Chapter 8 Assistance

Neither Seamus nor Draco improved over the next few days. If anything they became even more depressed. Harry was concerned about Seamus. When he didn't turn up for dinner, again, Harry decided to go looking for him. He found Seamus in the common room sitting at a table covered with schoolbooks. He was trying to study, but appeared to be doing more staring into space.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

Seamus jumped. He hadn't noticed the other boy enter the room. He had been trying to study, but he just could not concentrate. In the end he had completely zoned out. The world could have ended and he wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

"I was doing my Potions homework. Or trying to." he said in answer to the other boy's question "it's no use, I'm never going to be any good at this class. I just don't understand it."

"Well then why don't you have a break. You can come down stairs and have some dinner." Harry was concerned. Seamus had been eating very little over the last couple of weeks. He had been losing weight, and it was becoming very noticeable. At this rate the other boy was going to end up ill.

"I'm not hungry." the other boy replied. He'd had very little appetite recently. He knew he should be eating more, but when it came down to it, he just physically could not swallow anything.

Harry sat across from him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Seamus looked at him and sighed. "Do you know what its like to be cut off from someone you care about? To see them everyday, yet not be able to touch them or talk to them? To not even be able to look at them for too long for fear people will think something is going on, and they will suffer for it? I care about Draco, and I can see he's hurting. Things have been hard for him. He doesn't really have anyone who supports him. I was the only one whom he could ever count on, and now even I can't be there for him."

Seamus folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them.

"Look, I know you're upset, but it's not your fault and you mustn't blame yourself. We are all worried about you. You have been isolating yourself, and you haven't been eating enough. No one likes to see you like this. I'm not going to pretend I know how you feel. I don't. But you have to take care of yourself. Okay?" Harry didn't really know how to explain how he felt to Seamus.

"How is it that people can worry so much about my well being yet refuse to allow me to do what will make me happy? Refuse to allow me to be me?" Seamus asked rhetorically.

He sighed and Harry's heart went out to him. "Will you at least promise me you will have something to eat?"

Sensing his friends concern, Seamus looked into his eyes. They sat like that for a moment, and then Seamus closed the textbook in front of him.

"Alright, all right, I'll go." Seamus stalked out of the room. He wasn't really annoyed. If anything he was touched by Harry's concern. Harry sat and watched Seamus leave. He wasn't going to go with him. He knew Seamus would eat as he'd promised, and if Harry followed, Seamus would just think he didn't trust him.

A few minutes later Harry also got up and left the common room. He needed to goo for a walk to help him think. He wanted to help Seamus; he really did. But being kept away from Draco was really hurting him. The Slytherin meant a lot to Seamus. Harry suspected that maybe it was possible that Seamus loved him. Harry couldn't understand why anyone could love someone like Draco. Maybe it was like Seamus had been saying. Maybe Draco wasn't as bad as everyone seemed to think. He certainly hadn't seemed cruel and heartless the other night. He seemed fragile; heart broken even. It was as though he really cared for Seamus as well.

Harry's wanderings had led him to the Astronomy tower where he found Draco lying on the floor staring at the stars. As Harry entered the room, the Slytherin's gaze flickered to him then back to the sky. Harry stood there in silence for a while.

"Do you want me to go?" he asked, feeling as though he were interrupting something.

Draco shrugged "Do whatever you want, I don't care. I don't care about anything anymore." The last part was whispered and Harry had to strain to hear it.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked tentatively. Draco glared at him. That one gaze spoke sarcastic volumes. Harry was about to move closer when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Blaise standing at the door.

"There you are Draco. I've been looking for you. I want some help with the Potions homework. What's Potter doing here?" Blaise demanded.

"He was just leaving, weren't you Potter." Draco ordered. Harry, who had been watching Draco, had noticed a change in the blond when Blaise came in. It was as if a mask had suddenly covered Draco's face, blocking any sign of emotion. Harry could understand the change, and the need to keep up the appearance of their old, hostile relationship.

"It's a free world. I was only leaving because I can't stand to spend another minute in a room with such a narcissistic bastard as yourself."

"Yeah, whatever. Just beat it." Blaise interrupted. "Come on Draco, let's get back to the common room." As Harry left he heard Draco scolding Blaise.

"What is it with you? You don't need me to help you with Potions homework, you could just ask Snape. He would hardly deny giving his help to a student in his house. You keep ambushing me when I'm on my own and dragging me away to public places. Anyone would think that you were following me. That you don't trust me and that you are spying on me…"

Harry suspected that Draco had said this for his benefit. Was it a warning? An explanation of his earlier behaviour? Whatever it was it didn't really matter because Harry now knew want he was going to do to help Seamus and Draco. The only thing he had to figure out now was how.

