Bleed Me An Ocean

A/N: Yes, the title of the chapter is the name of a Pantera album. I listened to them a lot while writing this one.

The pre-dawn hours once more found Harry wide awake. He sat with his back propped against the wall, opposite the room\'s one narrow window, watching the milky blue-grey light start to filter through the black night sky. Stars still hung there, suspended in the brightening light that made them seem ever more dim as the minutes ticked by. His thoughts drifted idly, unlike they had when he\'d first forsaken sleep for the night and climbed from the warm bed he shared with Draco. Harry tried to fit the pieces of the dreams together in an attempt to find some message in them that perhaps he was missing, all to no avail. All he knew was he hated them and was approaching the point where he was ready to do anything in his power to wipe them from his slumber and waking memory for good.

Dreizehn sat at his feet, amber eyes alert and seeming to shine with concern for his wizard. The pup was uncommonly still for something as young as he was. The black wolf\'s expression was nearly as solemn as Harry\'s. He\'d bonded with Harry and Draco the first day they got him and the animal could sense the tension in the young wizard who sat before him. Dreizehn laid down between his knees and gently nuzzled Harry\'s hand after staring at him for a few moments, trying to offer him some of the comfort he seemed to need right then. The effort was rewarded with Harry stroking him absently, caressing the thick, soft fur from the nape of his neck to the base of his tail. It did seem to have a calming effect on the young man and soon he was breathing deeply and evenly; sleeping, even as he sat upright on the hard floor.

Dawn broke on Hogwarts with no witnesses save the few animals that were awake, either just rousing themselves for the day or scurrying back to their respective dens and perches to await dusk. Dreizehn\'s yellowish eyes were still focused on the boy he thought of as Friend. He stood guard for the time being, as it were, the magic in his body helping to keep the horrific dreams that tormented Harry\'s sleep at bay, at least for the time being. Only random images filtered through the barrier now and although they were bad, they came infrequently and were torn away as soon as they surfaced. Uncannily though, Dreizehn seemed to know he couldn\'t always keep them away, they were too strong, too insistent in their efforts to be seen. If he had been older and his own strange magic stronger, he could\'ve done more. But he did the best his small frame and undeveloped power could manage, moving with Harry if he happened to stir in his rest to keep contact with him, for if his bare skin faltered in the touch on the black pelt, the dreams would roar to the forefront of Harry\'s subconcious to begin unraveling their cruelties. Harry slept better than he had in weeks in those few precious hours before he would have to awaken once again and go to classes, never knowing he had the wolf to thank for the slight reprieve.

=*|*=

Draco padded silently to where Harry slept with his back still against the wall, though he had tilted somewhat to his left as he\'d slept. Observing the way Dreizehn lay with Harry, Draco chose not to wake him. He\'d felt the weight shift on the bed when Harry had gotten up last night. He vaguely recalled hearing muffled weeping before drunken sleep had tugged him below its obsidian black waves again. The nightmares must have come again and he was increasingly curious about the specifics of them. He knew Harry had said that he lost him in them, but what could possibly be so bad to keep Harry awake all hours of the night, resisting the urge to go back to sleep even though Draco was certain he was beyond tired. The dark, bruised looking circles that had formed under his green eyes told the story better than any words could\'ve. Stooping beside his sleeping lover, he reclaimed the bottle that sat beside his hand that wasn\'t on Dreizehn and patted the cub fondly before moving to his trunk to begin dressing for the day.

He examined his clothing for a moment, briefly considering not wearing his robes, but knowing he\'d be sent back to his room and that would leave Harry all alone for the day. He grudgingly pulled them out along with a pair of jeans that were such a faded shade of blue they were almost white and dark grey t-shirt that he apathetically noted had somehow gotten a hole in the bottom of it. Finally dressed, he raked his fingers through his hair to give it some semblance of looking kempt and sighed. He needed to wake Harry, but he was sleeping so peacefully, moreso than Draco had seen him sleep in ages that he really didn\'t have the heart for it just yet. They would likely be late to class, but he really couldn\'t find an ounce of care in him for the matter and settled onto the foot of the bed and drank. After the sixth swallow, he decided that their first class wasn\'t really necessary anyway, who really cared about the history of magic? He smirked and giggled quietly to himself and resumed his watching of Harry and Dreizehn. The cub sensed his gaze on them and turned his head a little as he thumped his bushy tail on the floor in a wolfish hello. Draco nodded to the animal as though understanding what he meant and turned his eyes to Harry\'s relaxed features and knew that Dreizehn had afforded him the opportunity for this rest, though he didn\'t know how. Thankful, regardless, he wiled the hour and a half away with his whiskey.

