Title: Neither Good nor Evil

Rating: PG – 13

Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy; Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or any of its characters.

Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy have never been friends. They were happy to stay enemies until unwanted thoughts interrupted. Add one of Dumbledore's prophecies and shake well.

~ Chapter Sixteen ~

~ Food and Hope ~

"So," Blaise began as he and Ron made their way to the kitchens, "You and Granger?"

"Yeah?" Ron replied, warily.

"Nothing…" Blaise deflated.

"Sorry…" Ron muttered, "Habit."

"You Gryffindor's seem to have a lot of those "habits"." Blaise commented mildly. Ron bristled automatically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped.

"Nothing," Blaise snapped back, "I was just saying."

"Sorry…" Ron muttered again, frowning, "Why'd you say that though?"

"Well, this one time I surprised Potter in the hall and he jumped to his feet and had his wand at my throat in seconds. It was crazy. Then he said that it was habit." Blaise shrugged.

"Yeah," Ron grinned, "Harry's a little jumpy." Blaise laughed.

"With good reason," He made a little noise in the back of his throat and changed topics quickly, "You know, Drake really loves him. Drake doesn't love much. It's kind of funny. He's always been the quiet one, the inside one… does that make sense?"

"I guess… Harry's like that too, in a way. He seems all out there, like everything is on the line all the time but he's not really putting anything out… until now…" Ron trailed off, a sad look on his face.

"They're gonna be fine, right?" Blaise stopped walking and turned to the redhead. Ron stopped too.

"Merlin. I hope so. I don't know what I'd do… I don't know what Hermione would do… you know, he's Gryffindor's hero. I don't know what any of us would do…" He stared at the floor as if the stone would provide him with answers.

"Drake was Slytherin's hero but it's hard to be the hero when everyone thinks you deserted them." Blaise started walking again. After a few seconds, Ron followed him.

"Deserted them?" He asked cautiously.

"Yeah. He's not going to be a Death Eater. He's not going to follow his father. He's different. I mean, some of us don't want to go down that road but a lot do and they think that Drake not taking that road is… a black mark. Or I suppose a red mark." Blaise smirked. Ron laughed.

"I never realized how similar they are. Maybe that prophecy wasn't… necessary…" He shrugged. Blaise looked over at him, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"I don't know… Just maybe they would've gotten together anyway." Ron looked slightly disturbed at the thought. Blaise considered this for a moment.

"No. Drake was obviously attracted to Potter but… they would never have… without the prophecy. There was too much history." He shook his head.

"That's still there now…" Ron trailed off, "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Let's talk about something else. Like food."

"Food is good. Food is simple." Blaise said hurriedly.

"Food is good." Ron agreed as they reached the entrance to the kitchens. He reached out and tickled the pear.

"Yeah…" Blaise paused as the portrait swung open, looking over his shoulder for a moment as though deep in thought and then shook his head again, laughing, "No… Couldn't be." He followed Ron into the kitchen.

ZxZxZxZxZxZx

Harry woke slowly, feeling like someone had stuffed him full of cotton. He made a few snuffling noises and opened his eyes, wincing at how raw they felt. He raised both hands to rub them vigorously. He hadn't felt this bad since his last hangover. Coughing once or twice to clear his throat, he propped himself up on his elbows, trying to remember where he was. He glanced to his left and saw Draco lying in the bed next to him. The last two weeks returned to him in a wave of pain and anguish. All the tension returned to his face and shoulders and he cursed himself for falling asleep.

"Draco, I'm so sorry." He whispered to the silence. He rolled out of the bed and returned to his post next to Draco, linking their hands together again. There was a soft knock on the door and he looked up to see a strange pair entering the room. Ron and Blaise grinned at him, carrying a pile of sweets in the arms.

"Surprise!" Ron laughed.

"We thought you might be hungry." Blaise explained, dropping his load on Harry's now empty bed. Ron handed Harry a slice of pie and flipped a chair nearby around, straddling it. Blaise selected several sweets and settled on the floor in front of Harry, leaning back against Draco's bed. Another knock drew the boy's attention back to the door. Pansy and Hermione peeked around the door, their faces dropping into shocked looks.

"How'd you sneak by us?" Hermione questioned, smiling.

"You weren't there when we got here." Ron replied, offering her a chocolate dessert. She accepted it, kissing him gently.

"What'd you bring me?" Pansy demanded of Blaise. He shrugged.

"Lots. Check the bed." He motioned to the pile of food. She pinched his neck and went to retrieve something. Blaise scowled at her. A tiny smile graced Harry's face and he slowly let go of Draco's hand in favor of the pie. The five stressed teenagers soon dissolved into laughter as Ron began telling them a ridiculous story of one of his older brother's pranks. The noise drew Madame Pomfrey.

"What is going…?" She marched into the room, ready to scold the noisemakers. As soon as she caught sight of Harry's face, however, she smiled motherly and backed out of the room. They weren't disturbing the comatose boy and Harry needed a break from the strain he'd taken on.

"They blew up the entire shed!" Ron concluded, sending them into fits of laughter again. Finally the room quieted as they each returned to their comfort food.

"Harry…" Hermione began, glancing at Pansy. Pansy nodded in encouragement, "While me and Pansy were talking we discovered something."

"Yeah?" Harry prompted.

"Well, you know how um… you can't die unless V… Voldemort kills you?" She rubbed her neck awkwardly.

"Unfortunately." Harry offered a wry smile.

"Well, according to our knowledge, you won't be able to… survive without Draco. And since you can't die except for from Voldemort, Draco can't die." Hermione finished. Harry stared at her, processing the new information. Finally a huge smile spread across his face.

"You're right!" He leaped up and hugged her. Then he turned and kissed Draco on the forehead.

"Really?" Ron whispered to Hermione. She shrugged.

"Do you hear that, Drake," Harry murmured, "You're going to live. You're going to live a long time.

This is sort of a bridge chapter. Blaise and Ron bond a little and Harry gets some hope (even if it may be false *gasp*).

Cheers,

Sarcastic Romantic