No One’s Hero

Chapter 4

The Darkness in Others

The dark was almost endless. Silent streaks lit the hallway. Then the thunder shook the building. It was nasty outside, and inside. It was still fairly early. Most of the students were still in bed, at least the ones who had any sense.

Ron was not one of those people. His sight was sent on the blond walking ahead of him. He had made up his mind last night. If he did nothing else about the current situation, the least he would do was talk to the source of the problem.

“MALFOY!”

Draco spun around, his eyes narrowed, and he sniggered, “What do you want, Weasley?”

Ron slammed him against the wall, “What the fuck is going on?”

He smirked, “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about. Honestly, no need to get violent. I have been leaving you alone, haven’t I? Would you like me to start insulting your family and your… money situation?”

“Listen you prat. I don’t know what the fuck you did to Harry, but you need to back off. Leave Harry alone, for his own good. He’s my friend, and I don’t need you hurting him. Just leave him alone. Or I’ll make you wise you were never born,” Ron said through clenched teeth.

“How very cliché. Tell me, how do you think Harry is doing? If you ask me he’s looking better; little more color in his face, the circles under his eyes disappearing. I have him working on getting caught up in his schoolwork. He may even start eating. Besides last night, when was the last time Harry actually went to sleep? Had you even noticed that Harry wasn’t spending his nights in the dorm? Instead of tell me to leave Harry alone, “for Harry’s own good”, maybe you need to be encouraging me to help him. For someone who claims to care about Harry, you sure seem egger enough to keep what’s making Harry happy away from him. And, if he asks, I’ll say the exact same thing,” Draco said swiftly. This git thought he could claim Harry back up just because he wasn’t depressed anymore. No, he had worked too much to let Ron take him away. He was the one who dumped his supposed ‘best friend’.

Ron was speechless.

“Tell me, are you or are you not his best friend?”

“Yea,” he said, even though he doubted his own words. Was he his best friend?

“Then where have you been for Harry?”

RonÂ’s jaw dropped, and he went to speak, but Draco stopped him.

“You haven’t been there. He saved your ungrateful ass, and you let him to drown in his sorrow. Maybe you’re the one who needs to leave Harry alone, for his own good.”

“Draco?”

“On a first name basis now? Weasley, I don’t remember giving you permission.”

“I don’t know what you did. I don’t like it. And I don’t like you. You’ve changed Harry, and I don’t like what you’ve made him become. This whole situation is fucked up. I want Harry to be the guy he used to be, the best friend I used to have. But I’ve tried to bring him back, and I couldn’t. Somehow you managed to drag him out of his depression, and maybe that’s all Harry is ready for right now. But he’s not always going to be like this. One day he’ll shake the depression completely, and tell me, where will that leave you? I know I’ll get my Harry back one day, and all you’ll be left with is memories,” Ron said and turned away.

Draco watched him go, the only thought in his mind was how much he wanted to bash him against the wall. Ron is wrong, he told himself, and he only wished he could believe it.

*

“You’re dad is going to know by tonight.”

Draco shrugged and picked up his toast, taking a bite. People were starring; let them.

“How are you feeling? Better after a good night’s sleep?” he asked Harry. He looked better, a lot better. Draco hoped Ron noticed, after all he was starring intently at the Slytherin table.

“I would have slept better if someone had stayed with me,” Harry looked into Draco’s eyes with a smile on his face. “I think everyone is watching us.”

He laughed, “I imagine they’re wondering what ‘good guy’ Harry Potter the Gryffindor is doing sitting with ‘bad guy’ Draco Malfoy the Slytherin.”

“Let them wonder.”

“Exactly. Ron stopped me in the hall this morning,” Draco said casually, and raised his eyes. Harry looked a little uncomfortable.

“What did he want?” he asked, slightly concerned. Draco didn’t know who for. ‘Me or Weasley?’

“He told me to stay away from you.”

Harry shook his head and laughed, “What did you say?”

Draco calmed, this was a good sign, “That I wasn’t about to.”

“Good. So do you think the teachers would freak out if I went to your classes again today?”

“Probably not. We are talking the exact same classes, so what if you show up at a different time? You shocked the hell out of a lot of people yesterday though. They’re all too scared of me to say a word. Speaking of which, why don’t you spend the night in my dorm? I don’t think we’ll be harassed.”

Harry sipped his orange juice and glared at a group of first years that were slowly getting closer to the isolated pair.

“When are you making up that potions test?” Draco asked Harry while he sneered at Ron. Hermione looked up at his face then across the hall to see who he was staring at. Draco was glad Harry couldn’t see the looks being shot between them.

“After breakfast. Want to meet me around ten outside?”

“It’s snowing.”

Harry smirked, “I know.”

Draco nodded, “Fine. Good luck on the exam.”

“With Snape, I’ll need it.”

*

Harry quickly read the directions, as Snape hovered around him. He knew the poison by heart now, thanks to Draco. He should be fine, no worries. But he did anyway. Snape always made him nervous, and the fact that so much was riding on this one testÂ…

“You are away you need to successfully concoct the potion to pass this class, correct?” Snape asked with a sneer.

Harry merely nodded and continued working. He added the first ingredient slowly, allowing for the color change. If he had added it all at once, it would have ruined the entire potion. Snape sighed in disappointment. He started cutting his roots.

