Desperate Times

An Unexpected Ally

"Potter! Potter, wake up, damn it!"

Harry opened his eyes with a groan, clutching his head in both hands, and glared at the person, who was moments ago shouting in his ear in panicked voice and shaking him by the shoulders violently.

"Malfoy!" spat Harry out angrily. "What..?" he didn't get to finish his sentence.

Malfoy suddenly clasped a hand over his mouth with an even more panicked hiss of "Be quiet, will you?" and glanced over his shoulder.

Harry sent him a death glare and tried to shake off the hand, then promptly bit it, narrowing his eyes and scrunching his nose in disgust.

"Shit!" Malfoy cursed under his breath, shaking the hand with bite marks on it, and scowled at Harry. "Are you a dog, Potter?!" he hissed indignantly, grabbed him by the shoulders, yanked up to his feet and steered to the nearest classroom, muttering more curses under his nose.

Malfoy pushed Harry inside and quickly locked the door, adding several layers of spells upon it immediately, his wand movements jerky with nerves.

Muttering "I am so going to regret this later!" under his nose, Malfoy turned to face frowning Harry again.

"Potter, you may not believe it, but I am sorry for earlier," Malfoy said scowling and motioned at Harry's temple. The big angry bruise was already forming there, Harry's head throbbing with dull pain from it. Harry winced, rubbing at his ribs, which had been also bruised, his mouth corners twitching from the unpleasant sensation in his chest. "I'd got carried away."

"What do you want from me?" still clutching at the front of his own robes with one hand, Harry raised a wand and pointed it right between Draco's eyes. The latter almost went cross-eyed in attempt to see it, the tip glowing red slightly and heat emanating from Harry's wand in unpleasant waves and washing over Draco's face.

"Look, Potter, I am going to tell you all now," Draco gulped nervously, still eyeing the wand pointed at his face, "but can you, maybe, lower your wand a bit?" he pleaded.

"No," was the short raspy reply.

"Fine," Draco pursed his lips into thin line and, moving very slowly, produced his own wand from his sleeve, where he'd stuffed it earlier. Still slowly, as if trying not to spook a jumpy hare, he dropped the wand to the floor and shuffled it with his foot towards Harry. "Here. I am unarmed, see?" he glanced at Harry, before again returning his attention to the other's wand, pointed at him.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I need you to listen to me," Draco gave a nonchalant shrug. "I figured, you'd more likely listen if I am unarmed," he let out an unsure half-smile. "So, will you listen?" he pointedly looked at Harry's wand, "and lower that? Please?" cringing and grimacing he added with even less surety.

Still eyeing him warily, Harry slowly lowered the wand.

"How can I be sure you don't have another wand somewhere on you?" narrowing his eyes in suspicion, asked Harry.

"You don't," Draco agreed. "But I don't have one," he gave another shrug and winced, his hand shooting to his opposite shoulder and hissing lowly. "That was a nasty one," he admitted, tentatively touching the ripped bloodied sleeve of his robe and scrunching his face, a shuddering breath leaving him. "I don't like the sight of my blood," he muttered, his eyes going glassy for a brief moment, before remembered himself and looked back at Harry. "If you'd like I'd make a Wizard's Oath to not hurt you," he suggested, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Wh-what?!" Harry widened his eyes at him in bewilderment. "You'd do that?"

"Potter, don't you get it yet? I am trying to be serious here. It's important!" Draco's voice raised in alarm.