Disclaimer: And once again, say it with me: I am not JK Rowling: Got it, you people? Sheesh, what does a poor (literally) FanFiction (doesn't belong to me!) authour (writes hopefully interesting plots) have to do to get readers to realize she's NOT JK Rowling in disguise (however much she might wish JK believed in Drarry)?

Warning: Nothing's changed; it's all still "Slash (boy-on-boy), Super powerful!Harry, slightly Dark!Harry, devious(but o-so-cute)!Draco, Sub!Draco." Same as before.

Authours Note: Hehehehehe- I know a lot of you said you read Robin McKinley's things, right? So, a challenge. Go and read 'The Blue Sword', and tell me what's odd about Colonel Jack Dedham's geldings name and the Heroine's name. Hint- it's near the end, and you'll DIE!! LOL- makes you wonder where JK got the names from, hey? :winkwinknudgenudge:

Title: Damaged Goods

Chapter 5

Harry came awake suddenly as the sun rose, and looked around as his body stayed still. The familiar sight of the Hospital Wing met his eyes, and as he registered where he was and why he was here, he became aware of a warmth pressing against his front. Harry stared at the silvery-blonde hair for a moment, refusing to believe that his dream had actually been reality.

But with Draco's distinctive hair right under his nose, Harry couldn't deny the truth. He gingerly disentangled himself from the sleeping blonde, freezing as the Slytherin shifted and sighed in his sleep. Slowly, Harry finished disentangling himself from Draco, and eased out of the bed. It was with relief that Harry managed to maneuver things so that the other teen didn't wake, and he heaved a silent sigh as he stood beside the bed.

Glancing down at his body and grimacing as he realized he'd slept in his clothes, Harry cast numerous spells on himself. Spells to clean his hair and teeth, a spell to wash his body, a spell to change his clothes and another to Summon a pair of trainers. With a final spell to call his schoolbag from the Tower, Harry stretched a hand out and Summoned a chair from across the room.

Here where no one was watching he could use his magic as he willed- without the handicap of his wand. He loved the familiar feel of the holly in his hand, but he'd realized early on in his fifth year that relying on it would only hold him back. Harry let his magic run through his body for a moment, relaxing as he did so.

The Infirmary was the only place he could safely remove his personal wards, as the wards of the Hospital Wing were designed to keep random bursts of magic from destroying the school. Harry opened his eyes and looked at Draco through his magic, wondering for a moment if he would be able to see what was wrong with the Slytherin. But as he searched nothing appeared to be out of place, and Harry released the magic from his eyes.

Harry recalled his magic to its usual bindings, and settled into wait for Draco to wake up.

Draco shifted as his eyes opened blearily, and sighed as he realized he wasn't going to be able to sleep any longer. He took in the Hospital Wing, eyes not immediately noticing Potter sitting in the chair next to his bed, and rolled onto his back. He didn't want to move- he wanted to be able to close his eyes and slip back into the dream he had been having.

But even as Draco admitted he would not be able to go back to sleep, he was wondering where the warmth at his back had gone to. Staring at the ceiling in the haze of the just-awake, he saw someone shift to his left. Glancing over, he raised an eyebrow at the sight of Harry Potter sitting next to his bed, looking for all the world as if he had a right to be there.

"Good morning, Draco." Harry said quietly, and Draco rolled back over onto his side. He stared at Harry for a minute, contemplating the Gryffindor before responding.

"You moved." He didn't say it accusingly, but simply as a statement of fact. Now that he was awake enough to remember last night, he wanted to see Harry's reaction. The dark-haired teen blushed lightly, and shrugged.

"I thought you would want me to be out when the teachers came in."

Draco raised an eyebrow at the statement, and sat up. He noticed distantly that Harry's eyes stayed firmly fixed on his face, and swung the blankets off of his body. As he slid off the edge of the bed he stumbled slightly, but before he could do anything else warm arms were surrounding him and holding him steady.

Draco looked up into concerned green eyes, holding onto the strong arms as his heart calmed. "Thanks," he said a bit breathlessly, "I guess I wasn't quite ready for that yet." Harry chuckled as he set Draco straight on his own feet, and the blonde felt it vibrate through his chest.

