Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N I am so sorry about how long it took me to update this! To make it up for that this update is long, really long, really, really long. Well, you get the idea hehe. I'm not exactly happy with this chapter but my Beta, (Who we thank bunches for fitting the Betaing process into her busy schedule!) Chroyni, said she thought the way it played out was the way it should happen and gave me a go ahead of sorts. She rocks, just tell her that if you ever meet her. I mean it. In fact, go search for her to tell her how great she is. Now for good news, the two busy months are almost ovey (Yay!) and with my surgery this week the crunch I've been feeling lately will be over. You all know what that means? More updates! So yes, give a loud cheer for more updates and this update included :) .
Draco stepped out of the shower shakily, his exhaustion evident in his whole demeanour. Harry helped him sit stiffly on a bench in the shower area, and he closed his eyes, his body slumping as he let go of the control he had over his muscles.
Harry shook Draco gently on the shoulders, earning him a small slit of Draco's opening left eye; barely indicating the other boy was even conscious.
"Hey, stay with me," Harry whispered, smiling softly. He snapped his fingers to the side, hoping it wouldn't startle Draco too much. He was very jumpy, like a ferret (But now the resemblance between Malfoy and ferrets wasn't as funny as it once was for Harry.).
Draco didn't respond to the sharper noise. He only nodded before yawning and slumping some more onto the wall supporting him.
Harry sighed, crouching closer to the floor, thinking, What am I supposed to do now? I can't leave him…
Then the answer came to him. Actually, Seamus and Dean clambered through the door that led to the shower room, providing Harry with two messenger boys to go and find Hermione.
"Bloody Ron, can't manage one good wind charm--," Harry heard Seamus rant and Dean interject, "Yes, Seamus, you've told me that already, twice. Just be glad that we have a study period right now, so you can wash off that ink you spilt all over your arm."
"What if it doesn't come off?" Seamus said darkly. Beside Harry, Draco had stiffened completely. Harry hoped he wasn't paralysed in fear that Harry would give him away. Harry had other plans of course.
He stood up, Draco finding the energy now to clutch onto Harry's leg, but Harry ignored this and said in a stern voice, "Hey Dean? Is that you?"
Looking over the curtain to the outer room, Harry could see Dean and Seamus staring at him from the other side.
Draco, whispering like mad under his breath about the next doomsday, was calmed when Harry reached down one of his hands to pat his blonde, wet hair in a comforting sense.
If Harry could have, he would have looked down and given a warm smile to Draco and told him everything was going to be fine. Instead, Harry watched Seamus glare at his--Blue?--arm and stalk into a shower while Dean waited for Harry to speak.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" Dean asked. Harry was suddenly very conscious of Draco beside him and he was sure he felt Draco's fear reeking off of him. Harry tried his damndest to look calm in front of Dean as he lifted both his hands onto the metal rod holding the curtain up, concealing Draco thankfully.
What would Dean say if he saw Malfoy in here with me?
Harry shuddered inside his head at the thought. If Dean saw them, not only would Dean freak, but Draco would freak, and then Seamus would enter the chaos--No, Harry was not going to let that happen.
Harry heard the other shower start up, assuming Seamus had undressed and was now getting rid of that nasty ink stain on his skin. It had been rather huge, from what Harry had glimpsed.
"I had some trouble with my food at lunch, it got me good," Harry replied with a grin, happy to find he wasn't stuttering at all. Dean nodded, grinning back before turning to the shower Seamus had entered to yell, 'Shut up about the ink! It's washing off, you fool!'
Seamus retorted back at Dean, but Harry couldn't catch it. Knowing now that Dean and Seamus didn't suspect anything amiss with Harry having skipped class and been in the shower, Harry felt emboldened.
"So, you're going to go to the infirmary now, are you Harry?" Dean asked, turning his attention back towards Harry.
"Already been. Um…Dean?" Harry hesitantly asked. Dean walked a little closer to the shower Harry and Draco were occupying, and this was a major warning for Harry when he heard Draco let out a small whimper.
