Work Text:
"Where did you get to last night? You didn't come back till really late." Ron asked as he shovelled a piece of bacon in his mouth.
"Oh, you know, just wandering the castle." He said vaguely. Hermione looked between them.
"What happened last night? You didn't sneak out did you?" She rolled her eyes at herself. "What am I saying, it's you. Of course you snuck out."
Harry grinned awkwardly. "Guilty." He started eating quickly, hoping that Hermione or Ron wouldn't question him too much.
"Mate, where did you actually go? You were out for hours. You weren't just wandering aimlessly, you wouldn't do that." Ron said. Harry slightly cursed Ron and his knowledge of literally everything Harry did. He loved both Ron and Hermione, he really did, but he knew there was no way he could tell them that he had been with Malfoy.
"I can't say tell you here, I'll tell you when no-one else can hear."
"It has to do with Malfoy, doesn't it?" Ron asked in a low tone.
"You weren't stalking him the entire night, were you?" asked Hermione.
"No, I was just-oh look, mail!" Harry had never been more grateful for Hedwig. She swooped down gracefully and dropped a letter in Harry's lap. He noticed that Ron also had a letter, as did Hermione. He unwrapped the green ribbon from Hedwig's leg and read through the letter.
Potter
Room Of Requirement.10:00PM. Be there.
The letter didn't say who it was from, yet Harry knew immediately.
"Oh, listen to this, Fred and George's shop is doing well. Professor Flitwick has offered to help with the charms." said Ron.
"That's brilliant, Ron." Hermione said. She didn't ask about Harry's letter, and he saw her crumple up her own and shove it in her pocket. Harry spent the rest of the morning talking with Ron about the twins shop, Hermione chiming in with some helpful charms to note down. She seemed slightly distracted. Harry couldn't exactly talk; he was more focused on getting Malfoy's attention than doing his work. But the blond refused to even look in his direction. Harry tried to pretend that he didn't care, but he did. He didn't understand why Malfoy would confess a secret like that to him and then completely blank him.
But, Harry supposed, this was Malfoy. He wasn't exactly predictable.
Which was why, at nine fifty-five, Harry found himself waiting for the door to The Room of Requirement to appear.
Malfoy paced around the room, mumbling to himself. The room wasn't the same one he had been using all year. It was a room for training. Training that Potter would give him if he ever turned up.
Harry blinked at the room, recognising it from the same room Dumbledore's Army had used last year. Did Malfoy want to learn defence? After handing the DA over to Umbridge last year?
"Malfoy?"
Malfoy stopped pacing, turning to stare at Harry. "You did get my letter."
"You would've known if you hadn't of been ignoring me all day." Harry crossed his arms over his chest.
"We can't be friends, Potter! I told you, if -if people knew I was talking to you, my Mother-"
Harry interrupted him. "Okay, I get it. You can't talk to me where other people can see. I won't try anymore." Harry didn't need to ask who 'people' meant. He was curious about Malfoy was so desperate to hide - he was certain Malfoy knew he knew that he was a Death Eater - but was smart enough to know that if he pushed Malfoy to hard he'd never find out.
"What's with the room?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.
"I need you to teach me defence." Malfoy blurted out. Harry blinked at him. He had been expecting something like this, but hearing Malfoy actually say it was unexpected.
"Uh, okay. Where do you want to start?"
"The Patronus charm. I want to learn it." Malfoy said. Harry frowned.
"Are you sure? I'm not saying you wouldn't be able to do it, but the Patronus Charm is quite advanced-"
"I need to know it!" Harry didn't ask why. He had had enough encounters with dementors to know that they didn't exactly make pleasant company. They were nightmarish. Literally.
Malfoy rocked back on his heels. "So you'll help?" He looked relieved.
"Sure, uh, well hold your wand like this-" Harry stood behind Malfoy and gently took his arm and manoeuvred it into the proper wand movement, trying to ignore their close proximity. "- and flick it like this," He showed him. Malfoy turned his head and swallowed when he released that they were only centimetres apart. Harry tried to ignore that, too.
"Happy memory, isn't it?" Malfoy asked tonelessly. Harry nodded.
"Do you have one in mind?"
"First time I rode a broom?"
Harry shook his head. "I tried that, it won't work. It's not powerful enough. You need something that really sticks out."
