Almost Willing

Chapter 2

"You okay Harry?"

With a start, Harry looked at over Ron who had put his fork down and obviously had been watching him for some time.

"Uh-- yeah, I'm fine."

"You look tired."

"I'm fine." Harry insisted.

Ron turned back to his food silently, seeming unsure what to say to that.

He had been like this since Harry had arrived at the Burrow over the summer. He just didn't know how to act. Harry couldn't remember Ron ever being so cautious around him; it was starting to make him uneasy.

He did have to hand it to him though; most of the time, he acted normally and would easily cheer Harry up and keep him that way. It was just odd moments like these where it was obvious that Harry hadn't slept, that showed how worried he truly was.

Hermione sat down with a plop on Harry's other side.

"Morning," she said not looking at them as she hurriedly piled her plate with all the breakfast she could reach.

"You sleep in?" Ron asked.

"No," she said throwing him a reproving glance. "I was just adding a bit to my history essay."

Ron groaned. "Must you insist on always making me look bad?"

She turned to him and smiled. "No Ron, you do that all on your own," she said sweetly. Harry laughed.

Suddenly someone kicked him gently under the table. He looked up finding Ginny watching him with a solemn expression.

"You okay?" she asked quietly. In what seemed like an instant all of his friends at the Gryffindor table were watching him intently. He almost wanted to laugh.

"I'm fine, I just couldn't get to sleep last night," he said. Neville gave him a small smile, and Harry returned it, searching frantically for something to distract them from the obvious reason of his losing sleep. "I went for a walk because I was bored and --well, ran into Malfoy--literally."

"Malfoy?" Seamus demanded. "What was he doing out of bed?"

"I dunno I didn't get a chance to ask, as we both ran into each other just as Filch came around the corner." Harry smiled, enjoying their surprised expressions. Funny, he never considered himself a storyteller.

Finally, Lavender let out an exasperated sigh from a few seats over. "How many points did you lose?"

"None," Harry glanced briefly at Ron and Hermione "We were in the shadow, Filch didn't notice us."

"Wow, that's got to be some kind of record for you Harry, no detention, and no pounding each other and giving yourselves away, all in one night!"

Everyone laughed.

"I didn't get away that easy." Harry shrugged. "You know how he is."

"So you did fight, okay then, that makes it a bit more believable."

"Well, that's why I'm so tired." He felt his stomach squirm uncomfortably at the fact that he wasn't supposed to remember the nights events at all.

Draco Malfoy chose that precise moment to walk by their table, throwing a sneer back at Harry's glaring audience.

"Stupid git," Ron muttered.

"Why don't you go back to bed Harry, you really do look exhausted," Hermione said.

He stood up with a sigh she was right, and maybe he wouldn't dream about the dark if he slept in the light.

*

Draco cursed. He hated Harry Potter.

He hated the way his hair stuck up at the back of his head. He hated Harry's voice, how it was so soft and smooth and made everybody listen completely entranced to whatever it had to say. He hated the way Harry licked his lips when he spoke, acting like he didn't mean to do it, and the way his own eyes clouded over as he fell into his own words. He hated the way he always cared about everything, his friends, his housemates, even people he didn't know. Draco watched as Harry dipped his quill into the ink and began to write... so careful, like how he spoke. He always seemed to consider what he was about to say before he opened his mouth. When Harry just snapped responses the way he did with Draco, you knew it was the blunt truth for people he didn't care about.

Unable to help himself he looked over at him again. Harry was scribbling down the notes off the board frantically, when he noticed Draco's gaze on him. Startled, he looked up at him for a few seconds before turning a sudden shade of pink and snapping his eyes back down to his scroll as though he hadn't noticed.

Draco was about to turn away when he noticed Weasley watching the interaction with his eyebrows slightly raised.

Draco normally would have sneered but was momentarily distracted by the sinking feeling in his gut. What had Potter said about him at breakfast yesterday? He had been sitting and talking with a few friends, when a quarter of the Gryffindor table turned and looked at him--then back at Harry who was speaking to them in a quiet voice. He hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from them after that. Harry was talking about him... to the whole table!

