Never A Memory
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Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
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Adult ++
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Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
59
Views:
39,698
Reviews:
379
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Lullaby
A/N: First things first. I want to thank all of you guys for your reviews of the last chapter. I was terrified I'd get a flame or two for alluding to a dying Harry Potter.
But alas, you all have the utmost faith in me and I truly appreciate it.
Secondly, this chapter was designed to have two time continuums going on at the same time. I hop back and forth between them so you get a sense that real time is going a lot faster than "Limbo" time. I hope this prevents any "Technically, Harry should be dead by now" comments, lol.
The final chapter will be up shortly and in a few days, I'll whip up an Epilogue if you ask nicely enough. *wink, wink...nudge, nudge*
Enjoy.
~Lullaby~
My precious one…
My tiny one…
Lay down your pretty head…
The scent of fresh rain and beeswax.
The scent of home. The scent of her hair.
The scent of his mother.
Draco closed his eyes and smiled as he was wrapped in her cool, comforting embrace.
My dearest one…
My sleepy one…
Its time to go to bed…
“Mother…” he sighed.
“Draco,” she murmured. “How I have missed you…”
“Is this Heaven?”
“No, my dearest. Not Heaven. You are not yet dead.”
~*~
“Where did he go?!” Ron demanded to no one in particular. “Where is he?”
Malfoy had disappeared, yet his spheres of magic remained in the center of the Dome, pulsing madly. They walked around the sphere, and doubled back. They could see a dark shadow near the ground within the outer sphere, but they could not distinguish who or what, exactly, it was.
Hermione was convinced it was Harry. Twice, now, they had to restrain her from marching into the outer sphere to retrieve him, knowing it would be too dangerous.
“I don’t understand,” Ron continued. “Malfoy’s memories were what held his magic together last time, right? How are the spheres stable if he’s gone? Hermione?!”
“I don’t know…” she whispered, her gaze fixed intently on the dark shadow within the outer sphere.
“Priest?!”
Father Alt shook his head, at a loss for words.
”Anyone?!”
The spheres’ pulsing began to push outward, sending out a shockwave of raw energy.
“I want everyone out of the Dome now,” Ron ordered, his eyes going wide as his magic charged up a shield to protect him and his fiancée from the shockwave. “Right now!”
“Harry’s still in there!” Hermione protested.
“NOW!”
~*~
My precious one…
My darling one…
Don’t let your lashes sweep…
Draco stirred in his mother’s arms, the dreamy, sleepy state he had drifted into interrupted by the sound of someone crying. “Who is that?”
“Lily,” his mother replied in a sad voice. “She weeps for her son. She does not wish for him to pass on.”
“Who is her son?”
“Would you like to see?” Narcissa Malfoy, as cold and beautiful as the dawn in early spring, gently took her son’s hand and led him away.
Draco, for first time since he had arrived at this place, looked around as his mother showed him the way towards the sobbing woman. Everything was a brilliant, blinding white. The white stretched on and on, until Draco felt they were in nothingness, walking on nothingness, and traveling into nothingness…
The weeping became louder. His mother paused and stepped to one side.
There, kneeling in the white nothingness, was an auburn-haired woman crouched over a body, rocking back and forth, her hands covered face. Draco stepped closer.
My cherished one…
My weary one…
Its time to go to sleep…
The body was that of a young man, the blood pouring from his gaping chest a stark splash of red against the pale pallor of his torn flesh.
Draco gasped, able to see the large muscle of his heart beating a frighteningly slow rhythm. The man’s lips were parted, red frothing in the corners and dribbling down the sides of his face.
The man had a shock of tousled black hair and his eyelids were open just enough for Draco to see the magnificent green hue of his eyes. Not a tamed or infected green; but a true green. Bright, and pure, and wild…and dangerously unfocused.
Draco tore his gaze away from the man’s pale, beautiful face and glanced at the sword that lay slack in the man’s grip.
“Mother, who is this man?”
Narcissa turned her luminous, dark gaze and settled it on her son. “You don’t know?”
The weeping woman quieted and peered up at them with her watery gaze. Draco looked down into her tear-stained face and was startled to see the young man’s striking green eyes in his mother’s face as well.
“Why is he dying?” Draco breathed. “What happened here?”
Narcissa ran a tendril of her son’s milky hair between her slender fingers. “He fought a demon on your behalf, my son. He is dying for you.”
Just bow your head…
And give your cares to me…
Draco’s eyes widened, the knowledge marring the illusion of innocence shining in his pale gray eyes. “Why would he do such a thing?”
Narcissa watched a look of horror flicker across her son’s pointed features as he looked back at the ravaged body. The large muscle continued to beat, a rhythm that was steadily slowing.
“Because he loves you,” Narcissa answered, touching her son’s cheek tenderly.
Just close your eyes…
And fall into the sweetest dream…
~*~
“What’s happening, Weasley?” Minister Scrimgeour asked the second they emerged from the Dome.
“Malfoy’s disappeared,” Ron replied in a rushed voice as Aurors gathered around. “There’s blood everywhere and no sign of Potter. The spheres are becoming erratic.”
“Are they preparing to implode?” the Minister demanded.
Ron glanced at his dazed fiancée and looked back at the Minister. “Yes. Just like the last time.”
Scrimgeour swore under his breath. “And no sign of Potter? We have to get these people out of here. Will the Dome contain the implosion?”
Ron turned to Anin, who had appeared at the Head Auror’s shoulder, one hand pressing against a bleeding wound in his side, and exchanged words with the older Auror. When Ron turned back to the Minister, his face was drawn and pale. “Most of it,” Ron answered finally. “But the Dome was not designed to hold that kind of magic. It is likely it will collapse.”
Scrimgeour swore again. “And Draco Malfoy…?” The question hung thick in the air between them. Hermione stifled a sob.
