~Death Among the Roses~
A/N: Valentine's Day, and my heart got somewhat broken. So now, I will write my pain. Damn bastard!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, so quit trying to sue me, you punks!
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~Death Among the Roses~
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~Red is my blood
~Eternally does it run through me
~Deep does it flow
-
~Red is my love
~Old will it never grow
~Still within his soul
~Enclosed is my fate
(A/N: Beats 'roses are red, violets are blue. . . and look at the beginning of each word if you haven't figured it out) +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Winter break, and all his friends where back home with their families. Harry was left alone, staring out on the smooth surface of the lake. Red petals floated by sometimes, but it didn't have any true significance to him at the moment. He didn't mind the loneliness.
His friends had been acting, it seemed to him, more odd and hyped up than usual. Their company was slowly becoming tiring, so he tried to avoid being with them as much as possible. Ron and Hermione were basically oblivious to his continuous sighs of boredom, he truly didn't fit in anymore. But maybe it had something to do with being their last year together before graduation and permanent separation.
They had all promised to come and visit sometimes, everyone does, but do they ever truly do so? Of course not. They call every holiday, but there is no true connection left. So he watched as the Giant Squid randomly poked one of his tentacles above the surface of the water, disturbing the peace. Yes, that's what he was. A leaf floating in the wind, landing on a shallow water surface, causing ripples among it.
"Sitting all alone? The Golden Boy of Gryffindor?"
Harry hadn't heard, or at least, he didn't turn around to find the source of the comment. He threw some leftover toast out towards the lake to prove his point.
"I said, sitting all alone on this sunny day, Potter?" Steps came towards him, but he still didn't respond. Harry started to doze, until he noticed strong arms snake across his chest and pull him back against another.
He looked up, seemed irritated to have his minds' peace interrupted by none other than silver eyes.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he hissed, obviously annoyed that anyone could be so damn irritating. Especially when you're sending a clear message you want no company. Damnit. But why did he smell like fresh dirt?
Draco had a sly smile, which still stayed on his face even after Harry's continuous glare of ice daggers. The Giant Squid must have felt the sudden coldness, because he somehow seemed to have retreated a little faster to the bottom of the lake than its average speed would normally be. Though he left a great ink blotch as a memory of where it had been.
"Why, I'm only here to give you a present, creepy little freak."
What a greeting. Harry snorted in disgust. Like hell he has a present for him. A dead rat, perhaps? That seemed popular among Slytherins who liked to gut things for the fun of it. "Is it breathing, or preserved road-kill?"
Draco acted as if insulted, though Harry couldn't have been any more oblivious to the flirtation going on. "Would I do something like that, Potter?" He reached behind his back and brought forth a gift that caught Harry's breath. A bouquet of the most pure blood-red roses he had ever seen. All neatly arranged, right at the moment of their full bloom, with slight dew settled on the petals. Just breathtaking.
Harry stared at the bouquet, then at Draco, then once more at Draco, before asking, "What the hell is your problem, Malfoy?"
Draco seemed confused for a moment. "What do you mean, what is my problem? Here, for you, a day before Valentines' Day, Friday the 13th. Amazing things happen, you know. Fresh cut, too."
Harry sat still, mesmerized by the beauty of it all. But why would Draco do this? Was he making fun of him? Because he's rejected every Valentine he'd ever gotten?
He gritted his teeth and made to leave. "Damn you, Malfoy." He got up and started walking away, swallowing constantly. What the hell was his problem? Did he like to torment Harry so much? Was it truly that entertaining?
Draco didn't understand Harry's sudden anger. He got up as well and caught Harry's wrist, a strong yet gentle touch for him to stop. "What's wrong? Too embarrassed to hold a bouquet of roses?"
"Let go, Malfoy."
"Not until you tell me why."
"I said let go!"
"No!"
And then it happened. Unhesitating, quick, the sound echoing all around. Harry slapped Draco as hard as possible across the face, his anger flared. But it quickly diminished, and Draco still held on to his wrist.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" he yelled. Draco now saw the tears shining, running down his soft cheek. "Do you truly hate me so much? Do you always have to hurt me? What did I ever do to you?"
Draco stood there, too shocked to respond. He hadn't meant to hurt Harry the way he did. He just wanted to make him a nice present so they could go back to fighting. But he never had this in mind. Unable to do much more, he let Harry go and stood next to the Lake, watching his back retreat quickly towards the castle.
Red petals floated across the lake, gently touching each other before being pushed away in opposite directions.
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Harry ran, his lungs burning, ran blindly until he reached Gryffindor common room, ignoring the questions of the fat lady and continued on. He landed on his bed, made up with yellow rose petals scattered on top by Dobby to represent the house colors.
"Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!" he called out into the silence. No one could hear him anyway. And no one to comfort him. He tried to suffocate himself among the soft petals that reminded him of a touch.
"Harry?" came a voice from above. He looked around, confused slightly, rubbing his eyes vigorously all the while.
Seamus' head dropped from the top bunk, startling him. "Are you okay, Harry?"
Harry sat there, had totally forgotten Seamus didn't go home either. "Fine, Seamus, just peachy."
"You don't sound or look like it," he tried to grin in a joking manner, but it didn't really work.
Starting to sob slightly, Harry turned over to the other side of his bed, acting like he was looking for something in his trunk. "I'm fine, really, just can't find my present for Hedwig."
Seamus jumped down from his bed and walked over to sit next to Harry.
"Like hell you are," he said, looking down at Harry's tear-streaked face.
Harry looked over to see him holding some roses. "Who're those for?" he asked to change the subject, but returning to his 'search'.
"No one really," he said, holding them somewhat away as if it would bite him.
He reached down to still Harry's fiddling motions and made him look into his face. "Now what's wrong?"
