Author's note: Hey this is a story that has been begging to be written for a while and I finally got to it! It's going to be a one-shot unless someone can convince me to add on to it. This is dedicated to Littlepinkwolf, who was going to kill me if I did now write this down soon (I figured out the ending cuz!)
Summary: When Draco said that he would rather die then see Voldemort win and Harry Potter dead, he meant it.
Warnings: Character Death (major and minor), Physical Abuse, Mature Themes, Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Situations, Slash/Yaoi/Homosexual Male and Male Relationships, Het/Heterosexual/Male and Female Relationships, MPREG/Male Pregnancy, Possible OFC/Original Female Character or OMC/Original Male Character, Morbid Thoughts, Suicidal Thoughts, ANGST, AU/Alternate Universe
Pairings: Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione, (Past) James/Lily, (Past) Sirius/Remus (One Sided) Theodore Nott/Draco, (One Sided) Harry/Ginny
Spoilers: PS, CoS, AoP, GoF, OotP, This story takes place in seventh year but disregards any and all events that took place in the sixth book HBP
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any original characters; they may be used with my permission, but if they are used without it then I will report the abuse. Any likeness original characters may have to any living person is purely coincidental.
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
Emphasis
"Hogwarts"
Spells and/or Flashback
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
A contented sigh escaped from the pale wizard that was currently being held in the arms of a sleeping dark haired man. Half-lidded silver eyes watched as the chest of his lover moved slowly up and down, up and down, up and down.
The reassuring baa-bump of the sleeping man's heart brought a smile to the pale wizard's lips. He knew that at any giving moment in the outside world that heart may be stopped by another wizard's or witch's wand, but in the precious moments when the two wizards were alone together there was no worry about the chance of death.
A moan escaped the sleeping wizard, and he warped himself more tightly against his lover. Draco smiled once again, happy that Harry was able to find some type of peaceful rest during this time of war. He buried his face into Harry's warm chest, content to just lay there and think about anything and everything.
Draco recalled how this unusual relationship started. He remembered when he had accidentally come across Potter shortly before the end of their fifth year.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
"Potter?" Malfoy had muttered under his breath when he saw the slightly smaller boy sitting underneath the only willow tree in the garden that Malfoy had previously thought he was the only one with the knowledge of its existence.
If Potter had heard Malfoy he didn't show it. The dark haired boy stayed unmoving with his head tucked underneath his arms while resting on his knees.
Had Malfoy found Potter, the Great Harry Potter, in that same position at any other time or any other place he would have teased the boy without mercy, and he would have enjoyed it.
However, finding Potter underneath the aging willow that had granted Draco the very same reprieve from reality that it was giving Harry in the middle of the night when Malfoy was given the only chance to be free of his social mask, touched something deep with Draco that he had thought died when his father began to actively train him in becoming the perfect Malfoy, the perfect tool.
Not wanting to choose between swallowing his pride and returning back to the school and reality without so much as a few moments of being freed from his prison and breaking Potter out of the sanctuary of being free from reality, Draco stayed in his spot behind the white rose bush. He moved carefully to get into a more comfortable position, but when his hand scraped against some of the thorns that protected the roses he let out a strangled gasp.
"Who's there?" Potter's voice called out, his sharp tone made Draco flinch. "Show yourself!" Potter demanded when no one answered him, "I know that you are there, come out you coward!"
Malfoy snarled at the uncalled for insult. His pride demanded defense and his dignity would not allow him to leave. He stood up to his full height, brushed off any dirt from his robes, and stepped out from the rose bush's protective covering.
"Malfoy!" Potter growled before the pale wizard could retort to the previous insult. "I should have known that you would ruin any moment of peace that I have! Why are you following me? Did Daddy Dearest tell you to follow me?"
Malfoy glared at Potter hard. "The world does not revolve around you Potter!"
"Then why haven't you denied following me? Do you think that I haven't noticed all the glares that you send me when you think that no one is looking, or the way that wherever I go I always see a flash of blonde hair? Do us all a favor Malfoy, and bugger off!"
