Smile for Me, Harry
by Sumisweet
Beta-ed by Mon and Bad-Azz-Slytherin
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
Author's note: Hey there. I am sorry for taking so long to update. Enjoy this chapter! I will try to update the next chapter faster then this time. Thank you for being so patience.
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Chapter Eight
Staying with Harry
"There you go, Draco ," Harry murmured as he laid
the blonde gently onto his bed. As he pulled up
the silk covers, Harry's breath caught in his throat
as he found his gaze fastened on the beauty in his
bed.
One of Draco's arms were resting on his chest, while
the other was buried under the soft pillows. His long,
slender legs were hidden under the silk covers, but he
could still see the faint shapes of their graceful
forms. Draco's innocent face was turned away from
Harry, and long, silvery locks tumbled on the
pillow….for the first time, Harry noticed that the
blonde angel sleeping peacefully in his bed was very
attractive.
It was with great reluctance that he was finally able
to tear eyes away from the enchanting sight. Making
his away across the bedroom, Harry went to his
closet and changed out of his jeans to comfortable
black pajamas before making his way to the study to
compose a letter to the Malfoys:
Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,
This is Harry Potter, and before you start to
wonder why I am writing to you, I would like to
inform you that Draco is currently staying at my place
due to an unfortunate incident that happened earlier
in the day. I do not believe that it is my place
to tell you what happened.
Please be assured that your son is in good hands.
Draco will return to the manor when he has recovered
from the ordeal. If you do not believe this to be a
good idea, let me know and I will personally apparate
him home.
Sincerely,
Harry Potter
After re-reading it several times, Harry finally
folded the letter and placed his seal on it.
Walking over to Hedwig's cage, which stood a few feet
from the huge window behind his desk, Harry unlatched
the door & reached for his owl. "Hey there, Hedwig.
Would you deliver this letter for me to the Malfoy
Manor?" Harry's voice was soft as he whispered into
Hedwig's ear. The snowy owl stuck her left foot out
to Harry and hooted.
With a smile on his face, Harry tied the letter to
Hedwig's foot with a green ribbon and opened the
window for Hedwig to fly out before yawning. Today
had been a long day for him, what with Draco almost
getting raped and finding out about his sacrifice.
It was all too much for him at once.
Slumping his shoulders, he shuffled slowly to his bed
and laid down next to Draco. His eyes closed and
before he had a chance to even consider his actions,
Harry mumbled a soft "sweet dreams" to Draco before
drifting off into a deep sleep with the hope that the
blonde would not mind sharing a bed with him.
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Feeling refreshed from a good night's rest, Draco
woke up and stretched languidly. Turning over to his
side slightly, he found himself against a warm
object. With his hands, the blonde started feeling
around, trying to identify the object before his
senses were overwhelmed with panic. As his
fingers slowly travelled up the source of the
warmth, Draco noted that whatever he was feeling
right now was very smooth. Scooting closer, he
caught a faint smell.
Oh dear, that is the smell of shampoo. This cannot
be good. As the realization of his discovery finally
sunk in, Draco started to panic. His hands started
moving around frantically before he touched something
soft—it was cloth—and further up, there was something
soft and silky—hair. It finally came to his senses
that he was in bed with someone. And not just anyone,
but a man! Thoughts of his attackers at the alley
assailed his mind, making him reel at the implications
of his findings...who is this man? Where is he?
Thoughts of what he was doing in this person's bed
steadily increased Draco's panic as memories of the
thugs in the alley came to his mind. Was he raped?
Where were Hermione and Ron? They could not have
abandoned him to those thugs……
Frantically, he scooted away from the man as fast as
he could. With a loud 'oof', Draco fell out of the
bed, all tangled up amidst the bed sheet and covers,
pulling Harry down with him to the floor and jolting
him awake.
"Ouch! What happened?" Harry groaned. Forcing his
eyes to open, Harry waited until his blurry vision
came into focus. Immediately, he noticed Draco on the
floor. The blonde's eyes, though unseeing, were wide
with terror. A wave of sympathy for the blonde's
distress immediately washed over Harry. Slowly,
crawling on all fours so as not to alarm him, Harry
quietly approached the frightened blonde and clasped
one of Draco's hands soothingly.
"Who are you? Let go of me!" Draco cried out angrily
in an attempt to mask his fear as he felt Harry's hand
in his own.
"Shhhhh, it's okay. It's Harry," Harry soothed the
frightened boy.
"Harry?" Draco squeaked.
"Yes, Harry. Harry Potter."
Draco immediately started to tremble uncontrollably
and reluctantly withdrew his hand from Harry's warm
one. What should he do? This was not supposed to
happen. He could not stay with Harry for long. He
had made a promise to himself that he would never
let Harry into his life again. Never……
Though it pained him to do so, Draco said in a cold
voice, "Where am I? Where is Hermione?"
Taking aback from Draco's cold tone, Harry replied
uncomfortably, "You're at my house right now. I
thought it would be better for you to stay with me for
a while……at least till you recover….."
"I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me. Where is my
dog?" Draco questioned as soon as he noticed the
absence of his beloved companion.
Groaning mentally, Harry scolded himself for his
carelessness). How could he have forgotten the (golden
retriever?
"He is still at Hermiones house. Do you want me
to get him?" Harry asked as he rose from the
floor) and helped Draco up.
"Can you take me over there, please?" Draco asked
in an emotionless tone.
