"Ron will you let it go?!"

Harry's hushed shout only made his friend laugh harder into his pillow. Harry's face hadn't returned to its normal pale hue for three hours now, ever since Draco had blurted out that he loved him. He figured it was a family sort of love, since Draco was only four and couldn't comprehend any other kind. But it had still been quite a shock to hear. Now the blonde was resting on a smaller bed that had materialized when he came in, thanks to McGonagall no doubt.

"I'm sorry, really," Ron snickered, giving his friend one of his giant grin. "But...well, it's kind of a hoot that Malfoy's in love with you!"

"Shh!" Harry hissed, shooting a worried look Draco's way when the toddler shifted in his sleep. He waited until he was sure the boy was settled before speaking again. "He meant like I'm a brother or something. Definitely not what you're thinking! He's four after all!"

"But still! How often have you heard Malfoy say the L word to anyone?"

"Never, Ron, okay? I get it…"

Ron only grinned wider at Harry's blush across his nose.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop embarrassing you. I'll just keep all my teasing to myself."

"Thank goodness!"

"Yeah, we're all trying to sleep here, Weasly!"

"Sorry Dean, Seamus, g'night," Ron whispered, snuggling under his blanket.

"G'night Ron, Harry."

"G'night you guys," Harry said, laying down as well.

"Oh, and Harry?" Seamus suddenly said.

"Yeah."

You could practically hear the grin on Seamus' face as he said:

"I love ya, Golden Boy."

Harry froze, then yanked the pillow off his bed and chucked it across the room. Unfortunately it hit Neville instead, jarring the boy from sleep and causing him to look around in fear. The other boys had stealthily slipped back into laying positions, pretending to be asleep until Neville shrugged and laid back down, snoring not seconds later. His four roommates snickered, then went silent, deciding to actually sleep. Harry had a little trouble at first, finding himself staring at the blonde sleeping not a foot from his bed. He looked so peaceful, not a sight seen often of the present aged Malfoy. It was a little relieving to see. Harry couldn't imagine that the former Death Eater (even thinking that made him feel awful inside) got a lot of sleep; he could relate to that completely, he never seemed to get a lot of rest either. Seeing him with any sort of peace was enough for him to smile. At least someone would be; the other boys could say all they wanted that they fell asleep and had good dreams, but he could see it in their eyes that they didn't.

It was funny, because soon after thinking that, Harry fell asleep.

"...Hawry…"

The raven groaned, scrunching his face up when something brushed his nose. It went away a moment later, but he was conscious enough to tell when someone slipped a hand across his own. He slowly opened his eyes, then sat up when he saw a somber, tear-stained face staring up at him.

"Hawry…" the face whimpered.

"Draco?" Harry whispered; he reached over and rubbed the child's hair. "What's wrong?"

"Had bad dweam," Draco told him, sniffling a little. "Got scawed…"

"Oh, I see. Are you alright?"

"No…"

Harry bit his lip nervously, not entirely sure what to do in the situation. After a moment he reached over and grabbed Draco around the waist, lifting him up and setting him on the bed beside him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked as the toddler shifted and settled into a laying position.

"I don' know…" Draco said. "It was weally scawy…"

"We don't have to if you don't want to." Harry started rubbing the toddler's back, not really sure if he was doing something helpful. But the toddler had liked it when he was holding him, so he figured it was a good start.

"I don' wanna. Wanna sweep."

"Okay...well...you can sleep…"

Draco examined Harry's face, then scooted over until he was pressed against the Chosen One's chest. Harry stiffened at this, but did his best to let it slide; he'd had multiple nightmares when he was Draco's (new) age, and had had no one to comfort him at night, as that was when his uncle started locking him in the broom closet. The last thing he wanted was for Draco to have the same thing happen to him, so he curled his arms around the child and rested his chin on his head. Draco seemed to sense his want to comfort him and instantly relaxed, his breathing becoming steadier as time went on.

"...Draco?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Huh?" Draco asked, his fingers poking and tugging at Harry's shirt in front of him.

"What...did you mean when you said that...that you l-loved me?"

His face was red again as he asked, even though Draco probably wouldn't find it to be a strange question.

"Wha' do you mean?"

"Well, why do you love me?"

Draco pursed his little lips, trying to think even though his thoughts were being lulled by Harry's soothing circles on his back.

"Hawry ith nice...an' he hol' me when I was cwyin'..." Draco paused to look up into Harry's eyes, much greener now that his glasses were gone, and smiled. "You'we wike my big bwofer, Hawry."

He looked back down at Harry's shirt as the raven looked at Draco in awe.

"I'fe nefer had a bwover before…"

His words had Harry pulling the lad closer to him, feeling a spark of protection in his blood.

"I'll be your brother, Draco," he said quietly. "If you'll you want me."

Draco smiled sleepily.

"Fank you Hawry…"

A few minutes later and he was asleep in Harry's arms, dreaming better dreams. Harry sighed when he felt the younger breathing deeply, his eyes closing by themselves as the hands of sleep reached out for him. A big brother, huh?

Definitely something he'd never thought he'd hear Draco say...