Chapter 10. Apologies and Newfound Comfort

Harry leaned back on the bed he was currently sitting on and waited for Hermione and Ron to come to terms with everything that he had just told them. They still looked pretty much in shock though. There was a rather awkward silence around the four of them. It didn't take long for Ron to find his voice however. It was shaking slightly, and had a barely controlled calm to it, as though he thought everyone around him had gone completely mad.

"Harry, this is Malfoy we're talking about. I know it may seem like he's turned to the good side, but there must be some kind of evil plot he's involved in."

"Yes, of course. Because he is going to kill your savior, the evil Death Eater that he is," Draco said.

Harry sighed. "Ron, as far as we know, Draco is not a Death Eater. We don't have any proof that says he is at any rate."

"Proof!" Ron yelled incredulously. "What do we need proof for? We know he's a Death Eater, Harry. He's done everything except outright telling us that he is going to be a Death Eater!"

"Well," Hermione started in slowly, " I guess it is a possibility that he could have changed. Not that I'm saying I believe him," she added upon seeing the look Ron threw at her. "I just think that maybe we should give him a chance to prove that he's not a Death Eater after all, instead of jumping to conclusions based on past experiences."

Draco was really starting to get mad by now. He stood up, fuming. "Look, I know I haven't suddenly become invisible, so I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about me like I'm not here!" he said, keeping his calm very well in light of how unhappy he was.

Ron didn't look any more happy than Draco did. In fact, he looked even more upset. "Has everyone lost their minds around here? You are all talking about trusting Malfoy. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is? Harry, I'm sorry mate, but I'm not staying in the same house as Malfoy. It's either him or me."

Harry glared at Ron. "You're being unreasonable, Ron. You know I can't throw Malfoy out of the house. I don't want you to leave just because someone you don't like is living here, but if that's what you want, you'll have to be the one to leave. I'm not throwing out Malfoy to the Death Eaters just because you are being childish." Harry said, surprising everyone in the room.

Ron looked shocked, hurt and angry. It wasn't a good combination. "You're picking Malfoy over me?" he asked, by this time mostly angry.

Draco was momentarily stunned by this. 'Harry picked me over Weasley?'

Harry looked at Ron. "I'm not picking Malfoy over you, Ron. You can both stay here. But I'm not kicking out Malfoy because you are being unreasonably selfish. Now, are you staying here or not?" he asked.

Draco was still slightly shocked, but not as bad. It was odd. It was almost like someone was sticking up for him. Almost.

Ron shrugged. "Fine, I'll stay here." he said, although he sounded quite mad about the whole thing.

"Fine," Harry said. "Now we need to figure out rooming, since there are more people than rooms, and obviously…"

He was cut off by three people suddenly apparating into the room they were all in. Ginny, Neville and Luna stood in between where Ron and Harry stood.

"Hi," Neville said, directing it towards Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"Hello, everyone!" Ginny greeted cheerfully. She stopped smiling at the sight of Draco. "Malfoy," she greeted with a slight incline of her head.

"Weasley," he said with contempt.

"Wait, why don't you look surprised that he's here?" Ron asked Ginny.

"Dumbledore told us about the situation. We were going to pass on the word to you, but we decided you'd probably be here by the time we got a hold of you." she answered.

Harry nodded. "Okay. Now that everyone is here, we can figure out rooming. Now, is everyone in this room staying here for the summer?" he inquired.

Luna shook her head. "No, I'm going to stay with my dad. I just came to say hello," she said distantly.

Everyone else in the room nodded. "Okay, then that means six people are staying," he said, counting everyone. "There are three rooms, so we need two to room. Well, obviously Ginny and Hermione will share one. And I suppose I'll share one with Malfoy," he said, his heart sinking while dread set in. "So that leaves Neville and Ron to share a room.

He remembered Fred and George. "Does anyone know if the twins are staying here this summer?" he asked, hoping they weren't.

Ginny shook her head. "No they're staying with Lee Jordan this summer, since they knew it would be cramped over here."

Harry nodded, relieved. He just had to put up with Malfoy. It wasn't exactly a cheering thought, but at least he'd have more space than if he had to share with two other people in his small room. It could be worse. But still…. Why did it have to be Malfoy? 'You ought to be more gracious towards him, you know. He did save your life, didn't he?' A little voice in his head volunteered this thought. He vaguely brushed it aside, although now he wondered if there was something he could do to repay Malfoy. He did deserve something, even if he was being an insufferable brat now.

