Mind Meld

Harry made his way to the Tower, his injuries now a light throb thanks to Draco’s healing. He couldn’t help but wonder where Draco learned the healing spells that he had employed.

A thought started to whirl in his head; a way to help Draco achieve his dreams of becoming a healer and keep the training a secret. Harry crept into his bed and lay quietly his mind spinning. There were too many thoughts about what was going on for Harry to sleep.

He felt the doubts creeping in about whether he should have trusted the Potions Master or not. He could feel a cold chill as he thought about trusting not only his own life to the dark and potentially dangerous man, but that of his…bond-mate? He felt a slight shudder go through him at that implications of that thought.

His mind drifted to the shared kisses. He didn’t know what to think about that particular incident. It was comfort. It was soothing. It was…love. But Harry didn’t feel in love.

He thought about the kisses that he had received from Draco and the kisses that he had received from Cho, and other females. They couldn’t be compared. The ones from Draco were comfortable. They weren’t intended to incite lust, or passion, only to soothe. They eased the ache of losing Harry’s first friend.

That thought brought up a whole new set of pain and confusion. Who would have betrayed the half-giant; the selfless man who would have died to protect any of the children that he guarded? He was in fact, the man who did die to protect the world that had never treated him with anything but contempt. They had called him many things. The fear of the giants bleeding over, accusing him of being capable of mass destruction born of rage, lack of intelligence and blood that could resist most spells. The only thing that Hagrid was capable of harming was anyone that dared to threaten those that were under his protection. Of course, there was also the danger from those beasts that he had such a fondness for, claiming them to be “misunderstood” creatures.

Harry felt the ache in his chest again. His eyes burned with unshed tears. He wished that he could cry, but the tears still failed to come.

Suddenly, Harry felt the stroke of a hand running through his hair. He smiled slightly and heard Draco, “Sleep Potter. You need the rest.”

Harry nuzzled his cheek into his pillow. Briefly, he wished Draco were there, his comforting warmth, his gentle touch, but mostly, he wanted the way Draco just seemed to know what Harry needed without being told. Hermione and Ron meant well, but they just seemed to make things worse. They constantly asked him how he was doing, telling him it was okay to cry, Hermione kept telling him he needed to cry. Ron kept trying to make jokes, lighten Harry’s spirits. But Draco, he just reassured Harry, and held him quietly. Listened to him when Harry wanted to talk, sat silently when he didn’t want to talk.

The gentle stroking continued, eventually lulling Harry into sleep. Just as he drifted into Morpheus’ embrace, he felt a soft brush of lips across his forehead and he smiled slightly.

The remainder of the week passed without event. Harry found he was unable to visit with Draco due to the constant presence of Hermione and Ron. The two appeared to have taken it upon themselves to keep Harry busy and therefore prevent depression from dragging him down.

The biggest surprise for the week came in Potions class. For the first time in all the time Harry had attended Hogwarts, Professor Snape paired off the class. To everyone’s surprise, except himself and Draco, they were paired together.

As he assigned them together, he snarled, “I do hope you can prevent Potter from doing something idiotic. I would truly dislike spending my Friday evening supervising a detention.”

Harry glared at the surly man as he walked away. He was pulled from his sulk when Draco kicked him.

“Get with it Potter, I’m not failing because of your incompetence,” he snapped. Harry fought back a grin. Harry made his way to the supply cabinet to get the ingredient for the potion they were making. Just as he was about to return to the desk, he heard Draco instruct him to grab one of the Gillypods, the seed pods of Gillyweed.

Harry’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion, but he grabbed the small pod regardless. He tried to remember the ingredients for the potion they were working on but couldn’t recall seeing Gillypod anywhere.

‘Don’t worry about it Harry,’ Draco said to him through their link. ‘I know what I am doing.’

Harry shrugged and returned to the desk. Silently Draco began sorting the ingredients. Harry’s brow furrowed as he watched Draco subtly tuck the Gillypod into his bag.

