Change In A Star's Alignment

Chapter 14:

After Narcissa left, Harry and Malfoy talked about random, unimportant things. Neither boy wanted to talk about their conversations with Narcissa so neither asked about it.

Over the next couple of days, Harry filled Malfoy in on his studies and they did their homework together. Malfoy would help Harry with Potions and Harry would help Malfoy with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione had come by every day to give Harry the homework since he still refused to leave the blonde unless Narcissa was there.

The last time Narcissa had been with Malfoy, Harry had gone to talk to Zabini, Nott and Parkinson about the new tower. He had been terribly nervous about talking to them at first because of their history. Luckily however, the three had already been informed by Narcissa about what exactly had happened in that corridor so Harry had found himself being hugged tightly by Pansy. The three had thanked Harry and once he invited them to live in the tower, they had eagerly accepted after Pansy had flung herself at Harry once again. They continued to thank him, so a very embarrassed Harry quickly fled the scene so he could get back to Malfoy.

Currently, Harry and Malfoy were working on their Transfiguration essays. Suddenly, Malfoy stopped writing and seemed to be debating with himself before he finally asked, "Hey Potter?"

Startled, Harry looked up to find that Malfoy was biting his lip nervously and seemed to be debating on whether or not he should actually finish asking his question.

"Yeah Malfoy?" Harry asked, trying to prompt the Slytherin to keep going.

"Do you think that maybe… Would you help me with Defense?"

"I already am…" Harry responded, confused.

"No, I meant even more… You know, not just for class but for my own protection."

"Yeah of course I'll help you." Harry said, "But why the sudden want of my help?"

"I don't want your help Potter, but I'm not a fool. I need to be able to properly defend myself from everyone."

Harry was about to respond but was interrupted by Madame Pomfrey, "Well Mr. Malfoy," she said happily, "today is your last day! I'll just make sure you are ready and then you can try to walk. It might take a bit of getting used to since you haven't walked in quite some time and you will no doubt be fairly sore, but I'm certain you'll get the hang of it soon."

Pomfrey checked over Malfoy using some simple diagnostic spells that Harry was familiar with. Harry knew that Malfoy was fine by the look of the spell.

Pomfrey came to the same conclusion not long after, then said, "Well, it seems that you are all ready to go! Mr. Potter," she continued, no facing Harry, "be sure to stick with him while you take him up to the tower, I'm not sure how well he'll be able to walk."

"Of course I will Madame Pomfrey." Harry said.

Apparently satisfied, Madame Pomfrey left to go back to her office. Harry shrunk all of their stuff and put it into his bag which he slung over his shoulder before turning to help Malfoy. When he turned to look at him, however, he found the blonde already standing up.

"Malfoy, you git!" Harry said, rushing over to him, "You could have fallen and hurt yourself!"

"Oh relax Potter." Malfoy said, looking extremely pleased with himself, "I'm stronger than you may think."

His moment of success and pride was short-lived, however. When the blonde tried to take a step forward, he lost his balance and started to fall. Harry, who was close by and expecting this, caught the blonde before he could injure himself.

"Honestly," Harry said jokingly, "there's a difference between being strong and being stupid."

"Just like there's a difference between being brave and being idiotic?" Malfoy countered.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Harry heard Malfoy laugh quietly. They looked at each other and they laughed harder than they ever had before. They laughed at the pure absurdity of the entire situation.

Who would have ever guessed that I would be helping Malfoy and that we would be joking around with each other? Harry thought to himself. Eventually, both boys settled down and Harry offered his hand to Dra-Malfoy to help him up off the bed. The blonde let Harry help him without thinking twice about it.

"Come on Malfoy, let's go see our tower."

"Will everyone else be there?"

"No, classes are going on so we'll be able to see it without having to worry about your friends trampling either of us." Harry replied.

Harry then wrapped his arm around the blonde's waist so that Malfoy could use him for support. Malfoy then placed his arm around Harry's shoulders after a brief moment of surprise.

As they walked to their new tower, Harry was very aware of how Draco was leaning into him. Harry could feel every shift Dra-Malfoy made and he could feel the way the blonde's hip would move beneath his hand. Harry didn't really understand why, but he didn't particularly mind having Draco so close. It almost felt normal to him for some reason.

He didn't dwell on that thought too long because at that moment, the blonde leaned a little more into him and he focused on helping Draco make it to the tower since he seemed to be having trouble walking. Harry tightened his grip on Draco's hip and reached for Drac-Malfoy's hand that was hanging loosely on his shoulder. He pulled the blonde's arm tighter around his neck. He heard Malfoy's breath hitch when he held the blonde's hand.

"You okay Draco-I mean, Malfoy?" Harry asked, quickly correcting himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Harry." The blonde responded.

