Chapter Text
"P... POTT AAHHH"
Draco screamed, staggering back and falling on his bum. "You... YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD!" He yelled, pointing his wand at Harry, who sighed ignoring Draco's outbursts as he just simply blinked at him. "Explain yourself or I will... Uh..." Draco trails off, unsure of how to continue his sentence because how the hell do you threaten a dead person?
"You can... Hear me?" Was all Harry said, looking at him in disbelief. Now Draco has two option here, either stay and possibly die from the ghost of his enemy or run and never look back, he takes a deep breath, as he thinks of his next very smart move.
Harry moved forward, his hands raised in a way that is telling him that he's not going to hurt Draco. But the other boy seems to think it's a threat as he tensed up, gripping his wand tighter.
And So The young lord Malfoy did what most brave men would do in any given situations, especially one like this, get up and fucking bolt it.
He doesn't know if Potter followed him but either way he does not want to find out. He kept running until he reached the bedroom, he quickly went inside and locked the door, casting a spell so no one could enter before he slid down the door onto the floor, trying to calm his racing heart.
He wasn't particularly afraid of ghosts, he got used to them after spending so many years at Hogwarts, ghosts are normal, you interact with them like they were still alive. But this one is different. Draco takes a deep breath, he needs to think.
He needs to be rational here, maybe he was just seeing things? Yeah that's reasonable, he hasn't slept properly for days now, yes he takes naps but they don't particularly leave him well rested at night where he'd spend them wide awake and roaming the halls. Yes, that's right, maybe it's just the exhaustion or sleep deprivation. He's heard that usually happens when a person is tired, they become too tired to think straight. Draco nods, that's it, he's just tired.
He pushed himself off the floor and went to bed. He kicks off his shoes and sits down. He'll just sleep it off, and maybe it will be fine when he wakes, it's fine. He sighed, taking off his coat, he unbuttoned his top and then lays down. He closes his eyes, intent on getting some sleep.
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Fuck... He can't sleep. Draco sits up, rubbing his eyes annoyed and still tired. It's not working, he can't relax, of course he can't. How can he when he just saw his dead rival Of all people, Yes, it makes sense that he would be a ghost, that's what usually happens to dead people at Hogwarts. But Potter didn't die within the Hogwarts walls, he died in the forest, he wasn't buried at Hogwarts, as Draco would assume. Ghosts who don't die at Hogwarts simply don't randomly appear at Hogwarts, and He is sure as hell no one summoned him.
So, why? Or better yet, How? How is Potter suddenly appearing out of nowhere? It doesn't make sense. Draco shakes his head before standing up, He needs a break... And a bath. He cringes as he makes his way to the bathroom, smelling like dirt and strangely rust. He hates it.
He turns on the faucet before taking off his clothes. He gets in and sighs in relief, the water relaxes him a bit, he still feels tense but not as much. He needs to think about this properly or maybe... He'll just ignore it, it won't hurt him, he's just seeing things. Just like everything he can push it back and just forget about it, Chalk it up as a trick of the light or due to his exhaustion, and move on to another day. Potter is dead, he can't come back, he's gone so...
Why is he staring at me... Draco swallows nervously, a sweat falling off his brow as he feels eyes on him. He clenched his fist, keeping his gaze on the water. Ignoring the green eyes that are staring at him from the mirror above the sink, he has a clear view of them. Dead and unblinking.
He feels a chill up his spine as those eyes continue to look at him, unblinking and haunting. Potter doesn't speak, so Draco doesn't either. He feels so awkward, so tense, the water suddenly feels cold despite making sure that he set the water to warm, even casting a charm to keep it that way, the mirror fogged up as Potter's image disappears but the eyes are still there, sending shivers down his spine. it was honestly starting to freak him out.
Unlike the bright emerald green that Potter once adorned, ones that Draco seems to always be drawn to when Potter speaks to him or glares at him. This one was cold and dead, a toxic green that reminds him of the unforgivable curse the Dark Lord killed Potter with. The eyes stayed on him, making Draco feel uneasy. He coughs, before finally gathering enough courage to get up.
