What is your secret?
By Star Mirage
Standard disclaimer applied.
A/N: It's already the 10th part! (And now beta-checked!) Five more parts are left till the grand finale! Please read and review!
Dedication: To Rika'sGrayWolf & Unfading. Thank you for reviews! They inspirited me greatly!
Part 10: Dreams and Nightmares
Draco found himself in a fairly large room with stone walls and vaulted ceiling. This room was almost the same in size as his father's studio in their Malfoy Manor. Faint lighting, oddly enough, was not oppressive. On the contrary, it created an impression of comfort. The large fireplace with a burning fire in it, two armchairs, the shelves with tools for alchemical experiments, a red-wood coffee table, similar to the one that they had in Malfoys' manor…
As Draco knew, such tables often were made to have a removing top, and inside there was a niche for storing of various things. His father, for example, inside the similar table usually stored the bottles of his favorite whisky - half-of-century-oldArdmoreand Macallan in Lalique - and the glasses.
Glancing over the room, Draco saw a small magic harp on a pedestal, - "Nothing new," He recorded to himself. "I already have seen the one like that before," - and two big 'liquid' mirrors, standing opposite each other.
"Oh, and this is something new."
He cautiously approached the mentioned objects and stopped a few feet away from them. A jet of water like the umbilical cord connected both 'mirrors' while twisting and purling all the time. It was strange that that liquid torrent hung in the air without touching the floor. Looking closer, Draco realized that the flow cot just connected the objects, the fluid from one 'mirror' was pouring into another.
Intrigued, the blond smiled. "It's interesting."
As Draco knew, no container could be filled endlessly, because sooner or later it will be filled up. Therefore, if all the time the liquid from one 'mirror' poured out and flowed into the other one without overfilling it, so in front of him were not just 'mirrors', but, most likely, portals.
Satisfied with his conclusions, Draco began to examine the frames of portals. Ancient and weird characters neither confirmed nor disproved Draco's speculations. And therefore, he decided to leave more detailed examination of those objects for later.
Draco turned around, now planning to investigate the coffee table. "I wonder, is there anything inside?"
Taking off the table top, the blond sighed in disappointment. Snapping Cards and Magic Chess. Nothing else. And at the moment Draco would not have refused to have something strong. Even a butterbeer would be okay. But whoever was in the room before had not kept any alcohol here.
"'What a pity!"
Draco sighed and sat down in one of the armchairs. Well, at least here he could relax. The blond stretched his legs and began to make himself comfortable in the chair, when his attention was drawn to some object lying on the floor, almost completely hidden under the other armchair.
Curious, Draco quickly stood up, picked up the object, which turned out to be a magazine, and returned to his seat. Probably the guy that was here earlier had dropped it in a hurry.
"Hm, I wonder, why that boy was in such hurry?" Draco thought. "Maybe he recalled what hour it was and that it's high time to sleep? Well, doesn't matter."
Draco twirled the magazine and, surprised, raised his eyebrows. There, on the cover, was his own picture!
"Oh, I didn't know that they already have it published!" After all, he was photographed for the magazine just a few days ago. "They are fast."
With a pride, Draco stared admiringly at his own photo.
It was Pansy's idea to send his profile to that periodical. The magazine was read mostly by girls, so Draco had nothing against being called the most beautiful guy of the month by them.
"Although..." Draco frowned, biting his lip. "This time the reader was a guy. After all, I saw that the one who ran out of the room was a male."
Then the blond, being his usual narcissistic self, smirked.
"Hah! I'm so handsome that even boys would buy this periodical to have my photo!"
Draco began to leaf through the magazine, checking the articles and pictures. After turning the next page and seeing the picture that took the whole page, he stopped, astonished.
"Potter? Naked Potter?"
After reading the inscription under the photo, which confirmed that it indeed was the famous boy-who-lived, Draco couldn't control himself. He burst out laughing.
"Oh, Merlin! That Potter… The bare-assed hero! Oh, my! It's hilarious!"
Wiping tears after the laughing, Draco finally calmed down. He leaned on the back of his armchair and began to scrutinize thoroughly the picture of his rival.
"Well, well, well. Who would have thought that under all those horrific oversized clothes Potter hides such muscled body? Hm... Not bad. Not bad..."
x-O-x-O-x
'It's all Potter's fault!" Draco decided, glancing at the said Gryffindor. To his surprise, Potter was starring at him, but after meeting Draco's eyes, the brunet realized he was caught, blushed and lowered his gaze.
"Something wrong with Potter," thought Draco, but immediately cast that idea away as unimportant. It was bad enough that Potter had already occupied all his thoughts that morning. Even now, at breakfast, Draco could not get rid of them.
Blame that stupid photo of Potter that he saw in the magazine yesterday! It was all because of that nude, sexy image of Potter, he had that disturbing erotic dream last night!