At first he made to hit his hand away, but felt weak all of a sudden. Tired, as if he'd walked a whole two days without rest. First his sight began to swirl, then his vision slowly went dark, and Seamus' voice seemed forever far away.
"Harry!"
He didn't want to return, but fall forever into the darkness. Maybe he would finally join his family. He really wasn't wanted alive, so who would care if he were dead?
Silver-blue eyes flashed through his mind, but he couldn't place them, though they were so familiar, and yet so different.
'Red is my love, Old does it grow,' came a tender voice that was from the owner of the silver eyes, though he couldn't exactly place it. 'Still in his soul, Enclosed is my fate.'
"His Soul?" he asked himself. Am I dead? That was too simple, though. Warm, cozy, strong arms wrapped around him. Maybe it was the person he saw. 'But why do I know that face so well?' he kept repeating in his mind.
Slowly regaining consciousness, he looked around his surroundings, noticed that he was in the common room on the couch and had arms around him.
'Could it be-?'
He looked up and saw Seamus, asleep, but held him as if to protect him from any evil. Harry tried to free himself without waking him up, succeeding, and created a white rose with a note tied around its stem.
* Thank you *
Harry looked outside the window and saw the stars, but something told him to go outside anyway. Creeping up to get his fathers' invisibility cloak, he wrapped it around himself and made his way through the hole and left a dreaming Seamus sleeping peacefully on the couch.
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Draco had looked for Harry all afternoon to apologize, then thought about going to the Gryffindor Common Room. Being head-boy gave you certain privileges, but he decided against it. What if Harry was still mad at him? He had no true reason for going to look for him. Draco had left the roses next to the lake, figuring to forget about the stupid flowers anyway. They had caused this fiasco in the first place.
But he wasn't even at dinner, so that made him somewhat edgy. He was on his way to the Hospital Wing, when he bumped into someone.
"Sorry, I-"
Nothing was there. The hall was empty.
'Must have been my imagination'. He walked on, though certain someone had run into him.
Harry had fallen over into the shadows and stared after Draco. He felt suddenly connected, linked, mentally or spiritually he did not know. But he didn't care either. He just knew something was waiting for him at the lake. Something very special and important.
Running the rest of the way after passing through the great oak doors, he left a path among the early spring dew. 'Thankfully the snow melted,' he said, grateful not to leave a trail.
He slowed up as he reached the edge of the lake, searching for an item, something, somewhere, then he found it.
He quickly raced over and picked it up, dusting off some excess dirt that had become attached.
'He cut them especially for me,' he thought, tears once again forming in his eyes. But in the moonlight, the roses seemed to glow, shimmering as if having been powdered with pixie dust.
Now Harry knew he had to go apologize to Draco, because he really had meant it all well. He just had to remember to take off his cloak this time.
Two petals still floated in the water, creating a circle around each other.
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Harry was truly nowhere to be found. Draco was starting to get paranoid, because he didn't want Harry to hate him. He just wanted him to dislike him.
Draco couldn't stand it anymore. He ran down to the first floor, took a breath and called his name, kept it ringing through the hallways so the people left over would easily hear it. There were no crowds in which all sounds repelled off the wall.
"Harry. . . " he heard it faintly and wondered why it was his name being called. He made his way cautiously in, holding on to the roses, making his way to the source of the call.
Low and behold, it was Draco who had called him. He crept over towards him carefully, so as to make no sound. Pulling off his cloak, Harry reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
Immediately Draco turned to find Harry standing there, with his flowers in his hand. "Harry!" he cried in relief. "Harry, I've been looking all over for you! I just wanted to apo-"
"No, Draco," he began slowly, saying his first name to gain his attention, "I want to apologize for having smacked you earlier." There was a weird feeling coming up inside of him now, making him feel more calm and open than he could ever have felt. "You truly didn't do anything wrong, and it was me who overreacted. I'm just so used to you being a bastard towards me that I couldn't think of any other reason for you making something so wonderful and amazing, that-"
Draco put his finger on Harry's lips to quiet him. "Did you just say 'wonderful and amazing'?"
Harry was too distracted with the gentleness of the touch that all he could do was nod.
Quick, ravenously, but careful enough as to not bruise the roses, Draco pulled Harry's head towards him and held him in a tender, passionate kiss that kept Harry's mind blank for the next five minutes.
He thought he heard glass shatter somewhere in the distance, but Harry thought that might be his sanity having fallen over and leaving him entirely.
'So what if I like guys?' he asked himself, 'No one said I couldn't fall for my nemesis, now did they?'
It stayed like that for a couple more moments, until both of them really did have to catch their breath. But Draco still held on as to where he could trace Harry's bottom lip with his tongue, causing him to breath more heavily yet still have a hard time standing on his feet now.
"Draco," he whispered in a quivery voice, "please, I don't know how much longer I can stand."
"Then hold on to me and I will catch you," he nuzzled his neck and kissed it until marks started to show, "before you can fall."
Harry truly didn't have any other options, but he finally did notice that they were in the middle of a hallway where anyone could pass and see them.
Draco must have noticed the same thing, but he pushed him into a secret doorway he found led to his room in no less than some seconds, because it was a slide. Some petals were left behind on the floor.
Ending up sprawled on Draco's bed, Harry landed flat on his back and Draco right next to him. He moved the bouquet onto the floor to not be harmed, but was quickly pulled back by Draco's strong arms. Harry was turned around and Draco lay on top of him, both of them caught in their eyes for what seemed the rest of life. But Harry was the first to break the bond as he reached out to move a strand out of Draco's face.
Draco caught his hand and gently bit his palm, then kissed it.
Harry blushed, looked away, but Draco's lips captured his own again.
"Draco," Harry whispered, desperate to say what that feeling had been, "I don't feel lonely anymore."
