Draco's first reaction when he woke up was panic. He had spent the night plagued by nightmares of what he had done to Harry… Potter… his mind was confused about what to call the boy. After what happened yesterday, it certainly wouldn't be 'Harry'.

Draco's second reaction of the morning was to wince at the loud noise that had woken him. Somehow one of the Slytherins had produced alcohol last night, and now the after effects were reverberating around his skull along with the current sharp noise. He went to pull back the hangings on his bed, and discovered that not only had he forgotten to pull the curtain around his bed last night, but he had also forgotten to get undressed.

Even in his dazed, half awake, hung-over state, Draco's ears deduced that the tapping sound came from an owl. This defied logic. There were no windows in his dungeon dormitory for an owl to possibly be tapping at. The owl, it turns out, was tapping its beak on the headboard of the blond Slytherin's bed. Draco chose not to think about how it got in. Instead, he took the letter from the owl's leg and left the dormitory, letting it out as he went.

It was very early, and since Draco didn't feel like waiting for Blaise to wake up and show him his collection of hangover remedies, he trudged his way up to the Great Hall. Apparently the house elves were feeling particularly telepathic this morning, because the moment he sat down, a plate of bacon, eggs and toast appeared before him. After taking a sip of his pumpkin juice, and telepathically asking the elves to keep his food warm for a while, Draco opened the letter and began to read.

The first words that caught his attention were 'no prejudice. No bias.' He stopped, and re-read the letter from the start.

Hi,

It's rather difficult to write a letter to someone you have never contacted before, especially since the first letter sent was a declaration of affection. However, you told me that I could write to you if I wish, and right now I seem to lack the friends I would usually talk with. One thing I would ask of you before you read on is to consider this letter with no prejudice in mind. No bias. Take my words as the honest truth, or you will not be hearing from me again for a long time.

I don't know if you attend Hogwarts, but considering your owl is in the school owlery, I think you might. With that in mind, you probably already know about what happened at dinner, and the first thing I want to make clear is that I did not send that letter! I have no idea who did, or how they were able to make it sound like me.

The second thing I want to make clear is that I do not like Ron in any way other than as a friend. I don't like men in that way either, although, if I'm being honest, I never thought of anyone in that way, guy or girl.

I don't know what to do. I feel like tearing my hair out every time I stop to think. I lost my friends because of someone's stupid prank, and this is worse than last year. Last year, with the tournament, Hermione actually believed that I didn't want to be doing it, that I hadn't put my name in the cup, and was able to convince Ron. Everyone knows you can't change the voice that comes from a Howler, or whatever those Valentines ones are called. She'll never believe me. I don't understand why someone would do that. Was it intended as a simple prank, or was it meant to drive my friends away from me permanently? I don't think I'll ever know.

Right now I feel more alone than I have at any other point in my life. I hope you write back, if only so I feel like someone in the world is willing to talk to me.

Harry

One line stuck in Draco's mind. 'Right now I feel more alone than I have at any other point in my life.' Well shit. Draco buried his head in his arms, narrowly missing the plate of food. What had he gotten himself into this time?

He knew that he needed to write back, but he hated the fact that he was the cause of all this mess. In fact, wouldn't it be brilliant if he could explain this was entirely his fault. This thought swept him up for a minute, but after a bit of careful consideration he realised that this was the worst idea possible. Harry felt that this stranger, Draco, was the only person he could trust to talk to him. Draco couldn't take that away from him. Summoning a house elf, he asked for parchment and a quill so that he could plan his reply.

-o-o-o-o-o-

It was around the time that people began arriving for breakfast that Draco finally tucked his parchment away, still not happy with his attempts at writing a reply. He wished fervently that he had a copy of the original letter sent to Potter so that he could mimic the calm confidence that he had possessed when writing the first time.

Finally tucking into his bacon, eggs and toast (which were thankfully still warm) he scanned the hall repeatedly, waiting for messy black hair and green eyes to appear. His friends arrived, they talked, and he nibbled on bits of sausage while they ate. When they stood up to leave he told them he would see them at their first class. Eventually, the last few people trickled out of the Great Hall, and Draco grabbed his… shit. He had left all his things in the dormitory in his rush to get to the Hall to read the letter. Potter hadn't turned up to breakfast and now he was going to be late to class!

He sprinted from the Hall and raced to class via the Slytherin common room. This, it seems, was going to be another dreadful day.