A.N. Y'all are gonna love me! O.k. not really, but the plot is actually moving semi-forward. Yeaahhhhh...Sooo this took a while to update, but yesterday (Tues. 2/22) the power was out (and those -beep-s dinnit send us home... the nerve) and the day before (Mon. 2/21) was a holiday and I don't do the weekend thang (no comp. My home comp. is riddled with viruses and hates me anywho). SO, I'm gonna try and update once a week (depending on how long the chapter is, how many chapters there will ultimately be, whether there's power or not, if it's a short week and if I'm on spring break). Is that good with you? I do hope so, because that's the way it's going to be.

Wow, this chapter went a lot differently than planned. I dinnit know that I was going to add the "name-calling" but, it works, so... this chapter may be a bit OOC but... I lost my train of thought... nope, there it is, it crashed and killed the 200 brain cells that were riding in it. Ha-ha j/k:D

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Thanks to Cerdo Volador, who is translating this into Spanish (the language I failed ;;)! If anyone wants to translate this fic (or any other one) into any language, just ask me, I'd be SUPER grateful! THANK YOU!

A.N. August 2nd


Chapter 6-Collisions

Draco sighed. As much as he had protested against it, his mother had insisted on personally teaching him Latin every summer. She had said that it would help him remember spells, and besides, it was nice to know multiple languages. He'd protested that Latin was a dead language, but to know avail

He rounded the corner and smacked straight into someone. Guess who? "Geez, watch where you're going Potter!"

Harry stood up from where he'd been knocked down to and brushed himself off. "Same to you, Malfoy," he said coldly.

Draco glared at him and tried to stand up, but found that his right ankle was quite unwilling to participate. With a great deal of effort, he finally righted himself, but wobbled a little. He must have sprained his ankle somehow.

He shot another glare at Harry, who seemed to have realized that he was injured and looked mildly amused by the fact, and took a cautious step.

He knew that he was going to fall before he actually did. He braced for the impact, but it never came. It seemed that, on instinct, when Harry saw that Draco was going to fall, he reached out to steady him.

Harry, realizing what he had just done, jerked his hands back, stared at them in horror, then jammed them into his jean's pockets.

Draco, shaking of the momentary shock, snapped, "I don't need your help Potter!"

Harry shrugged."Whatever. Where's the library?"

"Geez, didn't Jordan show you yesterday?"

"I forgot."

"It's back the way you just came," Draco told him grudgingly. Wait. The library was where he was headed for Latin lessons... "Why...?" he asked suspiciously.

"Narcissa insisted on teaching me Latin," Harry replied.

Damn. "Lucky me..." Draco muttered under his breath. This was just like his mother, playing cupid.

"So how far that way is the library?"

"Not very."

Harry accepted this as a good enough answer, turned and walked back the way he had come.

Draco took a step to follow him, as he needed to go to the library as well (as much as he didn't want to..), but his ankle gave way and he collapsed to his knees. He now had very few choices, and none of them were particularly dignified. He could a.) crawl to the library, b.) ask for help, or c.) wait for one of his cousins to stroll by. He didn't have time to decide though, because there was a hand in his face.

Draco looked up at Harry. "Wha-"

"Well, you can't get up on your own can you?" Harry asked shortly.

Draco glared at him begrudgingly, but took the other boy's hand and allowed himself to be helped up. Soon he found himself limping to the library while leaning on his betrothed for support.

"I hate you," Draco said suddenly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're so immature."

Draco clenched his teeth in rage and would have cursed Harry, had he not desperately needed his support.

Just before they entered the library Harry stopped,. turned to Draco, and calmly asked, "Have you ever stopped to wonder why we hate each other?"


Narcissa nearly cried when she saw Draco and Harry enter the library together, not because her son was injured, but because the boys were actually touching. Draco looked pained, dumbstruck and thoughtful and Harry's face was blank.