Malfoy flushed at the accusations that were thrown at him. He had not been following the smaller wizard, though his father had given him that very order only a few weeks ago. In fact, if anything, Draco had been avoiding Potter. For some reason or another whenever Draco was around the boy with unusual emerald eyes, it became hard for the Slytherin to keep his eyes away from those very eyes, and it became hard to stop his heart from beating faster and harder then it ever had.
"I have not been following you Potty; I have better things that I can waste my time with."
"Like Pansy Parkinson?" the smaller wizard commented snidely.
"Jealous Potter?" Malfoy ignored the innuendo that accompanied Potter's comment.
"Of you, never, I have better things that I can waste my time with." Potter mocked.
"Like coming up with another scheme to get your friends and yourself killed?"
Potter acted so quickly that Draco had no time to even think about retrieving his wand before he was slammed against the hard stone ground with a wand at his throat. "Watch your mouth Malfoy, or Voldemort will be down one more Death Eater!"
"I am no one's dog, Potter, and I'd rather die than see that mud-blood win and you dead!" Draco's words surprised himself as much as they surprised Harry; even more so when a few seconds later Draco realized that they were true.
Harry shook his head to rid himself of his confusion. "Do you really think that I believe you Malfoy? I know how you want to be every bit the same as the Death Eaters you have for parents!"
Draco began to struggle hard from underneath Harry trying to through the other boy off. "My mother is no Death Eater! We want nothing more than to be rid of this! All of it!"
Harry's grip on Draco tightened. A cold hand wrapped around his heart as he heard the same words that had been repeating over and over in his head. "Be rid of what?"
'I don't want this! I want to be rid of all of it!'
"To be rid of the Malfoy name and the disgrace that was brought upon it when my father allied himself with the Dark Lord."
'To be rid of the pressure, obligations, and fame that was brought upon me when Voldemort made me The-Boy-Who-Lived.'
Tears began to well up in Harry's eyes. Savagely, he wiped them away. "You aren't suppose to be like me Malfoy." He whispered brokenly.
"And you shouldn't be the boy that the Wizarding world relies on to stop a madman." Draco whispered back, no longer struggling. Without knowing how or why, Draco soon found himself wrapped in Harry's arms as the young wizard cried on his shoulder.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Nearly every night from that fateful night in their secret garden to the end of the school year, Harry and Draco had met. They would sometimes talk and other times they would simply watch the night sky in silence. They would about anything and everything, from their different though similarly lonely childhoods, to the latest gossip in Hogwarts, to why white roses were white.
Over that summer they kept in touch as well as they could. Draco would send nutrient and dreamless sleep potions, as well as letters detailing what was going on in the Wizarding world or any Death Eater information that his father told him, under an assumed name. Harry would send letters about his summer (though he said where he was), and letters explaining muggle inventions and politics that Draco was curious about.
For Harry's birthday Draco had gotten him a journal that would enable them to speak to each other, and (though Draco didn't know it) Harry accepted it solely on the fact that it was their first gift as friends.
Harry had sent Draco a letter during the week before the next school year started saying that it would be beneficial to both of them if they kept their friendship a secret. Draco agreed, knowing the consequences that would follow him at school and at home if their relationship was to become public knowledge, the painful pang in heart was ignored.
It wasn't long into their sixth year that they had actually become lovers. This encounter, like the encounter that had lead to their friendship, had been purely accidental.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Draco had been waiting in the Room of Requirement for the past two hours. The room had been introduced to the pale blonde when he had gotten a cold from waiting for Harry in their garden while it was raining. Harry, not wanting his new friend to get sick once again, had brought him to the hidden room during their next meeting.
Harry had been the one that wanted to meet Draco this night; he had told the pale blonde to meet him in the room at ten. Draco had barely made it on time because the Slytherin Quidditch practice had run over time. He grimaced as he realized that he had not even had the chance to shower all the dirt and grime away.
