Chapter 7 Separation

Seamus watched Draco's retreating back, his heart sinking. How could he give up so easily? Seamus left the Astronomy tower and plodded back to the Gryffindor common room, not caring if anyone saw him out of bed. He stumbled up the stairs to the boy's dormitory and crawled into bed, his heart aching. So this was it? He was going to have to live with the pain of seeing Draco everyday and not being able to go near him.

"Oh Draco, don't please don't give up. I don't want to let you go." Sheer exhaustion and pain overwhelmed him and he fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Draco was woken when Blaise tore the blankets from his bed in a fury.

"Come on, get up. If I have to get out of bed then so do you." Blaise ordered.

Draco groaned. Blaise could be a real bastard when he was hung over. He was even more of a bastard than usual. Not wanting to get in Blaise's way, Draco dressed quickly and rushed off to breakfast. He sat in his usual place at the Slytherin table. He looked across towards the Gryffindor table, his gaze falling on Seamus.

"We saved you some bacon." Crabbe muttered around a mouthful of toast.

Seamus looked up and met Draco's gaze. The pain the Slytherin saw there flooded him with guilt.

"I'm not hungry." Draco murmured. He stood and left the room.

Seamus pushed his plate away and sighed. He had no appetite this morning.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry demanded.

"Nothing." Seamus lied.

"I don't believe you. I've been watching you. You haven't eaten anything all morning. You've just been pushing your food around on your plate. That only happens when you're upset about something."

Seamus looked across the room at Draco. "I don't want to talk about it Harry."

Harry followed his gaze and watched as Draco left the room. How could Seamus have allowed Malfoy to become close enough to hurt him? The Slytherin was not going to get away with this. He had no right to be treating other people this way. If none of the teachers were going to do anything, than it would have to be up to him. Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Ron, who rushed them off to potions, warning they would be late if they didn't leave.

Draco arrived in the Potions classroom early that morning. He looked up as the Gryffindor's entered. Seamus refused to meet his eyes, and Harry glared at him. Draco looked away. He already felt guilty enough without other people placing blame on him. He hated himself for what he had done to Seamus, but there was no other alternative. He was not willing to allow Seamus to place himself in danger.

The lesson passed quietly. It was nearing the end of the lesson when Neville's potion exploded. The potion erupted covering him and the Slytherins working at the next table in a slimy green liquid.

"Bloody hell Longbottom! You're useless! How did you ever get admitted to Hogwarts? You can't do anything right!" Blaise exploded.

"Let it go Blaise." Draco demanded coldly.

"Why? He's a worthless squib! He shouldn't even be at this school." Blaise argued.

"I said let it go."

Draco's cold, menacing tone left no room for argument. No matter how much he fell out of favour with his father and his housemates, he would always command a certain amount of respect from his other housemates, and they would always do as he said. The room fell silent, and everyone stared at Draco, who calmly wrung the slime out of his robes and hair before returning his attention to his potion.

"Get back to your work." Snape ordered "And Longbottom, clean up that mess." Neville nodded obediently and the rest of the class returned to their work.

At the end of the lesson Ron turned to Harry and Seamus.

"Malfoy must be ill." Ron mused "Usually he would have been only too happy to rip into Neville, and certainly wouldn't have stopped anyone else from doing the same."

"He probably realised what an arsehole he is." Harry replied, loud enough for Draco to hear "That ought to be enough to make anyone sick."

Raw emotion flashed across Draco's face too quickly to be defined. He picked up his books and brushed past the Gryffindors on his way out of the classroom. Seamus glared at Harry.

"You're such a bastard. Why would you say something like that? What gives you the right to judge anyone else?" Seamus spat and stormed off down the corridor.

"You shouldn't have done that." Neville scolded "He was actually being nice for once, and you treated him like dirt."

Neville and Ron rushed down the corridor after Seamus, leaving Harry to his thoughts. Harry shook his head. He was baffled as to how he had become the villain.

That night when Seamus didn't turn up for dinner, Harry went looking for him. He looked in the Astronomy tower, and there he found Seamus lying listlessly on the floor. Harry called out to him softly.

"Hi Harry." Seamus sat up and Harry thought that he detected moisture in the other boy's eyes. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Where were you at dinner?" Harry asked, slipping into the chair opposite his housemate.