"Draco twisted his ankle," Harry told Narcissa.

Draco whirled his head around to stare at Harry. This was the first time that he'd heard Harry call him by his first name and he was stunned speechless. All he could do was keep opening and shutting his mouth as though he had something to say, but it just wasn't coming out.

"Stop that," Harry told him sharply as he deposited him into a chair. "You look like a fish."

Draco was about to argue that he most certainly did not, but was interrupted by a sharp sudden pain in his ankle. "Don't do that!" he snapped at his mother who had accidentally jiggled his foot while inspecting his ankle.

Narcissa shot a glare at her son and continued to check his injured ankle. Finally she announced, "It's just a sprain." She paused, then continued, "I could heal it... but I'm not going to."

Draco stared at his mother, jaw dropped. "W-why not?"

Narcissa stood up from where she had been kneeling and looked her stunned son in the eyes. "Because this is a humbling experience for you," she told him," and you need as many of those as you can get."

"What do you mean?" Draco demanded.

"I mean, you've turned into an arrogant little prick just like your father. And frankly, I'm sick of the way you treat everyone. You're rude, mean hateful, I've already said arrogant, but I'll say it again, arrogant and disrespectful."

Draco stared at her in silent angry shock.

"Oh, yes," Narcissa added. "And you're vain. I can't believe you turned out this way. I didn't think that your father was around to influence you this much, but obviously, I was terribly mistaken. So, until you stop acting like you're better than everyone else, don't expect anyone in this house to do anything for you. That includes cooking your meals, healing you and helping you to your room. Maybe you'll learn to be more appreciative." And with a crack, Narcissa Disapparated.

Harry gulped. Obviously it was not a good idea to make Narcissa mad. He glanced over at Draco, who looked very much like he'd been slapped hard. Very hard.

After Draco got over the utter shock of his mother's little 'name-calling-fest', he realized that he was, once again, in a tough position. How was he to get to his room? He really should stay off his ankle until he healed it (the spell for healing was in his room) and he couldn't be Apparating, it was too risky because he was injured. Flooing was also out of the question because it required concentration and- oh yeah- standing.

"I guess this means no Latin," Harry said. Draco nodded. "Well, let's go," he said, walking over to Draco.

"What?"

"Well..." Harry said slowly. "How are you going to get to your room if I don't help you?"

"But mother practically forbid anyone to help me," Draco protested.

"No, she didn't" Harry argued. "She just said don't expect anyone to help you. So, do you want my help or not?"

Draco almost snapped that he didn't need anyone's help, but stopped himself because that was simply not true. "Yes please," he said reluctantly.

Harry helped Draco up and put his arm around the blonde's waist to support him, while making sure that Draco's arm was around his own shoulders. "Where's your room?" he asked.

"Down the hall, just a bit past yours."

"They walked (or limped) in silence until they reached Draco's door. Draco let go of Harry and, grabbing the door frame for support, turned to him. "I don't know," he said.

"What?" Harry asked puzzledly.

"You asked me why we hate each other," Draco explained," and I thought about it and I don't know."

"Just think about it some more," Harry said. "I know you'll get it."

Then it dawned on him, right then and there. "Because that's how we were raised!"

"That's right," said Harry nodding. "It's how we were raised. So... why don't we start over?"

"Start... over?" Draco repeated.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Pretend that we've just met."

"That sounds-" Draco stopped himself right before he said 'stupid'. This being nice thing was going to take some work.

"- silly." he finished. "But, o.k."

"Good. Hi, I'm Harry Potter and I'm a 16-year-old wizard," said Harry shaking Draco's free hand.

"Erm, nice to meet you. I'm Draco Malfoy.

-tbc-


A.N. Awwww! Oh, can you tell I've got a thing with Latin yet? I thought so. Yeah...

OMG! I'm Key Club President now! YES-punches the air- Let's celebrate! Cookies all around-hands out cookies and butterbeer-