Draco smiled, his eyes sparkling and kissed his cheek. "I will never leave you alone," he gently purred back into his ear, making him shiver underneath him.
Right then and there, he was taken, forever now together with a truth binding them.
"At sunrise I will show you my rose garden," he whispered, then Draco held Harry's head with a fistful of his hair, tasting him to last. +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
~My love beeth oath-bound, forever dedicated towards a true king of my heart
~Under passions' spell do I live fore you
~Regaining lost feelings for an eternity's cost of losses
~Die will I next to your side
~Eternity cannot touch what we have
~Roses keep my soul for you
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School was back into session again, and everyone had somewhat gotten used to the idea of Harry being together with Draco. It wasn't like they could truly hide it anyway, or at least Draco never tried to hide his adoration for Harry. Harry would just walk mutely next to him, forever blushing with the quick kisses and nibbles on his neck.
Hermione thought that his head might fall off it continued on the way it did, but he didn't care. He wasn't alone anymore, and that was what made him feel safe.
"Whatever rocks your boat," was all she had said, and Ron turned a wonderful red to match his hair.
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Draco had gotten a letter that morning, and had told Harry wait for him in the library after lunch. But Draco never came. And Harry had to leave a note saying he had to go to his class and would see him later.
Still no Draco.
The school was wondering where the tall blonde Slytherin had vanished to, until a third-year girl came back screaming her head off, tears shining in her eyes.
She ran directly towards Harry, being the first person she found whom she thought she could trust.
"Harry! Harry! My goodness, Harry! It's horrible!"
Harry tried to calm the girl down who was in hysterics, only finding out her name was Kayla and that she had been walking around the Greenhouses when she wasn't supposed to. "Please, Harry! It's a true nightmare!"
"Calm down, Kayla. Breath," he kept saying, trying to calm the poor girl. "Now, start over and tell us what happened."
"But that would take too long!" she wailed.
"Well, you crying sure isn't speeding things up," Ron muttered and was elbowed by Hermione, causing him to yelp in pain.
"Then just speak," Hermione said, doing her best to try and think of a non-hiccuping spell.
"It's Draco! Harry, it's Draco!"
Harry froze, doing his best to process what she was saying through his mind.
"What about Draco?" he asked as calmly as possible without strangling it out of the girl.
"He's dead! He's been stabbed in his own rose garden and is dead! Waah! I'm so sorry!!" she cried out loud, causing others to stare. Ron took off to go look for Dumbledore.
Hermione went pale, almost turning like Sir Nick.
Harry's breaths' where ragged now. "What do you mean 'dead'? Dead as in pretty beat up or –"
"Dead as in he's never coming back." Dumbledore was rushing towards the poor traumatized girl. Ron was nowhere in sight.
"Professor Sprout had seen her running in here and was crying about a dead boy," he explained, "she went to check and sure enough his body was found behind the 3rd greenhouse."
Harry was swallowing, slowly but surely. "Do-do you know-what caused this t- to happen?" His mind was reeling again.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Harry. His parents have been notified and will arrive on the morrow." Then he left without a glance back, Ron still having not returned.
"Harry, I-" Hermione began, searching for the right words, but for once, was dumbstruck.
"No," he whispered, "never." Then he fell unconscious.
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~Miracles are supposed to happen
~Yet here, you have left me
-
~Left me behind, my love
~Oath-bound under the earth yourself shall you return
~Vengeance has no meaning left, for who shall take my side?
~Even though I will remember you always
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Harry had been in his bed for the longest, crying over the loss of his soul mate, who he had promised to love forever. All in one day, now this.
"I am doomed," he sobbed, "everyone I love will vanish from my side." Hermione and Ron had given up on trying to talk to him, leaving him to mourn alone. Only Seamus came in once in a while to see how he was.
He had been given a separate room, so he could weep in more privacy, though he really did want company.
More petals seemed to have fallen onto the lake. +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Seamus tapped on his door, to make sure he wasn't disturbing him. "Harry," he called as he opened and came in. "Harry, I brought you some soup." He gently closed the door behind him.
Harry was a huddled form on his bed, couldn't think of a response, so he remained silent.
Seamus sighed, and came over to sit next to Harry. When he touched his back and he didn't pull away, Seamus began rubbing it in a comforting motion.
"Don't worry, Harry," he said, "it was a freak accident. No one would have thought that he could fall into something he'd been caring for about 6 months now would be his grave."
Harry slowly started shaking again. He was crying.
"No one thought that sniffing the Gargoyle Lotus would kill him."
Harry mumbled something about wanting to change clothes, so Seamus left to let him attend to his business, promising to be back later.
But as soon as the door closed, Harry knew how he died.
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It was past dinner and Harry was creeping the halls, looking for the one person whom he needed to talk to.
And that person just happened to be sitting in the Library.
"Neville!" he called out, startling the boy out of his book.
"Harry!" he said in surprise, "are you feeling better now? Is there something I can do for you?"
"I need you to answer a question for me," he said seriously.
Neville sat there amazed for a moment, wondering what in the world he had that Harry didn't. "I'll do my best to answer you," he said honestly.
"Great," Harry said, then paused to think a moment. "Do you know the Gargoyle Lotus?"
"Yes," he sounded unsure, "but why would you want to know about that?"
"Is it poisonous?" he asked, thinking he knew the answer already.
"Only if you smell it close-range up."
"What does it look like?"
Neville considered the question for a moment. "It's sort of like a rose," he finally answered. "Well, it is a rose to be more exact, but you can tell that there is a difference."
"What is that?"
"When there is a full moon, they have the odd trait to start shimmering like something sparkly, you know what I mean?"
Harry smiled. "Perfectly."
Neville sighed in relief for having been able to help Harry. "But why did you want to know?"
"So I could find out who killed Draco!" Harry got up and started running out of the library, still somewhat unnoticed.
