Written for HD Smoochfest on Livejournal ages ago.
Ron and Hermione, Ginny and Neville are at their side, supportive as the curse bears down on them. There's nothing that they can do. No way to stop it. Minerva looks at the six of them, all of them having to face so much beyond their years. She wishes that there was something that she can do. Something she can say.
"What's going to happen?" Teddy asks, tugging on Draco's hand.
Draco wraps his fingers around the little boy's hand, looking up at Harry. They're the ones responsible for all of this. It's their wedding that set off this horrible, horrible event. But the prophecy is very clear. He kneels down, running his hands down Teddy's arms and smiling at him. The boy is so very young and he doesn't need to be scared.
"Draco…" Harry starts but Draco shakes his head.
"You're going to fall asleep," Draco says, taking a shaky breath. The prophecy rings, clear and true in his mind. It'll be ten long years but the prophecy says that they'll be reunited and able to be together again, just the way that they are now. It doesn't say anything past that and for all they know they are reunited in death. But he and Harry will find a way back to each other. "You're going to fall asleep and you're going to have a very long dream. But Harry… Dad will be with you all the way."
After Andromeda's death not six months after the Battle of Hogwarts, heartbreak the reports had said after the loss of so many, Harry had taken Teddy in. Teddy is Harry's son at this point, loved and cared for for six years. And Draco, three years later, feels that he's a part of Teddy's life too. They've become a family. And Draco can only hope that they'll be a family again.
"I don't want to fall asleep, though. I want to stay here. With you guys," Teddy says. His lower lips wobbles, looking as if he's going to burst into tears any second and Draco wouldn't be surprised if he did.
Before Draco can say anything else, Harry is there, sweeping the child into his arms. One arm holds Teddy tight to his body as the other wraps around Draco. "It's coming," is all that Harry has to say.
The seven adults in the room turn to face the window. They can see the clouds of green smoke. Draco turns to Harry and they lock eyes. Green stay on silver, even as tears fill both their eyes. The other two couples in the room are embracing, Draco is sure. Little Rose Weasley is held tight in Hermione's arms and Beatrice Longbottom is crying.
"We'll be together again," Harry promises quietly, his voice fierce. "The prophecy states that we'll be in a moment like this again."
Draco isn't sure whether Harry is convinced but there's no time to think about it. Draco moves to shield Teddy's face as there's the sound of glass shattering, the curse blowing out the windows. Draco doesn't look away from Harry's eyes, even as the world slowly fades away. The last thing he sees is green.
Draco sighs as he toes off his shoes, sure that there's nothing worse than being a lawyer. It hadn't been what he'd wanted to do, really. He'd had dreams before. But his parents had pushed at him, telling him exactly the type of career that he should go into. 'It's just respectable enough,' they'd said. Draco is quite honestly glad that they're dead. He doesn't remember them well, although their death was only ten years ago, but from what he does remember, they don't sound like very good people.
The memories are all hazy, supposedly from a car accident ten years prior, just two months after their death, that had left him in a coma for weeks. He remembers seeing a flash of green light before the accident which doctors have never been able to explain. He just assumes that he was close to death. He's considered writing a novel, getting published. 'Death Is Green' sounds like a fancy title. But he'd never be able to sit down and write. He doesn't have the attention span for it.
The first thing that Draco does is pour himself a drink. Whiskey isn't his favorite but then, he hasn't been able to find a hard liquor that really matches his taste. Much of what he eats and drinks just tastes off to him in some ways. All of it is attributed to the car accident and Draco wonders whether he'll ever actually be able to move past that.
Draco grabs his glass, some papers that he has to work on and goes to sit at his desk. It's bound to be a long evening full of nothing but paperwork. Occasionally he's invited out with the other lawyers, asked to take part in birthday celebrations and the like but Draco has never accepted. He's not friends with any of them and he doesn't want to spend time with them because of pity.
It takes somebody knocking twice before he realizes that there's actually somebody at the door. The only time people knock are when they're at the wrong apartment, there's a problem and the landlord has something to say, or he orders delivery. He hopes that there's not a problem with his rent. He had just sent the check last week.