His own thoughts had drifted as he waited and soon, he was lost in recollections of things he wished would just go away. The memories came as unbidden to Draco as Harry\'s dreams. He shuddered as images of his father\'s screaming face flitted through his mind and he flinched as the phantom sound of the belt whistled through the air to crack across his bare shoulders. He was pulled down into the mire of his childhood, the sharp feel of a shoe-clad foot connecting with his ribs when he was fifteen and lying half naked in the upstairs hallway, curled around himself to try and spare his body from the worst of his father\'s rage. Then he was twelve and being yanked from his bed by his ankles because he didn\'t wake up fast enough to suit Lucius. Oh and then it came, the seductive remembrance of his own blood slipping across his skin in a red caress, soothing him even as it ripped him apart. The way the blade sank into his skin, the zipper-quiet whisper of parting flesh as his fingers guided the dagger through the motions that seemed to spell \'savior\' to him.

\"Stop. Just stop,\"he uttered to himself as his hands covered his ears, the whiskey laying forgotten on the covers beside him. He rocked himself back and forth and breathed a shaky sigh that made him shiver as he exhaled. His mind was growing frantic, his thoughts slipping away from him as soon as they formed. His body begged for the release of icy steel on warm flesh even as he resisted.

Draco\'s eyes frantically darted around the room, seeking a distraction that he knew could never hold his attention. Then his shell shocked platinum gaze fell on Harry\'s sleeping form and he remembered that Harry\'d always asked him to come to him if something was wrong. He couldn\'t do that, though, it felt so wrong and just so . . . so . . . whiny that he shoved the idea from his mind before it was yanked away in his growing panic all the same. With a shudder that was closely followed by a sigh of resignation, Draco rose quietly from the end of the bed and went to one of his trunks. Squatting down in front of it, he silently lifted the lid, all the while casting furtive glances at Harry to make sure he was still asleep. It would do no good for his lover to catch him in such a predicament again. Twice now he had seen what he did to make it all go away, and twice Harry had been heartbroken at the sight.

The guilt of what he was about to do deepened as he recalled the concern in those brilliant green eyes. A simple request and he couldn\'t even comply. He tried, it just didn\'t work, apparently. It has to be done, Draco thought, his determination and loathing of the act doubling equally as he touched the piece of cloth he had wrapped around the dagger before he\'d secreted it away in his trunk. He was pretty sure that Harry thought he had gotten rid of it for good after his last incident and he wished he could\'ve told Harry that it truly wasn\'t that easy of a task to accomplish. Draco\'d had the intention of disposing of the accursed object, yet he couldn\'t bring himself to do it. Instead, he\'d tried to bury it just as he had tried to bury the memories of his father\'s abuse. He was beginning to think all of his efforts were in vain; futile attempts to repair something that was broken beyond all salvation. Draco really felt useless at that moment as he unwrapped the blade slowly, reverently - he was incapable of doing the only thing Harry had ever asked of him. Oh, yes, I am indeed quite the fuck up, he thought as his pulse began to slow back to normal just from the mere touch of his fingers on the silvery blade.

Laying it aside, gently as though it were a fragile rarity that deserved the utmost care, lest it break, he pulled his shirt and robes over his head. One last nervous glance at Harry showed him still dozing and he never saw the keen golden eyes that watched him sorrowfully from a furry black face as he gathered the dagger into his right hand. Using his free hand to stretch the pale skin of his abdomen tight, he sank the blade into the taut, muscled flesh. He swore he heard a pop as the blade broke the surface on his first incision. He dragged it through his skin, as always fascinated with the way it parted so willingly to the blade\'s edge. When the length of the cut was sufficient to suit him, he made the second, then the third cuts, all the while muttering his mantra of \"Worthless. Fucking. Nothing.\" as it bit into his ivory flesh over and over again. He was in the process of making the sixth cut, so lost in his own morbid reveries that he had never seen Dreizehn move out from beneath Harry\'s hand and begin tugging anxiously on his sleeve, whining. Nor was he aware of the emerald eyes that had flown open only to be greeted by the sight of his lover with a blade sank into his flesh, the blood from the previous wounds streaking his pale belly to soak into the washed-out blue waistband of his jeans. Only when the blade was yanked suddenly and viciously from his grasp did he look up, bewildered and somewhat irked that his . . . task . . . had been interrupted.

