"Death of Death Eater in Azkaban! Son still at large and attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-Questionable decision of Headmistress" Read the headline of the daily prophet, accompanied by Lucius Malfoy's mugshot and an old family picture in front of Malfoy Manor.
Draco had barely sat down to breakfast when no less than seven owls landed in front of him with more on the way. He made the mistake of opening one of the letters:
"Death eaters all die, sooner or later, but in your case it will be sooner."
Blaise read over his shoulder. He grabbed the nearest letter, tore it open and read it. "Oh fuck. They're all like this"
"What is it?" Pansy asked worried.
Draco handed her the letter. Her eyes widened as she read it. "Well I suppose it was to be expected." He said, attempting to downplay the situation while his heart raced.
Another owl landed in front of Draco before she could say anything. This one carried a howler that was already smoking at the edges. The owl dropped it hurriedly and flew away.
Draco could feel the eyes of the entire school on him while the howler continued to smoke. He knew he couldn't afford to let the damn thing explode so everyone could hear it so he raised his wand and vanished the pestering thing. He flicked his wand and the rest of the death threats were reduced to ashes. Then he picked up a piece of toast and ate it to hide his inner current breakdown. 'Just keep calm' He kept telling himself. 'Don't let them see you're scared. Everything's fine.' The toast tasted like sand in his mouth and he seemed unable to swallow. 'Why is everyone still staring at me? Ok, keep calm, don't freak out. Wait, why is Potter standing up? Well at least everyone's staring at him now. Wait is he coming over here? Oh yes he is. Crap now everyone's staring at me again. And I still can't swallow. If I drink some pumpkin juice now will I choke? Better not risk it.'
Potter sat down next to him like it was completely normal for the Golden Boy to sit among snakes. For once he was alone and not accompanied by the whole Gryffindor posy. Draco noticed that outwardly Potter seemed very relaxed but his right leg kept twitching next to Draco's own.
"You look like a chipmunk." Potter remarked to him quietly but with a small smile. Draco forced himself to finally swallow and allowed himself a small grimace. His throat was as dry as sandpaper. The whole school was still staring at them. Draco cleared his throat and stood up. Next to him, Potter did the same. Side by side they left the Great Hall. 'Chin up, eyes forward, cold gaze, don't trip.' Draco repeated his usual mantra to himself even though all he wanted to do was run as fast as he could to his dormitory and curl up in his bed. His stomach felt queasy but to show weakness now would be the death of him.
When the doors of the Great Hall closed behind them, he allowed himself to breathe out.
"Let's go outside, you look a little green" Potter suggested.
Draco tried to scoff but it was only half-heartedly. "I'm fine Potter, no need to worry about me." But as soon as he said that he walked past a flyer promoting the new Hogwarts Anti-Death Eater club (Help protect our school from the dangerous influences of former death eaters!) and his stomach turned over. Abandoning all pretenses he ran, with his hand over his mouth, to the nearest bathroom. There he promptly vomited up his few bites of toast and the leftovers from the Halloween feast. He felt shaky and was developing a headache. As he knelt before the toilet, retching, he felt a hand placed a bit awkwardly on his back and start to rub. Although it felt comforting he knew he could never live this down. He groaned and wished he could vanish on the spot. He tried to stand up but his legs had somehow turned into jelly. He stumbled and caught the nearest stabile object, which happened to be Harry Potter's waist.
'Great. Now I'm covered in vomit and clutching Potter like a life ring. This could not be more embarrassing.' He thought while attempting to straighten his robes. The stench of his own vomit was enough to make him retch again but luckily his stomach was empty now. The bathroom however not, Draco heard the door open and several boys walk in. Harry quickly closed the toilet stall door and locked it, Draco could have hugged him in that moment if he weren't so embarrassed and because they were now so cramped together he couldn't even pull his arm back to deliver a punch.
"Ugh, it reeks in here! Wonder what Peeves did now."
Draco groaned inwardly and closed his eyes. His stomach still felt queasy and he could barely stand. Worse yet, when he opened his eyes, he saw Potter staring at him with so much pity in his eyes, he wanted to punch him. He groaned again.
"Did you hear something?" One of the boys in another stall asked. Potter moved even closer to Draco and put his hand over his mouth. Draco grabbed his wrist and pushed him backwards. Potter's back hit the wall with a dull thud.