When he opens the door he looks at the teenager for a long moment before sighing. The boy in front of him is interesting, that much is for sure. Obviously a teenager, Draco would guess about sixteen. Bright blue eyes and hair that can only be described as dirty blond. The kind that his mother had worried his hair would fade to when he was a child. At least, he thinks. "Can I help you, kid? Are you lost?"
"It depends," the boy says, rather evasively for Draco's taste. It's not every day that Draco deals with teenagers but he does deal with people lying every day and this kid just has that look. "Are you Draco Malfoy?"
"That depends," Draco counters, leaning his hip against the door just in case the boy gets the crazy idea to dart into his apartment or something like that. "Who are you?"
The boy nods, as if that explains everything. "My name is Teddy Lupin and you're kind of my father."
Draco laughs. "Yeah, right, kid. Alright, try the next apartment over. If I'm not mistaken, they have about fifteen kids so they probably won't notice another." Draco moves to close the door, frowning when Teddy immediately sticks his foot in and while he's in a bad mood and all, he'd never actually slam the door on the kid. "Look-"
"I'm serious. Draco, you're my father. I mean, not biologically. But then, the one my other father isn't my biological father either. Don't you want to know who he is?"
Although Draco knows the term curiosity killed the cat, he can't help but be a tad bit curious. After all, this kid is obviously determined. And it doesn't seem like he's going to get rid of him anytime soon so why doesn't he at least listen? It might give him a good laugh. "Who?"
"Harry Potter." When Draco opens his mouth, lips twisted into a smirk, Teddy nods vigorously. "Like the Harry Potter. From the books. And you're Draco Malfoy, from the books. And everybody else is in town too. Only, they don't realize that they're all from the books. They don't understand. But I do. I'm Teddy Lupin, not Teddy Riddle and-"
Draco slams the door shut, not willing to listen to another second of it. There's nothing to listen to. The teen is obviously not in his right mind, probably high on drugs or something. Draco should call the cops on him just so he's safe. There's another knock on the door and Draco opens it out of habit. "Look, kid-"
"I can prove it."
Draco purses his lips, eyeing the boy for a very long moment. "How?"
As if he's won something, Teddy grins. He doesn't look like most teenagers that Draco knows from work. He's earnest, cheerful. He looks as if he can take the world on by himself but that he has plenty of people who love him willing to help. Teddy screws up his face, wrinkling his nose. He has a look of such intense concentration that Draco has to bite back the comment to not hurt himself.
He jumps, gasps when right in front of his eyes, Teddy's hair changes color, going from the blonde that it was to a bright pink. "This was the color that my mom's hair was most often."
Draco can only stare for a moment before he moves out of the doorway, opening it up wider. "Come on inside."
Draco taps his fingers against the steering wheel, keeping his eyes on the road. This is the first time that he's driven with somebody else in the car for, well, as long as he can remember. "Tell me again how you figured it out."
Teddy lets out a loud sigh, his forehead resting against the car window. "I already told you. I was sitting in my room, reading the Harry Potter books and I decided to just try to change my hair like the woman does in the books because why not? And it worked. And now I know. It's all in the books. They're in my backpack. Have you read them?"
"Of course I've read them," Draco snaps which perhaps is not such an 'of course'. After all, he's older than the target market is for it. But who hasn't read Harry Potter? Or at least seen the movies. Everybody knows Harry Potter.
"And it never occurred to you that you have the name Draco Malfoy like from the books?"
Draco looks over at Teddy and wonders about their relationship. Teddy had said that Draco was like his father but he's fairly certain that that was not in the book series that he'd read. Teddy says that he has eight books and Draco is sure that he's only read seven. He had thought that Teddy had just miscounted or been mistaken but it's all slowly coming together and he's not sure how he likes that thought. "I'm sure that there are a ton of Draco Malfoys around."
Teddy shrugs, looking out the window again, obviously not intending on arguing. He gives Draco directions to the town of Velgarth and Draco looks around. It's certainly not like anywhere that he's ever been before.