Draco was not exactly ecstatic about the arrangement either. It wasn't so much that he had to share a room with Harry than it was the fact that he had to share a room at all. He knew that sharing a room with Harry was an opportunity to gain his trust more easily. He hadn't been successful with that plan thus far. He just couldn't bring himself to be nice to Harry, especially with Harry always on his case for one thing or another. 'It would only make Potter suspicious if I started being nice to him all of a sudden, anyway. He would either think it was some part of a dark plot, or think I had finally lost it and put me away at St. Mungo's. Bloody stupid Potter.' Draco saw that everyone was getting up and leaving to do who knows what and so got up and started walking towards the girls' bedroom. He had to pack and unpack all of his things to Harry's room, which wasn't exactly a task he was looking forward to, but it had to get done.

Harry stared curiously after Draco. He found it very odd that Draco hadn't complained when he had said he was going to be sharing a room with him. 'In fact, Malfoy looked pretty far-gone. Wonder what he could have been thinking about.' Harry could think of some very good guesses as to what Draco had been thinking about, but he was still very confused about Draco right then, and did not think it would do well to ponder anymore about him than necessary. Instead, he followed Draco to the girls' room. He decided he was going to try to be nicer to him, seeing as how Draco had saved his life, and he could imagine that Draco was going through a rough time. 'Better to be nice to him and find out later that this whole thing was an evil plot than to be mean to him after he saved my life with no bad intentions.' He knew the offer he was about to make would probably be rudely turned down, but he was going to attempt anyway.

"Do you want any help with that?" Harry asked Draco, referring to the packing.

Draco visibly stiffened, having realized that Harry was there, but kept his back turned to him.

"You're offering to help me pack? Aren't you afraid I might try to kill you if we're alone in the same room?" Draco asked, although not as maliciously as he would have liked.

Harry was about to get annoyed when he realized that Malfoy's words had been rather bitter. That slightly surprised Harry. It hit him then just how badly off Draco was if he had really turned against the Dark side. And the way Draco had said his last sentence sounded as if he really had.

'He has absolutely no one. His housemates and family will have all turned against him. No one besides the Slytherins ever liked Malfoy at school. Hardly anyone in the Order believes him (he wondered if anyone in the Order trusted him) and I'm being a complete jerk because he saved my life.' He sighed. Harry didn't really think Malfoy was a Death Eater, but it was just so hard to believe that he would have changed his mind about something he had seemed so firm about. He walked closer to Draco, who still seemed intent on not looking at Harry.

"I'm sorry. I know you aren't really trying to kill me. If you were, you'd have done it by now. I really am grateful that you saved my life, even though I haven't acted like it. In fact, I've really acted like a complete bastard to you. I want to make it up to you."

By this time, Draco had stopped packing his clothes, but still refused to look at Harry. Instead, he took to examining his hands. "Why the sudden change in attitude towards me?" he asked quietly, letting his mask down a little bit. "Finally realized I'm not out to kill you in your sleep? I'm shocked! Took you long enough though, Potter," Draco drawled scathingly. In a softer voice, which held a sincerity Harry didn't think Draco was capable of, he added, "I'm not like my father, you know."

Harry walked closer to Draco. "I know," he said quietly.

There was a moment of semi-awkward silence in which Draco studied his hands, and Harry fidgeted a bit with his. Harry finally broke the silence. "Would you like help moving, then?"

Draco nodded, and they both started to work in silence.

The next morning, Hogwarts letters arrived. Mrs. Weasley said she would shop for everyone, but Draco would not allow it.

"I'm going to shop for my own things," he said, trying very hard not to sneer at her, and almost succeeding.

"Oh, alright. If you want to that is. It'd be no trouble for me to do it, really," Mrs. Weasley generously offered.

"I'm buying my own things," Draco said firmly.

"Fine, but you can't go into Diagon Alley alone, Malfoy. I'm going with you," Harry told Draco. He did, after all, have to keep an eye on Malfoy.

Draco sneered, but he didn't really mind. In fact, he was quite relieved that he didn't have to go alone. He didn't want to risk running into any of the other Slytherins alone. "Fine, if you must."

Harry nodded. "I must," he confirmed solemnly.

Ron tried very hard not to say something foul to Malfoy. It didn't work. "Don't act so ungrateful, Malfoy! It's your fault that Harry has to go with you in the first place! You should be glad that he's there to protect you," he snarled at Draco.

"It's my fault that Potter has to go with me?" Draco said incredulously. "If it weren't for me, Potter would be dead right now. So don't go spewing off your crap about not being grateful to me, Weasley." Draco said vehemently.

Ron seemed to shrink and pale a little at Draco's words, but other than that showed no signs of regret about what he had said to Draco, although he did shut up for a change.