"Why don't you go by Hermione's and Ron's and tell them you're better now?" Neville called.
"You tell them!" he replied over his shoulder and out of the library he ran.
"It was you all along," he muttered to himself, anger slowly growing inside him. "All along, you did it. It was you."
He was like a dog on the hunt for it's masters' prey. And his target was Seamus.
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Harry was sitting on his bed the next time Seamus came in. Seamus was relieved to see him act a little more himself than before. Once again, he closed the door behind him.
"Harry, you're up and about again!" he said.
"Yes, Seamus, and I need to ask you something, too," Harry replied as friendly as possible.
"Sure, Harry, no problem. What's up?" he took a seat right next to him on his bed.
"No use beating around the bush," he sighed, "Seamus, why did you kill Draco?"
Seamus sat there and blinked at Harry a couple of times. The question catching him completely off guard. "Excuse me?"
"You knew about the Gargoyle Lotus in his Rose Garden," Harry began to count up, "you knew he was found in his Rose Garden,"
"Everyone knew that, and be-"Seamus tried to defend himself.
"I asked Neville about the Gargoyle Lotus, and do you know what he said?"
"No."
"He said it looks like a rose. A rose, Seamus. Do you remember those roses you had in your hand when I first came back?"
"Yes, but-"
"You had the time. You could recognize the difference easily. And you even know how he was killed and when he started planting that garden. Now the question is why. Why, Seamus?"
Seamus sighed, giving in to tell the truth. "Honestly, I was just jealous."
Harry sat, doing his best not to just yell at him. "So?"
"I was jealous because," now he looked Harry straight in the eyes, "he had you."
"What?" Harry didn't quite follow that last bit.
"I hated him, because he had you and I couldn't live with that. So I decided to put an end to it so you would only need me. I didn't want him to have what was denied me. To touch your lips, to smell your hair, I wanted you and only you. Nothing else, Harry, don't you see? And now that he's gone, you and I can-"
A familiar sound rang through the room. The same sound that brought Harry and Draco closer together. A slap across the face. Only this time there was no getting closer.
"You killed him," he uttered through clenched teeth, "because you were in love with me? IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?"
"What?"
"You killed him, because you couldn't stand the sight of us together! If you really did love me, then you would have wanted me happy instead of to yourself!"
"I still want you, Harry."
"Don't say that!" Harry was hurt. A person he had loved as a brother for so long, how could he destroy his luck like this?
He felt his lips on his neck, arms around him so he was locked.
"Seamus, let go of me!" he said angrily, trying to wriggle himself free, but somehow making it worse.
"No, I won't." Seamus sounded cold all of a sudden. Not the warm, cheery Seamus he knew. But the killer Seamus. "Whatever you gave him I deserve as well, Harry."
"What the hell is your –" but he couldn't finish his sentence before Seamus caught his lips in a rough kiss.
Tears of anger started to shimmer in his eyes, not being strong enough to fight back, being just there. 'You left me behind, Draco,' he thought, doing his best to think of a way to get Seamus off of him.
He wasn't gentle like Draco at all. He was rough, used all his strength to where he was hurting Harry, and didn't even care unless he got what he wanted.
As soon as Seamus raised his head, Harry screamed. He screamed the only thing he could think of screaming to save him.
It was Ron who came rushing to the door first, kicking it down with one good aim, though now he hopped around in pain.
Hermione is the one who came next and stood mortified by the scene she saw of two people who where close to her heart, though now she felt disgusted at Seamus for being the pervert he was.
"Stupefy!" she cried, and Seamus fell, though tearing off the rest of Harry's clothes as he fell to the floor until Dumbledore came. He seemed no closer of wanting to be there than Hermione did, but Harry had been abused and almost misused, so there were punishments for that as well.
Harry was huddled on his bed again, crying, because he had found who had killed Draco, and because he was hurt that it had to be a friend of his to pay for this sick sin.
Hermione put her arms around him to show he was still protected, no matter what happened. "That's what friends are for," she had said, and Harry went back to having fitful sleeps.
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The funeral would take place tomorrow, and even though they found the killer, he still did not feel satisfied.
"In death joined," he whispered to himself and went into Draco's Rose Garden.
All the roses were still blooming their magnificent colors and the most obvious stood out. Pureblood red.
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Hermione and Ron were taking a walk to relieve themselves of the incidents that had passed and had decided to go look at Draco's Rose Garden one last time.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Hermione screamed in terror.
"Oh please god, no," Ron whispered as he saw the form lay crumpled on the dirt. Yet he seemed so peaceful.
"No, Harry, please no," Hermione began to sob, feeling her stomach heave at the sight.
Harry Potter lay dead in the middle of the mound, the Gargoyle Lotus held between his hands like a praying boy, going home. Finally happy.
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Hermione and Ron both picked two white flowers for Draco and Harry, who were both buried on the same day.
The world mourned, their friends cried. The last they would ever remember is how they loved each other.
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~Red is my blood
~Eternally does it run through me
~Deep does it flow
-
~Red is my love
~Old will it never grow
~Still within his soul
~Enclosed is my fate
-
~My love beeth oath-bound, forever dedicated towards a true king of my heart
~Under passions' spell do I live for you
~Regaining lost feelings for an eternity's cost of losses
~Die will I next to your side
~Eternity cannot touch what we have
~Roses keep my soul for you
-
~Miracles are supposed to happen
~Yet here, you have left me
-
~Left me behind, my love
~Oath-bound under the earth yourself shall you return
~Vengeance has no meaning left, for who shall take my side?
~Even though I will remember you always
~FIN
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A/N: Well, how did you like it? Too depressing? This is my Valentine, okay? Though this DEFINFITELY did NOT happen to me, I'm still sad. Oh well, hope your Valentine is more happier than mine was. Love all of you guys! And please review! Thanx
~Lythtis
A/N: Valentine's Day, and my heart got somewhat broken. So now, I will write my pain. Damn bastard!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, so quit trying to sue me, you punks!