Pulling up in front of the biggest house in town, Draco turns to Teddy. "They say he's my godfather but I know that he's not. Harry is. But nobody knows where Harry is. Miss Granger… Hermione, she's my teacher… she's okay. She tries to help me. You shouldn't make me go in there. Da- Draco please."
Draco looks at Teddy, at the pleading in his eyes and he frowns. There's such sadness, almost terror in Teddy's eyes and Draco looks up at the house, wondering what goes on in there. "Who did you say he was?"
"Tom Riddle. He's Voldemort, D-Draco. He's the big bad guy. Please. Please don't make me stay here. We can go look for Harry together. You can have your happy ending."
"I'm sorry, kid. I can't just take you away from your guardian. That's against the law. I'm a lawyer. I would know."
But still, Draco turns off the car, getting out with Teddy and heading up to the door with him. Teddy has his bag on his back, bulging with what is obviously all the Harry Potter books. Draco wonders how Teddy would explain his guardian being okay with him reading them if he really is the villain in the series. Draco doesn't know why he's even thinking about the possibility for even a moment. It's not possible. It's just a book series, nothing more.
The door is answered almost immediately when Teddy knocks and Draco looks at the guy carefully because he certainly doesn't look like a villain. "Teddy!" the man says in a tone that makes Draco look again, this time not because of his looks. He's not sure that he believes the worry in his voice. "I've been worried sick. I called Officer Weasley and everything. And who are you?
Draco looks up, seeing a redhead in a police uniform putting a notebook back in his pocket, and realizes that the question was directed at him. "Draco Malfoy. Teddy came and found me so I brought him back."
"Well, looks like Teddy's home safely," the officer, Weasley, says. He excuses himself, not bothering to even say goodbye to any of them. There's an aura of sadness that Draco sees in him, common in people who are going through a divorce or some other kind of trouble.
"That's good to hear. Up to bed with you, Teddy," Tom says, watching as Teddy gives Draco one last pleading look before near running up the stairs. When Teddy is out of sight and they hear a door slam upstairs, Tom turns to Draco. "Do you want a drink?"
There's something about the situation that makes Draco unsure. He wants to believe that Teddy is wrong. It's probably just teenage rebellion or something like that. Draco can't remember well but he thinks at the age of 18 that he did something that everybody in his life thought that he was crazy for. And if Teddy is right then that would mean things that Draco just isn't ready for.
Draco nods because he can't just leave yet. He feels obligated now, needing to make sure that Teddy is okay and that there's nothing that he can do for the boy. If he's being abused or neglected then he has to report it. Tom pours them both a drink and they sit down on the couch, facing each other. The house is cold and what pops into Draco's mind is the dungeon of a castle. He quickly looks down at his drink so that Tom can't see the look on his face.
Still, Draco can't deny that Teddy's hair had changed color right in front of him. He's just not sure what that means! Does the boy just randomly have magic? Could he really be Draco Malfoy from all of the stories? The one who did those sort of horrible things?
"I'm sorry for the trouble. Teddy's going through a hard time right now. He's known that he was adopted all of his life, that his parents are dead, but apparently it's normal for some kids to have trouble with it when they're around this age," Tom says after a moment of silence. He's at ease, sitting back to look at Draco.
Draco nods, not sure that he believes him. He's always been good at knowing when people are lying. It's a good talent when being a lawyer and Draco is one of the best. "I understand. My parents died ten years ago and honestly, even at my age I had a hard time coming to terms with it." Draco wants to bring up the idea of Harry Potter but he's not sure what there is to say. How can he even ask anything about it? It sounds so crazy to ask if a book series is real, if the man in front of him is really a villain from a novel. "This is a nice town."
"It is. I'm the mayor so I have to say that but I truly believe it too," Tom responds, taking another sip of his drink before setting it down on the table. "But we don't really have places for visitors. There are no hotels or anything. We're a small town. We all know each other's names. And we like it that way."
