Ten Days

Ten Days

Chapter Six: Someone Like You

Every kiss is a kiss you can never get back

Harry walked back to the school after detention alone. He had stayed back with Hagrid, once his "time was up", for tea. Perfect timing too, it was just when he was about actually give in, and tell Draco he would look for the book for him.

And since then, Harry thought about it. He really did. He didn't have a clue on how he was going to get the book from the library, but he was thinking about it. Draco had a point in asking Hermione; if anyone knew where it would be, it was Hermione. How would he come about asking her? Harry didn't want the potion for himself., he wasn't sure if he believed in it's capabilities.

He reached his dorm finally, and changed into his pyjamas. He had an important decision to make. Was he helping Malfoy or not?

It was going to be a long night.

***

He almost had Potter. Almost. Until that great oaf had to but-in and end detention. Draco left early and Harry stayed behind. This came as no surprise, but it sure as hell complicated things for Draco. He knew Harry was just about to cave, too.

With all this about the book, Draco nearly forgot about the Quidditch game they had at noon. Three and a half hours from now. Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table, between Crabbe and Goyle. In front of him, unfortunately sat Pansy Parkinson.

"So," said the troll look-alike next to him, Goyle, "how long do you think it'd take us to win this time?"

"I bet Draky will catch the Snitch within a half hour!" Pansy said quite confidently. It seemed that no matter what this girl did, she would get on Draco's last nerve.

"When have you known Slytherin to beat Gryffindor when Potter's their Seeker?" Draco got no response; he must have crushed their spirits. "Exactly," he said, "Never. The only team where there's a guarantee I'll catch the Snitch before, is Hufflepuff. No great accomplishment. And sometimes Ravenclaw, so don't get your hopes up." He was telling the truth, they never did beat Gryffindor.

There was a pause. The three looked down at their plates. "Well," Pansy began. Oh no, just stop there, Draco thought. She continued, "There's always a first time for everything. Besides, Potter's been acting all... Sick and weird lately. You can use this to your advantage."

Sick? Sick wasn't the word for it. "Whatever you say, Pansy," Draco said calmly. He rose from the table. "Whatever you say." He turned away from the table and left the Great Hall.

His destination? The library.

***

Barely awake, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. By the time he actually had gotten some sleep last night, he had to be in breakfast. Something he could always skip, but not on a Quidditch day.

He took the seat in front of Hermione and Ron. "Good morning," he said sleepily.

"How nice of you to join us, Harry," commented Ron.

Harry forced a smile. He decided he was going to ask Hermione about the Wishing Potion; it was worth a shot. Instead of acting on that immediately, Harry sat there smiling at the two until one of them said something.

"Earth to Harry." Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's face.

"Oh, sorry." Harry pulled himself together. Now or never, he told himself. He was beginning to get cold feet. Why was he going to do this anyway? Malfoy never really gave him a reason to get this book for him. After all, for all Harry knew, Draco could really want this potion to get rid of Harry... Or something like that. Although it was nearly impossible to understand, Harry finally spit the words out, "Hermione do you know anything about the Wishing Potion?"

Hermione furrowed her brow. The question was sort of... random. "It's a fairy tale, really. All the books say so..." She trailed off. "Why?"

"I was just curious. Any idea of what book it might be in?"

She thought for a moment. "No... I don't think," she paused, "it might be in Acutus Magia."

"Acutus Magia? I don't like the sound of that one..."

"Yeah, I don't think it's in that one. Acutus Magia means 'Dangerous Magic', I know a Wishing Potion isn't the best thing around... But I wouldn't go that far." She rested her chin on her hand in thought. "You could always try Common Cauldron Confusion." She stopped as if to reconsider it, then she shook her head. "No," she said, "it wouldn't be there either."

There was a long pause as Hermione kept thinking. The more and more he had to wait, the less and less Harry wanted to do this for Draco. Was it even worth it?

