𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

Chapter 10

"Okay, so spill it," Ron stated eagerly, accosting Harry the minute he walked into the Gryffindor common room. Hermione took a hold of her dark haired friends other arm and both teens bodily escorted The-Boy-Who-Lived over to a private corner of the room where all three sat on a large, comfortable sofa.

"Well..." Harry began haltingly. He really wasn't sure how much he should say. He wasn't sure if his two best friends would understand about his desire to at least be Malfoy's friend, if not more. He wasn't sure if he understood this urge either. He decided to just stick with the basic truths, as Draco had done, and let them infer what they would.

"Come on mate, what's up with Malfoy? Is he doing something evil?" Ron asked with an unfriendly scowl at the thought of his hated enemy doing something against them yet again.

"I found him nearly unconscious in the bathroom sitting in a puddle of blood," Harry returned rather starkly, bending the truth only slightly. He was a bit irritated at Ron's attitude, even though he could understand it, since it was an attitude he had shared with his friend not that long ago.

"Wha...what?" Hermione stammered out. "But we saw him in class, he looked perfectly fine." "Well...I fixed him up because he wouldn't go to Madame Pomfrey, but then he got really weak and had to go to the infirmary in the end." Harry answered her with a shrug.

"What happened to him? Was he trying to do dark magic with the blood? Did you have to fight him?" Ron asked, hoping in his heart that Harry had given the ferret what for.

Harry sighed. "No he wasn't trying to do blood magic. He hurt himself," was all he said.

Ron and Hermione looked at their friend incredulously. Surprisingly, it was Ron who seemed to catch the drift of what Harry was insinuating before Hermione. "He tried to off himself?" the red-head asked, now speaking in a hushed whisper.

Harry skipped over answering that question as he didn't want to out and out lie to his friend. "He's in the infirmary now, but I think Madame Pomfrey will let him go tomorrow."

The three sat silently for awhile, not knowing what to say about that. "Maybe we should leave him alone for awhile," Hermione finally spoke up, which earned her startled looks from both boys. "I mean if he's having a problem, we shouldn't take advantage of it," the girl blushed.

"We haven't done anything to him and this is Malfoy we're talking about. What in the hell could be so bad with his life that he'd want to kick it? I don't believe it," Ron stated gruffly.

"That's not the point, Ron," Hermione reprimanded. "What if it's true? You've been teasing him almost every time you see him, about him losing control of his magic. I think you should just give it a rest," she finished, scowling at the red-head.

Ron crossed his arms and stared up at the ceiling, but gave a nod that said that, even though he wasn't happy with it, he wouldn't bother Malfoy anymore, at least for the time being.

Harry gave a huge yawn. "I think I'm heading off to bed," he stated as a way to get out of answering anymore questions. "Goodnight guys." The dark haired boy stood and stretched, leaving his two, now somber friends sitting on the sofa whispering with each other.

XXX

Early in the morning Harry carefully snuck out from behind the portrait of the fat lady, being careful not to jar her awake. He quickly headed down from the seventh floor to the first, going straight to the hospital wing. He was, of course, covered by his invisibility cloak so he wasn't worried about anyone seeing him and he was sure Madame Pomfrey would still be asleep, but just in case...

Opening the doors, he crept up to the bed Draco was lying in and just stood for a moment watching the sleeping boy. Harry was a bit shocked to find himself thinking that Draco was actually quite beautiful. A strange thing to think about another boy, but that didn't seem to change the fact that it was true. The early morning sunlight falling through the window seemed to suffuse around the blonde, making his skin glow almost bronze and highlighting his pale hair.