When Harry arrived in the Great Hall, he noticed quite a bit of whispering at the Slytherin table. He could catch onto a few words here and there, and by the sounds of it, they were talking about the one and only Draco Malfoy. Harry frowned. He looked around to see if he could spot the boy looking particularly proud about something, but didn't see him anywhere.

He made his way over to the Gryffindor table, taking his usual spot beside Ron and Hermione. "G'morning." He greeted.

"Morning, Harry," Hermione spoke from behind the Daily Prophet. Ron only gave a small 'mmph' as his hello; his mouth was full of food.

As Harry let out a long yawn, he began piling food onto his plate. It was a Saturday, and since everyone seemed to be talking excitedly about something, it managed to get Harry into a good mood. At least, he wasn't worrying about anything too important until he began to hear the whisperings coming from the Slytherin table.

"Yeah... Draco wasn't in his bed in the morning..."

"Isn't he usually sleeping after everyone else?"

"... I think I heard someone getting out of bed last night..."

"The library... the infirmary... down most of the hallways..."

"No, we can't find him..."

Harry thought idly of how much the Slytherins worried too much about Malfoy. He wasn't too big of a loss, anyway. He didn't seem to treat them so well most of the time.

But then... Harry remembered last night. He remembered Malfoy running into him and making a big fuss about how he wasn't up to anything. Then Harry had followed to make sure the boy wasn't lying, and sure enough, he'd been heading into the Forbidden Forest.

The last time Harry had been in there with Malfoy was when they'd gotten detention in first year. And that certainly hadn't been a pleasant experience for him. Then again, Voldemort was in the woods, so...

"I have to go fetch something really fast. Be right back you guys," Harry said, sounding exasperated all of a sudden. He was cursing his stupid need to see if everything was alright. Even if it was Malfoy, he couldn't think he could live with not being able to help the boy. He could be lying dead in that forest for all he knew, or maybe hiding in a random classroom in the castle, wanting to be left alone.

Both Ron and Hermione looked at him curiously from what they were doing, nodding lightly. "Alright, Harry. See ya soon, mate," Ron muttered.

Harry gave a small wave after them as he hurried out of the Great Hall. He looked behind him before he stepped outside. It was fairly cool; the sun hadn't come out yet. He narrowed his eyes and looked in the distance to see if he could spot anything that might've been an arm sticking out of a clump of trees. There were none.

I can't believe this. After being a git for seven years, I'm actually going to do him a favor. He better not be inside...

Harry started his way across the grounds, heading toward the place he thought he saw Malfoy heading last night. It had been extremely dark then, but he needed to start somewhere. And he needed to get back quickly; fetching something didn't require two hours.

As he knew it was against the rules to enter the forest, he moved quickly, fighting back to the branches as he made his way through. He had taken out his wand and muttered the Lumos spell. Even though it was morning, it was still fairly dark beneath the trees.

He kept on going for what felt like fifteen or twenty minutes, and then he spotted a dim light further ahead. He let out a frustrated breath; if he got killed at any time... by centaurs or whatnot, he'd be furious.

"Malfoy!" He called out. He didn't hear anything in response.

He neared the light and saw that it was a wand. Probably Malfoy's... chances were high that it was, at least. He looked up slowly to gaze around the surrounding area. That's when he saw him. A pale form laying beneath what looked like his own school robes and cloak. His eyes were closed; his breathing was coming out quickly.

"Malfoy?" Harry repeated, a bit less strongly this time. He hadn't expected... this. What had happened to him! He walked over tentatively, as if expecting something to jump out at him and do the same thing. "Malfoy, are you okay?"

The boy didn't seem to hear him. He looked as if he were asleep. Harry proceeded to kneel down beside him, now seeing that the boy looked in worse shape than he had further away. His hair stuck to the sides of his flushed face, he only seemed to be breathing out of his nose, and he was laying curled up beneath the clothes that were being used as blankets. Harry didn't think that Malfoy had anything on underneath, and that maybe it wasn't something in the forest that had done this to him...

Harry shook the boy's shoulder. "Wake up, Malfoy... please!" He said hurriedly, loudly. Malfoy stirred, letting out a soft groan. "C'mon, get up!"

Finally, after what felt like ages, the Slytherin's eyes opened slowly, blinking back confusion and then furrowing his eyebrows as he looked over to Harry. "What...?"

"Malfoy, I don't have all day! We have to go and get you some help!" Harry said, irritated. He tried finding an arm so that he could tug the boy up. But when he tried, Draco jerked away.

"Get off of me!" He said coolly.

Harry frowned. "You need some help."

"No, just leave me alone!" Draco snapped. His gaze moved around him, to finally notice that he wasn't even in his clothes. Quickly, he used his hands to push himself upright, and grabbed hastily at all that was covering him. "Get lost, Potter. I told you not to follow me!" He was trying his best to keep cool and composed, but the pain that had shot through him when he moved made him wince and suck in another deep breath.

"Malfoy, just shut up and accept my help. I'm not about to bloody kill you," Harry shot back. Just watching the other boy struggle to move made him wince himself.

