Together Alone

Draco wasn't usually one for sneaking out at midnight; he preferred to send other people out for him. However, tonight he opted to go himself -- to make sure it was done right.

Earlier in the day, the entire Potion's class began their Sneezing Potions, a three-day process that had only just begun that afternoon. Draco had entered the classroom, ready for another easy day with Professor Snape when he happened to walk by Potter and Weasley's table. He couldn't help it, really, when he overheard the two talking about none other than himself.

"He looks like a ferret even now," Weasley had whispered, barely concealing his sniggers.

"A blonde ferret," Another Gryffindor Draco didn't recognize added, "who thinks he´s better than everybody else."

Weasley and the other boy snickered again as Draco walked by, a scathing remark on the tip of his tongue. However, just as he was about to let the abuse fly, Professor Snape walked in and demanded that every one take their seats.

Draco knew he couldn't let Weasley get away with making such stupid comments. He did have a reputation, he told himself. So, being denied the chance to do anything about it earlier, he decided to take up the opportunity he had to do it tonight.

Sneaking into the classroom was more than easy, it was just a corridor away from his common room and Professor Snape rarely locked it (under the assumption no one in the right mind would enter the room voluntarily.)

He was partially right. Draco wouldn't have gone in unless it was something of dire importance, such as this was. Besides, he had figured to himself, being a prefect gave him the right to go where he pleased.

It was easy to tell which cauldron lined against the far wall was Weasley's. Naturally it was the shabbiest looking one, appearing to have been fixed up with quite a few Repairo charms in its day. Grabbing the first jar he came to as he walked by the mysteriously packed shelves, Draco headed straight for his target.

He grimaced, eyeing the sickly looking green substance he was holding in the jar. With a shrug, he delicately unscrewed the jar's wooden lid, and emptied all of its contents into the half-full cauldron in front of him, smiling as the perfectly clear liquid turned a putrid shade of brown.

Satisfied with himself, he simply took the jar with him as he exited the room, making his way back into the dank corridors of the dungeons. However, before he turned the corner, something caught his eye; a soft light was flickering from beneath the door of an empty room on the other side of the hall.

Although he hadn't come this way during the night in quite some time, he was positive that room was empty during the day and nearly as sure that it stayed empty during the night. His curiosity piqued, he headed away from his common room to the other side of the hall.

Not wanting to be too risky, he pressed his ear against the surface of the door, straining to hear anything that might come from inside. Nothing. He put his hand on the tarnished brass of the doorknob, anticipating what he might find when he opened the door.

He seemed to remember the way the room looked on the inside from exploring around during his first year at Hogwarts -- it was a small room, completely empty with a large window that spanned nearly the entire far wall. The window was made of thick glass as the room was below the ground, right on the edge of the lake. The water went higher than the top of the window, and although Draco had only been in it once or twice and never saw anything in the murky water ( he didn´t stay long, finding an empty room to be rather boring), he always imagined that if one waited long enough, they'd be witness to something swimming in it.

Clutching the glass jar in one hand, his fingers tightened around the door knob as he gave it a turn and gently pushed the door open, thankful that it gave not a single creak as he pressed his weight against it.

Rather than burst in, Draco opted to stick his head through the crack he had made.

At first, he could see nothing but the expanse of pale moonlit water on the other side of the glass. It transfixed him, yet made him uneasy, and it was only after a few moments that he realized he was simply staring out the window, and not accomplishing his task of finding out just who was in the room.

Then Draco saw him. Next to a flickering candle (the source of the dancing light Draco had seen streaming out from beneath the door) sat Potter. Totally unaware of anyone watching him, he sat with his chin on his knees, arms wrapped around his legs, back to the door.

Draco smirked and stepped completely into the room. "What have we got here?" he asked, his fingers lightly drumming the glass jar he held in his hands.

Harry gasped and jumped to his feet, spinning around to face Draco. "M-Malfoy?" He asked, his eyes wildly searching the room for any other intruders.