Hermione thought of something. "Oh!" She pretended to smack her own forehead. "How silly of me! I bet you anything a wishing potion could be found in the WWW!" Ron and Harry exchanged confused looks.

"WWW?" Ron said, "What's that?"

"You mean the world wide web?" Harry asked, "like the Muggle internet?"

Hermione laughed lightly and shook her head. "No, I mean the WWW. You two should read more. WWW is short for 'Wishes, Wants and Worries: The Collection Work of Questionable Potions.' I know the library has one, it was next to the book I checked out for my extra credit paper in Charms last year."

"Really?" Harry didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing.

"Yes, really." Hermione seemed almost offended by Harry asking her. "Besides, why are you so interested?"

"I don't know."

"It's in the restricted section anyway, so I don't think you could get it if you tried."

But Harry had an idea already. "Thanks," he said to Hermione as he got up and made his way out of the Great Hall.

***

Draco had no luck in asking Madame Pince for a "look" in the restricted section.

No one ever trusts a Slytherin, Draco thought to himself as he took a seat near the window. He looked outside, it looked like it was going snow. But in the weather they've been having, it would probably rain cats and dogs. Draco hoped it did something before noon, that way he wouldn't have to face Potter that day in Quidditch. He didn't even want to even see the other boy again.

He wondered what he was going to do about the Wishing Potion. Harry was right last night, he could ask Professor Snape. But then Snape wouldn't give him permission for the book and would probably think of Draco as the stupid little kid who believed in fairy tales.

Draco didn't know what to do, his only hope lied with Harry. He didn't really trust him. Something told him that he should, something gave him the feeling Harry would pull through. But he didn't know what that something was, so Draco paid it little attention.

He didn't even know what book he had to get. And as time progressed, things looked less and less promising for Draco Malfoy.

***

Harry rushed up to Professor Lupin's office. He wasn't sure if the professor would be there yet, and if he wasn't, Harry was going to wait. Harry wasn't sure of exactly how he was going to get the permission, but he was sure he'd think of something.

He ran up the stairs and down the hall to Lupin's office. The door was locked. Sure enough, Lupin wasn't there. He didn't see the teacher at breakfast, either. Harry was pretty sure that it was no where near a full moon, so Lupin was just somewhere else in the school.

He leaned himself against the wall besides the door. Breakfast was just emptying out. He waited.

And waited.

Harry waited for nearly ten minutes. He was losing patience. He was also still not sure about what he was going to do to get permission to get the book. Lupin's door opened. "Harry?"

Harry's head snapped in the direction of Lupin. How stupid of him, he didn't even think of knocking! "Professor Lupin," Harry said, half-smiling, "I thought you weren't in your office."

Lupin smiled. "Funny," said the professor, "I didn't hear you knock."

"Heh, well, I just assumed..."

"Say no more," Lupin said as he waved his hand as if dismissing the subject. "So what did you want?"

"Well..." The realization that Harry didn't really have a plan hit him finally sunk in. He tried to hide the fact that he wasn't sure of what to say the best he could. "I was wondering..." He wasn't doing a very good job.

"Yes, Harry?" Lupin was all ears.

And then it hit him, an idea. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. "Well, there's thing called a Wishing Potion.."

"M'hm..."

"And I thought it might be a good idea to do some sort of extra credit report in this class on it."

"That's potions, Harry. Why don't you ask Professor Snape?"

Harry bit his lip. "Because I doubt Professor Snape would grant me permission to get the book..."

"Ah," Lupin said, "you want me to give you permission to get the book out of the restricted section. I see now."

"You do?"

"And I still think that's Professor Snape's department."

"Please? I'll do a foot and a half..."

Lupin shook his head. "It's not my department, Harry. You know that."

"But I know you could do it." Harry remembered the time he, Ron and Hermione got Moste Potente Potions out of the restricted section in his second year. They got the permission from their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"You're right, I could. But I don't even see the reason in getting it. I have heard about the Wishing Potion, it's nothing but nonsense. Besides, I don't understand how it will have anything to do with my subject whatsoever."

