A contradiction
Harry opened his eyes to pitch black surroundings and ran his left hand through his hair. As he sat up, cold darkness hit his exposed face and chest, biting at his skin slightly. Turns out the magical enchantment warming the Hogwarts grounds was not placed at night. Harry squinted. He reached over to his left where he knew the nearest flat surface was; his glasses would probably be there. Harry's numb finger tips ran over the cold wood and soon touched cold metal rims and glass. He grabbed his glasses and forced them onto his face. Harry swung his legs over the bed and threw on his robes, sat waiting for him on the floor. Underneath his robes were just his boxers.
Harry quickly decided he'd then head to the common room.
He walked quietly towards his shoes by the door, through the sound of snores and splutters coming from his roommates. As he slipped his feet into the freezing material of his trainers, the cold crept through Harry's robes. The door squeaked enthusiastically as he pushed it open a little and slipped outside towards the staircase.
Harry reached the common room faster than he expected. The warmth of the flames was a nice comfort and a small echoing chime joined the cackling fire. Harry frowned when he saw it was only a modest 10 o'clock. Looking around, Harry saw the glow of the fire pour throughout the room, allowing the golden furnishings to stand out from the dark wooden floorboards. He saw various pieces of parchments lying on the floor, quills left sitting on the desk and an abandoned game of chess on the rug. He did not want to sit here with nothing to do. So, feeling motivated for a walk, Harry headed towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.
But then Harry heard a familiar voice.
"Can't sleep?"
Harry turned his head towards the fireplace where he had vaguely heard the voice coming from. It was only then that he noticed bushy hair resting on the back of an armchair facing the flames. She was sat with her back to him. Harry smiled and said, "The top of your head looks like a fluffy cushion."
Hermione laughed and got up. She was wearing blue pyjamas with small snitches stitched on them. Harry nodded at what she was wearing and said, "Ron would like those."
Hermione ignored him and said, "Are you going to look for him?"
Harry smiled faded when he said, "Maybe…"
"Harry, it's ok that you like him. He's different know…I can tell."
When Harry did not say anything in reply, Hermione added, "Me and Ron just want you to be happy." Hermione then hugged him and walked up to the girls' dormitories without looking back. When she was gone, Harry smiled warmly.
He had, probably, the greatest friends in the whole wizarding world.
After a moment standing alone, Harry walked through the portrait hole, apologized to the Fat Lady who tried to throw a bottle at him. She forgot she was in a paining.
Harry had been walking through the well-known shadows for around 10 minutes yet he had not come across any teachers or ghosts; hardly anybody patrolled anymore since no student within Hogwarts felt the need to stride around the castle at night. From the corner of his eye, Harry noticed a shimmer cut through the night, coming from the trophy room. Since there was nothing better to do, Harry walked inside.
Reflections of sliver and gold came from every angle. Harry stepped through the division within the middle of the room before choosing the last row to his right to observe, right in front of the window. Even though the moonlight coming in from the window was minimal, it was enough to give each shield an eerie independent shine. Harry walked slowly and read several Quidditch trophies. It was when he ran his fingers down the list of successful Keepers from 1840 to present, looking for familiar surnames, that Harry heard the unmistakeable thud of a footstep enter the trophy room. Harry ducked out of the light coming from the window and tried to keep his breathing quiet so he could listen to any patter of footsteps. His heartbeat increased as he tried to keep his breathing silent and steady. His eyes scanned the room fast but every angle looked the same. Every trophy reflected the same light and the darkness surrounding them was consistent. Listening hard, Harry heard nothing unusual. The breeze running alone in the room whistled into Harry's ears. Was someone there? After several more moments of no noise, or activity that Harry could spot, Harry decided it was clear. Relief filled him but Harry still trodded carefully out from underneath the light, before standing beside the window frame. But, before he turned to leave, a force constricted his arms and legs and dragged him through the rest of the row of shields and into a tiny broom cupboard. The door snapped shut.