"None other," Draco replied.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked, crossing his arms over his chest, trying not to act too un-nerved at the sudden presence of Malfoy in -- what he thought was -- his personal thinking space.

Draco smirked. "The real question is, what would Professor Snape want to do if he knew you were down here at this hour...Don't you think?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "You're here too, Malfoy. Forget that?"

"I," Draco began, sounding remarkably like Percy Weasley, "Am a prefect. I'm out of my room on prefect business. Something you wouldn't know anything about, Potter." This of course, wasn't true, but Potter didn't have to know. It sounded convincing enough.

"You wouldn't tell..."

"Oh, wouldn't I?" Draco sarcastically replied, turning around as if to walk back out the door.

Harry jumped forward and grabbed Draco's arm, however, before he had a chance to exit. "Wait!" He cried, causing Draco to stop in his tracks and turn around.

Jerking his arm from Harry's grasp, Draco couldn't help but grin. "Yes, Potter?"

Slightly nervous, Harry stared at the other boy, speaking quietly, "Don't tell, Malfoy. Don't." Harry had only a few hours every night to himself, alone...away from the world and all his conflicts. He knew they'd be gone in a second -- as well as a hefty amount of house points -- if Malfoy let his secret out.

"And what would I get if I didn't?" Draco asked, one hand on his hip.

Defeated, Harry faced the ground and sighed, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

A thousand things raced through Draco's mind; Public humiliation, the torment of Potter's friends, somebody to do his homework, a scapegoat for whatever he wanted to do, going and telling Snape Potter was here, anyway.

Which to pick? He wanted them all...

"Everything you can give me."

* * *

And that was where it began. After a little negotiation, that is. Harry wasn't willing to give up his freedom for the rest of his years at Hogwarts, and Draco wasn't satisfied with a week's service. The two agreed on a month.

At the beginning, Harry was slightly fearful he was going to be subjected to following Malfoy around the school, doing favors and tasks at his ever beck and call. However, even though the thought had passed through Draco's mind, he decided against it -- Not wanting to have to answer any questions about his relationship with Potter.

Things started out as to be expected; Harry did twice as much homework, polished twice as many brooms (although luckily, Quidditch season was over. Harry doubted he could've brought himself to forfeit any games for Malfoy's sake), made frequent midnight trips to the kitchen and back to the outskirts of the Slytherin common room, and even once picked up Draco's quills that he dropped outside of Potions -- however, nobody but Crabbe and Goyle noticed.

So things remained basically behind closed doors. The door of the room where Draco had first found Harry, to be exact. In the evenings they would meet, for Harry to give Draco his homework and find out his next assignments, for Harry to explain previous days´ lessons to Draco, or to enjoy the fruits of a late night kitchen raid.

After handing Draco all that he requested, they exchanged pleasantries and snacked together for a few minutes. The conversation was always light, about school projects, teachers, or other students, nothing that really mattered. To each of their surprise, they got along rather well during these times, and both quite came to enjoy themselves.

The first few days, after Harry handed Draco the rolls of parchment he had completed, Draco left Harry to his own business, sitting once again and staring out the window into the lake. Although Malfoy wondered what it was Harry thought about while he sat there, he never bothered to ask. Opting instead to take his fill of snacks from the kitchen and go collapse into bed in the common room.

About a week into things, one night after Draco had finished a chocolate muffin Harry had brought him, he picked up his parchments and newly polished broom and began to head out the door. But before he turned the handle, he turned to look at Potter.

Harry always took up the same position after the two were done with business. As Draco gathered his things, Harry would turn to the window and sit quietly, for how long, Draco never knew.

However, this night, Draco set his things down by the door and walked over to Potter, who turned and gave him a quizzical look.

"Isn't everything there?" Harry asked, glancing to the pile of parchments and books next to the door.

Draco didn't answer, instead he looked right at Harry and bluntly asked, "What do you think about?"

"What...?" Harry asked, obviously confused.

