You Jump, I jump

Written by StrawberryGirl87

Hogwarts no longer feels like home, it is time to move on but Harry has nowhere else to go. Standing on the precipice of uncertainty he finds a helping hand from the most unlikely of people. Someone who is willing to stand by his side when things seem bleak. One Shot.

Chapter One

It no longer felt like home to Harry Potter. He had once counted Hogwarts as his home because he had nowhere else to go that would accept him but after spending the previous year away too much had changed and his beloved castle no longer had a place for him. Even as he struggled to remain standing, rooted in the entrance hall, his aching body protesting fiercely at his refusal to rest, the castle had begun to repair itself.

Everything was eerily quiet. Everyone asleep, recovering and taking comfort in each other. But not Harry. He couldn't sleep, at least not here. If he stayed then he would be swept up in the aftermath of battle. Even now he knew that in a few hours Ministry officials would be arriving to document the dead and to claim the body of Tom Riddle. He didn't want to be here for that.

But where else was he meant to go? He remained unmoving in the entrance hall, looking around him, taking in every broken stone, the rubble that lay upon the ground, the cracks in the grand marble staircase repairing themselves before his very eyes.

The front doors of the castle thrown open and had remained that way, mounds of stone propping them open. Harry sighed, a silent trickle of a tear slowly trickled down his cheek. He had never felt more alone than in that moment. Outside he could see the beginnings of a storm, black thunder clouds rolling overhead, the first flashes of lightening in the distance warned of the downpour to come. It had been too hot for days and this would be their payment for that.

He thought of Ginny upstairs, she would probably be waiting for him and even though he craved that comfort he couldn't accept it from her without giving her false hope that he would always accept it from her and only her. He couldn't make that commitment to her and he doubted he ever would. He was done doing what was expected of him.

He knew that he was leaving the only thing that was stopping him was that he had nowhere to go. He hadn't even showered or changed his clothes since his defeat of Voldemort, he felt tired, dirty and beyond all else he felt utterly broken. A part of him that hadn't really been him at all was gone and without that small part of Tom Riddle languishing inside of him he didn't know who he was.

He had come back because the job he had been tasked with hadn't been finished, now it was he was lost. He couldn't understand why, when Voldemort had taken his last breath why he hadn't also perished. That was what he had expected to happen and instead here he stood, alone and cold waiting for something and he didn't even know what. His friends could take comfort in one another, it was over for them, they could move on, they could live their lives but Harry knew he wouldn't be able to do that.

Too much had happened, he had lost too much and too many. Remus and Tonks would never watch their son grow up because of him. George had lost his twin and best friend because of him. Dobby had died to save him. Sirius had died because of his stupidity. No family would be the same even now that the war was over. There had been too much death and it pained Harry. He felt every death … he had cared too much and now the guilt wracked his body with agonising and undeniable accuracy.

The rain began to fall, a torrential deluge of water pouring down upon the castle, washing away the blood and cleansing the school grounds. Moving his leaded feet slowly but steadily Harry moved to the arch of the door frame, staring out into the darkness of the night. He watched as murky puddles of water began to form and the rain droplets poured down endlessly into them causing ripples upon the surface.

So wrapped up in indulging himself with his guilt ridden thoughts of loss, death and the end of everything that he had known in life that he failed to hear the footsteps behind him. He had taken for granted that he would be alone. He had no idea that there would be one other person with a desire to slip out of the castle late at night under the cover of darkness so that he wouldn't be seen.

"Pott- Harry," The soft drawling voice said behind him, sounding surprised to see him there. Draco Malfoy stood in the entrance hall having just come up from the dungeons. He had a bag in one hand filled with the treasures and mementos that he couldn't bear to leave behind. He too felt that after everything that had happened it was time for him to leave.

Harry turned his head to look at the boy who interrupted his inner battles. "Draco," He returned simply. Harry didn't bother to hide the tears that he had been shedding. He had every right to shed them, they were no longer a weakness, they were a sign that he had been strong for too long.

"Thank you," The blonde boy suddenly said, startling them both. They stood three meters from each other, Harry now turning to observe his companion more carefully. He noted that Draco had showered and changed his clothes since the final battle. However it was clear from the dark circles beneath his eyes that he hadn't slept in a very long time, at least not a restful sleep. Harry had never seen him dressed in anything other than robes before now and to see him stood wearing jeans and a loose fitting casual blue shirt that brought out the colour of his eyes seemed alien and unfamiliar. Like he was a different person.

"Don't," The Gryffindor returned sadly, "Everyone is thanking me … I don't want to be thanked." Draco studied the dirt and blood encrusted face and yet he didn't feel pity, instead he felt sad. He couldn't even begin to understand the horrors he had been through, the struggle of the past year, he couldn't even begin to understand Harry James Potter post the great battle of Hogwarts.

"I owe you a wizards debt, for saving my life in the room of requirement."

