Heyy everyone! Here I am again! Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter; muchhhhhhhh appreciation there! Anyway, here's another chapter just for you--filled to the brim with talking, revelations and lots of silence! Enjoy!
I Don't Want To Feel
Chapter Eight
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To prove you still feel --you only feel sorry for yourself.
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Harry Potter slowly healed Draco Malfoy's cuts as the blonde lay unconscious on the ground. The sight he had just come upon a few minutes before continued to flash through his mind and he shivered. He remembered Lucius Malfoy entering the hall from the dungeons, nothing about him revealing that he had left a seventeen-year-old to die a few stories below. Harry Potter scowled; he had always hated that man. Not even the fact that they "worked together" now could diminish the hate Harry felt for the aristocrat.
Harry, however, did not know why he cared so much about the younger one. He stroked the young Malfoy's face as he finished healing his cuts, and had to quickly look away before he was drawn further in. He left Draco lying there as he made his way out of the cell and locked it up again. For the next two hours he sat on the provided wooden chair and watched.
Two hours later, Harry was so lost in a dark reverie that he barely heard the quiet shuffling from inside the cell. The following groan was what told him that he had not imagined he sound. He decided to just watch the prisoner and let him be the first one to speak, if he wanted to. Draco Malfoy slowly sat up from his lying position and ever-so-slowly moved back to lean on the wall. Next, he began to examine his arms and any other skin that was showing. He gasped at the sight and his head shot up to look at the wooden chair.
Harry stared back.
"Potter?"
"Naturally."
"Where are--what are...how?"
"I healed them."
"Oh." was all Draco could say after that confession, and he dropped his head as if ashamed. And indeed he was. "Why?" he added in a small voice, barely audible. Harry continued to stare at the sight before him; the Malfoy seemed small--like a child. He racked his mind for an answer; an answer he did not have. He himself did not know why he had heeled him. "You don't know, do you?"
"No." Harry replied, looking away and covering his face with his hands. There was an uncomfortable silence after that, as both teenagers thought about the situation they were in. "How long?" Harry finally asked, a question that had been itching to be asked.
"Since that day you first saw them."
"That was a week ago!"
Draco Malfoy stayed silent and then whispered, "was it? I wouldn't know--I've lost count of the days. It's all a blur now."
Harry sighed loudly.
"Why do you care anyway?" Draco asked guardedly, his voice still small.
Harry stood up and began to pace. "I don't."
"You're right. It was stupid of me to think you actually cared."
Harry stopped dead and looked into the cell as Draco painfully moved himself into the shadows, and out of view. He sighed again.
"So I don't get it. I don't see you for a week, and suddenly you're here three days in a row." Draco Malfoy's voice filled the dungeon, and Harry sighed.
"Hello to you too, Malfoy."
Silence.
"I've been thinking, Potter."
"Oh, have you?"
"Why did you offer me your hand that day, but still treat me like shit?"
Harry Potter blinked, shocked by such a forward question. Neither of them had ever brought the handshake up after it had happened.
"Or do you treat everybody like shit?"
"Yeah, just about." Harry bit back, all of his walls going up.
"I'm scaring myself because I'm starting to miss the Harry Potter that complained about not being able to go out and kill muggles."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you are moody and the worst company ever."
"Malfoy, you are in a dungeon and I am guarding you!"
Silence.
"I don't understand you."
"You wouldn't want to."
"No, I really do. Are you really as complex as you seem?"
"And more."
Silence.
"Will you tell me why you saved me now?"
"I did not save anyone."
"Potter, I would have bled to death."
"I'm starting to think I should have let you."
"There he is! There's the threatening Harry Potter I missed!"
"Malfoy, shut up and stop acting like we're friends."
Silence.
"How are you not in Slytherin, Potter?"
"Because I'm not."
"How on earth did you manage to get yourself into Gryffindor? You're not brave or loyal."
Harry's eyes flashed, but he continued staring at the ground, refusing to look at the blonde.
"Sure you could argue about the bravery--you do have to look at that snake-man's face 24/7. Yuck."
"I'm warning you, Malfoy."
Silence.
"You are a coward, Potter."
"Oh, I see. Changed your mind?"
"You hide behind your walls, your facade. You hide behind yourself."
Silence.
"You can't even deny it, can you?
Silence.
"Who are you hiding from, Potter?"
"Why are you interrogating me like this!"
"I accepted your handshake, didn't I?"
"That didn't mean anything!"
Silence.
"If it didn't mean anything, then why did you do it?"
"I--"
"No, I'll tell you why. You found someone that finally understands you-- and that comforts you. You--"
"NO Malfoy!" Harry yelled suddenly, interrupting Draco. "That does not comfort me!"
"Realy. Then what does it do?"
Silence.
"I found someone that finally understands me--and that scares me."
In the darkness that surrounded Draco, his mouth dropped open.
"Can you say something, Potter? Anything?" Draco scowled into the darkness and stood up. It was an hour later, and Harry had stopped speaking all together. The blonde walked toward the bars and leaned against them, watching the raven-haired teenager staring stubbornly at the ground. "Go on then, Potter! This is worse than torture!"
"Why. Do. You. Care. So. MUCH!" Harry suddenly ground out, standing up and marching up to the bars. Now their faces were only a few inches apart; their bodies separated only by iron bars.
For what seemed like hours, no one spoke. No one moved. The two teenagers just stared into each other's eyes--daring each other to be the first to look away. But they couldn't; they wouldn't.
"Is this why you're so bitter?" Draco whispered, his grey eyes not leaving the green ones. Harry took a step back.
"What are you talking about?" He snapped, but did not look away.
"All those feelings you're hiding..."
"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, tearing his eyes away and covering his face. "I hate you!"
"No you don't." Draco replied simply, still staring at the young man in front of him. Harry wrenched his hands away from his face and took a step towards the cell again.
"Don't you dare tell me how I feel and don't feel! You have no right!"
"I'm the one watching you fall apart."
"I am not falling apart!"
Silence.
"Why are you hiding from me?"
"Don't pretend you know me, Malfoy." Harry whispered, his tone dangerous. "Nobody knows me."
"Granger and Weasley--"
"How could you even mention them!"
"They don't know you. But I do."
"No...no, don't you--no!" Harry muttered, backing away.
"Those walls you put up, Harry; I saw right passed them."
"Shut up, Malfoy!"
"Why does this bother you so much?"
"Because you're the prisoner and I'm supposed to--"
"What? Have the upper hand in this?"
"I--NO! I do have the upper hand! I could kill you right now." Harry yelled, pulling his wand out and sticking it onto Malfoy's chest. Malfoy looked down at the point of contact and then looked back up into Harry's eyes.
"You can't kill me, Harry." Draco whispered, and Harry almost whimpered. Almost. Instead, he stood strong, pushing the wand in more. Draco tried not to flinch.
They stood there and just stared; unmoving.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Harry whispered, and something flashed in his eyes. It was only for a split second, but Draco saw it. Hurt. Fear.
Draco leaned through the bars and kissed Harry softly on the lips. It lasted about a second, and Draco never broke eye contact with the other boy. The continued staring until Harry suddenly gasped, turned, and walked away.
Draco's eyes followed him up the stairs and he sighed.