Vulnerability -ongoing-

Chapter Eighteen

Harry woke to an empty dormitory, he felt bile rise in his throat as he sat up, snatching his glasses up with one hand as he bolted to the bathroom. Flinging himself to the ground in-front of the closest toilet, kicking the door shut behind him, his head was spinning, as he heaved the contents of his stomach up.

Too much to drink, he thought wryly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and taking a few deep breaths. Once the wave of nausea passed he strained listening to the surroundings, silence. Safe to come out.

Harry hurried over to the sink, glaring at his reflection, pale, clammy, tired. He ran his fingers through his hair, attempting wryly to lay it flat to his head.

The door swung open, Harry held his breath as he looked behind his reflection, the person he had been hoping against hope not to see what was standing behind him, eyes wide, as though a deer caught in headlights.

Slowly the gryffindor turned to face the blonde boy, who took a step towards him, letting the door close soflty behind him.

Silence engulfed the pair as they stared at each other, Harry unable to take his eyes off the harsh red mark the inked Draco's neck.

"I see you had a good time with Chris then." Harry spat, clenching his hands into fists.

Draco's eyebrows shot up, "Excuse me?"

Harry gestured towards Draco's neck, watching incredulously as the blondes hand shot up to cover it.

"You have no idea what happened." Draco murmured, dropping his hand back to his side.

Harry noticed his irritated knuckles, skin split and raw, he had hit something, someone perhaps. "What happened to your hand?"

"I- I, well I... I hit Chris." Draco tripped over his words, his face draining of the little colour it had.

Harry fell silent again, trying to piece together Draco's words, then it dawned on him. "Oh shit."

Draco let a huff of air out through his nostrils, "Yeah. So thanks for being so quick to assume."

"I'm sorry. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Harry stepped forward, hands outstretched but the Slytherin moved backwards.

Draco shook his head, "Don't touch me." 

"Fuck, Draco I'm sorry I really didn't mean to." Harry pleaded.

The blonde moved swiftly to the door, "I have to go."

"Draco stay, I'm sorry." The Gryffindor strode towards the other boy, his brows furrowed as he wracked his brain for something to say.

"No. It's pretty clear what you think of me, Potter." He retorted, and before Harry could register what he had said, the door slammed shut behind him.

Harry groaned, what the fuck was that? He thought, pacing back towards the sink, an unbearable rage rushing through his body, he relaxed his tense fingers, trying to resolve the feeling, Hopeless.

Before giving himself time to think he swung his fist into the wall, the crunch of bone against concrete was deafening in the thick silence.

Recoiling his fist immediately and clutching to his body, Harry let out a string of profanities, pain searing through his hand. He sunk to the ground, mind eclipsed by the pain, a rush of hormones realised leaving him calmer than before.

Deep breaths, he thought, in through your nose, out through your mouth. He let the pain roll over him, let it be the only thing he focussed on.

It must have been five minutes before he stood again, all remaining fogginess in his mine dissipated, he flexed his fingers, wincing as the split skin pulled apart.

That was too easy, he thought wryly as he ran his knuckles under the cold water, too easy to stop thinking, to easy to stop feeling.

But then maybe, that's the whole idea. It's a fast fix, a brief moment of pain to stop everything else. And then the decision was made. He wouldn't do it often, he decided, only when he really needed to. Maybe he shouldn't be punching walls though, it might be better to just hit himself, or even fling himself into the wall, No, No Harry stop, you're not going to do that. That's crazy.

Too caught up in his own mind he didn't notice that someone was approaching, shaking his head in a desperate attempt to snap out of it. Harry hastened to grab the nearest towel, hiding his hand from Ron who now stood infront of him.

"Finally you're awake, Hermione sent me to come get you." Ron said, letting out a loud yawn as he leant against the wall beside Harry.

"What do you mean finally, what time is it?"

Ron glanced at his watch, "It's half past noon, come get some lunch."

"I'm really not that hungry."

Ron sighed, "I know, but you need to at least come down. Unless you want Hermione to come up here and drag you down by your ear."

Harry nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "I'll just get dressed quickly."

"Right, I'll wait in the common room. Don't take too long, she wouldn't let me eat until I came and got you." Ron groaned, heading towards the door.

Harry chuckled softly, "I'll make sure to take my time then."

A/N- I've been super super busy, I'm so sorry!!
Also if anyone has messaged me, I only get some of the notifications and it's not letting me open them so I'm not ignoring anyone! Wattpad is bugging for me :(