Harry was feeling rotten. Having Malfoy's bag hadn't gone down well with Ginny and he's spent the morning fending off insults from her. Eventually she'd allowed him to speak and they were going to talk this evening. Harry was dreading it but he'd put it off for long enough now and he missed her.
"So when are you going to give Malfoy's bag back then?" Hermione asked him.
"Transfiguration," he replied without thought.
"Not going to keep it until he comes begging for it? That'd be one way to get him on his knees." Harry noticed the joke and choked on his mouthful of food. Seamus laughed loudly. Ron thumped him on the back and glared at Seamus.
"Why would Harry want Malfoy on his knees?" Neville asked them.
"Think about it Nev," Seamus said, nudging him slightly and subtly sticking his tongue into his cheek. Moments later Neville squeaked 'Oh' and went quite red. Harry smiled lightly, finding it amusing how the same person to slay Nagini was so easily alarmed by sex. The others sighed and continued talking.
Later, Harry went in to transfiguration and put Malfoy's bag on the desk beside his own because Malfoy hadn't got there yet. The second Harry saw him come through the door, he called his name. The Slytherin walked over, scowling the whole way, snatched up his bag and went over to the opposite side of the room.
"You're welcome!" Harry called, earning a glare. He rolled his eyes. It probably wasn't a good idea to wind Malfoy up but he couldn't help it when he was being so sulky. In reality, Harry genuinely wanted to check he was okay. Going by the reaction he got, he probably wasn't okay. Harry supposed he'd better leave the blond alone to calm down before approaching him again.
Apart from the occasional glare and snide remark, the pair made little contact over the next few days. Professor McGonagall soon got tired of telling them to work together and they didn't meet up in free periods so their project was neglected. Draco worried about this and, with a lot of arguing, finally convinced Dean Thomas to give Draco's half of the project to him. Dean was the least stuck up of the Gryffindors and Harry had most of the project so Draco had to do what he had to do. Harry wasn't pleased and almost refused to give Dean the paperwork but soon gave in when he remembered that Draco needed to pass transfiguration. That night in the common room, Harry had grumbled to Hermione and Ron, who rolled their eyes at him before going into a corner to play chess, leaving Harry alone on his chair. Not long after they'd left, Ginny came over to him. Harry groaned inwardly. He didn't want to do this now. Or ever, actually.
"So, explain," Ginny demanded.
"I don't need to explain anything. It was you who blew up at me for doing the right thing and not leaving Malfoy's bag where anyone could have got it." He turned away from her and picked up his magazine.
"But it's Malfoy," she answered, as if that was a perfectly valid excuse.
"What is your problem with him?" Harry snapped.
"He tried to bring down Hogwarts, he's a Death Eater, he tormented us all through school, he's Lucius' son," she listed, ticking each point off on her fingers.
"He can't help who his father is and he was only a Death Eater because he was forced and besides, he's changed. I don't get why you're so worried about me spending time with him. I can defend myself from him easily. He's not going to do anything to me. Why are you being so paranoid?" he remembered the jokes Seamus made and Lavender's rumours and added: "Are you worried I'm going to run off with him and leave you?" Ginny went pink. Harry nearly slammed his head on the table in front of him. "Well, stop worrying because I'm not bloody gay!" he exploded before leaving the room.
Harry Potter lay lifelessly in Hagrid's arms and Draco heard a pained scream. He was shocked to find that the scream was coming from him. Without thinking, he rushed forward. Hagrid laid Harry on the ground and Draco sat down next to his head. He took a cold, limp hand in his and begged him to move. He was calm at first, gently shaking the body in front of him but when Harry didn't move, he became frantic. He yelled at the body and became aware he was crying.
"Draco," called his mother as she sat next to him. "Draco, please." She grasped his shoulders and shook him.
Draco's eyes snapped open. Blaise was gently shaking him and telling him to wake up.
"Draco, you were having a nightmare," he told him as he helped him sit up. Draco looked around him. His bedclothes were on the floor and his pillow was sodden with...what? Blaise must have seen his confusion as he told him he was crying and shouting in his sleep. He tentatively asked what he was shouting, although he was quite sure he knew the answer.