Merlin, he's terrified of someone finding out… I got to make this quick! Harry thought.
"Could you find Hermione for me? I need the notes and lesson we got today from Flitwick." Harry explained. Dean stopped coming closer and nodded, smiling at him. Harry was relieved because he felt the circulation in his leg being cut off by Draco's arms tightly squeezing it in a 'hug'.
"Sure thing, Harry. Seamus, are you done yet?" Dean asked, returning to Seamus' shower stall. Harry tried to zone in on what they were saying but didn't manage to catch anything until the shower in the other stall stopped.
"Shut up, Dean, I scrubbed it as hard as I could, this is all I could get off. Shut up, Dean!" Seamus snapped. Harry noticed that the blue stain was still prominent on his skin, like Draco's scars were. Dean was busy sniggering and getting smacked by Seamus when Harry cleared his throat.
Having caught both Seamus' and Dean's attention, Harry reminded Dean, "You'll find Hermione for me right?"
Dean nodded, still sniggering as Seamus glared at him menacingly. "Sure thing, Harry. You want her to meet you at the Common Room?" Dean questioned as Seamus pulled his shirt over his head and fixed his hair sloppily.
Harry shook his head, finally feeling the strain of standing up on his toes to look over the silver bar at the other two in the room. "No, tell her to meet me in the seventh corridor." Harry responded before finally letting go of the bar and leaning a bit on the wall to regain some strength from his strained leg muscles.
Draco's face had gotten a little to close to his nether region but both boys were too distracted to notice how promiscuous the position looked.
Seamus and Dean nodded, finally moving towards the door to leave. Harry could hear their steps as they got further and further to the door, and as they did so, Draco unwound a little.
"Don't forget to tell her!" Harry called after them; worried Dean wouldn't tell Hermione what she needed to know. And he really needed her help right now. He was hoping the kindness she doled out to create S.P.E.W would be given to Draco as well, because if it wasn't, Harry was unsure of what he would do with the other boy. Short of telling him to leave the school, because he seemed to be in danger here.
"Shut up already, Harry! I'm not absent minded like some people!" Dean retorted back at him.
"What's that supposed to mean!" Seamus asked, probably not really as affronted as he sounded. Harry smirked from behind the curtain at how the two friends were sending verbal jabs at each other.
"You know what I'm talking about, Seamus--."
The door shut and drowned out their voices.
Harry looked down at Draco. Draco was still holding onto his leg, but had loosened his grip slowly as Dean and Seamus left the room. Harry suddenly found that Draco was all too close for him right now, and flushing, he asked, "Um… Draco…"
Draco looked up with his grey eyes at Harry, looking very innocent, which was a big irony because Draco was in no way near innocent, as Harry knew. "What, Potter?" he asked, his voice a little shaky, but the arrogant tone underlining it still.
"Could you please let go of my leg?" Harry asked, hoping that his flush wasn't too obvious to Malfoy.
Malfoy looked at his arms, then at Harry's legs, then slowly untangled himself from Harry.
Malfoy whispered a 'Sorry' under his breath that Harry could barely catch. "Well, let's head to the Room of Requirement." Harry said, with finality to his voice.
Draco looked sulky, maybe because he couldn't persuaded Harry to let him go off on his own, but he still got up and grabbed his pants. Harry let Malfoy change, sloth-like, and when Malfoy was finally ready, Harry led him out of the showers and into the luckily barren hall.
"Hermione! Harry wanted you!" Dean called as he crossed her and Ron's paths near the Library doors. Hermione stopped and turned around to stare at Dean with surprise. She was clutching her books on her chest and Ron was standing right beside her, his head perking upwards when he heard Harry's name being called.
"He does?" Hermione asked, cutting off Ron from being able to say anything as she and Dean spoke. Ron was about to open his mouth again but the glare Seamus sent him from behind Dean decidedly made Ron shut the trap. Hermione stood towards Dean stiffly while Seamus and Ron looked around as Dean replied,
"Yeah to collect notes for the study period."
Hermione and Ron shared a glance with each other as Dean said that, Hermione turning back to Dean with a confused look about her.
