Created for the H/D art fest based on the prompt below.

Drabble: Harry peeked hesitantly through the door, heart pounding furiously in his chest like a trapped animal trying to escape its cage. With a final, focusing breath he stepped into the dusty Hospital Wing.

The large dark space was lit only with the soft glow of candle light. Harry was about to turn back and flee when his eyes rested upon a too familiar head of fair soft hair. It looked almost golden in the candle light.

Being here now, seeing him like that, suddenly made everything - real.

Malfoy was asleep, breath troubled and thin lines between his eyebrows indicating uneasy slumber. Something clenched painfully in Harry's chest as he stepped closer to Malfoy's hospital bed.

I could've killed you, Harry shuddered at the thought, and then he reached out, his fingers hovering cautiously above the bandaged chest, rising and falling with Malfoy's labored breathing.

He retracted his hand and in a flash of remorse and regret and protectiveness, he crawled slowly onto the covers and stretched beside Malfoy's sleeping form carefully, head resting next to his.

"I'm so sorry," Harry whispered, before exhaustion took over and his eyes finally slid shut, missing how Malfoy's features smoothed down unconsciously with relaxation.