Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Italics: thought or emphasis

Bold: dream or flashback

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Chapter 7: Pain and Voices

Voldemort's laughs...

"I know, Harry. I know how to make you scream, hurt, and die!"

Harry Potter gasped as he woke. He panted, looking around anxiously.

He was home. In his bed in Griffindor Tower. He could see the light from the moonlight through the curtains that were drawn around his bed. He could hear Neville's snores across the room.

He let out a short sound of agony. His scar began to throb with pain again. He had gotten so used to it over the past couple weeks, he hadn't noticed. He sighed, rubbing his forehead and climbing out of bed, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep again.

He'd been having so many nightmares, he was tempted to ask Firenze what they meant. But he guessed that he was the only one who would take them seriously now that Voldemort had returned.

But these dreams weren't normal. Usually, they were about things the Dark Lord was thinking about, or what he was doing. These dreams were vague, and seemed to be here to torture them. Had Voldemort had found out how to control what Harry saw? And he was using this to toture him?

Harry shivered at the next possibility. Could it be true? Could Voldemort have found a way to get to him?

Harry knew the best weapon to use against an enemy: the heart. Surely Voldemort knew that as well? What if Voldemort had discovered what meant most to Harry?

Harry stopped dressing for a moment. Draco...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Draco Malfoy smiled in his sleep, but was woken to early by the sounds of Crabbe and Goyle's grunts. He growled and sat up grumpily. He had been having a good dream.

He smiled at the thought. Kissing Harry on a beach. No one watching, no whispers of disgust, no holding back, just desire. He sighed contently, thinking on it while he dressed.

"Mmm...I expected more out of you, Malfoy," whispered a voice.

Draco looked up. He looked around the silver and green donned room, with it's five beds, damp walls, and hanging chandelier. He shrugged and pulled on his robe, thinking he had imagined the voice.

"In love...such a pity," the voice spat. Draco stopped, listening hard. He slipped out the door, looking suspiciously around the room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The voice came again throughout the day, and it started to ring in Draco's ears. He sighed, trying to concentrate on the quiz.

"In love...such a pity."

He shook his head. He sighed and dipped his quill into his ink bottle for more.

"I'll kill him before you touch him."

He couldn't shake those words...

"Tests up!" requested Professor McGonagall. Malfoy looked down at the ink blot his quill had made and cursed silently. He jotted down as many answers as he could and turned in his test.

He watched his feet rythimically touch the stone as he thought about the voice that haunted his thoughts.

Who was it talking about? Him? But he wasn't in love.

Draco stopped. Harry...

Was he in love? He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing away the question.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Harry chewed the end of his sugar quill, reading his textbook intently.

"Scream, hurt, and die!"

"AH!" Harry shouted, slapping a hand to his forehead. He felt himself tumble to the ground as a searing pain shot through his entire skull. "AahHHH!" he heard, unsure if he had screamed again.

The pain was unbearable! He felt like his skull would crack under the pressure! It was like lightning had struck him.

His vision blurred as if his glasses had been knocked off, but he could feel them slipping down his sweaty nose. People swarmed around him. A tuft of poofy brown hair floated on his face, and a bright red patch over a head stood out in the crowd. Ron... 'Mione... He felt blackness narrow his vision and heard screams before all was black.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Draco's heart skipped a beat. He stopped, listening to the gossip from the nearby tables. It was lunchtime and talk was buzzing. Draco had heard Harry's name.

"No! Is he okay?"

Draco turned to the voice of a sneering Slytherin.

"Heh, Potter's faking again, eh?"

"Yeah, that fainting out of nowhere crap's just that: crap."

Draco stood, having lost his appetite. "I'll be back for History of Magic," he muttered to his cronies before stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaving the Great Hall. He felt people stare as he left.

Draco sighed, taking the long way to the library. What had happened? How was Harry? Draco wondered aimlessly as he thought of the possibility of going to the Hospital Wing to check up on him.

He sighed again. That would be too obvious. Hermione was the only one that knew he had even remote feelings for Harry, even if he didn't know for sure. He didn't want anyone else knowing, Harry at the bottom of the list.

"Why not, Malfoy? After all, Golden Boy loves you, doesn't he?" asked that voice tauntingly. Draco growled and pushed it aside. He didn't need that now.

"Draco?" called a voice. Draco turned to see Hermione in the doorway of the library. He gave her a very small smile. "No one's in the library," she whispered. "You can come with me." Draco nodded and followed, relieved.

"So, what's on your mind?" Hermione whispered, sitting at a table furthest from the door and hidden by shelves. Draco looked up at her, silently asking her if she knew the answer already. She smiled, seemingly able to read his mind. "Harry's fine. He woke earlier. His scar hurts a lot lately... He's been having nightmares, and he wakes with the pain..." Draco looked down. If anything, this was making it worse.

"But don't worry," she said, reading his mind again. "Harry'll be fine. He's gone through so much worse. He's confronted Voldemort face to face half a dozen times, the pain of his scar hardly ever phases him."

Draco sighed and nodded. "Thanks, Hermione..." She smiled and nodded.

"You really should tell him you care, Draco. It would mean so much to him to know you two don't have to be enemies..." A glare flashed across Draco's face. "But no pressure. I know better than any that people like you and Harry need to go at their own pace."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'people like me and Harry?'"

Hermione smiled. "You two aren't so different."

"How?" he demanded.

"You both laugh, and you cry. You live, and you love. You hurt, and you need. You both have a need to prove yourselves, not because you're self-centered, but because people wouldn't leave you alone if you didn't. You've both been walked all over by the people who are supposed to love you. You've both turned to hate to escape. And you're both learning that love is the answer."

Draco stared. Hermione smiled. "See?" Draco chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded, unable to argue with her logic. Hermione giggled. "Do you want to see Harry, Draco? Ron and Madam Pomphrey are at lunch, and no one else visits much."

Draco bit his lip. He thought for a moment of the risk before nodding. What would Harry do? Go, Draco answered himself with a smile.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Draco wished he hadn't come. The look on Harry's face was too somber, too pale, too...peaceful.

He...he looks... He couldn't bring himself to even think the word before his eyes stung with tears. Dead...

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to smile at Hermione.

"In love with the Golden Boy, and comforted by a mudblood. Your father would be ashamed, Malfoy."

Draco growled. "Shut up," he muttered. Hermione frowned.

"I didn't say anything."

"Not you," he replied. Hermione blinked.

"No one else is here..." Draco looked at her.

"You didn't hear it?" he asked.

"Hear what?" she asked back, confused.

"Heh, you really think a mubdblood can hear me?"

"Stop calling her that!" Draco screamed at nothingness, his hand balling into a fist.

"Why? Do you love her too, traitor?"

"She's my--FRIEND!" he said, punching the wall next to Harry's bed. He felt it dent under his hand.

"Draco! You'll wake Harry!" Hermione whispered. Draco looked at the sleeping, pale angel on the bed beside him.

"Traitor..."

"I am not a traitor."

"Traitor..."

"I am not. I pledge my loyalty to no one."

Hermione stared and sighed. Draco looked at her. "Not like that," he muttered.

"Maybe we should leave," she whispered. Draco looked at Harry and nodded.

"I'll kill him."

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Draco screamed.

"Draco!"

Harry mumbled, waking. "Draco?" he muttered sleepily.

Draco gasped and dashed out of the Hospital Wing.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Hope you liked! Won't get a chance to update for a while. Review please!

Next Chapter: Will Draco lighten up and at least talk to Harry? Is Voldemort near Hogwarts? If so, why?