Deciding Harry was so late that there was little to no chance of him coming, and ignoring that annoyingly painful pang in his heart at being stood up, Draco chose to take a shower in the Room of Requirement then head back to his dorm.
Closing his eyes, Draco silently asked the room to create an attaching bathroom to the silver and gold room that he and Harry had created.
He had been sitting on the bed that was used when they had stayed so late that there was no point in going back to their dorms or when the Marauder's Map (another trinket of Harry's) showed too many teachers too close to them to risk going back.
Slowly opening his silver eyes, Draco scanned the room for the door that would lead to the new bathroom. Giving his thanks to the room, Draco stripped from his clothes, casted a cleaning charm on them while placing them on a near by chair, and made his way into the bathroom for a refreshing shower.
It was a few minutes later, when the shower was on at full blast drowning out any sound from the other room, that Harry ran into the room looking flushed from running all the way from Gryffindor tower. He stood there for moment panting heavily and trying to get control of his breathing.
Dumbledore had wanted to talk to him after dinner about some type of special training that he was to receive over the next few months to help him prepare for his next fight with Voldemort, but that training was going to severely cut into the amount of time that he would be able to spend with Draco, so the next two hours had been spent trying to figure out a schedule without letting Dumbledore know about Draco.
By the time he had gotten back to Gryffindor tower to put away some of the books that the Headmaster had wanted Harry to read for his training, he had already been one hour late to meet Draco. It took another hour for the Boy-Who-Lived to escape from his well-meaning, but insistent friends.
It took Harry a moment to realize that Draco wasn't in the room, not that Harry could blame him. With a sad smile, the emerald eyed wizard laid down on the bed where he knew Draco would have been because it was his favorite spot. He breathed in deeply savoring the scent that belonged solely to the silver eyed wizard.
If someone were to ask Harry when he had started to notice the small things that Draco did or the unique way he smelled or smiled, he would have been unable to tell them. He had always noticed small things about the pale wizard, things like how he was one of the few left handed wizards, or how he would always put his knife down before biting into a delicious piece of steak. At that time however, Harry had justified it as needing to know the habits of his enemy.
Now Harry was beginning to notice how Draco would push strands of silver blonde hair behind his ear whenever he truly smiled, or how he one dimple in his right cheek but none in his left, or how he smelled of white roses and rain. He would notice how Malfoy's eyes had been a stormy gray where as Draco's eyes were a beautiful molten silver.
Harry groaned as he realized once again that these were things that one did not notice in a friend. He had never caught himself thinking about how brown Hermione's eyes were or why Ron constantly smelled like the locker room. These were things that one noticed in a lover. Harry had come to accept the beautiful pale wizard as one of his best friends and he knew that he felt the same way, but even he doubted that Draco would accept him as a lover.
It was only then that he realized that the sound of running water (that he had previously assumed to be the rain from outside) had stopped and the sound of wet skin on stone was coming from an open door that had not been there previously.
Harry watched dumbfounded as Draco Malfoy came out, covered only by a gold fluffy towel around his waist. His silver blonde hair was dripping wet and framed his face in gentle waves, even as the pale wizard ruffled his hair to try and get it dry. Harry hungrily watched as a stray drop of water fell from Draco's hair and onto his chest running down the pale stomach until it disappeared into the golden towel.
Harry heard a strangled gasped and realized that it had come from his own lips as Draco's silver eyes sapped up to meet his darkened emerald. Draco stood frozen, lost in the lustful gaze of his friend, until he realized that he was still wet and more importantly, naked.
Draco turned his gaze on everything other than Harry. When he finally gathered up a slight amount of courage, he looked back at his friend and said (with a slight tremor), "H-Harry! I didn't think that you were going to come." He bit his lower lip as he realized how pathetic he sounded.