"In here," Draco spoke up again. "When you sit in here at night...what are you thinking about?" He crossed his arms over his chest, as if Harry should've known what he was referring to.

"Oh," Harry blushed slightly and shrugged his shoulders, looking back out the window. "Nothing, really. Just...everything, I guess."

"Well which is it? Nothing or everything?"

Harry shrugged again, pulling his knees to his chest as he spoke, "I don't know."

"Okay," Draco ended the conversation with that, realizing he wasn't going to get an answer from Harry. He picked up his things and left, dwelling over the conversation on his way back to his room.

Although he thought it odd that Draco asked, Harry didn't think much else of it, falling back into his personal thoughts of friends, family, and future as he did every night.

* * *

The next evening, as Harry turned away from Draco to face the window, Draco had an idea. He placed his unopened packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor beans he had Harry buy him from Honeyduke's on top of his Astronomy homework in the corner of the room, then, he slowly walked over to where Harry was sitting, and plopped down right beside him. As Harry looked over, he drew his knees to his chest, mimicking the other boy.

Harry couldn't help but have the ghost of a smile at the sight of Malfoy next to him in such an undignified position, with his newly filed nails tapping on his elbows.

"Something funny?" Draco asked, turning his head with slight restriction due to the fact his chin was placed firmly on his knees, this also made him sound odd as he spoke with his jaw clenched.

"Just you," Harry replied, after he too, placed his chin onto his knees and clenched his jaw, copying his counterpart.

Draco lifted his head. "Glad I humor you, then," He stated before averting his eyes to the dark water out the window.

Harry turned his attention to the window as well as he spoke, "Me, too."

The next few hours passed in comfortable silence. At what must've been 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, Harry got up, nodded to Malfoy with a quiet 'G'night' and headed back to his common room. Not particularly wanting to be alone in the dank room, Draco followed suit and went to his own bed, feeling oddly alone.

* * *

That quickly became habit. Harry never asked why Draco wanted to sit there with him, but he was inwardly comfortable with his presence and enjoyed the silent company. Draco never bothered to tell Harry why he liked sitting with him, feeling slightly foolish about the fact he enjoyed Potter's company and felt relaxed and calm when sitting there, thinking about himself and life in general.

One night, two days before the month was up, the couple stayed later than usual. The two were sitting back-to-back, leaning against one another when sleep overcame them. And that's how they stayed, all night.

In the morning, Harry awoke first, squinting at the sunlight that was spilling through the window as he tried to figure out where he was. When he realized, he gasped and leaned back a bit, feeling the weight of Malfoy leaning against him. Draco muttered something under his breath as he was moved.

"Draco," Harry whispered, leaning back again to try to rouse the other boy.

"Mmm...what?" Draco asked, popping open an eye to stare around the room. "Where am...Oh God," he said with a sigh, leaning his head back to rest on Harry's shoulder. "We're still here."

"I know," Harry, said dryly, following the other boys' lead to lay his head back on Draco's shoulder. "What now," he asked, looking at Draco out of the corner of his eye.

Draco let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Let's just stay here," he mumbled.

Malfoy's voice vibrated in Harry's head, as his ear was now pressed to the other boys' throat. It was surprisingly soothing. This made Draco's idea even more tempting, that coupled with the fact that the room had become quite cold and Malfoy´s body heat was becoming much needed.

"Can't..." Harry muttered, removing his glasses to gently rub the bridge of his nose. "We've classes."

Draco muttered something about it being the weekend before telling Harry to 'shut up now.' He then scooted forward on the floor, and lay down on his back. Harry had to steady himself with his hand, for when Draco moved, he nearly fell backward. Slipping his glasses back on, he looked at the lithe figure lying beside him, already apparently in the throws of slumber.

Without bothering to think about the fact that his friends would probably be wondering where he was, Harry lied down on his stomach, right up against Draco; his arm flopped over Malfoy's softly rising and falling chest. Then, he fell sound asleep.

