We Were Strangers

Chapter 1: The Awakening

The early-morning sun began to drift lazily in through the window as Harry lay on his bed, flipping casually through the Prince's potion book. His covers were untouched, and his robes were still the same ones from the day before, as he had never changed out of them. His sleep had been fitful lately, and he had taken to dozing off in an armchair by the fire, and trudging to his bed at dawn so that Ron and Seamus wouldn't suspect that he was having turbulent nights. He wasn't sure what it was that was keeping him awake. It wasn't nightmares for sure. He knew the feeling of nightmares quite distinctly...no...it was something else. His brow crinkled as he tried to wrap his mind around the predicament. All he knew for sure was that he'd been feeling ill at ease. It seemed to him that the stars were shifting somehow, and his psyche was somehow following suit. Harry and Ron thought of Divination as merely a laughable joke, but something in Harry's mind sensed a change. Something huge and profound was coming his way...if only he could figure out what it was.

A few hours later, Harry heard the unmistakable sounds of Ron slowly waking from what must have been a deep and blissful sleep. Grunts and the heavy rustling of sheets and blankets indicated that the red-head was no longer in the peaceful world of dream-land. Harry grinned and threw his pillow at the moving mound. "Oy!" Ron mumbled groggily. "What'd you do that for?"

"You're rustling around is worse than your snores, mate," Harry said cheerfully. "And anyways, it's near breakfast. You'd better get a move on." Ron grumbled incoherently for a few seconds before slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position. "What are you doing already dressed?" he asked Harry in surprise

"Oh, er, I've been up working on that Essay for Snape," Harry lied, fidgeting with the binder of the Prince's book.

"Bloody marvelous, that is," Ron complained. "Leave it to Snape to assign us a massive paper with exams only a few weeks away." Then, noticing Harry's book, he asked, "What are you doing with the Prince? Find any new mystery spells for us to try out on an unsuspecting Goyle?" Harry glanced down at the book and suddenly remembered the incantation he had come across while skimming the section on truth potions.

"Yea, actually I did. Look at this. Bottom right corner." Ron strolled over and bent down to see the yellow pages. In scrawling blank Ink, the Prince had written the words, Sentio Sensum(nvrb). The two boys stared eagerly at the spell.

"So do you think it's some kind of a truth charm?" Ron asked intently. "We could always test it out on our dear mate, the Death Eater to be. I mean maybe Malfoy would spill something about You Know Who, or even so, it'd be pretty bloody funny even if he just admitted something juicy about Pansy Parkinson. You know they've been getting close." Harry grinned at the thought of this and pulled the book shut with a snap.

"Yea, it'd be pretty bloody funny," he reiterated. "I might give that a go later if I catch him lurking around in a dark corner. But for now, I think there's a bit of toast with my name on it so come on already and let's get down there before there's no food left at all." Ron smirked and threw on a pair of wrinkled robes, and the two of them leisurely began to make their way down to the Great Hall.

"Hermione, will you please, stop bloody bothering me about homework!" Ron growled as the bushy haired girl attempted to force a planner-notebook into his hands. The three of them were strolling around the grounds after breakfast to enjoy the last day of the weekend before a Monday that promised to be no fun at all, with Snape first period.

"No I will not, Ronald," she insisted in fierce determination. "What always happens when you don't do your homework? You ask to copy mine. I think it's high time you start doing your own assignments. And you too, Harry. That Potions essay isn't going to write itself."

"Actually, Harry already finished his," Ron interjected smugly. "So we don't need to copy yours. Harry will let me copy his, won't you Harry?"

"What? Oh, er, yea, right. That's right." Hermione gave them one last severe glance before huffing away, and Harry was left to think about the fact that lies just always seemed to catch up to him, even the little ones.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the sun and the feel of the grass on their ankles, until suddenly over Ron's left shoulder, Harry caught a familiar glimpse of white-blonde hair disappear behind a bush. "Malfoy..." Harry thought tensely, feeling his stomach clench. He was about to spit out a crude comment about his enemy to Ron, but for some reason the words stuck on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to confront the boy, he realized, and he wanted to do it alone. Malfoy had been avoiding him for the past few weeks, and for some unknown reason, what should have been a blessing, was a source of true irritation to Harry's spirit. Even though their frequent past correspondences had always been bitter and angry, there was something about them that lit a fire in Harry's chest, and he almost...counted on those interactions. Harry supposed it must have just been the sense of purpose that the confrontations held for him. Every hero needs an enemy to remind him what he's fighting against, right?

"Hey, Ron, you know what...I've just remembered that I have to go do that thing...you know, that thing I was telling you about, with, er, Flitwick, that bloody Charms thing I have to do. So...gotta go do that." Ron looked at him with a baffled expression.

"You didn't mention anything to me, Mate."

"Oh, well, must have slipped my mind then, but, you know, I have to go do it."

"What exactly is it?" But Harry was already walking briskly back toward the school.

