A/N Hello! First off, I am sorry for the months of waiting. I promised you a chapter when I returned from Africa in the summer, but not all went to plan and I was sent home early with some major health issues. I am getting back on track now, but still get very tired easily. Hopefully the update schedule will be back up and running, but I pre-apologise if its not.
Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy it, Fe x
Draco?
The voice drifted through his sleep hazed mind. He could tell the air around him was frigid with cold so he burrowed deeper into his blankets, scrabbling to hold onto the warm remnants of his dream. It had been sweet and pure, to the point he questioned if it was reality. After all, his twisted mind was surely incapable of conjuring such happy images. Then again the chances of him and Potter actually skipping off into the sunset were slim to none.
Draco?
There was that voice again. It was almost as if Harry was trying to lure him back into the dream world. He could see no reason to resist.
"Draco!" With a start, the Slytherin opened his eyes. Cold air swirled around him as he blinked dazedly at Harry. He was all messy hair and sheepish grin as he stood there, blankets in hand.
"Give them back Potter! It's freezing up here!"
"I'll warm you up." He said with a grin before turning beet red. "Oh god that did not come out right. I mean, I was thinking about this last night, I could do a spell, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner-"
"Harry breathe! There is no need to get so flustered." No need at all given the dream I was just having about you. "What are you trying you trying to say?"
"I could do a warming spell to this room, or create one of those little blue flames Hermione is so good at. It would make it a bit more bearable up here."
"Thank you, I'd like that." Harry looked up from his feet, still looking a little flustered. The small smile playing on Draco's lips was enough to make his heart soar despite how fleeting it was. And as the smile fell from his face, he drew in a little breath, preparing himself for the conversation he had played out in his head since last night.
"About what happened last night-"
"Don't, Draco, please don't." He had wanted to confront Harry about their not so almost kiss, and in his head he hadn't expected Harry to stay quiet, but he defiantly hadn't expected a downright refusal. New fears leapt through Draco's mind.
Was he reading too much into it? Was Harry about to say it hadn't mattered, or worse, that it was a mistake? Because something that had felt so right in ways nothing had for years couldn't possibly be called a mistake. Had Harry not felt the same as him? Had that moment not made him feel alive? And suddenly it made him feel angry. He was not going to let Harry simply shrug this off.
"Don't what, Harry? Don't make this more complicated? Oh sure, because it isn't already. Don't make this more painful? Fine, I don't see why it needs to be!"
"You're the one who made this complicated! All I was going to say is that it hardly seems fair, I only remember one kiss and you remember two."
"Oh." Was all Draco managed. Of course. He was just being stupid and jumping to conclusions and on the verge of ruining everything again. The bed beside him dipped as Harry sat down next to him. Without another word, Harry wrapped his arm round Draco and pulled him in close. Draco closed his eyes and breathed deeply, enjoying this moment of vibrance in his grey cell.
.
.
Harry touched the softness of Draco's hair. It was very fine, he had never realised before, and soothing to stroke. He had wanted to ask more about the memories, and put forward his suggestion of using a pensive to view Draco's side of them, but the blonde haired boy had fallen asleep in minutes and he didn't want to wake him.
His fingers slid to the prominent cheekbones and the hollows beneath them. He must have stopped eating a long time ago to have become so gaunt. His skin looked a little grey too. Harry made a mental note to ask Dobby to bring up a little extra each time.
He still smells of apples. Maybe those are the only things he does eat.
Resting his head back against the cold wall, Harry let out a sigh. He was going to have to come up with a plan, Draco couldn't stay warded up here forever. And he had bigger plans to conquer too. Dumbledore said that the black thing from the room of requirement had been a horcrux, and if it had latched onto Bellatrix and escaped then the horcrux hadn't really been destroyed. How many more were there? And did this mean there are two versions of Lord Voldemort walking around now, on in his own body and one in Bellatrix's?
Harry's scar ached. It had been ever since the deatheaters failed to penetrate the castle; he could feel Voldemort's wrath and it was focused solely on this beautiful boy sleeping next to him. He was doing his best to block it out but he was scared it might over flow, that it might influence him to do something terrible. That had been the real reason he had not visited the first night. Voldemort was angry.
Another deep sigh escaped him. He was going to need to discuss this with someone or his head might just explode. He didn't have a clue as to whether or not Ron was speaking to him anymore, and Hermione often seemed to be in her own world. And whilst she had worked out Draco was in the castle, Dumbledore had made Harry swear not to talk about it with either of them.
He supposed there would be no harm in telling Draco, after all it wouldn't make him any more of a target –
Pain seared through his scar and Harry gritted his teeth, holding back the yell that followed. He tried to shut it out, to force his mind shut. But this was different. It wasn't anger. It was vengeance. Images started to flicker through and he clenched his jaw firmer. Fight it, fight it. But it was not enough.
There was a woman lying on the ground. She was lying curled on her side with long blonde hair fanned out behind her. She was sobbing. It pleased him. "Beg to your master, Narcissa, and I might spare your life. I won't spare Draco's through. Your little traitor shall suffer greatly for what he has done. I shall enjoy making him scream." She tried to move, to get up. "No, please. Don't hurt my little boy, he didn't know what he was doing!" A rare smile crossed his lips; "Crucio."
Harry snapped back out of the vision with a start. He was drenched in cold sweat and shaking. Miraculously, the blonde head in his lap slept on.
.
.