"But he doesn't have a study period…" she said thoughtfully.
The space they were taking up in front of the Library doors wasn't considerable but Seamus got bumped into and had to travel into the Library to make some room for the other students flocking in for some quick studying. Dean quickly assured Seamus he would follow him soon, before he continued talking to Hermione and Ron.
"Really? Well he said for you to meet him in the Seventh Corridor, so maybe--," Dean tried to explain but Hermione only spoke over him. The hint had been given; she understood where to find Harry.
"It's okay, Dean. Thank you for telling me. I'll get an answer out of him now," Hermione responded, finalizing their interaction in a polite way. Dean nodded, smiling, and went on his way into the Library. Hermione and Ron were left to walk a little further away from the Library, as Hermione's destination was now changed.
"Oh good, then we'll get an answer out of him!" Ron said, walking down the stone floor with a bit of a lighter step. Hermione stopped abruptly and gazed at Ron with incredulity.
"We? Ron, you're going to class," she told him.
Ron didn't look deterred though, more like determined. His eyes held a pleading quality, and Hermione still gazed at him with a bit of scepticism.
"Oh come on, Hermione! Harry is skipping class too! It's not that important of a class anyways…" Ron tried.
"Ron, Harry might have a good reason for skipping. You just don't want to listen to Ficklewing's voice. I don't blame you for it, who would want to listen to him?" Hermione replied, heading towards a set of stairs that led to Ron's (and Harry's) next class.
Ron, not noticing where Hermione was 'leading' him to, kept talking. "No one, so I should--,"
"Go to class so you don't get in trouble," Hermione finished for him. She turned to the staircase and Ron caught on to where they were. This only proved to make him more desperate to convince Hermione that he, too, should skip class.
"What? Hermione! Harry probably doesn't want to go class either!" Ron protested, weakly.
"He probably has a reason, like Voldemort," Hermione knowingly said. She gave Ron a pointed look. If read between the lines, she seemed to be telling him, 'go on; get to class, now!'
"All the more reason for me to come along with you!" Ron said, his face lighting up brilliantly.
"Ron," Hermione said sternly.
"What?" Ron asked, nonchalant. He turned his face to hers as he spoke.
"I'll turn your robes into a thousand small spiders if you don't go to class," Hermione threatened. Her brown eyes spoke seriousness while Ron's eyes widened with fear.
"Hermione!" Ron looked ashen.
"Now, Ron." Hermione said sternly.
Ron grumbled and started to climb the stairs to Ficklewing's classroom. Hermione sighed and pursed her mouth together, going down the hall to get to another staircase that led up the floors to the Seventh Floor.
Draco sat down on a chair, in a room that Harry had conjured from thinking about what he needed. Looking around, Draco could tell Harry was thinking of a place comfortable enough for Draco but also protective. The numerous locks on the door to the Room of Requirement was the major indicator how protective Harry was feeling right now.
Draco allowed himself to feel a little jittery that Harry was showing he at least cared about Draco's well being, but his stomach was tossing and turning tidal waves at the thought of facing Granger soon. She would never help me, no matter what you say, Harry. Granger is just like everyone else. I don't even fully understand why you want to help me!
Draco could see the scenario now; Granger would walk through that door, take a look around the monotone room, notice Draco sitting here on the plush chair, and then she would freak. She would probably try to convince Harry to leave the Death Eater alone too, leaving Draco all alone again. The more Draco thought, the more scared and forlorn he became.
Harry for his part was a little nervous himself. Draco couldn't tell what for, but he was sitting across from Draco on the blue plush chair and fidgeting like made with his robes. Draco had always hated it when Harry started doing that… It didn't matter now though, did it? It wasn't like Draco could go over and take a passionate kiss from Harry's mouth even if Harry was helping him now.
Harry did kiss me though, didn't he? But he looks so confused when he talks about that… There's no way he could… possibly… be… ready…
Just as Draco was struggling with that thought in particular, one very stressed out bushy-haired mudblood burst through the door. Draco didn't take in her haggard face at first; in fact, he didn't notice it at all. He was about to faint when he watched her reaction after glancing directly at Harry and Draco.
