Tired

Draco was the first back to the Hospital Wing, having only grabbed a sandwich and an apple to eat on his way back and rushing out again. Ron had tried to do the same, but got grabbed by Fred and George who insisted that he ate more than just the first thing he could grab before running out again. At least not on his first day of class.

"I'm back! How's Harry?" Draco asked, out of breath as he entered the Hospital Wing again, only opening one door rather than both, and not letting it slam open.

Mme Pomfrey sighed and eyed him up and down. She knew as well as anyone else that Draco hadn't had a proper, full meal, but given his circumstances it was probably the best possible for a while.

"He's awake, but you need to be gentle with him. You hear me? Be gentle." Mme Pomfrey said sternly, hands on her hips as she tried to drill it into Draco's head as much as possible. At least for this week Harry should be treated like he was made of bone china.

"Yes, I'll be careful. Can I know what happened to him?" Draco asked, unable to stay completely still, though not going to Harry's room as he didn't know where it was.

"Good, but no, not for a long while. I'm not telling anyone else without Harry's explicit permission." Mme Pomfrey said, she was almost completely certain that meant that she wasn't going to be able to tell anyone else. Honestly she had no desire to tell Dumbledore, but she had done her job of reporting by telling Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. It was McGonagall who dealt with pretty much everything any way. "The door's the one that will open for you."

Draco nodded and walked to the other side of the Hospital Wing, trying two doors before finally getting to the one that lead to Harry's room.

"Can I help you?" Remus asked, getting up and standing in the way of looking into the room as soon as he noticed the door opening.

"Oh, sorry, is Harry in here?" Draco asked, trying to look past Remus, but it was impossible.

"Why?" Remus asked. He wasn't about to let someone Harry didn't know, or someone Harry didn't like into the room.

"I'm the one who brought Harry here, we're friends." Draco said, bristling slightly.

"Harry?" Remus turned away from the door to look at the small boy who was still slowly eating his lunch. "You okay with..."

"Draco Malfoy"

"Malfoy coming in here to be with you? It's completely fine either way." Remus kept a close eye on Harry's face. While he was far from the most expressive person, it was still possible to read anyone's face if you knew the basics.

Harry thought for a moment over a larger nibble of the sandwich than before, before he nodded. In response Remus moved away from the door, opening it wider to let Draco in before closing the door again.

"Hey Harry, how are you feeling?" Draco asked, taking the seat Remus had vacated.

"Fine." Harry said with a small nod, going back to being nervous about his food.

"Better than yesterday?" Draco asked, 'fine' could mean a lot of things, usually 'I'm dealing with this, leave me alone.'

Harry paused again, thinking through the answer before nodding. Harry wasn't offering anything to continue the conversation, but he didn't seem uncomfortable about anything except his food.

"That's good. I'm sorry, by the way, I didn't realise you would end up staying in here for so long." Draco didn't make eye contact with Harry, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's okay. Not your fault I need to stay here." Harry mumbled, looking between Draco, Remus, and the sandwiches before every small bite, which were slowly getting larger again.

"Is there anything you want to know? Ask me anything, I'll do my best to answer!" Draco tried to make the conversation last longer, it was still to early for him and Harry to really have a properly comfortable silence.

Harry jumped slightly at Draco's words, looking surprised, his eyes wide as he looked between Draco's eyes and Remus, who was standing by the door and seeming like he was trying to be invisible. This silence lasted for a while before Harry finally spoke.

"Um, h-how's Hedwig?" Harry asked very tentatively, looking down at his plate.

"Your owl? I think they showed up at breakfast with the letters, but left after swooping around and not seeing you." Draco said, honestly he wasn't used to people caring too much about their owls, and wasn't used to doing so either. 

People would care that their owls were fed, watered, and uninjured so they could take letters for them. Harry was definitely unusual in his care for the owl, but Draco honestly found himself liking Harry's uniqueness.

"I'm glad she's okay, I wish I could see her." Harry mumbled, looking a little brighter.

"I'll ask Mme Pomfrey if she can come here so you can see her." Draco hoped that at least asking would make Harry happier.

Harry did indeed brighten up at the idea of seeing Hedwig again, but he was all too aware he could only see her if he was given permission by Mme Pomfrey. He had no idea if she would give him permission to see Hedwig though, he also didn't know how she would react to Harry asking for something or for someone to ask in his place.

"By the way, are you friends with Weasel?" Draco sneered as he thought about the red haired boy who seemed to think he had more of a right to be Harry's friend than Harry's own mate.

Harry tilted his head as he looked at Draco with large, wide eyes, catching the light more than they did before. Honestly it would take very little to convince Draco that Harry's eyes were gems made into eyes through magic, he heard there were old magic nations where people had eyes like that when their magic was powerful. He looked confused, but still looked a little guarded, like he was making sure he could jump away from Draco at the slightest hint of danger, he just didn't ask another question.