Ron bit his lip. “Without Harry to calm him, his magic will implode, Minister. And while the Inversion Enchantratem was not likely to kill Malfoy—“
“If the Dome collapses—“ Hermione murmured.
“And it will,” Anin interjected.
“It will crush Malfoy?” Minister Scrimgeour asked, his hands clenching and unclenching.
“And Harry,” Ron said, heaving his shoulders heavily. “Yes, Minister. Most assuredly.”
Scrimgeour swore a third time. “And what was your and Potter’s plan should this have happened?” he demanded.
Ron swallowed past a lump in his throat. They had discussed, he and Harry, what Ron was expected to do should Harry fail to aid Draco back to normalcy.
“Let it,” Ron answered, his voice cracking, and he despised himself. No real friend would have allowed Harry to walk in there to face that demon alone.
There have always been three of use and there always will be.
But Harry had insisted…and when Harry Potter was intent on doing something alone, there was nothing anyone would be able to do or say to sway him. Never had been.
“Let the Dome collapse around them,” Ron repeated, avoiding the look Hermione was shooting at him. “The rest we can handle individually. I’m sending these people home—“
“I’m staying.” That was Hermione.
“I will stay as well,” Severus Snape informed them, his voice thicker than it usually was as he tried to remain outwardly calm despite the swell of anger and grief at the notion of having to watch his godson die a second time.
“As will I,” Headmistress McGonagall added, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Ron nodded, a small, emotional jerk of his chin, nothing more. “Fine. The rest—“
“I would like to remain, young magician.” Father Alt looked down into Ron’s freckled face. “The rites are still incomplete. I must bless the freed to make certain the demon does not return to inhabit the body.”
Ron laughed bitterly. “Do as you like, priest.”
“Weasley,” Minister Scrimgeour began. “Is there no way to save—“
“Maul has been exorcised!” Ron all but shouted at the Minister. “Isn’t that what you wanted? According to the Ministry, today was a complete success. You can go, Minister.”
Scrimgeour frowned at the young man, only able to guess at the torrent of bitterness that the Head Auror was contending with right now. “Despite what you may think, Auror, I had hoped that—“
Ron laughed again, running a hand roughly through his red hair. “Forgive my rudeness, Minister. But please, please, just go.”
Minister Scrimgeour regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. “The Ministry will retreat to a safe distance, Auror. But we will remain, should you need us.”
In spite of himself, Ron was grateful for that. It meant that the outcome of the next few minutes actually meant something to the Ministry. It meant that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were not mere collateral damage to them.
And that they all still hoped they were still alive.
~*~
The auburn-haired woman gasped, staring at Draco’s face. Her eyes widened with surprise and she quickly glanced down at her son, and then back up the pale, pointed man before her. She reached out and tugged on Draco’s hands, urging him to kneel.
Draco knelt, looking bewildered.
She reached out and traced the lightening bolt scar on his forehead with one finger before exchanging a long look with his mother. Narcissa closed her eyes to hide the sudden pain that shone there.
“You could save him,” Narcissa murmured.
Draco sent his mother a startled glance. “How?”
“But you would have to go back.”
“Back?”
“Back from whence you came, precious. Back to the world of the living.”
Draco reached out for the dying man’s pale hand, but snatched his arm back abruptly. “Can I return here after it is done?”
“No, my love. Not for many, many years.”
Suddenly, Draco stood, shaking his head. “Then I will remain. I want to stay with you.” Where it smells like fresh rain and beeswax. Where it smells like home. Where it is safe and warm and brilliantly white.
The auburn-haired woman burst into tears.
“Why do you weep, woman?” Draco inquired, placing a hand on her soft hair. “He will be here soon. He will not bleed forever.” But she continued to cry, resuming her crouch over her dying son, rocking back and forth.
“It is not his time,” Narcissa whispered, wrapping her arms about her son. “She weeps because his life was shortened.”
‘Cause in my loving arms…
You’re safe as you’ll ever be…
Draco stirred in her arms, fighting against the dreamy spell that accompanied her embrace without pausing to wonder why. “Because of me?”
“Because he fought to save your soul.”
“Because he loved me?”
“Yes.”
Draco was thoughtful for a moment. “Did I love him?”
“Very much.”
Draco looked perplexed. “Truly?”
Narcissa nodded. “Oh, yes, my heart. You would have given him the world had you had it at your disposal.”
“Was I a giving person, back where I came from?”
Narcissa smiled. “No.”
So hush, my dear, and sleep…
Draco looked at the man again, noticing that he could only barely hear his heart beat. “If I can save him, can I save you too? Can you come with me?”
“No, precious. I have been dead for many years.”
“No…” Draco abruptly pulled away from her.
“Yes, my love. My time is done. I belong here now.”
“But I am not dead?”
“No, you are not.”
Draco bit his lip. “I must go back, mother.”
Narcissa nodded solemnly, her eyes grave and sorrowful. “I will miss you.”
Draco approached the sobbing woman once more and laid his hand upon her shoulder as he knelt beside her. “Lily?”
Her sobs quieted and she looked over at him, her brilliant green eyes daring to hope.
“I cannot give your son the world,” he whispered to her. “But I will take him back to it.”
~*~
“Can you hear that?” Snape hissed suddenly. “Can you hear it?!”
~*~
And in your dreams…
You’ll ride on angels’ wings…
Draco bent low over the bleeding man, an urgent feeling in his gut instructing of him what to do, and pressed his forehead against his.
A wild, spinning sensation whirled around them and Draco had to shut his eyes against it, lest the dizziness overwhelm him. He felt an empty vault open up beneath them and suddenly they were falling, falling, falling…
Draco held the man close to his heart, gripping him as tightly as he could.
