I was blind.
Staring in the direction I assumed was the ceiling, I sighed. So far Madam Pomfrey's potion had yet to actually do anything for me, and I was restless, as usual. I wanted the damn stuff to work right away, as I was getting sick of not being able to see where I was and what was going on around me. I could hear people walking around the hospital wing, for I now remembered that Harry had brought me here shortly after my run in with Voldemort. I tried to concentrate on the sounds to figure out what people were doing.
Someone was playing with a hospital bed curtain, the metal hooks that held it in place grating against the frame, the rustle of the curtains themselves adding to it to make a rhythm like strange music. It annoyed me.
I could hear the brisk walk of Madam Pomfrey, her skirts swishing around her ankles. This noise I knew, as no one in the school walked like she did. Clip ,clip-clop, clip, clip-clop. She tended to shuffle one of her feet. I only reason I knew it was her, other than the fact that she had a distinct walk, was the fact that on a number of occasions I had hid from her when I was snooping around the hospital wing. I had at those times been looking for medical oddities and stuff to use against Potter and his friends.
There were a number of murmuring sounds from other places in the large room, but those I gave no attention to.
Turning onto my side, my nose came into contact with something that smelled like green apples. I reached out slowly with my hand and grazed it along the sweet smelling object. It was hair, soft to the touch and short. I frowned.
Who the hell dared to be so close to me without my knowledge and permssion? I thought to myself as I pulled back my hand ready to hit whomever was there. A soft tired voice stopped me.
"Draco? Are you awake?"
I swallowed in relief. It was only Harry.
"Yeah." I answered, absurdly happy that he was still here.
"Can you see anything yet?"
I snorted. "No, and I'm begining to feel like the stuff Pomfrey gave to me was useless. It hasn't done a simgle thing to help."
The weight that I had never noticed on the mattress near me, which of course had been Harry's head, disappeared. "I have something to tell you Draco."
I frowned at the tone of his voice. "Tell me what?"
I felt Harry's sudden weight on the bed again as he sat down, his thigh brushing against mine, then the feel of his hand on mine. I closed my fist around his fingers and sat up. Abruptly I found myself wishing I could see Harry's face. I needed to know why he sounded so distressed.
"Draco, you need to know that Madam Pomfrey has done all she can to recover your sight." Harry finally said, his voice heavy. "But..." He trailed off.
"...But?" I prompted, squeezing his hand lightly.
"...But there's a strong chance that you'll never see again."
The words hit me like a hammer. I pulled my hand away from his and clentched my fists. "What do you mean a stong chance of never seeing again?" I asked furiously. "You told me that she would be able to help me! You told me that I would be okay!"
I felt Harry moving towards me but I wrenched away from him as far as I could without falling off of the bed. "No! Don't touch me!"
"Draco..." Harry sounded hurt, but I didn't care. "Please don't do this. You're only going to hurt yourself if you do."
I felt hot tears fill my sightless eyes and spill down my face. "Hurt myself? What do you think I'm going to do if I can't see? I'm going to have to live in a bloody fucking bubble!"
"Please be quiet Mr. Malfoy." Came Madam Pomfrey's snappish voice from across the room. "I have other paitents here that are trying to get some rest."
I turned in the direction of her voice. "Well excuse me! I wasn't aware that my grief was disturbing your precious patients!"
I felt Harry's hand on my cheek, warm and soft, and I crumbled. Normally I would have retched at the thought of letting someone who was my enemy comfort me, but then, Harry wasn't really an enemy anymore. I leaned against him and sobbed quietly, hating the fact that I had become so weak in such a short amount of time.
I don't know how long he sat there holding me, but when I started to hiccough from crying so much, he laughed and pulled away.
"Do you want to go somewhere and talk?" He asked as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands.
I nodded. "Yeah."
With a bit of navigation I got out of bed and let myself be led to another room, which turned out to be the bathroom I was in earlier. Harry pressed a bundle of clothing into my hands.
"I went and got a pair of jeans and a shirt while you were asleep. You can wear them until you can get back to your rooms." He told me as I fingered the rough cloth.
