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A sudden knock on the portrait hole startled Hermione out of her reading. Harry had been so distracted recently that he didn't seem to notice. Ron was staring off into space beside him, doodling on a bit of spare parchment.
Another knock, and then someone kicked the portrait hole. Neville looked up from the Herbology essay he was writing and cleared his throat.
"Is anybody going to answer that?" He asked. Hermione was getting up when she heard the person on the other side speak.
"Granger? Open up, it's Parkinson," Pansy shouted, another bang sounding as she finished. A muffled, "Goyle, that's not helping," was also heard.
"What's she doing here?" Ron asked as Hermione hurried to the portrait hole. She opened it to a flustered looking Pansy Parkinson and an annoyed looking Gregory Goyle.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she took in the state of Pansy. Pansy's eyes were red-rimmed and her mascara had run down her cheeks. Hermione had only ever seen the Slytherin before when she looked immaculate, and seeing her look anything but made Hermione's stomach tighten.
"Get Potter. I need him." Pansy said hurriedly.
"What's going on?" Harry said as he came to the portrait hole. He paled when he, too, took in Pansy's state. "It's Draco, isn't it?"
Pansy nodded, "Come on, we need you." And then Pansy marched off down the corridor, Goyle checking to see if Harry was following. He was, as was Ron and Hermione. Pansy didn't seem to notice until she led them down to the Slytherin common room.
Blaise Zabini was stationed by the door like a look out. He arched an eyebrow when he saw Ron and Hermione. "I didn't realise you had invited the whole trio, Pansy." He quipped.
Pansy spun around and glared at Hermione and Ron, and then huffed and muttered the password. Blaise stepped aside to let them through, then followed them in.
The Slytherin common room was just as Harry and Ron remembered it, decorated with vast green banners and leather couches.
Pansy grabbed Harry by his shoulders, ignoring the shouts from Ron, and frogmarched him up the Sixth Year boys dormitory. "He asked for you. It's bad, Potter." She whispered as she pushed him up the steps.
Theo Nott, a reedy sixth year who Harry vaguely remembered seeing Draco with a few times, was guarding the dormitory door.
"Vince is still in there. It's not going well." All three winced when they heard a thud from the other side of the door. "I still think we should get Professor Snape." Theo said.
"No," Pansy almost snarled. "Dray asked for Potter, so we got him Potter. We can sort this out on our own."
"Uh, can someone tell me what's actually going on?" Harry asked.
"Draco's having a bad day. He asked for you. Vincent was trying to calm him down, but evidently, he's having no luck."
The door to the dormitory swung open and Vincent Crabbe scrambled out, wincing as he slammed it behind him. "This is the worst I've seen him." He said to Pansy, "I really think we should get Professor Snape."
"No, he asked for Potter." Pansy argued. Without giving Harry time to think, Pansy opened the door and shoved him inside.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron exclaimed as Blaise held him back from charging after Pansy and Harry. The Italian was surprisingly strong despite his sly build.
"Draco asked for Potter. It's not our problem that you two came as well." Blaise sneered.
"Why did Malfoy ask for Harry?" Hermione queried. Blaise and Goyle stared at her.
"You're smart, Granger. Put two and two together and figure it out."
"They've been meeting almost every night for the past three weeks. Why does Malfoy need Harry now?"
Goyle took Hermione by the wrist and both Gryffindor's found themselves being manhandled to a quieter, more private part of the Slytherin common room.
"Malfoy's having issues, Granger. He and Harry are close."
"Closer than you and Malfoy?" Ron chimed in. Blaise smirked.
"Much closer, in fact, one might say Draco and Potter are intimately close."
Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes simultaneously. "Am I supposed to act shocked?" Ron grumbled.
"We suspected that something was going on, but what?" asked Hermione.
"Draco asked specifically for Potter," Pansy said as she, Theodore Nott and Vincent Crabbe joined them. They stood around in an awkward silence for a few moments.
"This is awkward." Goyle commented unhelpfully.
"Yes, thank you Gregory. We had no idea until you so helpfully pointed it out for us." Pansy snapped.
"Pansy, what's going on?" Hermione said, hoping to get a better answer out of her. She and Pansy had a sort-of friendship which had developed from their time doing Prefect rounds together. It was Pansy Parkinson who had been sending her the letters each morning, each with simply a snarky one-liner. Hermione had been sending them back, and it had become a routine to receive letters from each other every other morning.
"Draco's in a bad way, he wanted Potter." Pansy answered, as if this explained everything. It only made Hermione and Ron more confused. Theo shifted from foot to foot. "No, we are not getting Snape. End of story."
"What issues does Malfoy have, anyway?" said Ron. Pansy turned to him, a look of frustration etched across her face.
"You have absolutely no idea."
"Then tell us!"
Blaise slung his arm over Pansy's shoulders and whispered something to her. Pansy looked angry for a second before her expression smoothed itself out.
"We'll answer some of your questions. Only some." She said.
"Why's Crabbe got that scratch on his face?" Ron asked before Hermione could speak. She turned to Crabbe, noticing for the first time that the large boy had a slightly bloodied red scratch on his left cheek.
"Oh," Crabbe said dumbly, "Draco was upset." Goyle helpfully muttered a spell and the skin on his face knitted itself back together.
