𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 // 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺

three

Draco ran through the forest at full speed. Away from the death eaters, away from his father and most importantly, away from The Dark Lord.

His feet crunched through the dead leaves and a few fallen branches here and there. The only sounds he could hear were the eerie whispers in the dark moonlit forest and howls of wolves somewhere far off in the woods.

He ran and ran until his knees gave out and his body felt numb with weakness. His legs burned from the exertion and he fell onto the floor of the Forbidden Forest, breathing heavily. Suddenly he was engulfed into a vortex of flames, the Fiendfyre surrounded him in a circle, closing in on him.The heat made his body drip with sweat and his clothes stuck to his body. The fire sucked the oxygen making it difficult to breathe.

He heard screams from the flames. Screams of Vincent Crabbe as he fell to his death, screams of Granger as she was mercilessly tortured by his Aunt right in front of his eyes, screams of all the first-years who he had been forced to Crucio by the Carrows. He saw the dead bodies of his mother, his friends- Pansy, Blaise, Theo and Milicent. The dead bodies of his Muggle Studies teacher and Dumbledore.

Draco's breathing became more shallow. He felt suffocated. Defeated. Weak. He clasped hands over his ears, begging and screaming for it to stop. Closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to keep the cruel images and flashes of the war out of his vision. His breath became short and his body became weaker. He hugged his knees and rocked back and forth, crying out pleas and sobs of help.

"Stop it! Please! Please! Stop it!" He sobbed violently, "I can't take it anymore! Stop! Please! STOP!"

A maniacal laughter that had haunted him made him open his eyes wide in fear; he looked up to see Voldemort sneering down at him, his red eyes glistening with fury and triumph.

"You can never be enough, Draco. You are worthless. Look what you did! You couldn't even save your friends! Your family killed themselves! All because of your mistakes! You are a disgrace, Draco Malfoy and you are worth nothing. Absolutely nothing." He spat at the blond, sneering and smirking.

Voldemort smirked evilly and raised his wand and spoke in a sinister voice, "Avada Kedavra!" A large jet of green light emerged from the wand and hit Draco straight in the chest.

Draco woke up with a start, sweating and breathing heavily. His face was stricken with tears unknown to him. He ran a hand through his hair and willed himself to calm down.

The full moon shone through the window as he stepped into the bathroom and splashed his face with cool water. He looked into the mirror and grimaced at himself, his face was gaunt, his dark bags even more prominent than before. His cheeks were slightly red and his hair stuck to his forehead.

Thank fuck for glamour charms!

Changing into fresh nightwear, he went to the common room since sleep wasn't an option for him right now.

◆

The Eighth year common room was dimly lit. The fireplace crackling merrily in front of the red colored couches and armchairs. Draco grimaced at the color, couldn't they have chosen something more sober and decent, like black or even dark green.

Cursing under his breath, he padded towards the armchair facing the fire. He was about to plop down onto it when he noticed that it was already occupied by another person. A person with round glasses, messy hair and a lightening shaped scar on his head.

Potter was staring at the fireplace with a dazed look on his face. His emerald green eyes were shining with some emotion that Draco couldn't make out.

"What are you doing here?" Harry jumped at the voice and placed a hand on his heart which was now beating violently. His confused and slightly scared face morphed into that of realisation as he saw the Slytherin in his pyjamas standing next to him with crossed arms and a confused face.

"I could ask you the same, blondie," Harry raised his eyebrows and Draco scoffed, "Don't call me that, Potter, or I'm gonna make sure you can't walk tomorrow!"

Harry smirked at his choice of words, "And how are you going to do that, Malfoy? Care to elaborate." Draco widened his eyes in realization and blushed red but spluttered back a reply, "It means I will hex you."

Harry just hummed teasingly in response and the blond just rolled his eyes and threw himself onto the couch next to the armchair and rested his head over the cushions. They both sighed in contentment and laid back down, staring at the fireplace.

"Nightmares?" Harry asked.

"How did you know?"

"I have them too,"

"Everyday?" Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Everyday," Harry nodded.

A comfortable silence settled over them. He has nightmares as well, Harry thought, Should I ask him? Should I stay quiet?

"What nightmares do you have, if you don't mind me asking?" Draco broke the silence and Harry's thoughts.

You dying "Flashes of the war,"

Voldemort murdering me "Me too,"

"Wanna talk about it?" Harry looked over at the blond, waiting for an answer.

"Not really," He spoke in a small, quiet voice. Harry sighed, "You sure?"

"Yeah," He replied.

A few minutes later, Draco broke the silence again. "Potter?" Harry hummed in reply, "Do you want to start over? Let's forget our rivalry and be friends, it'll be better for the both of us and everyone as well."

Harry went over his words, friends Draco had said, but he had wanted to be so much more. He swallowed, "Only if you call me Harry."

Harry raised his hand just like Draco did on the train and looked at him expectantly. Draco swatted his hand away, "Not a chance. I'm never going to call you by your first name," Harry narrowed his eyes.

Feigning hurt, Harry placed his hand over his chest, "Oh Merlin! You dare reject my handshake! I'm Harry Potter! How dare you! Now I will bully you for the rest of your life as revenge!"

Draco tried to scowl but couldn't wipe the spreading smile of off his face. Harry snorted and soon they both burst into laughter.

Harry's heart fluttered.

Draco felt happy. It was a nice feeling. He hasn't laughed this much since a long time. He felt happy that he had put away his stupid ego and made friends with Potter.

The next morning, Neville found both the boys asleep in the common room with small smiles on their faces looking well rested and content.

Neville smiled as well.

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