Chapter Text
Harry had been watching Draco all year. Harry had always been watching Draco, but this year, he had a valid reason. Between hearing him talking to Snape in hushed whispers about being chosen and the many attempts on Dumbledore's life. It certainly seemed like the blonde that Harry hated so much was involved. After Katie Bell was given a cursed necklace and nearly killed, it only seemed right to be keeping a close watch on the one he knew to be responsible.
It had been right after she was released from the hospital wing. Harry had been eating dinner with Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall. The atmosphere had a false cheerfulness to it. He'd always found such happiness at Hogwarts and loved their fantastical meals but now it felt fake. Like everyone was waiting with hushed breaths for something worse to happen. Of course Harry was waiting for Voldemort's next attempt on his life, but so far, it didn't seem like Draco was aiming for him at all.
The mashed potatoes on his plate were growing cold, as he poked a fork into them haphazardly. He wasn't really hungry. So, instead he pulled out the potions book he kept in his back pocket at all times. He'd flipped through it multiple times already and still couldn't figure out who it belonged to. But something kept drawing it back out onto the table, curiosity or boredom, he wasn't sure. The spine of the book was horribly frayed, and the fabric was trying to escape from it. The pages weren't in much better condition. They had a faded tan color to them now and were wrinkled in various places. He traced his fingers down the front cover, flipping it open and briefly reading the note on the front page. Property of the Half-Blood Prince.
He'd read that name many times over already, and he hadn't gotten any closer to figuring it out. Flipping a few pages ahead, he skimmed over a few tips on how to properly brew different potions. Nothing new. His eyes landed on the note in the margin that had caught his attention before. Simply because it was one of the only notes in the book that didn't relate back to making Potions. It was a short but simple note, a spell. Sectum Sempra - for enemies.
He'd considered trying out the spell before, but was apprehensive as to what it would do. It had to be some sort of offensive or defensive spell. Maybe it didn't even work, he'd never heard of it before.
So when Katie Bell suddenly hurried past him, accidently brushing against his robes, he looked up in shock. He hadn't realized she'd been released. Jumping to his feet he hurried after her. "Hey! Katie... wait up!"
The girl slowed and turned to look at him, cutting him off before he could even ask. "I don't know who cursed me Harry. I'm sorry."
He nodded awkwardly, of course she wouldn't know. "Oh, yeah, it's okay. I'm just glad you're feeling better." he muttered after a moments pause.
Katie's eyes seemed to move up past his head and were staring intently on something or someone behind him. Turning, he glanced over his shoulder to see what had caught her attention. Something churned in his stomach, as he saw Malfoy standing in the middle of the Great Hall staring back at Katie Bell. His jaw clenched, and he watched as the other boy turned and literally ran out of the room. If that wasn't a confession of guilt then what was? Immediately he was racing after him, ignoring the shouts of Ron and Hermione telling him to stop. It didn't matter, he'd apologize to them later.
He saw the hem of his pant-leg turn around the corner, and he sped up, hurrying after him. The door to the girl's lavatory was already shut. Slowing enough that he was walking, he hesitated for a moment at the thresh-hold, as he heard voices from inside. He recognized Malfoy's instantly but something was off about it. He almost sounded like he was crying. The second voice took him a moment, but he soon realized it was Moaning Myrtle. Why was Draco talking to Myrtle?
Shaking his head in disbelief, he shoved the door open, watching it bounce off the wall with a bang. Malfoy jumped and turned to see Potter standing in the doorway with his wand already drawn. Harry had been right; he'd been crying. There were tears still streaming down his cheeks. Myrtle quickly disappeared into a toilette at the sign of a fight.
"What did you do Draco?!" He shouted and quickly ducked out of the way as a flash of light streaked past him and slammed into the wall. Fragments of plaster and linoleum sprayed against the floor and onto him.
He was ducked down behind a stall, seeing Malfoy's black shoes coming towards him. Harry's wand was already raised, as he backed away further, trying to put some distance between him and his opponent.
The air fizzed with spent magic, as spells were launched between both boys. Stalls exploded, and a heavy mist filled the air.
"cruc-" A strained voice was beginning to shout, as the footsteps increased in frequency and speed.
His body seemed to tense up at the half formed word. no. NO! He wasn't going to be put under the Cruciatus curse, not again and certainly not by Draco Malfoy. He reacted, before he even registered what he was doing or saying. He whisked his wand around the corner of the stall and hissed," Sectumsempra."
He didn't see if the spell had hit, but he heard the dull thud, as a body hit the floor. He only then realized what spell he had cast. A cold shiver ran up his spine, as he rushed forwards, only now realizing that his feet were sloshing in water. He peered around the corner with bated breath. It was so much worse than anything his mind had been conjuring up as a worst case scenario.