"Um, yeah sure," Harry trailed off uncomfortably at
the blonde's distant demeanor. "Let me get dressed
first."
All the time that Harry was walking to his wardrobe,
he debated with himself whether he should change in
front of Draco or not. Though he knew that the blonde
was blind, he still felt uneasy changing in front of
him.
While Harry was picking clothes from his wardrobe,
Draco began to take in his surroundings, walking
with small steps and touching furniture and items.
Suddenly, he stoppedand blushed, crossing his arms
across his chest in an attempt to conceal his naked
torso.
"Potter?" Draco squeaked again.
Frowning slightly at Draco's use of his last name,
Harry asked, "What?" as he pulled a clean shirt
over his head.
"Do you think I could borrow a shirt for the
meantime?" Draco asked sheepishly.
Harry blinked and blushed at the sight of the half
naked blonde. "Oh, yeah, sure. I'll find a shirt you
can borrow." After perusing his choices, Harry
finally decided to lend Draco a deep maroon shirt and
brought it over to the blonde.
"Here, do you need help?" Harry offered.
Draco flared up inside. Did Harry really think him
so useless? Sniffing indignantly at the remark, he
scowled, "I can do it just fine by myself, Potter."
Taken aback at the blonde's attitude, Harry just
said okay and got his wand from the small drawer at
the side of the bed.
"Are you ready, Draco?"
"Don't call me "Draco". Just Malfoy, Potter. Malfoy,"
Draco drawled.
"Okay, M— Malfoy." Harry was confused. Didn't
Hermione say that Draco loved him? If so, why didn't
he act like it at all? Maybe he didn't love him
anymore.
At this final thought, Harry's feelings turned bitter
and he scowled. Fine. Like he cared if Drac– Malfoy
loved him or not. He would just repay his debt to
Malfoy by taking care of the blonde till he was strong
enough to be by himself. Grabbing Malfoy's hand, Harry
apparated both of them to Hermione's house.
"How could you, Hermione?" Draco exclaimed painfully.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stand it anymore. Harry
needed to know."
Hermione hugged Draco and apologized. "He needed to
know what you had done for him. You sacrificed your
sight for him, Draco."
Feeling the beginning of tears prickling his eyes
Draco let them trail down his cheeks. He didn't want
to trouble Harry at all. He just wanted Harry to have
a wonderful and happy life, not spending the rest
of his days feeling sorry for a blind person.
"Please Draco, stay with Harry for a while….at least
until you are well enough to go home. I know that
encounter in the alley must have affected you
mentally and physically. There are bruises all over
your body. Just stay with Harry for a while until they
are healed. Please, do it for me," Hermione pleaded.
Hermione really wanted this opportunity for Harry to
get along with Draco, and maybe even fall in love with
him. Draco needed that love to carry on with his life.
Only Harry could give him the kind of love and comfort
that the blonde so desperately needed. Draco had
sacrificed so much for Harry already. Hermione hoped
that if they spent enough time together, Harry would
come to understand Draco's unconditional love for
him….
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were outside in the yard
since Hermione wanted some time alone with Draco.
"How was last night?" Ron asked Harry, who was
wearing a very perplexed expression .
Harry sighed and scratched his head in confusion.
"Last night was okay—everything went smoothly. The
problems started this morning when he woke up. I
tried to be nice and caring toward him, but he closed
up on me. I don't think he wants to stay with me. But
god, Ron, I really want to repay him, but how could I
if he is acting like a prat all the time?"
Ron smiled weakly at Harry.
"I'm trying to say that if Malfoy 'loves' me, why
doesn't he show it? Maybe he doesn't love me anymore."
Harry started to pace with his hands stuffed into
his pockets.
"So he is playing hard to get. Same old
selfless-Draco," Ron muttered under his breath.
"What did you say, Ron?" Harry turned his head toward
Ron when he heard the redhead's mumbling.
"Nothing. You know Draco–"
"Malfoy. He told me to call him Malfoy, not Draco."
"Really?" Ron had expected Draco to be cold towards
Harry so this came as no big surprise to him.
"You're not giving up on him though right?"
"Damn right, I'm not! You'll see, I will repay
Malfoy for his kind deed to me. I don't care if he
loves me or not, but I will repay him even if he
acts like a pain in the arse," Harry said with
determination.
Ron smiled brilliantly and slapped Harry heartily
on the back. "Now that is what I'm talking about,
Harry. Cheer up, mate!"
"Thanks," Harry muttered. At least Ron was being
supportive. "Say, do you think Malfoy and Hermione are
done with their conversation yet? You and I have been
out here two hours already."
"Potter!" a voice shouted from the house).
Harry turned around to see Draco and Hemione standing
at the door. Hermione had a proud smirk on her face
while Draco's was still emotionless. Hermione nudged
Draco in the arm as if to tell him to go on.
"Um, Potter, would it be all right if I stay with you
for a while? You don't have to–" Draco was
interrupted by Harry.
"You are more than welcome to stay with me as long as
you wish." Harry offered.
"Thank you, Potter." Draco meekly mumbled.
Was it the sun or did Draco's lips just twitched up
into a smile at him? Harry wasn't sure for it was gone
faster than a blink of an eye.
Hermione gave a secret smile of her own. Slapping her
hands together, she said cheerfully, "So, who is up
for breakfast? I'll be making blueberry pancakes!"
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That is all for now! Please review! It'll make me very happy and maybe even cheer me to write Chapter Nine faster. Cookies and cream for all!