The blood stained dagger clattered across the floor and slid out of sight beneath the bed. Draco stood staring into Harry\'s horrified face, stunned to see him there. Upon seeing what he had when he came to, Harry\'s mind had went blank, the only thought was to get the weapon away from Draco and fast. He\'d flown from his place on the floor to where Draco stood, neverminding the protesting crackles of his neck and spine, or the pins and needles sensation in his left calf. The dreams had rushed to the front of his awake mind and he was terrified that he would see a red wave come to carry all that he loved away. He had reached Draco and ripped the dagger from his grasp, throwing it with such ferocity that it hurt his shoulder a little. Now silverish eyes were staring blankly at him, stunned and out of focus. Grabbing Draco\'s wrist in a deathgrip Harry stared back and said,\"What is this, Draco? Why?!? Goddamnit WHY?\" his voice shaking with fear and an anger that was a byproduct of that kind of fear.

\"I . . .I . . . don\'t know, really,\"Draco lied, growing more uncomfortable with the grip on his wrist by the second. He thought he could feel the tiny, delicate bones there grinding against one another. He gave and experimental tug that was greeted by the unrelenting grasp tightening even more.

\"Yes you do know!\"Harry ground out, his face pale and ashen but for the two spots of livid red that glowed on his cheeks.

\"I was thinking and my head went down the wrong alleyway of recollection,\" Draco whispered, pulling against the grip even more insistently.

\"Why didn\'t you wake me? I told you to come to me, Draco!\"Harry spoke, his voice growing in volume with each word.

\"I told you why, Harry! Can\'t you accept that? I don\'t want to be a bother to you or a burden and that\'s all I would be,\"Draco yelled back, his voice desperate; his eyes pleading for Harry to understand what he was trying to say, to understand that he was trying to spare him the trouble of dealing with the mess he was.

Finally dropping his wrist, Harry stepped back, his eyes wide and his expression incredulous as he gestured at the still bleeding cuts on Draco\'s stomach,\"Is this what you fucking want? Huh? To destroy yourself on every level you possibly can because of what happened to you, things you had no control over. Gods, you were a child, Draco. You didn\'t ask for your father to beat you the way he did.\"

Draco\'s own anger grew with each word Harry spoke, even though in the back of his mind, he was aware that Harry was so upset because he genuinely gave a shit about what happened to him. It didn\'t matter though,\"Fuck you! It\'s only skin!\" he cried, his voice cracking as the reality of what it likely did mean to Harry to see it came crashing down on him,\"I fuck everything up, don\'t I? I really can\'t do anything right. Everything I touch turns to shit,\"he moaned, grief consuming him much the same way anger had just done.

\"That\'s not true, love, it\'s not. Just because that is what you were taught to believe by the illustrious Lucius Malfoy does not make it a fact. You were conditioned to hate yourself, but with time, we can work through this, I know we can. That man\'s mark will not linger on your soul forever, I promise,\"Harry said, his own voice softening with sorrow as he saw the internal war Draco battled every single day of his life; truly saw it for the first time since that night in The Room of Requirement when he\'d looked into those light grey eyes, feeling like he was staring down a tunnel of nightmares.

\"I used to hope so, now I am not so sure,\"Draco mumbled as he moved to retrieve his clothes from the floor.

\"Don\'t say that. Don\'t you ever say that,\"Harry\'s voice came out a harsh whisper as he watched Draco bend to get his clothes. He stepped behind him and gently traced the ridges of the blonde\'s spine and placed a soft kiss between his shoulders,\"It\'ll be ok,\"he murmured against Draco\'s cool flesh. But he couldn\'t help but wonder for a moment, then swatted the feeling angrily away. Everything will work out, he thought, trying to reassure himself that Draco would be in his arms until the day the heavens burned. He imagined them growing old together and was comforted by how real the thoughts felt, like his daydreams would truly come to pass. He adamantly ignored the other image that lurked around the edges of his imagination at the same time, an image of bloody waves lapping at a bony shore.

