I stayed in the Slytherin common room until 11:30, then said I was headed to my room, then stood in the hallway under the cloak, which smelled of him. After a few more minutes, Blaise opened the door, and as he walked forward, I slipped back out the door. Glancing around, I knocked Pansy's bright red drink, whatever it was, onto her white jeans. As she started yelling and everyone moved to help her, I snuck out the door and went up to the balcony. It was 11:53. I had the sudden, paranoid thought that Harry wasn't planning to meet me at all, that he was going to just leave me waiting, or that he had tipped Filch off that I would be here. Finally, at 12:04, he showed up, holding a piece of tattered parchment. He tapped with his wand, whispering something, then walked right to me, lifted an edge of the cloak, and slipped under.

"How did you know where I was standing?" I whispered.

"If I told you that, you'd try to be able to use it. Want to go sit down?" he breathed, his voice right by my ear. A painful shiver ran down my spine, and then he had his arm wrapped low around my waist, low enough that he wasn't touching any of my burns, low enough that he almost had his hand cupping my ass. He led me toward a bench I had never noticed before. He settled me in a way that my back wasn't touching anything, but I was still comfortable. He sat next to me, so close our legs were pressed against each other.

"Why did he hurt you again? I thought he was in Azkaban." After a pause, he added, "I thought you were safe now. I hoped you were safe now."

"Did you really think that he would be there more than two weeks?" I whispered, my voice trembling with effort of not crying. "And… it was because… it was your birthday. I wanted to do something for you. So I spoke against him. So he burnt me for two hours. I didn't cry." My voice grew even quieter. "I wasn't weak. For you."

Harry leaned against me. His hands were trembling as he rubbed them up and down my thighs. I placed my hands over his, holding them still. Suddenly, I felt a drop of water land on the top of my hand. I looked up at Harry and saw that tears were dripping off his cheeks.

"It's not fair that this keeps happening. You deserve so much better. If I could, I would add your father to the Dursleys' treatment of me. I'd probably die within a week, but I'd rather that than see my… friend… suffer."

"What do the Dursleys' do to you?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that he had called me his friend, especially when his hands were so far up on my thighs. It was already in a dangerous enough position without becoming any more obvious.

"It doesn't matter. I've survived for fifteen years, I can live for one more summer." I grasped his hands tighter and held them against my chest. I reached over and ran one hand along his ribs, finally realizing after five years that he wasn't just skinny, he was badly malnourished and dangerously thin. There was nothing I wanted more than to hold him until the early hours of the morning. I let go of his hands and wrapped my arms around his bony body. I leaned my head on his shoulder, ignoring the discomfort. I wanted to press my lips against his, wanted it so badly that I was sure it would kill me if I didn't. (In all honesty, if it led to him fucking me, that wouldn't be too bad either, even if he ended up leaving scratches all along my back to add to my burns.)

"We're friends now, are we? Even after what I did?" I knew I was safe to think about him calling me his friend, because his hands were far from where all my blood was quickly rushing. Hint: it was not my face. I felt a thrill of terror when I brought up what I had done to him the previous day.

"I know now that you were acting under orders from him." He paused, then added, "And we're only friends at night, here on this balcony. For your safety, no one can know that I care about you. It doesn't matter if someone knows you care about me," he said, laughing dryly. "Given that I'm going to end up dead either way. But if I lost you, or Ron or Hermione or Ginny or Luna or Neville, I would fall apart. Especially if I lost you."

My heart seemed to stop as I absorbed what he had just said. He couldn't bear to lose me over anyone else! Was there a possibility that after last year, he had begun to look out for me? If so, it was most likely that he saw me more as a brother he had to protect. He was, after all, practically a part of the Weasley family. They didn't fall in love, they just got more siblings. Admittedly, Bill was dating Fleur now, (what? I keep up with the gossip.) but that didn't mean that Harry would ever love me.

"Draco…?" whispered Harry. "I'm sorry. I know I probably shouldn't have said that. Especially given how much you hate me."

"I don't hate you, Harry." Quickly recovering myself, I added, "At least not as much as you seem to think I do."

Harry awkwardly stood up, and whispered, "We should probably get back, I have Quidditch tryouts to hold tomorrow." He slipped out from under the cloak and started away. I watched him go with an aching heart. Despite the fact that I had been touching him for the past hour, he seemed a million miles away. Swallowing the urge to call out after him, I turned away and snuck away into the shadows, as I always did. Always a coward. Always weak.

Well, that was a rather fun chapter to write! When I wrote this, I had been a little in love with someone who didn't return the feelings, so if it seems a little less sincere after a few chapters it's because I am no longer in love with them and don't have the feelings right there to call upon. Please, please, please, review! I love receiving criticism on my stories, as long as it is not unnecessary hate. Also, with the trigger warnings at the start, in a few more chapters, it's going to get kind of depressing again, so please be ready for that.