2

"Dear heavens!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed when she looked up from another patient to see Harry and Draco wobble in. "Lay him down over here."

The nurse guided them to a bed on the far left side of the room near her office door. By this point Draco was feeling so weak that the amount of weight he was putting on Harry was causing them to stagger wildly. When they reached the bed, Draco let go of Harry to collapse on the bed. He still did not want to be here in the Hospital Wing, but the padded mattress underneath him was so very comforting.

Once Draco was laid safely in the bed, Harry stood back to stretch out his shoulders. It had taken more effort than he thought to half-carry the other boy. As he moved back, Madame Pomfrey came forward to examine her new patient.

"I think he's lost a lot of blood," Harry offered as Madame Pomfrey moved a pillow behind Draco's back, urging him to sit up.

"Yes, I can see that." She took Draco's left arm in her hands to examine the damage. "I suppose this was not an accident?"

Draco avoided eye contact causing Pomfrey to give a dissatisfied click with her tongue before pulling out her wand. Without another word she pointed her want at the riddle of cuts across Draco's arms and wrists and began muttering healing spells. When she had finished, she put away her wand and examined her work. The fingers she used to trace the now healed wounds felt cold against his abnormally warm skin.

"I can do nothing about the scarring; you came to me too late. The scars will fade after time, but not go away." Pomfrey let go of Draco's arms and moved toward her office saying, "Stay where you are, I will be right back."

When the nurse was out of earshot Draco looked frantically at Harry, "She is going to tell someone! You can't let her!"

Harry shushed him and moved forward to encourage Draco to relax. "When she comes back I will talk to her. Just rest now, you look so tired."

Draco was, in fact, exhausted. Now that his arms had been healed and he was no longer in any immediate danger, his body longed for sleep. He tried to fight the sleep that was threatening to overcome him, but he had no strength. Just as his eyes fluttered closed, however, Madame Pomfrey came to his rescue.

I need you to take this before you fall asleep, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco forced his eyes open to see the nurse holding out a blood red pill and a large glass of water. His arms felt as if they were made of led when he reached for the two items and downed them both. Almost as soon as the pill hit his stomach a burning sensation flooded through his body causing him to whimper softly.

"What did you give him?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Something to speed up his blood platelet renewal," Pomfrey replied. "He should be back to normal by this evening, but I want to keep him here overnight. You may stay here for a little while Mr. Potter, but you must allow him to rest. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other students to attend to."

"Wait," Harry stopped the nurse when she made to walk away, "He asked me to instruct you not to tell anyone about this."

"That seems unwise, Mr. Potter. If Mr. Malfoy had gone much farther there would not have been much I could have done to help."

"I understand that, Madame Pomfrey, but I am prepared to vouch for him that this will not happen again."

"Is that so." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, it is. I had a long talk with him before we came here. We discussed what had caused this and how it can be avoided in the future." Harry tried to sound matter-of-fact, but Madame Pomfrey seemed to see right through him.

"I still think it is unwise. If he has gone this far then he needs someone equipped to help him through this," the nurse replied.

"Please, Madame Pomfrey!" Harry dropped his voice to a near whisper so the other boy couldn't hear. "I promised him that if he came to you nothing bad would come of it. He's terrified at the prospect of having to leave the castle, which I assume would happen if he was to require a proper counselor."

Pomfrey frowned and looked over her shoulder at the blonde boy. It took her a moment or two to respond. "Very well, but this is against my better judgment. If I see any evidence, and I mean any, that this will happen again I will not hesitate to inform the correct parties. Am I clear on that?"

Harry nodded, relieved. He knew Madame Pomfrey was right, but he just could not bring himself to break his word to Draco. When Madame Pomfrey left to attend to her other patients, Harry went to one side of the wing to find a chair. He then returned to Draco's bed and pulled the chair up to the edge and sat down.

"Is it okay if I stay?"

Draco nodded, once again on the verge of sleep now that the burning sensation had died down.

"Madame Pomfrey agreed to say nothing," Harry continued, causing a small smile to move across the other boy's face. "No one will know about this, so rest now."

What Harry did next surprised him. He reached out his hand and laid it on Draco's before he could give himself time to question his actions. Whether it was because Draco did not mind the comforting hand or because he was too exhausted to know what was happening, Harry did not know, but the hand beneath his turned palm-up so that their hands intertwined. Harry could feel his eyes become moist. He had secretly longed for this, to hold Draco's hand in his own, but he had never once allowed himself to believe it would ever happen. But here they were, hands clasped together. And now that Draco had finally fallen asleep, Harry had no intention of letting go.

Note: This part used to be merged with the next chapter, but I decided to split it off, which is why it's so short. The next chapter is already half written, so it will be up real soon! Please review =) I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts. ~TJ