"I wasn't hungry." He said, looking away.

"Seamus, what's wrong? What happened between you and Draco last night?" Harry asked tentatively.

There was no answer. Harry was about to break the silence when Seamus spoke.

"He broke up with me. His father found out and threatened to take him out of Hogwarts if he didn't stay away from me."

"That sounds about right." Harry criticised "At the first sign of trouble he ran."

"Shut up!" Seamus screamed, frustrated with Harry's insistence to assume the worst. "You don't know him. Besides, it's not that simple. There's more to it that that!"

"Well explain it to me then." Harry replied cynically.

"Why bother? You're only ever willing to believe the worst of him. You refuse to give him a chance. Not even for my sake. I love him Harry, and this attitude of yours is hurting me and you don't seem to care." Seamus was nearing hysteria.

"Alright. Alright. Calm down." Harry attempted to placate him. He hadn't realised Seamus was so badly affected.

"No Harry. Just leave me alone." Seamus yelled and ran from the room.

A week passed, and Harry became increasingly worried about Seamus. Seamus was eating little and sleeping less. After class he would lie on his bed and refuse to talk to anyone. He was being consumed by depression and there was nothing Harry could do to help him. One evening Harry went for a walk after dinner. He strained to think of something, anything he could do to help Seamus. He ended up in the Astronomy tower where he found Draco sitting in a chair reading a letter. The other boy hadn't noticed Harry's entrance. Harry stood there and soon realised the blond Slytherin was talking to himself.

"Oh Seamus." Hs sighed, his voice shaking "I miss you so much. I love you and I am so sorry that I have hurt you like this. But I had to."

Draco was gazing out the window. A movement on the glass surface caught his eye and his attention. Seeing Harry's reflection in the glass he spun around.

"How long have you been standing there?" he demanded.

"Long enough." Harry replied calmly. He had a feeling he had just seen a side of Draco that he had never imagined existed. As he stood there, he was this new Draco fade away, and the old, defensive Draco reappeared.

"Go on, call me whatever you like." the blond boy challenged "Sicko, pervert, pouf, queer. I've heard them all."

His resolve crumbled and he turned away, unable to maintain eye contact. Harry focused on the boy's reflection. The normally clear grey eyes were red and puffy. His cheeks shone with a wetness Harry suspected was due to tears. Harry dragged a chair across and sat silently opposite Draco.

"Well say something." Draco demanded after a couple of minutes of what he felt was an unbearable silence.

"If you love him so much, then why did you break up with him?" Draco looked at him.

"You wouldn't understand." He replied and turned away.

"Try me." Harry dared.

"It's for his own good." Draco sighed and closed his eyes.

"You break his heart, and it's for his own good. I'd like to know how you figured that one out." Harry commented dryly.

"See! I told you that you wouldn't understand." Draco yelled, turning on Harry.

"Well then explain it to me!" Harry demanded.

"Here." Draco said softly handing Harry the letter that he had been reading earlier and turning away again. Harry took the letter and quickly read it.

Draco

Do not believe that I am stupid enough to believe your pathetic little lies. You are a worthless coward who is too spineless to stand up for what is right, and swear allegiance to a worthy leader.

If you do not terminate this disgusting 'relationship' there will be serious consequences. Consequences I do not believe you are willing to deal with. Consequences for both you and the worthless mudblood. If you do not stay away from him I will withdraw you from Hogwarts and see o your education myself. I know you would not enjoy that. You of all people should know that I am not as soft as those teachers of yours are. As for the consequences for this mudblood. You do not want to know what I will do to the mudblood.

You are a Malfoy, and as such there are certain expectations and standards that you must live up to. The sooner you grow out of this phase and realise that you are not a faggot the better life will be for you. That sort of behaviour is for inferior people. It is not acceptable from a Malfoy, and is definitely not acceptable from any son of mine.

You had better mach sure you behave yourself. I will know if you are getting up to anything unacceptable. I have people watching you.

-Lucius Malfoy

Harry, appalled, handed the letter back to Draco. From that letter it sounded as though Draco's own father treated him no better than the Dursleys treated Harry.