Harry smiled at the use of his first name and tightened his grip on the blonde Slytherin even more.

~~~~~~~
Draco's POV:

As Draco and Potter made their way to their new tower, Draco thought about how Harr-Potter had wrapped his arm around Draco's waist without hesitation. Draco had been so surprised that Potter would do such a thing that he had to take a moment before he put his arm around Har-Potter's shoulders for extra support.

As they walked, Draco was super aware of how he had to lean into Harry and how it made him feel. He could feel Harry's, no, Potter's hand slip unintentionally from his waist to his hip. Draco waited for Potter to move his hand back, but he never did. Draco, however, didn't mind and that scared him a little. Being so close to Harry almost felt normal to Draco which didn't make any sense to him at all. All he knew was that Harry made him feel safe… Something he hadn't felt in quite a while.

As they walked a little farther, Draco noticed that Harry seemed to radiate heat. He could feel the warmth of Harr-Potter against his side and Draco realized then how cold he is. Draco leaned further into Harry's side for the warmth and, if he was being honest with himself, because he liked being that close to the raven-haired boy. Once he leaned in, Draco felt Harry's grip tighten on his hip and then felt Harry's hand close around his. Draco's breath hitched for a moment at the electric feeling that had gone through his hand when the raven-haired boy had grabbed his hand. Harry then pulled Draco's arm tighter around his neck. Draco didn't protest.

"You okay Draco-I mean, Malfoy?" Harry asked, quickly correcting his slip.

Draco smiled to himself. He really did like it when Harry used his first name. It seemed fitting that they'd use each other's first names now that they are friends.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Harry." Draco responded, pausing so that Harry would notice he's used the raven-haired boy's first name.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Harry smile and then felt the boy's grip on him tighten. Draco noticed that Harry had never let go of his hand…

"Here we are." Harry said, stopping.

Draco stopped and looked around him. Behind him, he saw that they were in the Serpentine Corridor where the DADA and Arithmancy classes were. In fact, right behind him was the DADA classroom. He turned back to the door in front of him. Something was vaguely familiar about that door and it took him a minute to figure it out. "Harry," he said, "I think you've got the wrong place. I've been here before and this isn't a tower… It's the room where all the lost wands go."

"Yes it used to be, but Hogwarts changed it into a tower for us since it was the least disruptive place to put it." Harry responded before pushing the door open and walking in.

Draco was about to ask why Harry hadn't said a password, but he got distracted by the sight before him. Draco had been expecting a hastily thrown-together tower since it had been made in less than three days.

Instead, Draco was faced with a medium sized, circular Common Room that was a nice purple colour with black accents around the room. Draco noticed that the chairs seemed much more comfortable than the ones in the Slytherin Common Room. To the right of the sitting area was a fireplace and the staircase that no doubt leads to their rooms. To Draco's right, was another door which confused him.

"Hey Harry? Where does that door lead to?" Draco asked.

"I'll show you." Harry said, tugging Draco into the room with him.

When Draco stepped inside, he was surprised to find a large room before him. The room was larger than the Common Room and was not circular. Just inside the door were large bookshelves that surrounded the perimeter of the square room that had books for every subject one could think of. In the middle of the shelves was a fully equipped potions lab.

With Harry's help, Draco made his way to the middle of the room so that he could get a closer look at the potions lab. Once he stepped in, however, he noticed that the room was much larger than he originally thought. To the right of the room there was an opening in the bookshelves that wasn't visible from inside the doors. Through the opening was a large, open, rectangular room with mats covering most of the room and some random objects in a cupboard in one of the corners.

"What's this for?" Draco asked, pointing towards the large room.

"Oh, it's for Defense Against the Dark Arts training." Harry responded happily.

"Oh… So Hogwarts knew that we'd need it, but why did she give us the potions lab and the library?" he asked.

"Well, not exactly…" Harry responded, "I designed it with Hogwarts and I added a few things…"

"I could see you adding the DADA room, but why the potions lab?" he asked. Doesn't Harry hate potions? Why would he create something he has no use for? He wondered.

Harry blushed a little at this, which confused Draco even more. "W-well," Harry stuttered, "I thought that you might want it. That you might want to have somewhere to go to escape from everyone…"

Draco couldn't believe how thoughtful Harry has been. He couldn't believe how much the raven-haired boy seemed to understand him and how Harry knew exactly what Draco needed. He kind of enjoyed having someone understand him and pay so much attention to him. At the same time though, it scared him to no end. He didn't seem to be able to lie to Harry about himself or his feelings like he could with everyone else and it terrifies him. It didn't help that Draco isn't able to read Harry and therefore has no choice but to just blindly trust the other boy.

Suddenly realizing that he was staring at Harry, who was giving him a questioning look, Draco quickly said, "Thank you Harry… I love it."

Harry gave him a wide smile and then turned to walk back into the Common Room, taking Draco with him.

As Harry walked, he was saying, "So we'll practice in there together as much as we can once you are able to stand and walk properly by yourself." Harry stopped then to shut the door and then headed for the stairs. "So this is the way to our rooms. The tower isn't that tall because of the time limit so we have to share rooms with one other person. 'Mione's with Pansy, Blaise with Theo, and I'm afraid that you're stuck with me." Harry said teasingly.