The lack of screaming was concerning, but not as concerning as the deep gashes that had materialized across Draco's chest. They were deep, too deep. Blood was gushing out of them, turning the water to a faded red. His pale skin was rapidly disappearing beneath the tide of crimson. The only white visible beneath the sea of red was the outline of his ribs, but even they were quickly drowning.
Stumbling forwards, Harry saw Malfoy's face clearly now. It was ghostly pale, any remnants of color had drained from his sunken cheeks. Malfoy's lips trembled feebly, as he fought to open his mouth. Wheezing gasps filled the air, as he struggled to breathe, until suddenly he choked. Bubbles of blood gurgled in his throat, as his airway was filling with the relentless flow of red.
Silver, unseeing eyes flicked back and forth haphazardly. The whites of his eyes were turning a deep pink, as the capillaries were bursting open under the strain.
But Malfoy was beginning to still. The subtle movement of his eyes subsiding. The ragged breaths slowing.
A cold chill worked its way through Harry causing him to shudder. What have I done?
He could feel the sour taste of bile trying to force its way up, as he watched Malfoy dying.
I've killed him. He's going to die.
He could barely hear the clicking of shoes coming from behind him and was startled at the harsh. "I didn't know you had it in you, Potter."
It was only when Snape moved in front of him to kneel down next to Draco, that he realized he was there. Harry's mouth was hanging open in horror, as Snape's wand materialized. You have to help him. Please. Was all he could think. He can't die. I can't kill him.
He'd never heard Severus's voice so soft and soothing before, and then he realized he was singing. His wand was moving in a slow circle around Draco's chest and as he sang gently over the boy, his wounds began to heal, and the blood was being eased back into his body.
Once he was sure Draco wasn't dead, he stumbled back a few steps, feeling like he was going to vomit and wheeled around, racing out of the room.
He reached the Gryffindor common room in what felt like seconds and raced up the stairs towards the boy's dorm rooms. He hurriedly made his way to the bathrooms and fell to the ground in front of a toilette, head hanging over the bowl. He felt himself retch but nothing came up. His entire body was trembling and his vision was becoming blurry, he realized he was crying.
"Harry? Oh!" He heard a gasp and looked up to see Ron, who hurried over to him. "Are you okay? Did Malfoy hex you?" He asked concern dripping in his tone.
All Harry could do at the moment was shake his head no. He tried to catch his breath but he kept choking, all he could see was Malfoy covered in blood, dying. His fingers shakily wiped away his tear filled eyes. "I... I..."
He felt his stomach churn and turned, vomiting until his stomach was empty. Sliding down, he sat on the floor and looked up at Ron, who looked even more concerned now than he had a moment ago.
He heard the flush of the toilette, as Ron nervously pushed on the handle. "Are you hurt?" he asked," you don't look good."
Harry could almost laugh, he wasn't hurt. Again, he shook his head no. He felt slightly better now that he'd thrown up and emptied his stomach. He leaned forwards on his knees and felt grateful, as Ron helped him to stand and led him out of the bathroom and to his bed. Sitting on the edge of it he let out a shaky sigh and glanced at Ron with scared eyes.
"Harry, what's wrong?" He asked, more fiercely now.
" I... I almost killed him Ron." He shook his head, as if disgusted with himself. " I didn't... I didn't know...." he began, "It... It sliced him open Ron, there was so much blood..." He suddenly looked sick again and promptly stopped talking.
It took Ron less than a second to realize what he was saying. "You... You used that spell didn't you? The one in the book."
Harry nodded shakily and buried his eyes in his hands. "I didn't know..." he repeated pitifully. His glasses were smudged now, and he could barely see out of them.
Ron frowned and sat down beside him. "you... You said he almost died. So he's okay?" He asked.
Again, Harry nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, I think. Snape... Snape showed up. I don't know how. I don't think I've ever been happy to see him before, but he healed him in a matter of seconds. I... didn't think it was possible to heal that much damage... So quickly."
Ron nodded and rested his hand on Harry's shoulder. "At least he's alright?"
Harry wiped his eyes again and took his glasses off, rubbing them on his robes to try and clean them as best he could. "Yeah..." he muttered half-heartedly. He looked up as Ron got off the bed.
"I'm gonna head to the common room. I'm sure Hermione will do a better job at talking then me. You wanna come?" He asked. It was obvious Ron wanted him to come, it wasn't really a choice.
After a pause Harry nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. But you're finding Hermione." he added. Not wanting to have to roam the castle after what had happened.
