-1Pairing: Potter/Malfoy

Genre: Angst

Timeline: Seventh Year, ignoring last book and Dumbledore's death

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Not me. Cause…then Harry would have been with Hermione and Ron would have been with his right hand. …I'm kidding. He would've had someone. :o

Summary: Draco Malfoy knew he shouldn't care, but in the back of his mind he knew he couldn't lie to himself either. Harry was just a necessity and without that constant he was without a floor to stand on. Harry knew this more than anyone, which was why he could smirk at him, without remorse as he uttered his last goodbye.

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He was running, running faster than he thought possible through the corridors of Hogwarts. He was looking searching, hoping to find the wizard he so longed to stop. He was running, breathless, stumbling down the large hall, the portraits were following him, eyes traveling past his haggard form. Blonde bangs whipped across his eyes and he pushed them back with a thin bony hand. He was sweating from his sprint and yet he had no idea where the Gryffindor had gone. If he was supposed to make sure he didn't fall into Voldemort's hand, why was it so easy for him to lose sight of the teen?

Growling in frustration. Malfoy stopped his running and walked as quickly as he could. There was no time. There was no time for this chase they needed to get somewhere safe and Hogwarts was no where near safe. Draco gritted his teeth. Why did Potter have to be so stubborn? He sighed, taking a deep breath to get some air into his lungs. He knew he shouldn't care about Potter. He knew he shouldn't care that the Dark Lord was going kill him once he got his hands on him, but he did. He cared that Potter was going to die. Because Harry was just a necessity and without that constant he was without a floor to stand on. Harry knew this more than anyone. Even without being told.

Gasping, large gulps of air pulled into his lungs, Draco stopped. His side hurt and his already pale complexion seemed gray in the light. Why the hell did Hogwarts have to be so damn big?! Draco started again, sprinting as fast he could down the hall. Where would the Dark Lord be? Where would he think to tell Harry to meet him? Draco could come up with no plausible answer and maybe it was better that way. He wouldn't have to care. He wouldn't have to muster up the strength and will power he was drawing now. Grinding his teeth he cursed his lack of empathy and wished with all his heart that he could be more like his father. But his father had hell to pay with Lord Voldemort so maybe it was better just to be his enemy rather than be loved and lost.

Harry was God knew where and here he was in the middle of a corridor panting and sweating like a dog. Draco shoved away a portrait as he entered a secret door. Slytherin passageway, a way he had found to get his way through the castle without actually having to search the entire edifice. Pushing the door open into a dimly lit stairwell, Draco hurried up the stairs opening the doors into random landings, finding several students staring at him with odd looks on their faces. Well done, Draco, you've just gone and made your popularity status plummet. Draco could care less at the moment as he finally made it to the top of Hogwarts. The spire he was on looked out on the grounds. He could see that Hagrid oaf's hut and the forbidden forest. Of course! The Forbidden Forest. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner?

Practically toppling over his feet, Draco ran as fast as he could out of the damn school. The stairs disappeared beneath his feet and he tripped as he exited the passageway. Breath coming in sharp, painful gasps, Draco exited into the grounds, running straight into the darkness that was the Forbidden Forest. He had never gone in so willingly before and he was afraid of what he would find. Deep in the shady trees he heard things. Centaurs running to and fro with their bows knocked. Unicorns galloping and a hundred other wicked things. Not to mention Voldemort. The dark wizard was here, he could feel it. He had a dark mark to testify, on the upper arm hidden beneath his robes. It was burning and he knew he was here.

It took some time but he finally found a free area, it was clear, free of trees and dense foliage. It would have been beautiful had not the man standing in the middle ruined the serenity. He was smiling, a cruel smile that showed all his teeth. From his place Draco could see him clearly. And he could also see Potter. The brunet was standing before the man, wand hidden beneath folds of robes. Draco couldn't make out what either was saying. He sneaked and he did it well, Slytherin's had a lot of practice. The blonde hid far enough away from the middle of the clearing but close enough to hear their words and Draco couldn't believe it.

"I've done as you commanded, Lord, I've disposed of all the would-be heroes."

It was Harry's voice and Draco was shocked. He nearly gasped before putting a hand over his mouth. Harry Potter was working with Lord Voldemort? Draco felt like he was spiraling down into an abyss. Harry couldn't be working with the Dark Lord. He couldn't be.

