Chapter 4 : Interlude 1

First Year at Hogwarts - The night after the Sorting Feast

Sitting by the window in his new dorm room, Harry watched as thin whisps of cloud drifted across the almost unbearably bright full moon which hung high in the dark sky outside. Hedwig perched beside him and he gently ran his fingers over her feathers constantly. He was a little cold, he was only wearing a thin pair of pyjamas after all, but he was wide awake and had spent the last hour or so tossing and turning in bed. He wasn't tired, he was too excited, but he was also too confused.

The first wizard his age he'd ever met had been a lovely boy named Draco Malfoy. He had been kind, sympathetic of his situation and far friendlier than most other people he'd ever met before. They'd connected instantly and become fast friends. If it hadn't been for the fact that Hagrid had come to get him again, Harry suspected that they would've spent that whole day in that shop, talking and getting to know each other and making each other laugh. Harry had never made anyone laugh before and he was glad that the first person he ever had was Draco Malfoy. The blonde boy had a wonderful laugh. Upon separating, the two boys had promised to meet up on the Hogwarts Express and share a compartment.

However, when they did meet up on the train, it was different. It was all wrong. Draco had been so cold, a perminant sneer stuck on his face, a harsh note to his tone. There was no smile, there was no shine in his eyes. He had been a completely different person and Harry couldn't figure out why. True, he'd been sitting with someone else in the compartment, a red-haired boy who was one of his dorm mates now. Could the presence of his new friend Ron have been something to do with the sudden change? Or was it him? Did Draco decide he wasn't worth it and it was better to just forget about their first few steps of friendship? Maybe Uncle Vernon was right; maybe he wasn't worth it, maybe he wasn't worth anything.

Harry released a light sigh as he let his head lull back against the wall he was leaning on. At least he had Ron. Ron seemed nice...But he wasn't Draco and that wouldn't stop nagging at him. He didn't know why though. Was it because Draco had been the first boy his age to be nice to him? That seemed a little needy and desperate though. Whatever the reason however, Harry couldn't deny the intense desire he had to be friends with the Slytherin boy. It obviously wasn't going to happen now, not since Draco no longer seemed interested in a friendship with him.

With another sigh, Harry swung his legs over so he could stand. However, he hadn't even stood when a sudden, sharp tapping came at the window, surprising him into lurching forward and falling on the floor, landing on his knees. He twisted around quickly and almost cried out when he saw something big and dark flapping outside. It didn't take him long to realise that it was only an owl rather than some kind of monster or something of the such. Feeling intensely grateful that none of his dorm mates had seen that rather embarrassing display, Harry quickly picked himself up off of the floor and reached out towards the window. He un-hooked the latch which held the glass panes shut and pulled one of the windows open. The owl, a rather ordinary brown one, fluttered in and landed at the foot of his bed before proceeding to then stare at him with its leg stretched out towards him.

Harry slowly approached the owl, being careful not to frighten it accidently. When he reached it, he gave its head a few strokes with one hand before using both hands to un-knot the twine which held a slip of parchment to the bird's leg. The second the rough, golden paper was free, the owl rose and shot out of the still open window. The dark haired, newly sorted Gryffindor followed the path the bird flew and quietly shut the windows, lifting the latch back in place once he'd done so. With that done, he dropped his gaze to the parchment in his hand. After un-folding it to find a short message, he read the two lines silently:

Meet me outside the Great Hall at mid-night, I need to explain.

Draco

Well...This was unexpected to say the least. Draco wanted to meet up and explain. Explain what exactly? Maybe he still wanted to be friends. Harry didn't even need to think about it; when mid-night came, he'd be outside the Great Hall.

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Harry sprinted down one of the many corridors which made up Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, trying to escape the immediate vicinity of Filch's cat. He'd only just avoided stepping on the raggedy looking creature and then had promptly dashed away in the opposite direction. Of course, now he was going in the wrong direction to reach the Great Hall but that couldn't really be helped. He'd have to find a way to double back and simply hope he didn't get incrediably lost in the process.

Turning a corner, Harry nearly lost his balance when he suddenly crashed straight into someone. He managed to stay upright somehow though and was simply forced back a couple of steps. When the initial shock of the collision passed and reality came back to him after a few seconds, Harry saw that he had, conveniently, bumped right into Draco, still dressed in his school robes. Draco opened his mouth, obviously about to say someonething, but Harry quickly put his fingers up to his own lips in a sign to remain quiet. Then, without word, he took the blonde's arm and pulled him forward sharply.

"Harry, the Great Hall's in the other direction." Draco whispered, having got the idea that they were meant to be quiet even though he all most certainly didn't know why they had to be.

"I know but Filch's cat's back there, that's why I was running." Harry answered, leading them quickly down the corridor they were currently in.

