Long, Long Time

Chapter 4

"And I never drew one response from you

All the while you fell all over girls you never knew."

Harry didn't sleep well that night. After he lay down, and closed his eyes, all he could see was Draco in front of him. The blonde had looked surprised, and Harry hadn't ever seen him look that way before. Not even when Draco had learnt that Harry had been made Gryffindor's seeker on behalf of his trying to get Harry in trouble in their first year at Hogwarts.

All he could see was the moonlight shining off his hair, his pale grey eyes shadowed by a mixture of pain and pride. A contrasting play of emotions in the Slytherin's eyes, constantly there though only Harry could see it. But tonight, tonight the pride was gone and it was replaced by pure hurt and shock when Harry had finally lost it and screamed at him.

He almost looked as if he were about to cry.

And that thought struck Harry. hard. Whether or not Draco deserved it, it wasn't what Harry wanted. He didn't want Draco to hurt, he cared for him too much. But he knew that Draco needed to know the truth. And calm discussions were not common amongst them, Harry knew that. The only way to make him see was to finally get him to shut his mouth and listen. And listen he had.

I never wanted you to cry.

If Harry could have seen Draco after, he would know that Draco had finally been defeated.

I only wanted you to know what if felt like. To hurt.

But I went too far. And it hurts too much.

Harry rolled over and knew that he wasn't going to get to sleep. It was no use, he was too worked up. And so he sat up, looked out the window towards the Quidditch pitch, and silently walked to his chest and retrieved his broomstick. The only thing that would relieve him of some of his tension was flying. He always felt better in the air, and maybe if he flew fast enough, his troubles would fall behind.

The night was clear as Harry walked out, and the moon was full. The light cast seemed abnormally bright, and Harry's mind drifted.

I feel less alone.

Draco had told him that during their nght together. And Harry didn't blame him, the light of the moon was often comforting. But tonight, it cast down on him, all alone in the Quidditch field, as if it were pointing a wary finger at him, accusing him, mocking him.

And in that moment, ironically, Harry had never felt more alone in his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco awoke with a start, the dream he had been having was unnerving. In fact, it was enough to scare him.

He couldn't believe it, but it was too real. And he closed his eyes, trying to push the images out of his head...

Harry was flying, flying high in the moonlit night. The moon was so bright, it was almost blinding. All alone Harry soared, and Draco had been a bystander, watching him arc and glide as if gravity was a mere illusion. But something had happened, something Draco couldn't explain, and the gracefulness Harry always claimed while in the air disappeared and Harry began to look slightly weary, then his eyes closed for a split second, and that was all that was needed. Draco watched helplessly as Harry teetered on the Firebolt, and slipped off.

Draco tried to run foward to catch him, but he was being held back. Someone was holding his arms, and he couldn't move. He wanted to close his eyes, but couldn't, and all the while Harry was plunging to the ground, so fast. And Draco braced himself for the impact that he knew could do nothing but kill Harry. It was too high, too high.

Draco had cried out in alarm as Harry hit the grouns, and only then did the strong pair of hands let him go. He ran to Harry and prayed above all odds that he would be alive. And when he reached his side, he flung himself down to his knees and took his Harry's hand, searching for a pulse.

And he found none. And he screamed out for help, and he felt tears sting his eyes, and it was then that he turned and caught sight of the person who had held him back, the person who had prevented him from saving Harry's life.

And as Draco knew that he wouldn't fall back asleep again, he quickly got up and threw on a robe. He left the common room, hoping to retreat back to the Astronomy Tower and and just sit in his favorite spot on the windowsill, watching the moon. As he strode past the Great Hall, however, a beam of light shone through the window near the door and fell upon him.

It was exceedingly bright.

And Draco walked to the door, unsure of where exactly he was going, and went outside. He was drawn to the Quidditch pitch, and it dawned on him when he say Harry Potter, flying through the night. All alone. And the moonlight washed over him as he circled the Pitch.

Without thinking, Draco ran to the Pitch and cried out Harry's name. Alarmed, Harry turned his head and noticed Draco. The moonlight beamed off the blonde's head, and Harry was blinded for a split second. He closed his eyes for a moment to regain his vision.

Draco saw Harry close his eyes and screamed in terror. This was it. This was his dream.

He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, hoping to find that Harry had landed safely on the ground. He gasped when he opened his eyes.

Harry stood in front of him, utter confusion and fear crossed his faced. And then he glared and said, "What was that all about, Malfoy? Were you trying to get me killed?"

Draco blinked and shook his head, "I-I-no-"

"Look," Harry frowned, "I'm sorry I was so hard on you before. But it wasn't like you had to come and scare me to death. Guess that's what I should have expected though, don't get mad, get even. Always a Malfoy."

"No," Draco began, "that's not it."

Harry pushed past him, anger flushing his face red. He stopped when a hand fell on his shoulder. He turned, prepared to see a look of murder on the Slytherin's face and a sharp insult on his tongue.

But wht he saw surprised him. Draco looke...relieved.

"Well, then, what?" Harry asked.

"Nevermind." Draco sneered, relief replaced with a cold sneer.

Harry turned and headed back to the school, followed quietly by Draco. The boys separated at the Great Hall without another word to one another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry was miserably pushing his breakfast around his plate the next morning, wondering what new terror Potions class would bring today. Hermione was chattering on about Animagi, and Ron was stuffing baked beans into his mouth, trying to finish before it was time to head to class.

Harry lifted his head up when Hermione gasped, and saw Ron staring at a point over his shoulder. He turned around and noticed Draco, walking into the Great Hall considerably late. But then he noticed someone else with him.

Pansy Parkinson was looking pretty smug, slowly alowing a smile to spread across her face as she walked hand in hand with Draco Malfoy.

Harry felt his heart plunge into his stomach and nearly choked on the small piece of toast he had finally tried to eat. He saw Draco's gaze flicker over the group of Gryffindor's and land briefly on him before he turned to Pansy and whispered something in her ear. Pansy giggled and they sat down next to each other.

Harry couldn't help overhear the conversation that followed.

"So, 's'bout time you two sgot together." Goyle said between mouthfuls.

"Yeah," agreed Crabbe.

And Harry thought he was going to be sick. Somehow he knew it was Draco's way of telling him that someone did care about him. Draco's way of arguing with Harry's little tantrum last night. He sighed and turned to Hermione, who was looking at him suspiciously. Her eyebrow raised at the expression Harry wore on his face.

Jealousy?

Hermione said to herself.

And in the next instant, Pansy shrieked and said "Do you even remember when I was telling you about that, Draco? Do you ever listen? Sometimes I swear, you don't know me at all."

Draco told her to calm down and that yes, he listened.

Only when I feel like it.

Harry heard this and told Hermione that he was going to grab something that he forgot in the common room before going to Potions. He had to get away. He couldn't take it anymore.

He doesn't even care about her. It's just a front for him.

Harry knew that much. Draco never even had a look of interest on his face when she was near him. She just imagined it.

He doens't care about you, either.

Harry swallowed the bitter truth like a pill too big to be swallowed. And he went up to his dormitory.