Harry, who had been silent throughout this exchange, now spoke to Mrs. Weasley, choosing to ignore the other two boys at the table completely. "What time are we leaving for Diagon Alley, Mrs. Weasley?"

Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a look of gratitude for changing the subject. "Around noon, I think.

Noon came, and Harry and Draco flooed to Diagon Alley. Harry stood up, brushing soot from his robes. Draco stepped out of the grate a moment later, looking as though he had not just been in a fire grate. Harry looked at him in slight amazement, wondering how he had managed to not get dirty. Draco saw the shocked look on Harry's face. He sighed in exasperation. "It's easy when you've been doing it your whole life."

Harry blinked, wondering if Draco had somehow read his mind, but then dismissed the thought. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we have shopping to do," Draco said, walking away towards Gringotts. Harry followed quickly. It didn't take long for them to arrive there. When they did, Draco gave the goblin his key, and then asked Harry if he needed to get money out of his vault. Harry said that he did, and handed the goblin his key also. Soon, they were off on a cart ride through the bank.

While they were twisting and turning quickly, Harry was slightly surprised to see that Draco seemed to enjoy going through the maze of the vaults as much as Harry himself did, if not more.

When they came to a stop at Draco's vault, Draco walked to it, and unshrunk his trunks of gold that he had been carrying in his pocket. He emptied them out into his vault, watching the gold pile up. He then scooped much gold into his bag and then they were off again. Harry also withdrew some gold from his account, and Draco was dismayed to see that Harry's fortune added up to be more than what he had brought with him from home. 'Guess I'm not going to be the richest one in Hogwarts this year, after all,' he thought, very put out by this news, even though he barely had less than Harry.

They stepped out of Gringotts and Harry looked around. "Alright, where are we going to go next?" Harry asked.

Half an hour later, Draco and Harry were almost done with their shopping. The only things they had left to get were their books, which Draco had insisted they wait to do until last. Draco often purchased many other books besides the assigned ones, and by waiting until he had finished with his other shopping, he would know how much he could afford to spend on books. Of course, he would never tell Harry this.

They walked into the shop, and made their own ways across the store, each getting the books they would need for class. When Draco had purchased all of the books he needed for his classes, he swiftly looked to see where Harry was. Once he was sure Harry wasn't going to be watching him, he went to look at the books that had the more advanced, darker spells in them. Of course, today just had to be the day when he encountered a Slytherin. It was Pansy Parkinson. She walked over to him, not appearing mad to anyone who might be observing, but Draco knew that look of hers all too well to be fooled.

"Hello, Draco. Have you been well this summer?" she asked her eyes flashing dangerously, as she held that awfully sadistic smile. "I had been hoping to see you soon, and it's just my luck that I should meet you here, isn't it? Funny how those things sometimes happen," she continued in a sugary sweet voice. She then leaned in close to him and, dropping her falsely sweet voice, whispered, "Watch your back, Malfoy. We don't take kindly to traitors. You of all people know that." she said sneeringly. As she did this, she pressed a piece of folded parchment into his hand.

"Fuck off, Parkinson. I don't care what you think." he said coldly.

"Oh, but I think you should. Having us Slytherin as enemies is not a very safe position to be in." With that being said, she left the shop. Draco pocketed the parchment without reading it, and walked back over to Harry, who was paying the man at the register for his books.

"Are you ready to go yet?" Draco asked Harry. Harry obviously hadn't heard Draco come up behind him, because he jumped.

"Huh? Oh…yeah. I'm done." Harry responded, and they proceeded to walk out the door.

After leaving the bookstore, Draco and Harry flooed back to headquarters. Draco was in an obviously horrid mood because of the run-in with Pansy. This did not escape Harry's notice, but he decided to ignore it. When they stepped into the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was already there.

"Oh, there you are, dears. I was wondering when you would be back," she said, busily cleaning the kitchen. It was only about three in the afternoon. Draco supposed they would have been back sooner if they hadn't kept stopping to window shop.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said pleasantly to Mrs. Weasley. Harry began a chit-chatty conversation with her. While Harry was preoccupied with exchanging pleasantries, Draco slipped off to his room. He wanted to see what that piece of parchment from Parkinson was all about. He sat his bags next to his bed and then sat himself on the bed. He unfolded the parchment and began to read the letter:

Draco,

We are very disappointed in you to say the least. Infuriated, however, might be a better word to describe it. You have betrayed Him, and so you have betrayed us. Who would have thought that you, of all people, would turn traitor? Just remember who has access to you while you're asleep and defenseless. Watch your back, Malfoy. You've made yourself a target. In some ways, you are in much more danger than even Potter. Sleep well.

Your fellow Slytherins.

