Author's Note: I realize that I had a few typos, missing words, etc. in Chapter 9, and I just wanted to apologize for that. I didn't read over it before it was posted, and it's quite a hassle to edit it once it gets on here. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Draco repeated the same routine as last time, when he'd returned from the forest and parted ways with Potter. He made his way slowly over to the bed, collapsing on top of it. All of his housemates were still at breakfast, so he relished in the alone time that he had. He wasn't up to seeing any of their faces anyway; they were just as bad as Potter at this point.

He layed there for a few more moments, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't blink. He didn't move. He couldn't feel anything; he was trying to keep himself from breaking down like all of those other times. He knew it wasn't right.

Then all of a sudden, his blank gaze turned into a narrowed glare.

Potter should have just left him there. He couldn't bloody deal with this. He couldn't go around school acting like everything was alright every time this happened. And the boy should've minded his own business; he had no right to come help him when all he wanted was for him to go away. If the Gryffindor only knew about his father... he wouldn't have even bothered with him. He'd have been too engrossed in catching his father.

Draco stood up quickly, which made that pain sear through him again. He fell against the floor on his hands and knees with a short gasp, shutting his eyes tightly.

All he could feel was anger welling up inside of him after that. He pushed himself up, proceeding to the showers to wash off everything that was creating all the problems within himself... he felt dirty no matter what he did or told himself; it was like a layer of clothing that just wouldn't come off.

As he used one hand to prop himself against the shower wall, he looked down to watch the hot water swirling down the drain. After a moment or two, he noticed that some of the water was turning red. Draco let out a long breath of air before moving his back against the wall. His eyes closed again.

Ten minutes later, he went back into the dorm and changed into clean clothes, then made his way slowly over to the bed again. He didn't fall asleep crying this time; he fought them back until he was left with a dull, burning headache. He slept until dinner.

Classes didn't go by normally after that. Draco sensed that everywhere he went, everyone had their eyes following him. Though it wasn't hard to guess why. He walked either very gingerly down the hallways, or with a faint limp. He also couldn't sit still; he supposed this was the main reason, because he usually was still while in class.

"Draco, what's the matter?" Pansy whispered beside him for about the third time. Snape was busy lecturing them on a potion's ingredients while writing it on the chalkboard.

"Nothing," he snapped. His voice kept below a whisper as he once again shifted around uncomfortably in his seat.

"Stop moving then," she said irritably.

"Shut up!" Draco snapped again.

Pansy glared at him. He felt a tad bit bad about getting angry with her, but that feeling didn't last more than a minute. He was too busy with trying to make himself rest in a comfortable position.

He felt eyes on the back of his head. And considering that he sat in the front, he wasn't sure if it was one person or the entire class that was looking at him. Weren't other people moving too? Shouldn't they know that if Snape found out that they weren't paying attention, they'd get into trouble?

For only a moment, Draco glanced back to look at them all; perhaps to scare them into looking away from him. He instantly noticed that several curious gazes moved back toward their notes. However, there was one person who didn't look away; instead they fixed him with a hard stare, almost calculating.

Of course, this stare belonged to Potter. Draco gave him a dirty look before turning back in his seat. He had a feeling that the boy knew something, and it was unsettling. Especially since his housemates still didn't know about him and what had happened in the forest.

He stayed silent for the rest of the class, and only dared to move again when everyone else had started moving. Snape soon dismissed the class when all the notes were put away, and Draco was free to get up and leave before anyone else pestered him about his strange behavior.

Except his slow moving didn't help him in this matter. Pansy, Blaise, and Theodore all caught up with him once he left the classroom.

"Draco, were you sitting on something?" Theodore asked.

"No, I wasn't," he replied uninterestedly.

"People were wondering..."

"I was just hot and uncomfortable," Draco said.

Pansy made a coughing noise. Draco turned around to glare at her. "What?"

"Hot and uncomfortable?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm being literal!" Draco snapped. He was beginning to get annoyed, rather than amused, at the way his housemates were beginning to get on his case.

"I saw you looking back during class for a second. What was that about?" Pansy asked.

Draco sighed and leaned his back against the wall. People were still filing out of the Potions classroom. He saw a few people glance at him.

"I was glaring at Potter."

"Today, all of a sudden?" Blaise questioned.

"When is there not a day where one of us glares at him? He's a bloody idiot."

Just at that moment, Draco noticed Harry and his two friends making their way out of the classroom. By the looks of it, the boy had heard what he'd said. Pansy, Blaise, and Theodore were all snickering. They didn't notice that he wasn't.

