"Are you alright?" Draco asked as Potter's hand came up yet again to rub agitatedly at his eye, dislodging his glasses in the process.
"Yeah, I just had a bad landing. I think I've got a bit of mud or something in my eye." Draco had to think for a moment but soon remembered that Potter had told him he'd been flying.
"Do you want me to have a look?" he asked cautiously. He doubted Potter would let him. He didn't even know why he offered. To his surprise, Potter nodded gratefully in answer. Draco stepped closer to him. The other boy looked across at him and he looked carefully into his green eyes.
"You've got a bit of grit in that eye," he said, gesturing to Potter's right eye. Potter pulled at his eyelashes and rubbed at his eye behind his glasses in attempt to dislodge the grit but it was in vain.
"You'll be there all day. Here, let me get it for you," Draco offered. He unbuttoned the cuff on his shirt and held the slightly stiff corner in his left hand. Draco gently placed the other hand on Potter's cheek. It was an unnecessary motion but Draco felt he had to touch Potter in some way and this was the easiest to explain. Potter flinched at the touch but allowed Draco to keep his hand there and stayed silent. Potter reached up to take off his glasses, exposing his eyes. Draco's eyes widened as he saw that Potter's eyes were even greener without the glasses. They also had flecks of forest green and hazel in them. Breaking out of his trance, he gently used the corner of the fabric to flick away the grit. He was about to step away when Draco realised Potter was resting his head slightly on his hand.
Harry was unsure about letting Draco help him but his worries dissolved as he looked in to Draco's sincere grey eyes and pressed his cheek against his palm. Draco looked back at him, his lips parted as he flicked away the grit that had been bothering him. When Draco had finished he didn't move away instantly, enjoying the warmth of Draco's skin against his. The thought took him by surprise and he stepped back quickly, instantly breaking the moment. He regretted this deeply as Draco was in a foul mood for the rest of the hour.
"So," Harry started. He was desperate to break the stale silence that had fallen over them since the eye episode and he was sick of it. "What's your patronus?" Draco looked up at him and blinked sadly.
"I wouldn't know, I've never been able to cast one." Harry was shocked. After the Great War when the dementors were roaming free almost everyone learnt how to protect themselves from likely attacks.
"Even after the Great War?" Draco shook his head.
"I guess I've tried but never been able to. Being a... you know, it'll probably turn into maggots." Harry was surprised.
"Maggots? What are you talking about?"
"Father tried to cast one at a dementor that you-know-who sent at him but maggots came from his wand and attacked him. The same will probably happen to me." Draco frowned at his shoes. Harry didn't realise that's what would happen. He thought for a moment and remembered back to the troubles he had with his patronus and a thought came to him. Draco didn't want to be a Death Eater so maybe that wouldn't happen.
"Well, seeing as we are ahead with the project, would you like me to try and teach you?" Harry offered.
"What makes you think you can teach me? And besides, I won't be able to cast one."
"Dumbledore's Army? If I can teach Neville to cast one, I can teach you!" he said with a laugh. Draco smirked. "and besides," he mimicked Draco's tone of voice, "you don't know that." Draco looked thoughtful.
"I guess we could vanish the maggots if anything went wrong."
"Is that a yes?" Harry grinned at him.
"I suppose it would be interesting to see if I'm pure enough to cast a patronus," Draco agreed. "So, how are we going to do this?" Harry laughed to himself as Draco almost sounded eager.
"You have to think of a really good memory. The best memory you have. Then you say 'Expecto Patronum' when you have it in your mind. You have to let it overcome you. You could learn now if you like."
"What about the project?" Harry leafed through a pile of parchment and soon found what he was looking for: the task list. He scanned down it, checking over all of the things they needed to do. He ticked off the things they'd done. He saw that Draco was doing the same. He threw him a piece of parchment with the amount of time they've spent on the project. They'd spent seventeen hours together and they were only four weeks into the project.
"We've done nearly two thirds of the work so we can at least have this hour off," Harry said. "If you want," he added quickly.
"Are you sure? We could just spend another hour working if you don't want to teach me."
"It's fine! We'll just pretend it's part of the project," Harry said with a smile. He was pleased Draco was going to let him help and it could be interesting too.
Harry sat himself on the edge of a desk.
"Okay," he said. "Think of the happiest memory you have." Draco closed his eyes and gripped his wand. "Have you thought of one?" Draco nodded in response. "Okay, let it fill you up, let it take over your mind. When you're ready, say the spell and put all of the happiness from your memory into it." Harry waited. He watched Draco closely. He had concentration lines on his forehead and Harry was taken aback as a slow smile crept over his features. He pointed his wand in front of him.
"Expecto Patronum!" A small silver thread burst from his wand. It only lasted ten seconds but it wasn't maggots either. It was a fantastic start. Certainly better than Harry's first try, he thought with a little regret.
"Well done!" Harry exclaimed. Draco looked back at him, panting slightly from the effort. His eyes shone like Harry had never seen them do before. He looked genuinely happy.
"I'll try again," Draco muttered as he closed his eyes again. This time the silver light was bigger and stronger. Harry felt warmth spread over him as the patronus licked at his face before fading. The Slytherin opened his eyes, a small grin lit up his face and reached his eyes. Harry was dumbfounded. He's never, ever seen Draco smile like this and it was breath-taking. Harry grinned back as Draco's eyes met his.
Draco closed his eyes again. This time he produced the most beautiful, pure white dove from his wand. Draco opened his eyes and watched it fly around him for a few moments before it faded. Harry held up his hand and Draco studied it for a second before high fiving him gently. Harry was surprised as it was a very un-Malfoy-ish thing to do. Harry ignored the tingle in his palm where Draco had touched it and the warmth creeping up his neck.