"It's not a problem, Draco. I'm here to help, after all." Harry waited until the Slytherin was ready to try his balance again before letting go, and stood back as Draco glanced down at himself and grimaced. Harry chuckled at the other teen's expression, instantly realizing why Draco's face had taken on such a cast. The blonde glared at Harry as the Gryffindor continued chuckling, and propped his hands on his hips.

Looking around the room, Draco pursed his lips as he couldn't find what he was looking for. Finally, annoyed by the amused brunette, he snapped, "What are you laughing at, you Gryffindor barbarian?" Harry stopped at the words, for a moment stunned at the return to Ferret-Malfoy, but hid his smile as the slighter boy continued.

"You're so high and mighty these days, Potter, so make yourself useful. I need clothing, not these… rags…" Draco spat, ignoring the highly amused teen watching him- "and my school things." He waited for a minute, then arrogantly snapped his fingers in front of Harry's face.

"Now, Potter," he added, annoyed as the Gryffindor Golden Boy lost the battle to hide his grin. Harry stood and swept a mocking bow. When he straightened he held a hand towards Draco's bed, and- with a look of intense concentration- gestured. With a bright flash the bed was covered, and Draco's face incredulous.

Harry smirked- an expression that was decidedly odd on his face- and sat back in his chair as Draco hesitantly began to shift through the pile. Slowly a look of awe and pleasure overcame the blonde, and he turned back to Harry, eyes shining.

"I was merely playing with you, Harry," Draco said, arms full of clothing and a brilliant smile on his face. "I didn't think you would actually do it." Harry smiled as Draco implied that he knew Harry could do such a thing, and shrugged. But Draco wasn't done, and Harry listened carefully. "Thank you!" the blonde said with a winning smile, "and you have perfect taste!"

He disappeared into the bathroom before Harry could respond, and left the brunette alone with a bemused cast to his face. Harry shook his head, slightly confused, but accepted it. Obviously this was what the Malfoy was like when one was friends with him, and Harry just had to get used to the demanding and petty teen. He smiled again, and waited for Draco to reemerge. At least he knew what to expect now.

Draco posed in front of the mirror, pondering his outfit. The shirt fit like a second skin, as did the pants, but he wasn't sure he wanted to wear them. He peered closer at his reflection, and grimaced at the imaginary pudge he was seeing. I am fine! I do not need to impress Harry! Merlin- I could wear a burlap sack and he wouldn't say anything, the fashion- barbarian.

But Draco still shifted and fidgeted in his clothing, trying to make his clothes sit right. Finally he was satisfied, and sneered at the school robe hung on the back of the door. Deciding to put it on later, Draco took one last look at his outfit. The silky button up clung to him attractively, tucked neatly into the tops of his trousers, showing him off as best as it could. The Slytherin tie hung loose around his neck- Draco hated tying the damn thing and always left it off for the last minute.

His trousers were a deep black, and felt wonderful against Draco's legs. Cut in a Muggle style they accentuated his tiny waist and lean hips, and cupped his arse like a long lost lover. Draco smiled as he thought that, gathering up the evidence of his having been in the bathroom. One would think Harry wanted to see him in this outfit, given that it had been the one he had Summoned for Draco.

The Slytherin stilled at the thought, eyes wide as he glanced into the mirror suddenly. Did Harry want-? No. Surely not. Draco finished his cleaning mechanically, mind spinning around this idea. Harry Potter wanting him? A ludicrous idea, to be sure. But… was it possible? Is that why the boy stayed in the bed with Draco? Is it why Harry's eyes stayed on his face this morning?

Is it why the Gryffindor had Called- out of all the things in his closet- for this outfit? Draco shook his head abruptly as he realized he had been motionless for a minute, and opened the door as he made his decision. As Harry glanced up with a welcoming smile, though, his resolve crumbled. Draco returned the smile, and shoved his internal arguments to the side.

He'd deal with this as it happened.

