I Understand

THOUGHTS

By the time Harry walked from the classroom, both Snape and Draco had disappeared. It had taken longer to get his emotions under control than he had thought it would. Starting off towards the Gryffindor House, he only got a few steps before stopping. With a muffled curse he turned around, going back the way he had come.

As he made his was to the Slytherin House, Harry wondered just what the hell he was doing. Just making sure he gets there safely, he told himself. Like you would pass up a chance to watch him unobserved his voice in his head said mockingly.

SHUT UP!

Harry could hear the laughter. Stupid voice. Go away.

He caught up to the Slytherin just before he got to the door to their common room. Harry was surprised when the blond walked past the door to another smaller portrait further down the corridor. He hurried to get closer to hear the password to this new unexplored place, one which was not on the Marauder's Map. Did he have his own rooms? And if so why? He wasn't a prefect or the head boy.

Harry came to a stop right behind Draco and was surprised to see the person in the portrait was none other than Lucius Malfoy. Voldemort's second-in-command, a Governor of this school, and Draco's father. Wonder how much this privilege cost him? Harry thought to himself.

It was not surprising that the man in the portrait looked coldly at his son and said in a voice that could freeze ice, "Password." Draco snickered, yes he snickered, and said, "Potter." The man in the portrait glared at his son for a few seconds before the door opened. Harry stood there in shock. His name! Draco used his name as his secret password.

What?

How? Of course! It makes perfect sense. Dead scary thought but it does make perfect sense.

Who would think that the Slytherin Prince would have the name of his enemy, the Gryffindor Golden Boy, as his password? It was ingenious! Harry would have laughed out loud if he had been able too. As it was he was so caught up in his mirth that he almost forgot why he was here.

Grabbing the portrait before it fully closed, Harry stepped in right after Draco, following him down the hallway. He did not follow him into the room but caught a glimpse inside when Draco opened the door. It had to be the seventh boys' room because it looked exactly like the room he shared with Ron, Dean, and Neville.

He has a secret way in. Makes sense considering what he had found out tonight. Harry left and headed back to his room. He was suddenly very tired.

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Saturday was a day for relaxation. Too bad Harry couldn't relax. When the others had tried to drag him to breakfast he had refused. For some reason he was not at all hungry. When they had finally left he sighed and stretched out on his bed. His brain was trying to muddle thru everything that he had heard last night. So much of what had happened made sense now.

Like the time in Potions a few weeks ago, Harry could have sworn he felt someone staring at him. But as soon as he turned around to see who it was no one was even looking his way. The time he had caught someone looking it had been Draco. Draco glared at him and then glanced away but Harry was sure that he had seen the boy blush. He had caught him staring two more times before class was over. He had lost a total of 10 points that day from Snape for not paying attention.

And there was the time in Care of Magical Creatures when Hagrid had brought in some blast ended skewerts. How he had managed to convince Dumbledore to let Hagrid bring those things back was beyond him. The day had been overcast but it had not started raining yet. As the class listened to Hagrid, who had one of the creatures on a leash out of its pen, a great bolt of lightening hit somewhere in the Forbidden Forest.

The Blast-Ended Skrewt, being a somewhat electrical creature, took it personally. It knocked Hagrid over and when the half-giant hit the ground the leash was torn from his grasp. The frightened creature then started to run straight for the Trio who had rushed to help Hagrid. Harry had pushed Hermione out of the way of the charging beast and had turned to run when the thing was on him. knocking him to the ground.

Before it could do any injury to the fallen boy, he had felt the weight leave his back and turning he saw the creature floating above him still growling and fighting to reach him. Harry had scrambled out from under the floating creature and turned to thank Hermione whom, he was sure, had to be the one who had saved him. Imagine his surprise when his savior turned out to be Malfoy. Malfoy had saved his life. Everyone was staring in shock at him but all he did was put away his wand and sneered at Harry.

"Slipping Potter?" was his only comment before he turned to head back to the castle.

Then there were the rumors. Rumors that he secretly hoped were true. He knew that Draco had taken a lot of flack from his fellow Slytherins for saving the Boy Who Lived. He was amused when Draco's explanation finally made its way back to him. And why should I have Potters blood all over me. It might ruined my expensive new robes. Besides I will be the one to take Potter out, not some scaly beast. He had laughed for days when he heard that. He was sure that only a few people caught Draco's reference to Voldermort. As a matter of fact, that was when Harry started to suspect that Draco was not who he seemed.

His favorite rumor had to be the one that the Slytherin had been asking questions about him. And not just any questions but personal questions. Why would Draco want to know what kind of shampoo I use or why are all my clothes two sizes too big?

The one that made him laugh the most was a rumor that the blond Slytherin had a thing for the dark haired Gryffindor. Funny huh? Wasn't it?

"ARG!" Harry snarled. Not wanting to stay indoors any longer Harry grabbed his Firebolt and left the room. Flying will help him sort everything out. Harry loved to fly, it was the only place he really felt in control.

As he got to the Quidditch field the Hufflepuffs were leaving. Their team had not won a match against Gryffindor since Harry's arrival. Ignoring the dirty looks from the other students Harry mounted his broom and flew as high up as he could stand. The air was this here and it was bitterly cold, but it helped to clear his head.

Something had made Draco change. He no longer fought with Harry, actually he no longer fought with anyone very much anymore. It was weird. He never instigated any argument and he always walked away when Harry tried to get a rise out of him. Even Ron had admitted that Malfoy was acting like a decent person.

Hermione had had a calculating look in her eye for a few weeks now and whenever Harry mentioned the way Draco had changed she would just look at him closely. She never said a word though. He finally quit talking about it for fear that Hermione, his frien, and the smartest kid in the school, would find out his deepest secret.

Noting that the sun had gone down, he was surprised by how late it had gotten. Deciding that he still wasn't hungry, he headed for his room. He was going to take a shower and then study some before going back to sleep.