"No you don't," Harry returned simply, "You knew it was me when we were caught by snatchers and taken to your home, you could have told Bellatrix but you didn't. You owe me nothing. Your mother also saved my life in the forbidden forest when she lied to Voldemort, the debt is mine to repay to you and your family. I'll honour that and ensure that you don't go to Azkaban."

The rain continued to pour outside, relentless as it thrashed against the stone walls of the castle. "Are you leaving?" Draco asked as Harry turned back to watch the rain.

"I want to," He said, his voice barely a whisper as Draco took a few hesitant steps towards him.

"What's stopping you?" He asked putting his bag down as he came level with Harry and joined him staring out into the night, relishing the rhythmic pattering of the rain as it hit the stone ground.

"I've got nowhere to go," Harry said honestly. The aversion to each other they had shared during the last six years had evaporated in the shadow of war. They weren't so different the two of them. Both doing what they thought they were supposed to do, what was expected of them. Silently they recognized this in each other, the common ground that they had failed to find when they were eleven.

"Neither have I," Draco returned, "I just know that I can't be here." Harry smiled as his companion voiced exactly how he felt.

"Where will you go then?" Harry asked, curious now.

"I didn't have a plan," Draco admitted feeling foolish. "I was just going to start walking and not stop … just follow my feet and see where I end up."

"That sounds wonderful," Harry said with a faint smile. It was the first trace of happiness he had had since Tom Riddle had died his final death. Together they stood, kindred spirits, side by side staring out at the bleak night that even as thunder rumbled overhead and lightning flashed in the distance it was still peaceful.

"I know that we haven't ever really been friends …" Draco began not really knowing why he was saying this and struggling with it. "What I guess I'm trying to say is … Why don't you come with me?"

Harry turned his head to look at Draco, who continued to stare out into the night. For a moment there was silence as the broken saviour studied his companion as if trying to figure out the validity of the Slytherin's offer. "Do you mean that?" He asked, Draco turned to look at Harry and their gazes met. Swirling silver and intense emerald locked together and oddly found comfort in the plain truth that they both found there.

"Yes," Was the simple reply that Harry heard but in that one word response there was truth, there was need and there was hope, three things that as Harry had stood staring off into the distance, enjoying the darkness and oblivion of the night, he had doubted ever feeling again.

"Can I ask you why?" Harry asked, his eye's never leaving those of Draco, the connection that they had found there intense and desperate. More words were spoken into the silence without their lips ever moving as they remained staring into each other's eyes.

"Because I never mattered before you. I was trapped in the room of requirement and was on the brink of burning to death because of my own stupidity. I knew that was what I deserved, I would die and no one would care that I was gone. But then I saw that you were coming back to save me. It was the first time in my life that I believed I mattered, that someone cared enough to save me."

The honesty in Draco's voice ran true and Harry could find no reason to doubt that what he was saying was the truth. His heart ached for what Draco must have gone through in the last year. In the constant company of Voldemort and Bellatrix. It couldn't have been easy on him and he felt sorrow for his class mates plight.

"Your mother cares about you." Harry stated, "It was the reason she lied to Voldemort to save me. She wanted to get to you, to make sure that you were okay. She knew that there was no other way she would be able to see you again."

"My mother and I have said our goodbyes, she intends to return to France to live, away from the bad memories and my father."

"You wouldn't go with her?" Harry asked, wanting to be sure that if they left this castle together then that would be how it would stay. The two of them together, fleeing from the aftermath of war, trying to find some escape from what they had both seen and done.

"No, it isn't where I need to be," Draco said with certainty.

"Where do you need to be?" Harry asked, feeling sad that he didn't have a clue where he needed to be.

"I don't know yet," He admitted, "I just know it isn't there and it isn't here. All I do know is that trying to find that with you feels pretty good to me." Draco grabbed his bag off the floor and offered his hand to Harry who looked at it with hope and even longing.

Leaving with Draco without knowing where they were going or what they were going to do felt good to him too. A positive feeling swelled up within him as he took the blondes hand with certainty. Their fingers intertwined and somehow it felt as if it were right.

Together they looked forward and took their first step into the night, the rain still driving down around them. Within minutes their clothes were soaked through, water dripping from their hair, going down the backs of their necks and running down their backs.

The thunder rolled through the air above them and they kept walking, their hands still joined. Neither knew what it meant that it felt so faultless, like this was what was meant to happen. Reaching the gates into the school they both hesitated for a moment.

"This is it," Harry said, his voice unwavering in its certainty.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked taking a deep breath and letting the rain wash over him. It felt wonderfully splendid and amazingly freeing.

"You jump, I jump Jack," Harry muttered feeling a little giddy.

"What?" Draco asked, turning to Harry with confusion as to why he had just been called Jack, the Gryffindor only smiled.

"It's a muggle movie," Harry said, "Remind me to show it to you one day."

"Alright," Draco said with a fond smile, he could already tell that the journey they were about to embark on wasn't going to be dull in any sense of the word. "You jump, I jump," He repeated sounding very sure of himself.

With those final words they stepped over the threshold and out of the grounds of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry ready to start on their next adventure, whatever came next they would face it together.