Draco froze, realizing, that just now he called Potter sexy…
"How terrible!" he thought and in despair began to bump his forehead on the table. "I don't wanna think about it! I don't wanna think about it!" he repeated again and again, as a mantra.
Lifting his head, Draco caught Potter's surprised stare. The brunet was sitting at the Gryffindor table, funnily frozen with half-eaten toast in his mouth, and with wide eyes goggling at Draco.
Looking at the object of his irritation, Draco could not stand it anymore. He rose from the table and quickly left the Great Hall.
x-O-x-O-x
To watch Malfoy had never been so interesting.
Harry froze with a piece of toast in his mouth, forgetting about everything and with wide eyes looking as the aforesaid blond was bumping his head on the table. Repeatedly.
Such unusual behavior of the Slytherin surprised and puzzled not only Harry. Almost everyone present in the Great Hall turned towards Malfoy. Although someone, on the contrary, found that strange behavior of the blond amusing.
"Oh, look, Malfoy has finally lost his wits!" said Ron, continuing to stuff himself with his favourite food. "I always said that he is a crazy nutcase."
"Don't speak with your mouth full!" As usual, Hermione, a supporter of good table manners, knocked the red-haired boy on the head.
Harry cast a glance at his best friends, then again turned to look at Malfoy. The latter, oddly enough, with a frown was looking straight at Harry. For a moment their eyes met. Then, unexpectedly, the yesterday's kiss flashed in Harry's mind. He blushed and lowered his eyes...
x-O-x-O-x
Inhaling the familiar scent of medicines and potions, Harry thought that it was very unusual to be in the infirmary, but not as a patient.
For all time of Harry's staying in Hogwarts, there was none of the years when he had not to spend some time here in one of these beds, being injured during Quiddich or during his famous adventures...
Although, in Harry's opinion, the most painful was the case, when he was in his second year. That time Professor Lockhart foolishly removed all bones from Harry's arm, and the boy had to spend a night in the infirmary, growing the new bone with Skelebones potion. A very painful experience!
Now, sitting beside a bed, Harry was glad that he was not the one to be a patient of Madame Pomfrey. Harry looked at the boy sleeping in the nearest bed, and whom he delivered to the Hospital Wing.
"What is wrong with him, Madam Pomfrey?"
The mediwitch just finished her diagnostic spells. She cast a look at the Gryffindor boy and shook her head.
"Anemia, due to lack of sleep, I think."
Harry frowned. Why Malfoy would not sleep as usual people do? Does he also have nightmares? Or was there something else that troubled the Slytherin?
Anyway, it was good that he followed Malfoy from the Great Hall. Harry tried not to think over the fact that what he was doing was a usual stalking. For him, it was just very interesting to find out what was happening with the blond, why he was behaving so strange. Maybe the Slytherin just was up to something malicious against Gryffindors?
However that may be, he secretly sneaked after Malfoy, when the blond stormed out the Great Hall during the breakfast. And so it happened that only he saw how Malfoy, heading to his dormitory, suddenly stopped, swayed and collapsed unconscious.
Being a Gryffindor, and the hero that could not ditch the other in trouble, Harry managed to deliver the blond to the Hospital Wing. And now curiosity was keeping him at the sleeping boy's bed.
"Mister Potter, would you keep an eye at my patient, please, while I'll go get some potions for him?"
Harry nodded. He really didn't have anything better to do. His best friends, Ron and Hermione, would not look for him since they already were used to his sudden disappearances. Besides, that would leave them more time for themselves. And their snogging…
Madam Pomfrey left to her store room, and Harry looked around. There was no one in the Hospital Wing except from him and Malfoy.
Well, that time of the year there would be not so many patients in the infirmary. That was because the weather, through rainy, still hadn't caused any flu epidemic. There were no cursed people since the younger students didn't learn the dangerous curses yet, while the upperclassmen knew many other ways for jokes or vengeance. Also, since it was a mid-game season for Quiddich, there were no injured players in the Hospital Wing. However that may be, ever if there were any patients that Madam Pomfrey had in her care, they had left the infirmary before Harry's arrival.
Now, Harry and the blond Slytherin were alone in the big room. He once again looked at Malfoy. The latter became pretty restless in his sleep. It looked like he had a nightmare.
While Harry hesitated over whether to wake the Slytherin or not, Malfoy began to mumble something is his sleep.
"…don't want it…"
"Eh?" Harry frowned, while the blond moaned again.
"Don't wanna be marked… please…"
"He really has a nightmare." Harry stretched his arm to the boy, going to wake him up, when the latter added.
"… Potter… Help me..."
Harry froze with his jaw dropped and his arm close to Malfoy's shoulder, but not touching it. Harry's mind was full with one thought only:
"What's happening?"
TBC.
A/N: Review, please!
AAN (another author's note ^_^) : Thank you, dear Unfading, for your priceless help with beta-reading this part too! I understood my mistakes (verb tenses, prepositions and once again tenses) and I promise to work at self-improvement!
© Star Mirage