"So he attacked you?" Ron exclaimed. Crabbe looked to Pansy and she gave him a small nod.
"Draco was upset, and he told me to stay away. I didn't and he panicked. Ain't his fault." He said gruffly.
"Why would he panic?" Hermione asked.
"Draco sometimes has issues with people touching him when he's upset." Goyle said seriously.
"Is Malfoy..." Ron started, faltering when he couldn't find the right words. Blaise groaned.
"Be blunt, Weasley."
"Is Malfoy autistic?" Ron said quickly. Pansy and Blaise blinked at him, clearly not expecting that. Crabbe and Goyle glanced at each other and Theo sighed.
"Cats out of the bag," He muttered.
Pansy stepped towards him menacingly. "So what if he is?" Hermione stepped in front of her.
"Okay, can we please just calm down, " She said.
"What makes you think that?" Blaise asked. He had a hand on Pansy's shoulder, gripping the back of her robes. Ron shrugged.
"It's just that Harry told us Malfoy had a weighted blanket, and one of my brothers is autistic too, and he has one. It was just a question." Pansy ran a hand through her dark hair.
"We've already said too much," She murmured to herself. She seemed to be at lost for something to say.
"We wouldn't tell anyone." Hermione assured them. Blaise stared at her.
"You wouldn't?" He looked over her face, as if searching for the lie.
"No, it's not our secret to tell."
The first thing Harry noticed about the Slytherin dormitory was that it was pitch black. The second was that there was a whimpering sound coming from the very end bed.
"Draco?" He whispered into the dark, having no idea what to do. The whimpering sound got louder, and Harry heard a sob missed in there as well.
"Draco, are you alright?" He said stupidly. Of course Draco wasn't alright. He wished Pansy had actually told him what was going on instead of literally pushing him in head first.
His eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, and he could make out the curled up form of Draco. He could see that Draco was wrapped in the blanket, his hand in his mouth, and was biting down hard, rocking back and forth.
Harry was at loss for what to do. He didn't want to get too close to Draco - he'd seen the scratches on Crabbe's face - yet he didn't just want to leave him.
"No!" Draco suddenly yelled, "No, no, no! It's not! It's not okay!" He screamed, breaking off in another sob. He bit down on his hand again, letting out a muffled scream.
Harry's heart was breaking, seeing Draco like this. He wished he knew what to do to make everything alright. He racked his brain, thinking of something that might guide him in the right direction. He thought back to a conversation he had had with Ron a couple of days ago.
"Yeah, Charlie had these meltdowns. He would just lose control, and it could take hours to calm him down. Sometimes mum or dad would have to restrain him, 'cause he'd try to hurt himself without realising it."
Draco let out another wail, slamming his feet down on the floor. Harry's stomach turned over at the thought of restraining him. Deciding not to get to close, Harry knelt on the floor a few metres away. He listened to Draco's sobs and screams, listened to Draco stamp his feet and cry into his hand, listened for what felt like hours. Maybe it was hours, he didn't know.
Eventually, Draco's sobs quietened down and he was left taking deep, shuddering breaths.
"Harry," He croaked.
"Hey," Harry said softly, "are you okay?"
Draco leaned back against the wall, drawing the blanket closer to himself.
"I can't do it, Harry. I can't go to Dumbledore." He said quietly. "I thought about it, and I just can't."
"I can come with you." Harry offered. Draco sniffed, and seemed to be considering Harry offer.
"Do - do you promise not to get mad? When you find out who I was supposed to kill?"
"I promise," Harry said sincerely. Draco scrubbed a hand over his face.
"I'm sorry," He muttered. Harry cocked his head.
"About what?"
Draco stared at him. "For what you just had to see, I shouldn't of lost control like that." His voice was shaky.
Harry shuffled towards him. "It's not your fault. You don't have to apologise for something that you had no control over."
"Can you -" Draco scrubbed at his face again, "can you hug me, like in the room of requirement?"
Harry moved closer, squeezing behind Draco. Draco shifted until he was sat in Harry's lap. Harry squeezed, and Draco made a content noise.
Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Theo were sitting around the unlit fireplace, making awkward conversation.
"Should someone check one them?" Ron asked suddenly. Hermione and Pansy paused in their talk about how unreliable the media was nowadays to stare at him.
"Draco won't eat him, Weasley." Blaise was full of sarcasm tonight.
"Yeah, but they've been up there for forty minutes. What if something really is wrong?"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Goyle said, "Draco doesn't like being crowded when he's upset."
Ron was about to say more when they heard the thud of feet on stairs, and the sound of something being dragged. The students who weren't in sixth year paid it no attention, just like they had paid the golden trio any attention either.
Harry emerged at the bottom of the stairs, hand in hand with Malfoy. Malfoy was wearing a green blanket around his shoulders like a cape. As they got closer, they all took note of the blotchiness of Malfoy's eyes and the bite-marks on his hands.
Malfoy's face twisted into a small frown when he caught sight of Ron and Hermione, and he gave Harry a questioning look. Harry mouthed something to him that they couldn't quite make out.
"Dray, are you okay?" Pansy asked. Draco nodded.
"We have to do something," He announced, and then tugged Harry out of the common room.
Ron nudged Hermione. "Do you think he'll finally stop giving us terrible excuses when he disappears?" He whispered.
Opposite them, the Slytherins were thinking the same thing.