Chapter 5

Harry woke up feeling warm and comfortable. He slowly opened his eyes and saw blonde hair directly in front of his face. He looked down to see Draco still sleeping soundly in his arms. The events of the previous day came flooding back and Harry sighed, thinking that he might as well send a letter to Molly saying that he wouldn't be visiting anymore. Letting his head sink deeper into the pillow, Harry stared at the mop of platinum blonde locks. It was strange to think about, but he had always been jealous of Draco's hair; while the blonde's hair was always well-kept, neat and tidy, Harry's was unruly and wild, impossible to tame. Wondering if it was as soft as it looked, Harry unconsciously buried his face in it. It felt like a silk scarf and smelled of peppermint. He felt Draco shift and saw him try to move closer than humanly possible, smiling as he did. Harry smiled as he brushed a bit of hair covering Draco's face behind his ear, and went back to sleep.

The next time Harry awoke, the blonde was no longer in bed with him. After a few minutes of looking around the room, Draco walked out of the bathroom.

"Good morning, Harry" he greeted with a smile. "Sleep well?"

Harry nodded with a smile of his own and excused himself to go shower in his room. Harry was surprised to see that Seamus was out of bed at nine in the morning on a Sunday, but it probably shouldn't have surprised him. Due to everyone's flexible schedules, they didn't have as much work as they did in the years before, and they no longer needed to spend all their free time on homework or reading in the library. The first two weeks were fine where everyone just stayed in the common room and went to Hogsmeade for lunch, but they were all getting restless, especially the Gryffindors. They've all been scanning the flyers on the bulletin board, and bombarding Hermione and Joseph with questions about the clubs they found interesting.

Harry didn't feel the same way as the others did; in the past years where he had mounds of homework and studying to do, and training with his team, Harry had also done other stuff with his limited free time, from trying to keep Voldemort from getting the Sorcerer's Stone, to training Dumbledore's Army. He was glad that he didn't have any other pressing issues at the moment other than setting a date for the quidditch team tryouts.

After getting dressed, Harry returned to Draco's room, and saw the blonde with his nose in one of the books Mrs. Lee had given to him yesterday.

"Draco" Harry called as he sat next to the blonde, who merely swatted his hand at Harry. "Come on, let's get some breakfast before you really get into that book."

They walked to the common room and saw that it was nearly empty, save for the few other late risers. Draco and Harry sat at the table, both of them having waffles with maple syrup. They chatted animatedly about the new Firebolt, speculating how fast it would go and how manoeuvrable it was. In a short silence where the two placed more food in their mouths, Harry wondered if this is what it would've been like if he had taken Draco's offer of friendship in their first year.

"Hey Harry" Anthony greeted with a smile as he entered the common room.

"Hey Anthony" Harry greeted back. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, Potions Club" Anthony replied, his cheeks turning slightly red due to embarrassment. "I hope to avoid another close call like the one on Friday. By the way, I'll see you later tonight."

It was only a few minutes after Anthony had left that Harry remembered that he had a date with the Ravenclaw later that evening.

"You have plans for tonight?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, I'm going on a date with Anthony" Harry replied.

Draco nodded and returned to eating his waffles silently. He didn't engage Harry in conversation again, and Harry thought he was nervous about him not being with Draco later.

"Don't worry, Draco. You'll be with Luna until I get back" Harry assured him. "I won't be long, promise."

"Alright" Draco said with a nod. "I'm going to Madame Pomfrey in a few hours for my diagnostic."

"Want to do anything until then?" Harry asked and Draco just shrugged. "How about we go flying? I'll even let you ride my Firebolt."

Draco gave an excited look, and nodded. The two males then quickly finished their meals before heading to the quidditch pitch. As he brought out his Firebolt and another broom, he stared at Draco, standing in the middle of the pitch with his eyes shut. He wondered what was going on in the blonde's mind, but was distracted by how at peace Draco looked.

"Alright, when you take flight, it will be quite fast, so keep a firm grip on the broom" Harry said as Draco mounted the Firebolt. "Just focus and if things go south, I'll be close by."

Harry had borrowed Madame Hooch's broom. It was the standard model for all quidditch referees, capable of matching the speed of any broom in the right hands. They prepared themselves, kicked off the ground, and Draco sped like a bullet through the air. Harry sped up to follow him in case the blonde lost control but in a few minutes, Draco was soaring through the air, making loops, crying a scream of elation as he did so. Harry halted and watched Draco move fluidly, handling his broom as if he'd done it his whole life.

"That was amazing" Draco said as he stopped next to Harry. "At first, it was like I was going to shoot up into space or crash into something, then I got used to the speed and took control."

"It is a great feeling" Harry agreed. "I'm amazed at how you flew, despite not being on a broom for years."

"I guess it's because I'm immensely talented" Draco said and smirked for the first time since Harry saw him again.

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled. His normal reaction to the blonde's smirks was sneering, but this smirk was playful, it wasn't rage inducing nor did it hold a hint of condescension. Harry and Draco flew for another hour before returning to the castle for Draco's diagnostic.

"Alright Mr. Malfoy, you know the drill" Madame Pomfrey said as the eighth-years entered the Hospital Wing.

Draco lied on one of the empty beds and the medi-witch cast a spell, moving her wand over his body slowly.

"This is a welcome surprise indeed" she said with a smile. "Your condition has improved greatly, Mr. Malfoy. Whatever you've been doing, keep doing it."

Harry was at a loss; he had thought the incident with Ron had caused Draco's condition to worsen. Madame Pomfrey reminded Draco of some things before dismissing the. Draco had a smile on his face as they headed back to their common room, as did Harry. He was glad that Draco had gotten better, but he wondered what made the improvement possible.

'We'd done nothing out of the ordinary' Harry thought. 'It was his first time flying today in years, however. And I've been the only one he's been around since Saturday morning. Harry turned to look at the Slytherin, who flashed a smile in his direction. So the cause of this improvement is either flying or…me.'