Harry falls in battle, Draco cries out to the gods to help him. Little did he know that a cry for help at the right time could get you more than he bargained for.
"Merlin, help him…"
Draco Malfoy knelt next to his oldest enemy, the man he had loved in secret for so long. The object of every desire Draco had his life: Harry Potter.
Harry had fallen in battle against the Red Elves. They'd allied themselves with Voldemort and the Orks and invaded the Wizard realm.
Harry, as the saviour of the Light, had been ambushed whilst trying to get the sick and infirm away from battle. All save his old adversary, Draco Malfoy, were slaughtered as they both fought valiantly against hopeless odds.
Harry killed most of the advancing assassin party with Draco's help, but a rogue incendiary device finished the remaining wounded off and injured Harry severely in the process. In his rage Draco killed all remaining agents of the Dark and tried all that he could to save the love of his life, and the only reason he still wanted to live.
Using his part-Veela healing energies, he stemmed the bleeding but could do nothing about the lump of shrapnel in Harry's skull. His screams for help seemed all but forlorn until he heard a voice emanating from an advancing glow.
"Why my son… why should I help this man?" Draco looked through tearful eyes at the angelic figure stood over him.
"Who are you?" he asked in awe.
"Who you seek. I am he." The voice rolled over his senses, soothing and calm.
Draco wiped his eyes and gently stroked Harry's brow. "He won't wake up…I think he's dead. Please…don't be dead Harry…please…"
"Not quite dead, young Veela." Draco could almost feel a gentle hand on his shoulder, urging him to look up.
"Can you help me? I can't move him, he's too badly injured."
"Perhaps…"
"Perhaps you can help, or perhaps I can move him?" A thread of irritation coloured his words.
Draco needed anything but cryptic queries at the moment; he wiped his tear stained eyes and looked up into the face of an old man. The face he recognised from books. It was Merlin.
"He is caught, as are you, in tock." Merlin held out a hand in offering to Draco.
Draco looked perplexedly at Merlin. "I can't leave him. He'll fall and die. I can't let him die…" He stared at the dark-haired man in his lap. Draco looked at the angelic features of the wizard whose eyes seemed trained on his chest. Draco let out a scream when he realised that he had a piece of shrapnel sticking through his chest close to his heart. Draco looked around; he was no longer on the field of battle. He was in a sea of white; all around him was like a bright cloud.
"Am I dead? Have we both fallen?"
"You are also caught in tock. Tick the clock strikes one; tock, it strikes two. Tick-tock, tick-tock."
"I don't want to die; I've never told him how much I love him. Never had a chance at a life with him…" Tears of pain and longing gathered on his cheeks.
"You see, it is a funny concept, time. One minute you are here, the next you are gone. It was a valiant thing you did taking the brunt of that blast for him. One moment sooner and you may have saved him. One moment later and you may have saved yourself." Merlin stroked his beard as he contemplated the brave soul before him.
Draco looked down at Harry, the still body seemingly clinging to the last grasp of life it had.
"Does he have anything worth living for?"
"I don't know!" Draco screamed. How could he know what Harry wanted in his life? How could he know that Harry was clinging onto life so that he could see him one last time?
Harry opened his eyes, green orbs filled with love and pain. Draco had never been so scared in his life; he'd never seen such intense beauty and pain in such a small space. Although the energy had left Harry – he wasn't able to even smile – the spark of hope that his eyes shone to Draco, showed him all that he needed to know about the answer to Merlin's question.
"He has me…" tears falling down Draco's face dropped onto Harry's lips, the first drops of moisture he'd been given the luxury of in what seemed an age.
"He has me…" he repeated brokenly.
"I cannot save a life, but I can redirect the life you have. Give you back one last chance."
Draco did not understand. Merlin could see this, but merely smiled and offered him one last chance at freedom.
"I know that you would you die for him…"
"Yes," Draco replied without hesitation.
"What is more important is, would you live for him?"
"Yes, yes…yes!"
"Then go, young Veela, with my last bit of power, I grant you both a second chance at life, do not throw this one away."
There was no flash of blinding light, nor a sudden silence. All that was left was a tall, bearded wizard whose eyes twinkled.
The doors of the Hogwarts express train sprung open to show that a timid, dark-haired boy sat lonely, in the corner of a carriage. Looking like he didn't have a friend in the world, he curled in upon himself.
"Hello there. Would you mind if I join you?"
The dark-haired boy looked through his long fringe at the piercing silver blue eyes of the boy stood in the doorway.
"No, I'd be very happy for you to join me. Would you like to sit down?" Moving his bag off the seat, the boy patted the cushion down as if removing any dust. He had witnessed his auntie doing this whenever anyone would visit and join her on her settee.
"My name's Draco, Draco Malfoy. I'm from the Malfoy-Black line." The dark-haired boy looked impressed; he had never met anyone this sophisticated.
"Wow! You have your own railway line? I bet that's cool?" Draco smiled a huge warm smile that let the dark-haired boy know that he had perhaps got the wrong end of the stick. Realising his bad manners, the boy stood and offered his hand out to Draco.
"Forgive my manners. I'm Harry Potter, and I don't have a line. At least, I don't think so?" The quizzical look on his small face, all scrunched up with a slight twinkle in his green eyes, tickled Draco's fancy.
Taking Harry's hand and shaking it with both hands, Draco Malfoy gave out a laugh that came from somewhere unknown, someplace where he kept dreams and wishes. He just knew that this boy was going to change his world forever.