Chandra

In the weeks that followed the \'incident\' between Harry and Draco, they avoided one another like the plague.

Both seemed frustrated and flustered when they came within ten feet of one another, and protested instantly.

To anyone else it would have seemed like the two were just going on as usual. But to Ron and Hermione, that wasn\'t the case.

The insults seemed more vile than usual and the tension was unbearable between the two. But whenever the subject was raised to Harry, he throughly denied anything was wrong and stormed away from his friends.

By the time a month passed, Harry wasn\'t feeling quite the same.

It wasn\'t just a physical thing, though he had been throwing up recently and his stomach seemed to cramp up a lot. It felt to him that his mind had weakened and his magical poweress was just a bit off.

Hermione and Ron had taken notice and gently tried to breach the subject but Harry just blew up at the two.

Harry didn\'t want the two of them to discover what had happened between himself and Draco, and by talking about what was wrong with him might lead them to the subject.

And that was something that he could not allow.

When he would insult Draco and take the jabs from his blonde nemesis, it seemed to sting like never before.

Which wasn\'t a lot, because Harry had never really let Draco\'s words do more than anger him.

Now, it seemed, when Draco would hiss cruel words in his direction, Harry\'s eyes pricked and his throat became tight.

Why now, after six years of battling with the boy, was it starting to bother him?

Was it because he had slept with his rival? Because he had shared something with him that Harry hadn\'t really planned on? Was it due to the fact that this was his classmate who was destined to become a Death Eater like his father?

He didn\'t know.
What he did know was that it was now a very touchy subject.

He spoke about it with no one and didn\'t intend on it. Ever.

Almost a month and two weeks to the day, Harry started feeling much different than before.

His throwing up had ceased, but he felt tired and run down almost all the time. He hardly had the energy to keep up on his homework and he found himself dreading Quidditch practice.

What was happening to him?

His anger at Draco almost completely gone, he would lie awake at night and think about him. What was he doing? Was he with anyone else? Had he been since that night in the Astronomy Tower?

Harry hadn\'t.

He didn\'t want to be either.

And while he hadn\'t thrown up in a while, he felt as though he would when he imagined that Draco was, quite possibly, having his way with someone else at that very moment.

He would have to bite back hard to keep himself from crying.

Did he really have it that bad for Draco Malfoy?

Was he really at the point of crying when he thought of him with someone else?

He didn\'t even like Draco! What happened between the two of them was a mistake!

Then explain the way he kissed you afterwards? What was that about, if nothing?

He would toss and turn, trying to sleep, but ultimately, his mind was consumed by thoughts of Draco until he was certain that he had fallen for the untrustworthy git.

He tried even harder to avoid Draco. But fate seemed to be laughing at him.

Arriving late for a class, he would be paired with Draco for projects. He would bump into him in the hallways, while Ron and Hermione would glare at Crabbe and Goyle, Harry would be left to stare awkwardly at Draco and exchange forced harsh words.

And finally, after all the days of his mind wandering aimlessly and nights of terrorized dreams, he found himself nearing a breakdown.

After a particularly rough Potions test, Harry had wandered down to the lake instead of heading to the Great Hall to eat dinner. He stumbled near blindly to the black water, biting his lip the entire way to keep up his front before he collapsed.

He sat forward, his elbows on his knees and sobbed into his hands.

Never before had he felt so out of control of his emotions.

His magic was different, his mind was playing as many games as his heart was and his body no longer felt like his own.

He was sure that he was going mad.

*****

Draco, who had watched Harry fairly avidly since he had surrendered a game of Quidditch to the laughable Hufflepuff Seeker, saw how the boy seemed to be losing his touch.

Not just with Quidditch, but with everything.

His words were less than harsh during their usual insult sparring, and he just flat out seemed to be lacking the fire that put Draco over the edge with him.

Even Potter\'s Dream Team seemed fed up with him.

He ignored them in the Great Hall and he never spoke to them during classes.

Not that Draco actually cared about Harry\'s personal life, but he did care that there was no one left for him to battle in the corridors with.

He was growing fed up with it to the point that he was ready to knock some life back into the boy when he realized that Potter hadn\'t been the same since that night in the Astronomy Tower.

That had sent Draco running in the opposite direction.

He wanted nothing more to do with Potter, and there was simply no way that he was going to pursue some fucked up sort of relationship with him.

They had one night together and that was a mistake in and of itself. That wasn\'t supposed to have happened and Draco had made it very clear that it was never going to happen again. Didn\'t Potter understand that?

Draco wanted nothing to do with the Muggle-loving golden boy.

And he was damn sure going to drive that point home.

*****

Hermione, on the other hand, had watched Harry with sad and sympathetic eyes.

She knew that something was troubling Harry and it was beyond her control to help him unless he told her what it was. But every time she gently tried to probe the subject, Harry ranted and raved that he was fine before storming off.

But she knew better.

He had been neglecting his friendships, Quidditch and his schoolwork. Something that Hermione would not stand by and watch happen.

So when Harry hadn\'t shown up for dinner for the third night in a row, Hermione excused herself from the table. Using the excuse that she had to go to the library kept Ron and bay and left her free to find Harry.

She didn\'t have to look long when she saw him through one of the windows in a hallway that overlooked the lake.

Quickly she changed her path and headed out across the grounds.

A million angry words flooded her mind but were quickly washed away when she got close enough to see that Harry hadn\'t come down to watch the creature in the water bat it\'s tentacles at falling leaves.

Harry had come here to break down.

She watched him for a moment, standing a few feet behind him, heart breaking at the sight of him.

What was so bad that Harry had been avoiding the two people who care for him the most.

The two people who wanted nothing more than to help him through whatever it was that was troubling him.

\"Harry.\" she said quietly.

He jumped and turned his head back towards her. The sight of his tear stained cheeks and red eyes sent her to her knees, throwing her arms around him, \"Oh, Harry, what is it?\" She asked, holding him to her.

It took him a moment, but he quickly wrapped his arms around her and began crying again, this time into her shoulder.

She rocked him gently as he sobbed, stroking back his sweaty hair, \"What is it?\" She asked, \"Harry, what\'s wrong. Talk to me.\"

Harry calmed after a moment, pulling back he took off his glasses and wiped his eyes dry with the sleeve of his robe. He sniffed, \"I\'m sorry, Hermione. I don\'t know what\'s gotten into me.\"

Hermione stared at him, though it was mostly with sympathy for his seemingly desperate state.

Her hand stroked his heated cheek, \"Harry, you can tell me anything, you know that.\"

Nodding, he gently took her hand in his, \"I know, Hermione.\" He swallowed, \"But I\'m fine, really.\" She opened her mouth to protest, \"I\'m not exactly sure what\'s wrong. But I\'ll be fine.\"

She didn\'t seem satisfied with this, but she squeezed his hand, \"Please let me help you Harry. I love you and I don\'t want to see you suffer like this.\"
He smiled, in what felt like the first time in weeks. \"Thank you, Hermione. But I think that\'s about all you can do for me. At least until I figure out what the hell\'s the matter with me.\"

She smiled sweetly at him, still holding his hand and brushing his hair back with the other before leaning in to hug him once again.

Harry closed his eyes, leaning his chin on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her. He honestly didn\'t know what he would do if he didn\'t have Hermione in his life. Especially at times like these.

She loved him unconditionally and always had.

Little did he know that within the next two months he would be completely dependant on her in more ways than one.