Harry shifted in his seat, sighing as he waited for Draco to emerge from the bathroom. It had been nearly half-an-hour, and there was no sign that the blonde was going to make an appearance any time soon. But he stayed still, knowing there was still almost as hour till breakfast, and waited.

Finally the Slytherin left the bathroom, and Harry smiled in welcome, a gesture that was returned. But as Draco began to put his things away, Harry bit his lip and dragged his eyes from the enticing form of Draco Malfoy. The outfit was positively obscene, but it suited the Ice Prince of Slytherin to a 'T'. When Harry had mentally searched through Draco's closets, he had chosen this outfit for the coloring and the material.

But to see it on the blonde… Harry swallowed hard, and looked away. He needed to get his bearings back, and heaven help him if Draco noticed anything different.

Draco finished what he was doing, and turned back to Harry. His Infirmary-issued night clothes were neatly folded at the end of the bed, next to his school robe and bag. Draco took a seat on the edge of the be facing Harry's chair, lost in thought.

There was silence in the Infirmary as the two teens were lost in their thoughts, and when Poppy came in ten minutes later they were still in those positions, thinking. She sucked in a breath as emerald eyes pinned her, vividly remembering last night, and paused until the battle-ready edge had dimmed and the eyes had released her before moving forward.

Draco was oblivious to the interaction between the other two, and merely nodded in greeting to the Medi-Witch. "Good morning, Madame." He said, shifting so he could face her. "And now may I leave?"

Poppy chuckled at his query, shaking her head as she did so. "No, Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid not. You know the routine, and I have to make sure you are fit before I unleash you on the rest of the school." Draco grumbled under his breath at the wording, but consented to the diagnostic spells without a murmur. He understood, all too well, why she was so thorough.

Harry watched the proceedings with undisguised interest, fascinated by the spells Poppy used and their end result. After another ten minutes the nurse stepped back, and smiled. "All good, Mr. Malfoy. You may go."

"Thank you," Draco breathed, grabbing his stuff and hopping off the bed. Turning to Harry- who still sat in his chair- he frowned. "Coming?" he asked archly, ignoring Poppy's interested eye.

Harry glanced up, surprised by the question, and shrugged. "If you want me to," he answered, and Draco huffed a sigh.

"Honestly, Potter," he breathed, glancing up at the ceiling in an apparent bid for patience, "Let's go." He grabbed Harry's arm and dragged the Gryffindor to the door, adding, "Before she thinks of another spell to torture me with." Poppy laughed, and as the door slammed behind the teens she shook her head at their tomfoolery.

She might not understand how their relationship had changed so drastically, but as far as she was concerned, it was all for the better.

The walk to the Great Hall was tense, as neither knew what to say. Finally Draco broke the silence, turning to Harry and demanding, "How on earth did you manage to Summon my things?" Harry thought on the question, walking a few more steps before answering. Draco, waited, patient, knowing instinctively that he should not rush the Gryffindor.

Harry mulled the question over, wondering how to answer. Not even Hermione truly understood his magic, and she had been around him for seven years. At least she was accustomed to it's presence, and the fact that it sometimes forced Harry to do things. But to explain it to Draco? Who he had- really- just met? Explain the thing that Harry himself didn't truly understand, and that controlled his life in so many ways?

Should he? Would it be worth it? And more importantly- what would Draco do with the information? Not that Harry actually thought the Slytherin would go to the Dark Lord with the knowledge of how to defeat his teenaged enemy, but their friendship was still so new…

"I can do many things," Harry began slowly, carefully choosing each word as Draco listened. "because my magic is so strong. For instance, I can tell when it is going to rain, or I can make it rain." Draco raised a brow, and Harry grinned at him, a strained one, to be sure.

"I know certain things because my magic has the ability to affect it, and I can affect certain things because my magic demands it." Harry bit his lip as he tried to explain the unfathomable to his companion. Draco kept pace with Harry, wanting to hear what the teen could do. "Because my magic is so strong, I can sometimes ignore the basic principles and make my will the driving force behind my magic, instead of letting pre-approved practices dictate how I use it." Harry glanced at Draco, unutterably relieved to see the blonde nodding in understanding. It was hard enough when he had to explain one action to someone, but to explain it all… he continued.