The silver wizard was so preoccupied with berating himself for his shaking voice that he didn't notice Harry until he was directly in front of him. Draco stopped his mental berating when he noticed that he was staring at Harry's chest, with wide eyes Draco brought his head up to catch the taller man's eyes (Harry had grown taller over the summer thanks to the nutrient potions that Draco had sent him, though Draco constantly complained about the height different). He gasped as he saw the lustful forest green eyes.
Suddenly Harry's lips were ravishing his lips. Draco was unresponsive for a few moments before one of Harry's arms was around his waist pulling him tightly against his body while the other hand cradled the back of Draco's neck. Draco moaned into the kiss as he closed his molten silver eyes.
Draco hardly even noticed when Harry's hand had pulled away the only scrap of cloth that covered his pale body from the world and he hardly noticed when his dark haired lover had pushed him onto the bed. He did notice when Harry began to strip too, he noticed and welcomed Harry as they made love deep into the night.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Draco moaned as he remembered his first time with Harry. That night Draco had given Harry his virginity; he only hoped that Harry realized that as he was too embarrassed to bring it up.
"What are you moaning about?" Harry murmured into Draco's hair with a kiss to accompany it.
A genuine smile graced Draco's pink lips. "I was thinking about you, about me, but mostly about us." He answered.
Harry ran his hands up and down Draco's back. "Good things I would hope."
"The best."
Smiling, Harry let one of his hands caress his lover's backside. "Pleasurable things?"
Draco grinned, "With you? Of course not."
Growling playfully, Harry pinned his lover beneath him, "Well, we're going to have to change that aren't we?"
'I never want to be free of this.' Draco thought as he was pulled in to a breathless kiss and pushed back into the mattress.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Hours later found both Harry and Draco dressed and prepared to go their separate ways. With one more kiss, Draco pushed his lover toward the door. "It's your turn to leave first, 'Ry. I love you." This was a system that they had worked out, one would leave shortly be the sun rose while the other would wait until a few moments after the sun rose to either return to their dorms (if it was a weekend or most of their dorm were asleep) or to breakfast.
With a smile, Harry gave Draco one last hug before leaving the room. The pale wizard waited until he was sure that his lover would not return to rush towards the bathroom. Lately, he had been feeling off. His magic wasn't intone with is body anymore, it felt like something was changing in his magic and it felt like this change was big. The shift of his magic would sometimes cause him to become violently sick. Now was one of those times.
After Draco was done emptying out his stomach into the toilet, he brushed his teeth and washed his face and styled his hair. He still felt awful, but he knew that if he went to breakfast looking any different than he had before, Harry would worry.
Draco cursed the fact that his magic was choosing now of all times to change. The final battle was approaching quickly, and all of the research that he and Harry had done on shields to protect Hogwarts, should they not be able to get all of the children safely out, required great amounts of magic and magical control.
"There's nothing that I can to about it now." Draco decided, "I just have to continue on like everything is in perfect control."
Draco's reflection looked on worriedly. Something big was coming, and he didn't believe that it was only Voldemort.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Harry sat on the long couch in the Gryffindor common room. He didn't want to go back up to his dorm room; he didn't even want to be in the common room in that moment. He had noticed that there was something……different in Draco lately.
Most of their time was spent researching; however Harry did not mind this as he knew the importance of research, but more often than not Draco would shrug away most of Harry's touches.
The time that they spent together used be mostly in each others' arms, or one would be at least leaning on the other reading one book while the other was taking notes on how or what a ritual would need to be performed. Now Draco would stay at least an arms length away, hardly noticing Harry was even in the room.
Running a hand through his hair, Harry recalled the amount of times he had made love with Draco over the past month. He could count it on one hand, which was odd considering in previous months they would hardly ever part without at least a quick encounter on the bed.
'Maybe Draco is upset about the amount of time that I have to spend away from him because of training?' Harry thought, but he quickly dismissed it. Draco would often test Harry in what he was learning (having been taught by his father when he was much younger had its advantages).
