Bleeding Dragon
Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter or any characters you recognize, I just like to gay them up.
Chapter 1-The Mirror
Locked in the toilet stall, sixteen year old Draco Malfoy's entire body shook with silent sobs. As he wiped angrily at his tears, the cold voice of his father echoed in his head, 'Malfoy's don't cry'.
Ashamed by his own weakness the blonde haired boy dug his nails into the palm of his hands creating half-moon dents in his skin. He bit down hard on his lower lip to keep himself from screaming but was unable to contain the whimper of pain when he drew blood.
He tenderly licked the cut which caused a slight sting. Wiping the blood on the sleeve of his robes, the young wizard stood to his feet and exited the cubicle.
A startled gasp escaped him when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Although he was often considered to be a very good-looking young man, the Malfoy heir could not deny that he looked awful. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy from where he'd been crying and dark shadows circled his eyes from lack of sleep. His hair was a frightful mess; though nowhere near as wild as Potter's he thought. Then there was the cut lip.
He turned the cold tap on and splashed some water on his face and also cleaned up his lip. Looking up with water clinging to his eyelashes the Slytherin boy was still unsatisfied with his appearance. Rummaging through his school bag, he pulled out his wand and comb.
He worked the comb through his blonde hair which fell lazily in his eyes and reached just below the tip of his ears. When his hair was satisfyingly neat he put his comb away and picked up his wand. Pointing the magical piece of wood at his eyes the young wizard muttered a quick spell before looking back to the mirror to check the results. To his relief, his eyes no looked their normal piercing cold blue and there was no evidence to suggest he had been crying.
Collecting his bag, he placed his wand away before leaving the bathroom. He walked absentmindedly down the corridor before bumping into someone. Losing his balance, Draco latched onto the nearest thing to him, which happened to be another student and they both went crashing to the floor.
Turning his head, he came face to face with a very angry looking Hermione Granger. Draco inwardly groaned at his luck; of all the people he could bump into it just had to be one member of the golden trio.
"Watch where you're going ferret!" Ronald Weasley yelled at him as he helped Granger to her feet.
Usually Draco would have responded with a sneer or some biting retort but today he did neither. He pulled himself to his feet before walking away with his head hung low.
"That was strange." Hermione murmured as she watched the blonde leave. "He didn't insult any of us or anything."
"Who cares?" Ron asked as he continued to glare after Malfoy's retreating form.
"Do you think he's up to something?" Harry Potter asked looking specifically at his female friend to see what her thoughts were.
"It's possible." Hermione replied as she led the way back to their common room. "Or he could just be upset about something."
"Malfoy, upset?" Ron scoffed. "Don't be stupid Hermione; he'd have to be human to be upset."
"He is human Ronald." She told him. "He has feelings just like the rest of us."
"Why are you defending him?" The ginger boy asked with a mixed note of betrayal and jealousy in his voice.
"I'm not." Hermione objected.
Soon enough they were arguing about all kinds of unrelated things so Harry simply tuned them out as he thought of his own reasons for Malfoy's strange behavior.
When they reached the common room, Ron and Hermione were still arguing and people turned to watch though they all kept a safe distance away from them.
They came to a stop in the middle of the room and faced one another, both red in the face from yelling. Harry left them to it and made his way up to his dormitory.
"Hi Neville." He greeted to the other boy who was sat on his bed reading a Herbology book.
"Hi Harry." Neville replied looking up from his page. "Is that Ron and Hermione I hear arguing again?"
Harry nodded as he sank down on his own mattress.
"Are they ever going to admit their feelings for one another?" Neville asked.
"I don't know." Harry admitted. "Apparently Ginny's been going back and forth between them trying to set them up with each other but nothing's worked yet."
"We could lock them in a room together until they admit their feelings." Neville suggested.
"That wouldn't work." Harry pointed out. "Hermione knows every spell there is to unlock a door."
"We could take their wands." Neville said.
"We could." Harry agreed. "But Hermione would probably kill Ron before telling him how she feels and I really don't want one best friend dead and the other imprisoned for murder."
"Well what about you and Ginny?" Neville asked changing the subject. "Everyone knows she's still crazy about you."
"I don't really see her like that mate." Harry admitted. "She's my best mate's little sister, it's just weird."
"I'm sure Ron would be alright about it." Neville told him. "He'd rather you be with her than anyone else."
