Chapter 1
"Severus…please." Begged Albus Dumbledore, slumped against the parapet of the astronomy tower. Harry forced to remain hidden under his invisibility cloak, pinned to the wall, taking in every moment of the event unfolding before him. His heart was pounding in his chest.
A flash of green light shot from Snape's wand like a gun and hit the Hogwarts headmaster in the chest. The second that the life disappeared from Dumbledore's eyes and the second he fell from the astronomy tower felt like two separate eternities for Harry as he watched on.
In that moment, Dumbledore's spell forcing Harry against the wall broke. Blind fury rose in Harry's heart and face. The group of death eaters disappeared into the castle. Harry threw down his invisibility cloak and sprinted after the death eaters. Adrenaline fueled Harry's every move as he sprinted down the stairs. The second he caught view of one of the black cloaks of the death eaters, Harry flicked his wand toward the ceiling, not even noticing he had managed to cast a nonverbal spell. The ceiling collapsed in an explosion on the group of death eaters. Debris filled the air blinding all within the vicinity. Harry blindly grabbed a body of a collapsed death eater and dragged them out of the rubble and started punching every inch of them he could.
After a minute, the body Harry had been pounding on woke up and began to fight back. Harry received a hard punch between his eyes. The punch was so powerful that it snapped Harry's glasses and they fell to the floor. Harry's world became a grey blur, but he took no notice and kept sparring with the death eater. The two wrestled until the debris became too heavy and they both were inhaling and choking on the debris. Both wheezing and grappling with each other, they made their way back up the stairs and they both fell through the door to the now deserted astronomy tower.
They both struggled to their feet. Harry squinted over at his opponent. He saw that it was a man covered in grey dust from the ceiling that Harry had caved in on his head. Harry saw that he was also covered in grey debris. But without his glasses, he could not make out who his opponent was. He took too much time wondering, for in that moment, the death eater was upon him. He was pinned to the wall in an instant. Now that the death eater was close to Harry's face, he could see it was Malfoy. Harry tried to overpower Malfoy by surging forward but to no avail. He was slammed back, painfully, against the wall. Harry closed his eyes and braced himself for a hard punch, but it did not come.
Harry opened his eyes to see Malfoy scowling at him. Malfoy's normally perfect, blond, gelled back hair was now grey and hanging in his face. His face was just as grey with the exception of blood from the wounds in his face made by Harry's punches. Harry took the opportunity to spit in Malfoy's face. "Do it" Harry croaked, followed by a fit of coughing up small clouds of dust and spitting up a glob of blood, "Do it, you coward."
This seemed to anger Malfoy further but still he did nothing. The two young men stood panting and glaring at each other. The world went silent. Not even the sounds of shouts from the battles in the stairwells and corridors below could be heard. Harry tried to surge forward once more and once more Malfoy slammed him against the wall. This time Harry's head hit the stone wall behind him and he saw stars.
Malfoy took this opportunity to do what Harry had least expected: He kissed Harry firmly on the lips. When Malfoy kissed Harry, he let go of Harry's shoulders and clasped his hands on each of Harry's cheeks, but Harry was too shocked to take advantage of being freed. Neither could've said how long the kiss was. When it finally ended, Malfoy rested his head against Harry's. He let out a sound that sounded like a sob and then disappeared back into the castle.
Harry was shocked and breathless. He sank to the ground. He felt an explosion of heat inside of him. What was this feeling? Surprisingly, Harry was not angry. He knew that for sure. It was nothing like the tingling excitement he got when he kissed Ginny for the first time. This was a flood, an erupting volcano, a magnificent lightning storm lighting up the night sky. Harry felt like he was fit to burst into tears, into laughter. The world was spinning around him. Only one word came to Harry's mind: love. How could he feel love for a man let alone his enemy, Draco Malfoy? If this feeling was love, did that mean that he didn't love Ginny? His heart pounded in his chest with a new sense of urgency. He needed to see Draco.
Harry got to his feet and went inside the castle. The dust in the air had cleared and there was no sign of the death eaters. He slowly descended the stairs and picked up his wand and pocketed it. He then caught the blurry outline of his glasses lying on the stairs. He picked them up with both hands expecting to find it in two pieces since they had snapped beneath Draco's punch. But when he picked them up, Harry found that his glasses had been repaired. Harry put on his glasses and ran back up to the astronomy tower and looked down upon the courtyard below. He saw several black and grey specs racing across the courtyard. Harry sprinted back into the castle and down the stairs, leaping over the debris of the collapsed ceiling. He ran faster than he had ever run before. Everything was a blur around him. At some point, he heard someone yell "Harry!" but he ignored them.
Harry reached the great hall. There was destruction everywhere and the front doors were left wide open. He sped through them and across the courtyard. Harry ran and ran down the path towards the Hogwarts gates. He thought he could make out a few grey figures at the gates, but once he reached the gates himself, they had vanished. Harry cursed loudly and kicked the gate.
On his way back to the castle, Harry suddenly became aware of how exhausted he was. His walking slowed and he was dragging his feet. When he reached the courtyard, he saw that there was a large group that had gathered. Harry reached the group and squeezed past everyone. When he got to the front of the gathering, he saw the limp, lifeless body of Albus Dumbledore. Harry fell to his knees beside Dumbledore and wept. He noticed the locket that they had risked everything to find in Dumbledore's lifeless hand. Harry took it and opened it. Inside was a note. Harry read it and threw the locket against the wall and shouted in fury, heartbreak, and hopelessness and wept harder.
"Harry." Said a soft voice behind him. Harry recognized the voice as Ginny's but did not turn to look at her. She took his hand and he allowed her to lead him away from Dumbledore's body and into the castle. She guided him up to the Hospital Wing where they found all of the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered around a hospital bed. In the bed lay Bill Weasley with bloody bandages covering his face. Everyone turned to stare at Harry as he and Ginny entered the room. Harry looked disheveled. He was covered in debris with blood and tears streaking his face. Harry looked at the group staring at him but he did not see them. Ginny pulled over a chair for him and he sat slumped in the chair, grateful to not have to stand any longer.
Harry let Ginny tell the Order that Dumbledore was dead. There were gasps and tears and all eyes went to Harry, waiting for more of an explanation. They knew that he was traveling with Dumbledore tonight. "It was Snape." Said Harry, then he got up and walked out of the room, ignoring all of the gasps and questions. Harry didn't feel like talking to anyone. Anyone but one person. The one person he couldn't talk to.
Harry climbed up the many stairs back up to the astronomy tower. He stood at the parapet and let the wind whip at his hair. More tears rolled down his cheeks, cleaning the debris from his face. He was forlorn, but at the same time, a fire burned inside him. He would not rest until Voldemort was dead, and he would not rest until he found Draco.