=*|*=

Hermione had looked for Harry all over the castle that day and hadn\'t found him. She was growing more anxious and worried with every moment that passed without Harry being found. She\'d decided to say the hell with it and go back to his rooms when she saw he and Draco round the corner to head for the DADA classroom. Expelling her pent up breath with both relief and annoyance, she rapidly approached the pair, realizing she likely wouldn\'t be able to get Harry away from Draco long enough to speak with him in private and just hoped that she could tailor her plan to suit the added person in her equation.

\"Harry! Harry!\"she called, racing to catch up to the rapidly retreating pair. She wondered where the fire was, they were walking so fast they were practically running down the hall.

Harry skidded to a halt and turned to look back at Hermione and clenched his jaw. This was just what he needed after the great start his day had gotten off to. He unconciously balled his hands into fists as he awaited her sermon. He knew she had come to preach at him and Draco about how much they drank. He simply was not in the mood for such nonsense, as he thought of it. A quick glance at Draco showed the tall blonde to be wan and tired looking. His eyes were bloodshot; his hands trembling from nerves instead of a lack of alcohol. Gods know he poured enough of that down his throat this morning for withdrawal to not even be an issue, Harry thought silently, wishing he\'d had more time to partake of the bounty that was firewhiskey that morning. The fact was, Draco looked a mess, his face was even whiter than usual and his beautiful eyes were wide in his face, the pupils dilated and vacant. He\'d \'disappeared\' on Harry shortly after he had attempted to reassure him that all would be well.

Draco was scared. Terrified, to be exact. His mental health was really no better at all. True, it wasn\'t as bad as it had been, in fact, it seemed to have stabilized. There were ups and downs, just like there always had been. But since he had been with Harry, the ups had been amazing, more than he could ever have hoped for. Harry was, in effect, therapy for Draco. He soothed him in ways that the pale Slytherin had never thought possible before. It was the love and compassion; the warmth of Harry\'s embrace. Even the timbre of his soft, somewhat raspy voice that seemed to curl into his ears and nestle gently in his heart. Yet, through it all, he could not shake his self destructive streak. Try as he might, the nightmare of his childhood and inner thoughts, morbid abominations that he despised, insisted on biting him when his back was turned. They sank their vicious little needle teeth into him and dragged him to places he wished he didn\'t have to visit. Oh, but Harry made him smile and laugh, Harry held him when he was scared and when he was happy about something. He never wanted the beauty of that side of his reality to end and he swore he could feel it crumbling beneath his clinging fingers.

Hermione noticed the violent shudder that ran the length of Draco\'s body just as she came to stand before the two. At first she thought it was because of her, then she saw that he was staring at the floor, his face rife with sadness. She chose to say nothing, yet again, though she did have the sense to wonder if that was a bad idea. Perhaps she should inquire. She\'d seen that look on his face before, it was only when he looked at Harry that it usually seemed to melt away, he looked free and somehow whole when he gazed at Harry. She could not deny that the love in his eyes was genuine, no matter how many times she\'d tried previously to convince herself before confronting Harry and begging his friendship back. Still, she needed to say what she had to say, but also decided to ask after Draco\'s apparent depression sometime soon.

\"Harry, we need to talk,\"she stated bluntly.

\"What about?\" was his leery, slightly grumpy reply.

\"About last night. We really need to speak about this, preferably in private, but I suppose Draco needs to hear this as much, if not more than you do,\"Hermione answered, wincing as soon as the words had left her mouth. That hadn\'t come out well at all.

Harry\'s nostrils flared as his agitated state evolved rapidly into one of anger. This was intrusive and bothersome. She had no right to question or \'talk to\' him about what he and his lover did in the privacy of their own quarters. He tried to tell himself that she meant well, but simply could not tolerate it, even with that knowledge. It was overload to Harry.

Instead of throttling her like he wanted to do, he just shook his head and stepped away from her,\"Maybe later, but now REALLY isn\'t the time, Hermione.\"

\"When then?\"she questioned.

\"Whenever,\" was his snappish reply as he turned on his heel and hurried away from her,\"Draco, let\'s go.\"

The blonde did not comply immediately, instead he lifted his head and stared at Hermione. She felt as though his pale eyes were boring holes through her skull. He only shook his head and offered her a wry and bitter smile before walking away.

