DISCLAIMER: All characters and Voldemort's speech after Harry "died" is not mine. It's J.K. Rowling's. I make no money off this, just pure joy (and a lot of sadness).

He couldn't believe he was stuck out in this forest with Potter, again. Merlin, if the same thing happens as last time, he was going to murder Potter himself, the Dark Lord be damned. He didn't even understand why he was in detention when it was Potter that had attacked him in the first place. And he had the scars to prove it. The devil himself was walking ahead of him and kept casting looks his direction with that adorable - insufferable, damn it - guilty look on his face. Draco would just love to punch the prat in the face. Instead, he just kicked a rock out of the path as he followed his attacker and the big oaf through the trees.

Up ahead, the clearing they were heading to was beginning to open up, finally. Draco walked right past the Gryffindor and up to the rock in the middle of the clearing that had the magical graffiti all over it. They were given the task of cleaning and removing the spells from it, a task that would take a great deal of effort and teamwork. Just great, thought Draco.

He waited for the half-giant to leave them before he said, "Let's just get this over with."

"Draco-"

"Don't."

They began to work in silence. Harry rolled up his sleeves and got started on unravelling some particularly tough spellwork. Meanwhile, Draco started on the more physical graffiti, which was reinforced with the creative use of a sticking charm. He would have to remember that. They worked in silence like that for an hour before the Great Git, as Draco had to taken calling the Gryffindor in his head, sighed.

"Draco-"

"I already said don't. I really just want to finish this and move on. Can we just do that?"

"Draco, I-"

"Please, Harry."

That shut him up for a few minutes. "I think that's the first time you've called me Harry."

"Damn." He thought he had him with that one.

More awkward silence for a couple of eternal minutes.

"I'd be more prone to calling you by your name if warranted, but it never is."

"And you thought that this was a situation that would warrant the use of my first name?"

Draco sighed. "More so that I was hoping that it would shut you up."

"Oh."

"Can you help me with this? I can't seem to get this sticking charm to completely reverse."

Harry stepped over close to Draco and helped. Of course, he got it right the first try. Great Git.

"Why won't you let me apologize?"

"Because I know you didn't know what that spell would do, and I'd rather not deal with your conscience."

It was Harry's turn to sigh. "Well, I'm sorry."

Draco rolled his eyes and finished up his task. "Hurry up, so we can get back to the castle before nightfall."

Harry nodded and finished removing the stinging hexes and schoolyard jinxes that were left over from the rock. They walked back to the castle in silence and went their separate ways once inside.

Draco stood in front of the bathroom mirror staring at the thin white lines that crisscrossed across his torso. Blaise stepped into the room.

"Hey," his friend said.

"Hey."

"The others are beginning to worry."

Draco shrugged.

"You've been in here for over an hour."

Again, he shrugged. "I almost died. Because the guy I'm crushing on attacked me. The worst part isn't that he is getting away with it other than that detention the other night; it's the fact that I still like him."

"Draco."

"Yeah?"

"It's time to come out of the bathroom."

"Okay."

Draco watched Harry from across the Great Hall. Blaise and Pansy sat next to him discussing their Potions homework. He didn't understand why they felt the need to discuss it when Slughorn gave them the easiest assignments, especially when compared to the stuff they had received from Severus. He looked down as soon as emerald eyes met his.

What was wrong with him?

Harry cornered him in the dungeons a few weeks later. "Draco, can we talk?"

"About what?"

Harry gave him a pointed look.

"Fine."

He followed Harry through the halls to the Room of Requirement. Draco feigned ignorance.

"Okay? What did you want to talk about?"

Harry began to pace back and forth, muttering under his breath, and the door appeared just as always.

"Come on."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be in a room that disappears with you."

"Draco." He had actually whined.

Draco rolled his eyes and lead the way inside. Harry closed the door.

"Draco, you don't have to do whatever it is he told you to do."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Potter." He emphasized the last name.

Harry surprised him when he ripped the sleeve of his shirt up and revealed the black tattoo on his arm. He jerked it away angrily and covered it again.

"I don't have to justify anything with you," he spat.

"Dumbledore can help you, Draco!"

"But he can't help my parents! Do you really think you could succeed where he couldn't?"

"No…"

Draco turned right on the spot and walked towards the door.

"But I can try."

Draco stopped right in his steps and looked over his shoulder.

"Leave me alone. And don't ever touch me again."

Draco stared at the Vanishing Cabinet. The fixed Vanishing Cabinet. The panic hit him hard and fast. He had succeeded. But that meant he had to finish his other task. He paced in front of the cabinet and mussed his hair. He'd have to kill the headmaster.

Draco's hand was shaking as he held his wand pointed at the headmaster. His headmaster with his kind eyes. Eyes he couldn't even look into. He was the worst of them. He was tasked with killing a hero. One of his own. The man that had bested the last Dark Lord. The man that wouldn't raise his wand if meant killing Draco.

He almost cried when he watched Severus finish his task. His. That night he ran, and he ran hard. It never felt like he stopped, even when he reached his family's manor.

The night the Dark Lord took over the Ministry was the stuff of nightmares. Draco had been there. He had killed a man. His first kill. It didn't feel like what his aunt described. He tasted iron on his tongue and felt shame in his veins. He no longer was himself.

Draco laid awake in his bed at school. Harry and his friends were on the run and wanted. The one's still here were terrorized. And he was an easy target for the Carrows. He had no fight left. He wanted to die. Every night he stared at his ceiling wishing for death. Too many times he stood on the edge of the Astronomy Tower balcony and stared at the ground where the man he should have killed had hit. An end that should have been his. Would have been if Dumbledore hadn't been so adamant with dying instead of Draco. He couldn't take that last step though. He didn't deserve to die on the same spot as the headmaster.

When he wasn't wishing for death, he thought about Harry. His eyes, his hair, his laugh, that half smile he had when he quietly watched the people he loved interact. Merlin, Draco missed him. Missed the rivalry, the thrill. His innocence.

Draco couldn't believe his eyes. There he was. Harry. Real and right in front of him. But he couldn't think of that. The Slytherin's had all been sent off, but he had to find his parents. They would be here, as soon as the Dark Lord. They had discussed what would happen when Harry had decided to fight. They would be going to America. They had everything arranged. But Draco knew he wouldn't be leaving with them. He wouldn't be surviving the night. He knew it.

As he ran through the crowds, where no one focused on him, he felt the first spell that was sent. The battle had begun. He continued searching for his parents, shooting spells he didn't pay attention to when needed. He stopped in his tracks when he felt his mark throb. He was being called. A call he would never answer. The Final Battle was blur of bright lights, explosions, blood, and death.

He stared across the court yard at his parents and the man he loved, who was dead. America would never be enough. They would have to go to Asia if they wanted to escape the Dark Lord.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone.

"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

Draco closed his eyes when McGonagall screamed. He couldn't watch as Neville was struck down. He could only stand there, petrified. Flinched when the members of the crowd called out at Neville's proclamation. Then all hell broke free. His aunt died, Harry was alive, and the battle was over. Draco sat down right where he stood. Everyone began to celebrate and clean the mess partially.

Night had fallen when he noticed he had company. He watched the Savior of the Wizarding World stare ahead, just as he had been doing.

"We don't have to talk."

Draco nodded and looked forward again. They sat there in silence, until the castle was just as quiet as they were.

AN: Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to put up more one shots in the near future, but I can't promise anything.