A.N.: This is a Harry/Draco slashy, slash thing… so yeah first off I do not own the fabulous Harry Potter series unless you mean physically own all seven books. J. alone has privy to the Harry Potter copy write and it should be so because she does it better than many of us. Also quick note: I reuploaded the chapters because I fixed the errors! Isn't that exciting? I will not put an A.N. on top of every chapter because I think a strong starting note is quite enough. I appreciate the reviews and am flattered to be an author on a favorite's author list. Thank you all so much and yes I will "keep writing". ^-^
Chapter One: The decision of a lifetime: Gridlock
He almost died… He, almost died. He would have died, could have died, and should have died! The fact of the matter was Harry almost died. 'Almost' seemed to not cut it with his past allegiances but times had changed. Harry Potter, the Golden Boy, the infuriating Boy-Who-Lived, had almost died and he, the loyal son of Lucius Malfoy had kept him from dying. He didn't understand why he even did it! He had saved Harry Potter, he had defied the order of the Death Eaters and he didn't understand why? It was still processing that the hulk of person before him was even alive, and that he had saved him. He was sure it hadn't been something thought out, he was certain that had he thought about doing it Potter would have been deader than Azkaban. He just did it, he alone casted the curse that killed the death eater. He felt the intent to kill erupt from him and now he was huddled in the makeshift hub under one of the trees in the damned Forbidden Forest.
The chill had set in awhile ago but the shock didn't fade from him as he remained trying to cope with his newest deed. If it had been anyone else but a death eater, they would have stupefyied the bastard but being a Malfoy, he had thoroughly covered any trace linking him with saving Harry. Draco… didn't want things to change, he didn't want to go against his father, he was afraid of Voldemort, so why did he do something that was so recklessly heroic? He shuddered into the mass of his dark robes. There was little else he could do; this place was swarming with more death eaters than imaginable. Bellatrix Black was busy running amok with what was left of the escorts that had been beside Harry. From here Draco could hear their screams and a dark twist in his gut made him want to break down like a child. Malfoys did not break down like children so this was entirely out of the question.
They were safe here in this hollow trunk, Draco had assured that. He may not have been showing off as much as he should have with his charms, but he knew them more fluently than Granger. As long as nothing internal disrupted the barrier he created, they would go unnoticed and hopefully the threat would pass by without complications. That and as long as anything non-wizard didn't give them away. Why was he doing this again? His hands grasped at his hair as he made a sound of frustration. This person beside him was the ruin of his life! Why had he allowed him to survive! Why? Why? Why? It had always been Potter this or that, in the eyes of even his father it had always been about the defeat or ranking of Potter in comparison to his son. Draco hated Harry Potter more than anything so why had he saved him? Why was he hiding him from his greatest nemeses? It made no sense. Draco leaned back against the enchanted bark, his brows furrowed and his lips became terse. He had even gone through the trouble of hiding them in an enchanted fucking tree! Leave it to a Malfoy to be thorough, but this was… it was just fucking suicidal. He had just betrayed his father and Voldemort, he couldn't return to them and remain living. He had just lost his entire life by stepping in on a rash spurt of heroism and doomed himself. God why did he have to be such a Gryffindor?
Naturally there was no way he could ever stand beside Potter, no way his dignity or pride could be justified by fighting beside this hulk of putrid filth. Harry hated Draco; Weasley hated Draco; Mudblood hated Draco; Bloody hell the whole of the wizarding world that wasn't Slytherin hated Draco! Even now he couldn't deny that all his life he had blindly followed a belief that was wrong, blood purism, but at least he had been able to do so with acceptance beside him. He had lost everything by helping this boy that he had spent his entire school years loathing and fighting with. There was no possible way he could have any stand in this war anymore. He was as good as dead already and nothing could change that.
A shadow moved by, it paused and continued. The dark aura made Draco clear his thoughts and freeze up. He held his wand in a white knuckled grasp and held it poised at the entrance of their trunk. The shadow was followed with a sliding motion which he recognized as the same snake which had killed his mentor. Pain flowed through Draco's chest; it was his fault that professor Snape was… His throat was suddenly much too dry and his chaotic emotions swirled even more before he realized he had started to cry. What was the point in anything now? He had committed the unthinkable by doing that one rash spell. He was bitterly reminded of his mother and how soon she too would be taken from him. The death eaters would realize Draco was absent; they would realize that the killing curse had been used; they would notice the tattered robe of the Gryffindor and connect the dots that Draco had fled with the Boy Who Lived. It occurred to him that he could not go back to Hogwarts now, the Slytherin would make good on their bloodlines and dispose of the blood traitor. In these dark times it was not unlikely that they would do so if Voldemort had so wished it, which he would naturally. He couldn't run because they would find him, but he had nowhere safer to go than Hogwarts. He knew what had to be done. The idea was just horrific and demeaning!