Trying his best to ignore the eyes that seem to follow his every move, it reminds him of that painting he saw from a book that is said to have eyes that follow you when you Walk by it. Despite taking a bath Draco felt sweaty and cold, as he puts on his clothes and then gets out of the bathroom as fast as he can without showing how anxious and uneasy he is.
As soon as he stepped out the eyes were gone. Draco sighs in relief. Even in death Potter is still bothering him, He shakes his hands to ease the tension in his shoulders, he sits back on his bed. Closing his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
This is just, not going well, he never expected this to happen. Draco lets out a shuddering breath, maybe he should talk to someone about this. He scoffs at the idea, definitely cannot do that, he sighs opening his eyes only to be met with green again. Draco jumps almost falling off his bed.
He froze staring back. Potter stared at him, with an almost curious look in his relatively dead expressionless face, "I could have sworn you can see me..." He whispers, waving a hand to his face. Draco had to fight the urge to shudder as the cold air brushed against his face. Unable to resist he slaps the hand away, surprised that he can touch him.
They both jolted, staggering away from each other, "What the hell!?" They both exclaimed in surprise. Harry's eyes widened as he moved forward, reaching his hand out towards Draco, out f instinct, the other boy sneered slapping his hand away, "Stop that" he scowled annoyed at Potter like usual. But this isn't the usual, he reminded himself again. This is isn't the normal bumping into each other in the hallway or in the quidditch field. He had to remind himself again that this Potter isn't the one he used to fight time and time again, this one was dead, a cold, lifeless, unfeeling soul. For some reason the thought made his heart ache, he shake it off to focus on the situation. He can't feel this way, especially not now, not ever.
"Fuck..." He mutters, brushing a hand through his hair in disbelief. He's actually talking to his dead rival. Draco had to take a moment, sinking back down on the bed, head in his hands as he shakes his head in disbelief. "This can't be happening, no, this is impossible..." He mumbles, looking at Harry through his hands, while the ghost In front of him looked as confused as he is.
Potter hovered in front of him, looking at his hands and then at Draco, before reaching over and poking the top of Draco's head, causing Draco to jolt quickly snapping his head up towards the ghost. They stare at each other again, an awkward silence befalls between them. Harry opens his mouth to say something but thought against it as he closes it again. The silence was unsettling and uncomfortable, looking at his dead rival isn't really something he thought would ever happen to him at all, not in this life at least.
After another moment of silence, Draco broke it as he abruptly stood up, still processing the situation in denial, "No way! No fucking way!" He exclaimed exasperated over and over as he paced around the room, trying to make sense of what is happening, while Potter watched him with a blank look that serves to remind him of their unfortunate situation as he fiddles with a stone in his hands. Wait... Stone...?
Draco looks at the stone in Potter's hands, it relatively small, dark in shade and with something etched on it. He raised a brow curious of the stone and the symbol carved on it, it doesn't look like it's anything special just an ordinary stone, like something you would find lying around, but the way Potter is holding it says otherwise, he clutched it tightly over where his heart would be. Draco wants to know what it is but he couldn't ask, not in this situation or not yet.
It was awkward again, and Potter hasn't said a single word other than the few questions earlier. as much as he hates him, Draco kind of wants him to talk, everything had been silent for so long even just a single word from him, whether it be an insult or one of his strange rants, would be better than this, not that he ever listens to Potter's rants, he doesn't. But it's better than nothing, better than his own voice for that matter. He's not going to admit that though, try to kill him first then he might.
Draco sighs, shaking his head to stop his thoughts from getting sidetracked. While he does that, he felt a touch on his face and he once again jolted from the coldness, it was worse than a winter morning, it was like a frostbite trying to eat his face. Potter stared at him for a moment longer before grinning. "I can touch you! Oh Merlin! Finally, this is amazing" He exclaimed finally saying something. "Oh wait... No It's not really a good thing because well-" Potter paused looking at him in a judgmental manner that made Draco scowl. "But! I can work with this, even if it's... You" He added looking him up.
Despite the strange and awkward situation, Draco is already annoyed, fighting the urge to glare as Potter starts his very familiar rambling. He's starting to regret ever acknowledging his presence. But at least he found the owner of the mysterious voice in his head, Now he just has figure out what to do with him.