Drarry: All That You Can't Leave Behind
Something was about to give. He felt it coming and knew what it was. His life was slipping away. He wasn't afraid though, he no longer feared death. He'd also never feared living.
And heaven knows he lived.
He spent hours staring out his window. The trees that lined the forest brought back something. Whether he was remembering a dream, or dreaming a memory, he didn't know. It didn't matter though, because as he felt his time come closer, he would let his mind be immersed in those thoughts, in that past, in his dreams…
He only ever dreamed of him.
The forest surrounding the manor was the color of those eyes, those beautiful green eyes of the man he'd loved. The man he had always loved since they were just boys. He remembered how his lips had tasted and the warmth of his skin against his own. He recalled the silver cloak that concealed them in dark corridors at midnight, and the untidy raven hair that he ran his fingers through. He thought of his heavy breathing and accelerated heartbeat as they loved each other with their bodies, and the way he'd hear his name from him after their synchronized completion.
A lifetime ago, it seemed.
It had been too long since they last shared a kiss. Days had been wasted away waiting for the world to want to be ready to understand. Those days turned into weeks, into years, into decades. In time their love became a secret, their secret that was left abandoned in the deepest recesses of their hearts. Their love, so pure and innocent and beautiful, forced to be hidden as if it had been a most sinful act. But he always remembered, and he knew that the other man did, too.
He just felt it in his soul.
His son had loved a boy, too; a raven haired boy with bright green eyes. This time, the universe was set to do them right, do them the right it had done them wrong. He was there when his only child –the spitting image of himself- tied his life to that of the black haired boy. And his love had been there also, and they looked into each other eyes and somehow, it had made everything alright. To everyone else, they had shared a glance, a small smile and a sort of truce. But to them, to them it was everything.
Because then, he had known he would be okay.
Nights gave way to days, and autumns changed to winters, but what he had felt for his green eyed love never dwindled. It only grew inside of him until it became too much, until he could fill the sky with it, until he could break to pieces. There had been times where he had wished to hold his hand again, where he would've given anything to hear those words again. It was that last 'I love you' that had kept his heart going after all these years. How long had it been by now? Sixty? Or maybe seventy years, but there was no way to be sure.
He'd stopped counting after he was gone.
The night he had passed away, he had been restless. When the owl had come in the morning, written by his son-in-law, he had felt his heart shatter. There would never again be those passionate kisses in empty classrooms or those lustful nights in the Room of Requirement. He'd never feel those rough hands on his skin or the way their bodies had connected when they made love, one inside of the other and then the other way around. He'd never see those beautiful green eyes that had always lit up his world, and never again would he hear those three words from those lips.
Because Harry Potter was dead.
They had said that he had been brave when he was at his end, but he already knew that his love had been so. He had always talked about death as if it were an old friend. His green eyed beauty had never been afraid to die. So now, as he sat there in the chair that overlooked the gardens, he understood why he wasn't scared. His gray eyes were fixed on the sky that darkened enough to show the stars strung out across the sky. Those stars stood for each and every time they had meant to say 'I love you' and each time they had been unable to.
But they would soon be together.
Every breath he took counted down to his last, but it didn't matter. He wondered if it would be alright after he too was gone. It would be, because Scorpius had Albus now and they had worked hard to build what they now had, a family that only love and magic could have created. The manor was often filled with laughter when his grandchildren came to visit. It almost hurt to leave that behind, almost, but not really. He would be leaving too many things already.
What is all that you can't leave behind?
There was only one thing he couldn't part with, only one thing that ever mattered: what he had felt for the Boy Who Had Lived. It was what made him who he was. It always had been, since the day he had first met him so many years back in that shop as they fitted him for his first Hogwarts robes. He could feel himself fade, and as he did, he lifted his right arm, wand at hand. It was his hawthorn and unicorn hair wand; the very same one that had been used to kill the Dark Lord. The one Harry had used, and the same one that was returned to him as was written in the Chosen One's will. His brittle hand shook with the effort he could no longer give, but he somehow managed.
He would do one last thing before his end.
Expecto Patronum… A brilliant silver stag materialized from the tip of his wand and galloped into the sky. That's where Harry was, and that is where he'd be going soon. It was as if since their parting, they had both been torn in two. Maybe the time was right, maybe that night they would be together. After being apart so long, they would finally be one. He watched the stag disappear within the stars; it was the last thing he saw before closing his eyes.
I will be with you again, Harry.
That was the last thing he said as he felt himself fade out of consciousness. There was darkness for an immeasurable amount of time. After that, there was a bright yellow glow and green eyes that met his. His untidy hair was black and he had a red and gold tie around his neck. If he had looked, he would have seen that he was also wearing his old Slytherin robes, and that he was also young, about sixteen years old like the boy in front of him, instead of the age he'd been when he'd died. But he didn't tear his eyes away from him. Then, without warning, their lips met. They were hot against his skin; he'd almost forgotten how they he'd felt. Strong arms wrapped around his waist as he cupped the other's head with his hands and he felt tears spill from his eyes. They broke apart for air, both with tear-stained faces.
Welcome home, Draco.
When those words left the black haired boy's mouth, a castle materialized around them. The Great Hall was filled with chatter. It was filled with professors and students, but it couldn't have mattered less to him. He held his loves hand tightly, determined to never let it go and suddenly, every single person there applauded. They even rose to their feet. It was for them, for their love, for all the time they had waited to be together, for every painful second they had been apart. It was for their suffering and for their hope, their tears and their smiles. It was for not giving up and for holding on, and for living and dying. It was for Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, the Chosen One and the Deatheater. The black haired, green eyed boy and the blonde, grey eyed boy, the two of them, after all this time…
And so began their eternity together.