"So I was able to Summon all of that for you because I wanted to help you. And my magic understood my intent, and made it possible." Draco raised an aristocratic eyebrow, and pondered what those words might mean. Harry lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, and they continued on like that until they were at the doors to the Great Hall.

Draco put a hand on Harry's arm, stopping the Gryffindor as he was about to hail his friends, and cocked his head as he stared into emerald eyes. "So because you wanted to please me, you did as I told you and Summoned me what I needed." Harry met the Slytherin's eyes openly, wondering what was going on. Something more was happening, something different…

"That's not what I said…" he trailed off as Draco's other eyebrow inched into his hairline, and the blonde tightened his hand as Harry looked away.

"But it is what you meant," Draco realized, and waited until Harry glanced back before smiling. "Thank you." He said sincerely, and sucked in a sharp breath as Harry returned the gesture, stunned as the Gryffindor hitched his bag higher onto his shoulder.

"You're welcome."

Harry entered the Great Hall with a lighter heart than he had ever remembered having, and smiled happily at Hermione as he sat beside her. "Good morning, love!" he exclaimed, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he reached past her to grab a biscuit.

Hermione smiled at him, unsure of why he was in such a good mood but willing to go along with it. "Good morning yourself, Harry. Where'd you disappear to last night?"

Harry grinned mischievously, and winked at her lecherously. "That's for me to know and you to find out, missy." Seamus laughed as he took the seat across from them, nodding a good morning to Neville as he did so.

"What a fine morning, wouldn't you say?" Dean asked as he plopped next to Seamus, wrapping his arms around the Irishman and planting a heated kiss on his lips. Pulling back and ignoring his tables good-natured ribs, he added huskily as Seamus blushed, "I think it is."

Harry waved a piece of toast at the two as Hermione chuckled at them, swallowing before declaring, "Disgusting, Dean! Not at breakfast, we agreed! You promised!" Harry gave them a piteous look, eyes wide and soulful, adding mournfully, "Not all of us have found the love of our lives you know." He paused as Dean and Seamus- along with the rest of the Table, actually- waited for the punch line. "Or a sex life at all, now that I think on it."

The Table shouted with laughter, drawing the attention of the rest of the Hall as the merriment went on. For a while there was a general feel of light-hearted enjoyment in the air, the fact that classes followed immediately after breakfast doing nothing to dampen their spirits.

Draco sat between Crabbe and Goyle, across from Pansy and Blaise, and thought longingly of his Gryffindor. None of his friends had left him alone since he sat, wanting to know 'what happened to you?' and 'are you alright?' and if there would be a relapse. The Gryffindors, however, just ignored the fact that their Golden Boy had disappeared for a night, and went on with their normal routine

Severus kept sending Draco piercing glances as the teen ignored his friends, no doubt wondering if Draco still hated him. The blonde blushed furiously at the reminder of his break-down, and kept his head pointed firmly away from his Godfather. The last thing he needed was to deal with Severus, Pansy and Blaise. Besides which, the older man would probably make him stay after Potions to discuss matters.

A chilling silence settled over Gryffindor Table, and the entire Hall glanced up as one, wondering what had happened. But then Draco's eyes caught sight of a red-head entering through the main doors, and he understood. His eyes darted over to the other Table, instinctively seeking Harry out, and raised a brow as the brunette met his eyes.

Draco tilted his head in shock at the raw hate on display in emerald eyes, and tried to warn the hot-headed Gryffindor to calm down. Harry shut his eyes, a pain grimace on his face, and when he opened them he stared resolutely down at his plate. Slowly the rest of his House followed his example, turning away from the frozen teen in the doorway and going back to what they were doing.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief as the Gryffindor's lowered their hackles, not noticing the glances he was receiving from his Godfather and friends as they watched him calm the Saviour from two Tables away. Draco merely knew he didn't have to watch a fight, and that relieved him. As good as he felt he didn't want to waste his precious energy worrying about Potter.