"I don't really have anything. Nothing sticks out." Harry noticed that Malfoy sounded bored.
"Nothing?"
"No." Malfoy didn't elaborate. Harry was stumped for a second.
"I guess we could just go over the wand movements, so when you find your memory-"
"Show me yours." Malfoy demanded.
"Like, right now?"
"Yes, right now. When do you think I'd want to see it?"
Harry stepped back from Malfoy and pointed his wand at a test dummy. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his memory, the first time he saw magic. He concentrated on that memory, flicking his wand and yelling
"Expecto Patronum!" A misty white stag burst out of the tip of Harry's wand. Harry watched as it elegantly galloped around him, then over to Malfoy. Harry watched as Malfoy stared at it in what looked like awe.
"That scared the shit out of us in third year." Malfoy said when Harry's patronus had vanish into the air.
Harry snorted. "What, when you were pretending to be a dementor?"
Malfoy nodded. "Yeah, I thought we'd really riled you up and then that huge deer just came at us. We had no idea what it was."
"I'll admit, you made a very convincing dementor."
Malfoy didn't say anything. Harry took this as a sign that their conversation was over and clapped his hands loudly. Malfoy looked at him oddly.
"Well, I guess we'd better get on. There are other spells you might find useful -"
Harry kept this odd little routine with Malfoy for six days. He was grateful that Ron and Hermione weren't asking too many question, and that Ron covered for him when one of his dorm mates asked why he was leaving so late. All he had told them was that Malfoy was seriously in need of help, but he couldn't let anyone else know. They had seemed to understand. Hermione still occasionally got a letter, and though both boys were curious to the senders identity, Hermione simply told them that it didn't matter and they dropped the conversation.
Harry's little routine with Malfoy changed on the seventh night when he entered the Room of Requirement to find not a training room, but a smaller, cozier room, which reminded him slightly of the Gryffindor common room. Except the room was decorated in dark greens and silver.
Harry spotted the Slytherin curled into an armchair near the fireplace, wrapped in a blanket.
"Uh, hey Malfoy." He waved awkwardly, sitting in the armchair opposite him. Malfoy didn't make any acknowledgement of Harry's presence. "Are you alright, Malfoy?"
"Potter." He mumbled. "No, I'm not."
"Do you wanna talk?" Malfoy didn't answer. "You don't have to, I meant you might just want to." He rambled, cutting himself off when he realised that Malfoy wasn't even remotely listening. He noticed that two cups of tea had appeared on the small coffee table in front of the fire, and he took one. He sipped at it whilst thinking of something to say.
Malfoy suddenly leapt from his chair, dropping the blanket with a thud. Harry narrowed his eyes. Blankets didn't make that sound.
He didn't have time to dwell on it, because Malfoy was stamping around the room, tugging at his hair. "This isn't working." He muttered.
"Do you mean the Patronus charm? It's a difficult charm, Malfoy." Harry reminded him.
"No, I didn't mean the charm. I meant today. It's just not working." He kicked the back of Harry's chair lightly. He grabbed the blanket from the floor.
"What's not working?" He asked, bewildered.
"Everything. Everything's too - ugh!" He flopped back into his armchair, gathering his blanket around himself and jiggling his leg nervously. His breathing was slightly erratic, like it was in Myrtle's bathroom last week.
"I need you to hug me." He announced.
Harry almost choked on his tea. "You need me to what?" He said hoarsely.
"Hug me. I need you to." So he hadn't heard him wrong.
"Malfoy, are you sure -"
"Yes, Potter. I'm certain." Malfoy said agitatedly. Harry put his tea down.
"How do you wanna-?" Malfoy stood up.
"Sit on the chair." Harry moved from his chair to Malfoy's. He noted that Malfoy's chair was bigger than his. Malfoy, still wrapped in the blanket, gently flopped down over Harry. Harry was suddenly certain that the blanket was weighted somehow, because there was no way that Malfoy weighed that much.
Malfoy's back was at Harry's chest, his head tucked over Harry's chin. He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.
"Squeeze, Potter." He mumbled. Harry squeezed his arms around Malfoy, and his breathing gradually evened out. They sat they're for - Harry didn't know how long exactly, but long enough for him to almost fall asleep. He was dozing when he faintly heard Malfoy sigh.
"Thank you, Potter." Malfoy said.
Then sleep pulled him under completely.