Months went by and Harry continued to research rituals in Salazar's secret library. Much to his disappointment, he still hadn't come across a ritual for Tom. He'd come close at times, but close isn't enough. The seemingly endless research was taking a toll on him though. He was exhausted. Absolutely, positively exhausted. He limited his sleep to a minimum so that he would be able to spend more time researching. But, even though he was exhausted, he wouldn't allow himself to sleep more than the minimum. Doing so would put him behind in his research and he couldn't allow himself to do that. His exhaustion was causing Draco to be concerned though. Although Harry would like to think that he hid his exhaustion well, Draco could spot it from a mile away. None of the signs were overly noticeable unless you spent a great deal of time looking at Harry. And Draco just so happened to look at him very often. Draco noticed that Harry's hands would shake whenever he picked something up, or how his eyes would glaze over as if he couldn't get them to focus anymore, or how his schoolwork wasn't completed to perfection. In saying that, he was still achieving top marks in all his classes, but his work was just a little more sloppy than usual. But every time Draco would ask Harry about it, Harry would avoid the questions. Harry hated the thought of lying to his best friend. He couldn't do it, so he figured that avoiding answering the question has got to be better than lying. But Draco knew the truth, and deep down inside of him, Harry knew that. But with the constant exhaustion, he didn't have enough energy to realise that.
That night, Draco made sure to stay awake to see what Harry had been up to. He stayed in his bed, pretending to sleep. Then he heard quiet footsteps, the door opening, and then it closing behind Harry. Draco waited a few seconds before getting up and following him. He didn't want to be too close to Harry in case Harry spotted him, so he waited in the common room until the portrait hole shut. He quickly walked to it and opened it, looking from left to right, he didn't see Harry. He decided to try going left. Draco ran quietly to the end of the corridor and looked left again. But much to his dismay, Harry wasn't there. He kept following the corridors, hoping to come across the boy. But he didn't. Draco's shoulders slumped in defeat as he turned to make his way back to the common room. As he walked, a thought popped into his head. He sped up and walked further before coming to a stop. He knocked on the door in front of him and waited. Growing impatient, he raised his fist to knock again, only for the door to open to reveal a disgruntled looking Severus. Severus opened his mouth to tell off whoever disturbed his sleep. But upon seeing that it was in fact his godson, he let out a sigh, stepping to the side so Draco could enter. Draco walked in and Severus shut the door behind him, the two walked over to the armchairs by the now lit fire.
"Care to explain your late night visit, Draco?" Severus asks, voice still hoarse from being asleep.
"It's about Harry. I'm worried about him."
Draco's reply caused Severus to fully awaken. If Draco is worried about his son and is bringing it to his attention, it must be something that he should be worried about.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Well, since the beginning of first term, he's slowly been getting more and more tired. He tries to hide it, but I've noticed just how exhausted he is. And every time I ask, he just changes the topic. Tonight I decided to stay up to see what was going on, and he got up and left the dormitories, I tried following him but I ended up losing him."
Severus frowns. He had noticed that his sons work wasn't too the usual impeccable standard that it usually is. But he just passed it off as Harry getting bored of doing such simple work. But now he was worried.
"Well, unfortunately there isn't anything that we can do now, so I suggest we both get some sleep. I'll talk to him before breakfast. Do you mind letting him know that I need to see him?"
Draco nods as he heads out of the room. He realises just how tired he is. If he is this tired just from tonight, how has Harry been coping? Draco arrives at the common room and enters, making his way up to his room. He glances at Harry's empty bed and lets out a sigh before getting changed and slipping under the soft covers of his bed. He drifts asleep within a few minutes of his head touching his pillow.
