Of course it would be him.
Out of all of the demons Harry had had to fight, all of the obstacles he'd overcome, the last person standing between him and Voldemort was Draco Malfoy.
He looked surprised. Maybe he hadn't expected Harry to get this far. Maybe he'd hoped he wouldn't.
Maybe he hadn't thought he'd be the one meeting him here.
"Potter."
And Harry was laughing - he hadn't laughed in years, couldn't even remember what it felt like to laugh until he walked into that courtyard and those eyes flashed behind that hood. Life was fucking funny.
Draco didn't think so. The eyes flashed again and then the hood was off, and Draco Malfoy was striding across the pebble to meet him. Harry stopped laughing and waited, twirling his wand in a manner that Hermione would have reprimanded him for years ago.
"What's so fucking funny, Potter?"
He was close. Too close. Harry took a step back, meeting his stare.
"Nothing. I just think it's brilliant that out of all of the spineless Death Eaters left, you would be the one I'd have to kill."
Silence then.
Harry was beginning to wonder if they'd simply stare at each other all day. Surely this wasn't what Voldemort had in mind.
"Are we done here?"
An odd expression overtook the other boy's features, but he didn't respond. Harry shrugged and shoved past him, towards the doorway into the house. A hand took firm hold of his upper arm, and Harry turned back around.
"What? I'm not just going to stand here and stare at you."
"Why are you doing this?"
Harry stared at him.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Draco shook his head, letting go of the other boy's arm.
"Don't give me that shit, Potter. You never cared, one way or the other."
Harry gawked at him now.
"How could you say that? And - " He glanced up at the house, gesturing with his wand, his face flushed. "Why now?"
Draco shrugged, leaning against one of the columns in the courtyard, watching Harry with the most irritatingly calm, scrutinizing gaze.
"Well, it's rather hard to get information out of the dead, isn't it?"
The tense, nauseous feeling that had been in Harry's stomach all day turned quite suddenly cold. It was thick, now. Heavy. Weighing him down.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
If he was looking for some sort of acknowledgement of their past, some sort of flicker of compassion, he wouldn't find it. Draco glared at him.
"I'm confident you're a moron, does that count?"
Harry turned on his heel again. He didn't have time for this shit. He probably should have known not to turn his back on a Death Eater. Maybe if Malfoy hadn't taken off his mask, Harry wouldn't have. And now he was frozen in place, and there was nothing he could do. Footsteps. If he could have sighed, he would have.
Malfoy was standing in front of him now, smirking, and holding his wand in a pensive manner as he eyed Harry.
"Oh, Potter. You really are quite attractive when you're on a mission."
Warning bells were going off somewhere in Harry's subconscious. You've made a mistake. You've been too hasty. You weren't thinking.
No. No, Harry was ready for this. Once Malfoy finished his waffling, he'd release him, and Harry would run off and play the hero, just like everyone had always expected him too. Only Draco wasn't talking. He was only watching.
Memories.
"Good luck, Potter."
He'd cried. He hadn't told anyone, especially not him. But he had cried that night. He still thought it was stupid. This whole bloody war was stupid, but the fact that Draco was siding against him…
She'd warned him not to get caught in memories. Hermione knew. She had believed in inter-house unity once upon a time, but that was before Ron fell. And she had told Harry not to think about it. About him. He's not the same person, Harry. Not if he's siding with them.
Harry was jolted out of his reverie at Draco's laughter. That laugh. That laugh was off, too. Maybe he had changed. Harry didn't remember him this way. He had mourned Draco for years, but never actually thought he was dead.
Now he wondered.
The face was changing. The eyes were different now. Cold. Red. Dead.
Voldemort laughed at him now, twirling Draco's wand, wearing Draco's cloak. Circling Draco's former lover.
He should have known.