A/N ; hello all you happy people :)) this fic is mainly a breather for my other chapter-long fics – kinda ;)) i had this idea in mind for quite some time (well alright, not that long seeing HBP hasn't been out for that long xD), and i've finally put it down on computer! it basically takes the scene where Harry catches Draco crying, and kinda changes what happens after.

there's really only a small hint of Draco/Harry-ness ; but still, a small hint is better than no hint, right? right. x)) 1/4 of this whole fic is from the book (italicized!), because i go from after the attack, &i couldn't find a starting point too close to my ending point, so yehx))

&a BiG thank you to Mikayla my dearx333 (otherwise known as Jest Meek) for beta-ing x) i love you girl !

ANYHOW! ENJOY x)

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SECTUMSEMPRA

Outside the bathroom, he Harry pressed his ear against the door. He could not hear anything. He very quietly pushed the door open.

Draco Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, his hands clutching either side of the sink, his white-blonde head bowed.

"Don't," cooed Moaning Myrtle's voice from one of the cubicles. "Don't…tell me what's wrong…I can help you…"

"No one can help me," said Malfoy. His whole body was shaking. "I can't do it…I can't…It won't work…and unless I do it soon…he says he'll kill me…"

And Harry realized, with a shock so huge it seemed to root him to the spot, that Malfoy was crying – actually crying – tears streaming down his pale face into the grimy basin. Malfoy gasped and gulped and then, with a great shudder, looked up into the cracked mirror and saw Harry staring at him over his shoulder.

Malfoy wheeled around, drawing his wand. Instinctively, Harry pulled out his own. Malfoy's hex missed Harry by inches, shattering the lamp of the wall beside him; Harry threw himself sideways, thought Levicorpus! and flicked his wand, but Malfoy blocked the jinx and raised his wand for another –

"No! No! Stop it!" squealed Moaning Myrtle, her voice echoing loudly around the tiled room. "Stop! STOP!"

There was a long band and the bin behind Harry exploded; Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Malfoy's ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and Harry slipped as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, "Crici-"

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" bellowed Harry from the floor, waving his wand wildly.

Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his want falling from his limp right hand.

"No – " gasped Harry.

Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged toward Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.

"No – I didn't –"

Harry did not know what he was saying; he fell to his knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood. Moaning Myrtle let out a deafening scream: "MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"

But no one came. It was dinner time, and everyone was at the Great Hall, eating, joking, unaware that a fellow student was slowing dying right above them. Moaning Myrtle, seeing that no one was coming, fell back into her cubicle, sobbing and cursing at Harry.

"No…" Harry whispered, unable to tear his eyes away from the shuddering figure in front of him. "No…you can't…you won't…I'M NOT A MURDERER!"

He looked around frantically, hoping that someone…anyone would show up and help him. But no one came.

Harry stared at the body before him, still leaking blood, feeling a hysterical sense of helplessness.

The blood…

Desperately, he pressed his own hands against Malfoy's chest, hoping to somehow control the blood flow, to ease the pain, to stop the pain.

"Don't die…" he whispered, feeling like he wanted to cry. "I won't have someone else die…"

And Harry, at that very moment, realized how much he didn't want Malfoy to die, despite their rivalry and constant hatred for each other. He realized that even though he had the extreme dislike for this boy, without Malfoy, his years at Hogwarts would not be the same. Without Malfoy, would he have been discovered as a seeker? Without Malfoy, would he have taken the Polyjuice Potion, which later helped him pass his Potions OWLs? Without Malfoy, would he have discovered his ability to speak Parseltongue? Without Malfoy, would he have protested against being sorted into Slytherin as much as he did? Would he even have become friends with Ron and Hermione?

Malfoy couldn't die…he helped create Harry's life; without Malfoy, there would be no Harry Potter as he was today…

Don't die Draco…

Harry pressed harder, hoping, wishing, needing the blood to stop, needing Malfoy to heal.

And miraculously, Malfoy stopped trembling.

Harry opened his eyes that he had squeezed shut to prevent himself from taking in the sight in front of his and breaking down, unable to believe that somehow Malfoy really was okay.