"Yea, just a thing, I'll see you later though," he called over his shoulder. Rounding the corner, Harry stopped and threw a furtive glance over his shoulder. Ron had continued to meander up the path, apparently un-suspicious of Harry's flustered responses. When Harry was sure that the tumble of red hair was sufficiently distanced from the bush where Malfoy was hiding, he emerged and backtracked to the place where he had seen Malfoy vanish. For a few seconds he stood motionless in an awkward way, unsure of how to approach the situation now that he was here. He couldn't just come out and tell Malfoy that he missed having insults catapulted at him.

"Don't stand there like an idiot, Potter," came a slow drawl from behind the bush. Harry started and instinctively reached for his wand. "Yes I know it's you Potter. It's called a shadow. I'd recognize that ridiculous mop of hair anywhere." Harry cleared his throat sharply, trying to regain his composure.

"I saw you sneak off into that bush Malfoy. I hope you're not planning any funny business." Malfoy laughed casually.

"Potter, Potter, Potter. I am rather glad it's you. I can always get a laugh out of your hilarious accusations. Is sitting behind a bush criminal activity now? If so, then please, arrest me. I promise I won't fight back." Harry didn't dignify that statement with a response, but stepped sideways and crouched slightly so squeeze behind the bush. Malfoy was sprawled comfortably up against the leaves with his arms crossed against his chest.

"See? No loot back here, Potter. Just me and my criminal self." Something about Malfoy's detached attitude bothered Harry.

"What's the matter with you Draco?" Harry spit out before he realized it.

"Well...aside from being rudely interrupted in my leisure time, nothing."

"Why isn't your wand out? Why aren't you yelling out insults about my family...or my friends...or, or trying to curse me?" Harry's breathing was becoming shallower.

"Frankly Potter, I just don't care," yawned Malfoy, closing his eyes half way to peer up at Harry in a bored way.

Harry felt hot irritation bubbling to the surface of his skin, and he longed to make Malfoy angry. He longed to do something rash...something stupid even to get a rise out of the seemingly indifferent boy sitting in front of him. He needed to believe that he could still provoke any kind of a reaction in Draco...Something strange was going on, and Harry desperately wanted to find out the truth

Before he could fully comprehend what he was doing, Harry yanked his wand from beneath his robes, pointed it at Malfoy's chest and concentrated all of his energy into thinking the words "Sentio Sensum." The air seemed to vibrate slightly for a few seconds, and then, all was still. Harry had never really planned to use the spell on Malfoy. From personal experience he understood that unknown incantations were dangerous. But Malfoy's indifference had been grating so much on his nerves for the past few weeks that he was desperate to know what was really going on.

In appearance, Malfoy remained seemingly unchanged. He had cowered back slightly when Harry had forcefully drawn his wand, but other than that the only difference was a confused expression that had replaced the complacent one.

"Harry...you...cursed me," He said quietly, a horrible realization spreading across his features. "You cursed me! What did you do to me? Harry what did you do?" His voice was taking on a panicked tone now, and he jumped to his feet, wild fear in his eyes. Harry stumbled backwards, feeling his breath catch in his throat. What had he done?

"No...I swear....not a curse...I was just trying-"

"Just trying what?? What did you do? Why are you making me feel like this? Did you read my mind? No...you don't know occlumency...do you? Did you read my mind? What the hell did you do Harry?" His voice was frantic now and he was only inches from Harry's face.

"What? Read your mind? No...I don't understand. Draco...what's going on? I'll take you to the Hospital Wing. I don't know what I did to you." Malfoy looked at Harry, his breath coming in short, agitated gasps. For a few seconds that seemed to last an eternity, neither of them spoke. They simply looked at each other in wild confusion. Then, in one quick movement, Malfoy closed the space between them and put his lips firmly onto Harry's.

Harry stood completely frozen, unable to mentally process the inexplicable event that was taking place. He had a half-formed thought that this must be some bizarre dream that he would wake up from any moment, but right then Malfoy seemed to come to his senses, and he pulled violently away from Harry's mouth, leaving behind a burning heat that convinced Harry that he was, in fact, in reality. Harry tried to speak, but he found that words would not come, and he simply blinked in utter bewilderment. Malfoy was slowly backing away now, his expression changing so rapidly that Harry got the impression of an old silent film, the ones where each character's features are overly dramatized to the point of absurdity.

"Draco..." he ventured carefully, "When you were asking if I had read your mind...did you mean that you've thought about this before?" As soon as he'd said it, he realized how inappropriate it was, and blushed with crimson embarrassment. Malfoy took a few more steps back, and ducked down to get to the other side of the bush. Harry thought that he was going to walk away, but Malfoy crouched so that his face was visible to Harry.

"You Bastard," he whispered quietly, his voice full of venom. "You...bastard." Then he jumped up and disappeared, and Harry listened to the dull tread of his footsteps as the boy who had just kissed him...his enemy...sprinted away as fast as his legs could take him.HeH