"Harry--?" Granger asked quietly, the hurried air about her dispersing faster than a skunk's bad smell. "Is this why you brought me here?"
Granger then pointed at Draco. Draco immediately felt intimidated, and he shrank back into the chair, figuring if he got as small as he could she'd leave him alone.
"Yeah, um, Hermione, can I ask you a big favour?" Harry said, standing up and travelling across the room to Draco. Harry placed his hand on Draco's shoulder and gave him a small nudge. If that's your idea of helping ,Harry, it's not working Draco thought pitifully. He wanted to whimper, he was so upset to be around someone he didn't trust.
Granger took a few wary steps closer and spoke smoothly, "Depends on what it is."
Draco knew it, this was doomed to failure. He might as well say his goodbyes right now, because Granger sounded like she was about to get icy. She'd kill him so Harry could be less troubled in his life Draco was willing to bet.
He wouldn't blame her for it, either.
"Could you look after Draco for me? I know it sounds odd--" Harry tried to explain, but Granger interrupted him with a blunt reply.
"It does sound strange."
She had a stern frown on her lips and her shoulders sat rigidly as she stood there, silent.
Draco couldn't help but imagine her as angry, which made him worry about getting punched again; she had been very angry that one time in third year when she punched him.
Draco shuddered because he didn't want any more violence to happen to his person, even if he might be so lowly as to deserve it.
"Yes, I know, but Hermione, please just make sure Draco doesn't leave this room and no one enters it until I come back," Harry said, pleading with his friend subtly.
Granger slowly turned her gaze towards Draco and she caught his grey eyes with hers. Draco's eyes widened when he met her steely stare.
"Why should I do that for the Death Eater?" she brashly asked, speaking to Harry, but still looking straight at Draco.
Harry gasped in shock, and Draco shrank into the chair because of the intensity of Granger's accusation.
When Draco saw Harry look determined, he knew Harry was about to stand up for him.
"I'm not a--a--Death Eater" Draco said in a very small voice, so he wouldn't trouble Harry and would still stand a small chance of not attracting too much attention.
Harry doesn't have to stand up for something like me, Draco thought.
Granger's steady stare and scornful look only became greater.
"Well, then, what are you?"
Draco shrank back, feeling intimidated by how harshly Granger was looking down on him.
And Harry said she'd help… I knew it was stupid! Why didn't I run? Why didn't I…
Harry decided to interject right there, shocking Draco more than he shocked Granger.
"He's my lover."
Draco stared at him for blatantly stating it so easily. If it had been Draco, he would not have been able to admit it so easily, if at all.
How can he do that to her, when she clearly hates me? WHAT IS HE THINKING?
Draco felt hopeless.
Granger nodded calmly, the spurning look in her eyes dissipating as she said, "I thought as much."
Draco stared at her from his crouching position on the couch, trying to figure out her real emotions and lines of thought. He would feel more comfortable if he knew what to react to.
"What?" Draco squeaked, terrified now that everyone else had seen his emotions in the school. That would be dangerous; everyone would have curses to hit him with and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I'm going… to be torn apart… And it'll be all because of Potter!
"Well, it was obvious, Malfoy," Granger said as if reciting a test answer. It was too factually said for Draco's liking. He hadn't realized he really did wear his heart on his sleeve when it came to Potter.
I wish I'd never fallen for Potter… he's caused me more grief by just existing… he's always causing me fucking grief! Why can't he just… just… LEAVE!
"What?" Draco looked like he was about to cry, and he was on the verge of doing so because of slight surprise, frustration, and overwhelming fear that he had been seen through all along.
Granger appeared a little startled to see Draco start to slowly break down as irrationally as he was.
"Draco, it's not that bad--Draco?" Harry was saying when Draco fainted.
An awkward moment ensued after that between Hermione and Harry, both of them unable to figure out what had stressed him out so much that he'd simply fallen limply on the chair in his crouching position.
