In The Closet
Friday came and Draco didn't show up for therapy. Hermione wasn't surprised though, she knew how hard it had been for him to open up to her the night before, and she knew it would be hard for him to come back to therapy if he didn't try to find something that would make him feel good about himself. She was debating with herself a plan to make Draco's self-esteem grow when she was approached by Pansy.
-Hey Mione.-
-Hey Pansy, what's up?-
-Today's session got me thinking about how I never personally apologized for being so awful to you on our previous years. So, I guess I just wanted to say I'm really sorry Hermione.-
-Oh Pansy, it's ok, really. Besides, you apologized back on the train, remember?-
-Yeah, but that was mostly Draco-
-Talking about Draco, do you know where he usually goes in therapy?-
Pansy felt a sting of jealousy at how fast the conversation had turned to her best friend. The Slytherin Princess hadn't missed the lingering stares between those two, and she had definitely noticed them staying alone in the astronomy tower the night before, but she tried to hide it from Hermione and herself, then answered that Draco just slept until breakfast and changed the topic of the conversation to how cute she had found Arnold, Ginny's pygmy puff.
The two girls talked all through breakfast and only said goodbye when they had to go to their correspondent classes. Pansy already felt them getting closer and got a spark of hope that one day they would be able to at least go on a date.
The weekend went by uneventful and Monday arrived. It was time for Draco to show up at therapy. The thought terrified him, but if everyone else could do it, why couldn't he?.
This day's therapy was all about honoring the dead; sharing some words of appreciation that were supposed to help everyone make peace with their sorrows and move on. Very few people acknowledged Draco's presence in the room, some were ignoring him and others just didn't notice.
Hermione had decided to stick by the blond boy as soon as he walked through the large oak doors, and with her support, Draco was able to go through the whole session without much trouble, mainly because he had decided not to pay attention to what was happening and resorted to just do some last minute reading for his upcoming History of Magic review test.
It worked.
When the therapy session was over, Hermione and Draco made some small talk on their way to breakfast, but Draco realized he had left his text book in the classroom and Pansy took Hermione away before she could offer to go with him.
*
Silence ruled in the halls as the noise slowly moved towards the Great Hall along with all the students that were eager to get their hands on their breakfast, which is why Draco found it very strange when he managed to identify some soft sobs coming from a broom closet near the therapy classroom on his way out from collecting his book.
It was very obvious that some seventh or eighth year student had found this day's therapy particularly hard emotionally and Draco felt he could relate to the desperate crying that became louder and clearer as he walked towards the door, which is why he decided to open it.
The now startled Slytherin was definitely not expecting to find this particular student crying alone in a broom closet. Thinking it a bit better, he wasn't sure who he was expecting to find or what he was going to do when he logically drew the attention of the crier when opening the door, but there was a soft tugging in his heart that told him that there was no one else he would have it rather be.
No, he was not even remotely happy with this fellow student's despair, but if was going to find someone to walk with him through the sadness and the trauma, he couldn't think of a better person.
The small room was very dark, but Draco could see clearly when the curled-up boy lifted his head with his black mop of hair all ruffled from desperate handling, a couple dark hairs sticking to his wet blood-shot emerald eyes. He could also see enough to identify Harry's hand slowly moving towards his wand, so he quickly locked the door behind him and casted a Lumos with his own wand.
-Malfoy, get out of here.- Said Harry with a touch of anger and sadness in his voice. -Please.-
-Not until we've talked-
-About what?! Look, just leave me alone and forget this ever happened.-
-Stop being so stubborn Potter, I'm not leaving this room until we've talked.-
Draco plopped himself next to Harry, with one leg extended and the other one supporting his wand-hand, leaving the small ball of light between them. He didn't dare look at Harry, mainly because he knew that he would just make the Gryffindor feel embarrassed and probably stop him from opening up, but there was also something else, he wasn't sure of what it was, but he did know that the small tugging in his chest was making him nervous.
The two boys sat in silence for a while, there was no way Harry was just going to open up to Draco of all people, even if they were friends now. He wasn't that open even with Ron or Hermione, he had never felt comfortable sharing his feelings because he knew that neither of his friends could relate. He felt alone.
After a deep thinking and a profound analysis of the situation, Draco turned off his wand and spoke.
-I know it's no secret, but I didn't like Dumbledore very much growing up.-
Harry just turned to look at him in silence, Draco felt him move and knew there was no going back now, so he continued.
-I'm not sure why really, heh. My dad was always talking rubbish about him, so that's probably a reason. But I think I was mainly just... Angry... And jealous too I guess. You were always his favorite. But when we were up in the astronomy tower, he told me he could help me. I desperately wanted that...- Draco's voice started cracking as his eyes became watery. -I really wanted to believe he could help me, but I made my choice too late. And I didn't do anything. I could have stopped what happened to him... and I didn't...- Before he could have a full breakdown, he remembered where he was and who he was with and tried to ground himself by focusing on the faint muffled sounds from the corridor.
-You know you couldn't have done anything, right?- Harry replied after a couple seconds of silence. -I was there, if you had tried anything the death eaters would've killed you along with him. It would have been pointless.-
-That's what you keep saying, but I think that would have been for the best...-
The small room fell silent. Harry had no idea how to reply to what Draco had just said. Of course he didn't agree with him. If Draco had died that night, him and his friends probably wouldn't have left the Malfoy Manor alive, and even if they had, Narcissa Malfoy wouldn't have lied to Voldemort about his failed death in the Forbidden Forest and he would've died there.
Draco Malfoy had been very important in the victory of the second Wizarding War. But how could Harry make him see that?
Suddenly, the Gryffindor realized what was happening; he noticed how he had calmed himself by not only getting distracted with Draco's problems, but also by starting to feel less alone. Draco was having as much as a bad time with the after-war memories and had decided to open up to him.
Harry felt grateful. He wanted to return the favor.
-I could have prevented all this from happening-
-What?-
-If I had killed Peter Pettigrew back in third year, or if I had defeated Voldemort back in fourth. Voldemort wouldn't have been able to rise, Dumbledore would have found the remaining Horcruxes and all the war could have been avoided. So many people would still be alive. None of those things would have happened to you. I've heard about some of the stuff Voldemort did to you.-
-Well Potter, not to be rude or anything, but I don't think you could have accomplished such a thing all by yourself-
Draco tried to put a bit of sarcasm and humor into his last phrase with the hopes of lifting up the spirits. Harry exhaled and tuned to look at Draco, it was mostly dark, but he could still see the other boy looking back at him. None of the felt so alone anymore.