snakes and lions

Chapter 10

The fire was flickering comfortingly, warming Harry's toes in the evening chill. Draco was still in the bedroom, but Harry had already changed into his night clothes. He gazed into the flames, lost deep in a pool of his own thoughts. That conversation he just had- were they now friends? Or was Draco just pretending to be happy? For some reason, he just couldn't get the conversation out of his head. He kept going over and over it, analysing Draco's words and thinking about what they must mean. Why couldn't he get it out of his head? Why couldn't he get Draco out of his head?

Almost immediately after Harry thought this, the boy himself sat next to him on the velvety red sofas.
"Hey," he murmured.
"Hi Draco,"
"Look, I need help with this defence against the dark arts homework. Usually I wouldn't ask you, but seeing as you're literally the only person that can help me, I was wondering if I could have some help?"
"Um, ye-yeah, sure. What's up?"
The Gryffindor shuffled closer to Draco.
"Well, it's this defensive spell. . ."

The two boys sat chatting by the fire all evening. They talked about school, friends, past events, and before either of them realised, it was nearly midnight. Harry started to feel sleepy. The warmth of the fire, and the comfort of the boy beside made his eyes feel more and more droopy. . .