But no…

Something seemed wrong…Malfoy had indeed stopped shaking…but what happened to his breathing-

"No…" Harry whispered, raising a shaking hand, covered with wet blood, to Malfoy's mouth, his nose, desperately hoping to feel passing air.

But there was nothing.

"NO!" Harry yelled, his voice echoing through the empty bathroom. Moaning Myrtle could still be heard sobbing.

You've killed him…

Harry placed his hand back on the limp boy's chest again, not knowing what he was doing, unable to take in the fact that he was too late…that there was nothing he could do…

I didn't mean to…

Harry squeezed his eyes shut again; however, he was unable to stop the tears from streaming down his face. Another person, dead by him. This time, directly as well. And it was Draco Malfoy. No matter how much Harry despised him, he never wanted him dead. Despite the fact that his father was Lucius Malfoy. Despite the fact that he supported Voldemort. Despite the fact that he was currently plotting something that would end with someone else's downfall.

Because he had cried.

Because he was doing it all for his family's safety. Because he cared.

"No…" Harry whispered yet again. He pressed harder.

And he felt warmth.

Harry peeked through tear-filled eyes and saw, to his amazement, a warm glow that was forming between his hands and Malfoy's blood-stained chest. The warmth traveled to Harry's own body and told him that everything was going to be all right. That Malfoy was going to be all right. And it told him something else that Harry couldn't understand.

The glow, meanwhile, had been begun to grow larger, until it covered Malfoy's whole body. It glowed brighter for an instant, and then, just as quickly as it had appeared; it disappeared, leaving nothing but a memory of comfort for Harry to hang on to.

He looked down at Malfoy, noticing that, despite the still blood-stained robes, the cuts were gone. He was healed.

Harry let out a shaky breath of relief. He felt like laughing and crying at the same time. But what had happened?

"Healer's energy…"

Harry whipped around; he had not expected another voice, much less an answer to his thoughts.

Moaning Myrtle was out of her cubicle, staring at Harry through her thick, misty-white glasses. Harry had not noticed that she had stopped crying, or really, had hardly noticed her crying.

"What…" he said blankly.

"It's healer's energy…" Moaning Myrtle whispered. "I've seen it before…you have the natural skill to be a healer!"

"What are you talking about?" Harry said in a bewildered tone. Healer's energy?

But at that moment, there was a small cough. Harry turned swiftly and stared at the boy stirring from unconsciousness.

"Oh Merlin," Malfoy mumbled, moving his hand to his head. He felt wetness, and when he opened his eyes to look at his hand, all he saw was blood.

"What the…" he started, panic starting to issue. His eyes moved around the room and focused on Harry Potter, sitting right next to him.

"POTTER!" he growled, trying to sit up, but wincing at the sudden pain that took place all around his body. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"I didn't-"

"The hell you didn't!" Draco managed to balance himself on his forearms. Looking around he noticed that the bathroom had flooded and that the water was red with blood. His blood. Oh Merlin he was going to be sick.

"What the hell did you do?" Draco asked through gritted teeth. His head was going to kill him.

"I…" Harry felt helpless. "I used a curse, alright? It's dark magic…I shouldn't have used it…I didn't know…I'm sorry!"

These last words caused threats of tears to come again.

"I didn't want you to die…I was so scared…there's no way…I can't believe…there was just so much blood…all I could do was try and stop and blood…no one came…there was this glow…"

Draco listened to Harry's ramblings in confusion. It seemed that he had almost died…dark magic from Potter? But what exactly had happened? He couldn't remember…he needed to get away…

Draco tried getting up. Raising himself was an okay task, but as soon as he got on his knees his headache exploded, and he felt himself falling again, but this time, into a pair of strong arms.

"Oh damn," he muttered to himself.

"You're still hurt," Harry said anxiously. "Don't move…just…don't…"

Was this Harry Potter caring for Draco Malfoy? Draco looked at Harry curiously and saw, to his astonishment, what looked like dried tears, and possibly new ones forming in Potter's emerald eyes. Potter, crying?

Tears…

And suddenly Draco remembered. He had been stressed about his slowly failing plan, and terrified for consequences that awaited him and his family if his plan did, indeed, fail. Running to the bathroom on the seventh floor, he poured his heart out to the only one who could listen without telling, Moaning Myrtle. It seemed like a mental thing to do, but Draco had no one else. Absolutely no one.