~*~
Hermione gasped and clutched at Ron’s arm. The spheres of Malfoy’s magic had begun glowing an ethereal white within the Dome.
Snape lifted his face as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the western horizon and closed his eyes as he finally recognized the voice. “Narcissa…”
Beside him, Father Ernst Alt was saying prayers of gratitude.
~*~
Dance with the stars…
And touch the face of God…
Draco suddenly felt weightless and struggled to open his eyes. He was holding something heavy and wet against his chest, gripping something and pulling it against his forehead. Draco gasped as he breathed in the scent of musk and Quidditch leather, recognizing the sodden heap in his arms as Harry Potter. Draco wrapped his arms tighter around him, not wanting to know what had soaked through his lover’s robes, not wanting to know why Harry’s chest felt odd and disfigured against his own. Frantically, Draco attempted to press into Harry’s mind, as he had done so many times before, but found nothing…
Except the slow thrumming of his failing heart.
Draco sucked in a breath, knowing he would need every last drop of his magic, and prepared to overpower the Inversion Enchantratem.
~*~
The Dome, aglow by the incredible light shining within, began to resemble the moon, refracting the light of the sun.
They all watched in awe as the light grew brighter and brighter, until, finally, they had to shield their eyes. When they looked again, there was a smaller ball of energy.
No. Not a ball.
An awkward shape and not perfectly round.
They peered closer. And the energy was different.
Hermione sucked in a breath. “Is that Malfoy?!”
Suddenly, Ron was running towards the Dome. He gave his amulet a sound tug before hurling himself within the Dome thick walls.
Malfoy was holding something.
~*~
And if you should awake…
“C’mon, Harry,” Draco chanted, rocking Harry in his arms, watching as bits of tissue and bone healed itself in Harry’s chest and the gashes closed up to reveal solid scar tissue. “Stay with me, Harry. You promised, remember? You said we could give it a try, remember? You said there could be an after, dammit; so don’t you leave me now!”
Spiking, swirling magic and raw power, exuding brilliantly from their connection through the Horcrux Scar as Draco pressed their brows together, whirred around them in a fantastic, crackling vortex of energy.
The thrumming of Harry’s heart was barely a whisper.
Draco choked back a sob as the sound all but vanished, charging up their connection again and again. “Damn you, Harry Potter! You are not allowed to die here! Breathe, you insufferable prat! Breathe!”
Something trembled deep within Draco’s gut that swiftly became a growl. Then, with mighty shout, he spiked their magic one last time, focusing all its power on that one muscle that had to beat again for his lover to stay alive; Harry Potter’s heart, laid bare and bleeding for far too long.
And Draco saw no more.
~*~
My precious one…
My tiny one…
I’ll kiss your little cheek…
The swirling magic that engulfed them flashed once more and abruptly vanished. Ron skidded to a halt and fell to his knees beside them just as Draco Malfoy collapsed beside Harry Potter’s body, twitching and shivering as if he were seizing.
Ron heard the sound of running behind him and barked: “Make sure Harry’s breathing!” as he stumbled over to Malfoy’s side. Ron pulled the seizing Malfoy to him and ripped a scrap of fabric from his sleeve, holding Draco’s head in his lap and rolling up the fabric to place in the blond Wizard’s mouth so he couldn’t bite his tongue off.
“He has a pulse!” Hermione announced in a ragged, breathless voice. “He’s breathing, ah, thank Merlin; he’s alive, Ron!”
“McGonagall is sending for Healers,” Severus said, kneeling beside Ron to aid him in restraining Draco Malfoy’s thrashing limbs as the worst of his seizure-like shudders passed.
Hermione swore under her breath as she lifted torn bits of Harry’s robes and shirt from the bare skin of his chest. She ran her fingers lightly over the large, pinkish scar that ran the length of Harry’s torso. She lifted her eyes to Ron’s, a question there that he had no answer for.
Father Ernst Alt bent low over the shivering, unconscious Draco Malfoy and placed one gnarled hand on the young man’s damp forehead. “Allmächtiger Gott,” he prayed. “Wir bitten dich, hindere diesen bösen Geist daran deinen Diener weiter zu quälen, und halte ihn fern, auf dass er nie zurückkehre. Durch deine Weisung, oh Herr, mögen die Güte und der Frieden unseres Herrn Jesus Christus, des Erlösers, Besitz ergreifen von diesem Mann. Und wir fürchten nicht länger das Übel, denn der Herr ist mit uns, der lebt und herrscht in Einheit mit dem Heiligen Geist in alle Ewigkeit...”
Finally, beneath the priest’s touch, Draco stilled, his breathing becoming steady, his limbs becoming limp and languid.
And underneath…
The smiling moon…
I’ll sail you back to sleep…
“...Amen.”
~*~
St. Mungo’s…
Three days later…
***
Harry felt a thrumming heaviness in his head and groaned, fighting against consciousness with all his might, not wishing to awake. The sheets that covered him were cool, and the air smelled like disinfectant. Harry groaned again. Hospitals.
Harry Potter hated hospitals. In his short life, he had spent far too much time in them.
Abruptly, a thought hit him and he panicked, sitting straight up in the bed and blinking wildly.
“Calm down, Potter; you’ll hurt yourself,” a drawling, lazy voice admonished him lightly. “I am fine.”
Harry twisted in the white linen and gaped at the source of the voice. Then he smiled.
There, in the corner of the tiny hospital room, sitting in a chair and reading a book filled with Muggle poetry, was Draco Malfoy.
Draco glanced at him over the rim of his book and turned a page. “Welcome back, Harry.”
Harry startled himself with a laugh. For some reason, it seemed like an odd thing to say. “Thanks,” he said. “You too.”
Draco smiled from behind his book, lowering it so Harry could see.
“What time is it?” Harry inquired.
“Hmmm. Four in the morning, I think.”