Harry and Draco had no sooner turned the corner, leaving a very confused and worried Hermione staring after them when a voice screeched out,\"So it is true, Peeves didn\'t lie!\"

Hermione whirled, her brown curls swirling out around her head in shiny halo, to face an enraged Ron stalking towards her,\"I knew it,\"he fumed,\"I bloody well knew something was going on. And to think - I apologized to you!\"

\"Ron, wait,\"she began, holding her hand out pleadingly, wanting to explain things to him.

\"No! You wait!,\"Ron snarled, coming to stop less than five inches away from her,\"He betrayed us Hermione! All of us. He chose that damned ferret over his friends. How can you even look at him, much less speak to him. Stupid of me, I was looking for you to try and patch things up and what do I see? I see you associating with traitors and whores, that\'s what.\"

\"Ron! That is so unfair! Would you please hear me out?\"Hermione snapped at him, her own temper rising,\"Harry is still our friend. He never would\'ve stopped being our friend. It\'s YOU and everyone else that drove him away! It took me longer than it should have to realize that, but that is the truth. Can\'t you see that?\"

\"All I see is The-Boy-Who-Lived choosing to snog a fucking DEATH EATER, \'Mione!\"Ron yelled back, his facts more than a bit suited to cater to his argument and not the truth.

\"Draco isn\'t a Death Eater and you bloody know it, Ron. Why are you so angry? Tell me,\"she said heatedly.

\"Angry? I\'m not angry, I\'m disgusted! Of all the boys in the wizarding world, Harry had to pick public enemy number one. I told you, Hermione, he betrayed us. All of us! His friends and the Order . . . the entire side of light. Most of all, he betrayed ME!! Malfoy and his little Slytherin friends have all done nothing but spit on us, all three of us since we started school here. He has made every effort to harass me and my family since day one!\"Ron raged, then looked Hermione directly in the eye,\"Did you just call the blonde slut \'Draco\'?\"

\"Yes, I did. He\'s not the same person, Ronald, people do change and I think he was never the person we thought him to be to begin with,\"she retorted honestly, though she certainly didn\'t like the look in Ron\'s eyes. She took an involuntary step backwards as his eyes narrowed to slits in his face.

\"That so? Well, then, Granger, maybe you should just move into their little hidey hole with them since you seem so chummy with the pair of freaks. You can be a freak, too, and a traitor, just like they are,\"Ron said, his words coming between clenched teeth.

\"I don\'t believe what I am hearing,\"Hermione gasped, her heart dropping to her feet. This wasn\'t real. It couldn\'t be,\"How can you be so cruel and narrowminded? What\'s wrong with you, Ron, you\'ve changed I don\'t even know who you are anymore.\"

\"Don\'t you make this out to be my fault you . . . you . . .bitch,\"Ron spluttered.

Hermione\'s face flushed as her eyes welled with angry tears. She balled her hands into tight fists and glared at the redhead,\"You can go straight to Hell, Ronald Weasley. You cruel, hateful little man.\"

The words had barely left her mouth before Ron\'s hand shot out and landed with a loud smack on her cheek. A pained and startled scream from Hermione made him jerk away from her, almost unaware that he had drawn back to hit her again. \"Hermione, holy shit, I\'m . . . I . . . I didn\'t mean it,\"he said, reaching for the girl who was still clutching her reddened cheek.

\"Yes you did!\"she screamed at him, backing away from him, her eyes wide with anger and pain, not to mention fear,\"You monster!\"

She flinched as Ron grabbed her wand arm and held her fast, babbling apologies and threats all at once. His eyes were crazed and the grip on her arm was bruisingly painful. She fought him with all her might, wishing she knew wandless magic so she could hex the bastard into oblivion. A loud voice brought them both to a momentary halt.

