Losing Pain

Chapter Nine

Draco never left Harry's side. He couldn't. Dumbledore tried to get him to go back to classes, but Draco wouldn't budge. Even if he did go back, he wouldn't be able to do anything. All of his thoughts would be focused on Harry.

After the first time Harry woke up, he would drift in and out of consciousness. Once in awhile he'd be awake enough to have a small conversation with Draco, but most of the time he wasn't. Draco didn't care. As long as he knew the boy was still alive, he was fine.

"Draco, you need to go back to class now." Dumbledore tried once again. It had been almost a month. Harry was starting to stay more awake now, but at the moment he was unconscious. "If you don't, you'll be behind on your studies. Your N.E.W.T.S. are in only a few weeks time. If you don't take them, you won't graduate."

"I've already told you, Professor, I'm not leaving Harry alone." Draco glared at the headmaster. He didn't care what the man did because of it. He didn't care about the man at all anymore.

"He'll be in perfectly good hands. You can always visit him before and after classes."

Draco let go of Harry's hand and stood up. He glared into the blue eyes of the headmaster until finally the old man looked away. "I don't care if he'll be in good hands. I need him in perfect hands and that will only happen if I'm with him. Both his and my studies are up to standards anyways. If you wanted, I could take the N.E.W.T.S. right now and probably pass with flying colors." Draco spat at the man then sat down again and held Harry's hand.

Dumbledore was speechless. He didn't know what to say anymore. If Draco was fine in his studies, there was no other way to make him leave. Instead, he just left silently. Draco smirked and kissed the sleeping boy's fingers.

***

Only days later, Harry was closer to making a full recovery. He was awake more than Draco. This made Draco overjoyed even if he couldn't always stay awake with him.

"When am I getting out of here?" Harry asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Poppy just told you two days ago, Harry." Draco smiled and shook his head. Harry was becoming more like his normal self and it was something to be happy about. "She's letting you out in two days because of N.E.W.T.S. You should be thankful she's letting you out early. This was worse than the last time you got stuck in here."

Harry nodded and grabbed Draco's hand. He held it as tight as he could, but it wasn't much. Most of his strength was still gone. "Draco, what are we going to do after school?"

Draco looked at Harry. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, staying with me isn't the best plan for you. You could be anyone you want. You could have everything. I'd just be holding you back."

Draco looked at Harry like he was crazy. "Harry, I care for you. That's why I'm staying with you. I'll always be there for you, no matter what happens or what people think."

"What people think?" Harry laughed. "People obviously know about us now. What are we going to do about that?"

Draco raised his eyebrow. "Are you embarrassed about us, Harry James Potter?"

Harry's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. "No! I just don't want people making fun of you for being with me. It's probably going to be hard enough for them to get over the fact that you like..."

Draco laughed at Harry for not being able to finish his sentence. "Guys? Harry, I'm pretty sure they've figured that out quite a long time ago. I'm surprised that you hadn't known yourself. I'm pretty sure Weasley and Granger had known."

"They weren't too great at telling me everything. Plus, I had my own life to worry about."

Draco nodded understandingly. He knew that the boy hadn't really been all interested in anything. "I should have noticed that something was wrong the moment you quit Quidditch."

Harry turned to look up at the ceiling. "Quidditch. It was such a huge part of my school years." He gave out a small laugh. "I guess no one noticed how much I hated the game. They were all too focused on my 'ability.' Everyone took it as a shock when they found out I had told Dumbledore I quit the sport only moments after everyone left the Great Hall the first day. I'm surprised you quit too."

"There seriously wasn't any competition left once you quit. The sport got boring." Draco explained. "You know, it's funny how the only reason I persuaded my father to get me on the team was because you were on it. Then, I was set on beating you, showing everyone that you really weren't all that special. No one expected that we'd go from being complete enemies to being...I don't even know how to say it."

"Together?" Harry inquired.

Draco laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's what we are now, huh? Together. It's so...I don't know...opposite."

"It wouldn't have been if I had done things differently." Harry said. He looked back at Draco. "Remember the first day we came here?"

Draco smiled. "I remember even farther back. The first time we met was at Madam Malkin's. You seemed to be so lost. Usually I made fun of those who looked stupid, but you were different. You interested me."

"I looked stupid?" Harry looked hurt but he had a glint in his eye showing that he was just faking it.

"I thought everyone looked stupid unless they were a friend of mine." Draco said simply. "Then I heard rumors going around the train that you were going to school. You were going to be in my year. Truthfully, I was jealous of you. If I made you my friend, it would give me the chance to make you do stuff for me. It would prove that I was better than you. Now that I think about it, I was a selfish child back then."

Harry snorted. "And you're not selfish anymore?"

Draco just glared and lightly punched the teen on the shoulder. Harry laughed.

"We were both stupid little eleven-year-olds back then. Neither of us knew what was good for us. I should have either shaken your hand or listened to the Sorting Hat. I probably wouldn't be in this mess if I had." Harry sighed.

Draco was confused. He didn't understand what the boy was saying. "What do you mean 'listened to the Sorting Hat'?"

"The Hat thought I'd do better in Slytherin than in Gryffindor. Since Ron had put all these bad thoughts in my head about Slytherin, I begged it to put me somewhere else. That's how I ended up in Gryffindor. I wondered if I really was supposed to be in Gryffindor, but Dumbledore assured me I was. He told me I wouldn't have been able to get Gryffindor's sword in my second year if I wasn't born to be in his house. I still wonder if anything the man has told me is true."

Draco was speechless. He couldn't believe it. The raven haired boy that he cared for could have been with him from the start. There wouldn't have been any fights. There wouldn't have been any difficult 'friends.' Everything would have been simpler. The two probably would have been together a lot sooner. Everything would have been perfect.

"Draco are you alright?" Harry asked, breaking Draco from his thoughts.

Draco smiled and bent down to kiss Harry's forehead and then his lips. "I'm better than ever."

Harry smiled back. "That's good because I just figured something out."

Draco raised his eyebrow again. "And what's that?"

"I know I'm falling for you now."

A/N: There's the ninth chapter. I think it's one of my favorites so far. I hope you liked it too! As always, thanks to everyone who's reading!