I'm Coming For You, Draco Malfoy!

The Boy Who Vanishes

Harry came back in the middle of that night. Although sleeping, I woke easily from my light slumber. It was probably aided by the fact that I was asleep in his bed, despite his attempts to move quietly around me. I listened to him change, discard his clothes and I wondered if he still wore his robes from the ball. He quietly rooted in his trunk and disappeared off to the bathrooms and before long there was the faint sounds of a shower running. When he came back, I heard him stop between our beds, clearly looking at me as I pretended to remain asleep. I don't know why I did that. Why didn't I just open my eyes and pull him towards me?

I felt in turmoil. Ginny had said just tell him how I feel but now I felt afraid. Fearful of what I might encounter.

In my mind's eye I saw the feral, wild Potter standing over me with his wand drawn and his eyes blazing.

'I know you're awake, Dray,' he whispered.

My eyes shot open in surprise. He was stood in his pyjama bottoms, much like our first night in the dormitory together, his tattooed arm dark in the gloom. He wasn't wearing his glasses but he'd told me once it was easier to adjust his eyes before showering because then he could actually read which was the shampoo bottle.

'Hey,' he said softly, a guilty quirk on his lips, his voice tender and I was drawn straight back to when it was just the two of us in the room. He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept for all the days that he'd been away. I could tell from the way he stood and from the way his damp hair fell around his face. He'd lost his fight. To see him broken made me angry because only he had done this to himself.

'Where the fuck have you been, Potter?' I hissed, furious with him.

'Silencing Charms,' grumbled Theo sleepily from across the room.

He walked silently to my bedside and knelt on the floor beside me. Our faces were close together and he looked at me so brokenly in the dim green light of the room that it made my heart clench.

'Harry,' I said more softly, 'where have you been?'

'Here and there,' he whispered. 'Walking a lot. A bit of time at Grimmauld Place. Wandering the streets in London...' he shrugged.

'We were worried. I was worried.'

'Sorry. I needed to collect my thoughts, get myself together. I wasn't safe.'

'Stop it, Harry. Stop beating yourself up about this. I just... oh fuck...! Will you just get in the bed?'

He raised an eyebrow, I knew because I saw his eyebrow piercing glint in the darkness as it moved.

I threw back his duvet anyway.

'Forward, much?' he teased but he climbed in beside me and it was very awkward as we lay side-by-side, rather rigidly and scared, in his narrow bed in the darkness. I didn't dare move in case I inadvertently touched him.

'You once said,' I whispered as I stared at the ceiling, my heart thumping wildly, 'that you would always give me a hug if I ever asked for one. I'm asking now.'

He immediately lifted an arm to put around my shoulders and I rolled into him, pressing up against the warmth of his chest. His other arm snaked around me, holding me tight. My hand rested on bare skin and I tried to resist exploring the dips and curves beneath my fingertips.

'Why are you always so warm?' I whispered.

'Do you want the boring answer or something cuddly and soppy and made up?'

I smiled, my cheek moving against his bare shoulder. 'The proper answer,' I said, letting him interpret that how he wanted.

'It's since I died. The section of my brain that controls my body's thermoregulation has been affected. It was probably where the Horcrux was lodged, which was why I burned up every time I connected with him or when a Horcrux was destroyed. It was why I practically burnt off Quirrell's face when I touched him so the Horcruxes in him and me connected. The Healers at St Mungo's say it's healing slowly but may take some time or may never heal completely. It's why I never do my coats up and live in t-shirts.'