But Harry Potter had seen him.

"Damn," he said again, and tried, once more, to get up. He didn't need to see ridicule on Potter's face, or hear the mocking tone of Potter, reminding him that he was weak.

But those strong arms stayed put, not letting him go.

"Didn't you hear me?" Potter said with gentle harshness. "You're hurt. You won't survive out there!"

"Let me go," Draco said evenly, closing his eyes against the pain of his throbbing head.

"No." Potter said stubbornly. "You should wait here while I go get someone."

"Are you mental?" Draco asked incredulously. "They'll ask why we were here together! And then we'd have to say why…that I was here because…because…"

"There's no need," Harry said softly. "I won't tell anyone."

"You…you won't?" asked Draco suspiciously. "Why not? It'll make a great laugh, wouldn't it? 'Draco Malfoy, crying his heart out to the only thing that'll listen; Moaning Myrtle'. Go on Potter, I know you want to."

"No," Harry replied, not looking at Draco.

"No?" Draco questioned.

"No," Harry repeated. "I won't tell – because I know how you feel."

"I do," he insisted, when Draco gave him a look. "You feel like there's no one to turn to, so you have to go for things that can give you comfort, no matter how low you have to go. I've been through it before. But Malfoy…you don't have to go through whatever Voldemort's making you do. You can turn against him and come to the right side…my side."

"You don't understand," Draco whispered, sounding terrified now. "He'll track me down and kill me! He'll kill my mother and my father! I have to go through with this plan!"

"What plan?" asked Harry, unable to stop himself.

"I…I can't tell," Draco said. "I can't…it'll ruin everything!"

"When you're ready, then," Harry said, more to himself than to Draco.

"I have to go," Malfoy said, suddenly realizing what he had been saying and what he had been letting out, knowing that the Dark Lord could possibly find out now. He gingerly untangled himself from Potter's arms and got to his feet, feeling for balance and control. When he felt that he was okay, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" A hand grabbed onto his arm.

"What?" Draco said, trying to sound irritated, trying to glare at Potter. But somehow, he couldn't. When he was completely able to just half an hour ago, there was something about the way Potter acted just minutes ago that seemed to change everything.

"I just…I just wanted to let you know that…well, that you can talk to me whenever you want. And I won't tell anyone," Harry added, sounding rather hesitant and surprised at himself for even thinking of it.

Draco narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't help that small something that leapt up from his stomach into his heart.

"And why," he said slowly, carefully hiding any emotion in his words. "Would I want to do that?"

"Because I care too," Harry replied simply. "And I can offer more physical comfort than Moaning Myrtle can," he added in a whisper, knowing that Myrtle was still watching them, already stung by earlier comments.

Draco watched Potter, surprised at the lack of hatred in Potter's attitude. But then again, was he not acting differently as well?

"I'll keep that in mind," he said smoothly, and he proceeded to walk out of the bathroom. Pausing at the door, he turned and looked back at Potter, who was now standing in the pool of blood-colored water, watching him.

"Thanks," he added softly, and then turned and left without looking back again.

Harry started at the receding figure, feeling a sort of bubble creep into his stomach, somehow warming his heart, like his heart had been warmed by the heat that had enshrouded it when he had somehow healed Draco.

"No problem," he whispered softly.

fin

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A/N ; hm. this seems like it could be part of a chapter-long fic or something…or at least it could have a sequel…bleh – i think some parts were explained only very vaguely…but eh what the heck…maybe i'll write up something else…whenever i finish any of my other 3492874 fics ;))

i've also noticed that the overall mood of the story didn't exactly turn out the way i planned in the beginning. I kinda imagined a more frantic&desperate mood throughout the whole story because originally, Harry was going to spend the entire fic trying to save Draco, but it didn't really turn out that way / ahh oh well, what can i do? The mood kinda went from frantic to subdued tho…/ oh. &i don't like the whole healer's energy part, but eh no-can-do xx i couldn't think of another way for Draco to be revived&i didn't want to make it a death fix :))

reviews would be welcome :))