Harry's heart sunk. He was right. One-hundred percent right. "Well.. I was thinking maybe I could make the connection myself.."

"Harry, how about this, why don't you try Professor Snape?"

"I doubt that would work, Professor." Things didn't look too good.

"No, Harry, you didn't let me finish," Lupin said with a smile, "if it doesn't work out with him, come back. I'll write you the permission slip then. It's in the WWW is it not?"

Harry grinned; it seemed like everyone in the wizarding world knew what the WWW was, except for him and Ron. "Yes, sir."

"Off you go." Lupin smiled at Harry and walked down the opposite end of the hall.

So now, all Harry had to do was to just ask Snape for the book. Harry really didn't know what the point was in asking, but he wasn't going to question Lupin. The book was good as his.

Harry arrived at Snape's office. Did he really have to ask Snape? After all, Harry could say tell Lupin that he did ask, and get the book. No, Lupin was probably ahead of him and was probably planning on asking Snape if he asked. Harry knocked on the door.

Snape opened the door. His expression grew bitter as his eyes laid on Harry. "What do you want, Potter? Shouldn't you be practicing for your game against Slytherin, today?"

"I was wondering if you could give me permission--"

"No."

"You didn't even hear me out." Harry didn't need anyone to tell him what was going to happen next.

"Well, I don't need to, do I? You're going to ask for a book from the library. I'm not going to approve on it, and you'll ask elsewhere." Snape raised his eyebrow at Harry, and when the boy didn't respond he went to close the door. "Exactly, good day, Potter."

Well, that was easy.

***

Draco must have been in the library for a half an hour now, and he still didn't think of anything. He was obviously going to have to talk to Potter again that night. That's if, of course, Potter wasn't going to do anything that day in the first place.

He got up and looked around. He might as well get out and practise a little Quidditch before the game. Not that it would do him any good, he knew he was about to lose again.

The door of the library opened and someone walked in. Draco looked at the door, only to see Harry looking right back at him. Empty-handed. So, obviously, Harry wasn't there for the book. Draco made his way to the exit and said, "I was just leaving, Potter."

And Harry said nothing in response.

***

Harry practically threw the green and gold book on his bed. This is it. This is what Draco wanted from him. Now it was only a matter of giving it to him. He wasn't about to give the book to him earlier when he saw him in the library, not in front of Madame Pince. He was pretty sure he was handing him the book that night.

Luckily, the Gryffindor dorms were quite deserted. He sat himself in front of the book and opened it to the Table of Contents. There were plenty of weird potions, Rabbit-Morphing Potion, Sex (Harry wasn't going to turn to that page), Nose hair lengthener... And as a matter of fact, Harry thought the Wishing Potion was the only normal sounding one on the list. He flipped to the page that had the Wishing Potion on it.

"Votum Venenum," Harry whispered as he looked over the potion. The ingredients weren't the kind that were very hard to find, Harry had some himself, most actually. There were a few difficult parts, odd, even. But it was an overall simple potion. And that means a lot, considering Potions wasn't Harry's best subject whatsoever.

But this, this here was doable...

***

Well, Draco should've known better than to think that Harry would get the book for him. After all, what was he thinking? That Harry would just go willingly to the nearest teacher and ask for permission?

Yes.

***

It was nearly a half an hour to the game. Harry was still in his dorm, in his regular day robes, and still hunched over that book. He now understood why it was frowned upon and seen as a fairy tale.

It was too easy. And it made him wonder why Lupin actually gave in in the first place. Probably because he didn't believe it was true, probably because he wanted Harry to find out for himself, and most likely so Harry could write a report about it. And share with the class.

Another agreement Harry regretted making. All for Draco. He had to write a full eighteen-inch report on the potion, connection it to Defence Against the Dark Arts, and why it wasn't taken seriously amongst even the wizarding world. He had a week and a half to do so, so Harry had decided he would give Draco the book for a few days, take it back, and then do the report.

