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Unexpected…

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Harry was barely conscious as he tried to go for his wand when he realized Theo had kicked it away. His glasses were broken so he couldn't see properly either but he did hear Daphne say Draco's name when the two looked at the entrance of the classroom from where the spell had hit and knocked out Theo.

Harry tried to push himself up but the adrenaline inside his body had begun to subside. He slowly started to feel the pain from his wound, too.

Daphne saw Draco walk in. She didn't have a wand either as she moved over to Harry, shielding his body with hers as she glared at the blond. "Don't," she said with a tone of warning. Her voice was shaking and her eyes were wet as she looked at Draco with pleading eyes.

Draco looked at the two for a moment before he put his wand away. "I warned you about Nott," he said before he looked at Harry. "What's he doing here?" he asked.

"I…I don't know," she said as she looked at Harry who was barely conscious. His breathing was ragged. "When I woke up I found him and Theo fighting. Maybe…Maybe he came here…looking for me."

"For you?" Draco sounded surprised. "Potter came for you?"

"Help me take him to the infirmary," she said standing up.

"You know what you are doing, right? Greengrass?" Draco said.

"Draco, please! Can we forget about the house rivalries for a minute and do what's important?" Daphne pleaded. "He tried to protect me. He's in this condition because of me! Please, help me take him to the infirmary."

Draco looked conflicted as he pressed his lips, deliberating whether to listen to her request. "Don't blame me though when it all comes back to bite you," he said before he looked at Harry. "I never thought I'd be helping him. After this mess is over you'll have to explain it to me whatever is going on between you and Potter, otherwise don't expect me to come to your rescue next time when you are in danger." Daphne said nothing but her silence gave Draco the answer. "Right…the corridors are filled with students so it's impossible to take him to the infirmary without anyone seeing us…"

"He should have his cloak with him," Daphne said as she knelt down beside Harry. "Harry, did you bring your invisibility cloak?" she asked.

"Po…Pocket," Harry managed to speak.

"It should be in one of the front pockets," Draco said, knowing that the kind of robe Harry was wearing didn't have any side or back pockets in them. "You will have to turn him to the side."

"But he is injured," she said.

"And that's my problem?" Draco said before he saw the look on her face. He sighed. "Fine!" he said rolling his eyes as he floated Harry in the air so Daphne could take the cloak from his pocket. She found it and took it out before Draco slowly put Harry back on the floor. Daphne unfurled the cloak as Draco looked at it. "It's not going to fit all three of us," he said.

"It will fit me and Harry," she said as Draco raised a brow. "Help me stand him up."

Draco sighed as he put his wand away and walked up to Harry. "I still can't believe I am doing this," he said as he pulled Harry up on his feet.

"Careful," Daphne said as Harry groaned.

"I'm doing my best here. Helping my enemy isn't going well for my pride at the moment," Draco said. "You should be glad I'm helping you with him at all."

Daphne said nothing as she put one arm of Harry around her shoulder, supporting his weight on her. "Put the cloak over us," she said looking at Draco who glared at her. "Please?"

Draco complied unwillingly as he covered them with the cloak and was surprised to see the two go completely invisible. He had heard rumors of how effective Harry's cloak was but he had never seen it work in person. From what he knew about invisibility cloaks none of them worked as perfect as Harry's which made Draco wonder where Harry had gotten it from. He knew it was from Harry's father but even then someone must've made it before it arrived in the Potter family.

"Is…Is Astoria alright?" he heard Daphne say.

"She is" Draco assured her. "I took her back to the common room before coming to look for you."

"How did you know I would be here?" she asked.

"Theo had accidentally mentioned it when he was talking about teaching you sisters a lesson. He said that he would bring you to the southern tower as people barely come here so no one would know about it."

"Thank you…for making sure Astoria is safe," Daphne said.

"At least she listens to me. Unlike you," Draco said before he paused and looked at where he thought Daphne was standing. "Come on. Let's hurry him to the infirmary."

Daphne didn't know what to think of this situation. She had had two unexpected people helping her tonight. She nodded but then realized Draco couldn't see her response so instead she told him to take the lead as she followed after him while supporting a now unconscious Harry by her side.

"What about Theo?" she asked a few minutes later as they were half way to the infirmary.

"I'll go back for him once you two reach the infirmary," Draco said.

Daphne said nothing and they kept walking in silence. The corridors were indeed crowded and Daphne bumped into a bunch of students who looked around in confusion, wondering what had bumped into them. Eventually the three reached the infirmary. Because of the Ball Daphne wondered if Pomfrey would be on duty. She saw a house elf arranging a bunch of potions in one of the cupboards as Draco and Daphne helped Harry lay on one of the empty beds. They were the only three people in the infirmary for which both Daphne and Draco were grateful.