"...Yours?" I asked.
"My room was closer." Harry answered, sounding like he had just shrugged.
In a normal circumstance, I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing Potter's clothing, but beggers can't be choosers, and this situation was far from normal. I shrugged. "They'll do. What color's are they?"
Harry laughed. "Trust you to ask what colors they are when you can't see-" he stopped. "Sorry."
I shook my head. "Don't worry about it." I replied, even though my heart was silently breaking still at the loss I had yet to come to terms with. "Just tell me what appalling color's you've decided to put me in."
"The jeans, your majesty, are a nice dark blue," Harry joked, bringing a small smile to my lips. "while the gorgeous long sleeved sweater is made of Italian wool in a wonderful dark green."
I laughed. "I would have never pegged you as a comedian Potter." I paused, "and this is not Italian wool. It isn't nearly soft enough to be that."
I felt Harry poke my in the ribs and squeaked. "Fine, it's Irish wool, and a nice greenish yellow color."
"Harry..." I whined, suddenly worried about putting myself in the hands of someone who wore hand-me-downs and clothing that always seemed to big. Not to mention that Harry had a different complexion than me which ment his clothes were going to be the wrong shade to accentuate my skin tone no matter what
"Okay! Yes it is Irish wool, but it isn't greenish yellow... it's purple." Harry replied with a hint of humor.
I glared at where I thought he was standing and lashed out my arm. I didn't hit anything but air.
"Hey! You almost hit me!" Harry complained as I pulled my arm back and let it hang at my side.
"Oh yeah? Good." I snapped. "Now stop lying and tell me what the shirt looks like or we'll be testing just how good my aim is now that I'm blind."
Harry sighed, nearer to me then I thought. I jumped. "It's just a black cotton shirt with long sleeves."
"Not wool?" I narrowed my eyes.
"No."
"Or greenish yellow or purple?"
"No."
"Or ugly?"
"Oh for merlin sake Malfoy! Just put the damn clothes on or you can walk around naked for all I care!" Harry said impaiently, sounding like he was just about to burst a blood vessel in his forehead.
I sighed dramatically and answered. "Fine." Then added. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me how I can get this itchy pyjama shirt off would you?"
"It's just a snap up shirt. All you have to do is pull it apart." Harry answered. "I'll leave while you change. Call if you need help." The door closed with a sharp click.
Absently wondering if I had pissed off Potter, which I reminded myself just as absently that I didn't care, I felt around for the sink and put the clothes he had given me on the counter. I pondered if they would be too big for me as I pulled off the pajamas, an image of me standing there looking like a child wearing thier parents clothing filled my mind. I laughed silently and shook my head. It didn't take me long to get dressed, feeling for the tag at the back of the shirt to let me know I wouldn't be putting it on backwards.
The shirt I knew was just a little too big, hanging over my hands, but the pants fell down around my hips, barely managing to stay up. It was a huge change from my custom made clothing, which always fit me perfectly. I was glad that my mother wasn't around to judge the way that I looked, as she would have been horrified to see her son in such appalling muggle clothing.
"Umm...Harry?" I called out.
I listened as the door opened. "Yeah?"
"Do you have a belt I could use?" I asked motioning to the waist of the pants that I held with one of my hands. "Your pants are too big for me."
Harry chuckled. "Merlin, I knew you were skinnier than me, but this is just too funny."
I crossed my arms and snapped. "Do you have a belt or not? Or do you want me to walk right out of these damn things? Which by the way I am not ready to do. At least not in front of you."
"Hold on a second." Harry replied.
He's probably thinking of a way to kill me, I thought.
I stood there for what seemed like an eternity to me, holding the pants up with one hand and tapping the edge of the sink with my fingernails.
Then, without warning, I felt warm hands on my hips as Harry leaned in closely.
"What are you doing!" I exclaimed as I tried to back away.
"Calm down Draco. I'm putting a belt on you."
"Why?" I asked stupidly.
Harry snorted. "I suppose you could do it by yourself then?"
I paused, then replied haughtily. "Continue."