* * *

Draco didn't know how long they'd been there. He didn't even know how long he'd stayed awake, staring silently at the boy next to him, who remained quietly asleep, curled up in a ball on his side. All he knew was he was perfectly content to stay where he lay, absentmindedly snacking on a cauldron cake he had stashed in his cloak pocket.

Unfortunately, the rustling of the wrapper awoke Harry who straightened himself out and looked over at Malfoy.

"Is it tea time already?" Harry asked, moving to sit up.

"I dunno," Draco replied, opting to remain lying on his back, snacking on his cake.

Without asking, Harry reached over and snatched the cake from Draco's hand. "Thanks," he said with a grin at Malfoy's glare before shoving the rest of the treat into his mouth.

Draco then stood and lifted his arms above his head, stretching. He made a funny little noise as he did so, causing Harry to laugh, but fortunately he didn't notice. He then walked over to the black velvet sack that was lying on top of his Arithmancy text.

"What did you bring last night?" He asked, picking it up to carry it back over to Harry. "I think I'm starving."

"Apples," Harry began, counting on his fingers, "peppermint sticks, toffees, Ice Mice that I saved from Honeyduke's, and a flask of pumpkin juice."

Sitting down beside Harry, Draco opened the sack and dumped out its contents, which piled up quite nicely in front of the two boys. There seemed to be much more there than the sack could've possibly held.

Draco picked up a toffee and unwrapped it. "I bet there's enough in here to last us another night," he stated, halfway to himself.

As he picked up a peppermint stick, Harry looked at Draco.

Malfoy noticed the look and waved his hand. "If we were to stay in here, that is. I mean -- I don't see why we would. But we could." Then he shoved the toffee into his mouth.

With a nod, Harry stuck the end of the peppermint stick in his mouth, letting it dangle between his lips as he spoke, "Well...I mean, if there's nothing better to do. There's no trip to Hogsmeade today anyway, is there?"

"Don' fink tho," With a mouth full of toffee Draco answered.

"Well then," Harry said, reaching into his pocket. "How about a game of Exploding Snap?"

* * *

And that's how the duration of the day went. Snacks, chatter (in which Harry revealed more than he had intended to about his upbringing, and Draco confessed to hating all of his "friends"), Exploding Snap, and even a lesson on charms and spells in which Draco shared some of his more sinister favorites with the rather shocked yet bemused Harry.

Although neither of them knew what time it was exactly, they knew the day was over by looking through the window. The water no longer reflected on the walls of the room, aided by sunlight, instead it fell dark again and the couple relied on candles floating about the space as they always did at night.

The duo lay sprawled out on the floor, side by side, their hands groping within the same bag of Ice Mice that was placed between them.

Harry turned his head to look at Draco, who was chewing intently on a tail, staring into space. "I can't believe we spent the whole day in here."

Draco didn't seem nearly as impressed. He gave a light shrug and swallowed his mouthful.

"I suppose I should be heading back soon," Harry thought aloud, turning his head to look back up at the ceiling.

Malfoy rolled onto his side, propping an elbow onto the stone floor, laying his head in an upturned palm as he looked at Harry. "You've made a mess," he stated blandly.

Confused, Harry looked back at the other boy. "Huh?"

Without another word, Draco reached out and gently pressed his index fingertip to Harry's upper lip, gliding it slowly along its length. He then held his now chocolate tainted finger in front of Harry's glasses. "See?" he said, before bringing his hand back to place his fingertip inside his own mouth, gingerly sucking the chocolate from his finger.

Harry could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he stared at Draco, whose glistening finger was still perched in the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks..." he muttered once he had found his voice.

"My pleasure," Draco said, returning to his position of arms folded behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

The couple lay in silence for a few minutes, Draco unaware that he was being stared at intently the entire time.

Harry then took a deep breath and sat up, turning to the boy beside him. Without warning, he leaned forward and swiftly planted his lips on Malfoy's, pulling up after a brief second to say, "I should go now," in a breathless voice.

Draco, obviously in shock, blinked up at the pair of green eyes staring down at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but found that words had escaped him.