The next time Draco woke, the first thing he was aware of wasn't the cold. It was the warmth. He was cocooned in blankets, resting on a warm, albeit bony, pillow. The wind could still be heard howling outside but the air in the room was still.
He lifted his head. There was Harry, leaning at the wall at the foot of his bed. His green eyes were open, and they turned to Draco when he moved. They looked tired, but softened as he saw Draco.
"Hello."
"Hi, sorry I um fell asleep on you." His voice had turned a little gruff and he coughed to clear his throat.
"It's alright. You look more peaceful when you sleep, though your cheek bones are even more prominent. When did you stop eating properly?"
"God knows, I've never been one to eat lots. How long was I asleep?" Draco sat up and tried in vain to smooth his hair. It was getting greasy, its sleekness long gone.
"Only a couple of hours."
"Oh, do you have to get back? How stupid of me to waste our time like that."
"I still have a little while. So long as I'm down for breakfast no one will really realise I'm missing. I'm going to try and get into your dorm tomorrow. It will be the Hogsmead trip. Is there anything in particular you want me to find?"
"Something to do would be nice. Just clothes really, and that beautiful sneakoscope you gave me."
"Okay." Draco paused, something didn't seem quite right. He remembered the tired look in Harry's eyes before he realised Draco had woken. Harry's voice seemed a little flatter too.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired. Have you started any of those books I left you yesterday?" Draco let the matter drop for now. He was sure however it wasn't just nothing.
.
.
Harry thought he was doing ok until he fell asleep in transfiguration and was awoke by a sharp reprimand from his head of house. He'd left Draco at about 4am in the end, but in the couple of hours spent in his own bed he didn't sleep. His mind had been awhirl with thoughts.
If it was his mother, and he could do nothing about it, would he want to know she was being tortured? And worse than that, because of him? He wasn't sure he would. It just didn't sit right however, keeping it from Draco when he had already voiced concerns about his mother's safety.
Harry felt sure there was nothing either of them could do about it. Given Dumbledore's reluctance to help Draco, he would be dead set against launching a rescue mission into Voldemort's liar just for his mother. He didn't think his threat of leaving would be taken quite so seriously this time.
So whilst McGonagall gave him a detention for sleeping, and Hermione shot him concerned glances, he decided there was only one thing he could do. He would go to Snape.
After all, he was Draco's godfather and to Harry's knowledge he was the only other person who knew of Draco's situation. And he would be in a position to get more answers, maybe even help. The only downside was that Harry would actually have to talk to the man.
The opportunity did not arise until after the evening meal. Snape left just as Harry began his second helping of pudding, so he wolfed it down and headed after the greasy black hair. By the time he reached Snape's office his resolve was already waning. Surely he could come to a conclusion on his own; there was no need to bother him. Still, he didn't know what had happened after Harry had pulled out of the vision. What if she were already dead?
The heavy door swung open and out stepped the man himself. He almost walked into Harry, not anticipating any students on his doorstep. He glared down his hooked nose at Harry, his face pulling into a sneer.
Definitely the wrong choice. Oh merlin, he's going to skin me alive for turning up like this.
"Mr Potter, what an unpleasant surprise."
"Professor, sir, sorry to have bothered you." Harry turned to bolt but a hand secured itself around his shoulder.
"Not so fast. What, pray tell, has bought you to lurk on my doorstep?"
"Draco." With that one word, Snape's face seemed to turn paler. His grip tightened, fingernails digging in. He jerked Harry roughly, pulling him into the office.
"You are meant to be feigning the ignorance you so naturally manage, Potter. Dumbledore explicitly said you were not to bring this up, even with your friends Granger and Weasley." Snape's voice was low and his dark eyes bore into Harry's. Never before had he felt this intimidated despite Snape's many lectures. "My godson is only safe while his continued existence within the castle is kept unknown."
"I know that!" Harry bit back. "It's about his mother, Narcissa." If possible, Snape paled further still. He creased the front of Harry's robes and pulled him in.
"What do you know?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
"I…I saw her being toutured, by Voldemort. I don't know what happened after that." Snape's eyes flickered to his scar then back to his eyes.
"Did you tell him?"
"No." Snape let go of a sigh.
"Good. Don't. There is nothing that boy can do for his poor mother now." Harry felt his anger surge at the finality in Snape's voice. Yes, they couldn't do anything, but surely he could. Before Harry could get a word out however Snape softly continued; "She is not dead, nor will she be while Draco is here. The Dark Lord is saving that for Draco to see in person, and in the hope his mother might lure him home. Lucius is no good, he all but disowned the boy upon hearing, struck him from the will. But Narcissa lives, that's what matters." Harry wished he had left off the part about the will, it would just be another thing he couldn't tell Draco. Snape's voice was harsh again. "And you need to be more discrete. Falling asleep in your lessons and letting your grades slip will draw attention, and Dumbledore is unhappy enough as it is with that stunt you pulled. Now get out of my sight Potter, I see enough of you in the day." The last part was said in such a way that almost made Harry think he didn't mean it. Almost.
.
.
Harry didn't visit that night. He meant to, but while waiting for the other boys in his dorm to fall asleep he dosed off too. It was late when he woke, apple scented dreams fading away, and most of the boys were already preparing for the Hogsmead trip.
Draco didn't sleep all night. He'd slept most of the day after all, and he wanted to be awake this time. But as the sun rose pink in the cold winter sky he had to concede that this time, Potter wasn't coming. His feeling that something was wrong grew.