Draco sees that Tom wants him to leave. It's obvious and for a moment, he's tempted to. It would be easier if he just left. There's a threat in Tom's eyes, a promise of bad things if Draco stays in town. He's not naïve. He can see it. He sets down his glass, having not taken so much as a drink out of it. "I see. Well, you should keep better track of your son. It was a pleasure to meet you."
They exchange pleasantries that don't really sound that pleasant before Draco is making his way outside. Tom doesn't offer to walk him out which Draco is fairly grateful for. He has to think about some things. It's impossible. It's impossible that he's some part of a novel and that this is all a big curse as Teddy had called it. That sort of thing just didn't happen.
"What did you say your name was again?"
Draco jumps, startled, his hand flying to his chest at the voice and he turns, seeing the police officer (Wesley?) from earlier. "Uh, Draco. Draco Malfoy."
"Right. I'm Ron Weasley," the officer says, holding out his hand for him to shake. Draco eyes it for only a moment before shaking it.
There's a moment of silence and Draco can feel himself getting impatient. He has things that he has to think about, alone thank you. Because he refuses to think such crazy thoughts when he's around other people. "So…?"
Ron opens his mouth, preparing to answer. Before he has time to say a word, Draco sees a flash of red and gold, what looks like a bird coming straight towards him. He instinctively raises his arms, covering up his face and he gasps as he feels what seems to be claws, something sharp anyway, digging into his exposed wrist.
"Whoa, are you okay?" Ron asks, stepping forward.
Draco can feel the blood on his skin, can feel the stinging and he nods. "Yes, I'm- I'm fine, thank you," he says sharply, cradling his wrist close and he so truly just wants to get into his car at this point.
But Ron obviously isn't going to let him go that easy. He steps forward, grabbing Draco's wrist (is that really legal?) and looking at the deep scratch on Draco's wrist. "You're going to have to go to the hospital. Come on. I'll drive you."
Draco half-heartedly attempts to argue, taking the towel that Ron hands him and pressing it against the cut. But his skin is open kind of wide and he is worried about not going to the hospital right now. Ron drives carefully, a bit too fast for Draco's liking, but they make it there in one piece.
As the police chief, Draco isn't surprised that Ron knows everybody, waving at people as they step inside. A woman who obviously is looking at him like she wants him… badly, a dark skinned man who gives Ron an enthusiastic wave. They all seem to know each other and Draco wonders what century that he's in.
A nurse comes forward, her nametag reading 'Luna', a pencil stuck in her hair pulled back in a bun and a pink pen behind her ear. "Such a surprise to see you, Ron. What do we have here?"
"Seemed to be a bird that attacked him," Ron says as Luna grabs Draco's arm, pulling it up so that she can look at the skin. She immediately winces at the sight and Draco doesn't think that's a really good sign. When she looks up, though, her smile is perfectly cheerful.
"It wasn't just any bird. It was Fawkes."
They all turn to look when they hear Teddy's voice, Draco's eyes going wide as he looks at the kid. "How in the world are you here right now?"
Teddy shrugs. "I climbed out my window and sneaked into the backseat of the police cruiser. I had to follow you, Draco. We have to fix this and end the curse. You have to find Harry so you can do True Love's Kiss." Draco's cheeks flush at the words as the others turn to look at him oddly.
"You said it was a fox that did this? I'm pretty sure that it was flying, Teddy," Ron says after a long moment, all of them apparently going to pointedly ignore what Teddy had just said about 'True Love's Kiss.'
The teenager rolls his eyes dramatically, shaking his head. "Not fox. Fawkes. F-A-E… or um, W- Well, like in the Harry Potter books." As Ron and Luna just stare at him blankly, Teddy turns to Draco. "See? They've never even heard of Harry Potter. It's part of the curse. Nobody in town has."
Draco does find that odd. Neither of them have even heard of Harry Potter? But he supposes that it's possible. This town doesn't even seem to have a movie theater so he doesn't see why they necessarily would have heard of the books or movies.