Though he knew he should have been aggravated that he'd have to live in the same room as Harry, he was actually happy. He was surprised to realize that he actually trusts Harry more than his three best friends. He knew that if any of his friends had seen him break down, then the other two would have found out about it the next day by the latest. Harry, on the other hand, had been his enemy at the time and the Gryffindor still hadn't told any of his friends what had happened.

Draco was broken out of his thoughts when he tripped going up the stairs. Luckily, Harry was still holding onto him and had smoothly caught him by wrapping the arm that had been holding his hand around his back. Caught off-guard by the near-fall, Draco had to take a moment before his brain could function properly again. After a minute or two, Draco finally found himself able to stand steady without Harry having to embrace him.

"Sorry…" Draco mumbled, embarrassed.

Harry chuckled a little before saying teasingly, "It's no problem, just next time, maybe you should pay attention to where you're walking. I'm not always going to be there to catch you when you fall!" Harry put his arm back around Draco's waist while Draco put his arm around Harry's shoulders. They then continued up the stairs until they reached the very top floor.

When they reached the top, they were immediately met by a door that had his and Harry's name on it in gold handwriting. Harry opened the door and led them inside. To Draco's relief, it looked nothing like his old room. This 'dorm' looked more like a really nice apartment.

When he first walked in, he found that the walls on the outsides of the room was curved, letting him know that the apartment as a whole was a giant circle. To his right was a large rounded couch and an oval-shaped coffee table in front of it. To his left was what would have been a long, empty wall if not for the paintings and sketches covering most of it. Draco noticed that none of the paintings moved so he made a mental note to ask Harry about it later.

Across the room was six large bookshelves that went along the rounded walls full of books. In front of the shelves were two comfy-looking chairs and a small round side table in between them. Next to the bookcase was an elegant-looking desk that was fully stocked with parchment, quills, ink and a chair sitting in front of it.

The middle of the room was empty but it didn't feel that way. The room in general just seemed very cozy. The room was brown and gold. Though Draco detested the Gryffindor colours, he had to admit that this shade of gold was actually quite nice and made the room seem warm and inviting, especially with the shades of brown thrown in there every once in a while.

"Wow Harry," Draco said, "I must say, I'm quite impressed. I never thought I'd say this, but I am actually liking the gold."

Harry blushed deeply at Draco's praise. "Thanks." He said quietly, "But I think you'll like the bedroom even more."

Now excited, Harry hurried to help Draco over to the first door next to the wall of paintings and sketches.

"The other door leads to the bathroom." Harry explained before Draco could even ask.

When Harry led Draco into the room, Draco stopped and stared at the room in awe. The colours were the same as the living room, but with more browns than gold. To the left were to large four-poster beds. The one closest to the door was probably Harry's which had a golden comforter with intricate designs in brown. Draco's bed was beside Harry's and his comforter was brown with gold detailing. Their Hogwarts trunks were in front of the beds and there was a small side table for each person.

Along most of the curved wall, across from Harry's bed and the door, was a very large stone fireplace that had the Malfoy and Potter family crests carved into it. In front of the fireplace was a comfy-looking rug with a few pillows on it. To the right of the fireplace was a large window that has a huge window seat that Draco could tell would be the perfect place for reading. Then finally, on the right of Draco was a large dresser and closet that, when opened, showed that Harry had already moved all of their clothes into it.

"You… You designed this all by yourself?" Draco asked, astonished.

Again, Harry turned a bright shade of red. "Yeah… I'm good with designing I guess…" he mumbled.

"Good?" Draco asked incredulously. How does he not know that this is amazing? "This is way more than just 'good', Harry! This is… beautiful! I bet you even came up with the design on the comforters!"

"I might have…" Harry mumbled.

Draco looked around the room again then motioned for Harry to help him into the bathroom to see what it looked like. When he walked in, he was completely surprised. He had expected the bathroom to be the same colours as the rest of the apartment. Instead of brown, however, it was sky blue with bits of gold throughout the room.

Right across from the door was a large bathtub and a shower stall right beside it to the left. To the left of the shower, all along the curved wall across from the door, was a large cabinet and then the toilet. On the same wall as the door and to the left was a big counter with two sinks and a mirror that went above it.

Everything looked brilliant but what caught Draco's eye the most was the floor. It was all made of off-white shells that had little flecks and designs of gold painted onto them, making them glitter beautifully. Though one would think that shells would hurt to walk on, when Draco asked, Harry told him that the floor had been charmed smooth. Around the whole room, at about shoulder height, was a foot high strip of the same beautiful, gold-flecked shells.

Even though the sky blue colour was nowhere else in the apartment it, oddly enough, didn't seem out of place. In fact, it seemed to be a perfect choice. Completely in awe, Draco said, "You should do this for a living Harry, you'd make millions."

Harry blushed once again. "Thanks." He said, a little more confidently than before.

At Draco's request, Harry led him back to the bedroom and finally let go of him to put him on the window seat. Harry then went and got the both of them books and called Dobby to get them some hot chocolate, one of Draco's favorites. Sitting on the comfy seat, reading and drinking hot chocolate with Harry in their warm and cozy room, Draco felt for the first time in a long time, that he was someplace he could call home…

Author's Note: Just so you know, the description of where the tower is was made using the Marauder's Map (so it is 100% plausible for there to be a tower made in that spot)! Thought you'd like to know!

Always,

CourtneyMalfoy22