Avoiding Draco and his friends usually meant Harry also didn't think about them or pay them any attention, but now he was curious about Draco and what Umbridge had made him write with the quill. The next chance Harry had to see Draco was in Potions on Monday morning. Draco had been curiously absent from meals lately. Was the curse so bad he'd been in the Hospital Wing? Harry didn't know, but he thought Draco looked like hell. He wasn't the only one to notice either it seemed.

"What's wrong with you Malfoy?" Dean asked as they stood in line outside of Potions and waited for Snape to come and open the door. "You sick or something?" Harry's eyes traveled to the blond just as those of his other classmates now that Dean had drawn attention to him.

"Shut up!" Crabbe said loudly and stepped between Dean and Draco, also blocking Harry's view.

"I didn't mean anything by it," Dean muttered as Snape opened the door and the class filed inside.

As soon as they were seated however, Harry let his eyes roam to the Slytherin side of class and found Draco there, hair looking as though he'd just rolled out of bed, clothes rumpled, and tie done up in a haphazard way.

"Everyone will need partners today. You'll be working on a potion that will take several days to brew. If you received an E or an O on your last paper raise your hand. I want those of you that received less than an E to partner with someone who has their hand raised. The potion we are brewing is both explosive and caustic and I do not want any accidents."

Hermione ended up with Dean and Seamus partnered with Ron, who had a smug look on his face to have gotten an O in Potions for once. Neville had gotten an E and partnered with Lavender. Harry kept his hand up as people partnered up, but no one came over to him.

"Harry, move across the aisle," Snape said, and Harry's eyes found Draco, who was the only one left without a partner.

Harry picked up his bag and moved and heard Draco muttering as he got closer.

"If you say one word Potter-" Draco threatened.

"Erm- it'll be kinda hard to brew if I can't talk," Harry pointed out.

"About me Potter, or my clothes."

"I hadn't planned to," Harry said.

"I can't believe I got stuck with you. How you even got an O-" but Draco trailed off as Snape walked by and set a satchel of caustic ingredients down at their workbench and then moved to the next to do the same.

"I learned how to get O's, that's all," Harry said.

He began laying out his cutting and measuring tools as Draco copied the instructions from the blackboard.

After a few minutes of silence as they prepared to start their potion and retrieved the other ingredients they needed from the supply cupboard Draco said irritably, "Well, are you going to tell me or not?"

"Tell you what?"

"The supposed magic formula you have for getting O's."

Harry laughed then and Draco glared at him. Harry explained how to get O's on papers and Draco huffed. "Everyone knows that Potter. You weren't doing that from the start?"

"I noticed you didn't get an O on your last paper," Harry said.

"I couldn't go to the library for the book I needed."

"Why not?"

"It's none of your business Potter."

"Ok."

They began working and Harry made sure to tell Draco that they needed to keep the three caustic ingredients on their workbench separate until it was time to add them to the potion, but other than that they didn't talk for thirty minutes. Draco seemed like he didn't want to talk and was already upset with Harry even though he hadn't done anything to him, and Harry was content not to rile him up.

After Potions Harry continued to wonder about the blond Slytherin as Ron boasted to Hermione about saving their potion when his partner had tried to add the wrong ingredients in the wrong order. Hermione let him, and Harry's attention was pulled to them just long enough to wonder if she was happy that he was getting good grades, or if she was happy to have a friend to discuss difficult Potions with.

Draco was absent from lunch that day, and dinner as well, and the next morning in Herbology the boy looked as though he'd just rolled out of bed again.

"What's with him?" Ron asked Harry quietly, and Harry shrugged. It wasn't like Draco to look anything less than the perfect Malfoy heir, and he definitely seemed touchy about his looks judging by the way he had been snapping at people about it lately. So he didn't look like that by choice, Harry decided. He also didn't look ill like Dean had suggested the day before, so it wasn't that he was too sick to brush his hair or fold his clothes so they weren't wrinkled. It had to be the curse preventing him from doing those things. Draco had to attend classes, but he could skip meals to stay out of sight.

Feeling like he had finally worked out a particularly satisfying riddle, Harry rose early the next morning with a plan. He felt like he owed Draco a favor for helping him out of the Hufflepuff corridor after Cedric's cousins had punished him, and he definitely owed Draco's father a favor for helping them get rid of Umbridge.

It was only six in the morning as Harry stood in the Entrance Hall beside the entrance to the Dungeons. He'd only seen a few early risers come down to breakfast, and knew most of the rest of the students wouldn't show up until seven, or half seven if they were running late.

Draco appeared at six forty five, looking irritable, and now that he was up close, Harry noted his face and hair looked like they hadn't been washed in a week or more.

"Draco," Harry said.

Draco startled at Harry's voice right by his ear, but then gave him a glare.

"What do you want Potter?" he spat. Harry fought the urge to flinch back. If Draco was feeling particularly venomous today he'd rather stay away, but he was determined to carry out his plan, no matter how many insults the Slytherin threw at him.

