Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter *throws self to the ground and sobs*, nor the song Shadows! That would be the amazing J.K. Rowling and the incredible band RED :)

A/N: First off, a special thanks to SatyrsUnite, who read this story first. You're amazing buddy, and don't you ever forget it! You've been so enthusiastic, and without you I probably would never have finished this story. Love ya! :D

Please don't hesitate to ask questions! I will try to answer them as best as I can! (Aka make excuses for any mistakes I KNOW I made somewhere haha…)

Enjoy! Reviews are VERY much appreciated! :)

PART I

Sunset, I close my eyes

I pretend everything's all right

Drowning in anger from all these lies

"You have until midnight."

The world seemed to hold its breath as the final syllable slipped from the lips of the Dark Lord and rang in the ears of those assembled to fight. There wasn't one heart that wasn't throbbing wildly, one chest that wasn't heaving with anxious breaths, one pair of eyes that wasn't taking in the faces of friends and maybe seeing them for the last time.

Draco Malfoy's gray eyes ached to see only one face, a face adorned with vibrant green eyes and a striking lightning-bolt scar.

The face of Harry Potter.

And as he stood on the edge of the castle grounds, between his mother and father and behind the wizard he had been forced to pledge his allegiance to, he could feel his hands trembling.

Lives will be lost tonight, he thought, biting down on his lower lip. Please don't let his—or mine—be among them.

"Stop shaking, Draco," Lucius Malfoy snarled into Draco's ear, his breath hot and unwelcome on the latter's skin. "Now is your chance to prove yourself worthy of being part of the new age we are about to bring forth tonight."

Draco nodded in response. He didn't trust his voice not to waver. He gripped his mother's wand tighter in his fist; Harry had his own.

I hope it protects him.

It had been so long since he had been able to even properly speak to the black-haired boy he loved, but Draco remembered their last real date like it was only mere days ago, though it had been more than a year. He remembered it, and he longed to have something like that again. Just being near Harry, hearing his voice, seeing his smile, admiring his messy black hair and the glasses that framed his beautiful eyes… Draco missed him.

I wish I was on his side.

What he wouldn't give to be free to fight shoulder to shoulder with Harry, sending curses flying and throwing one another quick yells of encouragement or brief grins of triumph when time allowed them. What he wouldn't give to be able to see the admiration in Harry's green eyes when he, Draco, took some of his former allies down.

But I'm a bloody coward. If I had half his courage, I wouldn't be standing here beside my father. I would be with him! I would be fighting for the side I would rather fight for!

Draco's gray eyes stared in the direction of the castle. He wished he could see through the many walls. Wished he could see the face that haunted his thoughts.

Please don't let him die!

Harry Potter closed his eyes, although that offered no difference from the darkness pressing upon him. He tried to even his breathing, tried to let the gentle flow of cool air reach his heart and slow its frantic beat.

He was hunched over inside a tiny broom closet, trying to simultaneously fight and soothe the panic that constricted his throat like a pair of strong hands and tore at his heart with claws sharper than knives.

It would be tonight when the battle would break like a thunderstorm. Tonight when they would either fight or fall. Tonight when lives of those he loved would be put in peril, maybe even lost.

Harry's right hand gripped the hawthorn wand; his left took the folded photo from his pocket.

"Lumos."

As the wand-tip ignited, Harry's green eyes were able to make out Draco Malfoy's face gazing out from the confines of the photograph. He was rolling his eyes, crossing his arms, tapping his foot, looking distinctly impatient with Harry, who had taken the picture and had been so intent on capturing the perfect image of the person he so cared about that he had taken much too long to do so for that person's liking.

But Harry could see the tiny smile tugging at the corners of Draco's mouth. If he had not known the other boy as well as he did, he would have overlooked its existence.

I haven't seen him smile in a long time.

Harry bit his lip, suppressing emotion that welled in him as the photo-image of Draco turned his back to the camera, lifting his chin haughtily in the way that Harry remembered the flesh-and-blood Draco had been so well-known for.

Before everything changed.

Before dark circles had appeared on Draco's face, and a Dark Mark had appeared on his arm.

Before the days when even Harry could bring him little comfort.

Are we ever going to get those times back? Harry wondered sadly as the photo-Draco looked at Harry over his shoulder. There were no shadows marring his smooth, pale face, no strain nor misery clouding his beautiful gray eyes.

Not then, there weren't.

Harry was suddenly jerked out of his reverie by an explosion that roared in his ears like a clap of the loudest thunder. Screams shattered the air; Harry's heart leapt with fear and he spun on the spot, shoving the photo back into his pocket and extinguishing the wandlight, his heart pulsing with returned panic as he stood there in the darkness.

The battle had begun.