Draco crumpled the letter and threw it against the wall. 'Who needs those bastards anyway?' he thought angrily. He had been expecting this to come, but that didn't make him any less angry about it. In addition, he had no idea what to do about the Slytherin's threats'. He knew better than to disregard them. So now he wasn't even going to be safe at Hogwarts. "Great. JUST FUCKING GREAT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, rather forgetting people would hear him. Not that he really cared. He stormed about the room, throwing things around without seeing them, or anything else for that matter. He needed to get out.

He was suffocating himself in his own mind. He sank down to the floor, starting to hyperventilate. He felt so claustrophobic. He needed an escape that he didn't have. He felt so suffocated that he stopped breathing. He was choking on his irrational fears. He was about to pass out when he heard the door open tentatively. He tried to shout at the person to leave, but there wasn't enough air. He started to choke again. He felt someone lean down and start to pound his back.

"Try to relax, Malfoy. You'll be alright."

Draco tried to relax, he concentrated solely on doing what the person was telling him to do. Miraculously, he felt air flood his lungs. He began to breathe normally again, and noticed someone was holding him against their chest and rubbing circles on his back. He turned around to see worried green eyes.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, still holding onto him.

Draco nodded, gently pulling out of Harry's grasp, although he didn't really want to. He got off the floor and lay down on his bed, tired from his claustrophobic attack.

"What happened Malfoy?"

Draco shook his head. "Nothing. I just…couldn't breath," he said, feeling that it sounded stupid. "I'm fine now. I just panicked."

Harry sat down at the foot of Draco's bed, studying him intently. "You don't look fine. Is something wrong? Why were you choking in the first place?"

Draco glared at Harry, feeling as though he were prying. "Nothing's wrong. Not that it's any of your business, Potter," he spat. "Leave me alone. Go bother Granger and Weasley," he said, barely refraining from using their nicknames.

Draco thought Harry looked almost hurt for a moment, but it didn't seem that way shortly after. Harry simply shrugged nonchalantly, and got off Draco's bed, leaving the room.

"Bloody stupid Gryffindors. Always thinking everything's their business." He lay down with his face in his pillow. He cried silently until he fell asleep.

Life at Grimmauld Place continued in the following manner for nearly the rest of the summer break:

Harry and Draco pretty much ignored each other, but were civil when they did speak. Draco avoided everyone else, although he fought back brilliantly when Ron started anything. Ron and Hermione stayed cooped up in either of their rooms, snogging and who knows what else. Harry entertained himself with Ginny and Neville, who turned out to be his only real companions for the summer.

Finally, the night before they were to all go back to Hogwarts arrived. Draco knew he should sleep. He knew he needed to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep with he was still on safe turf. But he just couldn't fall asleep. He was too anxious about facing the Slytherins. He was worried about how he was going to stay alive with the Slytherins as his enemy. He knew the only reason they hadn't majorly attacked Harry was because he was too well guarded and too many people would notice his disappearance immediately. The fact that there would be top auror's hunting down his murdered would just be another reason why it would be irrational for Slytherin sixth years to try to kill Harry.

'I could disappear for a month before anyone's notice I was gone,' he thought bitterly. 'I've done this to myself. I've got to deal with the consequences,' he thought.

An odd whimpering noise from Harry's bed broke Draco out of his thoughts. He looked over at Harry, whose face was contorted in pain. It looked as if he were having a nightmare. Within a minute or two, Harry started thrashing in his bed. Draco leaped out of his bed and went to Harry's. He stood over Harry and grabbed a hold of his wrists. He sat next to Harry, who was still squirming in his sleep. He was at a loss as to what he should do next. He decided that Harry needed to wake up.

Draco took hold of Harry's shoulders and gently shook him. That didn't work, so Draco shook him a bit harder. When Harry let out a short, ear-splitting scream, Draco let go of Harry immediately. Draco had no idea what to do. He decided to try to soothe Harry back to sleep. He lay down next to Harry carefully and maneuvered one arm across Harry's chest and the other one under Harry's neck, which gave him enough control of Harry's body to still him more than he had been, although he was still slightly struggling. Draco made shushing sounds and stroked Harry's hair until he stopped struggling, and eventually, they both fell asleep.

Author's Notes:

Well, it's been a while since I updated…I took a break from writing because I lost my motivation to write for a while and I wasn't writing as good as I needed to be. So now I am continuing my story, and I hope to finish it without any more long breaks. I just have to stay focused….eh. Well, I hope you all liked this chapter. I hadn't originally intended to make it as long as it is but I think most people like longer chapters anyway. From now on, I promise to respond to each individual reviewer down here. So review so people will see your name and go….ooooh, ahhhh. Lol.