“That’s quite a stretch after visiting hours.”
“Visiting hours do not apply to me.”
“Why?” Harry scoffed, rubbing at his eyes and stretching. “Because you’re a Malfoy?”
“No,” Draco answered, setting down his book and giving Harry a strange look the Auror couldn’t quite place. “Because it’s me and it’s you and the whole world knows it now.”
The corner of Harry’s mouth lifted in a half-smile. “I see. How long have I been out?”
“Three days, interestingly enough,” Draco replied, rising to re-seat himself in the chair closest to Harry’s bed.
“Why?”
“’On the third day, He rose again…’” Draco quoted with a shrug. “Just another thing to occupy my thoughts while you get the rest you need.”
Harry made a face but settled back into the pillows anyway. “Point taken.”
Harry was silent for a few minutes. “So we were successful, then?”
“Very.”
“What happened?”
“What don’t you remember?”
“Malfoy, answer the damn question.”
Draco gazed it him for a long time, those piercing gray eyes taking in the horrifying scar that began at Harry’s collar bone and ended below his abdominal muscles. A scar that was hidden mostly from the white shirt he was wearing. A scar Harry Potter had yet to notice.
Draco considered telling him about the strange limbo he had found himself in after the Inversion Enchantratem ripped his magic from his body, after Maul was launched from within him, and after his own scarred soul was sent adrift. Draco considered explaining the scent of fresh rain and beeswax and how, for the briefest of moments, he had actually considered remaining within the safety of his mother’s cool embrace rather than taking pity on the sobbing vision of Lily Evans Potter and rescuing her son from certain death. Draco considered reciting his battle with his own personal demons and the ultimate act of forgiving his father.
However, he decided those things could be told later and said instead: “You gave me one bloody scare, you horrid ponce.”
Harry’s brilliant, bold, and utterly true green eyes glanced over at him.
Draco reached out for his hand and grasped it tightly, a bubble of pent-up emotion bursting against his throat. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
That’s when Harry looked down at his chest. He reached down with his other hand and lifted the hem of his shirt. He chewed at his lower lip as he beheld the thick expanse of scar tissue before dropping his shirt and staring off into the distance. “Oh.”
Draco closed his eyes against the pain that tightened around his heart. When all was said and done, he had given him those scars. If it weren’t for him, Harry Potter would be hale.
“Can’t be anything like the scar on your soul,” Harry said softly, still staring into some place Draco couldn’t see. Draco’s eyes flew open and he stared at the young Auror in disbelief.
“You can’t be serious!”
Harry looked at him then. “Why not?”
Suddenly, Malfoy laughed. It was a clear, unfettered sound and it tugged a lop-sided grin from Harry’s lips. “You know, Potter? There are going to be days when you will drive me mad and I’ll have to struggle to remember why the hell I fell in love with you. But then you will say something like that and I’ll remember all over again.”
Whatever would have been said next was interrupted by a breathless Healer, who barged into the room with a flustered look on her face. “Mr. Potter! Oh, my! You’re awake!”
Soon, Ron and Hermione, sleepy-eyed yet alert, were there, the Minister and a dozen other Aurors following shortly after. The room swiftly became too cramped for Malfoy to bear and he quietly took his leave, shutting the door behind him as Harry’s friends and colleagues loudly spoke words of joy and concern on Harry Potter’s behalf.
There would be time to speak later. There would be a lot of time to speak later.
“Can I return here after it is done?”
“No, my love. Not for many, many years.”
Many, many years. Draco smiled to himself as he Disapparated.
And he planned to spend every waking moment possible at Harry Potter’s side.
A lifetime of burnt eggs and lazy smiles.
Not quite the paradise he had been expecting after he died, but it would do.
And he could definitely live with that.
~*~
A/N: Lyrics from the song “Lullaby” by Celine Dione
Translations:
Allmächtiger Gott, wir bitten dich, hindere diesen bösen Geist daran deinen Diener weiter zu quälen, und halte ihn fern, auf dass er nie zurückkehre. Durch deine Weisung, oh Herr, mögen die Güte und der Frieden unseres Herrn Jesus Christus, des Erlösers, Besitz ergreifen von diesem Mann. Und wir fürchten nicht länger das Übel, denn der Herr ist mit uns, der lebt und herrscht in Einheit mit dem Heiligen Geist in alle Ewigkeit...
...Amen. (German) Means “...Almighty God, we beg you to keep the evil spirit from further molesting this servant of yours, and to keep him far away, never to return. At your command, 0 Lord, may the goodness and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, take possession of this man. May we no longer fear any evil since the Lord is with us; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever...
...Amen."
Lilith: Fate, indeed. I'm glad you're enjoying the climax thus far and thanky ous o much for your review! I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby"!
Ramandu: Enchanting! What a great word. Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the update!
chek: Thank you very much! Ihope you got a good rest and welcome to the story! Keeping the characters close to original form was really important to me. Thank you!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the story and thanx again for your review!
MeLaiya: I have half a mind to take a big chomp out of you right now, actually, lol. Just kidding. Ell, I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby" and thank you so much for your update!
jade: Yeah, it was a little cruel, wasn't it. Trust me, I've been typing up a strom to get these chapters out to you guys, lol.
Thank you so much for your review! I think I may take a break from fanfiction for a while, so I can work on other projects that I want to get published...but I'll tell you what. I'll announce any new story from me at the end of the Epilogue when it comes up, okay? That way you'll now if I'm coming out with anything new. Thanks again for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!
Mangacat: Sorry about the nasty cliffhanger, but thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby"!
mariahs_fantasy: Ha ha, your review made me chuckle. I know, I know. Hey, thanx for having so much faith in the happy ending! And thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed the update!
QueenBoadicea: Well, thanks anyway for your review! I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby"!