As if to remind himself, Harry took out a piece of parchment, and wrote "Draco" on it. He then, placed it on the page of the Wishing Potion, closed the book, and placed it underneath his pillow. Then, he went off to Quidditch.

***

What if Harry was at the library to get the book? Well, Draco would find out eventually, the next time he saw Potter in detention. But before that, he had Quidditch. Which was exactly where Draco was heading off to now. The game was in ten minutes, it had just started to drizzle. But students were filling in the seats anyway, and Draco, as the captain of the Slytherin team, had no choice but to give his pep talk.

He wasn't in the best of moods today. So he kept it short.

"Just don't get beat up too bad, eh?"

So, Draco wasn't all that good at pep talks. Not on a bad day, at least.

***

Ninety to ten. Slytherin's game.

Harry had to get that Snitch as soon as possible, before Slytherin racked up anymore points. He wasn't having any luck yet, he seemed to be too distracted by Draco. And Draco, well, for once, Draco was completely engrossed with the game. Despite the rain picking up pace, and the temperate dropping drastically, Draco was still at it. So Harry watched and snuck peeks at Draco as often as he could, as Draco searched feverously for the Snitch.

Why did Harry let Draco do this to him? He had seemed to be doing everything for Draco, and still getting absolutely nothing in return. And that kiss... Harry didn't forget about that kiss last night. And if Draco wasn't being a total bastard about it, it would have been a little romantic. But no, Draco kissed Harry and the very second they broke it off he went back to being... Draco.

It just wasn't fair, and now Harry was certainly reconsidering giving Draco the book. What did he do to deserve it anyway? Absolutely nothing, and until he showed signs of being grateful towards Harry, he wasn't seeing one bit of the book.

All of a sudden Harry felt dizzy. Very, very, dizzy. And then he giggled.

He slightly lost control of the broom, started to swerve around a bit, intentionally and just forgot about the game entirely. He zoomed around the pitch, giggling and spinning, and distracting everyone from the game. He flew higher and higher. "Whee!" he shouted on the top of his lungs.

He flew in the direction of the teacher's box. It was empty today, Harry didn't know or even care why. He didn't care about anything right now, really. He turned around and considered plunging straight down to the ground. And so he did.

He was falling at a tremendous speed, and it was great. But he started to feel nauseous, so he stopped doing that and began to fly at a normal pace, while everyone except for the Slytherin team (who was taking advantage of this distraction) scored another ten points. He hovered only about five feet off the ground and looked around. Harry then realised why he was there in the first place when he was reminded, by the fluttering god ball with wings in front of him. The Snitch! Harry giggled and flew clumsily after it.

***

What the hell does he think he's doing? Draco thought to himself as he watched Harry giggle and spin on his broomstick. And then suddenly, Draco saw Harry's sudden distraction and dove straight for it, following Harry.

Harry was laughing and smiling, and basically doing everything that you shouldn't when you're supposed to be winning a Quidditch game. Draco flew to the side of Harry. The Snitch was only a few inches away, he focused on just that. He reached out, expecting Potter's hand to beat him to it.

But that never happened. Instead, for the first time in a game against Gryffindor, Draco felt the gold in his hand. The crowd gasped, and Draco landed his broom.

He turned around, only to see Harry on the ground behind him.

***

Harry rubbed his head.

He didn't know what just happened, but he was okay now. But just two minutes ago, he felt... giddy. He saw the Snitch, went after it, and then... he... he floated off of his broom, and fell to the ground. Then Draco caught the Snitch, and now all these people were running over to help Harry. But he was fine, really. "Harry, are you okay?" asked Ginny worriedly.

"I'm fine," he replied, "I'm just.. I'm not sure what happened."