\"What\'s going on here?\"came Harry\'s voice, harsh and barely lower than a yell of his own. He wondered where the teachers were, he wondered where anyone was. He had been halfway down the hall with Draco when he\'d heard loud voices coming from the corridor they\'d just departed. At first he had ignored it, until he recognized that it was Ron and Hermione\'s voices. He had rushed back to see what was going on. Telling Draco to stay out of sight and to just sit tight, he turned the corner just in time to see Ron roughly grab Hermione and start ranting in her face. She struggled against him, viciously trying to escape his grip on her. Finally, Harry\'s eyes processed what he was seeing and his vision clouded with anger. Fucking Ron, of all the people in the world, he\'d never expected this sort of thing from the Weasley. He\'d always been a hothead, but this was simply going too far. He realized then that Draco had been right - he and Hermione had never really known Ron as well as they\'d thought. That was apparent now and it hurt him even as his temper reached a boiling point.

Hermione turned her head to look at him, her neck twisting at a nearly impossible angle and he saw the angry red handprint on her cheek and the words he had spoken to her last night came rushing back. He couldn\'t believe it, his pissy little statement seemed to have been kind of right. For some reason he felt guilty about it now, even though there was really no way he could\'ve known,\"Let her go, Ron,\" he spoke again as he levelled his wand at Weasley.

\"Or what?\"Ron sneered, shoving Hermione to the side and walking towards him,\"I\'m surprised you even know magic anymore Harry, what with your new boyfriend and all. Does the anti-social bastard even let you practice anymore?\"

\"Whats the matter Weasel? Still jealous that Harry still gets all the attention? And you\'re left alone, in the dark, like the nothing \"wizard\" that you\'ll always be. Harry could magic you into yesterday and back before you\'d even notice what\'d happened,\"Draco spoke up, his voice hushed and venomous. He had heard what Ron had said to Harry and it was more than he could stand, he didn\'t want to just stand by and say nothing anymore. Harry spent all of his time defending him and their relationship, it was about time he stood up and did something for once.

What Draco said snapped something in Ron\'s head and he charged the blonde, his face crimson with rage. Slamming into him he knocked him backwards before regaining his balance and drawing back to sock Draco in the mouth. He hit once more, a wicked left hook to his cheek that split the skin open like it had before when he was jumped by the two Slytherins.

Harry watched what was happening, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Then it sped up as he saw the skin of Draco\'s cheek give under the force of Ron\'s attack. Then it felt as though something was unraveling inside of him, coiling through his limbs. All he could think was that he would not see Draco beaten by anyone, no matter what. Then there was a loud booming sound and Ron was pitched backward into the air, sailing all the way to the end of the corridor where the wall stopped him. He slid to the floor in a crumpled, unconcious heap. Hermione looked around in wonder as the force of whatever it was rumbled the entire corridor, plaster dust sifting down to settle into her hair where she, too, lay on the floor. The wave of magic that had flooded from Harry\'s body had sent them all to the ground, except Harry, who still stood, his body humming with power.

Draco looked around, dazed as the shaking lessened in the floor and Harry\'s eyes widened in surprised wonder at what had just passed. Hermione squeaked his name then, her voice small and unsure. He turned to look at her and saw that she too lay sprawled on her back near where he still stood. Draco was already in the process of clambering to his feet when Harry offered Hermione his hand and helped her up as well. She could feel the strong magic that still coursed through his body like an electrical current. It was then that she fully realized just what a great wizard Harry Potter had the potential to be.

Assured that she was ok, he turned his attention to his real source of concern. He looked into Draco\'s eyes and saw awe in them, as well as gratitude. He had the feeling Ron would have beaten him to death if Harry hadn\'t intervened. Harry placed his hand gently on Draco\'s slowly oozing cheek and the blonde gasped at the tingling feeling of his palm, he too could feel the power running through his lover. It was a great and scary idea that Harry was so powerful. He gasped again as he felt the skin on his cheek knitting itself back together, erasing all traces of Ron\'s attack as the fingers of Harry\'s other hand began to caress his split lips. His green eyes were soft and full of love as he removed the wounds. Harry wasn\'t entirely sure what had happened, but he knew it had been all him. It was, he supposed the inner magic so many had suggested he had. His untapped well of magical power. Knowing it was there, he could already feel it begin to slip back into the place it stayed hidden most of the time. The thrumming in his body slowly faded away as Draco\'s wounds healed beneath his caress. He had lost control and he knew that, what he truly wondered though was if it would ever be his to truly control and use. The answer was, he didn\'t know. But it had come to the fore when he\'d gotten angry and he knew it would happen again one day. It both thrilled and terrified him.

