His head was pounding. It felt like someone had put up two loud speakers on his brains which just made a pounding sound. The sun rays were dancing across his closed eyes making the pounding worse. He fumbled for the wand beside his pillow and waved it at the curtains as they shut close. He finally opened his eyes. The room was empty. He slowly pulled himself up as the whole room started spinning. He sat for a while letting his head settle down to the weight. Never ever was he drinking again, he promised to himself. The door suddenly burst open. Blaise and Pansy walked in closing the door behind them.
"Hello Princess. You are up. Was the party nice yesterday?" said Pansy and the sarcasm was noted by both the men in the room.
"Not now" muttered Draco "my head is about to explode"
Pansy sat down at the near end of his bed. Blaise took out something from him cupboard and handed it over to Draco.
"Here." he said "Drink this. You'll feel much better"
Draco took the small vial of golden liquid from him. He knew it would make him feel better in an instant. He had, had too many of those the mornings after the war when the three of them had drank late. He pulled out the small glass cork almost gagging at the vile odour. He pinched his nose close and gulped down the entire solution. God it burned. Draco felt like his insides would explode. He winced as the sensation travelled throughout his body. A few moments later, his head felt lighter as the pounding stopped. The light was still strong as it hit his eyes when Blaise opened the curtains again, but it didn't bother him that much. He put the vial aside on the table before turning towards Pansy.
"What" he said as a reply to her crossed arms. Pansy only did that when she wanted a briefing.
"Are you gonna tell us why Potter found you drinking alone near the bridge last night?" asked Pansy in a cold tone.
"Potter? Potter.." Draco's brain suddenly started flooding with yesterday's events. The nightmare. Fire whiskey. The bridge. He had cried. Potter. Potter. God that dimwit potter had held him while he sobbed. He had talked. God no no. This wasn't happening. Not with him. God no. He closed his eyes shut as his held his head in his hands.
Pansy and Blaise looked at each other. Blaise shrugged at her. Pansy turned her attention to Draco again.
"Hey, did he do something?" asked Pansy gently as she moved in nearer towards him. Draco could hear the concern in her voice but a sudden jolt of self defence rose up.
"Why?" He asked "did he say something happened?"
"Well...." Pansy looked at Blaise and then again at Draco "he said you were blacked out when he found you."
Draco let go of the breath he was holding in. He was relieved that Harry hadn't said anything.
"Yeah.... I don't remember seeing him yesterday" he said somewhat guilty lying to his friends.
"Well thank god for him bringing you back. If filch had caught you, Mcgonagall wouldn't have spared expelling you" said Blaise as he disposed the emptied vial back to its place in his cupboard.
"Draco Malfoy. If. You. Ever. Pull. Up. Such. A. Stunt. Again. I. Will. Kill. You." hissed Pansy emphasising each word with her rare murderous glance aimed at Draco. Draco didn't question it. He slightly groaned as he got up from the bed.
"We have time till the next class." Said Blaise "Get ready. Professor Sprout marked your absence today and we had to make up an excuse. If you miss the Headmistress's class without a note from Madam Pomfrey, you'll definetly have detention."
Draco flung the towel over his shoulder as he made his way to the washroom.The mirror had no filter. He looked terrible. He had bags under his eyes. His hair looked like a mess. His face looked paler than usual. The cheeks were sunken. He could still feel Harry's arms around him. The words he said rang through his mind.
"I will be here. Always. I understand."
He had said that. Draco felt a crumbling feeling in his gut as he thought about the Room of Requirement. How could he understand him after all that? As he looked in the mirror, he knew, he didn't deserve Harry. Not after all the pain he had given him. Harry deserved good people around him. People who hadn't tried to capture him and take him to his death. Draco would never be good enough for him. And in no way was he ever going to let Harry near him anymore. Because if anything, Draco knew what he wanted. And it was Harry's arms around him. And he knew, he didn't deserve it. He pulled himself away from the mirror as he stepped into the shower.
Harry smiled as Ron got the book slammed on his head by Hermione. Again.
"Oww!" he exclaimed "Blimey Hermione that hurts"
"Well, if you had applied for extra lessons for a mere few of 12 galleons you would have understood the worth of this mount of essays" said Hermione, as her face flushed red.
She had taken up the apparition as well as alchemy and Harry was more than grateful for just having Apparition considering he hadn't even been able to complete the sets of homework for just that. They were sitting beside the lake as Hermione finished her essay. Of course she wanted to be in the library but Harry had begged her to sit outside hoping he would catch a glimpse of Draco. But all of it seemed to waste as he hadn't been able to spot the blonde hair anywhere.
"So much for not staying in the library" she said as she stood up picking up her parchment and books heading towards the building.
"Hermione!" called Ron after her walking figure.
"Blimey' I just wanted to know what she was writing" he said with a somewhat bemused expression.
Harry stiffled a laugh. Honestly if you didn't even know the alphabets of the subject, you should just let Hermione work with her assignments.
"I can't wait for the weekend. I'd love a butter beer right now" he said pulling on to the grass nearby.
"Well me too mate" chimed among Ron as he laid down "Bill and Charlie are coming too. Charlie is visiting home and Ginny has been begging him to come visit."
"Well, it sounds like a fun outing" said Harry.
He wasn't sure how he felt though. Last time he had seen Charlie, it was at Fred's funeral. He felt the guilt rise up as he thought about that. The war had destroyed so many homes, he didn't think the Weasleys would be one of them. And the way Arthur, Molly and everyone still adorned him, made him more guilty about the fact that he had been the reason they all had died.
"Harry" Ron was sitting upright beside him.
"Yeah" He said as he turned towards him.
"Blimey. Where is your head at!" he said "I asked if you were coming?"
"Yeah well.... sure. If I am invited." He muttered.
"Merlin's beard! Seven years and you are basically the only non-red hair Weasley in the family and you are waiting for an invitation?" Ron looked appalled.
Harry smiled as he watched Ron lay back down.
"I'll be there."said Harry looking at him.
They sat there, eating a few chocolate frogs, courtesy of George that Ron had received that morning, till it was finally time for the class.
Apparitions was boring. But with the Headmistress it seemed a dread. McGonagall had always been strict but Apparitions was hard to master and in no way did McGonagall forgot to remind them that constantly. Every thing had to be precise and perfect. Mistakes were forgiven but with extra homework. As they settled down on the third Row, Hermione flopped down beside Ron with her completed essay due a week later. She took out a book from her bag and placed it in front of Ron.
"A guide to Alchemy terms for newcomers" read Ron aloud.
"When you are done with that, you may ask your questions." said Hermione as she set her parchment and quill for the class.
Ron turned to look at Harry with a 'is she joking' look. Harry smirked as he gave him a shrug. Ron turned towards Hermione but jerked his head back. His eyes fixated towards the entrance. Draco Malfoy was finally here.