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Harry’s eyes snapped wide open as he sat down, panic threatening to overwhelm him. The only sounds around him were a gentle breeze blowing through the window curtains, along with the faint snoring of his roommates. Everything was quiet in the dead of the night, yet he was completely awake as if someone had just thrown ice cold water at him.
He frowned his brows in an attempt to recall the dream he was immersed in, but discovered that the more he tried to catch it, the more it slipped out of his mind like sand between his fingers. Eventually Harry gave up and laid back down on his bed, but sleep did not come. A thousand thoughts were swirling in his mind, which contributed to the increasing burning of his scar. He couldn’t stop thinking about the desperate screams that invaded his dreams, the chilling laughter that scraped his eardrums, the blinding burst of green light that faded into the cold, empty darkness.
He'd been staring at the ceiling of his four-poster bed for what seemed like hours, but no matter how physically and psychologically tired he was, he just couldn’t bring himself to relax.
Screw it.
With a heavy sigh, he carried his hands to his face and then, slowly, into the bush of his black messy hair. With an agile but silent move, he pulled out of bed and a few seconds later he was descending down the murble stairs.
A sound blocked his steps. He stretched out his ears, not a breath leaving his chest. He heard a choking, sharp gasp, followed by loud, anxious breaths. Someone was crying. Harry was torn between going back to leave them some privacy, and coming out to console the grieving Gryffindor. The gasp became a heartbreaking sob, and his chest narrowed painfully. He bit his lip, while he tried a compromise by peeking out of the corner of the stairs.
His heart sank down to his stomach upon seeing that the person who was crying was y/n, his best friend. She was curled up in a couch in front of the fireplace, where the usual flame was now reduced to cold embers.
"Y/n," he called. She immediately fell silent, her head snapped towards his voice with panic in her eyes. As soon as their gazes met, the girl relaxed a bit and brought a hand to wipe away her tears.
"H-Hey Harry..." Her voice sounded hoarse and broken. She cleared her throat, looking everywhere but at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I, um... I couldn’t sleep," he stepped closer to her as he rubbed his arm, embarrassed and nervous about how to behave.
"Oh, I’m sorry-" she got frantic. Harry frowned in confusion. "I didn’t know- I didn’t want to wake you up, I thought I was being quieter, I’m so sorry I-"
"No, no! It's okay," Harry hurried to say, his hands in the air. "It’s not your fault, I swear. It’s just..."
Don’t tell her about the nightmare, don’t tell her about the nightmare.
"I just couldn't sleep. That’s all. Are you... Are you okay?" he whispered sitting next to her, taking care to leave some personal space.
Y/n nodded slightly, picking up with her nose and tightening her knees to her chest. Her whole body was trembling, either from the sobbing that she was struggling to repress, or from the cold that hovered in the big, dimly lit Common Room.
He'd hardly ever seen her this upset in his entire life. Although, after all, there was a reason why she'd been shuffled among Gryffindors. Due to her stubbornness, showing weaknesses was not something she did very willingly, let alone asking for help in case of need, and even in this case she wouldn't ask before being dragged to the very depths. And now she definitely looked like she had.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry said, his voice full of concern and understanding. "You know, it can help a lot. I know it sounds like a joke coming from me, but you don’t have to keep it all inside. If you don’t want to that’s fine, I won't force you. But if you want... I’m here for you."
Your heart ached as you felt your stomach squeeze. One side of you was dying to tell him everything that tormented you, but on the other hand... You were terrified. He, the Boy-Who-Lived, the wizard who survived Lord Voldemort twice, whose parents had died when he was still a toddler, who endured everything without complaint. Compared to him, your problems were a mere nuisance. Even though they hurt like hell. What if, once he knew, he thought you were weak and pathetic? You couldn’t bear having him look at you all the time with pity in his eyes.
"It doesn't matter," you murmured emotionless, your heart bleeding in your chest. You rose your eyes to the sky to prevent new tears from falling.
A gentle but firm hand rested on your arm, and you turned to look at him in the eye.
"That’s not true," he said, a spark of determination shone in his gaze. "Never say such a thing again. Your problems do matter, regardless of what others think. Just because they don’t understand what you’re going through doesn’t mean that it’s not real, or that they count less than what they actually do."
There was something hidden in his eyes, deep down. Pain, anger, sorrow. You had to look away at how intense it was, letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding. A tear ran down your cheek, your lip trembled.
You felt his hand slip down to your forearm before it intertwined with your fingers. You were surprised how warm and soft it was, even more so for the safety that seemed to infuse you with a single touch. He remained silent, the silence broken only by your sobbing.
After a few minutes you spoke.
"It’s that..." He turned to look at you, but you kept your eyes down. Your voice was no louder than a whisper. "I’m scared. A lot."
You looked at the hand you were holding, the phantom of various scars still hovering over his skin.
'I must not tell lies'.
"I just don't understand how everyone can play it cool," you said. "First it was the Triwizard accident, then those Death Eaters escape from Azkaban. It’s just- I don’t..." You choked on your words, new tears fell impetuously on your face.
"Just breathe," Harry squeezed your hand soothingly. After a long deep breath, you forced yourself to move on.