"Potter – Harry." Draco groaned and flopped back onto the bed. He grimaced as he felt the damp pillow beneath his head. Blaise swished his wand and it became dry. Draco closed his eyes. "We'll talk in the morning," Blaise told him and swished his wand again so Draco's bedding was straightened and returned to its place. Draco barely heard him as he was almost asleep again.
The next day Blaise caught Draco before he could leave for the Great Hall. Draco protested as he was steered back towards their bedroom. He soon gave up, however, as he knew Blaise was strong willed and always seemed to know best. Not that Draco would ever tell him that.
"May I just ask one question?" Blaise asked him. Draco sighed and nodded. "Why were you yelling Harry Potter's name last night?" Draco saw his badly hidden laughter and shot a stinging hex at him. Blaise dodged it. "But seriously now," Blaise's face grew serious. "What was your dream?" Draco felt it would be easier just to tell him.
"I dreamt the scene where Hagrid brought Potter out from the forest. He put him on the ground and I was trying to get him to wake up. That's all I remember." He watched his friend's reaction.
"So that's why you were shouting. Why Potter though?"
"I don't know. Probably because if he had died, Lord Vol – You-Know-Who – would still be alive." Blaise nodded.
"Have you had this dream before?" this took Draco by surprise. He hadn't had it before. He was sure of it. He would remember. Why didn't he have it before? Draco shook his head and Blaise frowned, obviously thinking the same question that Draco was.
"All I know is that the bloody nightmares are back," he said with a sigh.
"The git looks awful," Ron said unhelpfully as Malfoy came into their first lesson. Harry shrugged as if he didn't care but truthfully he'd noticed that he wasn't at breakfast and had seen him before Ron. It was almost as if he was looking out for him. Harry pushed the thought away but couldn't help wondering why Malfoy was in such a state.
Malfoy coming into lessons grey-faced and with dark circles under his eyes became a regular occurrence over the next few days. Harry often saw his friends prodding him awake in the lesson and Malfoy was often given detention for having no homework. Harry had to do something. He couldn't keep Malfoy out of his mind and was worried for his own sanity.
Harry hurried to the library. He needed to finish a piece of homework, which was due next lesson. He'd hurried lunch and had left his friends to eat and chat in the Great Hall. The library was not a very popular place but Harry still wanted the reassurance that he'd be alone. He made his way to the desks along the windowed wall on one side of the library.
Harry jumped as he saw a blond figure sprawled over the desk in front of him, clearly asleep. His hair fell in a curtain over his face but Harry could still see his closed eyes and his lips parted in sleep. A shaft of sunlight fell over him and created a golden line running from the top of his head, across his face and along the desk. His body rose and fell with each breath and a lock of hair in front of his nose moved with each exhale in an almost comical manner. At first glance, he looked almost peaceful but as Harry dared to go closer he saw that frown lines adorned his forehead. One arm hung over the edge of the desk. His wrist was limp and his fingers were relaxed. Harry stared at his hand. He had long, delicate fingers and his skin was pale. His joints stood out against the thin fingers. Harry jumped as Draco moved slightly but relaxed as he didn't wake up. The movement exposed a thin leather bracelet that was doubled around his bony wrist. It was decorated with a few silver beads either side of the clasp. Draco moved again and Harry saw that it wasn't a bracelet after all, it was a watch. The tiny clock face was perfectly edged in silver and Harry was just about to get a closer look when Draco mumbled something and Harry jumped back. Draco looked distressed and shifted agitatedly and mumbled again but louder. Harry turned and ran from the waking boy with the desperate mumble of something that sounded very like 'Harry' ringing in his ears.