"Ron Weasley, Gryffindor in our year with red hair, He has siblings, and a lot, every generation of the Weasleys do. Are you friends?" Draco described Ron as best as he could. He and his family had a bad relationship with the Weasleys, so he was raised to look down on them.

"I.... Don't know.... Don't really have friends. He probably doesn't want to be." Harry mumbled, playing with his duvet covers. He had stopped eating even though he still had most of his lunch to eat.

"If he wanted to be friends with you would you agree?" Draco asked.

He had no right to monopolise Harry and his time, or choose who Harry spent his time with, but that didn't make him need to like the people that Harry wanted to hang out with. And Draco didn't like Ron and would likely never like him, but if Harry wanted to be his friend then the two of them would have to suck it up, or Ron wasn't good enough to be Harry's friend.

Harry clearly brightened up at the idea of Ron wanting to be his friend, but his eyes darkened again before he answered, looking back down and playing with his fingers again.

"I don't think he'll want to, so I won't hope." Harry looked up at Draco, smiling with his eyes closed, but it just looked so heartbroken.

-----

"I've eaten now!" Ron announced tripping as he rushed into the room, he had clearly had a red sauce with his lunch as it was still around his mouth, Ron clearly being a messy eater. "I get to talk to Harry now, right?"

"He's woken up, but if he feels uncomfortable you'll be kicked out. No arguing or you won't be allowed to visit him again." Mme Pomfrey said, gesturing towards the door to Harry's room. "Malfoy is already in there, absolutely no fighting or you will not be allowed back into his room."

"What if I'm not the one who starts the fight, that's not fair." Ron complained under his breath as he went to the door, also getting Remus answering the door.

"Hello?" Remus looked Ron up and down, it wasn't hard to recognise him a Weasley, but he would have thought that someone like Molly would have raised her children to be less messy eaters.

"I'm Ron, is Harry in there?" Ron asked, feeling a little awkward, he hadn't been expecting someone else to answer the door, it was quiet inside the room though.

"One moment," Remus turned away to look at Harry who looked surprised, having heard Ron outside the door. "Harry, are you okay with Ron coming in? Again, either answer is fine, they'll need to go to class soon anyway."

"I- I'm fine with that." Harry said, looking surprised, his eyes brighter again.

Draco was looking annoyed, his face directed away from the door and Harry, so Harry didn't think his irritation was towards him. Ron also looked slightly annoyed when he saw Draco, but immediately smiled again, going to sit down on the other side of Harry's bed.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ron asked with a rather bright smile.

"I'm fine..." Harry said, looking at his plate again, a silence forming briefly before Harry added on what was asked of him before. "Better than yesterday."

"Great, why did you come here anyway?" Ron asked, looking around the small room. He had never known there were private rooms in the Hospital Wing before.

"Draco brought me and I was told to drink something and fell asleep." Harry avoided anyone's eyes, still not eating with more than half of the food still on the plate.

"Hey Harry, are you full?" Remus asked, seeing how Harry was leaving his plate.

Harry jumped almost violently as attention was brought to his spoon. He wasn't exactly hungry, at least not as hungry as he was most of the time, he had been allowed to eat a lot recently, but he wasn't full. But if he tried to keep his food then he was probably just going to have it taken away anyway, and probably punished for not giving the right answer. But what if the right answer was to say he wasn't full?

"How about I just put it here and you can eat more whenever you want, but there's no risk of it spilling on your bed." Remus said, carefully putting the plate on the table beside the bed, the one on Draco's side.

"Um, by the way Harry, I never actually asked you if you were okay with us being friends, so... Are you?" Ron looked extremely bashful at the question, rubbing the back of his head.

Harry froze, staring at Ron with his mouth agape. It was shocking that he had just been talking to Draco about if he would accept Ron's friendship and now he had someone asking to be his friend. Maybe he had 2, he wasn't exactly sure, Draco acted like how he felt a friend should, but Draco hadn't labelled himself as Harry's friends. Maybe Draco was able to see the future, or he got Ron to ask Harry to be his friend.

"If you're just avoiding saying no, there's no need. It's not like we exactly know each other well, so I do understand." Ron said into the silence, making Draco try to hide a smile at the idea of Harry rejecting the friendship.

"I- I don't think I'm a good friend, I've never- never been able to keep them before. Are- Do- If you really want to be my friend... I'd like that." Harry's voice got quieter as he kept talking, his face flushed as he looked intensely down at his bedding, catching himself twice before he asked a question.

"Okay, Malfoy, Weasley, it's time for you two to go to back to class." Remus opened the door for the two of them, Harry still not being visible to anyone standing outside the room unless they were right by the door.

"We'll come back soon!" Ron said as he and Draco filed out the room.

"Mme Pomfrey," Draco caught the healer as they were leaving. "Is it okay if I bring Harry's owl here for him? He really cares about her, and wants to see her."

"I will talk to him about it, now off with you." Mme Pomfrey sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before flapping her hands at Draco towards the door.