Shattered Castle

5

i think quarantine has fried my brain cells and I didn't have many to start with

does anyone have movie recommendations

Question: What house are you? Please answer truthfully, there's a reason I'm asking that you all will know later :)

When Harry wakes back up, Blaise is already awake and eating with his left hand, right one uselessly in a cast by his side.

"How long was I out?" he says softly, careful not to scare the boy.

Blaise's brown eyes meet his. He shrugs. "I think maybe sixteen hours? Longer than twelve, I think it was around two in the afternoon when you came in."

"What time is it?"

"Six pm."

Harry sits up, wincing at the burn in his leg.

"You're not an idiot, Potter."

Harry looks at the other boy, confused. "Um, thanks?"

"I've been thinking for a while since you came in. In all the eight years I've gone to this school, you've never spilled a cauldron once."

"Your point is?"

"Why did you spill a cauldron of Skin-Eating Potion on yourself, Potter?"

Blaise's eyes are calm. He's not asking if Harry did it on purpose, he knows he did. He wants to know why.

"I had to leave class."

"You could have asked Slughorn to go to the bathroom."

"I couldn't."

"Why? He's not one of those teachers who won't let you go out when someone else is out." Blaise studies him for a long moment before something lights up in his eyes. "Unless someone was out, and you didn't want to seem like you were following them."

"You think I would spill a potion on myself to save face?"

"It's the sort of thing you would do." Blaise cocks his head "So who was it? Dean or Draco?"

"Why are those my only two options?"

"They came in with you." Blaise watches his expressions carefully. "Draco was crying when he came in. Why?"

"Because you're in here," Harry responds automatically, and immediately wants to punch himself because he's just given Blaise his answer.

"So Draco leaves class to go to the bathroom because he's upset," Blaise says slowly, watching Harry's face for confirmation. "You want to check on him, but don't want to seem like you're following him, because... you don't want to seem like you care?" He studies Harry's face for another moment. "I've almost got it. You don't want to seem like..." Shock illuminates his face. "You don't want to seem like you like him."

Harry winces. Fuck.

"You have a crush on Draco," Blaise says, almost to himself. "So you spill a potion on yourself? That doesn't make sense, especially if Draco wouldn't want you to follow him. It wouldn't be worth it. Unless..." Blaise pauses, and Harry pauses, waiting for the verdict. "Unless you know he wouldn't care if you followed him."

Harry swallows.

"Unless you two were closer than anyone thought," Blaise whispers. "And you had to pretend to spill a potion on yourself to follow him, because no one can know how truly close you are."

Harry closes his eyes. He could deny it, could laugh and give some bullshit excuse, but it feels so good for someone to know, to not judge and only meet with surprise, not anger.

"When did you two start dating?"

Harry doesn't answer.

"He wouldn't date you after you lost your memory, he wouldn't take advantage of anyone like that, which means it was before, which means-" Blaise cuts off, staring at Harry with wide eyes as the final pieces come crashing down. "You remember."

And Harry starts crying.

It feels like a dam is breaking, and now that one person knows, Harry isn't sure he'll be able to keep it from other people.

"Hey." Blaise moves off of his own bed with a wince, and Harry only then realizes he's wearing shorts and he can see dark bruises lining Blaise's legs as he limps over and climbs on Harry's bed, wrapping his left arm around Harry. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone, it's okay."

Harry can't stop crying, it feels like every emotion that's been building up in the last week is crashing down on him all at once and he can't breathe through his sobs. His necklace warms up, and Harry softly laughs through his sobs as he realizes he must be freezing Draco's necklace.

"Harry," Blaise murmurs. "Why don't you calm down and tell me why you won't tell anyone that you got your memory back?"

Harry inhales and exhales, following Blaise's calm breathing, and when he's finally calm enough he explains everything; him and Draco dating and Ron finding out and his amnesia and the poems and remembering and hiding everything for the last week.

"Fuck," Blaise swears. "I thought my life was hard."

"I don't know what to do," Harry whispers. "I'm scared."

"You don't have to know what to do." Blaise shrugs. "I came out and I got hell for it, but I feel freer than ever. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Some people stay closeted and they're happy with that. It's okay to not know."

"Thank you," Harry mumbles, resting his head on Blaise's shoulder.

"Anytime, Golden Boy."