"You jumped off your broom, Harry!" said Ron, "and you let that stupid git get the Snitch and win!" He nodded his head in the direction of Draco, who seemed to just finished talking with Madame Hooch. Then he joined up with the rest of the team to celebrate, who were all very unconcerned about whether Harry lived or died. Draco didn't care that Harry was on the floor right now. And quite honestly, this hurt Harry more than anything.

"Really, Ron," said Ginny, "you're best friend is hurt and you're worried about a stupid Quidditch game!" Ron had no response.

"I'm not--"

"Don't worry, Harry! We'll take you to Madame Pomfrey."

"No," Harry said while getting up and dusting himself off. "I'm fine, I just slid off my broom."

Ginny, Ron and the others didn't look like they believed him so much, but they weren't going to argue with him. "If you insist," Ginny said reluctantly, "Oh, here comes Madame Hooch."

"Are you hurt?" Madame Hooch asked.

"No," He replied.

"Good, because tonight you and Malfoy will be cleaning this place up. You will be here no later than seven o'clock. Understood?"

"Yes, Madame Hooch."

"And it won't be me you're serving detention with, either, you'll be meeting Filch. Good day, Potter."

"Good day." Hooch walked away. "Let's go," he said to Ginny, Ron and Hermione. They made their way to the Gryffindor common room without any other word.

***

He won! He actually won! So what if it was because Potter jumped or whatever off his broom? He won! It was the first time Slytherin had ever won against Gryffindor in six years (when Potter was their Seeker), it called for some kind of celebration.

So there he was, in the Slytherin common room, still nearly two hours later, celebrating. Well, everyone else was having a great time and socializing. Draco was sitting by himself, sitting in the corner away from anyone, thinking about --you guessed it-- Potter.

Why did Harry jump off his broom like that? Why was Harry acting so strange before it happened? And why the hell does all this bother Draco so much? Draco already knew the answer to one of these questions; he cared about Harry... a little. Something happened to Harry today; people just don't randomly fall off brooms.

He was determined to ask Harry when they had detention.

***

Harry walked out to the Quidditch pitch in the pouring, freezing, rain. He was wearing gloves and his cloak, but they didn't do too much when wet. Harry was absolutely soaked. He wondered if they were still going to have to clean the Quidditch pitch in this weather.

When he reached the pitch, Draco was already there. He, for some reason did not wear his cloak. He was ten times as sobbing wet as Harry, his blond hair plastered to the sides of his face, his arms folding and his body shivering. He was clearly regretting not bringing his cloak.

"Malfoy," Harry greeted, making his voice a little louder, so Draco could hear it over the rain. Draco nodded. Harry guessed this was because Draco was probably too cold to do or say anything. Now wasn't time to talk, anyway.

They stood there, waiting for Filch for ten minutes. When the rain slowed down, Filch finally came. He was certainly late, but Harry wouldn't dare to say anything about it. Filch mumbled something about what Dumbledore puts him through these days, and said to Draco and Harry, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"We were waiting for you," was the first thing out of Draco's mouth all night.

"Well, all you need is over there.. I'll be checking this place in the morning, so it better get cleaned. And I'll be checking on you two every hour until midnight. So don't go thinking that you're going off anywhere."

"Yes sir," Harry said. And just like that, Filch was gone.

***

The rain had slowed down a great deal, but Draco was still cold. He didn't know what had possessed him to wear nothing but his regular school robes. Harry and Draco spent the first half an hour of their detention silent. Mostly, because it was too much work to speak over the rain. Now it wasn't.

"So, Potter," Malfoy said, "What happened to you today? Why'd you throw the game like that?"

Harry almost looked offended. "I didn't throw the game, Malfoy. I don't know what happened, really."

"If you insist..."

"About the book." This got Draco's attention immediately. "I got it."

"You did?" Draco asked, while trying to keep the excitement in his voice to a minimum. Though, honestly, Draco didn't know what he wanted the potion for now. Forgetting the night spent with Harry seemed to become less and less important to Draco as time went on. But if given the chance, he was going to get rid of the memory anyway.

