The headmistress had led all of them to their new dormitory after the people in the Great hall had dispersed. It was in the newly built tower where their new dormitory was. The sight of their common room was quite homely. Though it had a mixture of all four houses it still looked quite comfortable. There was a representation of each house which made sure that none of the houses was dominated. The students were allowed to select their roommates. And it was quite obvious that Ron and Harry would be together. And to their great surprise, Hermione had gone with Parkinson seeing how no other girl was ready to occupy a room with Parkinson. Quite Gryffindor of her.  But, it was probably a step toward unity. After all, Hermione was an advocate of peace and rights, doesn't matter whether they were humans or magical creatures.

The dormitory had a kitchen too for the eight years to be able to cook for themselves in case any one of them found it hard to eat in the Great hall. According to Harry, it was a really good idea with how most of the eight years had played a more prominent role in the war, so they were under constant limelight which gets uncomfortable. And it was beneficial for Harry as cooking from scratch has become a soothing activity for him.

After the war, Harry had a few sessions with a mind healer after nagging from Hermione on how important mental health was similar to dental health. The healer helped him to a good extent but then again as long as he hid his story from her, it won't be helping him completely. So Harry had picked up cooking as relaxing. Ironic how he hated doing the chores while he lived with the Dursley but now the same activity brought him comfort. He had cooked for himself the whole time he stayed in Grimmauld Place much to Kreacher's dissatisfaction. So Harry had given Kreacher the work to prep before he cooked on days he was lazy.

Done with the day, Harry had gone to the room he shared with Ron and Neville. It was a comforting presence, just him and his mates like usual only that Dean and Seamus weren't there. Harry had retired for the day and laid on his bed trying to catch a wink of sleep. He had fallen asleep after a while.

He was in the Forbidden forest walking toward Voldemort who stood there with a creepy smile on his lips. Death eaters surrounded them watching the whole thing unfold. Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found. But when he found them, they were on the ground, dead. He tried to go to them but he couldn't. He screamed asking them to wake up while he cried at how motionless they lay. But he couldn't do anything as he saw himself walk to Voldemort while mirroring a similar smile. He joined hands with Voldemort.

He was screaming at himself to stop but the him who was driven by the thirst for power Voldemort offered turned a deaf ear to his protests. Voldemort had hugged him and turned to look at the crowd of people who looked terrified at the scene unfolding. The Weasleys looked at him with utmost disgust and so did many others. He wanted to tell them that it wasn't him but no one could hear or see him.

"Wise of you Harry to join hands with me. I promise you the power that no one else could've given you. Not even that old fool Dumbledore." Voldemort exclaimed with a maniac laugh accompanying it.

The Harry who was with Voldemort had laughed along. Look at everyone with a look of despise. As if he was above all. Then, he has turned to Crucio the innocent.

" Noooo! " He screamed as he woke up.

Drenched in a cold sweat he looked around the room to find he was in his new room. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. He checked to see if he has woken up Ron and Neville only to find them peacefully asleep. He could still hear his heartbeat hammer in his chest at the nightmare. It's not like this was the first time he has a nightmare, but it still had the same effect on him. Left him with self-disgust and hate and trauma. He had even tried the dreamless potion only to find himself having a negative effect from the excessive usage of it.

He had quickly put on his glasses and walked out the room to the common room. He had settled himself in one of the single coaches and stared out of the window watching the grounds of Hogwarts. Thoughts randomly go into his mind. Not that he chose to have them but they just wandered into his head. The constant lack of sleep had made him quite drowsy but Harry had not returned to the room and stayed there. Not wanting to disturb Ron and Neville in case he had another series of nightmares.

....

Draco couldn't fall asleep, it has been the case since the sixth year. With everything going downhill he had found it hard to fall asleep. He even brews himself a potion to fall asleep peacefully but his mother has made sure he didn't get used to it when she found out. Now that he no longer had his potion to help him sleep nor did he have Draught of living death to go into a slumber. So he had decided to go to the common room, confident that it would be empty. Not like anyone would be awake at two in the morning like him. On climbing down the stairs to the common room, Draco saw a raven-haired boy asleep on the couch in a uncomfortable posture which he was sure would end up causing neck pain the following day. 

He walked to the Golden boy to help him adjust to a better posture. The boy held a strained expression as he slept. His eyebrows were drawn together just like how they were on the train when he had fallen asleep on Draco's shoulder. Draco had silently uttered Accio to accio a blanket for Potter. He covered him in the blanket and adjusted him in a better position. He had stayed a little longer looking at the boy before he had gone out for a walk.

He went to sit on his regular spot near Black Lake. It had somehow been a place of comfort and escape when things had gotten too stressful for him. He sat there for a few hours watching the time pass. And when he had seen specks of light start to appear he had gone back to his room to avoid getting seen by Pansy. He was sure Pansy would nag at him for being out of bed. She could be a mother hen when she needed it. And the last thing after a sleepless night he needed was a good nag. He had managed to get back to his room without being seen by anyone. On his way back he did make sure to glance at Potter just to make sure he wasn't awake or that was what Draco had told himself. 

Draco knew very well the effect the boy had on him. It wasn't just any petty rivalry, it was more than that for Draco at least. He had always been drawn to the boy even before he had even met him. He had been intrigued by the boy who lived after his tale of surviving the killing curse had become a tale of every household. The name Harry Potter had been really popular and something about that caught his attention though at that young age Draco had no idea what the killing curse had even been. The picture of a young boy with emerald green eyes with a scar on is forehead intrigued Draco. And when he had found out that Harry Potter was going to attend Hogwarts in the same year as him, he couldn't contain his excitement of finally meeting the boy. He kept going on and on about how excited he was about meeting him to his mother.

Things had taken a different turn when Potter had turned down his offer of friendship and who did he choose of all people, a Weasley?! It made no sense to Draco how a Malfoy could be turned down for a Weasley. He was enraged by the audacity of Potter to turn him down. So he had taken it upon himself to make their lives miserable. Draco would've at least forgiven Potter but he went and made friendship with that mud-, Granger. How superior was muggle born and poor Weasley than a pure blooded ancient family heir Draco that Harry had chosen them over him. He vented his anger and jealousy by picking on both the Weasel, Granger and mostly Potter. He never let go of any chance to pass snarky comment on Potter. He wasn't even in the tinest bit guilty about it but he did find it embarrassing that he did all that just to get Potter's attention. 

It enraged him on how his whole life revolved around Potter. Even though they both grew up Potter still played a huge role in what Draco did. Just like how he decided to come back to Hogwarts just to make amends with Potter. He knew this was the last chance he had to hope for something to happen between him and Potter. And he had no clue on where to start for that. 

Authors note

Nothing actually...