Boys on the Radio

Chapter Eight

Sometimes he comes to me

In the dead of winter, dead of night

He's all that I can see.

Draco would be suffering eight weeks of detention with Professor McGonagall but he honestly did not mind. He had done it with the best intentions for Harry, and in the end, somehow, that was all that mattered to him. It shocked him very much so; he had never been so unselfish before. It was quite scary, really, to Draco. He had never believed there would be anyone before that would compromise his love for himself.

Draco had been wondering exactly what that meant, but he honestly had no idea of the full implications. He walked towards the Slytherin dungeons to finally get some rest after being with Harry and the incident with Professor McGonagall when someone grabbed his shoulder and gave Draco a terrible fright. He looked back.

"Potter, are you trying to kill me?" Draco said harshly to an out of breath looking Harry, but he was pleased to see him.

"Draco, I'm sorry about that. You were really brave," Harry said immediately.

Draco did not respond immediately. He was sure Harry would thank him at some point. But it had really touched him in some way that Harry had rushed down to find him. He had called him brave. He really was quite fond of Harry ...

"It was nothing, Harry," Draco muttered. "You would have done it for me."

"Draco ... listen," Harry began and Harry was looking at him very meaningfully and deeply, and it made Draco quite nervous. "I ... I know we haven't spent a lot of time together, but ..."

A cat purred. Draco looked over and realized it was Mrs. Norris, who was now rushing away to warn Filch of students out of bed. They would be caught in an instant if they stayed put.

"Under the cloak," Draco said, and Harry and Draco went under the cloak once again that night. "Just come with me ... to my dormitory."

Harry looked at him in utter disbelief if as if he had just announced the world was flat. He must have thought Draco was a lunatic for what he had just said as he blankly stared at him, not even speaking.

"Draco," Harry finally said softly and slowly. "Have you gone mad?"

"We'll have the cloak, you'll be under that. I just thought it'd be nice you know," Draco said this all very fast. "To be with you."

Harry looked genuinely shocked, but that paled compared to the shock Draco suddenly felt. He'd never expressed his feelings in such a way. Before, it had made him feel weak and embarrassed. He had never been raised to tell anyone anything he felt for them. But Harry was different somehow.

"I guess you're right," Harry said finally, speaking as though he was trying to make the conversation more comfortable for them both. "I'll come. But we'll have to get up earlier than the others in your dormitory."

"Don't worry, Harry. It'll be fine," Draco said reassuringly.

"Why would I be worried? I'm with Draco Malfoy," Harry said, smirking at him.

Draco smiled to himself.

Once in Draco's room, Harry undressed, leaving nothing but his knickers in the dark and put his robes with Draco's things. Grabbing Draco they lay down together and Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself, then went under the sheets with Draco and he held the other boy. It must have been an interesting sight if someone was to see them right then, as Harry would be invisible.

Harry felt more comforted then he had felt in a very long time. He was with the one person who now understood him more than other, the one person who had felt pain like he had, and the one person who cared more than any other. The one person who might have the same fate he did. The only person who ached like he had ached.

Sure, his friends were there for him. But none of them had been with him in the graveyard. No, Draco had not been there either. But his father had, and Draco did not want any part of that. It would be so easy for Draco to continue on Voldemort's side, but he wouldn't; he was braver than Harry would have reckoned.

No one else had felt the agony of the Cruciatus Curse either. Harry had taken it only a few times from Voldemort, but Draco had suffered it during the summer, and his father had called it - of all things! - training. It was a miracle Draco had not lost his mind. Harry would have surely run off, but Draco had endured it.

Harry once again thought of what everyone in school would say if they found out Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had been in bed together. It would be terrible, but it was actually quite comical in reality. And Harry thought of the years they spent hating each other, wasting away precious time. Harry wondered how two people who now cared so much about each other could have ever hated each other.

Harry could see nothing now but the outline of Draco's body, and he held the blond tighter. His only security was with him. Finally, even with all that was on his mind, he could really sleep tonight.

*************

It was past daybreak, but not much. Draco awoke luckily and noticed all the other Slytherin boys were still sound asleep. He gently touched Harry's shoulder affectionately, not necessarily trying to wake him up. He didn't want to end their time together yet. But he knew he had to. He kissed Harry lightly on his forehead.

Harry shook a bit and he knew he had woken Harry up. But at least he had not been woken up roughly and Harry had not shrieked. Harry opened his eyes slowly, and for the first time, Draco took a very deep look at Harry's eyes. They were so beautiful. As green as a toad, but they shone so beautifully.

"Morning, Malfoy," Harry said. "I'm tired."

"Shh," Draco said softly. "Let's get dressed."

They dressed quite quickly and very silently, and they threw the cloak over themselves fast and rushed out of the dormitory and out of the Slytherin dungeons. They were laughing as they left, on how silly they had been to even worry about getting caught. As they walked downstairs to where they would be forced to part, Draco thought of the events in the previous night.

Who cared if he had detention? Who cared if he'd have to see much more of Professor McGonagall then he really wanted to? Who cared if his father didn't care about him? Because right now he was with someone who he thought really did care. And he didn't know if he had ever truly had that confidence in anyone before.