"Yeah, I did," Harry replied calmly, "but I want to know why you want it in the first place." Draco considered telling Harry the full truth, then he figured that not saying anything at all might be the safer route. "Well?" Harry demanded.

"I have my reasons, Potter."

"Besides, I doubt it'll work. I've looked over the ingredients and directions. It's maybe one of the most easy Potions I've do--read." Even in this lighting, Draco could see Harry's cheeks redden just a little. "I mean, I had all the ingredients on the list. I don't think it's worth it, Malfoy."

"I want the book anyway, Potter." Draco picked up a crumbled, soaking-wet, piece of paper off the floor and shoved it in the garbage bag.

"Well, it's up in my dorm. Maybe I'll give you it tomorrow."

Draco glared. "Maybe?"

"Yes, maybe."

Draco had no choice but to go along with it. "Fine."

They worked their way through the seating boxes until they reached the stairway to the teacher's box. There was a sign hanging from a chain that was linked to each banister, blocking the stairwell that said, "Do Not Enter."

"Do not enter, eh?" Draco said, grinning, "Don't mind if I do." He unlinked the chain from one banister and cleared the way, inviting Harry with him.

"Oh... I don't know..."

Draco arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Scared, Potter?"

Harry laughed softly, walking on to the steps, and then said, "You wish."

"Good, good." Draco put the chain back the way it was and headed up to the platform. "So, why do you reckon they have this area closed down, anyway?" he asked when they reached the top step.

"I don't know," replied Harry. Harry looked around; he's never been here before. The rain made the floor very slippery to walk on. It wasn't raining as hard as it was a while ago; it was barely drizzling. Harry looked to the front of the box, where there was just tapestry, supported by nothing, covering a gap between the wood the box was originally built out of. "That could be a reason why it's closed." He pointed to it.

"But why? Can't they just fix that with a simple spell?" The two walked up to the edge get a closer look.

Harry shrugged. "I guess." He looked over the side. "Long way down." Draco didn't look. He looked at Harry instead and sighed. Harry turned around, his back to the tapestry and looked up at Draco. "What is it?"

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"No, it's something. Tell me."

"It's nothing, Potter."

Harry gave Draco a disbelieving look. And there they were again, looking at each other. "It's just..." Draco started. He inched his way to Harry. "It's just," he repeated breathlessly. Then Draco did it, he kissed Harry. And Harry was kissing back. It was magic. Just... magic. Draco wondered why he didn't say anything before. He wanted to tell Harry how he really felt and tell him everything... He broke loss again, brushing his lips gently against Harry's. "It's just I...." He brought up his hand to rest on Harry's cheek and kissed him again.

Only this time, Harry must have gone to step back, because he slipped back from Draco's reach and Draco was no longer kissing hair, or touching his cheek. It was air.

Harry had fallen over the edge.

***

Draco had never ran so fast in his entire lifetime. He bolted down those stairs and through the student's seating... Down those stairs and ran across the pitch where Harry was. Anything happened to him, it's all your fault, all your fault, that's all Draco was able to tell himself.

It was like a nightmare-come-true when he saw Harry sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. He ran up to his side and kneeled over him. "Harry?" His voice cracked. "Harry? Oh God don't do this... Don't do this to me!" He was on the verge of losing it. He took Harry in his arms and shook him gently, trying to wake him up.

No response. He tried again. Nothing.

It began to snow now, a mixture of snow and rain. The flakes landed in Harry's hair, giving him and even... More-dead look. Then a tear, an actual, real, genuine tear, rolled down Draco's cheek. "Come on Harry, speak to me, say something." Harry moved... No, he didn't just move... He was regaining consciousness. "Oh thank you God." A wave of relief rushed over Draco.

Harry opened his eyes and looked up at Draco, who was smiling down on him. Harry furrowed his brow, and looked at Draco intensely. "Who are you?"

And Draco's smile slowly faded away.