Harry sometimes stayed in the Slytherin dormitory, and Draco sometimes stayed in the Gryffindor dormitory, sometimes they didn’t even sleep, and snuck to the astronomy tower just to be in each other’s company, they even got caught by Dumbledore a few times, who simply chuckled.
“Ah, to be young and in love,” he would smile, then tap his finger to the side of his nose, and walk back down the stairs, humming one song or another by Celestina Warbeck, his favorite being a ‘Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love.’
When they did end up in the Gryffindor dormitory, none of them were allowed to make any noise whatsoever, not even talking, for fear of waking Ron and the others (last time they chatted, Seamus didn’t ever let them hear the end of how they had woken him up with a game of never have i ever, to this day he would still give them the stink eye if they chose to play it in his presence.)
They usually chose to sleep in the privacy of the slytherin dormitories, as most students were allowed the privacy of their own rooms, yet some select few had chosen to share, and thank god Draco hadn’t.
One night, for some reason, Draco was finding it hard to sleep, wether it was due to the extra coffee he had this morning at breakfast, or that before going to bed he had snuck a mint humbug from the great hall and had polished it off, but either way, he was finding it extremely difficult to get comfortable, or to feel any sort of sleepiness whatsoever.
He had tossed and turned, and had eventually found a comfortable position, when he heard a small whimper to the side of him.
Turning, he only saw harry who seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully, yet as he was about to go back to his original position, he heard another, this time seeing exactly where it originated from.
Sitting up, he waited, wondering what kind of a dream would potter have, where he whimpered?
This time, instead of whimpering, he let out a small plea, almost a beg, whilst also clutching the blankets tightly, and rolling into a makeshift fetal position.
Draco moved towards him and began to shake harry, trying desperately to wake him from whatever nightmare he seemed to be having, whilst also shouting his name.
Harry gasped, and sat up, his eyes widening in terror and his body stiff, frozen in place. His chest was heaving and he felt himself gripping the blankets so tightly, that the scar on his hand would be clearer than ever.
Just to confirm this, harry looked down to his hand and saw ‘i must not tell lies’ scrawled on his hand, in his own messy text.
Draco placed his hand on Harry’s clenched fist, trying to ease it open so that he could try and comfort him, yet it didn’t seem to want to budge, as his hand remained as tightly closed as ever.
Draco shifted himself around the bed, trying to do it so that he could come face to face with harry, letting his legs slide in the space between harry’s arm and his hip, resting still on the blanket which had been covering him just moments before.
He let his forehead fall onto harry’s shoulder, trying to offer a small semblance of comfort to which he knew nothing of.
He shifted closer until his chest was touching Harry’s, just on one side, and his chin, rather than his forehead, was resting on Harry’s shoulder, as he wrapped one arm around Harry’s waist, and the other resting on the now slightly loosened fist that was still bunching the blankets, seeking some sort of comfort.
“Want to talk about it?” he whispered gently, drawing patterns with his thumb on Harry’s hip.
Draco was used to Harry having nightmares, he did watch the dark lord himself return from the dead on 3 separate occasions, had watched a classmate die by the hands of someone who betrayed his parents, had watched one of his teachers turn into a werewolf, had his godfather wrongly accused of murder, the watched him being murdered, saw through the mind of the dark lord and saw the very same person literally removing the life force from one being, only to give it to himself.
Yet he never mentioned any of this.
Harry had always chosen to keep quiet about his nightmares, as if not saying them out loud would keep them a fiction, last time that he chose to talk about his nightmares, his godfather had died after all.
This time however, Draco saw a small nod from harry out of the corner of his eye.
He kept silent, as if not to interrupt Harry’s thoughts and to allow him to continue.
“I was back there,” he choked out, his breathing having slowed down to a somewhat normal pace.
Draco remained still and silent, somewhat fearful that if he spoke, Harry would be silent again, and chose not to confide in Draco.
“I couldn’t see properly, it was cold, i was enclosed and there was nothing i could do,” he drew in a shaky breath before continuing,
“There was a loud noise, over and over again above me and i was so hungry, i kept trying to open the door but it was locked tight and someone kept slamming it.”
Draco hadn’t expected anything like this, possibly something to do with Sirius, but not a left field situation such as ‘enclosed spaces.’ why on earth would he be having nightmares like that?
Draco shushed him and brought his arm from his waist to his neck, and wrapped his arms comfortingly.
“Don’t worry love, it’s just a nightmare, its not real.”
Harry shook his head against Draco’s neck.
“It is real though,” he whispered fearfully, “and i have to go back every time and every time it gets worse, because its better here.”
Draco froze, contemplating the reality of what harry had just said, was he, talking about his family?
Draco had always assumed that the Dursleys had been kind to harry considering his status in the wizarding world as well as how he always seemed to be so kind to everyone else, yet to find out that they had hurt him in such a way, whilst not physics yet still painful, made Draco’s blood boil.
And he had to go back.
That broke Draco’s heart.
Whilst he had a somewhat unloving family, that did provide for him well, yet still ignored him completely, was absolutely nothing compared to what harry seemed to have to go through.
Yet, he didn’t have to return.
Draco turned to harry and brought him ever closer, his lips just inches away from harry’s.
“You can stay with me.”
Harry smiled in return.
“I would like that.”
Draco smirked at him, and pulled him towards his lips, before they crashed together.