"When you came back with Cedric’s body, I couldn’t help but wonder what would've happened if instead of him it had been you," your voice cracked dangerously. "If Voldemort had managed to... to... I wouldn’t have been able to bear it. And now that you’re here, everyone thinks you’re mad just because they’re just too dumb to see the truth. But we’re not safe, not anymore, it’s just a matter of time before he comes back. A-And I’m so afraid of losing you, I don’t want you to d-die." Your voice broke and you finally bursted into a heartbreaking cry.
Harry struggled to hold back his own tears. It hurt him so much to see you like this.
"Come here," he murmured opening his arms, and you rushed into the embrace.
The hug was warm and comfortable, with your head on his shoulder and his arms wrapping around the small of your back, but nothing could relieve the pain that was consuming you inside. You cried like you never did in your life. Harry ran his fingers through your hair, murmuring comforting words like "You’re safe, we’re safe," "I’m here," "It’s gonna be okay."
"How?!" you pushed away from him. "How’s it gonna be okay if the world’s most powerful dark wizard wants you dead? How can I be okay knowing that every time I leave for summer vacation I run the risk of never seeing you again?"
"I know you can because even if Voldemort is powerful, he will never be like Dumbledore. Nothing bad can happen with him on charge, and you know it. Second thing," he laid a hand on your cheek and wiped your tears with a smile. "I have survived twice already, and I will do it again and again, until I see him defeated. I'm not afraid of him, and when the time comes to face him again I'll be ready. We'll all be. He won't hurt anyone anymore, and we will alright. Okay?"
You hesitated and he raised an eyebrow.
"Okay?"
You weren’t so sure, but you nodded. Your eyes fell on his shirt, which was now soaked with tears on the spot where you cried.
"I’m sorry about... that," you pointed to his pajama. It took him a few seconds to understand, but he just shrugged it off.
"I don’t mind. All I care about is that you’re okay."
His emerald-green eyes were locked with yours, filled with both worry and tenderness, a hint of a smile on his face. You were so close that you could feel his breath brushing your skin. Your eyelids were heavy, your cheeks were burning. A moment later, you were exchanging a slow, gentle kiss. Your heart trembled, all the tension melted away. Your arms intertwined behind his neck, his hands rested on your back and hold you closer to him. You wondered if he could hear the loud thud of your heartbeat. Gosh, you felt like fireworks were bursting in your chest.
A few seconds later, which seemed like an eternity, you broke the kiss with hoarse pants. Your forehead touched his, your eyes closed while you enjoyed the comfortable presence of each other.
"Promise me you’ll try to stay out of danger?" you asked in a whisper.
His eyes shone mischievously. "You know it would be so much easier to convince Voldemort to wear one of those ugly pink Umbridge's dresses."
You giggled heartly. Upon hearing your laughter, Harry felt as if his heart did a back tuck, a wide smile lit his face before he joined laughing with you.
You felt happy and light as if a rock had been took off from your shoulders, but at the same time you could feel both your eyes and body getting heavier and heavier. You leaned happily on Harry’s shoulder, who again wrapped an arm around you in a sweet, loving embrace.
With him by your side, you felt like nothing could hurt you.
There were noises around you. You didn’t know it was, but you just wanted them to stop. You were so warm and comfy that right now you just wanted to go back to sleep.
The noises turned into voices, so many voices. Why were they all so loud...?
You opened your eyes in annoyance before you felt panic rise as you realized that dozens of people were staring you with smiles and giggles. You felt something move under you, and your heart stopped when you saw it was Harry Potter. Your cheeks flushed the moment your brain caught up with you. You had fallen asleep with him on the couch of the Common Room. And everyone had seen you.
"Good morning lovebirds," Ron sang with a broad smile. "I knew the honeymoon usually came after the wedding, didn’t it?"
"Oh, shut up, Ron!" Hermione hit him with an elbow, while vainly trying to keep herself from laughing. "But he’s right. You’re so cute together!"
"Harry, y/n! Look here!" cried Colin with his big camera, before a flash blinded you.
That's enough.
With a leap, you jumped up from the couch, your heart pounding hard in your chest as you ran away up the stairs to your dorm, ignoring the various voices that called your name.
Harry still had his mouth open, his eyes fixed on the spot where you disappeared. He shook his head, quickly recovering from the shock, before he followed you up the stairs desperately calling you. After a few steps, however, the marble flattened and became a slide that made him slide back into the Common Room. Several girls laughed loudly.
He took a frustrated breath, then snapped back and made his way through the crowd of people who were making fun of him.
"So are you and y/n really a couple?"
"Did you kiss?!"
"What were you two doing in there, you lovey-doveys?"
Harry ignored the voices of Ron and Hermione as well, even if they were literally begging him to forgive them because "it was just a joke".
He slammed the dorm door behind him. Fortunately it was desert, because he wasn't in the mood to be laughed at again.
Harry let out a long sigh, his heart pounding against his ribs and a hand buried in his thick black hair. He'd ruined everything, he thought bitterly. Because of him, they'd embarrassed you, and now he was sure they wouldn’t stop talking about you two behind your back. This was something he was more than used to, but you... He didn’t want you to wind up in the gossip whirl along with him.