“Why even bother trying to pass this class? I think you need an A on your history test today in order to graduate. You never were good at history, even when you were you were trying.”

“I think I’d do just fine on the test,” Harry said shortly. He knew Snape was just trying to upset him, and he wasn’t going to let it work. He didn’t need to worry about Snape.

“What changed your mind? I was beginning to think you had given up.”

“I don’t suppose it’s any of your business,” Harry said and dropped two grams of snails in. If he learned nothing else from this class, he learned to stand up to Snape.

“I don’t suppose it has anything to do with Draco Malfoy, does it?”

Harry said nothing. He stirred the potion until it turned dark velvet red, and dropped a unicorn hair into it. It flashed, and smoke rose from the caldron.

It shimmered blue.

“I do believe I’m finished.”

Snape sneered, “First time you’ve ever done something right in here, Potter.”

Harry smiled.

“What?” he snapped.

“You’re the only one who still calls me Potter now.”

“Clean up, and get out of here,” Snape said and walked to the front of the room. Harry bottled the potion and corked it. He rinsed out his cauldron and set it back onto the table.

“You haven’t changed. Professor Dumbledore thought you had, but he’s wrong. Nothing that has happened has fazed you. None of it! It goes in one ear and out the other.”

Harry looked up at his professor, “Excuse me?”

“Do you realize how much danger you’re putting Draco in? His father is going to kill him if he thinks there is something going on between the two of you. I mean that literally. If you care about him at all, you’ll cease all contact with him.”

“Are you trying to threaten me?”

“No, I’m warning you. You’re excused. Get out of my room.”

Harry grabbed his books and ran out of the class.

*

Draco sat on the ledge of the brick wall. The grounds looked pretty, in a dead, cold, snowy sort of way. Everything had a blanket of white on it. It made the world look innocent, and free from darkness.

Sure, Voldemort was gone, but there were far from free. They would always be men like Lucius Malfoy in the world. There was nothing you could do about it; it was just the way the world was. The balance was always there.

Maybe thatÂ’s why the world didnÂ’t need Harry anymore. If he had continued to be who he was, then the balance was destroyed. Lucky for Draco, Harry hadnÂ’t gone off the deep end before heÂ’d be able to reach him.

Draco had saved Harry, but was it for the best? For his desires, it was the better path. But what about the rest of the world? Maybe they needed to remember Harry only as the Boy Who Lived, the downfall of Voldemort.

Harry was changed.

Maybe Ron was right, maybe it was better for Harry, and the world, for him to be depressed, opposed to the darker man he had become.

*

Harry emerged from the castle, enjoying the fresh air. His eyes locked onto Draco. Snowflakes had started to cling to his white locks.

His heart ached to touch him, kiss him.

So what was stopping him? He had told himself that he wasnÂ’t going to let Snape get to him, but he had. Maybe he was rightÂ… Maybe it was better if they werenÂ’t togetherÂ…

Draco looked up, and saw him.

Harry closed his eyes and hung his head.

“We need to talk,” he said and sat down beside Draco.

“Who said something to you?”

“How’d you know?” Harry asked and licked his lips, nervous.

“The same thought went through me when Ron chewed me out this morning,” he looked at Harry with a stab of pain.

“Snape. He said if I cared about you, I’d stay away from you. He said your dad would kill you,” he said. What if it was true? Then what? Could he live without Draco? Was life ever worth living without him?

“Doubtful. I can handle him. He taught me all he knows, and now I know more. Its more likely that he would kill you,” Draco said with a smirk.

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Even so, I would rather be dead than to not have you in my life…You do realize you’ve changed, don’t you?”

Harry sighed and starred out around them. “Yes.”

“I was looking for more than a one word answer.”

“I know I’ve changed. I can’t help it. Don’t you like me as I am? I thought that it wasn’t a problem.”

“No, I don’t like you.”

Harry jerked his head around, “No?” His heart had skipped a beat.

“Its more than just a crush. When you feel this strongly for someone for seven years… it isn’t a simple ‘like’…” Draco said with unease.

HarryÂ’s anger melted, and he leaned in and kissed Draco. The warmth of his lips, he was right. This wasnÂ’t a simple crush. When he was with Draco, the rest of the world didnÂ’t matter. Who cared what anyone else thought; he was happy with Draco. Prejudices meant nothing when you felt this way about another person. No one else mattered.

Draco pulled away, surprising Harry. His eyes looked wateryÂ… as if he were holding back tears.

“What’s wrong?”

“What happens if you go back to how you were? The happy carefree Harry?”

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be the person I was.”

“I know, but what if? Will you still feel this way about me?”

Harry wrapped his arm around DracoÂ’s shoulder, and pulled him close.

“You saved me in so many ways, my life, my sanity. I was so close to jumping. My life has been a mess. And you’ve kept me alive. I might actually graduate. You brought me back to life, and nothing can change that. I’ll always owe you my life. And you’ll always own my heart. Those things will never change.”

“Ron said you’d turn away from me.”

“I won’t. I swear that until the day I die,” Harry said with a smile. He looked into Draco’s dark gray eyes. He knew Harry wasn’t lying.