"Maybe, but the Weasley's are the closest thing I have to real family." Harry said. "It'd feel like I was dating my sister. It's the same with Hermione, even if Ron didn't like her; I'd never be able to see her in a romantic light."
"I guess I understand that." Neville replied as he set his book down. "What about Cho Chang? Any chance you getting back with her?"
"Not a chance." Harry said quickly. "I'd fall in love with Malfoy before I got back with her."
"Was she really that bad?" Neville asked.
"All she ever did was cry." Harry told him. "More than Moaning Myrtle cries actually. I just can't deal with someone that emotionally unstable. We didn't really have anything in common anyway other than quidditch."
Before they could say anymore Ron burst through the door and threw his bag across the room in frustration. He then turned and kicked the wall before yelping in pain and hopping to his bed muttering words he wouldn't dare use in front of Mrs. Weasley.
By dinner time, Ron and Hermione still weren't speaking to one another. Hermione refused to even sit anywhere near him and moved up the table to sit beside Ginny.
As he stabbed at his food, Ron kept making complaints about Hermione but Harry wasn't paying attention. He was in fact looking over at the Slytherin table, more specifically at Malfoy.
The blonde wasn't sat between Crabbe and Goyle, his loyal body guards; he wasn't even sat with Pansy Parkinson flirting outrageously. He was sat by himself at the end of the table poking his food around on his plate. Feeling someone's gaze on him, Draco looked up. His blue eyes met with Harry's forest green before both boys quickly looked away.
After taking a sip of pumpkin juice, Harry looked back in Draco's direction in time to see him rise from his seat and leave the hall. Harry noticed that the normally arrogant boy didn't walk with any of his usual swagger; in fact there was a defeated air about him that instantly ignited Harry's curiosity.
"Whaa 'ma 'posed t' do 'arry?" Ron asked through a mouthful of mash potato.
"What?" Harry asked not having the faintest idea what his friend was talking about.
"About Hermione." Ron said once he'd swallowed his food.
"Oh, just talk to her mate." Harry advised him as he stood up from the table. "Tell her you're sorry."
He then speedily left the hall in hot pursuit of Malfoy completely ignoring Ron's question as to where he was going. He saw Malfoy's unmistakable blonde head rounding the corner and he jogged after him. Malfoy ended up going into the boy's toilets and Harry followed not long after.
When Harry entered, there was only one stall with the door locked so he knew it had to be Malfoy. As quietly as he could, he tiptoed to the cubicle next to Malfoy's. Gently putting the toilet lid down, he sat on it and pulled his feet up and leaned his ear against the wall so he could hear what was going on.
Locked in his own stall and completely oblivious to Harry being in the one next door, Draco, like Harry, had placed the toilet lid down and was sat upon it with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs as he gently rocked himself. A few tears and a soft whimper escaped him.
In the other stall, Harry's eyes widened as he heard what sounded like a whimper. Surely Malfoy wasn't crying he thought to himself. Or was he?
Brushing the tears away with the back of his hand Malfoy set his feet on the floor. He left the cubicle and washed his hands at the sink. Harry pushed his door open a tiny crack to watch what Malfoy was doing.
The blonde dried his hands on his robed before running a finger over his split lip. He then stared silently at his reflection before all his pent up anger and frustration burned through him and he raised his fist before smashing it into the mirror.
The glass scattered onto the floor and into the sink. Malfoy let out a startled cry as his knuckles burst open and blood flowed form the wound. With a flick of his wand Draco repaired the broken mirror before running his cut hand under the cold tap. The blood turned the water pink before washing away down the drain making a gurgling sound.
Digging inside his robe pocket, Draco pulled out a hanky and attempted to tie it around his knuckles. Eventually he gave up and tossed the hanky to the floor before exiting the bathroom and heading up to the hospital wing to get his hand looked over by Madam Pomfrey.
Once he was sure Draco was gone, Harry pushed open the toilet door. He crossed the tiled room and bent down to pick up the other boy's discarded hanky. It was stained with Draco's blood. Harry then looked at the mirror Malfoy had smashed. He gently ran a hand over the now mended glass, the image of Malfoy punching it replaying in his mind.
Letting his hand drop back to his side, Harry tucked the bloodied handkerchief into his trouser pocket then headed up to Gryffindor tower, his mind reeling with thoughts of Malfoy.
To Be Continued
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