It felt weird having someone looping a belt through my pants and I had to refrain from laughing when Harry's fingers brushed against my sides.
"There. All done."
"Super." I replied taking a step forwards and letting my hands fall from the waist of the pants, which thankfully stayed up. "Thank-you." I said grudgingly.
"Your welcome precious." Harry quipped.
I swatted the air where his voice was coming from. "Git."
"I may be a git, but I'm a git who has better hair than you right now." Came Harry's relpy from off to my left.
My hands went to my hair instantly. I ingored Harry's laughter as I smoothed out the tangles sleep had caused, knowing that Harry's laughter would stop as soon as he noticed that unlike his hair, mine always behaved. Even if I couldn't see what I was doing to it.
When I was finished, I put my hands on my hips and said. "Ha ha."
I could somehow tell that Harry was more than likely sticking his tongue out at me. "Shut-up."
I shrugged. "I was born with perfect hair. What can I say?"
"Nothing. That's what you shoud say." Harry muttered as he took hold of my hand and led me back out into the main room.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I let myself trust him as he led me.
"Down to the Great Hall. I'm starving."
My stomach growled in response and I covered the offending area with my free hand. "Me too."
It took us a long while to actually get down to the hall, and I found myself hoping that I would never have to go near stairs again. I had fallen twice, first onto my backside, then into Harry, shuddering to myself at the thought of splattered Malfoy at the bottom of the stairs if Harry hadn't caught me. And for the numerous time, I was simply happy to have someone I trusted near me and helping me. Even though that trust was only a few hours old.
From what I could hear, there wasn't many people in the Great Hall when we came in, but then again, they could have all stopped talking and eating when they saw Harry pulling me along by the hand. Who knows?
After we had gotten settled, Harry told me that there were pancakes, sausage, toast and coffee.
"Can I just have some toast and coffee?" I asked.
"I thought you were hungry?" Harry replied.
I pursed my lips. "I am, but I'd rather not try using anything sharp and pointy for a while yet." Then I grinned and put my chin in my hands and faced Harry, who was sitting to my right. "Unless you want to feed me?"
I heard Harry choke and grinned even wider. "What!" He exclaimed.
I shrugged. "Well, you've helped me so much so far, what's a little feeding going to hurt?"
Harry stuttered. "Dr- Malfoy! I am not going to feed you! I may be helping you, but that is totally crossing the line!"
I batted my eyelashes in his direction, not sure if he was looking but doing it anyways. "Aww! Please?"
"No."
"Why?"
"No."
"Come on! I'm hungry."
"No!"
"Harry!"
"Eat your toast."
I pouted and turned back to facing away from him holding my hand out stiffly as I felt around for the toast. My finger tips brushes against the food, delighted in the fact that it was already buttered.
"Thanks." I said sheepishly.
"Your welcome." Came Harry's reply from around a mouthfull of food.
I ate gingerly, sipping from a mug of coffee that Harry placed in front of me, showing me where it was with his hand so I wouldn't knock it over. I wondered if it had stopped raining out yet, and asked Harry about it a moment later.
"No. It's still raining a little," Harry replied. "But the sun is out so it should stop soon."
I finished the last bit of my toast and said. "We should go outside when it's-"
I was cut off suddenly by a loud crash followed by a curse and a scolding. Even not being able to see I could tell that the voices I had just heard belonged to Weasley and Granger. It didn't take a genius to figure out why they had made all the commotion. It wasn't everyday that you saw your bestfriend sitting at the breakfast table with his mortal enemy having an actual conversation and not trying to tear each other's throats out. I grinned into my napkin as the little imp in my mind told me that this could only work to my advantage.
"...H-Harry?" Came the red heads choked baritone voice. "W-what are you doing with M-Malfoy? He's-"
"Ronald..." Granger said, her voice dripping with annoyance. "Malfoy isn't a Death Eater and he's not our enemy anymore, so stop acting like a child and sit down."
"How do you know that! He could be a spy, or trying to lure Harry into a trap, or-'
I raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat. "You are aware that the object of your insufferable imagination is sitting right here?"