"Anyway, let's get this this taken care of right away. Doctor Parkinson is available to look at you," Luna says since Draco's starting to bleed through the towel that he has pressed against the cut again.
Draco looks up, sighing and he supposes that he's stuck doing this. He wonders when they're going to have him fill out paperwork or something. This doesn't seem very professional. And the hospital is so small he swears that he can see every single department from where he's standing.
Teddy decides to join them which Draco doesn't bother arguing about, although again he wonders if it's legal, as they head through the halls of the hospital. "Wait!" Teddy shrieks loudly, causing all of them to jump again and Draco drops the towel that he'd had pressed to his arm, looking over. "He's here! Draco, he's here! Harry's here!"
"What are you talking about?" Draco asks, looking in the direction that Teddy is pointing. Then he sees him.
"Teddy, his name isn't Harry. Or, well, I guess it might be. But nobody knows what his name is." Luna turns to Draco then, gesturing towards the man who lays in the hospital bed. All that Draco can really see from this far away is the dark hair and skin that looks positively pale with the white hospital blanket that's pulled halfway up to his chest. He has breathing tubes, some wires connected to him that Draco has no idea the purpose over. For some reason, Draco finds himself drawn to him and he wonders. "He's been here for years. Nobody has any idea what happened to him."
From his side, Teddy is practically bouncing on his toes, mumbling something about how he had never checked the hospital and he feels so silly and Draco has to go kiss him! But Draco is frozen.
"You should get your arm stitched up."
Draco nods, hearing Ron's voice cut through the haze of his thoughts and he grabs Teddy's shoulder gently to steer him towards the room that Luna leads him into. The doctor is attractive, obviously flirting with Draco but Draco's too caught up in his own thoughts.
He has to get a closer look at the man. That's all he can think about. As soon as his stitches are in, way too many by his count and he winces at every pull of his skin, he goes to the front desk, giving his information and insurance. 'Lavender', as her nametag says, eyes Ron as she types at the computer and Ron pretends not to notice, paying attention to the pattern on the walls.
"Alright, do you want me to give you two a ride back to the mayor's house?" Ron asks when they're all done, the three of them waiting at the front of the hospital.
Teddy looks worried now, nearly upset and surely disappointed. "Draco, you-"
"Actually we'll just walk. It's a nice evening," Draco says, squeezing Teddy's shoulder gently. He can't leave before he gets a better glimpse at that man. He doesn't know how he'll know if the man is a fictional character but he has to try to find out anyway.
Ron looks between the two of them, a moment of suspicion on his face but Draco knows that this is a small town. There isn't really much that Draco can do. And if he had wanted to abduct the teenager then he would've done it a while ago. "Have a good evening then. Teddy, make sure that you're being good."
When the officer has left, Draco immediately turns around. "You coming, kid?" he asks as he evades the gaze of the people at the front desk. It's not hard to do that considering that the hospital is empty and the two seem to have better things to do with their time than watch them.
"I'm not a kid, you know. I'm 16 years old," Teddy mutters but it doesn't make much of a difference. Teddy is going to be a kid to him no matter what.
Teddy follows Draco, both of them making as little noise as possible. Draco doesn't know what'll happen if they're caught, whether they'll kick them out or whether they won't even care. But he has to see the man on the hospital bed. The door to the room that he's in isn't locked and Draco steps through. Immediately, he feels as if the air in the room is thicker, as if he's having trouble breathing.
"Draco?"
Teddy's voice seems to have come from far away and he has to strain to even hear him. Nothing seems important. Nothing but getting to the man lying in the hospital bed. Draco puts one foot forward, one after another until he's next to the bed. The man is… beautiful. That's the only way that Draco can think to describe him. His skin is pale from the lack of sun, skinny and although he's obviously well-cared for, he just looks dull. As if he's waiting for color. And he's still the most beautiful man that Draco has ever laid eyes on.
"Look for the scar."