Severus watched the interaction between his Godson and Harry, wondering once more what had happened. The two enemies, at each other's throats more often than any other pair in the History of Hogwarts, were now suddenly best friends. At least- that's what Severus was able to see. For if Draco was able to calm the feral Gryffindor down with merely a look and a raised brow, what else could they be?

He regretted his actions of the day before, and wondered what he could have done differently. But with what he had known at the time, Severus did the only thing he could think of, and yet… it hadn't been the right decision. Draco had broken down, and the only thing Severus could remember thinking was that he had hurt his Godson in some way, and he didn't know how to fix it.

But the blonde Slytherin seemed to be doing fine now, Severus noticed, ignoring his friends with a practiced ease and eating his breakfast. Which was something new- recently the Prince of Slytherin had just pushed the food around his plate, pretending to eat.

Harry Potter had done something to his Godson, and Severus didn't know what. And he was damned if he was going to stay in the dark any longer.

Potions was long and hard as Snape was in a bad mood. The students in the know grimaced and kept quiet, exchanging sour glances with their companions as they worked in silence. Severus tolerated no noise, no unnecessary chatter, and no one wanted to test his patience.

As he dismissed the class with a sharp "Get out!", he motioned for Harry and Draco to stay. The class filed out, sending the two teens questioning looks but obeying the stern man. When the classroom was empty Severus sighed, and gestured to two empty seats. Harry and Draco sat, faces intent as they watched the Potions Master gather his thoughts.

"I want to know what happened, and I want to know why the two of you changed so much."

The blunt statement startled Harry, and he glanced over to the blonde to see what he was thinking. But the Slytherin's face was curiously blank, and Harry shrugged in confusion. Turning back to Severus, Harry began to explain.

"When Draco fell ill with whatever that was, I knew that I could do something to help him. So I did." At Severus' questioning face, Harry shrugged. "No, I have no idea what I actually did, but it worked. But after I fixed whatever went wrong, I kind of… got sucked into him." Draco snorted, but Harry ignored the Slytherin and continued. "It ended up that we were… inside Draco, sir."

Severus raised a disbelieving brow, and Harry just shrugged. "I know how it sounds, but that's what happened. But it wasn't right- it was all messed up and wrong. So I did what I could to fix that, and then we were back."

Severus pursed his lips at the explanation. He knew there was more than the Gryffindor was telling- after all, they had been 'gone' for over six hours- and he turned to his Godson for more detail. But Draco was just watching him patiently, and Severus cursed to himself as he realized what the teen was waiting for. Stiffly- since apologizing in front of Potter's was not something he did day-to-day- he said, "Draco, my behavior yesterday was entirely inappropriate, given the situation. Though I did not realize what had happened, and I acted in the only way I knew how."

Harry stared at the Potions Master, eyes wide with shock. Was that an- apology- he'd just heard come out of the man's mouth? An actual apology? But Draco smiled wryly, and replied with a gleam in his eye, "It's a good thing I know what passes as an apology with you, Severus. Otherwise I'd never accept that."

Severus snorted, the sound harsh in the silent room. "One day you will actually try my patience, brat. Until then, you should show me proper respect." He paused, then looked at the time. "Get out. You are already late for Minerva, and I will not have her yelling at me for detaining you any longer."

He vanished into his office, leaving the two students to stand and exit his classroom. "Is he normally like that?" Harry asked as they began the long trek to Transfiguration.

"What? Abrupt? Rude? Sarcastic and utterly snarky when he doesn't get his way?" Draco flashed the Gryffindor a grin, and nodded. "Yes. He's always like that."

Harry controlled the pounding in his heart at the camaraderie, and laughed at the description. "Fun."

Draco laughed, and the sound rang in the empty corridor. "Yes, fun."

I am not happy with this chapter- I may take it down later and repost it. But I promised a chapter to Brianna, and here it is. If rather shorter than usual. At any rate, please review. I know it's not up to standard, but it's here.

Thanks!

Netrixe

P.S.: Don't forget about the challenge!