Sorry for the long wait. I'm making it up to you with a chapter AND a angsty one-shot. Please, enjoy and cry. Bye!
"Well, is it him, or not?" Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked, making the gaunt and pale boy flinch. He looked down in the bruised-beyond-recognition face of Harry Potter. His aunt, father, and mother couldn't tell it was the Savior, but he could. Oh yes, he certainly could. He felt fear rise in his throat like bile, threatening to choke him. His aunt's crazed expression grew irritated and she grabbed her wand and thrust it into the beaten boy's exposed throat, making him wince in pain. The pale boy swallowed, unable to make himself answer truthfully.
"Draco! Tell us, now! Do it! Is it Harry Potter? Well? Is it?" Bellatrix's hysterical voice called out, echoing in the large room of Malfoy Manor. He looked down at Harry once more and saw a hard resolve in the green eyes.
Never forget, Draco.
"I-I...can't be sure. I don't think so, I mean-"
"What do you mean, Draco?" Lucius Malfoy drawled, cutting his son's lie off and causing the boy in question to jump. He knew that tone of voice.
"I…" He looked at his family. Merlin, his family! He knew that he should say yes and get it over with, he knew that! But...even so, his loyalty didn't truly lie with them. He knew it should, even as his heart screamed in protest. Draco pushed it aside, however. He was a Malfoy, and he was in this War for a reason. His family came first, no matter how his heart cried. He felt a steely resolve come over him and put a cage around his heart, quieting its pleads.
"Yes. It's him."
xx
The cellar was cold and dank, not unlike what Harry always suspected any room Malfoy Manor held to feel like. After begging Draco with his eyes and the snake hardening his own and turning him in, he felt no sadness, only disappointment. He should've known better. This was Draco after all. But, even in the coolness of his temporary prison, he could feel the warmth that had radiated from Draco as they laid together on cold nights, looking for comfort in each other. He could see his blinding smile, the one that he reserved for Harry and Harry alone, and he could feel the delicate hands sliding down his back, underneath his shirt, down his-
"Harry, mate. Snap out of it." Ron Weasley, who had been captured along with Harry and Hermione Granger as well, admonished, snapping his fingers in front of the taller boy's face. Harry shook his head and gave a sheepish look at Ron, who rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Hermione emerged from the shadows with a look of worry, which seemed to grace her face constantly nowadays. Harry tensed and felt Ron do the same behind him as Hermione came closer.
"I think someone is coming down, Harry. Be ready to fight." The witch gave a small smile as the other prisoners, Luna Lovegood, and Ollivander, came from behind her and footsteps echoed at the front of the cellar. All five of the prisoners tensed, ready to fight, or even kill if push came to shove. A light came from the stairway just before the silver hand of Wormtail did, and all of them, deflated. He was nothing.
"Come now, prisoners. Mrs. Lestrange requests your presence." Wormtail's slimy voice drifted to their ears and they readied themselves for anything as the man opened the barred doors, beckoning them out into the stairway. They followed Wormtail up the stairs and into the bleak room of the Manor, where Draco stood rigid in front of his stoic parents and Bellatrix paced impatiently. Her head snapped up when she heard their footsteps and she smiled with yellow teeth.
"We're going to have a duel!" She shrieked, making the blonde boy in the background jump. He never expected to see Harry alive again after he had turned him in, and it was all he could do to not look into the piercing green eyes. Narcissa Malfoy stepped forwards and handed each of the prisoners their wands with a blank face. He couldn't help it. He looked at Harry, and his eyes felt so hot like they were burning his very soul. They screamed at him.
Never forget, Draco.
"Each of you gets one of us! Mudblood, I get you! Lucius, the redhead, Cissy, the ditzy one, Wormtail the wandmaker, and Draco, the Boy...who...lived." Bellatrix called out, drawing out the last words with evident sarcasm, making Draco flinch. Of all people, why him? He had to stay loyal, but how could he, with those green eyes piercing his skin, ripping apart his walls and turning his stone heart into dust? But he must. He must.
"Take your stances. And...Go!" Bellatrix screeched, and the room was dark and quiet no more. Flashes of green and red shot around the room, and yells and screams echoed around the massive room. Bellatrix screamed Crucio more than once, but Hermione's deft moves made her impossible to hit, not to mention the spells of her own she was shooting off, making Bellatrix's aim stagger. Draco hadn't fired off a single spell yet, but neither had Harry. Green eyes locked onto grey, and with a hard resolve, Draco shouted Stupefy, which Harry quickly blocked. It went on like this for some time but never once did the Boy-Who-Lived mutter anything other than a Protego. Draco grew desperate, shooting off spell after spell, each growing more and more dangerous.
Never forget, Draco.
