Draw The Line

Midnight Conversations: Chapter 18

I've got to say, this and chapter 24 were my favorite chapters in the story to write so far, so enjoy!

It was three in the morning when Draco woke up. At first he wasn't sure what woke him up until he looked over to see Harry thrashing around in his bed. Draco watched him for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He suddenly noticed the tears rolling down Harry's cheeks as he rolled about on his bed.

Draco quickly got out of bed and rushed over to him, calling his name. When Harry didn't wake, he reached out and gently shook his shoulder.

"Potter, wake up," Draco said, "Harry!"

Harry suddenly woke with a gasp and sat up very quickly, causing Draco to jump back. He was drenched in sweat. Harry stared around, wide eyed until his eyes landed on Draco and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked, coming closer to Harry.

"Yeah, just a bad dream. It's alright, you can go back to bed," Harry said, running his hand over his face.

"Here, stay here, I'll be right back," Draco said with a tone that was surprisingly gentle. Harry watched as Draco went to the bathroom and he heard the faucet turn on. Draco came back a moment with a damp towel. "May I?" Draco held the towel out towards him.

Harry simply shrugged and Draco ran the towel over his forehead. Harry let out a breath of relief and closed his eyes at the feeling of the cool towel on his head. Draco moved the towel to Harry's neck where he let it stay to cool him off. Harry opened his eyes again and looked up at Draco. Their eyes met and Harry felt a spark pass between them, but Draco quickly looked away.

"Budge over," Draco said, already climbing into bed next to Harry. Harry moved over a bit and Draco leaned his head onto his shoulder. Harry's heart hammered in his chest.

"I get nightmares too," Draco mumbled after a minute of silence, "Sometimes- sometimes it helps me to write them down or talk about them. I'm here if you need to talk."

The gentleness with which Draco spoke, took Harry by surprise. How am I ever supposed to get over him if he keeps doing things like this, Harry thought. Harry sucked in a shuddering breath, "I don't always remember them. They're often jumbled up and make little sense." Harry sighed and looked down at Draco who was still leaning on his shoulder. Draco didn't say anything, simply letting Harry speak. "Tonight though, I know it was about my aunt and uncle. They're who I used to live with after my parents... you know." Harry stopped then and Draco realized he didn't know how to continue.

"What did they do?" Draco prompted.

Harry struggled with knowing what to say. Ron and Hermione were the only ones he'd ever really confided in about his life before Hogwarts, but he also knew that Draco was right. Talking about it might help.

"They didn't like me too much. They weren't fond of magic. My uncle hated the mention of magic and my cousin followed his lead," Draco stared up at him, he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"They treated you poorly didn't they? What did they do specifically," Draco felt worried, then he added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I don't mean to pry."

"It's alright, I don't blame you for wanting to help," Harry let out a sigh, "It wasn't that bad, I'm sure other people have it worse. They really only made me do the chores and cooking and stuff. My cousin, Dudley, liked to push me around a bit. My uncle would really only lay hands on me when he was having a particularly bad day."

Draco had a feeling it was much worse than he was letting on, and he suddenly felt very angry, "Not that bad? That's child abuse!" Draco suddenly shouted and then caught himself when Harry seemed to startle at his sudden outburst. He knew Harry didn't need his rage right now, it wouldn't help him, so instead he took a breath and scooted a bit closer. "Sorry, but I mean, you shouldn't need to compare what your childhood was like to others'. Just because some people have gone through worse, doesn't make your pain any less valid."