Draco looks over at Teddy in surprise. Could it be that easy? Could there be a lightning bolt scar on his forehead? Could that prove who this man is? Draco isn't sure that he wants to know. He's trembling as he reaches up, fingers incredibly careful as he pushes a strand of black hair off his forehead. His skin is cold and if Draco couldn't see his chest rising and falling with breath then he would believe that he was dead. Perhaps this is all some elaborate prank.
"Is there a scar?"
"Hold on," Draco snaps, seeing that Teddy doesn't take his angry words to heart. He still looks excited. But who would prank him? Draco has no friends or family.
Biting his lip, Draco leans forward, trying to see if there's a mark on his skin, his other hand sliding down to take the man's hand. His fingers skim across the skin on the back of the man's hand and he has no idea why but he hasn't held somebody's hand in so long and it almost feels as if this the way that it's meant to be.
There's no way that it's a prank, not with the way that Draco is feeling right now. His heart is pounding in overtime, his breath catching as he sees it. It's vague, almost as if it's not even there and much less visible on skin so white. But it's there. And… Draco traces his finger along the jagged edge of it. It's in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Draco straightens up quickly when he hears the angry voice and he recognizes the mayor when he stands up. It's not the cold politeness of Tom Riddle that it had been before. 'Lord Voldemort' rings through Draco's mind.
"No!" Teddy yells. And Draco is pretty sure that he's about to be arrested. "Kiss him!"
As Draco looks at Tom, he could swear that he sees a flash of red in his eyes at the suggestion. He's so about to be arrested, he thinks again.
"Don't!"
Ignoring the desperate word from Tom Riddle, Draco leans forward, pressing his lips to the man on the bed. His hand was forced, he tells himself. He had no choice. Although, he knows that it's no excuse to kiss an unconscious man. And he's truly going to be arrested. Hopefully there are no hidden cameras to prove this crime.
The room is frozen, Tom halfway across the room and Teddy standing next to him, obviously expecting Draco to protect him from the enraged mayor. Draco is just about to pull back, his eyes closed to keep from feeling like an absolute fool. And then he feels movement.
It's faint at first, just a barely there twitch of the skin. Draco is sure that he imagined it. Then he's forced to pull back, watching as the man on the bed, Harry… It's Harry, takes a large, gulping breath. That breath seems to send out a gust of wind, of white light. Draco's eyes fall shut automatically, one hand reaching out to the teenager to try to protect him. He has no idea what it is.
And then he does.
"The most powerful magic of all," Voldemort says, his lips tightening into a thin line.
Harry sits up in the hospital bed, obviously wobbly, moving a bit slower than he normally would be. Draco reaches out, helping him, his husband, his love. "You had quite a curse," Harry says quietly, almost conversationally, leaning heavily onto Draco.
He looks over, making sure that Teddy is still with them. He is, his eyes wide, almost as if he can't believe that it actually worked even though he'd been the one who had insisted on the entire thing. Or perhaps he's trying to figure out where his memories begin and end. Draco is having that problem himself. "Dad… you're okay."
Harry nods, a small smile on his lips although Draco can see that he's still in pain. "I am. And Merlin, Teddy, look at how big that you are."
"No! This isn't right!" Voldemort shakes his head, anger on his face as he looks at them.
It's been over a decade that Draco can still remember, his old memories warring with the obviously fake ones that are still there. His parents aren't dead, he remembers. And he did do something that made them very upset with him when he was 18. He entered a relationship with the Boy Who Lived, who apparently still is that. No matter how much time has passed, though, Draco can still remember a fair bit of wandless magic.
He clasps hands with Teddy and with Harry, mumbling something because wandless and non-verbal is a bit too much at this point after so long. The shield isn't much but it's effective against whatever Voldemort launches against them. There's a commotion out in the hospital and Draco knows that everybody has their memory back at this point. It's not just them. They've freed everybody. So the prophecy said.
Another loud bang and Draco looks up, seeing both Pansy and Luna. There are other people in the hallway and Draco grips Harry's hand tighter.
"Oh," Luna breathes, sounding as if she can't believe that she's really there right now. Draco can certainly relate.