Hermione watched the abrasions of Draco\'s fair face dissolve into nothing, her mouth hanging slightly open as she looked on. Then she remembered Ron and hurried away to check on him, just registering that they were no longer alone in the corridor, in fact, was that Dumbledore striding towards them? She drew herself up short when she saw Professor McGonagall already leaning over Ron\'s body. She gulped loudly then asked,\"Is he . . .?\"

\"No,\"was McGonagall\'s soft reply,\"But it\'s a miracle. He needs to be taken to the infirmary immediately.\"

\"Oh,\"was all Hermione could muster as she looked over her shoulder to where she saw that yes, it had been Dumbledore. He was speaking to Harry who looked pale, yet composed. Then he took him by the shoulder and gently led him away, leaving Draco to stare after them, his eyes still wide and now glittering with tears.

She rushed back to where Draco stood and gently touched his elbow,\"What did Dumbledore say?\"

\"He\'s not happy, Hermione, not at all. He told Harry he nearly killed Weasley,\"Draco rasped out, his shoulders drooping,\"I think he may be in serious trouble for this.\"

\"It wasn\'t his fault though! How could he have known that was going to happen? Surely Dumbledore must realize that,\"she protested.

Draco\'s head dropped like his shoulders and his silken hair fell across his face in a platinum sheaf as he said,\"Let\'s hope so. I\'m going to wait in our room. I need to think about what happened here, I need to . . . I don\'t know . . . do something,\" he finished lamely, knowing exactly what he was going to do: go back to their room to await Harry\'s return and drink himself retarded in the process.

\"I need to do the same, I think,\"she agreed, planning on heading to the Astronomy Tower herself,\"I\'ll check with you guys later though, if that\'s ok?\"

\"That should be fine, you\'re as much a part of all this as I am,\"Draco said, his voice growing quieter and more far away with each word. If he hadn\'t provoked Weasley, this would\'ve never happened. Harry was amazingly strong and Draco felt like he was truly destroying his life and his potential now that he had seen what his love was truly capable of. It cut him deeper than any knife ever had to think that. Harry had lost his friends, his reputation and now, quite possibly, his entire life as a wizard and student at Hogwarts because of him. The guilt pooled into the center of his heart where it settled like poisoned sediment.

Hermione pulled him into a hug just as he turned to walk away, and much to his surprise he found himself turning back to her, pulling her tightly to him as he began to weep into her hair. \"Hush now, it\'ll be fine, Dumbledore is wise, he\'ll understand,\"Hermione told him, stroking his back, wanting to cry a little herself, but that could wait until later.

Sniffling a bit, Draco pulled away to look at her and offered a ghost of a smile that never reached his silver eyes as he said,\"I hope you\'re right. I could . . . I don\'t think I could . . .bear to have him lose his entire life because of me.\"

\"Draco, this has nothing to do with you, none of what\'s happened,\"she stated, sounding quite a lot like Harry and not reaching him either. All he knew was Harry had had a good life, one filled with laughter and friends, now all that he seemed to have was whiskey and a mentally dysfunctional lover that he seemed to truly adore. He had everything, now all he has is nothing - me, Draco thought bitterly.

\"Thanks,\"was all he said,\"I think I\'m going to head back now. See you this evening?\"

\"Yes,\"she said, looking worried as he turned away again and trudged down the hall. She watched him until he disappeared around the corner before heading in the opposite direction to the Astronomy Tower, her mind a whirl of confusion and concern for Harry\'s future, Ron\'s health and Draco\'s mental well being. And there was the pain of knowing what Ron had done to her. Silent tears slipped from her own eyes as she walked away.

A/N: This took me awhile to write because the closer to finishing something I get the more nitpicky I become, so my updates may be slower now, but I haven\'t quit on this fic and I hope y\'all haven\'t either.

Also, a little bitch: I received an email from one of my readers and/or reviewers telling me they had recently read a fic that seemed to quite blatantly rip off some of my ideas. I don\'t know if this is true or not and frankly, I don\'t want to see the fic in question if there is one since my blood pressure likely could not handle that kind of spike. I will say, however, that anyone that does this stuff is nothing in my opinion. Just a two-bit hack who\'s either too lazy or too fucking stupid to come up with something original. People like that aren\'t writers, they\'re thieves and should be beat for their idiocy. Thank you.

As ever, please review. I still live off of those.