It was then that Daphne realized Harry had developed a fever as his body was shaking slightly and his temperature had risen. She was glad for a moment that he was unconscious as she could only imagine the pain that Harry would be feeling right now. After making sure he was laying properly on his stomach Daphne looked at Draco and thanked him for his help.

"Don't creep me out like that Greengrass," Draco said. "Just remember to heed my warnings from next time. Also, get yourself checked, too. You have a nasty cut on your lip." She nodded as he left her in the infirmary with Harry. It was then that the house elf walked up to her and stopped immediately when he noticed Harry's condition.

"What happened to Master Harry?" the elf asked.

Daphne looked at the elf confused as she wondered how he knew Harry. "He…He had an accident," she said.

The elf looked at her before he popped away. He arrived a minute later with Pomfrey who looked at Harry with shocked eyes. She then saw Daphne's bruised face, her cut lip and torn gown. "What happened?" she asked in a serious tone as she began to examine Harry.

"We had an accident," Daphne said when another elf popped beside them. He shivered as he looked at Harry.

"Harry Potter, sir. What happened?" the elf said as his eyes teared up.

"Dobby, if you want to help Harry then help me," Pomfrey said as she administered a pain relieving potion to Harry. "I will have to prepare the rub to apply on his burn. Look after him while I'm gone."

Dobby nodded as Pomfrey took a look at Daphne. She then waved her wand and healed Daphne's lip before excusing herself to go and prepare the rub. Daphne watched her go before she was distracted by Dobby's crying. It was surprising to see a house elf cry for a human. She had never seen anything like this. Even the other house elf seemed to know Harry.

"You are Dobby, right?" she said as the elf looked at her. "How do you know Harry?"

"Sir Harry Potter helped Dobby become a free elf," Dobby said. "He made Dobby's former master Malfoy give Dobby a sock. Sir Harry Potter then said that Dobby could serve him by being a free elf."

She had a lot of questions as Daphne thought about what Dobby had just said, however, now wasn't the right time to ask them. Pomfrey arrived a few minutes later and quickly started to apply the rub on Harry's back.

"Will he be alright?" Daphne asked. Her voice was shaking as she saw Harry shiver because of the pain. Despite the pain relieving potion he could still feel the pain from the wound.

"It's a nasty burn," Pomfrey said, "which reminds me…what accident did you two end up in?" She then looked Daphne from top to bottom. Her torn gown told the medi-witch that something else was the matter. 'Damned teenagers', she said mentally. "Did Harry do that to you?" she asked looking at Daphne's torn clothes.

"No," Daphne replied quickly but quietly. "He…He tried to save me." Her voice was shaking as she did her best to hold back her tears when the doors to the infirmary opened and Tracey ran inside. She stopped as soon as she saw Daphne and Harry as her eyes widened in shock.

"Are…Are you okay?" she asked walking up to Daphne as the two hugged each other.

Feeling her best friend's embrace Daphne could finally let go as she started to cry silently. She nodded while hugging her best friend for her dear life. They broke the hug before Tracey looked at Harry.

"I swear to Merlin I'll kill him," Tracey said.

"Will someone tell me what happened?" Pomfrey said as she finished applying the rub on Harry's wound. "It was clearly not an accident."

"Is that what you told her?" Tracey asked sounding surprised as she looked from Pomfrey to Daphne, who looked away.

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Harry woke up feeling thirsty as smell of different potions hit his nose. He then realized where he was as he looked at the familiar ceiling above him. He remembered what had happened when he felt something on his hand and saw it was Daphne, sleeping by his bed with her head on his hand. He looked at the time and saw it was almost three in the morning. His hand had gone numb because of Daphne sleeping on it but he couldn't dare to move it as he was worried that he might wake her up. But he was also very thirsty so he needed to get some water from his bedside table. For that he needed to move his hand from under Daphne's head.

'Maybe if I do it slowly…' he thought before he slowly started to move his hand away. Unfortunately for him the blanket got pulled with his hand and Daphne woke up, slowly opening her eyes. She quickly sat up as she realized that she had slept on his hand and looked a little embarrassed.

"You're awake!" she said looking at Harry. "How are you feeling?"

"Just a little sore," he said.

"How is your back?" she asked.

"I don't feel any pain. I guess it healed completely," Harry said before he paused and looked at her. "Are you alright?" he asked in a serious tone. "Did he…Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Your voice sounds dry. Here have some water," she said as she handed him the glass.

Harry smiled a little as he took the glass full of water from her before slowly gulping it down. "Did you get yourself checked from Madam Pomfrey?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for your concern," Daphne said, sounding a little annoyed. She realized her tone as she looked down. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm fine. I just had a slight cut. Compared to your wound it's nothing. Let me see how much it's healed."