A few moments later, both Ron and Harry had descended the stairwell and were in the common room. Harry sat on the old, lumpy couch that was sat in front of the fireplace. Ron was heading for the door. "I'll be back with Hermione." he said, before the picture opened, and he stepped through it.
The small room was eerily quiet with most of the students still eating dinner. Harry couldn't believe that the whole confrontation had only lasted a matter of minutes. It felt like hours had passed. He stared at the flickering flames with a frown etched into his features. Would Malfoy be scarred now? Had he ruined his skin? He shook his head, why was he even wondering about that? It didn't matter, Malfoy had survived, and they'd go back to hating each other like they always had. That was the best case scenario anyways. He didn't think he could stand it if Draco was afraid of him now. But he wouldn't be, Malfoy would scoff at the idea. He knew that.
He glanced up, as the picture opened again and Ron and Hermione stepped into the common room. He was fiddling with his robes nervously, he really didn't want to have to tell Hermione what he'd done again. Luckily, he wouldn't have to. The curly haired witch instantly came and sat down next to him. "Oh, Harry. Ron told me everything. Are you okay?"
He couldn't help but chuckle, he wasn't the one who needed to be asked that. "Yeah... I'm okay. Just a bit rattled."
Soft hands took hold of his own, and he looked her in the eyes, seeing a fierce determination there. "You need to get rid of the book, okay?" She phrased it as a question, but it really wasn't.
"Yes, of course." He answered instantly. Of course, he'd get rid of the book. He didn't think he could stand to look at it, after what he'd done. That earned a smile from Hermione, and he felt the sofa shift, as Ron sat down on his other side. He let out a sigh. "I mean it. I'll get rid of it. I... I don't want it anymore."
Part of him still wondered what Snape would do to him. Would he tell Dumbledore that he'd tried to murder Draco? Would he be expelled? Or would he skip all that and just kill him himself. He was sure Snape would jump at the idea.
He sat by the fire with Ron and Hermione, until the light outside faded and the castle went dark. Ron was the first to leave, followed closely after by Hermione, who squeezed his hand before she left. He assured them both he'd be up to bed soon.
Once he heard Ron's snores from their dormitory, he slowly climbed the stairs and went to his bedside, pulling his father's cloak out from his suitcase. He just wanted to check that Malfoy was really okay. He didn't think he'd be able to sleep, until he'd seen him again and replaced the image of him covered in blood. Nearly shuddering at the thought, he slipped the cloak over himself and felt slightly more at ease now that he couldn't be spotted.
He made his way back down the stairs, walking slowly so he didn't trip on the cloak, and slipped out of the common room. He winced at the sound of the picture opening and crawled through it. Once he was in the hallway, he leaned against the wall for support, keeping an eye out for Filch. The air was cooler out here than in the common room. It was refreshing and helped to clear his head. He was guessing that Malfoy would still be in the hospital wing of the tower and headed in that direction. The hallways were empty, and he arrived there with no incidents, for once. The door was shut, and he took a breath, reaching out and twisting the handle. It opened with a soft click. He slid the door open and slipped inside, letting the door shut behind him with another slightly louder click.
The room was wide and spacious, the only student staying over-night at the moment was Malfoy in the cot closest to the far wall. There was a heavy blanket placed over his sleeping form and only his face and a stray arm were visible. He carefully made his way towards him, feeling like his pounding heart would wake him. As he got closer, his heart fell. Malfoy was in fact, not asleep and was staring at the door that had just opened and closed on its own. His eyes were wide and dark bags hung under them, sticking out against his pale skin. Why wasn't he asleep? It was past midnight, every reasonable person was asleep. Of course, Malfoy wasn't able to see him beneath the invisibility cloak and was quite literally staring through him. He shifted to the side, not liking the grey eyes that were peering into him. He accidently bumped into a chair, causing it to scrape against the floor. It was a small movement and nearly silent, but Draco noticed it and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Who's there?!" Draco hissed, shifting uncomfortably under the blankets, reaching for his wand. He groped at the small table next to him, until his fingers closed around it, not taking his eyes off of the spot where Harry was standing.
Harry's heart was thudding wildly. He shouldn't have come. This was a mistake, he thought he'd be asleep. He just wanted to come in, see he was alive and leave. His fingers reactively curled around his own wand, as Malfoy's was now pointed directly at him. He held his breath, hoping the boy would think he was imagining things and lower his wand. But he didn't.
"I said... Who's there!" Draco never once took his eyes off of the spot were Harry was, and he thought he could see the slightest hint of fear shining through them.
What should he do? Say 'it's just me, Harry', and then get hexed. Besides, after what he'd done, it'd probably only scare him more, knowing that he'd snuck in here at night with no other witnesses. So, he did the only thing he could. He kept his mouth shut, until Malfoy spoke again.