"I'm not a person to him." Draco whispered "I am just another possession to reflect what sort of a man he is. Just another possession he gets annoyed with when it doesn't work properly. I have to be what he wants me to be, and do what he wants me to do. I have to deny who I am, what I think and how I feel. That's not love, that's hate."

Draco turned to look at Harry, tears rolling down his face. "I finally find someone who really does love me –Merlin only knows why- and he wants to tear us apart."

Draco collapsed in an emotionally exhausted heap. Harry's heart ached to see anyone in so much pain. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He handed it to Draco and sat quietly while the other boy grappled with his emotions. Draco regained his composure and sighed. He looked up at Harry and smiled sadly.

"We used to sit up here all the time." Draco reminisced "Seamus and I. We'd sit and talk about anything and everything. Friends, family, school, Quidditch. Within a month he had turned me into a football fanatic and I've never even seen a match.

"He's the only person I've ever really been able to talk to. The only person who's been willing to listen. Everyone assumes that I am just like my father. Seamus is the only person who has ever given me the chance to prove otherwise." Draco looked down at his watch.

"I'd better go before someone comes looking for me. After all, my father is having me watched." he stood and was about to leave when he turned back to Harry. "Could you do something for me?"

Harry looked at him expectantly.

"Could you tell Seamus that I'm sorry. Make him understand that I love him and that I didn't want to hurt him. Tell him that I had to break up with him because I would hate for anything to happen to him. Tell him that I am not worth the risk and that I could never forgive myself if he was hurt because of me. Will you do that for me?" Draco pleaded.

"Yeah sure." Harry nodded.

"Thank you." Draco whispered as he swept from the room.

Harry lent back into his chair and sighed. He had never anticipated that. He had always assumed that Draco was using Seamus, and that he wouldn't care if Seamus were hurt. Harry had just witnessed a side to Draco that he had never suspected existed. Now he could understand how Seamus felt. Maybe, just maybe he could begin to help his friend with this knowledge. Until this point of time it appeared that Harry had only hurt Seamus more. Now he had a lot to make up for. He owed it to Seamus.

Harry walked into the dormitory. Seamus was lying on his back on the bed. Ron was sitting on his own bed talking to Seamus across the room. Harry walked over to Seamus and sat on the edge of his bed. Seamus opened his eyes, looked at Harry and then closed his eyes again.

"What?" Seamus demanded impatiently. It seemed that no matter how hard Harry tried, all he had been doing lately was hurt Seamus.

"I saw Malfoy earlier." Seamus' eyes sprung open at this news.

"And?" his voice was strangely impassive.

"He was in a bad way." Harry reported "He really misses you."

"If he misses Seamus so much then why did he dump him? It makes no sense to me." Ron interrupted.

"His father. His father made him break up with Seamus." Harry replied.

"Well he should stand up to his father!" Ron argued oblivious to the anger building on Seamus' countenance.

"Would you like to stand up to Lucius Malfoy?" Seamus exploded, eye blazing as he glared at Ron.

"He's right." Harry agreed "Malfoy showed me a letter he received from his father. If he disobeys Lucius, it's not only Draco who will suffer."

"How is he?" Seamus asked turning to Harry "Did he give you a message for me?" Seamus' old energy seemed to return as he thought about Draco.

"He's really upset." Harry reported "he's feeling guilty and he said he's really sorry. He says its not worth the risk and he doesn't want to see you get hurt."

"It's a bit late for that." Ron snorted "I don't understand what you ever saw in him anyway. He's a typical bloody Slytherin and a Malfoy to boot."

"Don't start." Seamus snapped as he stood and stormed from the room.

"What's with him?" Ron asked.

"I don't think that Draco is as bad as everyone supposes he is. I would never have imagined he could be as devastated about anything as he was tonight."

"It was probably just an act." Ron argued. Harry disagreed. He had seen Draco himself, and he was convinced the boy was genuine.

"We have to do something." Professor McGonagal demanded. "This whole situation is ridiculous and Seamus is becoming depressed. As their teaches we should be putting the students welfare first.

"I agree. Malfoy is in as pathetic a state. We have to do something." Snape added.

"I know. I know." Dumbledore sighed. "There just really isn't much we can do. No matter how we react, these students are going to suffer in some way. At least if they're here we can keep an eye on them."