"Are you sure?" he asked. She looked at him with a 'really?' look so he sighed before lying down on his stomach. She touched his bare back and it sent chills down his spine. Seeing him shiver a little Daphne immediately moved her hand away.

"Am I hurting you?" she asked, sounding worried.

"No…No, you're not," Harry said.

Daphne nodded as she looked at where he had suffered the burn. It was gone completely, thanks to Pomfrey's rub but the scar was still there. Scars usually took a long time to heal, even with the help of magical medicine. As she looked at his back it wasn't the huge scar that made her eyes wet. It was those small ones that covered his entire back.

(A few hours ago…)

After Pomfrey had tended to Daphne's lip she focused her attention on Harry. Daphne wanted to help but Pomfrey told her to rest and do nothing. So she sat on the bed next to his as she watched the medi-witch tend to Harry's wounds. It was then that Daphne noticed the many small scars on Harry's back. Some of them seemed quite old while others not so much. She wondered what those wounds were so she asked Pomfrey about it.

"Of course he hasn't told you," the medi-witch said. "He is quite sensitive about it but since you technically saved his life by bringing him here in time, I think you deserve to know."

"Know what?" Daphne asked.

"Harry's relatives – they physically abuse him."

Daphne went numb when she heard those words as she looked at the scars on Harry's back. They looked to be made from lashes or something. 'They hit him?' she thought.

"He told me that his relatives didn't like magical people," Daphne said slowly.

"They not only don't like magical people, they hate them," Pomfrey said. "They are the perfect example of people that the likes of Grindelwald and then you-know-who want to eradicate from this world – the muggles who hate magic. Although in both of their cases they saw all muggles like that. After Harry's parents' death and with Sirius Black incarcerated in Azkaban, his aunt and uncle were the only immediate family that Dumbledore could find. I think he didn't know enough about them otherwise Dumbledore wouldn't have put Harry in their care. I don't know the full details for the headmaster never told me about it. When Harry came to me in his second year after his wrist bone had been removed by that Lockhart I saw the scars on his back and asked him about it. I had to persuade him a lot until he finally told me how his uncle and cousin used to beat him up every now and then. He said he didn't want to stay with them but Dumbledore wanted him to so he had no choice…"

Daphne then remembered how Harry had told her about his mother's protection spell because of which he needed to stay with his aunt. To her it didn't make sense for him to live with his abusive relatives who were clearly a danger to him, just so Harry could be kept safe from Voldemort and his death eaters. She wondered whether Dumbledore really didn't know about Harry's relatives or he had ignored that just so he could make Harry stay there because of the protection spell – if Dumbledore's theory was correct, that is.

"…I don't know," Pomfrey continued as Daphne came out of her thoughts. "Neither Dumbledore nor Harry told me about it. He asked me to keep this a secret as he didn't want anyone to know about it. What could I do? Besides, I was bound by the healers' oath and couldn't just tell anyone anything about my patient."

"So why tell me?" Daphne asked.

"If there is one thing I know about Harry, it's that if he cares about someone then he considers them to be very special to him. I think its maybe because he never had a real family," Pomfrey said. "I suppose you can now imagine how he would've felt when his two best friends didn't stand with him when he was accused of lying at the start of this year."

Daphne now realized why Harry was so upset by his friends' betrayal. When they had first started holding those meetings she was often annoyed by how much he complained about Hermione and Ron. Now she knew. He considered them family and in that sense his family had betrayed him.

"You said he fought Theo to save you," Pomfrey said as she and Daphne saw Theo lying in the bed on the other end of the room. Pomfrey had given him a relatively strong dose of sleeping potion so he won't wake up until morning after which he was to be taken to Professor Snape.

Daphne nodded slowly. "He's in this condition because of me," she said as she fought hard to hold back her tears. To think how much Harry had endured in his life and yet he still seemed to be this normal had really shaken her to the core.

"Don't blame yourself," Pomfrey had said. "If you do then Harry will think that he was the reason that you got hurt. He blames himself a lot, you know."

(Back to the present time…)

Harry didn't know what had happened. Out of the blue Daphne had hugged him before she started to cry silently. He sat there shocked but then slowly hugged her back. That warm embrace of hers made him forget about everything as they sat there on his bed hugging each other. He didn't want this embrace to end. It made him feel complete in some sense. It may be because he hadn't been hugged by many people. However, Daphne's felt more…heart touching.

A few moments later she wanted to let go but Harry stopped her. "Please, stay like this," he pleaded in a shaky voice.

Daphne's eyes became wet as she nodded slowly. "Okay," she said somewhat whispered. "We can stay like this for as long as you want."

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Thanks for reading…