"P-Potter?" He gasped out, a panicked look in his eyes. He knew Harry had some sort of invisibility cloak, he'd used it on the train at the beginning of the year. Suddenly, Draco went rigid and frantically looked all around him, desperately trying to find his intruder.
It seemed like he'd already figured out it was him. And judging by the way he was looking around the room, he half expected to be attacked by something he couldn't see. He kept the cloak on, hoping that if Malfoy couldn't see where he was, he wouldn't start throwing spells around the room wildly. He took a breath and whispered out, "Yes."
Malfoy flinched and tried to follow where the voice had come from, pointing his wand in his general direction. He was now sitting up in bed, the blanket had fallen down to his hips. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and there were dark, red scars lining his pale chest. They looked inflamed and angry, but seemed like they'd been healed for days. Malfoy winced, as he shifted, the scars moving as he did. His breathing was more shallow now and coming in short gasps. "I... I knew you were a coward." he hissed out, "But.. you can't even show yourself before you finish me off?!"
Harry frowned, even though Malfoy couldn't see his face. This was so much worse than he thought, and he spoke a bit too loudly in his haste, "No... no, I'm not here to-"
A spell slammed into his chest, sending him flying into the wall with a thud, the cloak falling off of him in a pile on the floor. He winced and rubbed at his head. His glasses! He felt around on the floor trying to locate them. Everything was blurry, and he could barely see anything more than blobs and colors. He cursed under his breath but felt something long touch his fingers. His wand. He grasped for it, hearing a strained voice snap out. "Don't! You'll regret it and I know you can't see well enough to cast."
His lips twitched into a scowl. "Will you listen to me?" he snapped back and sighed. Yelling at Draco wasn't going to help. "I didn't come here to hurt you." He started, but was cut off.
"Then why else did you come here in the middle of the night, when no one was around to stop you?!" he snapped, "And you kept your damn cloak on the whole time!"
Harry lifted his empty hands, up as if saying, 'I surrender'. He was squinting heavily and couldn't see more than a foot in front of his face. He would keep looking for his glasses, but didn't want Draco to think he was reaching for his wand. He seemed jumpy enough as it was and didn't want another spell to the chest, or worse.
"Keep your voice down..." he muttered. He felt stupid, sitting on his knees, unarmed, unable to see anything. "I just... Listen. I'm... I'm sorry. okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... do that. I just wanted to see that you were okay... honestly." He frowned up at him." Can I at least grab my glasses. I can't see anything."
Malfoy wasn't entirely convinced but muttered out, " Just your glasses." He pointed his wand towards the glasses for emphasis, even though Harry couldn't see it.
He let out a sigh and felt around, his fingers brushing against them. He picked them up and hurriedly set them back on his face. They didn't seem broken or too dirty. He blinked a few times, as everything was suddenly in focus. He could see now how thin Draco was. He looked like he hadn't been eating much of anything. His eyes lingered on the scars that marred his skin, and he frowned. It was a blatant reminder of what he'd done. Of how he'd almost taken his life.
"Stop staring at me like that!" Draco snapped, his eyes were narrowed with more annoyance than fear now. But it was definitely still there. He also looked exceedingly tired.
A scowl formed on Harry's lips and he drew his eyes away from the angry crisscrossing on his chest. "Can I grab my wand and leave then?" He didn't want to be here anymore. He shouldn't have come at all. This was a mistake, all he'd done was make Malfoy even more upset.
Draco looked like he was going to say no and then clamped his mouth shut. His lips grimaced and he eventually muttered, "Okay... Fine. But you try anything, and you'll regret it."
He rolled his eyes at Draco's comment and picked up his wand, shoving it into the hem of his trousers. "okay?" he asked and grabbed his invisibility cloak. Deciding he would put it on, once he was out of the room, as he didn't think Malfoy would appreciate it if he threw it back on right now. Throwing him one more look over his shoulder, he hurried out of the room and promptly slipped the cloak back over himself, releasing a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
That couldn't have possibly gone any worse.
His footsteps were probably too loud on the concrete floor, but he didn't care. He wanted to get back to the dormitory as soon as possible. Hoping that Ron hadn't woken up and noticed Harry still hadn't gone to bed, he didn't want to have to explain to him where he'd gone.
To Harry's relief, when he arrived there Ron was still fast asleep. He didn't bother to change out of his robes and just shoved his cloak under the bed, crawling under the covers. It took him longer to fall asleep than it normally did. All he could think about was how horrible Draco looked and not just because of the newly added scars on his chest. It took a long time for someone to become that thin and tired looking. He found himself becoming more concerned for the boy than he'd ever felt before, and it startled him.