The next day in Potions Snape announced they would be receiving their term assignment.

"You will be working in pairs, and as a test of your maturity, you will all have to work with members of the other house." A unanimous groan rose from the class. Seamus stole a quick glance across the room at where Draco was sitting. Before he even had a chance to seriously consider walking over to him, Blaise stepped in front of the blond Gryffindor.

"I'll be working with you Finnigan." It was a statement more than a request. Seamus realised arguing was futile and nodded. Harry recognised his opportunity and walked over to Draco. None of his housemates would object. Even if working with Draco guaranteed you a good mark, most people felt it wasn't worth it. Draco looked up to see whom he would be working with and sighed in resignation.

The Class worked in silence for most of the lesson. The potions they were brewing were complicated, and even a slight inaccuracy due to a lack of concentration could be disastrous. The lesson was almost over and the class was bottling their potions. Draco picked up the cauldron of perfect silver liquid to pour into the flask. The cauldron was hotter than he had expected, and he dropped it on the bench. The contents splashed all over Harry's books and robes. Seizing the opportunity, Harry shoved Draco against the wall.

"You useless bastard." He yelled, "What do you think you were trying to do." Harry grimaced as the hot liquid soaked through his robes and began to burn his skin. He leant forward towards Draco and whispered "Play along. I'll explain later." Seeing he had nothing to lose, Draco complied.

"Well, you see I wanted to piss you off." He drawled sarcastically "I really don't mind if I fail in potions, so I decided it would be entertaining to pretend to accidentally pour my terms assignment all over your books. What do you think I was trying to do."

"You are pathetic Malfoy." Harry ranted "You are a disgusting, slimy, repulsive…"

"That's enough!" Snape yelled. "Potter, Malfoy, clean this mess up. You can both come back for detention after dinner and re brew your potions."

The two boys cleaned up in silence. Draco threw Harry a questioning look. Harry mouthed the word 'later' and gave a good-humored wink to assure the boy that there was nothing in their earlier confrontation. Draco realised that he wasn't going to get an explanation until after dinner, and returned to his cleaning. They left at the end of class. Seamus glared at Harry and stormed off towards the dormitory. Ron walked up to Harry.

"You know, that was a little unprovoked." He lectured "I know it's only Malfoy, but still, it was an accident." Harry winced. He had been burnt more severely than he had originally thought.

"Look," he said, "you go have lunch, I'll catch up with you later. I want to get out of these wet robes." Ron nodded and Harry followed Seamus to the dorm.

Harry walked into the dorm and took some clean clothes from his trunk. Seamus glared at him from across the room. Harry was about to leave when Seamus broke his silence.

"It was an accident you know." He whispered "You're just like everyone else. You assume everything he does is malicious. You assume that he's not human and that everything he does is planned. You think he could never do anything by accident." Seamus fell silent again. It wasn't true of course, but how was Harry going to explain it? He didn't even know if his plan was going to work, and he didn't want to raise Seamus' hopes. The Irish boy had already been hurt enough. Harry left in silence.

That night Harry left dinner early. He didn't want to be late for detention. Snape would have his head on a platter. He returned to his dorm briefly to collect his bag and started to think about Seamus. The Irish boy hadn't spoken to Harry since their encounter in the dorm at lunchtime. Harry hadn't meant to upset Seamus, but hopefully after tonight he would be forgiven. Harry hurried down to the Potions classroom where Draco and Snape were waiting.

The boys recreated the potion in silence under the watchful eye of the professor. When they finished, Harry realised that the result was a hundred times better than he could have hoped to achieve without the Slytherin's help. They had just started to clean up when the Potions master broke the silence.

"I trust I can leave you pair to clean up without getting into another fight." He looked briefly at Harry and swept from the room.

Draco spoke for the first time since they had arrived. "I hope you have a good explanation for this." He said neutrally.

"Yes." Harry paused. Draco looked questioningly at him. "I wanted to get you on your own."

"And?" Draco was becoming irritated. He hated when people were incapable of getting straight to the point.

"I want to know what you want with Seamus. I mean if you were able to see him."

"I don't see what that's got to do with you." Draco became suspicious. He suspected that there was a catch.

"I want you to promise that if I help you to see him, that you will not do anything to hurt him."

Draco was confused. "I love Seamus. I would die before I would do anything to hurt him. It's killing me now to see that he is in so much pain because of me." Harry, certain of the other boy's sincerity, went over to his bag and pulled out a parcel.

"Here. You can borrow this. Put it on and follow me." He handed the Slytherin his invisibility cloak. Draco looked up at Harry, gratitude flooding his eyes briefly before they disappeared beneath the cloak.