Weakness Guides The Heart

Chapter thirteen

Draco's back hit the wall, the cobbled hands welcoming; easing the defeated slouch of his body, embracing his sorrowful mind.

"What do you want, Harry?" He whispered, deflated; his eyes too weak to study the worried glance of his peer.

Harry slumped beside the boy, shoulder grazing the tarnished shirt of his enemy; an involuntary slither trembling Draco's skin.

"To talk."

"You sure love talking." Draco murmur, lips pouted.

"You clearly don't." Harry spoke, eyes studying the bleak wood of the dresser; it's legs clawed, as if desperate hands had begged for mercy right there, moments ago. "You just seem...messy, like, conflicted-"

"Sad." The blonde whispered, the word eerily brushing tentative fingers against the Gryffindor's cheek.

"Are you sad?" Harry wondered, a defeated frown already tangling his lips; a knowing glint embedded in his eyes.

"Isn't everyone?"

"I'm not." Draco chuckled, a hollow sound; no joy laced within his burdened breath.

"That's because you're too stubborn-"

"No, it's because I don't dwell on the past-I carry on with my day, surround myself with friends-"

"Friends." A monotone snort scrunched Draco's features. "What friends have I got?"

Instinctively, his eyes fell upon the empty beds littering the room; the only lamp left offering a sympathetic flicker, barely illuminating the empty tables; no ticking clocks, no wands; no books, or quills, or life resting upon them.

"You have memories, Draco-the memories of your friends, you don't need them here; don't need their blood-"

Family is about blood, not memories.

"I have memories of them." Draco spoke steadily. "I have their laughter, their smiles; their bickering. I have the sound of their voices, their glee; their happiness, their pure joy; their screams, cries; the last breath they would ever take."

Harry collapsed, head hitting the wall with a gentle thud.

"I have the look in their eyes before they fell; the spells they used to kill; the spells used to kill them, I have the sound of my name on their lips, their pleas-"

"Okay, Draco-"

"I have their desperate yells, their shouts; the fear rippling through their bodies; their lifeless eyes-"

"Draco-"

"Yes, I have the memories. But they're useless." Harry cautiously turned his head, cheek flushed against the wall; compassion etched across his eyes, those emerald eyes Draco desperately tried to avoid.

"You-" Harry hesitated, words trembling at the brink of his lips. "You could make new memories." Draco scoffed once again; his head shaking from the left, to the right; a humourless smile smudged over his lips.

He glanced up, ice finding fire, the flames of Harry's desperation melting his defeated spheres.

"With who, Harry?" Draco ask, the question empty; any answer burning, disintegrating before their very eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, heartbeats interlinking; their rhythm synchronising, swelling and shrinking; eyes studying every fleck within each other's eyes.

Greens, teals, olives; seaweed tangling with the powdery ocean, royals and midnights igniting the small rays of sunshine seeping passed the sky; no cloud in sight.

Dirty ivory, icy blues; smoky greys smouldering, singeing the dark outskirts; baby blues desperately battling with the guarded silvers; clouds shadowing the true colours.

"How was your Halloween?" Harry asked, helpless desperation streaming past his mouth; a desire to speak powering his mind.

Draco grimaced. "It was...fine, very uneventful. I'm sorry I missed the pumpkins; they looked spectacular."

"Well, you know Hagrid; he loves sneaking a little spell on them." Harry chuckled, the sound mesmerising, capturing Draco's ear; holding them hostage, the sound elegantly entrancing his entire body.

He couldn't help the small smile that sweetened his lips; one not going unnoticed by Harry.

"How was yours?" Shock smothered Harry's face, a pleased glint glimmering within his eyes.

"It was okay...other than the amazing food, it was a little dull; still better than a lesson with professor Malcurious." Draco tensed; a visible stiffness tightening his shoulders; a flicker of fear flooding his eyes. Harry's brows furrowed, eyes narrowing to study the emotion more critically.

"What?"

"What?" Draco replied dumbly, forcing a neutral dimness to tint his irises.

"Why did you, I mean-you looked...scared?"

"No, no." The blonde laughed dryly; his hand twisting soft strands of his hair, distracting his pounding heart. "I mean, I despise lessons in general-"

"I always thought you quite liked them?" Harry turned, twisting his body towards the blonde; his feet tucking beneath his knees, legs resting against the cool floor of the Slytherin dorm.

"Really?" Draco spoke without thought.

"Yeah, I mean, you always looked annoyed, but there was something in your eyes-something like eagerness, like you really wanted to learn." Draco was struck, a tense hand squeezing his heart, toying with his emotions; eyes mesmerised by Harry's words.

"You watched me?" Harry flushed, ears tinting a tentative pink; cheeks gnawed by the embarrassment creeping up his neck.

"Yeah." He admitted, humiliation straining his voice; a slight waver in his voice quirking Draco's head. The blonde's head fell, eyes entranced by his tie; flecks of crimson still glaring, a permeant imprint taunting the male.

"Well." Draco shrugged. "That was before the war. I've changed."

"Everyone's changed." Harry muttered, eyes unwavering; fixated on the lump gulping in Draco's neck, conflict constraining his thoughts.

"Sometimes I wish they hadn't."