He remained dipped in his thoughts until he lost track of time, mindlessly changing the clothes from his pajamas into the usual black school uniform. He was startled when someone knocked on the door.
"Go away."
The door opened anyway. Ron’s red head popped up.
"It’s just me," he grumbled seriously. "Everyone else went down for breakfast. Hermione is waiting for y/n. Do you... want to come with us?"
"I’m not hungry," said Harry in a flat voice.
Ron snorted, his arms open. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you're upset because we didn’t wake you up? You nearly got me a heart attack, we got up and you were gone. I thought someone had kidnapped you or something. And what were you even doing there together on the couch?"
Harry restrained himself from rolling his eyes. He avoided Ron’s stare with the excuse of tying his shoes.
"Look, I’m sorry I alarmed you, okay? Nothing happened last night, y/n and I'd started talking and we ended up sleeping together. Geez, not in that way!"
Harry glared daggers at Ron, but still blushing furiously. After an endless stream of laughter, he tried miserably to return serious.
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say," Ron hesitated a moment before adding, "But did you at least kiss?"
At Harry’s embarrassed silence, Ron's mouth and eyes widened open. "Ooh, you did! I knew sooner or later you’d end up together."
"We’re not together," Harry said. "We’re just friends."
Even by saying it with his own voice, it still sounded like a huge lie. Ron raised an eyebrow, looking away.
"Yeah, sure."
Harry let a deep sigh. "Let’s just go, y/n and Hermione are be waiting for us."
When they returned to the Common Room, he saw the two girls whispering to each other. But he didn’t have the time to grasp the subject of their conversation that Hermione turned to them and lit up.
"Oh, you’re here, finally. Wanna go?"
"Please, I’m starving," Ron said, walking with Hermione to the portrait hole.
The route to the Great Hall was quite tense. The two of them were trying to lighten up the mood by making jokes and insulting various professors, including of course Professor Snape and Umbridge. But they eventually stopped trying, and advanced quietly a few feet away from you and Harry. The Hall was getting closer, and you felt like if you didn’t clarify with him, you’d explode.
"Um... Harry?" you said, trying not to let Ron and Hermione hear you.
"Yes?" he answered a little too quickly, his heart skipping a beat.
"I wanted to thank you for last night. You were right, talking about it really did me good," you looked at him with a smile, which he returned.
"Glad I could help."
There was a question that kept spinning in your head. It was on the tip of your tongue, but just you couldn’t put it into words. Your heart accelerated as you felt your cheeks warming up. By now the Great Hall was just a few stairs away, and if you didn't ask him now, you knew that because of the endless lessons and the mountain of homework to do you'd never have another chance to talk about it again.
"Look, I-" You winced at how loud your voice was. You cleared your throat, where a tight knot was forming. "I was thinking about yesterday, when we, um..." you trailed off.
It took Harry a few seconds to figure it out. He made a nervous "Oh" before wrapping his hand round his neck. "About that..."
"Yeah..."
Harry tried to ignore the painful grip in his stomach. He tried to sound indifferent when he asked you, "What do you think?"
He was scared you regretted it. Or that you’d been disappointed and disgusted by the way he kissed. However, he surely wasn't expecting the answer you said a few seconds later.
"I liked it," you confessed.
Harry couldn't help but sounding hopeful, a light shone in his eyes. "Really?"
You giggled. "Yeah, you stupid. It's just..."
His heart sank, panic crept in on his eyes.
"Now everybody’s gonna think we’re dating. Not that I don’t mind, I mean, I’d love to date you. But only if you’re okay with it, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, obviously. You must have a lot of more interesting stuff to do, I guess. Ugh! Does it bother you that other people think we’re dating?"
You internally face palmed. You'd never been so tempted to use an Evanescent Spell on yourself like now.
"Actually, no. And I-I’d love to date you as well. If that’s okay with you, of course."
You stopped dead in your tracks, your wide open eyes locked with his. He stopped in turn, a sheepish smile curved his lips. You were one step away, everything around you seemed to freeze in time. It was just the two of you, eyes looking for each other and lips trembling in longing. If only...
"Hey, if you're going to to kiss again, just do it already!"
Your head snapped towards the owner of the voice just in time to see Hermione elbowing Ron in his ribs.
"Ouch! What? If they don’t hurry I’ll starve here, and I’m sure you don’t want me on their conscience, do they?"
Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance, continuing on her way with Ron on her tail and muttering, "Males! Is it possible that all you can think about is filling your stomach?"
You and Harry hesitated before you exchanged a brief, embarrassed look.
"I think it’s better to reach them," he suggested.
"Yeah."
But no one moved. The corner of your lip bent upwards.
"Thanks again for everything, Harry."
Before he could react or even move, you tiptoed up and pressed your lips on his in a quick kiss. Harry dumbly carried a hand over his mouth, now wide open with amazement. You giggled.
"Let's go, you silly," you ran towards the Great Hall, forcing yourself not to look back.
Harry followed you immediately, sure that nothing could possibly ruin his mood that day.