Unable to bear it any longer he stood up and walked by them on the way out of the hall trying to decide whether he should follow his instincts and drag Harry as far away from the Gryffindor table as he possibly could.

Upon hearing what Harry was saying however, Draco lost every ounce of nerve he could muster.

"...that's why it took so long to get back to bed."

He almost let slip a shudder just remembering. What was wrong with him lately?

Resisting the urge to look back at him for the third time, Draco decided. He had to find out if it was too late to issue his little warning and stop Potter from telling all of Gryffindor.

The bell rang and Potter crammed his belongings into his bag, eager to get out of the potions room as quickly as possible before Professor Snape could find a last minute reason to give him detention. The act almost seemed habitual.

He slid his own bag over his shoulders and followed the terrific trio into the hall, his eyes fixed on the back of Potter's head and followed them through the halls not yet sure what it was he was planning on saying to Potter. It took a few minutes for him to tune into what they were saying.

"He was staring at you all class, it was creepy really."

Draco grimaced at Weasley's words.

"Oh and I wanted to ask you for a bit more detail about your little 'night time encounter,' you know, so I can rub it in his--."

Draco jumped forward and shoved him hard in the back, cutting him off before he could finish.

"Ouch!" he straightened up and looked back at Draco angrily.

Granger quickly stepped in between the two.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she asked disdainfully, but Draco was distracted.

Potter had stopped and was standing completely still glaring at him as though with the slightest movement he would brake.

A fierce pleasure coursed through him at this, and Draco took a menacing step forward. To his surprise, Potter met him in the middle. Their noses were inches apart; he could feel Harry's breath brushing against his lips distractingly. A slight shock ran through him as Harry's eyes narrowed. God they were green.

"Shove off Malfoy," he whispered.

"What's the matter Potter," he asked, applauding his steady voice. "Are you afraid?"

The hint of a smile passed over Harry's lips.

"Yeah," he said, lowering his voice. "I'm afraid that you might molest me."

Draco struck him. The hall was suddenly silent.

Harry turned around calmly to where his glasses lay on the floor behind him. Bending over he picked them up and slowly placed them on his nose.

Suddenly he lunged at Draco, throwing the Slytherin hard against the ground before a fist crashed into his face.

Draco's sense came back with a thunderous crunch as the second fist made contact.

"Harry! No!"

He felt a slight force trying to pull Harry off, but shoved them away as he struggled to get the upper hand.

At last, he freed his second arm and threw it heavily against the side of Harry's face just as they were both wrenched apart.

Draco hadn't been aware of the students who had been standing around them cheering until now, when he spotted the teachers shoving through their midst to reach McGonagall. Shit.

Well, it was lunch and they were standing feet from the great hall, what had he expected to happen?

With a sigh, Draco brushed the invisible dust off his robes and raised an eyebrow at McGonagall. Good to still have some dignity when your face was probably swollen and purple. Damn Potter.

"Well come on," she snapped, and began to walk briskly down the hall.

Both the boys followed silently, leaving the dispersing crowd behind.

"Honestly boys, you two never cease to amaze me." She unlocked the door to her office and let them both in. "You get to school, you fight, you get detention... and then you do it all over again! I'm starting to think that's the only reason you come to this school, because it isn't to work, of that I'm sure!" She sat down behind her desk fuming. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" she demanded.

Her question was met by silence. They weren't children anymore, and they didn't have to explain themselves to her.

He grimaced as Potter opened his mouth to talk. Well even if 'he' was low enough to apologize, Draco wasn't.

"I know you probably won't care who started it..." Draco rolled his eyes. "But I don't care whether you give me detentions."

Draco looked at him.

"No?" McGonagall asked, as though giving him a second chance.

"No," was Harry's firm reply. "We already fought, there's nothing you can do to change that, detention or not we already did it, what difference will it make?"

His usual flustered response when dealing with an angry teacher it seemed had vanished.

Draco had never seen Harry like this. His usually expressive face was unreadable, completely cold. He almost shivered, but held it back. Harry was never like this.

In fact, Harry had never been the type to 'want' a fight either. Not with him at least. True, Draco had been the first to hit, but the way that Harry had turned to him so calmly, and then suddenly lunged... he had wanted to fight, Draco was just a golden opportunity to do so. 'Perfect Potter' would never do that if he could get caught for it. For the second time, Draco found himself wondering what was wrong with him.