Melha Seraphim: LOL, "Cliffhanger of Doom". You guys crack me up. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!
But alas, you all have the utmost faith in me and I truly appreciate it.
Secondly, this chapter was designed to have two time continuums going on at the same time. I hop back and forth between them so you get a sense that real time is going a lot faster than "Limbo" time. I hope this prevents any "Technically, Harry should be dead by now" comments, lol.
The final chapter will be up shortly and in a few days, I'll whip up an Epilogue if you ask nicely enough. *wink, wink...nudge, nudge*
Enjoy.
~Lullaby~
My precious one…
My tiny one…
Lay down your pretty head…
The scent of fresh rain and beeswax.
The scent of home. The scent of her hair.
The scent of his mother.
Draco closed his eyes and smiled as he was wrapped in her cool, comforting embrace.
My dearest one…
My sleepy one…
Its time to go to bed…
“Mother…” he sighed.
“Draco,” she murmured. “How I have missed you…”
“Is this Heaven?”
“No, my dearest. Not Heaven. You are not yet dead.”
~*~
“Where did he go?!” Ron demanded to no one in particular. “Where is he?”
Malfoy had disappeared, yet his spheres of magic remained in the center of the Dome, pulsing madly. They walked around the sphere, and doubled back. They could see a dark shadow near the ground within the outer sphere, but they could not distinguish who or what, exactly, it was.
Hermione was convinced it was Harry. Twice, now, they had to restrain her from marching into the outer sphere to retrieve him, knowing it would be too dangerous.
“I don’t understand,” Ron continued. “Malfoy’s memories were what held his magic together last time, right? How are the spheres stable if he’s gone? Hermione?!”
“I don’t know…” she whispered, her gaze fixed intently on the dark shadow within the outer sphere.
“Priest?!”
Father Alt shook his head, at a loss for words.
”Anyone?!”
The spheres’ pulsing began to push outward, sending out a shockwave of raw energy.
“I want everyone out of the Dome now,” Ron ordered, his eyes going wide as his magic charged up a shield to protect him and his fiancée from the shockwave. “Right now!”
“Harry’s still in there!” Hermione protested.
“NOW!”
~*~
My precious one…
My darling one…
Don’t let your lashes sweep…
Draco stirred in his mother’s arms, the dreamy, sleepy state he had drifted into interrupted by the sound of someone crying. “Who is that?”
“Lily,” his mother replied in a sad voice. “She weeps for her son. She does not wish for him to pass on.”
“Who is her son?”
“Would you like to see?” Narcissa Malfoy, as cold and beautiful as the dawn in early spring, gently took her son’s hand and led him away.
Draco, for first time since he had arrived at this place, looked around as his mother showed him the way towards the sobbing woman. Everything was a brilliant, blinding white. The white stretched on and on, until Draco felt they were in nothingness, walking on nothingness, and traveling into nothingness…
The weeping became louder. His mother paused and stepped to one side.
There, kneeling in the white nothingness, was an auburn-haired woman crouched over a body, rocking back and forth, her hands covered face. Draco stepped closer.
My cherished one…
My weary one…
Its time to go to sleep…
The body was that of a young man, the blood pouring from his gaping chest a stark splash of red against the pale pallor of his torn flesh.
Draco gasped, able to see the large muscle of his heart beating a frighteningly slow rhythm. The man’s lips were parted, red frothing in the corners and dribbling down the sides of his face.
The man had a shock of tousled black hair and his eyelids were open just enough for Draco to see the magnificent green hue of his eyes. Not a tamed or infected green; but a true green. Bright, and pure, and wild…and dangerously unfocused.
Draco tore his gaze away from the man’s pale, beautiful face and glanced at the sword that lay slack in the man’s grip.
“Mother, who is this man?”
Narcissa turned her luminous, dark gaze and settled it on her son. “You don’t know?”
The weeping woman quieted and peered up at them with her watery gaze. Draco looked down into her tear-stained face and was startled to see the young man’s striking green eyes in his mother’s face as well.
“Why is he dying?” Draco breathed. “What happened here?”
Narcissa ran a tendril of her son’s milky hair between her slender fingers. “He fought a demon on your behalf, my son. He is dying for you.”
Just bow your head…
And give your cares to me…
Draco’s eyes widened, the knowledge marring the illusion of innocence shining in his pale gray eyes. “Why would he do such a thing?”
Narcissa watched a look of horror flicker across her son’s pointed features as he looked back at the ravaged body. The large muscle continued to beat, a rhythm that was steadily slowing.
“Because he loves you,” Narcissa answered, touching her son’s cheek tenderly.
Just close your eyes…
And fall into the sweetest dream…
~*~
“What’s happening, Weasley?” Minister Scrimgeour asked the second they emerged from the Dome.
“Malfoy’s disappeared,” Ron replied in a rushed voice as Aurors gathered around. “There’s blood everywhere and no sign of Potter. The spheres are becoming erratic.”
“Are they preparing to implode?” the Minister demanded.
Ron glanced at his dazed fiancée and looked back at the Minister. “Yes. Just like the last time.”
Scrimgeour swore under his breath. “And no sign of Potter? We have to get these people out of here. Will the Dome contain the implosion?”
Ron turned to Anin, who had appeared at the Head Auror’s shoulder, one hand pressing against a bleeding wound in his side, and exchanged words with the older Auror. When Ron turned back to the Minister, his face was drawn and pale. “Most of it,” Ron answered finally. “But the Dome was not designed to hold that kind of magic. It is likely it will collapse.”
Scrimgeour swore again. “And Draco Malfoy…?” The question hung thick in the air between them. Hermione stifled a sob.
Ron bit his lip. “Without Harry to calm him, his magic will implode, Minister. And while the Inversion Enchantratem was not likely to kill Malfoy—“
“If the Dome collapses—“ Hermione murmured.
