Let's Help Each Other

Waking Up and A Gathering

Draco felt deja vu as he woke up. Draco looked at his clock. It read 8:23pm. It was the same as when he woke up after receiving the Dark Mark, except Harry was by his side, slumped over the edge of his bed, holding his hand. This made Draco smile. He looked so peaceful. Draco carefully slipped his hand out of Harry's grasp, and patted Harry's head. He then lifted the hair off of Harry's forehead, and kissed his temple. Harry started to stir, and he woke up. He groggily lifted his head.

"How are you?" Harry said as he groaned and stood up, cracking his neck and shoulders.

"Fine. My arm burns a bit, but not too much. Sorry if I scared you." Draco said sheepishly. He swung his legs over the bed, and admired his arm.

When Harry was done stretching, he immediately grabbed Draco's arm, careful not to press on the sensitive skin. He immediately started inspecting his arm. Not a single scar or burn.

"I didn't think it was possible." Draco said, breaking the silence. "You actually did it!" Draco stood up and brought Harry into a bone crushing hug. Harry winced, but reciprocated the action. Draco spoke, his voice quiet and muffled by Harry's shoulder.

"Thank you so much. You saved me." This made Harry freeze. And then slowly, one by one, tears fell down his face. All the emotions Harry had been bottling up until that point, spilled over. Harry pulled Draco closer, if that was even possible, and buried his face into Draco's chest, muffling his sobs. Draco seemed to freeze for a second as well, then he wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders, and brought him to sit on his bed.

Harry was full on sobbing, and Draco was trying his best to calm Harry down. In between sobs, he could hear Harry mutter 'I'm so sorry' and 'I should be thanking you.' But Draco just pulled Harry to lay on the bed with him. Harry was still crying slightly as he rested his head on Draco's left shoulder. Harry wrapped an arm around Draco's chest, and Draco wrapped his left arm around Harry's head and shoulders, while wrapping his right arm around Harry's waist. After a couple of minutes, Harry had stopped crying, but his voice was shaky, and his eyes were red. Draco took Harry's silence as a sign that he was done, and softly whispered in his ear.

"Harry. Don't be sorry, you did something good, wonderful even. We both helped each other out more than the other could explain. But we aren't done yet. We still have a ways to go. So can you promise me something-" Draco paused while looking down at Harry. "-let's help each other, okay?" Harry then looked up at Draco and nodded his head before laying it back down on Draco's arm. Draco leaned down to kiss Harry's forehead, and then they both fell into a deep, peaceful, sleep. All while being wrapped around each other.

It was roughly 9 in the morning when the two woke up. Harry awoke first, and looked down. He didn't remember having a blanket over them, but sure enough, someone laid a blanket over the two. He moved a little more, which stirred Draco awake. But Draco wasn't a morning person, and he childishly wrapped his arms around Harry's chest and brought him back down.

"I don't wanna get up." Draco whined. But Harry wasn't going to have any of it.

"Nope! Today, I'm inviting everyone over, and we are going to introduce you!" Harry piped up. This made Draco shoot up and lose his balance, causing him to fall off the bed on his bum.

"What! You can't do that! Then they'll know where I am! I can't possibly-" Harry interrupted Draco by yelling out, "I meant Philip!" Draco then stopped entirely, and looked at Harry. Harry continued.

"We are going to introduce Philip Black to everyone, and tell everyone that we are fine and well. But, since your secret is a delicate matter, we need to make sure that at least Lupin, Moody, Ron and Hermione know who your persona is, so they can help when needed." Harry huffed. He then stood up, and made his way out the room, but stopped at the doorway.