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~Death Among the Roses~
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~Red is my blood
~Eternally does it run through me
~Deep does it flow
-
~Red is my love
~Old will it never grow
~Still within his soul
~Enclosed is my fate
(A/N: Beats 'roses are red, violets are blue. . . and look at the beginning of each word if you haven't figured it out) +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Winter break, and all his friends where back home with their families. Harry was left alone, staring out on the smooth surface of the lake. Red petals floated by sometimes, but it didn't have any true significance to him at the moment. He didn't mind the loneliness.
His friends had been acting, it seemed to him, more odd and hyped up than usual. Their company was slowly becoming tiring, so he tried to avoid being with them as much as possible. Ron and Hermione were basically oblivious to his continuous sighs of boredom, he truly didn't fit in anymore. But maybe it had something to do with being their last year together before graduation and permanent separation.
They had all promised to come and visit sometimes, everyone does, but do they ever truly do so? Of course not. They call every holiday, but there is no true connection left. So he watched as the Giant Squid randomly poked one of his tentacles above the surface of the water, disturbing the peace. Yes, that's what he was. A leaf floating in the wind, landing on a shallow water surface, causing ripples among it.
"Sitting all alone? The Golden Boy of Gryffindor?"
Harry hadn't heard, or at least, he didn't turn around to find the source of the comment. He threw some leftover toast out towards the lake to prove his point.
"I said, sitting all alone on this sunny day, Potter?" Steps came towards him, but he still didn't respond. Harry started to doze, until he noticed strong arms snake across his chest and pull him back against another.
He looked up, seemed irritated to have his minds' peace interrupted by none other than silver eyes.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he hissed, obviously annoyed that anyone could be so damn irritating. Especially when you're sending a clear message you want no company. Damnit. But why did he smell like fresh dirt?
Draco had a sly smile, which still stayed on his face even after Harry's continuous glare of ice daggers. The Giant Squid must have felt the sudden coldness, because he somehow seemed to have retreated a little faster to the bottom of the lake than its average speed would normally be. Though he left a great ink blotch as a memory of where it had been.
"Why, I'm only here to give you a present, creepy little freak."
What a greeting. Harry snorted in disgust. Like hell he has a present for him. A dead rat, perhaps? That seemed popular among Slytherins who liked to gut things for the fun of it. "Is it breathing, or preserved road-kill?"
Draco acted as if insulted, though Harry couldn't have been any more oblivious to the flirtation going on. "Would I do something like that, Potter?" He reached behind his back and brought forth a gift that caught Harry's breath. A bouquet of the most pure blood-red roses he had ever seen. All neatly arranged, right at the moment of their full bloom, with slight dew settled on the petals. Just breathtaking.
Harry stared at the bouquet, then at Draco, then once more at Draco, before asking, "What the hell is your problem, Malfoy?"
Draco seemed confused for a moment. "What do you mean, what is my problem? Here, for you, a day before Valentines' Day, Friday the 13th. Amazing things happen, you know. Fresh cut, too."
Harry sat still, mesmerized by the beauty of it all. But why would Draco do this? Was he making fun of him? Because he's rejected every Valentine he'd ever gotten?
He gritted his teeth and made to leave. "Damn you, Malfoy." He got up and started walking away, swallowing constantly. What the hell was his problem? Did he like to torment Harry so much? Was it truly that entertaining?
Draco didn't understand Harry's sudden anger. He got up as well and caught Harry's wrist, a strong yet gentle touch for him to stop. "What's wrong? Too embarrassed to hold a bouquet of roses?"
"Let go, Malfoy."
"Not until you tell me why."
"I said let go!"
"No!"
And then it happened. Unhesitating, quick, the sound echoing all around. Harry slapped Draco as hard as possible across the face, his anger flared. But it quickly diminished, and Draco still held on to his wrist.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" he yelled. Draco now saw the tears shining, running down his soft cheek. "Do you truly hate me so much? Do you always have to hurt me? What did I ever do to you?"
Draco stood there, too shocked to respond. He hadn't meant to hurt Harry the way he did. He just wanted to make him a nice present so they could go back to fighting. But he never had this in mind. Unable to do much more, he let Harry go and stood next to the Lake, watching his back retreat quickly towards the castle.
Red petals floated across the lake, gently touching each other before being pushed away in opposite directions.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Harry ran, his lungs burning, ran blindly until he reached Gryffindor common room, ignoring the questions of the fat lady and continued on. He landed on his bed, made up with yellow rose petals scattered on top by Dobby to represent the house colors.
"Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!" he called out into the silence. No one could hear him anyway. And no one to comfort him. He tried to suffocate himself among the soft petals that reminded him of a touch.
"Harry?" came a voice from above. He looked around, confused slightly, rubbing his eyes vigorously all the while.
Seamus' head dropped from the top bunk, startling him. "Are you okay, Harry?"
Harry sat there, had totally forgotten Seamus didn't go home either. "Fine, Seamus, just peachy."
"You don't sound or look like it," he tried to grin in a joking manner, but it didn't really work.
Starting to sob slightly, Harry turned over to the other side of his bed, acting like he was looking for something in his trunk. "I'm fine, really, just can't find my present for Hedwig."
Seamus jumped down from his bed and walked over to sit next to Harry.
"Like hell you are," he said, looking down at Harry's tear-streaked face.
Harry looked over to see him holding some roses. "Who're those for?" he asked to change the subject, but returning to his 'search'.
"No one really," he said, holding them somewhat away as if it would bite him.
He reached down to still Harry's fiddling motions and made him look into his face. "Now what's wrong?"
