A Good Boy

A/N:: Not much to be said. :) RL is looking up, so I can probably update again soon. :)

Chapter Nine – The Beating


Harry did not linger for long. The big common room felt empty with no one there, the fire sparkling happily, taunting Harry’s sadness. As he left and wandered the hallways, not quite knowing what to do before the next class, he wondered what he had done wrong. It had felt so good when they were sitting by the lake, like they were the only ones in existence and nothing could hurt them. But then it had changed. Harry tried to figure out when. Was it when he kissed Draco? Probably. But why then did he kiss back? And why did he just leave? Why could he not have stayed and talked about it?

‘He’s a Slytherin, ’his brain told him.

‘So what?’

‘You can’t trust him.’ Harry banged his head against the wall, trying to silence his brain. ‘He’s only playing with you, he doesn’t care about you.’

“They why does it feel so good?” Harry asked out loud, his voice echoing in the empty passageway.

‘But it doesn’t, right? It hurts. You’re hurting. He makes you hurt.’

“No! It’s not like that. I know it’s not like that.”

‘But then why are you thinking it?’ Harry banged his head again, getting nothing out of it but a severe headache. His battling thoughts continued on, refusing to leave him alone.


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Weeks passed without anything happening. The sun got warmer and the snow faded away. Everyone was happy and enjoying the beginning of spring. Not Harry though. Harry felt like he was losing his mind. He kept trying to talk to Draco, but he was never alone. Somehow, despite most of the Slytherins still ignoring him, he managed to stay in large groups whenever Harry was near. Even with the use of the Marauder’s Map, he had no luck; Draco always managed to escape in one way or another. Harry did not know what to do. He could not stop thinking about Draco. He tried, he really tried, to forget it. But he could not seem to keep Draco out of his thoughts. He wanted to talk to Ron and Hermione about it, but they did not notice anything going on around them. When he tried telling them he wanted to talk about Draco, they just murmured something under their breaths. They did not even react to the fact that he said Draco instead of Malfoy.

Harry did not try to talk to them again. Instead he thought of Draco, and he dreamed of Draco. He tried to figure out what to do. He did not want to hurt Draco, but he did not think he could continue on like this. Every day felt like one more step down the path of madness and depression. His logical side tried to convince him it was idiotic to feel like this over someone who recently tried his best to make his life miserable. But he could not help it. That man, no longer the little ferret-boy he had always been, had done something to him. He was not sure when it had happened, if it was when they kissed or if it was when he saw him lying in his own blood or if it was when he saw him coming out of Snape’s door looking all sexy. Or maybe it was not on one precise occasion, maybe he had grown on him. Whatever it was, something had changed, and he would not be able to turn it back around. In the end, he knew he had to talk to Draco somehow.


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Harry had been sitting outside of the Slytherin common room for what felt like hours. He had his invisibility cloak draped over himself, not wanting to get caught by the wrong person. He knew Draco would have to come out some time. He had decided to sit here until he could talk to Draco, no matter how long it took. But it did take long, and Harry could not help dozing off from time to time.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Potter?” Harry flinched and looked up at the people standing in front of him. He looked down and cursed the invisibility cloak, now covering only his left hand. Luckily it was dark, so with a bit of luck they had not seen anything. He quickly put the cloak into his pocket and scrambled to his feet.

‘Oh no. Why? Why now?’ Harry did not feel up to arguing with anyone, least of all a gang of bad-tempered Slytherins. Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle were looking coldly at him. It looked like Crabbe and Goyle had found their new leader.

“Nothing, leave me alone.”

“Nothing? You’re trying to convince us you’re just sitting here for fun? You’re trying to steal our Quidditch tactics again, aren’t you?”

“Listen, I don’t want a fight. I’ll just leave.”

“Oh no, no, no, no, Potter.” Zabini shook his head, smiling at Harry as though he was an ignorant little boy. “I’ve been waiting to get you alone ever since you stole our tactics the last time. You really think I’d let you go? Now that you’re finally here, without your usual pack of Gryffindor guard?.” Harry was a little worried by now. Zabini looked at him with a weird fire burning in his eyes, looking more than a little crazy. His two followers chuckled, rubbing their fists as though warming them up for a fight. Zabini raised his wand, and Harry hurried to get his own wand out. But he was too late, and it flew out of his hand and into Zabini’s.

“You’re mine now, Potter.” Harry did not stop to see what was going to happen. He ran as fast as he could, but it did not take long before he hit the ground face first. He heard his nose break and felt his eyes tear up. Ropes had tied themselves around his ankles.

‘I’m doomed,’ he thought, trying hard to come up with any way to escape. But he did not have time to come up with much, because soon fists landed on him over and over again, varied with kicks now and then. Harry could not defend himself more than a baby could have. Even though Crabbe and Goyle were as stupid as a pile of bricks, unfortunately for Harry their gorilla-like appearance also meant gorilla-like strength. With his feet tied up and three against one, all he could do was try to protect his head and his broken nose. Harry’s entire body hurt. Not knowing where the next blow would land made the pain so much worse. He wanted nothing more than for this to be over with. After a powerful kick to the back of his head, his wish was granted. He lost consciousness and drifted of into glorious nothingness, feeling no more pain.