A few toilets flushed and they heard the boys leave the bathroom again. Draco let go of Potter and leaned back against the wall. Potter huffed angrily at him, "I'm only trying to help you!" before opening the stall door, then jumping back onto Draco's foot. He opened his eyes annoyed and was about to tell Potter off when:
"I will not be cleaning this up! Filth! Doing it in a bathroom stall! Not on my watch! You both have detention, tonight! I'll show you how much work cleaning takes!"
Potter grabbed his arm and quickly pulled him past the raging caretaker, out the bathroom and along the empty corridors. Draco tried to shake off Potter's grip but found he didn't have the strength. He was also quite busy attempting not to fall flat on his face at their breakneck speed. He really didn't need a broken nose on top of everything else.
When Potter finally stopped running, Draco was taken unawares and tripped, knocked over Potter and they both went down. Luckily they were just in the eighth year common room and there was no one around to laugh at Draco's ultimate demise. 'Life really can't get any worse. Maybe if I just close my eyes and lie really still, I'll just disappear.' He buried his nose in something soft that he figured was the carpet. The clean, refreshing, a tad musky scent was comforting to his now pounding headache.
"Malfoy." Came a voice from directly under him.
'Fuck.' The soft comfortable area he had his head against was Potter's shoulder. Yes, things couldn't get worse.
He rolled off of Potter. "Just leave me here."
"Oh stop being so dramatic!" A cool hand was placed on his forehead. "You might have a fever." Two strong arms fastened around him and attempted to pull him up.
"No." He tried to throw off the hands. The floor was quite comfortable and moving sent sharp pains behind his eyes. But Potter was persistent and under much swearing maneuvered him into his dormitory. He attempted to heave him into the bed.
"Either leave me alone or help me to class! We're late." Draco could just mutter as Potter forced him into his bed.
"You can't even keep your eyes open and you're covered in your own vomit. I'm not taking you to class." Draco felt his shoes being pulled off. He tried to get back up but Potter pushed him back. Draco reached into his pocket for his wand but either Potter was quicker or he dropped it. Whenever he tried to open his eyes his vision was spotty and the light burned. He moaned and covered his eyes with his arm. His entire body had started aching and he felt both warm and cold. Only as he felt cooler air on his body did he realize that Potter was taking his robes off.
"Aren't you being a bit forward, Potter?" He couldn't help but say as he felt Potter's hands on his belt. The hands stalled for a second before continuing. The cool air on his bare legs made him shiver, but not for long as he felt himself tucked under his warm blanket. For a minute or so it was quiet and Draco wondered if Potter had left and he felt a bit abandoned.
But then Potter was back, back with a very cold and very wet washcloth that he used to gently wipe Draco's face. Draco sputtered at the unpleasant surprise and swatted at Potter's arm. He managed to open his eyes.
"Stop being so damn difficult! I'm honestly just trying to help." Draco could hear the desperation in Potter's voice.
Draco struggled to sit up. "Why? Why is it suddenly you that is always helping me?" Potter pushed him resolutely back. "Why do you suddenly care?" Potter sighed and sat on Draco's right arm while still cleaning his face. Draco felt himself getting more and more dizzy so he stopped struggling and let himself fall back against the pillows. The cold water was actually helping, not that he would admit that to Potter.
Potter stood up suddenly and walked away. Draco frowned, "Where are you going?" Through his hazy eyes he could just see Potter coming back from the washroom with a fresh washcloth. This one he placed on Draco's forehead and left it there. Draco couldn't help but be reminded of the care his mother always gave him when he was sick.
Potter reached down and grabbed his schoolbag. He was almost out the door when Draco, seized by a desperation he hadn't known he had, called after him, "Wait! Stay….please." Even in his fever-state, Draco groaned at his pleading voice. He closed his eyes again, sure he would die of embarrassment. He heard a heavy bag being dropped off by the side of his bed. Then the covers were tucked in tighter around him. "Shut up and sleep." Potter commanded quietly. For once, Draco heeded him and fell into a deep sleep.
"Well I suppose a bed is more comfortable than a bathroom stall but it's a bit rude, even for you, to kick your boyfriend out of the bed afterwards." Blaise's drawling voice broke Draco out of his deep sleep. 'A most unwelcome wakening', Draco thought. He attempted to stretch in bed and the wet washcloth fell off his forehead. He felt better than before, though quite warm, no wonder since he was covered in two blankets. He threw them off for some fresh air and turned over again hoping to fall back into the land of quiet dreams.