Draco awoke with a start. He could barely remember going into the library, let alone falling asleep there. He gathered his things, shaking. He wasn't worried about waking up some place other than his bed as he was used to that, it was the fact that he'd had a nightmare and could only imagine how loud it had been. Luckily the nightmare wasn't very bad and he hadn't been woken up by the librarian and that gave him a little reassurance. He gathered his things together and checked his watch. Luckily he still had ten minutes until the end of lunch. Ten minutes to do half a foot of potions. Draco groaned as he picked up his parchment and shoved it in his bag. He couldn't be bothered to do it now. He rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it, hoping he didn't look too tired.
Blaise elbowed him hard in the ribs. Draco glared back at him. It was the third time that lesson. Draco stared at the blackboard and his eyes soon went blurry again. His head was heavy and his eyes were dry and itchy. It took effort to simply lift his quill to dip it in ink. He heavily rested his head on his hand and made an attempt to concentrate. It was impossible. He simply didn't care what Slughorn had to say. Draco closed his eyes for a moment.
Draco awoke with a start when a book was slammed onto his desk. Slughorn was stood over him.
"Homework, Draco?" Draco sat up and shook his head, still half-asleep. "You have until tomorrow morning. Get it done," Slughorn said and walked over to the next table. Draco sighed with relief. He made to rest his head back on the table but Blaise elbowed him sharply.
"It's the end of the lesson and unless you'd like to stay here all night you'd better wake up." Draco slowly got to his feet, gathered his things, and dragged himself to the common room. He settled down in his favourite chair and closed his eyes.
Draco started when Blaise sat down next to him with a book.
"Right, wake up and I'll help you." Draco was curled up on a sofa by the fire. He was almost asleep but not quite. He growled at the interruption.
"I don't need your help," Draco grumbled. He was tired but he wasn't stupid. He heard Blaise sigh beside him.
"Go and talk to him. Please. I can't stand your brooding any longer." Draco sat up straight.
"Talk to whom?" Blaise rolled his eyes.
"Potter!" Draco felt like hitting him.
"What? Potter? I'm not brooding over Potter!" Blaise sighed.
"Well, that's what it looks like to me." Draco grumbled at him and dragged his potions homework from under a pile of books. Blaise smiled triumphantly to himself. Simple blackmailing was all he needed to force Draco to do some work.
That night, Blaise thought about Draco. It was strange that Draco's nightmares had gotten worse since his fall out with Potter but maybe it was merely coincidental. Whatever it was, Blaise hoped he soon sorted himself out; the nightmares didn't just affect Draco.
Draco sat down in his favourite spot in the library. He didn't really know why he was there. Moments later, Potter walked in. Draco cursed under his breath. They'd avoided each other since the patronus incident. Potter sat down next to Draco. He made to move away but Potter stopped him.
"I need to talk to you," Potter said. His voice was smooth and his eyes appeared to glow brightly behind his glasses. Draco didn't tell him to go. He sat there, waiting. "Why are you scared of me dying?" he asked. Draco's stomach fluttered uncomfortably.
"I have no idea," he replied.
"I think you do." Potter reached over and rested a hand on Draco's cheek. Draco didn't move away.
Suddenly, the background changed into a scene from the Great War. There was a blinding flash of green and Potter fell forward on to Draco. He was still smiling slightly but his eyes were a dull grey and didn't glow green any more. Draco dropped to his knees and hugged Harry close to him. He looked up and Voldemort stood towering above him. Voldemort made to pull Harry's body away but Draco yelled at him and held Harry even closer. Voldemort smiled sickeningly.
"It seems you have fallen for the Chosen One. He has polluted you. A true Death Eater is never friends with such people." Voldemort pointed his wand at Draco. "Avada-"
Draco woke up with a shout. He lay drenched in sweat and his eyes were salty. Draco lay there for a minute, until his breathing had calmed before pushing his curtains aside and making his way to the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror.
His eyes were purple underneath and his cheekbones stood out from his face. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his face was a ghostly white. He looked dreadful.
He splashed water over his face and dragged a hand through his hair, sighing to himself. The Great War was over and Harry was still alive. Why couldn't his brain focus on that? He went back through the beginning of his dream and shuddered slightly, absent-mindedly touching his cheek where Harry had placed his hand in the dream. On second thoughts, he would welcome normal nightmares.