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Draco looked at his watch and almost panicked. It was 9.55pm which meant he had only five minutes to get to Snape’s chambers in time. It was not too bad though, he could easily make it in time. He calmed himself down and headed for the exit. He knew immediately when he entered the passageway that something was wrong. The smell of blood hit him like a wall. He looked around the corner to his left and spotted something on the floor. He debated with himself whether he should do something, or hurry to get to Snape in time. His curiosity finally got the better of him, and he went closer to see whom it was. The body in front of him was disturbingly familiar. He had to lift the face up to be sure. Despite all the blood, he immediately recognized Harry’s fine features. But right now, he looked more like a piece of raw meet than the pretty young man he usually was.

Draco did not really know what to do. He was more scared now than he had ever been with Snape. If Harry died like this, he would never forgive himself. He could only guess why he had been down in the dungeons, but he would bet his entire fortune on it having to do with him. Why had he avoided him like this? He checked to see if Harry’s heart was still beating, and then he levitated him up to the medical-ward as fast as he could.

“Madame Pomfrey!” He heard someone move in Madame Pomfrey’s office. “Madame Pomfrey!” With that the medi-witch opened the door, looking more than a little annoyed to be disturbed this late in the evening. She was even wearing her night robes, but Draco could not care less.

“Calm down, boy. What…” And then she froze, completely shocked at what she saw. But, luckily, it did not take her long to recoup, and she immediately took control.

“Lay him down on that bed. And fetch me some warm water.” Draco hurried to comply. ”What has happened to him?”

“I don’t know. I found him like this.” Draco was on the verge of tears. He had gone through a lot in his lifetime, but never had he experienced this kind of worry. He was literally sick to his stomach from worrying so much. Madame Pomfrey must have seen it in his face.

“Don’t worry, boy. I’ve healed much worse than this. The only magic involved is holding his feet together. Other than that, it’s only physical violence. He will be fine.” She smiled in a reassuring way, calming Draco down a little. He was still worried though.

A tiny little piece of him thought about what Snape would do to him. He had not been this late in… ever. He did not dwell on it though. The important thing was that Harry would be alright.

“You can leave if you want. He won’t wake up for a while.”

Draco hesitated only a second. “No, thank you, but I’d rather stay.” Snape could do whatever he wanted. He would not abandon Harry again. Draco finally realized how much Harry meant to him. He had not dared to admit it to himself before. The risk of getting hurt was so big when you cared for someone. But now it was inevitable. Draco’s heart was breaking from seeing Harry like this. Even though Madame Pomfrey had healed the biggest injuries he still looked as though he had been run over by the Knight Bus.

“I have done what I can. Give him this if he wakes up” she pointed to a vial on the bed stand. “It’s Dreamless Sleep. I’m going to notify the headmaster.”

Draco nodded, feeling he could not muster enough strength to keep his voice steady. Thoughts, unpleasant thoughts, about why Harry had been down there in the first place had begun haunting Draco. It was to see him. What else would he be doing there? Draco felt like shit, knowing he was the reason for Harry’s appearance. He felt anger building up inside of him, more intense than he had ever felt before. When he found out who had done this, he would kill them. But before he did, he would cause them so much pain they would pray for the mercy of death. He would never forget seeing Harry lying unconscious on the floor like that, and he would make sure the offenders did not either. Harry, groaning, pulled him out of his vengeful thoughts.

“Harry! You’re awake! How are you?”

“Glasses?” Draco had to lean in close to hear what he said. “Where are my glasses?”

“Glasses, right.” Draco turned around and scanned the room, taking a while to remember Harry had not been wearing any glasses. “They must still be down there. I’ll go get them.” But he did not have time to move before Harry grasped his hand.

“No, please, Draco. Stay with me.” Harry groaned, biting his lip in agony.

Draco felt tears threaten to escape again, and he blinked rapidly trying to suppress them. “Of course, of course I’ll stay.” He squeezed Harry’s hand, neither of them willing to let go.

“Who did this to you?”

“It was no one.”

“Come on, Harry, you can’t let them get away with this. I’ll hunt them down. I’ll make them pay.”

“No, Draco. Please. I don’t want you to do anything. I don’t want you to get yourself into trouble. It’s not worth it. Just forget it.”

But how could he forget about it? His every cell ached from seeing Harry tensing in pain.

“Draco… I understand what that look means. Remember what you want me to keep to myself. I don’t think this is too much to ask.”

“That’s not…” Taking a pause Draco sighed, knowing Harry was right.

“Fine. But now you have to take this.” He gave Harry the vial standing next to them. “It’s dreamless sleep.”

“Draco… I want to talk to you. You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I know. I’m sorry. We’ll talk. But not now. Drink this, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

Harry smiled, taking the vial from Draco. He was obviously relieved to go to sleep. Draco stayed a few minutes more, watching him sleeping peacefully. But then he looked at his watch and scurried off.

A/N::

elphaba: Well, that's just real life, sometimes it's bad. And then it's good again! :D And thank you, hope you liked this one as well. :)

SilverLion: Yes, it's not too easy knowing what to do or what to say. Harry hasn't really had enough practice dealing with that sort of thing. :P And it isn't fair if only Draco is unhappy, is it? Have to destroy all lives! *evil laughter*

Queen of the Darkness: Thank you very much! :D Hope this one was to your liking as well. ^^

thrnbrooke: I'm going to take that as a complimant, so thank you. ^^

Eros: Aaw, thank you very much! Pretty much the reactions I was hoping for. :D You have to have a bit of both.