“And it will,” Anin interjected.
“It will crush Malfoy?” Minister Scrimgeour asked, his hands clenching and unclenching.
“And Harry,” Ron said, heaving his shoulders heavily. “Yes, Minister. Most assuredly.”
Scrimgeour swore a third time. “And what was your and Potter’s plan should this have happened?” he demanded.
Ron swallowed past a lump in his throat. They had discussed, he and Harry, what Ron was expected to do should Harry fail to aid Draco back to normalcy.
“Let it,” Ron answered, his voice cracking, and he despised himself. No real friend would have allowed Harry to walk in there to face that demon alone.
There have always been three of use and there always will be.
But Harry had insisted…and when Harry Potter was intent on doing something alone, there was nothing anyone would be able to do or say to sway him. Never had been.
“Let the Dome collapse around them,” Ron repeated, avoiding the look Hermione was shooting at him. “The rest we can handle individually. I’m sending these people home—“
“I’m staying.” That was Hermione.
“I will stay as well,” Severus Snape informed them, his voice thicker than it usually was as he tried to remain outwardly calm despite the swell of anger and grief at the notion of having to watch his godson die a second time.
“As will I,” Headmistress McGonagall added, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Ron nodded, a small, emotional jerk of his chin, nothing more. “Fine. The rest—“
“I would like to remain, young magician.” Father Alt looked down into Ron’s freckled face. “The rites are still incomplete. I must bless the freed to make certain the demon does not return to inhabit the body.”
Ron laughed bitterly. “Do as you like, priest.”
“Weasley,” Minister Scrimgeour began. “Is there no way to save—“
“Maul has been exorcised!” Ron all but shouted at the Minister. “Isn’t that what you wanted? According to the Ministry, today was a complete success. You can go, Minister.”
Scrimgeour frowned at the young man, only able to guess at the torrent of bitterness that the Head Auror was contending with right now. “Despite what you may think, Auror, I had hoped that—“
Ron laughed again, running a hand roughly through his red hair. “Forgive my rudeness, Minister. But please, please, just go.”
Minister Scrimgeour regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. “The Ministry will retreat to a safe distance, Auror. But we will remain, should you need us.”
In spite of himself, Ron was grateful for that. It meant that the outcome of the next few minutes actually meant something to the Ministry. It meant that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were not mere collateral damage to them.
And that they all still hoped they were still alive.
~*~
The auburn-haired woman gasped, staring at Draco’s face. Her eyes widened with surprise and she quickly glanced down at her son, and then back up the pale, pointed man before her. She reached out and tugged on Draco’s hands, urging him to kneel.
Draco knelt, looking bewildered.
She reached out and traced the lightening bolt scar on his forehead with one finger before exchanging a long look with his mother. Narcissa closed her eyes to hide the sudden pain that shone there.
“You could save him,” Narcissa murmured.
Draco sent his mother a startled glance. “How?”
“But you would have to go back.”
“Back?”
“Back from whence you came, precious. Back to the world of the living.”
Draco reached out for the dying man’s pale hand, but snatched his arm back abruptly. “Can I return here after it is done?”
“No, my love. Not for many, many years.”
Suddenly, Draco stood, shaking his head. “Then I will remain. I want to stay with you.” Where it smells like fresh rain and beeswax. Where it smells like home. Where it is safe and warm and brilliantly white.
The auburn-haired woman burst into tears.
“Why do you weep, woman?” Draco inquired, placing a hand on her soft hair. “He will be here soon. He will not bleed forever.” But she continued to cry, resuming her crouch over her dying son, rocking back and forth.
“It is not his time,” Narcissa whispered, wrapping her arms about her son. “She weeps because his life was shortened.”
‘Cause in my loving arms…
You’re safe as you’ll ever be…
Draco stirred in her arms, fighting against the dreamy spell that accompanied her embrace without pausing to wonder why. “Because of me?”
“Because he fought to save your soul.”
“Because he loved me?”
“Yes.”
Draco was thoughtful for a moment. “Did I love him?”
“Very much.”
Draco looked perplexed. “Truly?”
Narcissa nodded. “Oh, yes, my heart. You would have given him the world had you had it at your disposal.”
“Was I a giving person, back where I came from?”
Narcissa smiled. “No.”
So hush, my dear, and sleep…
Draco looked at the man again, noticing that he could only barely hear his heart beat. “If I can save him, can I save you too? Can you come with me?”
“No, precious. I have been dead for many years.”
“No…” Draco abruptly pulled away from her.
“Yes, my love. My time is done. I belong here now.”
“But I am not dead?”
“No, you are not.”
Draco bit his lip. “I must go back, mother.”
Narcissa nodded solemnly, her eyes grave and sorrowful. “I will miss you.”
Draco approached the sobbing woman once more and laid his hand upon her shoulder as he knelt beside her. “Lily?”
Her sobs quieted and she looked over at him, her brilliant green eyes daring to hope.
“I cannot give your son the world,” he whispered to her. “But I will take him back to it.”
~*~
“Can you hear that?” Snape hissed suddenly. “Can you hear it?!”
~*~
And in your dreams…
You’ll ride on angels’ wings…
Draco bent low over the bleeding man, an urgent feeling in his gut instructing of him what to do, and pressed his forehead against his.
A wild, spinning sensation whirled around them and Draco had to shut his eyes against it, lest the dizziness overwhelm him. He felt an empty vault open up beneath them and suddenly they were falling, falling, falling…
Draco held the man close to his heart, gripping him as tightly as he could.
~*~
Hermione gasped and clutched at Ron’s arm. The spheres of Malfoy’s magic had begun glowing an ethereal white within the Dome.
