"Can I help you, Potter?"

A Dream To Be Around

Harry had luckily managed to convince Draco to go to the infirmary. As it turned out, his arm was broken in three places, and his shoulder dislocated. So similar to the time he was 'attacked by that evil, oversized bird' (his words), Draco was in a sling for a few weeks.

In that time, he continued to be friends with the trio. He always sat with them in the Great Hall for meals, whether they were sat at the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or sometimes even the Slytherin table. They'd study together as well, which actually turned out quite well, because Draco was really good at Potions, and without the help of the Half-Blood Prince, Harry was struggling.
Thankfully, Harry and Draco had an arrangement, top secret from Hermione of course, where Draco would do Harry's Potions homework, and Harry would do his DADA homework.

During free periods, the four would either sit in the Slytherin common room, or out by the lake with Luna and Neville. It took a short while for Neville to adjust to having Draco around, but after only two reminders on how Draco shouldn't mention his aunt and uncle Lestrange around Neville, they got on fine.

Perhaps a few moments like the one on the Quidditch pitch had since occurred...
Where Harry and Draco would find themselves gazing at each other, pretending the rest of the room had just disappeared. Every time Draco would break it, so Harry took that he just wasn't interested. Though he couldn't help but feel like they could be something if they tried.

"I'm free!" Draco cheered, entering the common room with both arms outstretched, and sling-less.

"Like you didn't love the attention." Ron rolled his eyes. The trio were sat by the fire, previously discussing the multiple incidents over the past few weeks where Draco would show up beaten up or injured in some way. Each time wary of a different house, that week was Gryffindor, and each time refusing to say what'd happened.

"Maybe for the first week or so, but then it just got inconvenient." Draco shrugged, lying on the dark leather couch. It was certainly his favourite spot in the common room.

"At least now you can carry your own books." Harry smirked, getting up to perch on the couch arm. All week he'd had to haul not only his own books, but Draco's as well. Which not only proved inconvenience of weight, but, when they had different classes, timing as well. The past few weeks - Gryffindor had lost a few points to Harry being late. Unfortunately, 'I was carrying books to a class I'm not even in' didn't pass as a good excuse with most professors.

"Actually, Madam Pomfrey said that I shouldn't strain it for a few days..." Draco 'subtly' hinted, sitting up to look at Harry directly.
Harry's expression dropped as he looked at Draco extremely flatly.
In return, Draco pouted, blinking his eyes innocently.

Another thing that'd changed in the past weeks was that, with a few small comments whilst Draco had been getting ready, Harry had managed to convince him to tone down on the hair product. Therefore, making his hair look a lot more natural, and making him a lot harder to say no to.

"Fine, I'll carry your bloody books." Harry muttered with a small sigh. Draco leant back, smiling proudly to himself. Turning to his friends, Harry saw that both Ron and Hermione looked extremely unimpressed.

"What?" He questioned, unsure of why they were looking at him the way they were. The couple glanced at each other, smirking.

"Didn't think we'd need to remind you that you aren't the Malfoy servant, but, here we are I suppose." Ron's smirk cracked into a teasing grin.

"He wishes he were to be so privileged." Draco retorted with a smile. With a role of his eyes, Harry got up from his seat and moved to stand above Draco. His grey eyes flicked up to Harry's, his brow raised in a way that implied he was waiting for what Harry had to say in argument.

"Do you want me to carry your books or not? Because if you do, you'd better be a lot nicer." Harry stated, his hands going up to his hips in annoyance. The side of Draco's mouth twitched gleefully at the challenge.

"What are you talking about, Potter? I'm a dream to be around and you know it." He replied, his voice silky smooth with charm. A low laugh emitted from Ron, who clearly didn't agree with what Draco had said. All it took was a small pout and slight eyebrow raise from Harry, before Draco broke into a laugh.

His tongue darted over his lips, wetting them. He then stood up, facing Harry, perhaps a few millimetres closer than he needed to be. "I suppose it depends on the sort of dreams you have about me, hmm...?" He drawled, so quiet it was nearly to a whisper. He spoke almost a whole octave lower than he normally did, and a husky undertone had found its way into his words. Blood rushed to Harry's cheeks, and like nothing at all had been said, Draco turned and walked away.

"Where're you going?" Hermione asked, leaning to look around the couch from her seat on the floor.

"The library. I've been thinking of taking up alchemy, and the thought just struck me that there might be a book or two on it here in Hogwarts. No harm in checking whether it's worth my time, hmm?" Draco explained with a brief smile. With that, he departed the common room.

"Harry, what in Merlin's name did he say to you to get you so red in the face?" Hermione questioned, looking at Harry. In reply, he made a garbled humming sound trying to say he wasn't red in the face and Draco had said nothing. Though he wasn't very convincing...

~~~

This chapter's a little shorter I'm afraid, but the scene was just a little too long for me to have done two parts like I did usually, so here's one scene in one chapter. :)

I know it's a little boring at the moment, but we're getting there folks, so sit tight.

~ Jay xx