"Shut it Malfoy." Weasley spat.
I narrowed my eyes in his general direction, as his loud mouth voice seemed to come from across the table and slightly to the right, and replied. "As usual I am astounded by your ability to come up with a retort that surely put me in my place Weasley..." I paused for a moment to let those words sink in then continued. "...But I am in no mood to hear the sound of our voice let alone what insipid comments you have to make."
I heard Harry chuckle beside me.
"He's got a point you know Ron." Harry said after a moment.
"What?" Came to immediate response.
"Well... maybe not about you being insipid, but-"
Harry didn't get to finish that sentence as Granger cut him off.
"Harry, can you tell us why you're sitting with Malfoy then. I know he isn't evil or anything of the sort, but you two hate each other. Why the sudden change?" She asked.
I rolled my eyes. Trust the Mudblood to make everything into a logical situation. I was vastly enjoying putting down her redheaded boyfriend and she just had to go and ruin the experience for me. Stupid-
My thoughts stopped abruptly as I felt Harry's hand rest on my knee under the table, his fingers squeezing gently.
"Can I tell them?" Harry asked softly.
I swallowed. I didn't want his friends to know that I was blind, that I couldn't even dress myself without someones help. I didn't want them to use that as an advantage over me, as I knew that they would, seeing how I always used their weaknesses against them in the past, and never thought twice about it when I did. But the imp in my head told me that Harry would do his best not to let that happen. It was a thought that I didn't question.
"...If you have to." I replied, slowly putting my hand over Harry's and squeezing back.
"Tell us what?" Granger asked.
I heard Harry take an intact of breath. "Draco's blind."
There was a stilled silence. I imagined what Potter's friends must look like. Weasley of course would be opening and closing his mouth like a fish, while Granger would be eyeing me with a curious yet untrusting glare. I simply sat there with my head down, not wanting them to see my face, as the more I thought about what I had lost, the more I wanted to cry.
Suddenly the silence was cut in two.
"Did you just call him Draco?" Weasley asked incredulously.
"How on earth did this happen?" Granger asked at the same time.
Harry's hand squeezed my knee once more before he took it away, leaving the spot cold and me wishing that it was still there. "Yes I just called him Draco, that is his name you know. And this happened because of Voldemort..." There was a pause. "...You can stop shuddering Ron, Voldemort's dead. Anyways, Voldemort is dead and he used some sort of curse on Draco to remove his sight."
I heard Granger 'hmmm' at that and rolled my eyes with my head still lowered. If she trys to decipher out a way to help poor little me, I thought with venom, I'm personally going to rip her arms from their sockets and beat her with them.
"Don't." Came Potter's voice somewhere near my ear.
I jumped. Did he know what I was thinking? Was I that transparent with anger? I got my answer seconds later when he leaned in again and spoke into my ear as Granger started talking to her git of a boyfriend.
"You look like a Pitbull that's ready to attack. Don't. They didn't do anything to you."
I clentched my jaw, my voice hissing out from my teeth. "I don't want them in my business."
"But they're not-" Potter was cut off by Grangers know-it-all voice.
"Draco-" I glared. I really didn't want her to say my name. "I think that there is a way that you can get your sight back. It's simple really."
"What do we have to do?" Harry asked, instantly making the anger that was welling up inside of me die down, simply by the sound of his voice.
"Umm..." I could tell that Granger was suddenly at a loss for words now that her friend had basically volunteered himself to help me. "Well... I-I was thinking that even though he was injured magically, the muggle doctors could be able to help him."
"What are you on about?" I snarled.
"Doctors Draco, muggle doctors." Weasley answered. "That's what they call medi-witches in the muggle world."
I turned, my sightless eyes fixing on him. "I am not a child Weasley. I know what doctors are-" In truth I only knew of them, but not what they did exactly, not that I was going to tell the red-headed git that. "-I was reffering to the fact that Granger won't get on with her explanation."
"That's because you interrupted her!" Weasley all but shouted back at me.
"I have every right to interrupt her when she's talking about me!" I spat back.