His Smokey gaze wandered to the form beside him. Draco had wrapped him in his robes to keep him warm and had already casted several recovery spells, and even a warming charm. He had done this much to ensure the git's survival… He might as well see it through. It was the Malfoy way after all, to see things through to the end. He had highly misused this way already but it was about time he accept that. Slowly he brought out his wand, if they apparated, the death eaters would know by the sound but it was their best hope. That snake would know they were in the trunk and personally, if the Dark Lord got wind of it before they got the hell out of there, they were both not only as good as dead but good for torture before death. To be frank Draco did not want to have any more reason to wish the Dark lord had never been born. If Draco could get them to Hogsmead then maybe he could make it to Hogwarts. Harry had managed more than once to sneak out of the castle, perhaps if he contacted one of the boy's friends? No, that wasn't a viable option; not for a Malfoy but what of… it would have to work. Draco pulled the mass to himself, the dead weight not exactly easy to manipulate from where he was… In a second they were gone with a pop.
The next thing Draco was aware of was the feeling of snow, bitter, cutting snow. The cold had seeped into his system by now after the shock faded. It was not permanently gone for Draco was still trying his best to rationalize his moment of Gryffindoric insanity. Death Eaters would be swarming this area soon or should have been already. His nimble fingers shook as he casted a disillusionment charm upon the two of them, they couldn't go to the Three Broomsticks, and couldn't venture into Hogsmead too far but there was a chance of getting Harry to safety. Draco was currently wondering if getting Potter to safety was even a good idea, which it was not in the first place, but where the hell were his other little watchdogs? Leaving Draco to do all their work, Bah! Humbug! Draco scowled and wrinkled his nose in agitation before he shifted the heavy body higher onto his back and began the arduous trudge to the Shrieking Shack. No one went there and certainly the death eaters would not think that a place of evil would house the Golden Boy, at least not unless they had something more precise at tracking like, oh say, Dementors but that was utterly ridiculous. There was no reason for them to have them right? It was still dark and they had a few hours until daybreak, he had to get Harry to safety before the sun rose or his charm would wear off and Voldemort would know exactly where to look. It was an elementary spell but being so hyped on how good Harry was, and that it was a fellow death eater that was saving him, they would never resort to thinking of level one spells as the culprit. His father would have noticed it instantly but his father wasn't there anymore, he was in Azkaban all because of this dweeb who Draco was hauling up a suddenly mountain-like hill.
Each step was getting harder to make, Harry's weight was just tremendous but Draco didn't have it in him to risk levitating the body, or even doing the locomotor corpis charm. It would risk the disillusionment spell and they could be spotted. In the distance Draco heard the sounds of apparition, his blood ran cold. No, no no no! He felt adrenaline pumping in his system and when they reached halfway up the hill Draco decided to risk the spell and casted the locomotor corpis on harry before sprinting to the shack and bolting through the entrance. His chest heaved as he hurriedly started spelling and hexing the door and windows. He was shaking, he was so cold, he was terrified and a coldness was sweeping over the house as a familiar fear began to root itself in his brain. Dementors. The one thing that could give them away always had to appear didn't it? His Malfoy scowl twisted into a look of pure rage and frustration. He just wanted to scream profanities but he didn't have the time for that right now. This was by far the worst day in history for Mr. Draco Acronius Malfoy!
Because things just had to get worse didn't they? It just had to not go smoothly at all right? Draco thought sardonically as a sneer crossed his pale lips. It was much too cold in the shack and he knew that if he didn't figure out something fast then the two of them were doomed, either from cold but most likely from the more pressing threat of everything doom related in the bloody fucking universe. Think Malfoy, Think! He screamed at himself internally as the first of the darkness began to block out the moon. The Death eaters were probably already on their way! He started toward the basement, it was their best shot! If he could get to the basement he could at least get enough time through a defensive hex wall to come up with something. The dementors would be hard pressed to get into the house and even more so to reach the basement if he casted a false sunlight charm. It wasn't much but it would have to do, at this point though his charms and spells were lacking. He was growing weary and the icy fear that began to curl in his gut was draining him. It wasn't like a wizard could continually hex and charm stuff you know! There was a limit somewhere.
