The year that changed it all

DA and the Nightmare

Harry's POV

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It's been a few months now, Hermione and Ron persuaded me to start teaching a group we made called Dumbledore's Army. DA for short. The lessons have been going on pretty well, I even got Draco to come along a few times. He doesn't want to be caught there by Umbridge or a professor though, in fear of his father finding out. I understand that.

Today I am teaching everyone about the patronus charm. Some people managed to do it fairly quickly like Hermione and Luna. Some took longer like Draco. At the end of the session, I was saying goodbye to everyone and just as the last people left, I saw Draco sitting in the corner of the room.

I walked over and sat down next to him.

"What's wrong, love?" I said to him in a soft voice.

He looked up at me and said glumly,

"I'm just embarrassed, my family is all seen as very powerful but I'm the only one here who can't produce a patronus."

"It will just take you time, just because you can't do it right now doesn't mean you never will. Anyways, who cares if you can't produce a charm? You are the most amazing and talented person I know. Remember when you made me that healing potion? Hermione had read about it and told me even some of the greatest wizards had struggled to make that. Yet you told me that it wasn't that hard for you to make. You constantly get amazing grades in every class too. Your ability to do a charm doesn't define you. Plus, I bet a lot of the people that were here today wouldn't be able to do half the things you can." I said to him.

He smiled at me and his cheeks flushed a crimson colour. He still looked a bit sad though.

"Shall we go to bed? It's getting late now." I suggested.

Draco nodded and I helped him up. We walked hand in hand back to Draco's room not caring about whether we would get caught together because it was already after curfew and everyone was in their own rooms asleep, even Umbridge.

Draco's POV

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We got to my room and we changed into our pyjamas without talking. It was already quite late and I could tell Harry was tired from the long day of school and from teaching the DA. I went and sat down on my desk chair next to a small candle that was the light source in the room.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" Harry asked me.

"I will in a minute, I just need to finish up something," I responded.

Harry then told me not to stay up too late and then immediately fell into a deep sleep. I couldn't help but laugh at the way he almost instantly fell asleep. I sat there at my desk and I started practicing.

"Expecto Patronum." I whispered.

"Expecto Patronum." I whispered again.

I probably said it about fifty times before I started to fall asleep in the chair. Suddenly I was woken from my sleep to hear cries and groans. I looked over at the source of the sound. It was Harry. He was still asleep though. I ran over to the bed and started stroking his head. I didn't want to wake him up too suddenly in case that scared him more than he already looked.

He wasn't responding to my touch though so I started to quietly talk.

"Harry, it's all alright, it's just a dream" I whispered to him, still stroking his sweaty cheek with my thumb.

"Darling, don't worry, nothing is wrong," I then said to him.

He started to squirm around a bit in his sleep and it was scaring me. He wasn't responding to anything and he seemed to be getting worse. Whatever was happening to him, I wanted it to stop.

I started to say his name, I was panicking. Shouting his name now but still no response. Then out of nowhere, I felt the urge to kiss him. So I did. I pressed my face to his face quite hard and our lips smashed together. Then after a few seconds, he had calmed down. He stopped moving around and groaning but he was now whimpering. He then opened his eyes very slowly and tears came from them.

"It's alright love, I'm here now, no one can hurt you." I said to him with a soothing voice.

"Mr Weasley." He said as he looked like he just saw a ghost for the first time.

"Help him!" Harry shouted.

"Help him please Draco!"

I was so confused why Harry wanted me to help Mr Weasley but Harry was so upset that I knew this wasn't just any nightmare that he just had. I carried him bridal style all the way to Professor Dumbledore's office and set him down on the chair. Almost as if he was waiting for us, Dumbledore was already sitting at his desk when we arrived. I explained what I had just witnessed happen and then I encouraged Harry to tell Dumbledore what happened to him. I listened intently as he slowly described what happened.

He explained every detail, how it felt so real. How Arthur Weasley had been attacked in the ministry while working and is currently injured on the ground where he was attacked. Dumbledore sent for people to go and find Mr Weasley and help him.

Dumbledore then explained that these 'nightmares' were actually visions that the Dark Lord has and because he is connected to Harry in a way, Harry also gets them. He also told us that Harry would need to be trained to block people from penetrating his mind because if he could see into the Dark Lord's mind then maybe he could see into Harry's. Snape then appeared in the room and took Harry while I was sent back to my room.

I couldn't sleep without Harry there so I sat practicing the patronus charm again.

Finally at about two in the morning Harry came back into the room. He was covered in sweat and had the worst posture I had ever seen. His feet were dragging on the floor and I thought he would want to go straight to bed because of how tired and washed out he looked but much to my surprise he told me he wanted a shower.

I just nodded. Anything to make him feel better right now. I brought him to the bathroom that was connected to my room. I sat him down on the closed toilet seat and turned on the shower so the water could run for a minute or two before he got in. Just as I was about to leave the bathroom to wait for him in my room he said,

"Help me?"

He looked so helpless, like a toddler who still depended on adults to help them do everything. I felt so sorry for him. I just walked back into the bathroom and helped him stand up.

I pulled his shirt and pants off before doing my own. I then stepped into the shower and helped him in too. I let the water run down his back for a while, letting him get used to the feeling of it before I rubbed soap over his back and in his hair. Once the soap had all washed off I turned him around so he was facing me and I started to soap down his front and then let the soap wash away. Once I finished washing his whole body, I stepped out of the shower and opened a soft warm towel and wrapped it around him. I then led him into the bedroom and picked out some new pyjamas for him. Since the rest of his clothes were in his own dorm that he shared, I picked out the softest jumper I had and a pair of boxers. I helped to dress him and then myself.

I waved my wand and the fire had started burning again, warming up the room. I pulled back the bed sheets for him as he climbed in. I placed them over him and got in on the other side of the bed. He came and cuddled right into my chest so I wrapped my arms around him gently.

"Thank you" He said quietly, his voice muffled by my shirt.