'Maybe Draco has found some one el- No! Draco would never do that to me, to us! He loves me and I-I….." Harry cursed himself. Was he so afraid of love that he couldn't even admit what he had with Draco was as close to love as he had ever experienced. Were his mother and father like this too? Were Sirius and Remus?
"Harry? What are you doing up this early?" Hermione's soft voice broke through Harry's tormented mind. He looked up to a worried look in her eyes.
Pushing away any unpleasant thoughts, Harry smiled a smile that didn't quiet reach his eyes. "I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep."
"You couldn't go back to sleep? It wasn't a nightmare was it?"
"No, no. I just couldn't get my mind to stop thinking I guess."
Hermione smirked, "Is it about a girl?"
Harry sputtered. "'Mione! You know that there is no girl!" 'Now, boy is another matter.'
"They way you've been moping about, it has got to be a girl, Harry."
"Harry's got a girl? Way to go mate, who is it?" Ron chimed in from the stair way. He walked over to Hermione and gave her a small good morning peck on the lips.
Blushing red to the roots Harry shouted, "There is no girl!"
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Draco sat on the bed as he read the book in his hands. It was very old, and very informative. This book was about many different shielding spells, most of them dark and extremely dangerous. Some of the spells Draco had to out right away as they need a human sacrifice or exceedingly large amounts of blood that he doubted they would be able to get a hold of.
Knowing that it was well past dawn and he would be missed if he stayed any longer, the silver wizard got off of the bed. With a frustrated sigh, Draco tucked the book under his arm and walked out the door.
The Great Hall was already filled with most of the students by the time Draco got there. Still, he was able to find a seat between Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. Absentmindedly, Draco filled his plate with a wide variety of food, while he opened his book and continued to read.
As he munched on the food on his plate, the young wizard failed to notice Nott was watching him read intently. Had Draco been paying attention, he would have noticed the way Nott's eyes darkened with lust or the way he licked his lips as Draco chewed on his bottom lip.
Near the end of breakfast, the Great Hall had begun to clear out. Draco, however, didn't notice until his book was snatched out from underneath him. Snarling, he raised his stormy gray eyes just in time to see Nott disappear through the main door with his book. Sparing a quick glance to Harry, who was currently in a heated conversation with Granger and Weasley about one thing or another, Draco ran out of the Great Hall and after Nott.
Draco ran as fast as he could, shoving some Hufflepuffs out of the way, to keep up with Nott. He finally caught him when Nott had turned into a rarely used corridor. "Nott, you prick! Didn't any one ever teach you not to take things that weren't yours!"
Nott smirked. "What's so important about this book?" He held the book up and looked through the pages. "It's just a book on dark spells, you've already got a couple so what does this one matter?"
Scowling Draco walked up to Nott, "It's mine, that's all you need to know, so give it back before I take something of yours that you'd greatly miss." He gave a pointed look to Nott's groin area. "Though I doubt that any one else would miss it."
Nott threw the book aside and pushed Draco against the stone wall, causing him to hit his head rather violently against the stone. "I do love it when you talk dirty." Nott said before smashing his lips against Draco's.
The silver haired wizard's skull was ringing; he was dizzy and for a few precious moments he was unable to do anything other than to allow himself to be kissed. Then his magic began to act strangely again, it healed any injury he had to his head and gave him back enough clarity to be able to knee Nott in his groin.
Breaking the forceful kiss with a pained yelp, Nott fell to the ground. Malfoy viciously wiped at his lips, trying to get the taste of stale milk out of mouth. "You disgusting mud-blood!" Malfoy spat, "If you ever touch me again, I swear to all that is magic that I will cause you a pain much greater than the Cruciatus curse!"
Draco gave Nott another brutal kick to his stomach to ensure that he would be immobilized long enough for him to get away. He quickly picked up his book, placing his fingers in to mark the page it was opened to, and ran away.
Draco ran all the way to the library, his first class that morning was a free a period and he planned on using to finish his research. He read the page that he had marked earlier, a victorious grin lit up his face as he read more and more.
'This is it! I found it!