Snape lifted his face as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the western horizon and closed his eyes as he finally recognized the voice. “Narcissa…”
Beside him, Father Ernst Alt was saying prayers of gratitude.
~*~
Dance with the stars…
And touch the face of God…
Draco suddenly felt weightless and struggled to open his eyes. He was holding something heavy and wet against his chest, gripping something and pulling it against his forehead. Draco gasped as he breathed in the scent of musk and Quidditch leather, recognizing the sodden heap in his arms as Harry Potter. Draco wrapped his arms tighter around him, not wanting to know what had soaked through his lover’s robes, not wanting to know why Harry’s chest felt odd and disfigured against his own. Frantically, Draco attempted to press into Harry’s mind, as he had done so many times before, but found nothing…
Except the slow thrumming of his failing heart.
Draco sucked in a breath, knowing he would need every last drop of his magic, and prepared to overpower the Inversion Enchantratem.
~*~
The Dome, aglow by the incredible light shining within, began to resemble the moon, refracting the light of the sun.
They all watched in awe as the light grew brighter and brighter, until, finally, they had to shield their eyes. When they looked again, there was a smaller ball of energy.
No. Not a ball.
An awkward shape and not perfectly round.
They peered closer. And the energy was different.
Hermione sucked in a breath. “Is that Malfoy?!”
Suddenly, Ron was running towards the Dome. He gave his amulet a sound tug before hurling himself within the Dome thick walls.
Malfoy was holding something.
~*~
And if you should awake…
“C’mon, Harry,” Draco chanted, rocking Harry in his arms, watching as bits of tissue and bone healed itself in Harry’s chest and the gashes closed up to reveal solid scar tissue. “Stay with me, Harry. You promised, remember? You said we could give it a try, remember? You said there could be an after, dammit; so don’t you leave me now!”
Spiking, swirling magic and raw power, exuding brilliantly from their connection through the Horcrux Scar as Draco pressed their brows together, whirred around them in a fantastic, crackling vortex of energy.
The thrumming of Harry’s heart was barely a whisper.
Draco choked back a sob as the sound all but vanished, charging up their connection again and again. “Damn you, Harry Potter! You are not allowed to die here! Breathe, you insufferable prat! Breathe!”
Something trembled deep within Draco’s gut that swiftly became a growl. Then, with mighty shout, he spiked their magic one last time, focusing all its power on that one muscle that had to beat again for his lover to stay alive; Harry Potter’s heart, laid bare and bleeding for far too long.
And Draco saw no more.
~*~
My precious one…
My tiny one…
I’ll kiss your little cheek…
The swirling magic that engulfed them flashed once more and abruptly vanished. Ron skidded to a halt and fell to his knees beside them just as Draco Malfoy collapsed beside Harry Potter’s body, twitching and shivering as if he were seizing.
Ron heard the sound of running behind him and barked: “Make sure Harry’s breathing!” as he stumbled over to Malfoy’s side. Ron pulled the seizing Malfoy to him and ripped a scrap of fabric from his sleeve, holding Draco’s head in his lap and rolling up the fabric to place in the blond Wizard’s mouth so he couldn’t bite his tongue off.
“He has a pulse!” Hermione announced in a ragged, breathless voice. “He’s breathing, ah, thank Merlin; he’s alive, Ron!”
“McGonagall is sending for Healers,” Severus said, kneeling beside Ron to aid him in restraining Draco Malfoy’s thrashing limbs as the worst of his seizure-like shudders passed.
Hermione swore under her breath as she lifted torn bits of Harry’s robes and shirt from the bare skin of his chest. She ran her fingers lightly over the large, pinkish scar that ran the length of Harry’s torso. She lifted her eyes to Ron’s, a question there that he had no answer for.
Father Ernst Alt bent low over the shivering, unconscious Draco Malfoy and placed one gnarled hand on the young man’s damp forehead. “Allmächtiger Gott,” he prayed. “Wir bitten dich, hindere diesen bösen Geist daran deinen Diener weiter zu quälen, und halte ihn fern, auf dass er nie zurückkehre. Durch deine Weisung, oh Herr, mögen die Güte und der Frieden unseres Herrn Jesus Christus, des Erlösers, Besitz ergreifen von diesem Mann. Und wir fürchten nicht länger das Übel, denn der Herr ist mit uns, der lebt und herrscht in Einheit mit dem Heiligen Geist in alle Ewigkeit...”
Finally, beneath the priest’s touch, Draco stilled, his breathing becoming steady, his limbs becoming limp and languid.
And underneath…
The smiling moon…
I’ll sail you back to sleep…
“...Amen.”
~*~
St. Mungo’s…
Three days later…
***
Harry felt a thrumming heaviness in his head and groaned, fighting against consciousness with all his might, not wishing to awake. The sheets that covered him were cool, and the air smelled like disinfectant. Harry groaned again. Hospitals.
Harry Potter hated hospitals. In his short life, he had spent far too much time in them.
Abruptly, a thought hit him and he panicked, sitting straight up in the bed and blinking wildly.
“Calm down, Potter; you’ll hurt yourself,” a drawling, lazy voice admonished him lightly. “I am fine.”
Harry twisted in the white linen and gaped at the source of the voice. Then he smiled.
There, in the corner of the tiny hospital room, sitting in a chair and reading a book filled with Muggle poetry, was Draco Malfoy.
Draco glanced at him over the rim of his book and turned a page. “Welcome back, Harry.”
Harry startled himself with a laugh. For some reason, it seemed like an odd thing to say. “Thanks,” he said. “You too.”
Draco smiled from behind his book, lowering it so Harry could see.
“What time is it?” Harry inquired.
“Hmmm. Four in the morning, I think.”
“That’s quite a stretch after visiting hours.”
“Visiting hours do not apply to me.”
