't help from exchanging a knowing smile.
"Should you or I prevent him from walking into a wall?" She asked.
"Ladies first," Harry said with a wide gesture, and saw Hermione flick her wand at Ron, who instantly looked even worse. He threw the two a nasty look and growled something about that they should know better than to do magic at someone who had just gotten out of bed.
Hermione slapped her hands in front of her mouth in shame and walked to Ron so that she could fix it up with her hands.
"I'm so sorry," she said, trying to correct his hair but was mildly pushed away by Ron.
"Thanks, but I think I'll use a comb.
"But I want to help.
Harry turned his back at the two when he saw what was coming up, not listening to the words but Accio'd a bag of ice and stretched it towards Ron about half a second after Hermione hit him hard on his arm as he had made a very dirty suggestion to how she could make things up for him.
Harry just rolled his eyes at him as Hermione pushed herself through the portrait-hole and slammed it closed behind him, watching Ron's non-understanding face, trying his best to hide the amusement in his face. He was quite sure he succeeded.
"What did I do? Really?" Ron exclaimed as he pressed the ice against his arm.
"She tried to be friendly. You were too friendly." There was something in Harry's voice that made it quite clear what he meant, and Ron just shrugged his shoulders, driving a hand through his unruly hair.
Harry watched the hand going through the hair and sighed deeply, conjuring a comb for him and stretching it over with a tired gesture. Ron took it, and they walked together down to the Great Hall to grab some breakfast.
Not until Harry let his eyes walk over the Hall and locked on Draco he remembered what he had done last night. But the things he saw made him instantly tell himself that he had all been a fool, the way Draco looked at herÉ he knew him too well to know that it wasn't just a play. Too many times had he felt Draco look at him with the same face-expression.
Then as he watched the two of them eat breakfast, he tormented himself while studying the two of them, and he became aware of something odd. She didn't as much as look towards the food, just focused herself on Draco, as if she outlasted the whole thing due to him.
The exhaling noise that came from deep down his throat caught Hermione's attention, Hermione who just placed butter on a toast.
"Noticed it too, haven't you?" She said, paying full attention on how much butter was spread over the toast, carefully making sure of that it was spread out evenly.
"Yes," Harry said slowly. "Do you know why?
"I have my guesses," she answered, taking a bite out of the toast. "Did you know that this year is the first she actually shows up at the meals, except for when she got sorted?
"I had no idea," Harry said. "But why doesn't she eat?
"If my guesses are correct, which I though all find unlikely, she doesn't eat normal food.
"Then what would she eat?" Harry's mind was filled with pictures of various creatures and monsters, goo, and cow brain that all somehow seemed likely for her to eat.
"That is the question," Hermione mused. "Unless" Her eyes darted to the Head table; or more specifically professor Snape and then nodded slowly to herself. "Of course," she mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else.
At once she rose from the table, her breakfast completely forgotten. "I've got to check some things up. I see you two in class." And then she walked away, leaving Harry and a semi-wake Ron back at the table.
"What went into her?" Ron asked.
Harry didn't answer for a long time, he studied the girl sitting next to Draco, studied the way she seemed to blend in with the shadows yet somehow remained visible due to that certain dark radiance. Then he nodded his head towards her so that Ron would see, and he too looked.
"She did."