Disclaimer: I'm not even blond, never mind anywhere close to rich. For anybody who doesn't get that, it means that I am not J.K. Rowling.

A/N: So the actual plot of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is going to be the same, kind of, but unless it is being changed it will kind of be in the background and the story will more focus on Harry and his abuse being found out. So assume that the plot is the same unless I say it isn't.

Chapter 9

Harry left Dumbledore's office, his mind whirling. The memory that Dumbledore had just shown him certainly made him think, that was sure. It was strange to think that Voldemort had once been an innocent orphan. Well, not innocent, that's for sure. Even at that age he seemed to have a cruelty that Harry couldn't even comprehend.

"Hi Harry," Theo nodded at him, falling in step with him.

"Hi Theo," Harry greeted him. Ever since the night when Harry had played, and lost, the chess games with the Slytherins they seemed to have opened up to him, and dare he say it, they might have even been friends. And even though Draco and Harry still bickered, it wasn't as mean as it once was. It was the kind of bickering that friends do and it hardly ever left Harry with the urge to chuck a book, preferably heavy, at his perfect blond head anymore.

Harry didn't even pretend to himself that this new found friendship didn't make his heart sing with joy.

"Where did you come from?" Theo asked.

"Dumbledore's office," Harry explained. "You?"

"I was finishing dinner. Everyone else had finished and left," Theo said. They walked in silence down towards the dungeons and Harry barely spared a thought when he spoke the now familiar password.

"Hi Harry," A fourth year Slytherin smiled at Harry and leaned over the arm of the couch.

"Hi," Harry said, barely paying attention to her as he continued up to their dorm room. He was exhausted, he suddenly realized. Dealing with Dumbledore often left him in such a condition. Theo snorted as he followed after him and Harry turned to look at him. Theo gave him an innocent look in response.

"Password!" Blaise demanded when Harry attempted to get into the dorm room. Harry looked at Theo, who shrugged.

"I didn't know we had a password for our dorm room," Harry said, speaking through the door.

"No password, no entry," Blaise said cheerfully. Harry looked suspiciously at the door.

"Are you drunk?" He asked.

"Of course not," Blaise scoffed, though it wasn't very reassuring. Harry heard Draco chuckle.

"Let them in, Blaise," Draco said. The door swung open slowly and Harry entered. Blaise did indeed look slightly out of his usual flawless composure, though Draco looked as pristine as ever, perched upon his bed like a prince. "Blaise took a sip of an Out of Character potion it seems."

Harry heard Theo asks more about the potion that had apparently been consumed, but it was distant, in the back of his mind. He had caught sight of his target and nothing else existed. He flopped down on his bed, pulling his glasses off and curling under the blanket it one motion. He blinked his eyes open once, catching sight of the light reflecting off of Draco's shiny blond hair, before he fell into slumber.

Harry lurched unpleasantly into consciousness, his fingers fisted roughly in the dark green blanket that was lying on top of him. His dream, or nightmare, flickered behind his eyelids, but it had been the usual. Never less horrific, but at least he was starting to become used to them. He shoved on his glasses and glanced around. Theo and Blaise were fast asleep, Theo sprawled across his bed and Blaise mumbling slightly as he shifted. Harry turned to look at Draco, surprised to find the blond tossing in his sleep, his brow furrowed. He muttered something and Harry knew the signs well enough to realize that he was having a nightmare. Harry got carefully to his feet and padded across the room, careful not to wake the other sleeping boys in the room.

Draco's blanket was on the floor and Harry stooped to pick it up before laying a gentle hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Draco, wake up," He whispered, gently shaking the slumbering boy. "It's just a dream, Draco."

"No, Father, just leave me alone, I'll do better," Draco mumbled, flinching away from the hand. It struck Harry suddenly that it was not just a dream, but that Draco was reliving a memory.

"It's okay Draco, you're at Hogwarts," Harry said, shaking a little more persistently. "Wake up, Draco!"

The blond boy startled awake, jerking away from the looming finger before his eyes focused and realized that it was Harry. Harry smiled in a way he hoped didn't look psychotic.

"Are you okay?" He asked, which was a stupid question, because Draco had been abused, and that never left someone okay. Harry knew that firsthand.

"I'm fine," Draco said stiffly, wiping a sleeve across his sweaty forehead.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry offered half-heartedly.

"Do you want to talk about your dreams, Potter?" Draco asked.

"I will if you will," Harry said, perching on the edge of Draco's bed.

"Why would I want to hear about your dreams, get your filthy arse off of my bed," Draco said, unheated, his silver blue eyes soft as his foot reached out and nudged Harry lackadaisically in the butt.

"It was the graveyard," Harry said quietly. "It's always the same. I see Cedric, I see myself convincing him to take the thing that will lead to his death, and then I see him dying. Because of me."

Draco watched him carefully, perhaps knowing better than to argue that it was not Harry's fault and then simply said, "It was my father."

Harry nodded, scooting more securely onto the bed and pulling his knees up to his chest. Draco took the blanket from his hands and placed it over both of their legs, and quietly, cautious of the other people who slept in the room, the two boys with contrasting hair, told each other of the monsters that they could not fight on their own.