At first he made to hit his hand away, but felt weak all of a sudden. Tired, as if he'd walked a whole two days without rest. First his sight began to swirl, then his vision slowly went dark, and Seamus' voice seemed forever far away.
"Harry!"
He didn't want to return, but fall forever into the darkness. Maybe he would finally join his family. He really wasn't wanted alive, so who would care if he were dead?
Silver-blue eyes flashed through his mind, but he couldn't place them, though they were so familiar, and yet so different.
'Red is my love, Old does it grow,' came a tender voice that was from the owner of the silver eyes, though he couldn't exactly place it. 'Still in his soul, Enclosed is my fate.'
"His Soul?" he asked himself. Am I dead? That was too simple, though. Warm, cozy, strong arms wrapped around him. Maybe it was the person he saw. 'But why do I know that face so well?' he kept repeating in his mind.
Slowly regaining consciousness, he looked around his surroundings, noticed that he was in the common room on the couch and had arms around him.
'Could it be-?'
He looked up and saw Seamus, asleep, but held him as if to protect him from any evil. Harry tried to free himself without waking him up, succeeding, and created a white rose with a note tied around its stem.
* Thank you *
Harry looked outside the window and saw the stars, but something told him to go outside anyway. Creeping up to get his fathers' invisibility cloak, he wrapped it around himself and made his way through the hole and left a dreaming Seamus sleeping peacefully on the couch.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Draco had looked for Harry all afternoon to apologize, then thought about going to the Gryffindor Common Room. Being head-boy gave you certain privileges, but he decided against it. What if Harry was still mad at him? He had no true reason for going to look for him. Draco had left the roses next to the lake, figuring to forget about the stupid flowers anyway. They had caused this fiasco in the first place.
But he wasn't even at dinner, so that made him somewhat edgy. He was on his way to the Hospital Wing, when he bumped into someone.
"Sorry, I-"
Nothing was there. The hall was empty.
'Must have been my imagination'. He walked on, though certain someone had run into him.
Harry had fallen over into the shadows and stared after Draco. He felt suddenly connected, linked, mentally or spiritually he did not know. But he didn't care either. He just knew something was waiting for him at the lake. Something very special and important.
Running the rest of the way after passing through the great oak doors, he left a path among the early spring dew. 'Thankfully the snow melted,' he said, grateful not to leave a trail.
He slowed up as he reached the edge of the lake, searching for an item, something, somewhere, then he found it.
He quickly raced over and picked it up, dusting off some excess dirt that had become attached.
'He cut them especially for me,' he thought, tears once again forming in his eyes. But in the moonlight, the roses seemed to glow, shimmering as if having been powdered with pixie dust.
Now Harry knew he had to go apologize to Draco, because he really had meant it all well. He just had to remember to take off his cloak this time.
Two petals still floated in the water, creating a circle around each other.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Harry was truly nowhere to be found. Draco was starting to get paranoid, because he didn't want Harry to hate him. He just wanted him to dislike him.
Draco couldn't stand it anymore. He ran down to the first floor, took a breath and called his name, kept it ringing through the hallways so the people left over would easily hear it. There were no crowds in which all sounds repelled off the wall.
"Harry. . . " he heard it faintly and wondered why it was his name being called. He made his way cautiously in, holding on to the roses, making his way to the source of the call.
Low and behold, it was Draco who had called him. He crept over towards him carefully, so as to make no sound. Pulling off his cloak, Harry reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
Immediately Draco turned to find Harry standing there, with his flowers in his hand. "Harry!" he cried in relief. "Harry, I've been looking all over for you! I just wanted to apo-"
"No, Draco," he began slowly, saying his first name to gain his attention, "I want to apologize for having smacked you earlier." There was a weird feeling coming up inside of him now, making him feel more calm and open than he could ever have felt. "You truly didn't do anything wrong, and it was me who overreacted. I'm just so used to you being a bastard towards me that I couldn't think of any other reason for you making something so wonderful and amazing, that-"
Draco put his finger on Harry's lips to quiet him. "Did you just say 'wonderful and amazing'?"
Harry was too distracted with the gentleness of the touch that all he could do was nod.
Quick, ravenously, but careful enough as to not bruise the roses, Draco pulled Harry's head towards him and held him in a tender, passionate kiss that kept Harry's mind blank for the next five minutes.
He thought he heard glass shatter somewhere in the distance, but Harry thought that might be his sanity having fallen over and leaving him entirely.
'So what if I like guys?' he asked himself, 'No one said I couldn't fall for my nemesis, now did they?'
It stayed like that for a couple more moments, until both of them really did have to catch their breath. But Draco still held on as to where he could trace Harry's bottom lip with his tongue, causing him to breath more heavily yet still have a hard time standing on his feet now.
"Draco," he whispered in a quivery voice, "please, I don't know how much longer I can stand."
"Then hold on to me and I will catch you," he nuzzled his neck and kissed it until marks started to show, "before you can fall."
Harry truly didn't have any other options, but he finally did notice that they were in the middle of a hallway where anyone could pass and see them.
Draco must have noticed the same thing, but he pushed him into a secret doorway he found led to his room in no less than some seconds, because it was a slide. Some petals were left behind on the floor.
Ending up sprawled on Draco's bed, Harry landed flat on his back and Draco right next to him. He moved the bouquet onto the floor to not be harmed, but was quickly pulled back by Draco's strong arms. Harry was turned around and Draco lay on top of him, both of them caught in their eyes for what seemed the rest of life. But Harry was the first to break the bond as he reached out to move a strand out of Draco's face.
Draco caught his hand and gently bit his palm, then kissed it.
Harry blushed, looked away, but Draco's lips captured his own again.
"Draco," Harry whispered, desperate to say what that feeling had been, "I don't feel lonely anymore."
Draco smiled, his eyes sparkling and kissed his cheek. "I will never leave you alone," he gently purred back into his ear, making him shiver underneath him.