Not wanting to delay, Harry quickly jumped to his feet and headed out the door, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest the entire time.

Once Draco heard the door slam behind him, he was snapped out of his daze. Immediately he jumped to his feet and stared at the door, swallowing hard. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the quiet room and this unnerved him somewhat. He also felt slightly strange...heated in a way he had never felt before. His pale hands rose to his cheeks and found that they were literally burning...For the first time in his life Draco Malfoy was blushing. And he was more than thankful nobody else was around to see it.

* * *

The next morning, after much badgering and interrogation by Hermione and Ron, Harry finally managed to convince them that he was absolutely fine, that he had spent the previous day in the Infirmary with a bad stomach ache, and that he couldn't let Ron and Hermione visit him because, well, 'you know how Madam Pomfrey is.'

Although Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry's reason, Ron accepted it without question and quickly took Harry from the common room to Sunday breakfast.

While in the Great Hall, Harry tried to discretely look across the tables to see if he could spot Malfoy. Unbeknownst to him, however, Draco had decided to spend the day in his common room, refusing to answer any questions anybody happened to ask him. He remained in his bed nearly the entire day, routinely throwing his pillow against the wall in frustration.

Harry spent his day with Ron and Hermione out on the school grounds. They visited Hagrid, spending some time helping him give Fang a bath. They also had some lunch out by the edge of the lake, where it seemed most of the school had congregated for the Sunday afternoon. Although Harry enjoyed himself, he spent nearly every other minute trying to spot Malfoy in the crowd, to absolutely no end. Slightly upset though he was, he figured he would see Malfoy again that night in their "meeting room."

He counted down the hours until that night, when the members of his dorm room had finally fallen asleep. As he had done every night for the past month, Harry then slipped out of bed and headed out of the common room, practically running to the room on the other side of the castle.

He made a quick stop by the kitchen, picking up a couple of pastries Dobby insisted on giving him, before he got to the room. As he stepped inside, he wasn't surprised not to see Draco there; Harry was usually the first one to arrive. He walked over to the window and sat down, setting the chocolate pastries beside him. And there he waited.

He waited for what seemed like a long time, although, he told himself, it was probably just nerves. Finally, he heard the sound of the door opening. He rose to his feet, picking up the plate with the pastries as he did so, turning to face the door.

When it opened, Draco was standing there, as calm and composed as ever. His blonde hair almost glowing in the shadows of the hall behind him. He looked slightly dejected and Harry furrowed his brow as Malfoy's eyes lowered to the floor.

"It's been a month," he said, raising his head to meet eyes with Harry. "Time's up."

And with that he turned on his heel and walked out of Harry's sight. The door creaked before shutting lightly behind him.

Harry stood rooted to the spot, trying to take in what Draco had just told him. He stared blankly at the cakes in his hand before a wave of rage overtook him and he threw the plate at the far wall, satisfied at the sound the glass made when it broke. He then fell back into a sitting position, hugging his knees to his chest as he used all his energy to try not to cry.

* * *

The next day Draco and Harry virtually ignored each other. No formalities, but also no scathing remarks

or bitter quips. Hermione found it odd that Draco was so quiet, as Harry and he had kept up appearances during the previous month and continued to shoot sarcastic comments in each other's direction. But Harry convinced her it wasn't that important and the subject wasn't brought up again.

That night, Harry made his way to the room empty-handed. He felt odd not carrying anything. No clean brooms, no homework, snacks, or games to play. He shoved the thought out of his mind as he entered the room. Taking a deep breath he walked to the window and sat down in front of it, his legs crossed with elbows perched on his knees, his chin cupped in the upturned palms of his hands. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, getting ready for a long night of silent contemplation.

Time passed. Harry knew it was getting late, but he didn't care. Wrapping his cloak tighter around his shoulders, he fell to his side and his glasses slipped off, falling to the floor beside him. He didn't bother to pick them up; instead he closed his eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep, lying there on the stone floor.