"... Mr. Malfoy?"

Both Potter and McGonagall were staring at him.

"What?"

McGonagall pursed her lips slightly.

"Do you feel the same way as Mister Potter or not?"

"I think detentions are a waste of time, if that's what you mean," he stated.

Seeming to consider this, she linked her hands and leaned back in her chair.

"Very well," she said finally. "Wait here, I'll be back in a moment."

To both of their surprise she stood up and left the room.

"Where's she going?"

Harry glanced at him before answering. "I'm not sure," he said.

They stood in silence for a moment, neither looking at each other nor moving. Finally, Potter dragged out a chair and sat down loudly.

Draco sat down more gracefully and let his head fall back, so that he was looking at the ceiling.

Potter had changed so much, he would never have said that two years ago. No, back then he was too eager to stay on everybody's good side. Everyone needed to like him back then.... He glanced over at him, staring ahead of himself, completely lost in his own thoughts, as he was so often lately.

He hated that. Before term had started, Draco had been angry. He'd wanted to hurt Harry, hurt him so much that... well, he didn't know what. He'd wanted it for just over a year now, ever since being found on the train on the way home in fourth year. When it happened again.... All he really knew was that he had started to dream about it. Awake or asleep he would start to see it. Harry's face twisted in pain, his jaw clenched, and his eyes squeezed shut. He'd never dreamt of Harry crying, because he simply couldn't imagine it, but lord he'd wanted to. He'd wanted tears too in those oddly intimate moments.

He hated Harry for making them suddenly stop. Draco came to school ready to harm, but Harry... Harry was different. The darkness that had seeped into his eyes was suddenly clouded all around him, making it seem like he was trapped in his own black storm. Draco couldn't approach him; he couldn't hurt him because even though 'Draco' couldn't make Harry cry, he was sure that Harry was crying.

He looked over at him absently and noticed that his hands were shaking.

"Harry--."

He looked at Draco in utter surprise.

"What--."

McGonagall entered the room with a loud clatter and stopped in between them.

"You're to both come with me to headmaster Dumbledore's office." She said abruptly.

Draco stood up.

"What does he want?"

"Just your lovely company Draco," she said glancing back at him with an eyebrow raised.

Draco scowled. Damn McGonagall with her snide attitude, and sarcasm--besides, only he could pull it off properly.

They quickly came to a stop in front of a large and hideously ugly statue of a gargoyle.

"Pumpkin Pasties," she said.

Suddenly the gargoyle burst to life and jumped to the side, revealing the staircase to the Headmaster's chambers.

The staircase began to rotate as they stepped onto it, but McGonagall walked on impatiently forcing the boys to follow.

As the three reached the landing, the stairs came to a stop facing a door.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice from behind the door.

McGonagall pushed them into the room.

"I'll leave you to deal with them," she said briskly and left.

They both stood awkwardly by the door, unsure what to make of the situation.

"Well boys," Dumbledore said, "it seems the two of you have come to an interesting agreement." He gestured to the large leather chairs opposite his desk, smiling as they sat down. "Professor McGonagall explained it to me and of course you're right. What's done is done," he said. "A detention won't change any of that. I suppose now we have no way to punish the two of you." Draco's jaw dropped. "However," Dumbledore continued, his eyes suddenly twinkling. "You obviously have trouble avoiding each other and we can't have you continue fighting in the halls...."

They waited.

"I think it's time that you finally learn to get along with each other."

They gaped.

"Ah, I have the perfect idea!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up even further. "Spend a Hogsmeade weekend together.... No? Oh I know! A candle lit dinner puts everyone in a pleasant mood!"

"WHAT?"

Dumbledore chuckled.

"Very well then, perhaps a weekly study session will do."

Both Draco and Harry sank back in their chairs in relief.

"Excellent, I didn't think you'd have a problem with that," he smiled cheerily. "I'll send you both owls regarding the times."

They stood up preparing to leave.

"How many weeks will we have to get together Professor?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"As many as it takes."

They hurried from the office, leaving Dumbledore looking very pleased with himself.