How could I? How could I forget, after everything you did? How could I fucking forget? Your warm hands, your soft smile, your knowing eyes, how could I forget? On the nights father sent a Howler, you were there to hold my hand as it screamed insult after insult. How could I forget when you wiped my tears away after you took my wounds and healed them with a gentle touch? How could I forget when you first saw me on the Astronomy Tower, about to jump, in Fifth year? You thought I was up to something...after all...that is what I do. But how could I forget when you grabbed me around my waist and threw me down, yelling bloody murder at how I was a stupid git for doing that. I would never forget the way we met in secret, our hatred growing into something...more. I would never forget the first time you kissed me, so softly and sweetly it made me cry. I would never forget how you made me feel, how you made me think, what you fucking did to my bloody heart when you were around. How could I forget what love feels like?
"Draco! Finish him, now!" Lucius's voice cut through the fog in his head, snapping him back to his battle. Harry had yet to act offensively, and Draco's willpower was failing. Those fucking eyes! They tore him apart. They ripped him to shreds.
I.
A scream was torn from Draco's throat as he ran towards Harry, wand still pointed. He needed to end this quickly before those eyes broke him completely. He collided with Harry and grabbed the front of his ripped shirt, grey eyes wild and swimming with tears.
"Fucking fight! I have to kill you!" He wailed, unable to stop his tears from falling. Harry looked at him and slowly shook his head. No. Draco growled and shook Harry, jabbing his wand into his throat, threatening him. Harry gave him a sad smile and dropped his own Holly wand.
"I won't fight you, Draco. I won't do it. I can't and I don't know how you can." Draco's brows furrowed and his face scrunched up, tears falling faster and faster. Grey eyes clashed with green, and the boys stared each other down.
"Fucking fight! I...I have to do this...Harry...I have to. Please. Fight. I'm b-begging you." By now, Harry was crying too and Draco still had his wand pointed at his throat, so close to finishing the job.
"Draco...I love you. I do, and I won't let you do this. Remember, Draco. Remember what we had, what we did, what we made. Never forget. Even if you kill me, never forget our love." The flashes of light around them dulled and the noises ceased to exist. It was only Harry and Draco at that moment and something, maybe it was the tears that leaked from those green eyes, or maybe the way Harry's face portrayed such vulnerability and trust and love, but something snapped in Draco. Suddenly, it didn't matter what happened, as long as he was with Harry, it would be ok. Dropping his wand, he took his other hand and grabbed messy black hair and smashed his face to Harry's. He remembered the taste of him. How could he forget? He tasted woods and tears and that unique Harry taste that he would always get drunk off of. He felt Harry's body and remembered how it molded to his and how he felt after days without him and how longed for his touch. He forgot how much he craved it. How could he forget this? When it got hard to breathe, he let go and everything rushed back. He took into account the fact that the yells had stopped and that the room was dark once more.
"Draco…?"
"Harry…?"
Bellatrix shrieked in rage and raised her wand.
"Cruc-"
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione's spell hit Bellatrix and her wand flew into the young woman's open hand, stunning the room into silence. Wormtail made an ugly face and lifted his sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark, ready to call on Voldemort, but never got to, as Ron barrelled into the rat and knocked him on to the floor. A loud crack was heard as Wormtail's head bounced on the floor, effectively knocking him out.
"Stupefy!" A shrill voice called out, and Bellatrix dropped to the floor as well. All eyes turned to Narcissa Malfoy who still had her wand raised. She turned to Harry, her icy blue eyes cold.
"Harry Potter. Will you protect my son?" Harry blinked in confusion and Draco grabbed his hand. Harry looked at Lucius, then Hermione, then Ron, all who had looks of surprise on their faces. He nodded. Narcissa smiled and bowed to him.
"Then go. Save him."
xx
Back at Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione had pulled Harry aside.
"How long has this been going on?"
"Malfoy?"
"Why did it happen?"
"Why Malfoy?"
"How did it- Ron, for goodness sake, shut it!" Hermione stared into Harry's face looking for answers that he was unwilling to give. No matter how she prodded him, he wouldn't budge.
"You really love him, don't you?" Harry nodded. Hermione smiled softly and jerked her head towards the blonde boy behind them and whispered,
"Go."
xx
No words were spoken between the two boys as they walked into the Gryffindor dorm. No one was in there, so Harry pulled Draco to his bed, closed the curtains with a sticking charm, and cast a Silencio. It was then that Draco allowed himself to cry. He covered his face and cried, even as strong arms wrapped around him. He cried, even as gentle hands tipped his chin up, and even as soft lips touched his own. The kiss was so sweet and full of love, so full of strength and trust and hope and vulnerability. How could he have forgotten this?
"You never forgot Draco. Even as Voldemort took over your home, even as you took that Mark, you never forgot our love for one another." Draco put a hand onto Harry's face and smiled, and he had never looked more beautiful to Harry. The hardness that once held his grey eyes captive softened and he leaned into Harry's ear and whispered,
"How could I forget?"