Draco stopped them at that and gently gripped the dark boy's arm. "We'll head down to the dungeons then. We can use Professor Snape's classroom." Harry gave him a disbelieving look at that but the blonde simply grinned reassuringly. "He's my godfather, he won't mind." The tone he spoke in implied the un-spoken 'because I'm not going to tell him'. Harry didn't say anything in reply. Although he hadn't met the Potions professor yet, the older wizard's appearance wasn't exactly encouraging and the last thing Harry wanted was to accidently insult Draco's family by saying something wrong.

The rest of the journey was made in silence. Draco led while Harry followed and they managed to avoid anymore brush ins with Mrs Norris. Soon after they had met up, Draco had shifted his grip so that instead of holding Harry's arm, their hands were loosely cupped together. The blonde Slytherin didn't seem to notice their contact but it definately didn't pass the Gryffindor by. No one had ever held his hand before and, although it wasn't exactly awkward, it did make him feel a little uncomfortable. He didn't want to say anything though for fear his friend would let go; just because it made him feel a little uneased, didn't mean he wanted it to stop.

Eventually, the two boys reached Professor Snape's classroom and slipped inside quietly, Draco pulling the door open for Harry and allowing him to go in first. The blonde followed in swiftly, easing the large, wooden door shut behind them both. As the grinding of the wood reached their ears, their eyes locked to each others and as the sound stopped, no more came. They stood there in complete silence, simply watching one another; Draco seeming as though he was thinking of how to say what he wanted to say while Harry just didn't want to say anything.

"How have you settled in?" The young blonde inquired gently, looking a bit tentative.

"Fine." Harry assured nervously. "You?"

"I'm a Malfoy who's in Slytherin, what do you think?" Draco replied with a small laugh, obviously trying to break the ice. Harry could only offer a weak smile in reply though; he really was in no mood to laugh and joke. The blonde released a small breath then and stepped forward, towards the dark haired boy opposite him. "I asked you here, like I said on my note, because I want to explain my behaviour to you."

"All right." Harry nodded.

After giving a small sigh and closing the gap between them so they only about a foot apart, Draco began to speak again: "When we seperated last time, in Diagon Alley, I, naturally, went and met with my parents. The first thing I said to them was that I'd met Harry Potter and that he was my new best friend." Harry couldn't help but smile at that; it was reassuring to hear those words said in the adoring voice which the blonde had used. "My mother was happy for me, she was glad I had a friend, a real friend, finally. My father was happy for me...Though for different reasons." The Slytherin paused then, suddenly awkward and nervous. "Do...Do you know about...He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" He asked, falling into a whisper at the end.

"Yes..."

"My father...Used to support him. I think he still does." Draco revealed, his hands coming together in front of him as he began to pull on his fingers as if he was trying to stop himself from letting them do something else. "He's not exactly a nice man and, well, he was a little too enthustiastic about us. Then, the evening before I left for here, I heard him talking to mother. Basically, to cut a long story short, being close to me means you're going to be closer to him, and I can't do that to you. He's dangerous Harry, incredibly dangerous and I'm afraid of what he might do to you if he got the chance." Tears came to his eyes at that and he abruptly pulled Harry into a close hug. The dark haired Gryffindor tensed at the sudden gesture but Draco didn't seem to even notice, instead continuing on in a slightly tearful voice. "I don't want to stop being your friend Harry and I never will, not really, but we can't..."

"Then we won't." Harry interrupted, not even thinking about what he was saying. Draco pulled back at that and looked at Harry slightly fearfully. Realising how that may've sounded, Harry quickly continued. "I mean, we won't in public. You're the first friend I've ever had as well and if we can't be friends in public, then we'll be friends in secret."

"Secret?" Draco repeated un-comprehendingly.

"We'll meet at night, like this. It might even turn out to be fun; we could both act like right gits to each other in front of everyone else, they'll think we hate each other. But then, at night, when we're alone like this..."

"We'll be the best of friends." Draco finished firmly, taking Harry's hands in his own, the tears suddenly gone and a cool, collected expression in his place. The sudden change was no doubt deliberate; Draco was showing his point. He could change masks and hide emotions in the blink of an eye. It assured Harry that just because such things couldn't be seen, it didn't mean they weren't there.

"So, uh, how often do you think we should meet?" Harry asked, once again feeling a little un-nerved with that hand holding but un-willing to have it stopped.

"Every night." The blonde answered quickly, without hesitation.

"That often?"

"Unless you don't want to."

"Oh, no, I do want to, I just...Didn't know that you'd want to."

Draco smiled understandingly at that and rocked Harry's hands from side to side playfully, looking down at where they were clasped with his. "You know Harry, no matter what I do or what I say during the day, none of it's real. It's when we're by ourselves, like this; this is when everything is real. There'll be no lies between us when we're alone like this."

"Good." Harry answered, smiling back. Honesty was a big thing for him now. After finding out he'd been lied to all his life about what really happened to his parents, he was now intent on remaining well informed in all aspects of his life.

Once again, the two boys hugged each other, Harry actually joining in with this one. While Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders, Harry encircled Draco's shoulders with his own. Each boy rested their head on the others shoulder and were then content to remain there together, silently, for some time to come.