"Do you want to try with a boggart?" he asked.
"How? I don't know what mine is." Draco looked confused but Harry had a plan.
"I'll stand in front of you so the boggart will take the form of a dementor and you can practice casting a patronus on it," Harry explained.
"Are you sure? I know what dementors do to you." Draco looked genuinely concerned, an expression which Harry had never seen on his face.
"It's fine. It's just a boggart."
"Oh, how very brave of you. You're not going to cut out the hero crap any time soon I see," Draco said. He was smirking but it faded into a genuine smile almost instantly. "So, Saint Potter, where are we going to find a boggart?"
"I know just the place. Grab your stuff and come with me." Harry picked up his belongings and piled the parchment into his bag. He held the door open for Draco and they both left the room. Harry led the way to the old Defence Against the Dark Arts room that had been disused since he was in the third year. He opened the door into the room.
It was just as he remembered it. Everything was exactly the same as it had been. He pushed the thoughts of Lupin to the back of his mind as tears sprung to his eyes.
"There's the boggart," he said, pointing to the cupboard that was shaking slightly. Draco raised an eyebrow. Harry stood in front of the cupboard with Draco behind him. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yes," Draco replied. Harry waved his wand and the door clicked open. A cold, black dementor floated out. Harry gripped his wand but the dementor didn't have the effect on him that it normally did. He was still scared but it wasn't nearly as bad. The dementor lingered in the air before it began to change. It grew taller and wider and Harry watched as it took the familiar form of Hagrid. As the image defined Harry saw himself lying in Hagrid's arms. He recognized the scene instantly. It was seconds after Narcissa pronounced him dead.
Harry's mind whirred franticly. This wasn't his boggart. He looked at the image before him. He looked at his still, lifeless body. This was the point where he had moved. He waited for it but it never came. A sharp intake of breath tore him back to reality. This was a boggart. Draco's boggart. And he was still dead. Draco moved behind him and he whirled around to see the Slytherin dashing for the door.
"Malfoy!" Harry shouted after the disappearing figure. "Draco!" he yelled, but he'd gone. Harry turned back to the boggart feeling defeated. "Riddikulus," he murmured and shut the boggart back into the cupboard. He picked up his bag and, noticing that he'd left it, picked up Draco's too. He left the room and made his way to the Gryffindor common room, all the while thinking up a decent excuse to why he had Draco Malfoy's bag. By the time he got there he'd decided to simply tell the truth and hope they believed him.
Draco fled to his common room and was relieved when he saw it was practically empty and only Blaise was in their dormitory. He breathed deeply as he went in and tried to stop himself shaking. Apart from a slightly raised eyebrow, Blaise said nothing to him as he flew in and sat himself heavily on his bed. It was only when Theo sauntered in that it became a conversation topic.
"What's up with you?" he asked.
"Argument with Ha-Potter," Draco said shortly, offering no further explanation. He glanced at Blaise who nodded faintly at him; a confirmation that Draco's slip up was a little less subtle than he hoped.
"What's up with you and him anyway?" Theo sat on the bed opposite and placed his head in his hands in a mock listening gesture. Draco threw him a look.
"I need to do well in my N.E.W.T.s ," he said shortly, lying back on his bed. He heard Theo snort.
"You seem quite willing to spend time with him," he said suggestively. "You've been in a better mood."
"He's been in a better mood and so have we because he doesn't wake us all up in the middle of the night!" Draco was about to complain but realised that during nightmares he often shouted out and it seemed unlikely that Blaise was the only one who was woken up by him. He had once put a silencing charm on his curtains but it only lasted a few hours so had little effect. Silencing charms were one of his poorer spells.
"True," Theo agreed. Draco looked up at him and watched a sly grin come over his face. "Funny how your nightmares started to stop after you spent time with Potter..." Theo spoke as if he was simply wondering out loud but his words were laden with implications. Draco put his hands over his face and listened to Blaise defending him for a moment before being sucked into thought.
It was true that not long after Draco started spending time with Harry his nightmares had ceased slightly but the two events couldn't be linked, could they? He knew Harry since their first year and little had changed between them in the years between then and now. A thought came into his mind: things had changed, they had changed a lot.
Draco hadn't noticed the change. He hadn't noticed how 'Potter' had become 'Harry', nor had he noticed how he no longer hated him. He certainly hadn't noticed when his boggart became Harry's death. A shudder ran through his body. He remembered the scene well and played a part in the few nightmares he still had. It must be because Harry killed you-know-who - he couldn't even think the name- and if he'd died then the Dark Lord would still be alive. He sighed to himself. It made sense but something told him that it was only half of the explanation. He decided to leave it at that for the time being, however. He had a feeling things were about to get complicated.
The next morning, Draco sat in the Great Hall fuming. He threw Potter another glare from across the Hall. The stupid git kept looking at him. He was grumpy partly due to having woken up in the early hours after a nightmare. Seeing his boggart had triggered it. The boggart had not only confused him but also scared him and he was trying to stay away from the black-haired idiot as much as he could. He'd already argued with him this morning and it was barely half past eight. The stupid Gryffindor had come up to him this morning and dragged him away from his friends to ask him if he was okay. The cheek of it! Draco had growled 'leave me alone' before returning to his friends, who all gave him a funny look and Pansy almost instantly asked what had happened. He wasn't surprised; the silly girl can't keep her nose out of everyone's business. Luckily, they were too busy getting over excited about the new quidditch magazine that had come in with the post to notice him mentally hexing the Gryffindor.