Tom looks between the people as they hear more yelling. It seems as if everybody knows where they are, that everybody is moving to meet them. Draco isn't sure how except perhaps it's the magic. Perhaps it sent out a signal for everybody to come for them. He hopes that everybody is okay. He remembers Teddy mentioning Hermione, saw Ron. But there are so many other friends.
"You were supposed to lose your love, your happiness. All of you were. You'll regret this," Tom spits out but he has no wand. His magic is strong, so powerful, but not powerful against all of them.
Draco watches as he attempts to Apparate and he sees the magic shimmering around the walls preventing him. Draco wonders if that was part of Voldemort's curse. They all look up at the feeling of magic, of the knowledge that somebody has much more magic than any of them at the moment.
Ron is pointing a police baton at Voldemort, Hermione a pencil. Luna quickly pulls out her own pencil and Pansy glances around before realizing that she has one sticking out of her pocket. "You should probably not move," Luna says, the pencil not waving.
It's an absolutely ridiculous scene, the four of them pointing the sticks of wood at Voldemort. There's not as much magic in it without a core but Draco knows that it's effective enough. He knows that it could cause harm, the four of them against an unarmed Voldemort. It's how they confronted him the first time, how they faced and beat him. Getting Voldemort unarmed. Together.
"You may think that you've won but you haven't. I will get my revenge. You won't find the prophecy. You won't fix this."
The words cause Draco to shudder, the same words that he'd let out before and he'd managed to cast the curse from Azkaban. This time they're different, this time Voldemort says that they won't find the prophecy. They won't fix this. How is this supposed to be fixed? Draco's eyebrows furrow. "Have you ever-"
Teddy interrupts him before he's even managed to finish the sentence. "The clock tower."
A sharp nod and an arm for his husband to hold onto. There are others with them, following them. Pansy and Luna along with others that they're not as close to. They leave Neville the rest with a pencil pointed at Voldemort to keep him there. Draco and Harry are only focused on each other. Pansy is the one who knows how to get up to the clock tower, admitting that she climbs up often.
Teddy's right about where the prophecy is, crawling through spaces that the rest of them can't fit through, that Teddy can barely get through anymore. Neither one of his fathers has thought about the fact that they've missed so many years of his life. They don't want to consider that.
They all search for the prophecy, Harry the one who finds it and he holds it upright. It's hidden, stowed away and Teddy smiles wryly. "I always just thought that it was a ball when I was young. I didn't bother to even pick it up."
Harry doesn't know what to do with it for a moment. None of them have a wand for hardcore magic. None of them know where somebody who might know about this is. Perhaps McGonagall. But Harry doesn't have time to wait. He shrugs, ignoring Draco's gasp and "Wait!" holding the prophecy hard. Even if nothing else happens, it makes him feel better and they all jump as it shatters in Harry's hold.
Draco opens his eyes, seeing glass smashed around them, green smoke dissipating. Teddy still has his face buried against Harry's shoulder and Harry and Draco are pressed close.
"I thought you said that I was going to fall asleep…" Teddy says softly as he looks around, seeing the rest of them confused as well.
"You don't remember?" Draco asks, pinching himself, sure that he's dreaming or hallucinating. Is this another one of Voldemort's tricks? Is he going to think that he's safe? That his family is safe? Only to be thrust back into that before?
But Harry looks down at the prophecy in his hold. The last of the words are coming out and Draco realizes that Harry has heard every word. The shadow of the prophecy, the whispers. It's different from the one that they've heard before. Draco can't hear it well but he can hear that.
"What does it say?"
Harry looks up, looking just as surprised as Draco does. "It's fixed. Or perhaps it never happened. The ten years. We're together. It's okay."
It doesn't make any sense. Time travel. Or a very long vision… Draco doesn't understand. But he hugs Teddy and Harry tight, hearing the whispers from around. They're still together. That's all that matters to him. And he doesn't even have to think about losing so many years of Teddy's life.
"I told you. I told you we'd be together," Harry murmurs, pressing his forehead to Draco's temple, their son held in between them.
Draco nods, closing his eyes. "We'll always be together."