História Joined - Chapter 7

It was official. Draco cared about Harry alot, and he was pretty sure it wasn't just as a friend. Ever since his not-so-mild freak out when Harry was poisoned, Draco had been really protective over Harry. For the first time, he was very grateful that he was bound to Harry. It have him an excuse to go with him everywhere and see to it that nothing else like that happened. On the other hand, he was extremely embarrassed for over reacting. Harry insisted that he wasn't over reacting, and that he was the same way when he had seen Cedric die last year, but Draco didn't really believe him. Yes, he had seen Harry like that last year, but that was probably not because of Cedric dying. It was because he had just faced Lord Voldemort. And also, Cedric was already dead and there was nothing he could've done. Draco, however, instead of staying calm and finding a way to save Harry, had freaked out and didn't see the bezoar until Harry was almost gone. Draco started having dreams. Nightmares. Just like Harry had had after he had seen Cedric die and had to face the Dark Lord, except the topic was obviously different. The dreams were different every time, but one thing remained the same: it was always about Harry being near death. Draco always woke up before Harry had actually died in the dream, but he was afraid every time that it might've been real. He would wake up very abruptly every night, drenched in cold sweat, and breathing very hard. Then he would remember that it wasn't real, take deep breaths, and look over at Harry beside him for comfort. He noticed that he began clenching Harry's hand in a death grip even though their hands were already bound together when they slept. Draco was just glad that Harry never woke up.
"Draco, seriously. You don't have to be so embarrassed, anyone else would've done the same thing," Harry was saying.
"But considering you and I are supposed to be enemies-"
"I thought you said you didn't care. I thought you said screw it and we can be friends if we want."
"Well, we CAN be friends, but how I acted didn't seem to be how... a friend... er, acts..." Draco turned a bit pink as he realized what he was saying. "I mean- not like I acted like more than a friend, cause that would be weird, but you know, I meant as in, I seemed to be overeacting when you're just a friend..."
"Just a friend?" Harry said, his eyebrows raised. "Well what else would you be? It's not like we're dating like they say," Draco said, mentally hitting himself for bringing up dating again.
"No, but... just the way you said it... never mind."
"Sorry..."
"No, it's okay."
It was the end of the day, and they were heading to their room. Draco was dreading the nightmares he knew would be coming. He automatically tightened his grip on Harry's hand and looked up at the bed, as though he was about to board a scary ride.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked, noticing this.
"Nothing... er, just tired..."
They tied their hands, got in bed, and waited for sleep. Harry always fell asleep pretty quickly. Draco, who knew what would happen if he slept, seemed to have insomnia. He snuggled a little closer to Harry, trying to remind himself that Harry was fine, he was right there against him. The two boys were both curled up in the same direction, with Draco on the outside. Draco stared at Harry's back, up to his neck, greeting his messy dark hair. He wondered... if Harry never woke up when he was writhing around having nightmares, perhaps he wouldn't wake up now... Draco cautiously moved his free hand up to Harry's hair and stroked it. He was pleased when Harry shivered and made a little cooing noise in his sleep. If only he could be like this when he was awake... but obviously, Harry would never like him back. Draco fought the temptation to wrap his arms around Harry to sleep better. He knew from experience that THAT would wake him up. He just stared, fighting with all his might not to grab Harry and smash their lips together. He still felt very guilty for his feelings. He knew his father would not like it at all. And what about Harry? They were bound together, they couldn't help it, but the most they could do was not make it awkward. Which is exactly what it would be for the rest of their lives if Draco lost all dignity right now. He closed his eyes regretfully, and tried to think of how safe Harry was right beside him, and waited for sleep to take him.

Harry wasn't safe. He just wasn't. Draco didn't know how he knew this, but he knew. He was quick-walking down a dark corridor, trying to get to Harry, he had to save him. The Dark Lord was back. And Harry was his target. Draco didn't know where Harry was, but he had to find him. There were many doors along the corridor he was walking down. He looked at each of them, straining his ears for any sign of Harry. And then he heard it. A loud, shrill scream. "Harry," Draco muttered.
The screaming continued, and Draco thought he could even hear sobbing underneath it all.
He followed the voice, and as it drew nearer, he spotted the door it seemed to be around.
He pressed his ear against the door, and sure enough, heard the screaming louder and closer than ever.
"No, no, please don't, not again-"
"CRUCIO!"
Draco burst into the room to find Harry on the ground, writhing and screaming in agony,
Lord Voldemort standing over him.
"NO!" Draco pulled out his wand and shot something at the Dark Lord. It worked. He was distracted and the spell stopped, leaving Harry crumpled on the ground. Draco rushed over to him.
"Harry! It's okay, you're okay, I'm here..."
"Step aside," a quiet, hissing voice said.
Voldemort was back, his white face leering at the two boys.
"No," Draco said. "I won't. I'll protect him forever."
But Voldemort merely laughed.
"Draco. I thought you would be useful. But I was wrong." He drew his wand and pointed it past Draco at Harry.
"NO!" Draco screamed.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
A flash of green light struck the dark room, Voldemort was laughing, Draco was yelling, and Harry was limp in his arms-

"Draco? Draco!"
Somebody was nudging him.
Draco opened his eyes. Harry was leaning over him, looking concerned.
Draco was breathing very hard, and he felt wet and cold. He sat up as he remembered where he was. Crap. Harry had woken up.
"Draco? Were you having a bad dream or something?"
"Er, no, I'm just fine," Draco said, knowing Harry wouldn't buy it.
"Come off it, you can tell me," Harry said. "I won't laugh."
Draco smiled weakly. "You're sweet. But no, I think I'll keep it to myself. You- you're alright, aren't you?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Harry said.
"I don't know... just, ever since you got poisoned..."
"Are you worried about me?" Harry said, smiling.
Draco blushed a little. "Well... of course I am! You're-you're my friend, and... you-you know... I don't want something like that to happen to you again," he mumbled.
This time Harry turned a bit pink. "Thanks, Draco."
The two sat there for a few moments more, in awkward silence.
"I've been having nightmares almost every night since it happened," Draco said finally, avoiding Harry's gaze.
"You just never woke up before. And they're all different in the beginning, but they always end the same..."
He swallowed. "It always ends with you... being about to die."
Harry's face turned even redder.
"A year ago, that wouldn't have been a nightmare for you," he said.
Both boys were red at the moment.
Then Harry smiled. "I'm glad that we're well past that," he said. "It's proof that we're officially friends."
Draco smiled a little. One part of him felt grateful that they had come this far; another was hurt that they were only friends.
"Let's go back to bed, okay?" Harry said.
"Okay," Draco said.
He noticed that Harry's hand was red because he had been holding it so tightly.
They lay back down in the bed, their eyes still open. Harry could hear Draco's sharp breaths and knew he was still afraid. He slowly put his arms around Draco, so that he could tell that he, Harry, was alright, was safe, as long as they were here.
Draco's heart fluttered as he felt Harry embrace him. He closed his eyes, smiling, feeling light as air, and allowed himself to fantasize about Harry until he fell alseep. And when he did, the nightmares had vanished.