Dragon He Saved

By the time Draco awoke again, afternoon tea and the evening meal had well
passed. In fact it was half past midnight when his eyes finally began to flutter
open, giving Harry enough warning so he could draw closer to the bed. (He had
been leaning leisurely just underneath the window with his broomstick servicing
kit and Firebolt across his lap.)

"Ugh..." Draco groaned, pulling his thumb out of his mouth in an
unceremonious slurp. Harry fought down a grin. Draco could be so damn maddening
sometimes.

"Feeling better?" He asked carefully. Draco scowled at him. Oh yes, Draco was
definitely fetching with his hair sticking out in all directions and his cheek
red where his hand had pressed against it in sleep.

"W-what time is it?" The blonde demanded. Harry glanced down at his
wristwatch. It had been a gift from the Weasleys a year ago, even though it was
a normal muggle watch. Ron's father had gotten quite a kick about that. "Like it
Harry? Bought it all by myself! Went to a muggle merchant and everything!" He
had beamed while Ron tried to hide his face behind a Cuddley Cannon's magazine.
Harry had loved it. "Half past midnight."

Draco blinked owlishly up at Harry. "Half p-past midnight." He repeated.
Disbelief was etched across his face.

"Mmm." Harry confirmed as he settled on the side of the bed. "You've been
asleep since about...eight this morning."

Draco blinked again, letting his head fall back down onto the pillow. He
stared at the ceiling. "Why d-d-didn't you wake me?"

It was Harry's turn to frown. "Why would I? You needed the rest."

"B-but I'm in y-your bed."

"So?"

Draco rolled his head to the side to look at Harry. "Y-you need to sleep
too."

Harry smiled. "I will. I just wanted to give you a little longer before I got
into bed..."

"Oh." Seconds passed as Draco contemplated Harry before he scooted over a
little.

Harry raised an eyebrow. What did that mean...?

"You n-need sleep too." Draco repeated simply. Harry's heart swelled.

//He's worried about me!// Harry beamed as he quickly went back over to his
broomstick. As fast as he could, Harry shoved the contents of his servicing kit
back in, trying to get his brain to work well enough so he wouldn't break
anything. The feel of Draco's eye burning into his back was distracting him...

//Now isn't the time to get nervous Potter! You're just going to share a bed
with him...// Harry's cheeks burned red. //Sharing a bed to sleep...just
sleep.//

Snapping the kit closed, Harry shoved it in the corner before picking up his
Firebolt and leaning it in the corner beside it. Normally he would have put his
broom in the small closet or under the bed but at the moment he didn't want to
have to take the time.

//Calm down. I need to calm down. He didn't ask me anything special. He
didn't even bloody ask me anything. He was just being polite...// The gryffindor
thought, trying to slow his racing pulse. It worked...for just as long as it
took him to turn around.

The tee shirt that Harry had given Draco to sleep in had ridden up to reveal
the pale contours of his stomach. The horrible welts and bruises that had been
there only a few hours before had receded down into angry red lines and healing
shades of green. Not nearly as healed as Harry would hope but it was a small
victory. Not only that but the few meager meals that Harry had been able to get
into Draco's system had succeeded in making his stomach go to its semi-normal
size.

Harry's gaze traveled up to Draco's face on its own accord. Steely gray eyes
stared back, hard as ice but with an unnamable vulnerability just beneath the
surface. They were the eyes that Harry had seen a million time while in school,
though he had never before took the time to take a closer look. The change to
Harry's perspective was enough to make his scar begin to tingle...

It was almost as if....

"Going t-to get that, Harry?" Draco asked, gesturing to the window with a
tilt of his head even though his eyes never left Harry's.

Harry blinked. "Uhm?"

Draco looked amused. "I s-said, are you g-going to get that?" Again Draco
gestured to the window.

"Umm."

"The owl, Harry. Let the owl in." Draco murmured, finally turning his gaze
away from Harry and to the window. In which caused Harry to realize there was an
insistent tapping against the glass.

Turning his own gaze to the window, he started as he saw the molting brown
owl fluttering outside his window using it's beak to try to get their attention.

"Bollocks." Harry muttered, hurrying over to the window to pull it open. He
knew he shouldn't have shut it after Hedwig came back...

The owl gave a hoot of thanks before flying into the room to perch next to
Hedwig. It held out it's claw for Harry to detach the rolled piece of parchment.

"W-whose it from?" Draco asked, struggling to push himself up into the
sitting position. Harry shrugged, moving back to his side to push the other boy
back down.

"We'll see..." He said, already unfurling the note. What Harry saw made his
breath catch...