"Harry ... I want to tell you something," Draco began, not looking at Harry, even though he could feel him breathing, as they were both under the cloak.

"Yes, Draco?" Harry asked who had obviously sensed something noble was coming.

Draco took a minute. "Last night was one of the best nights of my life ... because I was with you."

It wasn't what he had intended to say.

"It was like that for me, too," Harry wasn't great with words, but when he meant to express himself, no matter how simple it was, he would be expressed. "Draco ... it's early. Let's take a walk."

And Harry grabbed Draco's hand. He would not let go

***************.

Harry and Draco had walked around the lake several times now, barely talking really, just enjoying the gift of having each other. They briefly discussed things but at the same time nothing at all, and they were both conscious of this. No one was around this early, so they had not bothered with the cloak. But now it was getting later in the morning, and the sun shone very bright.

"Under the cloak, again," Harry said finally. And Draco did, not looking happy about it.

"I guess it's time for us to go back to the Great Hall," Draco said quietly. "It's getting pretty late in the morning."

Harry nodded slowly, not really wanting to admit this. He had felt more alive that night then he had since the night in the graveyard. Since then, he had felt emptiness ... a lack of ability to fix anything ... and before he could lose his mind, he had just decided it was not up to him to save the world as everyone expected. This thought had kept him sane, but in the end, he had felt emptiness inside of him like no other he had felt since he had entered the wizarding world.

"Bye, Harry," Harry heard Draco say, though he was lost in thought. Draco unleashed himself from the cloak, and Harry managed a goodbye and watched Draco leave him to reenter the castle. And the emptiness he had felt before he began spending time with Draco came back to him like a rush.

Blaze and Pansy were already at breakfast, and the moment they saw Draco, they called him over. They looked as though they had just been speaking of him, giggling away. The way they had both called his name in a sing-song tone of voice made Draco cringe. And it really was quite annoying the way they had called him together. But as he had felt quite hungry, he reluctantly sat with them.

He did not smile. Draco Malfoy was not one to force fake emotions, and even being a Slytherin, he was an honest person in several respects, for the good or the bad - even if he was no fearless Gryffindor compelled to tell the truth always. Lately he hadn't even tried to hide the fact that he did not particularly like spending time with Pansy or Blaze, or for that matter, any of his Slytherin friends.

Before, it had been nice, knowing there were people who looked up to him and admired him. But then he realized they only loved him for what he was, not who he was. They admired him because he was a Malfoy, a natural leader, a handsome upstanding member of the wizarding community. And that was it.

Then there were his parents. Deep down somewhere, he knew his mother cared for him. But she had not been there for him when his father tortured him; she had been a part of the problem. He would never forgive her for it. And his father had never loved him unconditionally, always expecting nothing less than perfect. And then there was the Dark Lord. Since his return, the Master had always come first with his father and mother.

But after all that, there was Harry. Harry Potter, the boy who lived and all that. The boy he had hated for four years. Somehow, someway, now, Draco cared for him more than anyone. And Draco was sure somehow, if Harry hadn't been there to save him, he could have overdosed on a muggle drug purposely to commit suicide. He honestly didn't think he'd be able to take much more otherwise.

Draco began eating quietly thinking of Harry. He barely ate really. As hungry as he was, the moment he put food in his mouth he practically felt full. His mind was on other things.

***************

The next week went by terribly slowly for Harry. The overload of homework increased immensely. He barely had time for his Quidditch practice or relaxation. And there had been no time for Draco all week. He felt slightly bad, but he was sure Draco was in the same position.

But when the weekend came to Harry once again, the first thing he did was write a letter to Draco. It was hard to write a letter to such as a character as Draco. Hermione and Ron were easy to write to. But to write to Draco was different. But so he wrote:

Dear Draco,

This week has been pretty long at school. The homework is pretty unbearable, and if Hermione wasn't here, I really don't know how I'd get through it all. How have you been? I've thought about you a lot.

That doesn't sound so bad, Harry thought to himself. He continued writing.

Let's meet tonight. Bring your broom.

Love,

Harry

Harry had seriously debated with himself from using 'Love' or 'Sincerely', but he decided given their rather intimate relationship, it was fine. And so Harry gave the letter to Hedwig and sent her off. And he waited for a response, which surprisingly, came right back with Hedwig.

Dear Harry,

I'll see you there and I have something exciting for us to do.

With Love,

Draco

Harry was shocked. 'With Love' seemed so odd coming from Draco. The fact that it did meant a lot to Harry. He wondered just what to make of it. How much did Harry mean to Draco?

Draco had a plan for Harry tonight. It was very different than anything they had done before. He hoped Harry wouldn't resist. It would be strange for him as well, but he thought it would be fun to do it with Harry.

So, at the usual time, Draco arrived at the top of the Astronomy Tower and quite bored waited for Harry to arrive. And when he did, he looked as usual, as though he had been in quite a rush. Draco grinned.

"Harry," Draco said. He had missed him so much. "You look so tired."

And he truly did. The dark circles under his eyes were much more visible than usual, and his hair looked even more untidy then usual.