“Why?” Harry scoffed, rubbing at his eyes and stretching. “Because you’re a Malfoy?”
“No,” Draco answered, setting down his book and giving Harry a strange look the Auror couldn’t quite place. “Because it’s me and it’s you and the whole world knows it now.”
The corner of Harry’s mouth lifted in a half-smile. “I see. How long have I been out?”
“Three days, interestingly enough,” Draco replied, rising to re-seat himself in the chair closest to Harry’s bed.
“Why?”
“’On the third day, He rose again…’” Draco quoted with a shrug. “Just another thing to occupy my thoughts while you get the rest you need.”
Harry made a face but settled back into the pillows anyway. “Point taken.”
Harry was silent for a few minutes. “So we were successful, then?”
“Very.”
“What happened?”
“What don’t you remember?”
“Malfoy, answer the damn question.”
Draco gazed it him for a long time, those piercing gray eyes taking in the horrifying scar that began at Harry’s collar bone and ended below his abdominal muscles. A scar that was hidden mostly from the white shirt he was wearing. A scar Harry Potter had yet to notice.
Draco considered telling him about the strange limbo he had found himself in after the Inversion Enchantratem ripped his magic from his body, after Maul was launched from within him, and after his own scarred soul was sent adrift. Draco considered explaining the scent of fresh rain and beeswax and how, for the briefest of moments, he had actually considered remaining within the safety of his mother’s cool embrace rather than taking pity on the sobbing vision of Lily Evans Potter and rescuing her son from certain death. Draco considered reciting his battle with his own personal demons and the ultimate act of forgiving his father.
However, he decided those things could be told later and said instead: “You gave me one bloody scare, you horrid ponce.”
Harry’s brilliant, bold, and utterly true green eyes glanced over at him.
Draco reached out for his hand and grasped it tightly, a bubble of pent-up emotion bursting against his throat. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
That’s when Harry looked down at his chest. He reached down with his other hand and lifted the hem of his shirt. He chewed at his lower lip as he beheld the thick expanse of scar tissue before dropping his shirt and staring off into the distance. “Oh.”
Draco closed his eyes against the pain that tightened around his heart. When all was said and done, he had given him those scars. If it weren’t for him, Harry Potter would be hale.
“Can’t be anything like the scar on your soul,” Harry said softly, still staring into some place Draco couldn’t see. Draco’s eyes flew open and he stared at the young Auror in disbelief.
“You can’t be serious!”
Harry looked at him then. “Why not?”
Suddenly, Malfoy laughed. It was a clear, unfettered sound and it tugged a lop-sided grin from Harry’s lips. “You know, Potter? There are going to be days when you will drive me mad and I’ll have to struggle to remember why the hell I fell in love with you. But then you will say something like that and I’ll remember all over again.”
Whatever would have been said next was interrupted by a breathless Healer, who barged into the room with a flustered look on her face. “Mr. Potter! Oh, my! You’re awake!”
Soon, Ron and Hermione, sleepy-eyed yet alert, were there, the Minister and a dozen other Aurors following shortly after. The room swiftly became too cramped for Malfoy to bear and he quietly took his leave, shutting the door behind him as Harry’s friends and colleagues loudly spoke words of joy and concern on Harry Potter’s behalf.
There would be time to speak later. There would be a lot of time to speak later.
“Can I return here after it is done?”
“No, my love. Not for many, many years.”
Many, many years. Draco smiled to himself as he Disapparated.
And he planned to spend every waking moment possible at Harry Potter’s side.
A lifetime of burnt eggs and lazy smiles.
Not quite the paradise he had been expecting after he died, but it would do.
And he could definitely live with that.
~*~
A/N: Lyrics from the song “Lullaby” by Celine Dione
Translations:
Allmächtiger Gott, wir bitten dich, hindere diesen bösen Geist daran deinen Diener weiter zu quälen, und halte ihn fern, auf dass er nie zurückkehre. Durch deine Weisung, oh Herr, mögen die Güte und der Frieden unseres Herrn Jesus Christus, des Erlösers, Besitz ergreifen von diesem Mann. Und wir fürchten nicht länger das Übel, denn der Herr ist mit uns, der lebt und herrscht in Einheit mit dem Heiligen Geist in alle Ewigkeit...
...Amen. (German) Means “...Almighty God, we beg you to keep the evil spirit from further molesting this servant of yours, and to keep him far away, never to return. At your command, 0 Lord, may the goodness and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, take possession of this man. May we no longer fear any evil since the Lord is with us; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever...
...Amen."
Lilith: Fate, indeed. I'm glad you're enjoying the climax thus far and thanky ous o much for your review! I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby"!
Ramandu: Enchanting! What a great word. Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the update!
chek: Thank you very much! Ihope you got a good rest and welcome to the story! Keeping the characters close to original form was really important to me. Thank you!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the story and thanx again for your review!
MeLaiya: I have half a mind to take a big chomp out of you right now, actually, lol. Just kidding. Ell, I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby" and thank you so much for your update!
jade: Yeah, it was a little cruel, wasn't it. Trust me, I've been typing up a strom to get these chapters out to you guys, lol.
Thank you so much for your review! I think I may take a break from fanfiction for a while, so I can work on other projects that I want to get published...but I'll tell you what. I'll announce any new story from me at the end of the Epilogue when it comes up, okay? That way you'll now if I'm coming out with anything new. Thanks again for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!
Mangacat: Sorry about the nasty cliffhanger, but thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby"!
mariahs_fantasy: Ha ha, your review made me chuckle. I know, I know. Hey, thanx for having so much faith in the happy ending! And thank you for your review! I hope you enjoyed the update!
QueenBoadicea: Well, thanks anyway for your review! I hope you enjoyed "Lullaby"!
Melha Seraphim: LOL, "Cliffhanger of Doom". You guys crack me up. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!