Harry didn't move an inch when the door opened, nor open an eye as footsteps headed toward him. Surprisingly, to Draco at least, he didn't even wake up when a body pressed up behind him and an arm draped heavily over his chest, pulling him back. It wasn't until Draco's breath fell lightly on the back of his neck that Harry stirred.

Draco kept an arm around the other boy, lifting his head to look at Harry's face as he awoke. Harry yawned and rubbed an eye, blinking as he felt the pressure of another person next to him. With glasses off, he couldn't see much, but as he turned his head back he caught a fuzzy blonde shape and he immediately knew who it was. All at once, it seemed, he could feel Draco next to him. His lithe arm draped over his ribs, his chest pressed against Harry's back, the rhythm of his heartbeat.

"Draco..?" he asked rather quietly, still not sure if he was completely conscious. It felt real, but he couldn´t wrap his mind around the fact Draco was actually there with him, after being so cruel the previous day.

Malfoy's voice whispered into Harry's ear, "Shhh, go to sleep."

Harry felt the ghost of a kiss on his lips, before he felt the sensation of Draco's fingertips lightly touching his cheek. Harry breathed deep and put his head back down, closing his eyes once again, feeling quite content and secure within Draco's arms.

" 'Night..." he mumbled, on the verge of sleep. He waited for a reply, but was asleep before he got one.

* * *

Harry's aching shoulders woke him. He groaned and sat up, squinting to try and look around the room. Then, he pawed the floor until his hands reached the rim of his glasses, which were immediately slipped on. Harry was dismayed to see that the water was beginning to pick up light, a sign of the morning approaching. However, as soon as this thought registered in his mind, the events of the night came rushing back to him.

Immediately, he jerked around, looking to the spot where he was sure Malfoy had been.

Nothing there.

A frown formed on Harry's face as he ran a hand through his already tousled hair.

"I knew it..." he sighed, as a pang of disappointment suddenly hit him. "Some dream, Harry," he told himself, slightly angry at having believed such a fantasy.

Shaking his head, he gathered his cloak around him and left the room. He made it to his bed before anybody noticed he had left. He even managed to catch another hour or two of sleep before Ron was yelling at him to get up for breakfast.

Memories from the night before kept swimming in Harry's mind, and as he sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, he caught sight of Malfoy sitting across the Hall with his friends. He looked Harry's way and for a brief moment, Harry thought he saw the flicker of a smile on Draco's face.

Momentarily, however, he realized it was a sneer, and Draco was laughing with Crabbe and Goyle. All three had focused their attention on Millicent Bulstrode who was sitting beside them.

* * *

That afternoon, students in Potions class received their grades for the month. Ron, who was quite dismayed, barely made it above failing due to his disastrous Sneezing Potion from weeks before. He never could figure out what went wrong. Harry managed a fair score, while Hermione triumphed over them all with a much-expected top mark.

As the students emptied the classroom, the strap on Harry's bookbag suddenly snapped and all its contents spilled to the floor. Harry cursed under his breath and waved his friends along without him as he knelt down to pick up his books and parchments.

Harry thought he was alone in the room, so when a pale hand holding his Defense Against the Dark Arts book appeared in his line of vision he was more than startled. Slowly, he lifted his head and met eyes with Malfoy, who was standing above him, holding out the book.

"I think you dropped this," he said blandly.

"Oh, yeah..." Harry said, slightly shaken as he took the book from Draco and rose to his feet, struggling to hold all his books in his arms. He stared at the other boy, unsure of what to do or say.

Malfoy seemed to be just as uncomfortable as he picked up a piece of parchment from Harry's desk. An essay he had written weeks earlier that had still been in his bag. "100%" it read on the top, a perfect score. Draco held it in his hand and glanced it over, before placing it on top of the pile of books Harry was grasping onto.

"Good job," Malfoy said with a nod, before he turned around and quietly left Harry alone in the room.

Looking back years later, Harry realized that was the last nice thing Draco ever told him.