No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Seven: House Elf and Best Friend

The night air was a little cool, but the stars above where everyone had laid out their sleeping bags were beautiful. Draco, who'd set himself up a bit away from most of the crowd, stared up at the sky, wishing he could shut his brain down enough to sleep.

Today had been a better day than he'd had in quite awhile. He'd talked to so many of his classmates he used to tease, and for the most part, no one seemed to hate him as much as he'd expected they would. Even Neville- who he, Crabbe, and Goyle had bullied mercilessly- seemed to have accepted Draco's change of heart.

The whole thing was sort of surreal.

"Aren't you cold this far away from the fire?" Harry's voice cut into his thoughts as the raven haired boy laid out his bedding a few inches from Draco's. Glancing, Draco shrugged a bit.

"I figured if I was over here, people wouldn't feel pressured to be nice to me..." Draco said. At this, Harry frowned.

"Draco, no one is being nice to you because they feel pressured," He said, his tone almost scolding. "Most people are just surprised that you're capable of not being a complete ass all the time. But its like Luna said, some of us knew you'd be different once you were around people who actually cared about you..."

Draco stared at Harry in shock for a moment, a memory flashing through his thoughts.

He remembered being back in his room, perched on the bed as Dobby unpacked his things. The house elf had been one of the few people Draco always told everything to. Hence how Dobby had known he was meant to help the great Harry Potter in the first place.

'Dobby he's such a wonderful person,' Draco had sighed, hugging a pillow to his chest. 'And of course I had to go and ruin it, acting like an ass to keep up appearances. He must hate me now.'

Dobby had paused in folding a shirt and walked over to the bed, setting a hand on the teen's knee.

'Dobby doesn't think Mr. Potter hates the young Master,' The house elf had said. 'But, he may wonder why the young Master acts the way he does. Perhaps if the young Master want Mr. Potter to like him, the young Master should give up appearances and just be himself...'

At that, Draco had given a melodramatic sigh.

'Being myself is harder than it sounds...' Draco had said. Dobby simply shrugged, a wise, knowing look in his over-sized eyes, before going back to his work.

"Maybe I should have listened to Dobby a long time ago..." Draco murmured.

"What?" Harry looked over at him in confusion.

"Nothing, sorry..." Draco sighed. After a moment, he sat up. "Did....did he suffer before he died..? Dobby, I mean..."

Harry looked at Draco, seeming almost surprised by the question. Then, he shook his head. 

"Oddly enough, he seemed happy to go..." Harry replied. Draco nodded, feeling his eyes sting. He hadn't really processed that Dobby was dead until this moment. The one person who'd known everything about him his whole life was gone forever.

Draco didn't even realize he was crying until Harry pulled him into a hug.

For a while, they sat just like that. Once Draco stopped crying, he pulled away from Harry to wipe his eyes.

"S-sorry...I didn't mean to just fall apart like that..." Draco said shakily.

"Don't be," Harry said, squeezing his hand. "I fell apart too..."

Nodding, Draco glanced to where Hermione and Ron stood off in the distance, Ron motioning to the stars as he said something.

"They're like a real life Romeo and Juliet in some ways, aren't they?" Draco said after a moment. At this, Harry looked confused again.

"Who?"

Looking at the raven haired boy, Draco smiled slightly, pausing a moment before he spoke.

"Romeo and Juliet are the lovers in this tragic romance I once read," He started softly. "The whole thing was written by this brilliant muggle named William Shakespeare, and..."

And just like that, Draco was retelling a love story to Harry, explaining the intricacies of the star-crossed lovers of fair Verona. All throughout, Harry simply listened, an amused expression on his face as he lay on his side watching Draco.

The surreality continued.