"I have to talk to you." When Draco shot him another dirty look, Harry said quickly, "Right now. It's an emergency."

"Fine," Draco said, but when Harry didn't start speaking again he rolled his eyes and lifted his hand as if giving Harry permission to continue.

"Not here," Harry said. "Follow me."

"You'll make me late to breakfast."

"You weren't going into the Great Hall anyway," Harry said, leading off up the stairs to the first floor. Draco followed him, and Harry led him to the far end of the first floor to a boys bathroom not generally used until classes started. There was one closer to the Entrance Hall, but he didn't want anybody to walk in.

Once they were inside the bathroom, Draco said irritably, "What is it Potter?"

Harry set his bag down and rummaged around in it, coming out with a comb. "I know what's wrong with you. I know what Umbridge did."

"And!?" Draco spat, looking like he was ready to turn and storm out of the bathroom.

"I'm gonna fix it."

Draco gave him and the comb a wary look. "The Headmaster is still waiting for a more powerful quill to come in. The one from St. Mungos didn't work."

"I'm gonna make you look presentable until the curse is broken. You can't take care of your looks right? But does the curse say I can't?"

Draco's eyes travelled up to Harry's messy long hair, and Harry started talking in a hurry before the other boy could put down his own appearance. "I'm not that good at hair, but I can do your tie up, and I know a spell to remove wrinkles from robes, and I could do your hair better than it is now. It's not gonna be perfect, but maybe good enough for you to start going to meals again."

Draco sighed and looked tired all of a sudden, like he'd lost hope and had nothing left to lose. Harry didn't wait for him to say no and hurried forward with the comb. "We can use the sink to wash your hair and face real quick and then I can use a drying spell."

"I don't have any shampoo. The curse won't even let me pick up soap."

Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of shampoo from the Gryffindor supply cupboard.

"Gryffindor," Draco muttered, and moved to the sink. "How are we gonna do this?"

"Just put your head in the sink and I'll wash your hair real quick."

Harry was certain he felt as strange as Draco as he turned on the tap and got the boy's hair wet with warm water. He'd never washed someone elses hair before or taken care of anybody else. He worked quickly and had Draco's hair washed and rinsed in under two minutes. He sent three drying spells at it and then made Draco close his eyes and washed his face with hand soap from the sink dispenser. The boy sputtered and cursed at Harry when Harry poked him in the eye, but otherwise stayed silent, his pale face red with embarrassment.

When his face was dry Harry set to work combing Draco's hair flat. "Why didn't anybody in Slytherin help you do this?"

"Slytherins don't ask with help. Besides... it's embarrassing. Malfoy's aren't supposed to show weakness in front of their peers."

"But- they didn't even offer to help?"

"Pansy did." Then Draco shook himself. "I'd be in debt to her. She'd want me to get back together with her again."

Harry finished his hair and let Draco look at it in the mirror as he began to tie his tie where it had been hanging loosely around his neck before.

"The curse won't even let you shower?" he asked.

"No."

"What'd you do to make Umbridge so mad? What exactly did she make you write?"

"What did she make you write?" Draco countered.

"I must not tell lies," Harry said. "But I only wrote it once, and the quill the Headmaster had was able to break it."

"She's a monster."

Harry began using the spell to unwrinkle Draco's uniform and robes and Draco said after a long moment, "I stayed after class one day to ask if she was going to start teaching us real defensive spells. She asked why we would need it, and I told her the Dark Lord had returned."

"She didn't take it well," Harry said. It wasn't a question.

"Later in detention she caught me picking dirt from under a fingernail. I had to write, "I will not preen myself," a hundred times. "Apparently it means I can't even take care of basic things like washing or folding my clothes or brushing my teeth."

"That sucks," Harry said, standing back. Draco looked mostly decent now, or at least well enough to go to breakfast. If they hurried they could catch the last 30 minutes of it.

"You can't bathe," Harry said. "But could you go for a swim?"

Draco glared at him, but Harry said, "I'm not insulting you, I'm asking if there's a workaround. Isn't the Prefect's bathroom a big swimming pool? When you get in the spells will send in soap automatically. You could just swim around for a bit. It's not the same as an actual bath but it's something."

Draco didn't answer him. He looked at himself in the mirror, gave a look to Harry as though he didn't know who was standing in front of him, and then strode out of the bathroom without as much as a thank you. Harry hadn't expected one however, and felt satisfied that he'd returned the favor he owed. Draco did go to breakfast and sat at Slytherin table, and Harry didn't look across the hall at him at all as he scarfed down an orange and had a quick cup of hot chocolate before class.

* * *

Ron rubbed sleep from his eyes. Harry had been getting up early to study, and if his friend could put in the extra effort to get better grades, he felt like he should at least try to do the same. He didn't want to be behind his friends again. He sort of liked being able to brag to his parents and siblings about getting good grades for once, and now that he was in the routine of things, it wasn't really that much extra work. Hermione had been looking at him differently too now that his grades had gone up, and he liked it. He'd never go to the lengths Percy had gone to before he had graduated, but Ron almost fancied himself becoming Head Boy. At least he could dream about something, despite having to rise early to find Harry. He'd been disappearing the last few mornings before Ron woke, and had been coming in to breakfast late. He had to be studying in the library.