"I can get back myself!"

"No.."

"PLEASE!" Malfoy shouted, interrupting him.

Harry stared at him. Draco was using a nearby tree to pull himself up onto his feet. He was clutching tightly onto the robes to keep them over himself, and was moving at a dangerously slow pace. When there was a small moment where the hold slipped through Draco's fingers, Harry spotted a few red marks along his neck and further down his chest. He was about to ask what they were...

"Leave, Potter! Stop bloody watching me!" Draco nearly screamed; Harry was afraid he'd wake up the entire forest and draw attention from the castle.

"I'm going to help you back whether you like it or not," Harry replied stubbornly. He allowed his eyes to turn to the side, so that he was at least following Draco's plea to stop looking at him. His arms crossed over his chest.

"Since when did you start caring about me?" Draco muttered. He was trying to dress while looking up at Harry every second. The pain and the need to keep himself covered was making things a little more difficult, but he managed to do so in due time.

"Are you done?" Harry said distractedly. He'd turned around, so the he was watching another part of the forest.

"Yes," Draco answered darkly. "Why don't you answer my question?"

"What question?" Harry turned back around. He spotted Draco leaning against the same tree, looking very tense and strangely sickly. He'd put every last piece of clothing on, so that all but his face and hands were covered.

"Why do you care about what happens to me?"

"I don't," Harry said quickly, with a shrug.

"Then why the hell don't you leave already?"

"Because, leaving you here would make me just as bad as whoever or whatever did this to you..."

"Did what?" Draco snapped.

"I'm not sure. You tell m..." "Nothing happened. I just lost track of time and fell asleep. The cold made the aching start." Draco glared at him.

"With your clothes off?"

"Yes!"

Harry looked at him disbelievingly, and then stepped over. Draco leaned away from him, his expression extremely distrusting. "I don't need you to lead me out of here."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Then go get your wand." Harry pointed over to the wand still lying on the ground. It was at least six strides away. Draco idly followed his finger.

"Fine."

Draco slowly drew himself up to his full height, and took a tentative step forward. Pain seared through him again, and he thought suddenly that he was probably bleeding. He closed his eyes. "Just get me my fucking wand and let's go."

Harry shook his head, having known Draco didn't seem in the shape to go walking out of the forest himself. He went over to snatch Draco's wand from the ground and then walked back over with it, holding it out to other boy.

"Thank you," Draco said hotly, snatching it away from him and slipping it into his pocket.

Then he stood there awkwardly. If it had been anyone else other than Potter out here to help him, he would've been a little bit more accepting of the situation. But now... this was incredibly embarrassing and ridiculous. He knew Potter would be having a few laughs with his Gryffindor buddies later.

"Ok, c'mon," Harry suddenly said, breaking the silence. He knew more than thirty minutes must have passed already, and his housemates would be wondering where he was.

"C'mon what?" Draco asked.

Harry let out an aggravated sigh. He held out a hand.

"I'm not holding your hand. That won't help."

"Not my hand, Malfoy! Just put your arm around my shoulder and I'll try and help you from there!"

It took Draco a few seconds before he decided there was no other way. If he wanted to get out of here, and in a decent amount of time, he'd have to at least go with what the boy was offering. With a face that showed that this was almost repulsive to him, he grabbed the boy's hand and pulled himself close enough to drape an arm around his shoulder. He heard Harry mutter a few things beneath his breath. He ignored it.

From there, Harry took a step forward. Draco followed beside him, but had to pause right after. It hurt every time he took a step, and he was started to get bloody tired of it.

"Can you even walk now, Malfoy?" Harry asked, glancing at him.

"No, but thank you for asking," Draco commented dryly. "Just keep moving."

"Damn it. I knew you weren't out for prefect duties you know. It was a bad idea to come out here."

"So, why should I care what you think?"

"Because I could've very well left you out here!"

"How did you know I was out here anyway!" Draco shot at him.

"I followed you last night to see if you were lying."

"Oh, thank you. Completely invade my privacy."

"Well, look where you are now!"

"I CAN SEE, POTTER!" Draco felt like tearing his arm away from the boy now, but somehow he thought it wouldn't do any good, and he'd end up having to do this all over again. So, with a resigned huff, he shut up.

Harry another large, abrupt step forward, and Draco nearly tripped. "What was that for?" He snapped.

"For being a git even when someone's helping you in your time of need," Harry responded angrily.

"My time of need?" Draco questioned. Another painful step was taken. Then two more.

"Yes, your time of need. Actually, you've always needed some sort of help..."

"I'm flattered to know that you've worried before this."

"This isn't worry."

"Alright," Draco said. He stopped talking. Arguing was making him tired again, and he didn't enjoy talking to the boy anyway.

Thankfully, Harry didn't say anything else either. Not until they reached the castle did Draco force Harry to let him go off alone. It took a lot; apparently Harry didn't think Draco was safe until he reached the infirmary.

But when Harry let him go at the main doors and then went off inside to find his two pals in the Great Hall, Draco headed back to the common room. There was no way he'd go to the infirmary; people would find out.