TEN I WILL

Things have been normal with Harry. Brutally normal. In fact, things had been fairly normal at Hogwarts which was... strange. Usually, at this point in the year, things started going to shit. Eurydice wasn't one to complain. In fact, she was embracing the normalcy of snow falling gently to the ground, covering the aged campus in billowing white, and the muted excitement amongst the students as they put the winter holidays behind them. Eurydice had not been keen on going home, but her mother had asked her and she could do nothing but listen to them. It hadn't been too bad in terms of how things could go with her family and Heloise had been a block away so it was fine. The most important thing was that it was over with and she was back at Hogwarts where she knew she belonged.

Despite everything, she had missed Hogwarts. Eurydice worried for Katie Bell, who thankfully was now back walking the halls of the school, and she worried for Harry. She felt like a fool for worrying about him, but she could see that something was wrong long before they left for Christmas. He would disappear for long periods of time, disappearing where not even Ron or Hermione could find him. He always seemed to be on edge, chasing something that no one knew about. Although she knows he has friends that care about him, she can't help but fear for his well-being just as much as Ron and Hermione probably do. It's silly, but she can't help it.

The fire in the Gryffindor common room is comfortably warm as Eurydice sits in front of it, nestled with a new book in her hands. This one nowhere near was wondrous as A Wrinkle in Time, as she had finished that one, but it was still a beautiful read and the girl was content. She found that to be her attitude rather often lately: content. It was strange. Perhaps things weren't too awful, but they were nowhere near greatness and she had let herself become okay with that.

A body settles down next to her and she pulls her legs back at the knee so that they may have more room on the loveseat that she has so casually made her own. Looking up from the yellowed pages, Harry stared back at her with tired eyes and round glasses. She smiles.

"Harry, what's going on?" she asked with a flutter in her voice that she can't help. "You look positively exhausted."

"Just uh, something with Malfoy, getting on my nerves," he muttered, but a quick look to his hands and she could see that he was shaking. With a quizzical glance, she places a marker in her book and gently sets it down beside her, reaching over for his shaking hands. She envelops them in her own as best she could, feeling his cold fingertips against her warmth. He avoids her eyes.

Eurydice is not bothered by this, instead squeezing his hands gently as she asks, "What really happened?"

"The Half-Blood Prince," Harry whispers as though it were some great secret. The girl doesn't have to ask for further explanation as he begins to speak, "He owned my Potions book before me. He left notes in the margins, ways to make the recipes better, new spells. I-I had chased Malfoy into the bathroom, he had ran out after seeing Katie Bell, I just know he had something to do with it. I think she knows that and he thought maybe she would tell someone, I don't know. All I know is that I chased him and he pulled out his wand, but I-I cast first. It was just a duel, normal spells, but I wanted to try one I remembered from the book. Eurydice, there was so much blood. So much blood."

Eurydice fights off her gasp, a hand coming to cover her mouth as she lets an arm wrap around the shoulders of the shaking boy. "Is he—is Malfoy okay?"

Harry nods, but hesitates, "I-I don't know. Snape came in, and told me to leave, so I don't know what happened after that. I feel... I feel horrible. I couldn't even move after I had done it, Eurydice, I didn't even make a move to help him I just watched him... him cry. Who does that?"

"You were in shock, you didn't know the spell would do that, did you?"

"All it said in the notes was that it was for enemies, I didn't-I wasn't thinking," Harry sighs, leaning into the touch of the other girl. "I may hate him and he may have broken my bloody nose at the beginning of this year, but I don't want him dead."

The girl holds him close, tucking her head into his shoulder. "I know you don't. It was an accident, Harry. I'm sure Malfoy will be fine. If he wasn't, I very much doubt you would be sitting here right now."

Harry huffs out a small laugh, but there is no humor behind it. "I suppose you're right. I just... I can't believe I would be so careless. I'm not usually... okay, I am usually fairly careless, but it's not... I don't know. Malfoy's been up to something this term, I know it and I need to get to the bottom of it because I just know it's going to be bad. It's going to be terrible, Eurydice, I just know it."

"Even if he is up to something, it's no use trying to stop him if you don't even know what it is," Eurydice sighs, "Chasing ghosts can only do so much."

"Chasing ghosts," Harry scoffs, finally turning to really look at her, "Sometimes that's how I feel when I chase after you."

She sits back, surprised by this as she asks, "What do you mean?"

He shrugs, "Sometimes you just seem as if you're not all the way there. Sorry, that's probably rude. It's just something I've noticed. It feels like your mind is somewhere else, somewhere I can't quite reach."

Eurydice smiles softly, brushing a loose piece of hair out of his face, "You can always reach me. Only you."

"Eurydice—" he begins, but she shakes her head.

"You should get some sleep, Harry," she cuts him off, not letting him reply to her quiet revelation. "You need it, you know you do."

He sighs, but they both know she is right. The boy looks as if he hasn't slept in weeks and knowing him, he probably hasn't. "Thank you. For listening. And for not being... horrified with me. Merlin knows I'm horrified with myself."

"It's okay, Harry. People make mistakes, we may be magic, but we are only human in the end. We all make mistakes, we all bleed the same," she offers him a hopeful closed-lips smile, her hand still lingering near his face. In a split second decision, she leans forward and presses her lips to his forehead as she stands. It's barely anything, ghosting contact against his skin, but the way his eyelids flutter closed means everything to her. "Goodnight, Harry."