Harry's eyes widened with panic but he did not shout for help. No light entered the cupboard but Harry could feel warm breath brush his right cheek. Someone was standing very close to him. Harry began to shake uncontrollably, trying to push away the constraints on his body. A familiar chuckle stabbed at his ears. Harry's eyes shot around, expecting to see white blonde hair stand out and speak to him. Harry's cheeks burned; they always did whenever he heard Draco Malfoy laugh.
"Relax, Harry," Draco's voice whispered through the darkness. He sounded amused.
Harry fidgeted. His heart was racing again. Malfoy grabbed Harry and switched their places. Excessive sparks ran through Harry's spine. Now Malfoy stood in Harry's way. Harry began to move around noisily in the space. Malfoy pinched Harry's arm sharply and calmly whispered "Filch is out there. He knows I'm around here somewhere."
Harry whined loudly at the thought of getting into detention for sneaking around again. He started to talk in a load croak, his best attempt to show his anger but stay quiet. "OH PERFECT, JUST FUCKING PERF-MPPFFFH!"
Draco had pushed his hand over Harry's mouth before pressing his own ear against the oak door. Draco's hand was icy. Harry's skin was becoming increasingly hot. From the other side of the oak door, Draco and Harry could hear the sound of someone thudding around the trophy room. Draco pressed his hand harder into Harry's mouth until the back of Harry's head hit the wall. This may have been one of the most uncomfortable positions that Harry had been in. His head and neck was pinned against the wall, his arms were knitted to his sides and his legs were glued together at a bent, awkward angle and his feet had slid to the left slightly. Plus, on the other side of the door was one of Harry's least favourite people, trudging around looking for him. And the fact that it was Draco Malfoy's hand holding Harry's face did not help calm Harry's raising heartbeat.
Draco sighed and lent towards Harry when he saw that Harry was still so uneasy. He got so close, that his eyes were only two inches away from Harry's. Maybe Harry was imagining it but the outlines of Draco's eyes seemed to glow with an unknown grey light. Harry's mind clouded over as he stared at them, shivers running through him as he saw that Draco stared back.
"I only put you in here, because I did not want you to get caught." Draco whispered, with indisputable concern in his voice as his hand gently moved across Harry's cheek. Harry insides melted at Draco's thoughtfulness. Draco made him feel weak.
"Who would have thought you'd turn into someone so noble, Draco." Harry whispered.
Draco scoffed and muttered, "Who knows? Maybe I've always been a contradiction."
After a few minutes, the sound of Filch's footsteps seemed to leave the trophy room and enter the corridor. Draco tapped Harry's abdomen with his wand, causing blood to rush back to Harry's arms and legs rapidly. Harry stumbled slightly as soon as the support left him, ultimately allowing him to bang his head on a shelf. The following crashes of buckets and objects falling from the shelves and landing on the stone floor was enough to wake the entire castle.
After everything stopped clanging, Draco said, "Co-ordinated as usual, Harry."
"It's because I don't have a map," Harry said.
The door had opened so Harry could see Draco turn round and look at him. He had a strong amount of worry and amusement written all over his face.
"You are aware that that did not make any sense?" Draco asked smirking.
Harry, feeling stupid, nodded but did not stay anything. He did not trust himself. His head ached when it moved because it felt like a brick was moving inside his skull. Draco stepped forward, deeper into the cupboard, so he was standing directly in front of Harry, and said, "You're still holding the shelf. Are you alright?"
Harry nodded again, but when he let go of the shelf, he got head rush. A sudden burning pain poured into Harry's crown where he had hit it. His vision blurred and veins throbbed in his forehead. Harry passed out, landing face down on the floor with a dead thump, with a swift cloud of dust rising around him.
"Brilliant." Draco said quietly. He then grabbed Harry's arms and threw one over his shoulders in order to drag Harry out of the trophy room. Draco could not help but smirk slightly when he noticed that underneath Harry's long black robes, were only green boxers.