‘What are you doing with that?’ he asked Draco.

‘Don’t worry about it Harry. I know what I am doing,’ Draco reassured him. ‘You will understand later.’

“Potter, make yourself useful for a change. Slice the shrivelfigs. And do it properly for once,” Draco snarled at him.

Harry rolled his eyes and took the pile of shrivelfigs. Just to be obstinate, he made sure to chop one of them uneven and jagged, but made up for it by cutting more than they required for the potion.

The two bonded worked together silently, the exchange of instruction the only spoken words. As they reached the end of the potion, Harry watched Draco pull the Gillypod from his bag. Under the cover of the table, he cut it into three equal pieces.

‘Turn away for just a moment Harry,’ Draco instructed.

With nothing more than a brief glace of confusion, Harry did as he was told. Seconds later, there was a loud explosion and Harry found himself covered in a thick, hot potion.

He let out a loud yell, of surprise as much as the pain, barely hearing Draco yelling his name in mock anger.

Snape strode over, his face flush with anger. “Potter! You imbecile! Where on Earth do you see to add Gillypod to the potion?”

Harry looked at the Potion Master through a haze of pain. Vaguely, he could hear Draco apologizing through the link, even as he was yelling at him for ruining the potion. Slowly, he felt Draco beginning to react to the potion, and Harry wondered if this was a side-effect of the spell. Like the reaction they had to the headache potions.

Somewhere in his mind, he registered Snape ordering Draco to get both of them into his office where they would discuss the numerous detentions the two boys would be receiving in the foreseeable future.

As soon as Draco shut the door, he quickly stripped the still hot robes from Harry and cast a cooling charm at him.

“Portraits,” Harry muttered.

“Snape doesn’t have any in his office. No pictures, no portraits, nothing that can tell his secrets,” Draco answered lightly.

“I am so sorry Harry,” he said, the reflected pain and the knowledge of the pain that he had caused reflected in his voice.

“The Gillypod was supposed to first neutralize the potion before it exploded. But it doesn’t seem to have completely neutralized,” Draco was explaining, even as he examined the spots where the potion had come into contact with Harry’s skin.

“Quite right Mr. Malfoy,” said Snape from the doorway. “If the Gillypod had been placed in whole, the potion would have been completely neutralized before the explosion; however, since it was cut into pieces, it achieved explosive point much quicker than it could be neutralized.”

“Oh,” said Draco simply, his attention focused on rinsing off the potion that was touching Harry.

“While I appreciate the fact that you understood my hint, I do wish that next time you strive for detention, please do so without destroying my lab,” Snape said, when it appeared that Harry was beginning to revive.

“Wait, you did that on purpose!” he exclaimed as everything he heard began to sink in.

“Feeling better Harry?” ask Draco, still hovering.

“Yes, but um, I may need some more things explained because, well, pain and comprehension seem to be mutually exclusive,” Harry said, feeling the strength returning.

“Although, in your case Harry, Comprehension seems more, optional,” joked Draco.

“Well spoken Mr. Malfoy,” muttered Snape.

“Um, Sir? Did you need us to clean up the lab?” Draco asked.

“That will be quite alright. Miss. Granger is doing the job as we speak. This was done in addition to the loss of 10 points for arguing with me in regards to my treatment of Mr. Potter here. She was of the opinion that Mr. Potter would require a trip to the hospital wing,” he said, a slight question in his tone.

“No sir,” Harry answered, shuddering slightly at how he would be able to talk the dragon-lady of the hospital wing into not forcing a potion down his throat. Something that would be a very bad idea.

“Very well. For the next 3 weeks, you two will have detention with me ever Tuesday and Friday evening, starting at seven. As I suddenly find myself in need of fresh potions ingredients, we will meet at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Do not forget your wands,” he turned and stormed out the room.

Draco gave Harry a quick, last look to make sure he was okay before cleaning off his robes and leaving. Harry allowed himself a small smile before placing a scowl on his face and following after the two Slytherins.