"Please Merlin there has to be something! It can't end like this." He hissed as he barricaded them in the basement. Harry was starting to shift as the spell wore off. It occurred to him that Harry must be vulnerable right now. Draco hated to pry, well no he enjoyed knowing secrets and so it took him little time and less moral havoc to even think of casting a Legilimens spell upon dear Harry Potter. It was the only way to keep the son of a mudblood alive after all, hell if he remembered any of this Malfoy would make good on the fact that Harry owed him. His wand touched the top of that boy's forehead; he was much too pale for comfort, that wasn't how Potter was supposed to look. Easily he began to daze off into the memories of one Mr. Potter, he could see their first meeting… The first real encounter with Voldemort, the forbidden forest and Tom riddle next to the basilisk, he noted the figure of Sirius Black and countless others lost. The marauder's map caught his fancy and soon he got his information and forgot the rest, he would not begin to admire Potter in any way. He casted an obliterate spell quickly to erase the tracks he left in Harry's mind of their encounter; Not that he didn't want Harry to owe him but Draco did not want to have his enemy feeling any remote attachment to him. His charm was botchy, but it would do for now. He did not want Potter's pity and erasing enough would get rid of that side effect.
"You are so hellishly lucky Potter." Malfoy whispered with venom lacing into his words.
"You have the whole world behind you Potter, the whole fucking world. I am so dead for this, you bloody hell monger." The harsh insults were interrupted as his search for that secret pathway ensued. Relief swept through him as he found the loose hatch. It was soon replaced. A sound rocked the shack and Draco made quick work of lifting Harry once again as he forced himself and the Boy Who Lived through the crevices beneath the Shrieking shack. The two of them tumbled down stairs but soon Draco was too hyped up to feel the pain. He was sure he had at least busted his knee on that tumble, and he had definitely heard a crack from where Potter had landed. It made Draco wince, as if falling from a broom wasn't painful enough, death eaters on top of that were a menace.
He casted the spell again upon Harry's body so he could levitate it and sprinted, he ran as fast as his feet could take him and into the darkness of which there seemed no end. Somehow this was highly irrational but Draco Malfoy at this point was finding it hard to care past the sound of his racing heart and the fact that dementors were right behind them in the Shrieking Shack. The icy fear was receding as he took them to a fork in their underground path. The memory said nothing about this! Damnit all! His ears trained on the commotion behind them and quickly made up his mind to take a quick right. His lungs were aching, he was freezing, and oh did he mention he just marked himself as a very dead, dead! Man? He was only a tad jumpy at this point, and when he ran into a form he didn't hesitate to draw his wand on it. He was hit with the spell Expellerimus however and his defense was forced from his hand and that left him only one option; to stare up into the faces of one George and Fred Weasley. The three were in shocked silence until Draco started to half laugh and cry in relief and the two brothers stared perplexed at the half frozen and disheveled Malfoy. Draco never though he could feel such relief, such unadulterated relief! Unfortunately their eyes turned to Harry's crumpled form and the relief was crumbled as Draco was slammed painfully into a wall.
They raised their wands when voices trailed to Draco from down the hall he came.
"Damn," Draco breathed out in a hiss. Shoving the older twin away from him. He landed harshly upon the stone corridor. Damn he was so freaking tired.
"No time to explain to you weasels but this is not the time or place to hex the person who just saved his sorry ass. Any moment this corridor is going to swarm with our pursuers and then we are all fucked do you comprehend that much?" His tone betrayed the fear that was evident in his eyes.
"Don't bother with me just get Potter out of here! I will hold them off, but he's got to survive! I will not have my hard work wasted because you two are incompetent." Draco stated, by this point he really didn't want to have any further arguments with himself on whether he had lost his brains or not. He wasn't willing to let his hard work go to waste. The twins didn't argue anymore and took off with Harry. Draco wasted no time in retrieving his wand and placing it carefully into his robes. He awaited the end. The feet got closer but fate seemed to be looking out for him for once… They turned the other direction in the fork it seemed and Draco was left frigid, terrified, dirty, and exhausted in the underground passage that was currently under the Whomping Willow.