"She's just trying to help you." Weasley replied.
I snorted, my defenses on the rise. "Malfoy's do not need help. Esspecially from a Mudblood woman who has the brains, or lack there of, to date a Weasley." I hissed the last word out like it was the most foul thing in the world to say.
I heard Weasley pushed back his chair and knew that I was about to get hit, and hit hard. I didn't shut my eyes and didn't turn my head as the blow cracked across my jaw, sending me from my seat and onto the floor. It hurt, but instead of complaining, I laughed. I actually laughed.
"What's wrong with you!" Came Harry's angered voice, which I wasn't sure to whom he was speaking, at the same time Granger cried out. "Ron no!"
I lay there on the stone floor with my hand to my mouth, where my lip had been split, and I laughed. I laughed until I began to feel the hot tears spilling down my face, drenching the shirt that Harry had given me with salty tears. I wasn't crying because of Weasley's punch, even though it did hurt, much to my surprise, but because I couldn't defend myself. I just sat there and took it. I couldn't have avoided it even if I had the chance. I was pitiful.
Rolling onto my side as the bickering between the Golden Trio escalated, I got to my feet unsteadily and felt for the table on my right hand side, the opposite to where Harry was. When my fingers touched the polished wood, I started towards the Great Hall doors, dragging my fingers on the wood so I knew where I was going. I could hear the sounds of people walking just outside the doors and I moved away from them once I was out in the corridor, hoping that I wasn't headed for a set of stairs, for even though I had lived at Hogwarts for the better part of a decade and knew my way around fairly well, things always seemed to appear at the wrong times.
This was going to be one of those times.
I had gotten barely twenty steps from the Great Hall when my foot hit air where I thought there would be stone, and I felt myself fall forwards. I handed hard, though I did manage to get my hands in front of my face before it came in contact with the stone floor.
Suddenly I heard a voice behind me.
"Draco!"
It was Potter.
I didn't answer, instead pushing myself onto my knees and wiping my scratched hands on my borrowed jeans. It felt like they were bleeding.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked as he came closer to me.
Again I didn't answer as I felt him kneel beside me.
"Draco, talk to me. Why did you freak out in there?"
I pursed my lips, trying to calm myself. "I don't want her help, I didn't want them knowing that I can't do anything for myself anymore. I didn't want them to take pity on me because I don't deserve their pity."
I felt Harry's hand rest on top of my own. "Draco-"
"No. Don't." I replied, pulling away from him. "Leave me alone."
Harry sighed, but didn't move away from me. "No. You need me Draco."
I shook my head. "I do not." I could feel the tears well up again at the same time that I feel Harry's hand on my cheek.
It was warm and comforting, and even though I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, all I wanted to do was curl up against Harry. I know that he'll protect me, though he really has no obligation to do so.
"You know, I've never seen you cry before." Harry says as he wipes away my tears.
I snort. "Well you're certainly getting your fill of it. I seem to be crying every bloody second."
There is a pause, then Harry speaks. "It's stopped raining, do you want to go outside?"
I consider this, then answer. "Can we fly somewhere?"
Harry laughs. "You just want to ride The Firebolt cause you don't have one."
I laugh with him, joining in his joke, though in truth I just want to be close to him. It seems strange to me that since I lost my sight, all I want to do is be held by Harry, and when I could see, all I wanted to do was stare at him. Of course I had to watch him so that I knew where he was so that I could play tricks and pranks on him. Of course...
It's a thought that echo's in my mind as I settle against his back, wrapping my arms around his waist.
-----
Author's Note:
I won't be able to update this fic for another week or two cause I'm going on vacation, but I promise the next chapter will be full of surprises so that it is worth the wait.
Review and let me know what you think of this fic so far... and thank you to those reviewers who made me aware that I had a block on all un-logged in people trying to leave reviews but couldn't. I have fixed that problem and apologise to those people.
Also thank-you to those people who have reviewed already.
Okay, so now that I'm done with my 'Miss America' thank-you speach (sweatdrops) I will leave you to review and what not.
TA TA!