There was a look on the Gryffindor's face as he stopped beside them, which showed he might be thinking of saying something about the other morning. Draco narrowed his eyes, seeming to dare him wordlessly.

"I think you're the idiot, Malfoy," the boy said.

Draco stayed silent for a few moments, just staring. Then he smirked. "Now why would that be?"

"You know why." Ron and Hermione stood behind him, looking slightly less vicious than usual. Draco thought that Potter must have told them about the day he'd nearly dragged him out of the forest. He told his bloody friends everything, and chances were that they found a little place in their hearts to feel sorry for him. But he didn't need pity.

"No, you tell me why," Draco replied coolly.

"Feeling any better?" Ron shot at him.

"I'm feeling wonderful, thank you."

Draco looked away from them, as if thinking that was the end of their conversation. His housemates looked at him oddly, wondering why Potter was talking to him like he knew something they didn't. Though they eventually got the picture, and turned their backs on the agitated trio.

"What was he talking about?" Pansy said in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, were you really feeling sick earlier?"

"No... he's just trying to make something up to get me angry at him..."

"Why? They haven't been around bothering us for a while."

"Just be quiet!" Draco warned; he glanced sideways to see that Potter and his friends were still standing aside, speaking quietly to themselves. He was thinking of how they better not be talking about him; he hated when people did that behind his back. "Let's get out of here."

They all nodded, and began making their way down the hallway toward the Great Hall. It was nearing dinner, and taking an extra trip back to the common room to deposit his stuff didn't appeal to him too much. He was still walking quite slowly. His friends didn't particularly notice; they were too busy talking and making jokes about the Gryffindors.

"Hey, Malfoy!" Someone called from behind him.

Draco briefly turned his head around to look, and saw that the Weasel and Granger were heading over. He was about to throw a quick comeback their way, but was interrupted when he felt a rough shove to his front. It caught him off balance and was sent stumbling backwards onto the floor.

The pain he'd been trying so hard to prevent from flaring up came back again, and before he could bite it back, he let out a low moan as he hit the floor. There was a breakout of cursing around him, and one of the Slytherins tried helping him up by his arm. He jerked away from the touch and layed there until he was able to prop himself up on his elbows. He blinked up and looked to see if the person in front of him was still there. Once again, it was Potter.

"What the fuck, Potter!" He hissed angrily. Steadily, he rose to his feet and began brushing himself off. The boy was looking at him as if he'd done something wrong.

"You're not feeling any better, Malfoy," Harry accused.

"You just pushed me onto the sodding floor! There's no surprise there!"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have hurt that bad. You looked like you were having a bit more trouble than normal."

"Since when did you decide that you know what I'm feeling?"

"Since I brought you out of the god damn forest!"

Everyone fell silent. It seemed like the Slytherins had formed one group behind Draco, and the Gryffindors behind Harry. The students that had been out in the hallway to begin with, at least.

Draco was fuming. He could feel the heat rising in his face, and he could feel Potter's burning stare. He didn't know what the hell had gotten into the boy; when had his health been a serious matter to him? It was none of his business! They were bloody enemies!

Finally, Draco spoke. "When was this, Potter? In one of your dreams?"

"Don't act like it didn't happen! If something happened in there that you think someone should know, then you should tell someone!"

"NOTHING HAPPENED!"

"So you did that to YOURSELF!"

"SO WHAT IF I DID!"

Harry marched forward unexpectedly, and Draco automatically took a step backward. "Get away from me."

The boy didn't listen, and instead stopped right in front of him. They both didn't move for what felt like minutes, and then Harry suddenly used a hand to pull up Draco's shirt. Draco instantly reacted. He grabbed the boy's arm and shoved it roughly away, before hastily tugging his shirt back down and pushing the other boy again. Harry seemed a little too unruffled than how much he should have been.

"What do you think you're doing! Have you gone fucking mad!" Draco shouted.

"You couldn't have made those kind of marks yourself, Malfoy!" Harry countered loudly. "You couldn't know that!"

"Yes, I could! You're too scared of physical contact," Harry said.

"Go away! Go off and mind your own life!"

"So something did happen!"

Draco made a sound remarkably similar to a growl. He took a step forward, so that he was close enough to Potter so that no one else would be able to hear them. "If this is about my father, and trying to find him, you're heading in the wrong direction."

"Oh, I don't think I am," Harry said quietly. With that, the boy turned around and started to storm off down the hallway, summoning his friends to come with him.

After he left, all of the Slytherins crowded around Draco, asking him dozens of questions as to what that had been about, and why Potter had dared to touch him. Draco shook them off, saying that Potter had gone completely nutters. Not surprisingly, they agreed with him.

That is, all except one.