iris | drarry

chapter 12

Knock Knock.

"Come in," Harry called as he pulled on his shirt. He was getting ready to go out, planning on meeting up with Ron and Hermione at Hogsmeade for the first time since he'd been back at school. 

The door opened and a tall blonde male walked in, smiling at him. "Hey, Harry. Do you have a couple of minutes?"

It was still weird to hear Malfoy- Draco- call him that. He was still getting used to trying to call him Draco, though it had only been about a day since they'd become friends. He was planning on telling Ron and Hermione about it today, which would only make it that much more real. 

"Yeah, sure Draco, what's up?" he asked, using more brain power than normal to use the man's first name. 

Draco closed the door behind him, sitting in the chair across from the bed. He motioned with his hand for Harry to sit down, which he obeyed, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"Well, I know we're friends now. Which is great, but- We need some rules. Some of the things I do, you might not like, but they are for your own good. You're not better, yet, Harry, but we need to get you there."

Harry nodded, looking down at his fingers as he picked at his cuticles. He'd had another nightmare last night, Draco having to come in and talk him down yet again. 

"Okay. So- what rules?" he asked. He was really struggling already, though he was trying not to show it. He wanted drugs badly. So bad. He kept devising plans to go steal more, but was always stopped because of Draco being there. 

"Well, first of all, you need to communicate with me. That means you tell me if you want drugs, if you feel like there's a panic attack coming on, if you're worried or frightened or depressed. You need to let me know how you're feeling."

Harry blew out a breath. "Starting off easy, huh?"

He wasn't the best at asking for help. He never talked about his feelings. He knew that was going to be the most difficult rule for him. 

"Well, yes, actually. The second rule is no drugs. The more you keep doing them, the worse it will be. If you find yourself in a position where there are drugs near you, you leave, you find me, you tell me what happened."

Harry groaned softly. Maybe talking about his feelings wouldn't be the hardest rule. He figured one of them would be no drugs, but he still hated hearing it. 

"Alright. Lastly, respect and listening. I respect you, you respect me. I listen to you, you listen to me. But more along those lines, I expect you to do what I ask of you. I am here to help you, and you cannot accept that help if you cannot listen. Do you understand?"

He felt his cheeks heat up a bit, mentally cursing himself for it. He nodded, still looking down at his fingers. 

"I don't think you do understand, because it is respectful to look at someone when they are talking to you, and to give them a verbal answer to their questions," Draco said huskily. 

Something about his tone had Harry looking up at the male, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yes, I understand. Sorry."

Draco nodded, not breaking eye contact with him. "Good. Now, I think it's best that we stay together for a while, at least until you've been clean for a bit. It shouldn't be too difficult as we have a lot of classes together and now live together."

"Okay," Harry said simply. He then thought about his Hogsmeade trip and bit his lip, building up the courage to invite him along. He wanted Draco to come, actually, he just wasn't sure if he wanted to go.

Of course he doesn't want to come. You're going to drag him along, and he's going to be miserable all because you're too much of a-

"Harry."