Right then and there, he was taken, forever now together with a truth binding them.
"At sunrise I will show you my rose garden," he whispered, then Draco held Harry's head with a fistful of his hair, tasting him to last. +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
~My love beeth oath-bound, forever dedicated towards a true king of my heart
~Under passions' spell do I live fore you
~Regaining lost feelings for an eternity's cost of losses
~Die will I next to your side
~Eternity cannot touch what we have
~Roses keep my soul for you
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
School was back into session again, and everyone had somewhat gotten used to the idea of Harry being together with Draco. It wasn't like they could truly hide it anyway, or at least Draco never tried to hide his adoration for Harry. Harry would just walk mutely next to him, forever blushing with the quick kisses and nibbles on his neck.
Hermione thought that his head might fall off it continued on the way it did, but he didn't care. He wasn't alone anymore, and that was what made him feel safe.
"Whatever rocks your boat," was all she had said, and Ron turned a wonderful red to match his hair.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Draco had gotten a letter that morning, and had told Harry wait for him in the library after lunch. But Draco never came. And Harry had to leave a note saying he had to go to his class and would see him later.
Still no Draco.
The school was wondering where the tall blonde Slytherin had vanished to, until a third-year girl came back screaming her head off, tears shining in her eyes.
She ran directly towards Harry, being the first person she found whom she thought she could trust.
"Harry! Harry! My goodness, Harry! It's horrible!"
Harry tried to calm the girl down who was in hysterics, only finding out her name was Kayla and that she had been walking around the Greenhouses when she wasn't supposed to. "Please, Harry! It's a true nightmare!"
"Calm down, Kayla. Breath," he kept saying, trying to calm the poor girl. "Now, start over and tell us what happened."
"But that would take too long!" she wailed.
"Well, you crying sure isn't speeding things up," Ron muttered and was elbowed by Hermione, causing him to yelp in pain.
"Then just speak," Hermione said, doing her best to try and think of a non-hiccuping spell.
"It's Draco! Harry, it's Draco!"
Harry froze, doing his best to process what she was saying through his mind.
"What about Draco?" he asked as calmly as possible without strangling it out of the girl.
"He's dead! He's been stabbed in his own rose garden and is dead! Waah! I'm so sorry!!" she cried out loud, causing others to stare. Ron took off to go look for Dumbledore.
Hermione went pale, almost turning like Sir Nick.
Harry's breaths' where ragged now. "What do you mean 'dead'? Dead as in pretty beat up or –"
"Dead as in he's never coming back." Dumbledore was rushing towards the poor traumatized girl. Ron was nowhere in sight.
"Professor Sprout had seen her running in here and was crying about a dead boy," he explained, "she went to check and sure enough his body was found behind the 3rd greenhouse."
Harry was swallowing, slowly but surely. "Do-do you know-what caused this t- to happen?" His mind was reeling again.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Harry. His parents have been notified and will arrive on the morrow." Then he left without a glance back, Ron still having not returned.
"Harry, I-" Hermione began, searching for the right words, but for once, was dumbstruck.
"No," he whispered, "never." Then he fell unconscious.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
~Miracles are supposed to happen
~Yet here, you have left me
-
~Left me behind, my love
~Oath-bound under the earth yourself shall you return
~Vengeance has no meaning left, for who shall take my side?
~Even though I will remember you always
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Harry had been in his bed for the longest, crying over the loss of his soul mate, who he had promised to love forever. All in one day, now this.
"I am doomed," he sobbed, "everyone I love will vanish from my side." Hermione and Ron had given up on trying to talk to him, leaving him to mourn alone. Only Seamus came in once in a while to see how he was.
He had been given a separate room, so he could weep in more privacy, though he really did want company.
More petals seemed to have fallen onto the lake. +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Seamus tapped on his door, to make sure he wasn't disturbing him. "Harry," he called as he opened and came in. "Harry, I brought you some soup." He gently closed the door behind him.
Harry was a huddled form on his bed, couldn't think of a response, so he remained silent.
Seamus sighed, and came over to sit next to Harry. When he touched his back and he didn't pull away, Seamus began rubbing it in a comforting motion.
"Don't worry, Harry," he said, "it was a freak accident. No one would have thought that he could fall into something he'd been caring for about 6 months now would be his grave."
Harry slowly started shaking again. He was crying.
"No one thought that sniffing the Gargoyle Lotus would kill him."
Harry mumbled something about wanting to change clothes, so Seamus left to let him attend to his business, promising to be back later.
But as soon as the door closed, Harry knew how he died.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
It was past dinner and Harry was creeping the halls, looking for the one person whom he needed to talk to.
And that person just happened to be sitting in the Library.
"Neville!" he called out, startling the boy out of his book.
"Harry!" he said in surprise, "are you feeling better now? Is there something I can do for you?"
"I need you to answer a question for me," he said seriously.
Neville sat there amazed for a moment, wondering what in the world he had that Harry didn't. "I'll do my best to answer you," he said honestly.
"Great," Harry said, then paused to think a moment. "Do you know the Gargoyle Lotus?"
"Yes," he sounded unsure, "but why would you want to know about that?"
"Is it poisonous?" he asked, thinking he knew the answer already.
"Only if you smell it close-range up."
"What does it look like?"
Neville considered the question for a moment. "It's sort of like a rose," he finally answered. "Well, it is a rose to be more exact, but you can tell that there is a difference."
"What is that?"
"When there is a full moon, they have the odd trait to start shimmering like something sparkly, you know what I mean?"
Harry smiled. "Perfectly."
Neville sighed in relief for having been able to help Harry. "But why did you want to know?"
"So I could find out who killed Draco!" Harry got up and started running out of the library, still somewhat unnoticed.