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Harry had caught a glimpse of Draco's shoulder length silver blonde hair running out of the Great Hall and decided that his blonde lover was the perfect reason to escape from his friends lectures of how he and Ginny were perfect for each other. Without waiting for his friends to finish their sentence, let alone their food, Harry ran out the hall.
Harry caught up to Draco rather quickly, but he almost wished he hadn't. Emerald eyes widened in horror and his mouth fell open at the sight that greeted him. Leaning against the stone wall of one of the lesser used corridors in Hogwarts, was his beautiful lover, and leaning against his lover was Theodore Nott. They were kissing, and from what Harry could tell, they were kissing passionately.
He could feel the shattering of his heart with every moment that he watched them. Shaking his head in denial, he ran. Harry ran as fast as he could and as far as he could. He only stopped when he was in front of the great willow tree in their secret garden. He pushed away the tears that had gathered in his eyes, and he tried to will away the pain of his love- ex-lover's betrayal.
'I knew it! I knew that he had someone else!' "How could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so blind?" Harry whispered brokenly to the willow and the white rose bush. The wind blew and Harry would feel some of the willow leaves caressing his form. "If he has someone else, then what use does he have for me?" Harry snarled, "From now on, Draco Malfoy will never hear a kind word or feel a kind touch from me again!"
As Harry stomped away from the garden in search of Ron and Hermione to take them up on that offer of getting him and Ginny together; a white rose fell to the ground, its petals scattered around its broken form. From above, the willow's leaves reached for the rose but it was too far away and to far gone to be fixed.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
"The Ligo Animus Patrocinar spell." Draco read aloud, "This spell allows the users to create a shield that will protect against any spell and can even redirect spells thrown at the shields back to the casters. In the past, no fewer than two wizards have tried this spell at once; the domus is the ground caster of the spell, as long as the domus is alive the second caster, the contego, who is inside of the shield is able to keep the spell going for as long as needed. However, should the domus be killed the contego will have no control over the shield and it will drain them of all their magic, then it will move on to their life force."
Draco shut the book after reading the passage for the fifth time. He had written down everything that he and Harry would need to complete the spell. They way he figured it, Harry would be the domus as he was a better fighter than Draco was and he would stand a better chance in coming out alive, while Draco would be the contego as his magic was going through a great change and it seemed to be increasing.
If worse came to worse and Harry died, Draco would stand by what he said to the dark haired wizard all that time ago. "I would rather die then see Voldemort win and Harry dead."
Draco placed his notes in his pocket and shrank the book so that it could go into his other pocket. Now all he had to do was find Harry in between class and tell him about what he had found. A happy smile tugged on Draco's lips; finally things were beginning to fall into place for the light.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Draco found Harry walking through the halls shortly after he had left the library. Doing a quick charm to see if there was anyone else near by, and not finding anyone but Weasley a few hallways away (and confident that he and Harry could find somewhere safe to talk), Draco ran up to his lover.
"Harry! I found it! I found-"
"I know exactly what you found, Malfoy." Harry said coldly.
Draco felt his grin fall. He watched his lover worriedly, "Harry? What's wrong?" A pale hand reached out to grab his lover's arm.
"What wrong, Malfoy," Harry fiercely pulled his arm away from Draco's hand, and slapped it away as he tried to touch him again, "is that I finally realized what you truly are!"
Silver eyes watched on confused as Potter walked a full circle around, as if he were examining Draco for his worth in gold. Draco held up the hand that had been slapped away, Potter snatched the hand and held it painfully tight. "Harry!" Draco gasped in pain, "You're hurting me, Harry! What's wrong?"
"What's wrong, Malfoy," Potter repeated, savagely twisting his ex-lover's hand, "is that you are nothing but a whore!" With that, he threw Draco to the ground.
"That hurt, Harry!" Draco whispered. He didn't know where these accusations were coming from, and it shocked him to see the one person that he would give up everything, his name, his family, his life for, be the one that would accuse him of unfaithfulness.