If he stays like that, he'll be very stiff, Harry thought.
"Well, um, Hermione, how exactly did you--?" Harry asked as he walked towards Draco and slowly moved his head up into a more comfortable angle, straightened Draco's legs, and uncurled his torso to lie against the chair rather than use it as support. When Draco's head lolled to the side, Harry grabbed a pillow from the other chair and propped Draco's neck up with it.
"Know? I happened to come across you one night two months ago, fighting with Malfoy, I thought it a little strange how your lips grazed Malfoy's for a moment, then you punched him in the stomach," Hermione said as she noted Harry's careful attitude towards Malfoy's unconscious person.
"I did?" Harry looked at Hermione with a sideways glance, astonished.
"Yeah, you did. Then, from there, I just observed you two, and it became so obvious I wanted to cry," Hermione said grimly. She had finally started away from her still stand and sat down with a huff into one of the chairs in the room.
"It was…?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"Yes. Nobody would decide to start fighting just so they could get a feel," Hermione responded, irony leaking through her voice.
Harry stopped matting down Draco's newly washed hair and stiffened up considerably.
Hermione started to snicker when Harry's delayed reaction came.
"WHAT?"
"I see, you forget that…" Hermione sighed and looked downwards at the floor.
"Obviously," Harry muttered.
"Why am I here, Harry?" Hermione inquired, placing her hands on her lap, business-like.
"I can't say… I want to… But Draco doesn't…"
"Ah, I see. I'll ask him, then," Hermione said confidently.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
Harry doubted she would fare too well if she went and asked, "Hey Malfoy, why am I here again?"
Oh yes, and give Draco another reason to faint, Harry thought cynically. He really didn't want Draco to faint again, and he definitely didn't want Hermione to be the reason again.
"And why not?" Hermione questioned.
"You'll see why…" Harry whispered, smoothing back a rough blonde hair strand off of Draco's face. He stared down at Malfoy one last time before standing up and whipping the wrinkles out of his pants absentmindedly.
"What was that, Harry?" Hermione suspiciously glanced at him out of the corner of her eye when Harry reached the door.
Taking a hold of the doorknob, Harry glanced back and gave her a cheeky smile. "Nothing.
I have to get going. Just make sure Draco's protected, please." he finished off seriously, shutting the door behind him.
He knew what he was about to do was probably a very stupid thing to do, but just thinking about that dark haired boy made him want to rearrange a few faces.
No one fucking hurts Draco like that… No one.
Hermione stood there for a moment, stunned at how the many locks on the door suddenly self locked themselves with Harry's presence gone.
She then got up and conjured a pail of water.
Harry walked towards Ficklewing's classroom with purpose in his stride. His face was concentrated on something ahead, which didn't become apparent until the bell rang, signalling the end of a class Harry had skipped.
"Harry!" Ron called as students filed out of the classroom and Harry pushed around them, looking for one face in particular. Once Harry laid his eyes on the dark boy he went straight for his throat.
Harry hadn't said anything, which had probably been more stupefying to his classmates than when Harry grabbed Zabini by the neck in a split second and had tackled him to the ground with his smaller body. Ron stared at his friend while mouthing, 'Harry's really that strong…' stupidly.
Zabini shouted out, "What the hell is wrong with you!" when Harry's fist connected to his jaw and he had to retaliate by kicking Harry off of him.
It proved harder than it had seemed when Malfoy did it, because Harry had monkey-like reflexes when he wanted to employ them. And he became a fist flying leech.
Harry, the whole time, remained silent but the fury in his eyes was geared strongly towards only one head.
Soon the fight had gotten so bad that blood was splattering to the ground and people could only watch dumbfounded.
Professor Ficklewing came out of his classroom, horrified to find two of his students fighting. Pulling Harry off of Zabini and yelling at Parkinson to grab Zabini and hold him still, he took Harry by his scruff and scolded, and scolded, and scolded.
"How dare you, Mr. Potter, I would have expected something like this from Zabini, but you? What the hell possessed you! And further more--"
By now Ficklewing was furious and jolting Harry's body around towards the Headmaster's office. Parkinson had stared at Zabini for a few minutes before the Professor barked at 'that stupid girl' to follow him.