"Why don't you go by Hermione's and Ron's and tell them you're better now?" Neville called.
"You tell them!" he replied over his shoulder and out of the library he ran.
"It was you all along," he muttered to himself, anger slowly growing inside him. "All along, you did it. It was you."
He was like a dog on the hunt for it's masters' prey. And his target was Seamus.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Harry was sitting on his bed the next time Seamus came in. Seamus was relieved to see him act a little more himself than before. Once again, he closed the door behind him.
"Harry, you're up and about again!" he said.
"Yes, Seamus, and I need to ask you something, too," Harry replied as friendly as possible.
"Sure, Harry, no problem. What's up?" he took a seat right next to him on his bed.
"No use beating around the bush," he sighed, "Seamus, why did you kill Draco?"
Seamus sat there and blinked at Harry a couple of times. The question catching him completely off guard. "Excuse me?"
"You knew about the Gargoyle Lotus in his Rose Garden," Harry began to count up, "you knew he was found in his Rose Garden,"
"Everyone knew that, and be-"Seamus tried to defend himself.
"I asked Neville about the Gargoyle Lotus, and do you know what he said?"
"No."
"He said it looks like a rose. A rose, Seamus. Do you remember those roses you had in your hand when I first came back?"
"Yes, but-"
"You had the time. You could recognize the difference easily. And you even know how he was killed and when he started planting that garden. Now the question is why. Why, Seamus?"
Seamus sighed, giving in to tell the truth. "Honestly, I was just jealous."
Harry sat, doing his best not to just yell at him. "So?"
"I was jealous because," now he looked Harry straight in the eyes, "he had you."
"What?" Harry didn't quite follow that last bit.
"I hated him, because he had you and I couldn't live with that. So I decided to put an end to it so you would only need me. I didn't want him to have what was denied me. To touch your lips, to smell your hair, I wanted you and only you. Nothing else, Harry, don't you see? And now that he's gone, you and I can-"
A familiar sound rang through the room. The same sound that brought Harry and Draco closer together. A slap across the face. Only this time there was no getting closer.
"You killed him," he uttered through clenched teeth, "because you were in love with me? IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?"
"What?"
"You killed him, because you couldn't stand the sight of us together! If you really did love me, then you would have wanted me happy instead of to yourself!"
"I still want you, Harry."
"Don't say that!" Harry was hurt. A person he had loved as a brother for so long, how could he destroy his luck like this?
He felt his lips on his neck, arms around him so he was locked.
"Seamus, let go of me!" he said angrily, trying to wriggle himself free, but somehow making it worse.
"No, I won't." Seamus sounded cold all of a sudden. Not the warm, cheery Seamus he knew. But the killer Seamus. "Whatever you gave him I deserve as well, Harry."
"What the hell is your –" but he couldn't finish his sentence before Seamus caught his lips in a rough kiss.
Tears of anger started to shimmer in his eyes, not being strong enough to fight back, being just there. 'You left me behind, Draco,' he thought, doing his best to think of a way to get Seamus off of him.
He wasn't gentle like Draco at all. He was rough, used all his strength to where he was hurting Harry, and didn't even care unless he got what he wanted.
As soon as Seamus raised his head, Harry screamed. He screamed the only thing he could think of screaming to save him.
It was Ron who came rushing to the door first, kicking it down with one good aim, though now he hopped around in pain.
Hermione is the one who came next and stood mortified by the scene she saw of two people who where close to her heart, though now she felt disgusted at Seamus for being the pervert he was.
"Stupefy!" she cried, and Seamus fell, though tearing off the rest of Harry's clothes as he fell to the floor until Dumbledore came. He seemed no closer of wanting to be there than Hermione did, but Harry had been abused and almost misused, so there were punishments for that as well.
Harry was huddled on his bed again, crying, because he had found who had killed Draco, and because he was hurt that it had to be a friend of his to pay for this sick sin.
Hermione put her arms around him to show he was still protected, no matter what happened. "That's what friends are for," she had said, and Harry went back to having fitful sleeps.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
The funeral would take place tomorrow, and even though they found the killer, he still did not feel satisfied.
"In death joined," he whispered to himself and went into Draco's Rose Garden.
All the roses were still blooming their magnificent colors and the most obvious stood out. Pureblood red.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Hermione and Ron were taking a walk to relieve themselves of the incidents that had passed and had decided to go look at Draco's Rose Garden one last time.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Hermione screamed in terror.
"Oh please god, no," Ron whispered as he saw the form lay crumpled on the dirt. Yet he seemed so peaceful.
"No, Harry, please no," Hermione began to sob, feeling her stomach heave at the sight.
Harry Potter lay dead in the middle of the mound, the Gargoyle Lotus held between his hands like a praying boy, going home. Finally happy.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Hermione and Ron both picked two white flowers for Draco and Harry, who were both buried on the same day.
The world mourned, their friends cried. The last they would ever remember is how they loved each other.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
~Red is my blood
~Eternally does it run through me
~Deep does it flow
-
~Red is my love
~Old will it never grow
~Still within his soul
~Enclosed is my fate
-
~My love beeth oath-bound, forever dedicated towards a true king of my heart
~Under passions' spell do I live for you
~Regaining lost feelings for an eternity's cost of losses
~Die will I next to your side
~Eternity cannot touch what we have
~Roses keep my soul for you
-
~Miracles are supposed to happen
~Yet here, you have left me
-
~Left me behind, my love
~Oath-bound under the earth yourself shall you return
~Vengeance has no meaning left, for who shall take my side?
~Even though I will remember you always
~FIN
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
A/N: Well, how did you like it? Too depressing? This is my Valentine, okay? Though this DEFINFITELY did NOT happen to me, I'm still sad. Oh well, hope your Valentine is more happier than mine was. Love all of you guys! And please review! Thanx
~Lythtis