"I thought you liked it rough, Draco." Potter mocked.
Draco's silver eyes darkened to a cold gray, the man in front of him couldn't be Harry, not his Harry. This was some imposter. Someone that wanted to rip them apart; they must not have been as careful as they thought. "Who are you?" Malfoy growled as he stood up. "Where is Harry, what have you with him?"
"Don't try to act innocent, Malfoy. I saw your little tryst with Nott. I've seen your true colors and I'm surprised to say that you lasted as long as you did."
"I said who are you!" Draco yelled. "Harry would never say those things, I love and he loves me! He knows that I would rather die than betray him!"
"I've never loved you Draco." Harry said as he looked directly into the other's silver eyes. "I never said that I loved you, all of it was a lie. You said that you wanted to be rid of the disgrace of the Malfoy name, but you are the disgrace. You'll never be strong enough to escape it and you'll never be good enough to redeem yourself!"
Something broke inside Draco as he heard those words, those words that he had only ever spoken out loud to Harry. He reached up with his good hand to touch the cheek of his lover, wanting this all to be a dream. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back at the same time he felt a searing pain in his abdomen. It only took him a moment to realize that not only had he been attacked with a cutting hex from behind, but Harry, his beloved Harry whom had promised to never hurt him, had driven a powerful punch into his gut.
He fell to his knees; betrayed eyes looked up at find Harry being dragged away by someone with fiery red hair. His eyes closed as he surrendered to the forgiving darkness.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
It was near sunset when Draco finally woke up, still lying on the cold stone floor. His back itched from the dried blood crusted upon it. He stood up carefully; he didn't want his back to bleed any more than it already had.
Silver eyes looked at the sky and deciphered that dinner was just about to begin or it had only just begun a few minutes ago. Draco decided quickly that dinner was the last place that he wanted to go. With both Nott and Har-Potter in the same room (one at the same table), Draco doubted that he would be able to hold anything down. His stomach was still aching terribly from Harry's blow. He pulled up his shirt and grimaced at the large angry bruise that was already forming.
"Damn you." Draco cursed, not knowing if the one he was cursing was Potter or himself, maybe it was even both.
Reaching into his pocket to retrieve his wand, Draco felt the parchment with is notes written on them. He suddenly remembered the reason that he had sought out Harry. 'Potter, he is Potter now!'
A heavy feeling filled his heart as Draco realized that the chances of anyone, even Dumbledore wouldn't listen to a Death Eater's son talk about a dark spell that could possibly save the school, helping him complete the spell were slim to none. 'Why should I care anyway? They've all either betrayed me or want me dead. Why should I help them stop some madman?'
"I'd rather die than see Voldemort live and Harry Potter dead."Draco repeated those damning, yet true words. "What does it matter? I can die by my own means, and just be one of the many casualties that are to come. But, if I complete the spell then I will die from having no domus, but it still gives the students a fighting chance at escaping. Either way I am dead."
Gripping the notes tightly in his hands, Draco made his decision and walked proudly to the Room of Requirements.
When Draco entered the room, he found one of his family's owls waiting with a note attached to his leg. The owl was one of the more common and less noticeable owls that they had. This one was used when his father wanted to deliver some news that related to Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
He placed the letter aside, and he gave the owl a treat before sending it away. He didn't want what the letter contained to influence his decision.
He brought his wand up to his face a small, but sharp, knife in his right hand cut across his left palm and the center of his wand. His blood and the core of his wand merged together. Draco placed his hand on the stone floor of Hogwarts and spoke the incantation. "Ligo Animus Domus!"
Power suddenly flooded through his body and into the school, at the same time power from the school flooded into his body. He could feel the gashes on his back beginning to heal and the bruise on his stomach completely faded away. Just as quickly as it happened, it stopped.
Draco fell to the ground, exhaustion coming off of him in waves. "I really need to stop falling; I'm going to seriously hurt myself one day."