Even after Zabini and Harry had been towed away, the people who had just witnessed Harry Potter's angry wrath taken out on Blaise Zabini stood around taking in the commotion and digesting it slowly.
The only one of the onlookers who had been fast to react was Ron.
Ron, seeing how much trouble Harry had just gotten himself in, ran off to the seventh floor to seek Hermione out, figuring she must have known something about Harry's sudden switch in behaviour towards the Slytherin.
A cold wetness overcame Draco and he jolted upwards, falling onto the floor, soaking wet.
"What? Who? LEAVE ME ALONE!" Draco cried out, ready to curl up into a little ball in case it was Zabini.
Why Draco felt Zabini could have possibly gotten past Granger is not completely understood, but Draco was by now tired, irritable, and thinking very irrationally.
"Relax, Malfoy, it's only me," Granger said calmly, sitting down on a bucket she placed on the floor. Draco stared at the bucket before realizing what she had done to him, and still in his flight mode he began to sniffle as he tried to stop his emotional ride from taking over.
Draco unintentionally backed further away from Granger until his back was pushing into the chair uncomfortably. He couldn't help but notice how sopping wet he was again, and this only helped work him up more. By now Draco could only think of all the things that were going wrong, and Granger throwing cool water onto his head didn't better his mood.
"Merlin, Malfoy, what's happened to you?" Hermione asked, concerned. She leaned forwards on the pail, but Draco only watched her like a rattlesnake and stayed deadly silent.
"No mudblood comments today?" Granger asked bitterly.
Draco shook his head slowly, feeling cold and sorry for himself. He knew that calling her a mudblood wasn't going to be of any use, not when Draco himself had fallen so low. He wondered when Granger would get up and leave, or if she had a hero complex like Harry.
No one can be as good as Harry… not even Granger. She can't suddenly become nice to me; it's not possible. She hates me. Everyone hates me.
Even at the back of his mind though, he heard a voice question his sureness of that statement. Harry cares, doesn't he?
"What's wrong?" Granger scooted closer to him by dragging the pail closer to the chair. Draco had by now felt the first telltale signs of crying, and the burning in his throat as he tried to push the sorrow back down.
Harry cares… why does he care… I never knew, not even now, why does he care!
"Malfoy? Are you…crying!" Granger clearly didn't know how to handle a teary Draco. As soon as she said that, Draco wiped his eyes before any tears were seen and looked her in the eye with a glare, all the while fighting the tight 'ball' in his throat.
"Leave me alone, I don't need your pity! Get out, tell Potter to go fuck off, I don't need his damn help! Never again!" Draco temperamentally burst out.
He didn't want people feeling sorry for him. It was insulting to Draco for Granger and Harry to be concerned for him just because they thought the way he was being treated was wrong. I want Harry… and Granger, Draco admitted grudgingly, to care about me, not what's happening to me.
Hermione then replied, "So you are crying?"
Draco sniffed and looked away from her. "So what if I am?" he argumentatively said.
"Then what's wrong?"
Granger, why won't you quit!
Draco was getting frustrated and he soon realized he needed to sleep. I have to get her away from me. I can't sleep with her around; it would be too fucking creepy.
"I told you I don't need your pity!"
"I'm not giving you pity. I'm asking why you're upset."
Draco, ready to go into a full-blown rant to get rid of her, stalled.
He whispered high enough so she could hear, "I don't want to be near you, okay? Happy now?"
He let out an exasperated sigh and pouted as he waited for her response.
"Why don't you want Harry's help?" Granger changed the topic.
I don't… want him… to leave. But I'm not going to tell you that! Draco wasn't going to let her know that he'd die if he let Harry in, only to find Harry was going to run away again.
I have to have self-preservation… I don't know anymore why I still try to survive. But if I'm going to survive, it's going to be alone.
Draco stared at her, hoping she would finally give up and leave.
"I'm not going to go." And with saying that Granger single handily smashed Draco's wishes.