"Good, Harry." Voldemort hissed, "Good. Now just wait. You'll soon see, your parents will be restored and the world will be ours."

Harry nodded as Voldemort disapparated into thin air. The brunet turned, inclining his head where Draco stood. He looked beautiful in the dim moon light, his eyes were shining blue but Draco didn't like the look he saw in them. It looked almost…insane.

"I know you're there Malfoy." Harry didn't turn entirely towards him, "Did Dumbledore send you?"

Draco's voice was lost as he stared at the dark clad Potter. His glasses were catching the shine of the moon, glinting off the metal frames. His mind was racing, trying to figure out where they could have slipped, where he could have fallen and this dark crazed Potter had risen.

"Yes." His voice seemed rough and foreign, "What are you doing, Potter? Why are you working with…him?"

Still harsh, still just as cruel as always. But this time it was out of loathing for himself than at the brunet. He loved Harry and this was what he had turned into. He was a fool to have thought that the boy who lived could stay a good wizard forever. He had been surrounded by darkness since the time of his birth. It was only time till he succumbed to it himself. Draco should have known there was no light in this land enshrouded.

"Because you're not," Harry smirked as he turned drifting towards him as though he were floating. Draco stared at him unmoving as Harry stood only a few inches away, "You're a disappointment Draco, the Dark Lord is very upset with you."

Draco glared at the teen, resentment and hate in his expression. He had once wanted to be loved by the Dark Lord but he had failed and had ultimately become Dumbledore's lackey. Draco had not left easily of course but it was something he had been okay with. But the words from Potter's lips made the feelings of failure come back. The jealousy he had managed to submerge when Voldemort had announced his new favorite. But it hadn't been Potter at the time.

Harry closed the short, small distance between them and craned his head slightly so their lips met. Draco didn't pull away, needing the contact more than the teen who initiated the kiss. Pushed up against the tree, Draco felt Harry's tongue snake into his mouth, dominating. So much like Voldemort's tricks dominating his mind. He gasped as Harry's knee came between his legs and he could feel the smirk against his lips. God, he liked it. He wanted it more than anything. The contact, the touch something he had missed while the boy had been away. There was something so wrong, about it so right about it, that Draco's mind couldn't grasp it. He had never kissed Harry, he had only ever inflicted harm upon him. Harry finally pulled off him and there was a smirk on his face. Draco was still recovering from the passionate kiss, his face tinted pink as his breath came in slow uneven gasps.

Harry's fingers ghosted over his chin and he was shaking slightly from the touch. Harry was still smirking, loving every minute that he had Draco by the strings. Draco felt it and that fact hurt. He pulled away his head, even as part of him wanted the touch so badly. He hated the fact he was in control. His lips were on his again and he couldn't help it, he leaned in. Harry pulled away faster this time, but there was no smile on his face this time, the expression was almost one akin to regret.

"Don't let him…get you Malfoy." Harry's eyes turned downward, "Don't listen to his lies like I have."

The smirk was back on his face now, the moment of weakness gone and he ghosted his fingers against his jaw line before walking slowing moving away.

"Goodbye." He smirked, "Be good for the Nutty Professor, Draco."

And that was it, he was gone. He disapparated just the same way the Dark Lord had done minuted before. Draco stared at the spot where he had been and felt his knees buckled underneath him before he fell to the floor himself. He could hear Dumbledore's voice in his head. The man wouldn't be happy.

--

"Professor?"

"Yes…Draco?" the old man looked up from his books, behind the half-moon spectacles. His eyebrows were furrowed in a frown as he watched the young teen fiddle with his sleeves.

"Potter." Draco began, unable too look into those blue eyes. "He…he's betrayed everyone. He's with Lord Voldemort."

Professor Albus Dumbledore stared at Draco in shock, eyes comically wide. The pencil fell to his desk, rolled and clattered with a thud on the floor. Draco was sure the man was suffering a heart attack.

"P-professor?"

"Then…all is lost, Mr. Malfoy…all is lost." He gave a resigned, defeated sigh. "I've failed. Again."

Draco stared for a moment before turning away and walking out the door.

He wondered if it would be okay to kill himself before he made his way outside and once again into the Forbidden Forest to wait for the Dark Lord to come and claim him.