Please Be There If I Remember

Chapter Ten: Pride

"Now out, I have cleaning to do."

Draco let out a loud laugh—the most genuine one since he woke up—and waved goodbye back to her.

Theo was gone by the time Draco was done in the hospital wing, which Draco was quite surprised about, but even more shocking was the boy standing in his place.

Green Eyes stood there with his obnoxious round glasses and infuriatingly messy hair in front of the door when he walked out and Draco couldn't help but groan internally and curse his luck for his utter demise.

"Oh don't give me that look, Malfoy, you know exactly why I'm here," he said with that nervous twitch in his hands.

"Really Potter? Can you not find a different time to sneak up on me? Be more creative next time—this is almost insulting at this point," Draco said, for the headache that Madam Pomfrey had warned him was coming was sneaking up into his skull like a fox behind a rabbit. He rubbed his temples wearily, but when he opened his eyes, Green Eyes—Potter, Harry, Four Eyes, whatever his name is at this point—was still there.

"What?" Green Eyes asked, looking genuinely confused for a moment. "I'm only sneaking up on you because I'm trying to figure out what's going on with you and why you've been ignoring Ron, Hermione, and me since you came out of the hospital. Also, you haven't taken any points," he spat out the word like it was vermin, "off us in days. And you're acting strange, so stop it."

"You don't get a say in what I do, Potter, and I already told you what happened and you didn't believe me, so whatever came after that is your fault, not mine," Draco spewed back, annoyed now. Why couldn't this boy just leave him alone?

Green Eyes stepped back for a moment, looking slightly dumbfounded, like that thought hadn't occurred yet in that thick skull of his, and Draco saw his hands curl into tight fists like he was trying to stop them from reaching for his wand. Instinctively, Draco took a step back and placed his hand cautiously over the pocket that held his wand.

"Oh calm down your posh arse, Malfoy, I'm not going to hex you," Green Eyes said with an obnoxious roll of his eyes that Draco wanted to growl at after he had also noticed where his hand had gone. "And anyway, I would win if you so much as even tried to lift your wand to my face, so don't go trying to prove me wrong on that."

This time Draco did growl slightly and he felt his lips curl upwards into a nasty sneer. Like this boy had any right to insult him when he already told him he couldn't remember anything. And now he was cornering him when he just came out of the hospital wing without giving him any warning and trying to make him offended? The nerve!

"We would never know if I don't try," Draco drawled. At this point, his fingers were almost itching for a fight, but his head was screaming at him to just stop already and let it go—it wasn't worth the physical and emotional turmoil, especially since he didn't know what kind of history he had with this boy yet. Maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea if he started something without knowing who his opponent was.

Also, fighting with a pounding headache that just kept getting worse was never a very smart move.

"I'm not trying to start a fight here, Malfoy, so sod off. I'm just trying to..." He took a deep breath and it looked like he was struggling with himself over something; most likely what he was going to say next. It ended up coming out in a burst of breath with a deep sigh accompanying it. "Understand you," Green Eyes finally finished—quite lamely, Draco thought with some kind of smug feeling like he had just bested the boy in something.

"Ok," Draco said after the silence had become too much to bear. He took a step back, placing his feet together and carefully brought his hand off his wand. "I'm willing to help you 'understand me' as you said. But I won't talk to you if you don't believe the things I say. And," he added a pause for dramatic effect, "it will be on my terms. No sneaking up on me after I just come out of the hospital wing, and no sneering at me for no reason. It's kind of unnerving."

Green Eyes had the decency to blush, and Draco silently cheered in victory then grimaced as the thought made his head pound even more.

After a few seconds of him standing there with an increasing frown on his face, Green Eyes spoke up.

"Uhh, Malfoy? You alright?" He asked, and it seemed to make the light pink on his cheeks blossom into a darker red like the question was the most awkward thing he had ever said to anyone in his life.

"Ya," Draco brushed his hand at him, ignoring how any movement felt like a lifetime and the way his eyes started to blur at the edges, making his hand look all floppy. Or maybe that was real, and he was just tired. Black spots sprouted across his already hazy vision and he fumbled around his large pockets for the headache potion Madam Pomfrey had given him just a few minutes before.

Come on, he thought in a panic as his feet swayed slightly beneath him. Where is it? I swear I had it in my pocket...

His feet suddenly gave out and the last thing Draco heard before succumbing into a pained darkness was Green Eyes calling out his name and reaching for him as he fell.