But Harry wasn't in the library. It was half six and the library was empty. There weren't even any Ravenclaws in there. Where was he then? Ginny had been in the common room when he'd passed through, and he'd been told Hermione had been having a lie in, so he wasn't off with either of them somewhere.

Ron checked a few places they sometimes hung out, and then a few bathrooms on his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. On the first floor, he pushed open a bathroom door and found Harry combing Draco Malfoy's hair in front of a mirror.

"Harry- what?"

Harry and Draco froze, staring at Ron as the bathroom door banged closed. Ron's mouth was open as his eyes traveled from Harry to Draco, to the comb, and then back again. Instead of answering, Harry turned back to his task, quicking combing the blond boy's hair and accidentally pulling it when he hit a tangle, causing Draco to curse and ball up his fists.

Ron's mind worked furiously over what he was seeing. Draco stood there in rumpled clothes, shoes untied, tie undone. He'd been looking better the last few days though. He'd been seen at meals again and hadn't been snapping at people as often.

Ron strode forward and snatched the comb out of Harry's hand. Harry stood back and bit his lip, waiting for his friend to yell at him. Instead Ron said, "You're doing it wrong. You can't brush it like yours. He pushes it to the other side."

"What's happening here?" Draco asked warily as Ron began pushing the hair to the correct side with the comb. Harry thought it was ironic considering it was the question he had expected Ron to shout at them.

"Well I know Harry's not in love with you. He's into Ginny," and Draco's face heated up. "If he's hiding away in a random bathroom doing this it's gotta be because you can't and you're too stubborn to ask anybody for help."

Draco snapped his mouth closed.

"And why are you doing this?" Draco asked when Ron finished and Harry began sending spells at Draco's shoelaces to tie them into a bow, and at his robes to unrumple them. Ron set to work on Draco's tie.

"So Harry doesn't miss breakfast because he's trying to be your friend."

When they were done, Draco gave them both an odd look and practically fled the bathroom.

"This is where you've been disappearing to the last few days?" Ron asked, surprise in his voice.

"What Umbridge did to me with the quill, she did to him only a hundred times worse. His dad did get rid of her. We owe him don't you think?"

"The last thing you want is to owe a Malfoy a favor," Ron agreed, and they headed to breakfast.

* * *

Albus had taken note that young Mr. Malfoy had seemed to be in better spirits over the last week. His hair and clothes were tidier and he appeared to have bathed. Had the spell broken down on it's own? Given how severe the curse was and that it had left his hand and travelled up into his arm and shoulder he doubted it. It was a curiosity, given that Slytherins, and Malfoys in particular didn't ask for help even in dire situations. If there was one thing the Headmaster loved, it was a good puzzle to solve. It was with this in mind that he spoke with the portraits one morning and asked where Mr. Malfoy was. He'd expected them to say the Prefect's bathroom, but instead they directed him to a bathroom at the back of the castle on the first floor. How interesting.

Albus approached the bathroom door and heard voices from inside. He paused to listen, but couldn't tell exactly who was on the other side of the door. He eased it open just far enough to see and found Harry Potter and Ron Weasley laughing and chatting with each other, and Draco Malfoy standing stock still with his eyes closed as Ron combed through the boy's blond hair and Harry reached down to tie the Slytherin's shoes.

"Come on Harry, you can't come in here and help him with his hair every morning and not do anything about yours. You know mum'd attack your hair with scissors if you gave her half a chance."

"Well I'd like to go to a barber, but I never get the chance do I? You think I like it long and tangly all the time?"  The last time his hair had been cut had been at the orphanage by Peter before Snape had taken him out of there.

"He's right," Draco said as Harry stood and began spelling the boy's robe straight and wrinkle free. "You should cut it as soon as possible. It should be short on top and shorter at the sides."

"I've never worn it short."

"You should."

That was all it seemed young Mr. Malfoy was going to say however, and closed his mouth as the other fifth year boys finished up. Albus pulled his head back from the door and eased it closed so they wouldn't notice him there. What an oddly pleasant surprise. He never would have expected the three to get along at all, let alone for the two Gryffindors to help a Slytherin in need. Had it been Harry's doing, or Ron's?

Albus headed to breakfast with a small smile on his lips and possibilities playing across his mind. With Ron's increased grades and new willingness to help students in need, even those he didn't like, he was starting to look like a suitable candidate for Head Boy. Perhaps in two years he would have grown enough to take the honor of such a position.

By the time he'd had breakfast, and then had tea later in his office at ten, Albus was certain the entire thing had been Harry's idea, but the fact that Ron had helped at all showed his willingness to change. Yes, this morning was full of pleasant surprises wasn't it?