The Devil Runs Wild

*******~Dumbledore~

“So that argument I heard about you having with Snape was about that?” Harry asked.

Dumbledore, who was sitting back in his portrait, relaxing as the sun beamed down on him through the window answered. “That is what the argument was about, yes. Severus was having difficulty with my request.”

Harry looked shocked. “Difficulty?” Did that mean… “He didn’t want to do it?”

“He did not. He knew that the poison was slowly spreading from my hand but he hoped that he could find a way to heal me. He was…upset,” Dumbledore said, looking a bit saddened by it.

A few moments of silence ensued before Harry said, “He really cared for you, didn’t he?”

Dumbledore nodded. “He cared for me the most that I have ever seen him care for another human being. Not quite love, but you have to understand that Severus has a very bad past and I’m afraid he has not been able to heal completely like I had hoped. He tries.”

Harry remembered that time during lessons with Snape when he had seen into Snape’s memories and saw a little boy in a corner. Snape’s past reminded Harry of his own. When Harry was young, he wanted desperately to make friends but at the same time he was afraid of liking or even loving someone else. He was terrified of being hurt like he was by his family. Harry could understand about being afraid to love.

And I called him a coward, Harry thought shamefully.

*******

Draco Malfoy was walking down the hallway cautiously. Looking right and left, he made sure that the Weasley twins weren’t anywhere in sight.

Thank Merlin! Draco breathed a sigh of relief as he made it to the kitchen.

“He really cared for you, didn’t he?”

Draco stopped just short of the kitchen when he heard the voice that was clearly Potter’s. Damnit! He just wanted to eat something, anything! And now bloody Potter was in the way of his goal! Again! Like always, that stupid bloody, rotten, bugger….

Draco stopped his mental rambling when he heard Dumbledore talking about Severus. Severus cared that much for that old man? What about me!?

“Ah! Draco, do come in,” Dumbledore’s voice sounded out and Draco cursed mentally but came into the kitchen, nonetheless.

“How are you today, my boy?” Dumbledore asked cheerfully.

Draco sneered at him. “I’m doing fine, thank you,” Draco said. The old man knew perfectly well that he was not alright. He had been forced to have this conversation yesterday.

Dumbledore just chuckled at Draco’s sneer. “Do sit down now,” he said.

Draco looked at Potter who was sitting across the table, then back at the old man.

“I think I’d rather go back to my room, thanks,” Draco said and began to turn.

“I’d rather have you stay,” Dumbledore said politely.

Damnit! Draco thought. Why did Snape have to continually tell him to be nice to Dumbledore. Now he just couldn’t get Snape’s words out of his head telling him to “play nice, or their kindness won’t last long enough.” Draco sighed. Snape was right, as always. He turned back down and sat down across from Potter.

Harry looked at Draco who did not seem happy at all about being in the same room with him. He looked a bit ragged. His blond hair was not as well combed as it had been at school and his clothes were a bit wrinkled. Harry wondered if he had any other clothes with him. This was the third time he had seen Draco in the same black robe.

“What?” Draco snapped at Harry whose eyes had been wondering for far too long. On him, no less!

Harry jerked back in surprise.

“No..nothing,” Harry said and looked down at the table.

If he didn’t know any better, Draco would have thought Potter was blushing.

Harry’s dreams had continued. The only difference was the content of the dreams. Recently, all of them have only involved Malfoy and no one else. Harry couldn’t figure out why Voldemort would send him dreams of just Malfoy if Voldemort believed he was dead. Maybe Voldemort was preoccupied with Malfoy’s death and sending him images by default? He knew he should probably ask Dumbledore about it. In fact, Harry hadn’t even told Dumbledore yet about the dreams. He hadn’t wanted to. He knew he should.

“I think that you two have much to discuss,” Dumbledore said.

“What do I have to discuss with him?” Draco asked, confused and pissed off at what the old man was suggesting.

“It seems Harry doesn’t trust you, Draco, and if you expect help in finding a way to unbind your magic then it would be wise to build some kind of relationship, don’t you think?” Dumbledore said.

That’s what Draco hated about the old man. He had a way of saying things that sounded polite and scolding at the same time.

“Re…rela…relationship?” Harry stuttered over the word, nervously thinking about all sorts of things he shouldn’t be thinking of.

“I don’t need help! I’ll figure it out on my own!” Draco yelled, completely ignoring Potter’s baby-talk.

“You may need help sometime in the future, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Potter may be the only one capable of it,” Dumbledore scolded.

Draco thought about that. He knew Dumbledore was right, but he didn’t want to admit it.

Looking at Potter, Draco saw that his eyes were still on the table and his fingers were playing with the cuff of his shirt.

“Would you ever help me if you trusted me?” Draco asked.

Harry looked up at him. His eyes wide…almost a frightened look. Draco, startled, dropped the sneer he had had and stared back at Potter. When had Potter’s eyes gotten so green?

“I…I…if Dumbledore could…I think… I could, yeah,” Harry answered. Harry kept looking into the grey of Malfoy’s eyes and couldn’t seem to look away. They looked the same as they did in his dreams….

Draco, who had been hoping that Potter would have said something like “Never!” so that he could leave with a defiant ‘I-told-you-so-look’ at the old man and forget about all this “relationship building” nonsense, was stunned completely into silence.

Stupid Potter! Why couldn’t he have just said no! Now he would have to stay here and prove he was trustworthy!

Potter was still staring at him, though.

“Are you trying to read my mind?” Draco asked, indignantly.

Potter shook his head and discontinued his staring.

“I was..just..I….,” Harry stumbled over his own words trying to figure out himself why he had been staring so bloody long. He didn’t like looking into Malfoy’s eyes. This wasn’t like his dreams, this was reality! Harry didn’t like it. He didn’t.

Potter was clearly speaking like a dimwitted troll and Malfoy rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned to Dumbledore’s portrait.

“I don’t think I could ‘build a relationship,’ as you say, sir, when this creature clearly doesn’t speak English,” Malfoy said seriously to Dumbledore.

“HEY!” Harry yelled and clenched his fist together.

It wasn’t so hard to tell the difference between his dreams and reality anymore.