"Bloody mudblood," Draco sulked.
"Call me that again, Malfoy, and I'll hex you," Granger threatened darkly, thumbing her wand in one of her robe's side pockets.
"Kill me and get it over with, then," Draco snapped.
"What?" Granger asked, taken aback by Draco's depressed mood.
"I said end it, Granger. You might as well put me out of my fucking misery while you have a damn chance," Draco said.
He knew he meant every word of it. If she were to kill him right now he'd probably drop her a line in the afterlife, thanking her.
Granger looked more appalled than ready to grab her wand at the invitation. "Fuck, Malfoy."
Draco eyed her with a steely gaze, waiting for her to continue.
What's her problem? Hasn't she seen anything that's happened to me? Surely for someone as 'observant' as the mudblood Granger she'd have realized a long time ago how pathetically stupid my existence is.
"What the hell has happened to you?"
"What had happened to me? What has happened to me? What has NOT happened to me!"
Draco overreacted and his voice became strained as he finished off.
"Don't overreact Malfoy, I'm sorry." Granger responded, sitting back and giving Draco his space. It wasn't much, but hearing her say that calmed him. Draco was able to unhinge and rest against the chair as he asked, "What?"
He was a little surprised that she was apologizing to him, of all people. It had been a long time since he last was able to talk to someone normally, as a friend.
With Harry we talked but… Draco pondered, we also 'occupied' ourselves with sex. It was always different.
"I said, I'm sorry. And for your information, Harry seems to care about you. Why, I can't imagine, but he does. I won't tell him to leave you alone," she told him.
Draco was left fuming because she simply would not leave!
Draco continued the only way he knew how. "Whatever," he brushed her off. He bet that if he ignored her and was a general jerk to her she would back off.
"Shut up, Malfoy, be happy that he wants to help you."
Granger was glaring at him now.
"Why should I?" Draco argued.
"Because at least you have someone who cares about you."
She said it so simply, but it hit Draco like the pail of water had. Maybe Draco awakened to a few things like the water Granger threw on him woke him before.
If Granger thinks Harry cares about me…
Draco shut up and pulled his knees up to his chest as he stared at his shoes in silence. Granger let him be for a few moments, but soon opened her annoying mouth to piss him off him further.
"So why does Harry want me to look after you?"
"I guess he doesn't want me to get hurt again…" Draco gave her an answer to satisfy her curiosity. Draco himself was allowing himself to believe Harry cared about him; the idea scared him as much as it excited him, but he was happy. In his own way.
"You got beat up again?" Granger was close to figuring it out and Draco wanted her to stay a breath away from the truth.
"Yeah…" Draco lied; encouraging her to believe that was all it was. The silly girl believed it. Merlin, Granger, Harry and I beat each other up just so we could keep our relationship as secret as possible, do you honestly believe it's for something as trivial as my arse getting kicked that Harry wanted me protected?
No, it was for something worse. And Draco didn't think he could bear to think about it right now. He was very aware he had only just now regained some sanity that Zab--the other had taken away.
I'm so pathetic…I can't even think about it.
Draco and Granger sat there for a while, Draco all the while concerning himself with things as stupid as if Granger's butt was starting to hurt from sitting on the pail so rigidly.
He was actually about to ask her the stupid question to find out the truth, when something loud banged on the doorway…
"Hermione? Hermione! You're in there, aren't you?" Ron called from outside of the locked door. Granger glanced up at it from her bucket and Draco immediately got up and started to look around like a mouse caught in a cage.
"Oh no, he has to come at the worst times, doesn't he?" Granger said calmly, getting up off the bucket.
Draco swerved around on his feet and said hysterically, "How can you be so calm? He's right outside the door! I'll be found! I'll be--I'llbe--"
Ron banged louder on the door. "Hermione let me in! Something AMAZING just happened!"
"Malfoy!" Granger distracted him and when he looked her way she pointed her wand at him and muttered, "Stupefy."