"I am," Harry said. "But I wanted to see you."

There was a moment of silence where they just watched each other. And this time, it was different. Draco did not take Harry swiftly into a violent kiss as they had so often done before, but he slowly approached Harry until he could count every single eyelash of his and then slowly gave him a rare passionate kiss.

"We're going to London," Draco said finally, not being able to stop himself grinning broadly as he looked at Harry's look of confusion. "The wizarding sections of London. My parents have taken me there before. But I've never gone without them. I thought it'd be nice to go together."

"Hell, let's do it, then. How many times could we have gotten expelled by now?" Harry said, grinning as well.

They both laughed, and as Draco and Harry departed off on their brooms, Harry leading, Draco had never felt so alive.

The trip to London had not taken too long. Draco knew where they were. He remembered it well. They were in a wizarding section of London the size of a small suburb. Draco remembering seeing all the brilliant toy and candy shops and forcing his father to buy him everything he wanted as a child. They used to take him there twice or so a year when he was a child but had stopped once he began attending Hogwarts. Now they only took him to Diagon Alley. But Draco remembered it vividly.

It looked similar to Diagon Alley, really, but much larger. They were shops everywhere on one street, and then on the next, there would be several large houses. And on the next, there was a large library. And on the next, there was a clinic. And on the next, there was a shopping centre.

But that wasn't what Draco had wanted to show Harry. Draco took Harry's hand. They turned onto the next extremely crowded street full of young people and blazing music and drinking. The club scene. Draco looked over at a shocked Harry.

"Never knew wizards had their own clubs, Harry?" Draco said, smiling to himself, quite pleased.

"Never really thought about it," Harry admitted.

"But we're going to a very special one," Draco said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh God," Harry said.

Draco laughed.

"You'll enjoy this ... well, hopefully more than the Yule Ball." Draco laughed harshly.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Harry said defensively, sounding very attacked.

"Everyone remembers the extremely uncoordinated Harry Potter," Draco said, sounding as though he was truly enjoying himself. "At least here no one knows you."

"Shut up!" Harry said, but he was smiling.

"Keep your hood up," Draco said turning onto a new block. "Ah ... and here we are. I've never been here myself. It's a gay nightclub."

Harry was shocked by their surroundings once they entered the night club. Half the men inside were half-naked, and there were tons of drunken men. There were shining lights everywhere that hurt Harry's eyes after a while coming from the disco balls. It was extremely crowded, as the many people danced to the blaring music.

It looked similar to the muggle night clubs he had seen in the past in movies and such, except these had men lap dancing all over each other and men who seemed to have only just met leaving together. Many people looked so high they could barely walk. Harry was sure he would have been terrified if Draco had not been with him.

Draco turned to Harry, and suddenly had a very professional look on his face and imitated an English nobleman. "Care to dance?"

Harry took his hand, grinning, and they went onto the dance floor.

Draco took control over this situation, and Harry liked it that way. He was very nervous. Draco almost forced himself onto Harry, and grabbing Harry's back with his hands, and slowly, he began lap dancing with Harry. Harry tried to move naturally at first, but becoming very embarrassed was reducing his performance.

"Relax, Potter," Draco said, sounding more impatient. "Everyone here is too drunk, stoned, horny, or all three to care how you dance."

"Why don't we get a drink?" Harry suggested, hoping this would relax him a bit.

Draco forced himself and Harry to take three drinks of brandy before returning to the dance floor. He felt much freer, for a lack of a better word. Harry looked much less nervous now. Draco felt as though there were much less worries now, and he grabbed Harry's hand and they returned onto the dance floor.

Harry was being much more aggressive now, but he was responding better to the dancing, whether it been from the alcohol or it being a second attempt. It didn't seem to matter though. Harry didn't look half as tense as he did before. He looked as though he was genuinely enjoying himself.

"Much better, Potter," Draco said.

And so they continued for what must have been two hours, only stopping for drinks. By the end of their last dance, it was very late and they were both quite lightheaded from all the drinking. Draco felt quite exhausted and didn't think he should fly back. Harry looked as though he was going to pass out.

"Harry," Draco managed to coherently say, as they sat together in a few seats away from the dance floor. "Are you okay?"

"I'm so bloody tired," Harry said, sounding weak. He was sweating terribly. "I can't fly back, I can't do it Draco."

"Me either," Draco said. "I say we rent some place for the night and fly back early tomorrow. I really need a few hours of sleep."

Harry was unaware of when and how he had ended up at the "Nightly Resort". All he knew was that sometime upon leaving the nightclub he had thrown up three times and had been carried by Draco and he had fallen into a state of half-consciousness. He had remembered hearing voices and such but he didn't remember anything clearly until Draco had undressed him and he had opened his eyes. They were in a small hotel room with one large bed. Draco was next to him, lying down.

"Draco ... thanks," Harry said. "How you manage everything is beyond me."

"Hush, Potter," Draco said, with his eyes half open. "Just go to sleep."

"Draco," Harry whispered to him, looking directly at him.

'Yes, Harry?" Draco said faintly.

"Hold me."