It's a sound. It's hard to describe…like a bird frantically flapping its wings under running water. I don't know where it's coming from, all I know is that my head is pounding and I can't feel my feet and sharp cold is stabbing at my chest.
I've forgotten where I am and I don't dare open my eyes. I'm scared of what I will see, or maybe won't see; I've forgotten.
Merlin, it's cold.
The sound grows louder and it mutates into something different. Screaming, maybe. A name, over and over. The name sounds familiar, the voice even more so, though I'm not sure why. I should, though.
I open my eyes.
My vision is red and I'm scared for a moment before I realize that it's only blood and I blink it away. I should probably wonder where the blood is coming from, but I don't. I wonder more about the voice, especially as it grows louder.
I try to sit up but find that my feeling of numb has spread higher. Instead I open my mouth to make a noise, any noise, and a name escapes my lips, a name that I know I should recognize but don't.
Footsteps. Getting closer and closer. A face hovering over mine for a moment before I say the name again, it sounding less foreign to me now that I have a face to go with it.
"Harry."
He silences me, dropping to his knees by my side, brushing away what looks like an arm clutching a wand even in death to get closer. He looks scared to touch me but I'm not sure why. I try to sit up again but he shakes his head, his eyes wide and shining.
"Oh god…oh god," he whispers frantically, his hands shaking as they card through his hair. His eyes trail down to my chest and I see a mass of red reflected off his glasses and I think I suddenly realize why he's pale and shaking.
"I…I can't feel anything…" I rasp before coughing, feeling warm and sticky blood slide through my lips. "I can't…Harry…"
He's crying now, sobs that I'm sure he wishes he could quell wracking his body. I see that he's bleeding too, a thick stream of drying blood coating his forehead. There's a painful-looking cut on his cheek and I know that the tears must be burning. I feel my jaw quivering and realize that I'm shivering violently, even though I can't feel the cold.
"Draco…Draco I can't…" he whispers, his hands smoothing blood and dirt-caked hair off my forehead. "I don't know if…"
I try to take a breath but my lungs hitch halfway through with a harsh crackle. A tear falls from his eye to my cheek and I whisper, "Lie to me."
He lies beside me, his entire body shaking with sobs that I know are loud but are fading from my hearing. "You'll be fine," he chokes out, pulling my head into his chest. "It will all be okay, I'll take care of you and we can be happy again. I promise you. I promise."
I smile, feeling my shivering slow. I try to take another breath but I can't. I look up at him, pleading for something that even I don't know I want.
The last thing I see is his face, war-torn and heartbroken.