"Just let him sleep Blaise!"
"He's slept the whole day!"
"He's clearly sick and needs rest."
"No, he just needs to get his butt back out there before more rumors start."
"And what do we do about Potter?"
"Wake him too."
"He'll hex us."
"Would you mind arguing somewhere else?" Draco said sarcastically. He groaned but couldn't fall back asleep. "What time is it anyway?"
"Time for you two to get up."
"You need to eat something, Draco."
"That and make an appearance as Potter's new boyfriend."
"Right." Draco smirked. He stretched like a cat and got out of bed, almost falling over Potter who was sitting against his bed, still fast asleep. "What's he doing here?"
"Eh, shouldn't we be asking you that?"
"What do we do with him now?" Draco asked his friends while running his hands through his hair.
Blaise and Pansy stared at him.
"Harry freaking Potter is asleep next to you bed and you don't remember how he got there?"
Draco furrowed his brow and tried to remember. "Oh fuck." Everything came back and he sat back down on his bed with his head in his hands.
"So you did?"
"What no! I got…eh…sick." Draco admitted. "And he helped me."
"And he stayed with you?"
"I asked him to." Draco said quietly. Pansy beamed while Blaise shook his head. "Come on, let's go to dinner." He stood up but Pansy held him back.
"Wake him first, he can go with us."
Draco sighed.
Pansy sunk her claws into his arm, "He just took care of you when you were sick and I bet you were dramatic as hell but he did it and you asked him to stay and he actually did; so you had better as hell wake him up right now and thank him."
"I will you harpie, just let go of me!" 'Dramatic as hell, oh I'll get her back for that'. Draco promised himself. 'I actually asked him to stay? I won't live this down. If he reminds me about it I'll have to kill the both of us.' "Alright I'll do it but can you two leave?"
Blaise's smirk almost reached his ear and Pansy giggled.
"Out." Draco growled at the both of them.
They left but not before Blaise called after him, "You may want to pull your trousers back on!" so the whole common room could hear. Draco looked down and remembered that Harry Potter, the Golden Boy, Savior of the Wizarding World, the Chosen One, Boy who Lived, etc. etc had pulled his trousers off of him while he, Draco had a mental breakdown and he had begged him to stay. No, Draco really couldn't sink any lower. He pulled on his trousers and knelt in front of Potter. He wasn't sure exactly how Potter responded to being woken abruptly by a former enemy so Draco settled for a gentle nudge.
Which didn't work. So he nudged him again. And again. Draco frowned. All the reaction he got from Potter was a slight movement of the head and a deep sigh. Draco picked up the still wet washcloth and slapped Potter with it. That did the trick.
Potter spluttered and coughed. Draco couldn't help but smirk a bit.
"Sorry to wake you, but that can't have been a comfortable place to sleep."
"Well you wanted me to stay." So much for hoping Potter would have forgotten that.
"Yes….would you have preferred my bed?"
"To the floor? Of course." Potter said while standing up and attempting to straighten his back.
Draco cleared his throat and Potter seemed to realize what he had just said judging by his slight blush.
"We should go to dinner." Draco said to break the awkward silence.
"Are you feeling better?" Potter asked carefully.
Draco grimaced. "Besides for the headache, the horrid taste in my mouth and my destroyed dignity?"
Potter grinned. "Well I suggest food for the headache, toothpaste for the taste and for the dignity….keep your hair that messy and leave off the robes. Let's go."
Draco glimpsed his reflection in the mirror as they left the dormitory, "freshly shagged" Blaise would have called his look.
The eighth year common room was crowded as Draco entered it with Potter in tow. Immediately the whole room went quiet and everyone stared. Draco had to admit that it must look strange to see the Savior and the Death Eater walking out of a dormitory together. Yet no one said anything or even glared. 'Chin up, head high, don't trip, small smirk.'
AN: Finally I've posted another chapter after….a year? I will actually try to finish this story because I really like it. I hope I'm allowed to say that as author. For anyone coming back to this story, thank you for reading the new chapter and I hope it's as good as the old ones were. For anyone new, I hope you enjoy the story as I enjoy writing it. :)