Draco fell to the floor. Hermione walked carefully up to his stupefied body and picked him up under his arms. Half carrying and half dragging him, she laid him down behind a chair where Ron would not notice
"There, Ron shouldn't notice you… Oh wait," She said as she kicked one of Draco's feet in behind the chair.
Hermione, checking back once to make sure Draco was hidden away, unlocked the numerous bolts while saying, "Ronald! Be patient, it can't be that important."
Once she unhooked the last lock Ron barged in and looked positively gleeful. (Maybe even shocked too.)
"Hermione, Hermione!" he frantically huffed.
Hermione just stared at him and kept her distance away from the chairs. Ron stayed near her as he leaned over, holding his knees, and caught his breath.
"What?" Hermione's voice sounded a little on edge, but otherwise her stature spoke only of impatient waiting. Ron ignored her glance back at the chair Draco was hidden behind as he stood up with an astonished expression.
"Harry just PULVERIZED Blaise Zabini, he didn't even say why he did it to anyone! He just went ahead and ATTACKED! It was so cool!" he gibbered.
"Oh, did he now?" Hermione replied in disbelief. She looked surprised but a thoughtful look crossed her eyes when she looked at Draco's hiding place out of the corner of her eye.
Ron was really eager to affirm Harry's odd behaviour.
"Yeah, why, didn't he tell you anything about it? I thought that was why he wanted to talk to you! Maybe Zabini has got something to do with Voldemort and Harry caught wind of it!" Ron hypothesized.
"I have a feeling it had more to do with Draco Malfoy..."
"Really? You think that little shit of a Death Eater--" Ron growled out.
"Well, Um, not exactly." Hermione interjected, looking back at the door.
"Then what?"
Ron waited for her to answer him; seeming put out she wasn't reacting as he had by this new occurrence in events.
"Ron, you should go see Harry in the infirmary, shouldn't you?" Hermione suggested, taking him by the shoulders and pushing him towards the open door.
"What, aren't you coming?" Ron looked back at her, inquiring with his eyes why she wasn't going to check up on Harry. Hermione looked back at him and sighed, lowering her eyes for a second and looking honestly regretful.
"Harry wanted me to look after something, research." Hermione responded, leaving her answer open for interpretation.
"Oh, I got you! Want me to help?" Ron offered.
"No, Maybe later, but right now I think you should check up on Harry for us, once you do that I want to know exactly what's going on with him," Hermione instructed, acting like a mother goose with her gosling.
"Oh, fine. I'll meet you in the common room then." Ron said in sulky tone.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and pushed him out of the Room of Requirement with force.
"Oh shut up Ron. It's research on some essay. Not anything--important."
Ron, hearing the word essay, looked rather happy to be going to check up on Harry now. "Well," he said, acting as if he was sorry to leave, "if that's how you feel… I guess I'll be going now. To check up on Harry."
Hermione shook her bushy head and nodded. "Of course, Ron."
Ron then smiled at her and zipped off down the hallway, heading for the Headmaster's Office.
Hermione watched him run off and after checking both ways for stray students, she closed the door and it bolted automatically again. Hermione stares at the door for a moment, before shaking it off and returning to Draco.
"Finite Incatamun," she said, opening up her robe and placing her wand back into her wand pocket.
Draco awoke, and glaring at her, slowly moved his stiff limbs. "Why couldn't you tell him to just shove off?"
"Because he would have become suspicious. Just be thankful he's not always the most perceptive of people," she snapped back at him.
Oh yes, I'm very glad for that… You have no idea, Granger. But right now I just wish people would let me rest for a few hours! Fuck it all…
"So Malfoy, do you know why Harry just beat up Zabini?" Granger asked, staring at him expectantly.
Draco jerked his head upwards to catch her gaze. "He did what?" Draco cried out in surprise.
He… didn't… seem so angry about it.
Review please! Yes, you are allowed to kill me for leaving it there, hehe.
A huge thanks to my reviewers, I really enjoy the support you give me to keep continueing, even if I'm a horribly slow updater! I wish I had time to properly thank you all but I don't have it this weekend, I am sorry for this :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter.