Reformation (Book 4 of The Corruption Sequence)

Chapter 10. Outside

The problem was, with it went his protection from really analysing what he was doing and where he was and one fear was quickly replaced by another: fear that he might have actually hurt the people who had been his friends.

"Harry," Draco said, taking his face in both hands and making him look him in the eye, "everything's okay."

He felt a little light headed as the ideas that had been running through his head came back to haunt him. If Dean had got to his wand he wasn't sure what would have happened.

"Look at me," Draco demanded as he tried to look away; "everything is fine."

"I..." he started to say.

"Rushed in like an idiotic hero," Draco interrupted, refusing to let him finish. "Nothing happened; you didn't hurt anyone and you wouldn't have, okay?"

Harry was not so sure.

"Okay?" Draco insisted.

It amazed him how much faith Draco seemed to have in him; it shone in his lover's eyes and made him feel somehow whole. He nodded; faced with that belief he couldn't do anything else.

"Good," Draco said and to his surprise kissed him.

It wasn't a long kiss, or a passionate kiss, but it shocked him enough to keep him from spiralling into worry over his actions. The incubus part of him whispered at the back of his mind that he could easily push Draco up against the wall and have his way with him, but luckily his sensibilities were more prevalent and he managed to quell the urge.

"Later," Draco said with a small smile, as if reading his mind, "for now, we need to deal with the delegation."

The whole group of Gryffindors were looking at them with open curiosity when Harry dragged his eyes away from Draco. There were Dean and Seamus, Lavender, Colin and a third year Harry didn't know very well, he thought the boy's name was William, in the group.

"Sorry, Harry," Dean said and did actually look apologetic; "we didn't mean to scare you, we just wanted to know the truth and make sure you would be okay."

It was a very Gryffindorish sentiment and Harry did understand it; they had been looking out for him. The fact that he could feel when Draco was in trouble was not something that anyone had seen fit to bandy about and the current situation wasn't really anything anyone could have predicted.

"I ..." he tried to tell then why he had reacted the way he had, but, as usual, any mention of the premonition caused his voice to lock up.

"Like the article said," Draco stepped in for him smoothly, "Harry had another premonition; in it I died because of the Ministry being idiots. He won't be settled until it's all over."

Harry squeezed Draco's hand in thanks. He would have added something himself, something not directly to do with the premonition, but time was not on his side.

"Exactly what is going on here?" a very familiar voice asked and Harry looked round to see Professor McGonagall standing in the corridor.

All the other Gryffindors were looking anywhere but at their head of house, but Harry met her gaze.

"I got the wrong idea," he said simply; he didn't want anyone getting into trouble.

The way the professor looked at Dean and the others on one side of the corridor and Draco and him on the other, he doubted she couldn't figure out some of what had happened, but he hoped his head of house would not push the matter.

"So much so that you decided to break out of you room, Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked and raised both her eyebrows.

"I'm feeling very jumpy at the moment," he replied, holding on to Draco's hand firmly, "because of ..."