"Don't say that Dragon Child, We would hate to see any of our children hurt." A transgender voice came from all directions.
"Who-who's there?" Draco tried to get up incase the person decided to attack.
"Did that book you've been reading so intently lately fail to fully inform you on the consequences of become a domus?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When you become a domus, little Dragon Child, you become connected to the thing that you are trying to protect." The voice paused, and Draco could feel the smile in the air. "We are Hogwarts."
"I must have hit my head harder then I thought." Draco said in disbelief.
"You're so drained, Dragon Child. Let us take care of you." Draco could feel some type of foreign energy being pushed into his body. "There now you have your energy back. Now, let us take care of those cuts on your back and your hand. All such a grave misunderstanding, horrible, horrible little Knotted Boy."
Choosing to ignore the voice, Draco opened the letter from his father and quickly scanned its contents. "Damn it! Damn them all!"
"What does it say, Dragon Child?"
"They're coming. By tomorrow night they will be at on the grounds, and by the morning after, Hogwarts will fall." Draco answered absentmindedly.
"We will not fall. Bring us your contego. We will set everything right."
"You don't understand." Draco threw the paper into the fire. "I am both the domus and the contego. There will be not other."
"This has been tried before Dragon Child. The caster died only a few moments after she had finished casting the spell. She died for a man who could not love her. You will end up just like her. Find another to do the spell."
"If you really are Hogwarts, then you already know that the only one who would have even considered doing this with me has betrayed me. There is no other, so if I die then I die doing what I could."
"She said the same when we tried to stop her. We knew that Dumbledore could not love her like she wanted, she would always be the sister of his best friend to him, yet she still tried, and she failed."
"I am willing to risk failure and death if it even gives the other students a chance at living."
"But are you willing to risk the life of the child growing inside of you? Would see him die as well?"
Draco's eyes widened as he comprehended what Hogwarts was telling him. "I'm pregnant? I'm pregnant with Harry's child, my child, our child?"
"Yes. We felt him growing inside of you. Such a power boy he will be, Dragon Child. We are proud, as you should be."
"A child?" Draco's eyes began to shed tears as he realized how much this blessing changed things. There was no way that Draco could put his child's life in danger, but he also knew that if he were to not complete the spell then Hogwarts would fall and his child would grow up in a world of suffering.
Hopeful eyes turned to the walls around him. "Is there anyway for you to protect my child; please, if I do not complete this spell then you will fall and you will take the children with you."
"You show little faith in us Dragon Child. How do you know that we will fall?"
"I feel it. I feel it in my mind, my heart, my soul. Should Lord Voldemort and his followers come tomorrow and you have no shield, you will fall." His tears began to fall in earnest. Draco knew that this was no lie. Hogwarts would fall, taking everyone down with it.
There was a heavy pause before Hogwarts answered, "You are right, Dragon Child. We know of a way to save both your child and the rest of the children, but what are you willing to risk?"
"Anything. Everything." Draco's replied instantly.
"Know this Dragon Child; should you accept this, you will die before the sun rises in the sky on the following day of the activation of the shield. We will bring your body here where it will be kept alive only in the sense of being able to sustain your child. You will spend that time in limbo where you will have time to get to know your child. Once the date of your child's birth comes, we will revive you long enough to name a child and say good bye. After that you will spend eternity alone in limbo. Is this your choice?"
Sobbing, Draco nodded. "I-I agree, but you must swear to me that my child will have a caring and loving home."
"Agreed."
"Then do what you must to be prepared, I will do what I must." Draco placed one hand over his heart and another over his growing child. "Thank you, you have given me much more than I deserve."
"You deserve much more than you have been given Dragon Child. You are strong; your love for your lover is great. You are stronger than she was. We pray that you will succeed. We wish you find peace in your final hours."
Draco smiled sadly, "So do I."
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Draco placed his quill down as he cast a drying spell on the last piece of parchment in his hands. He folded the papers together and sealed it with wax. He placed the barest of kisses on the name scribbled on the surface. With a sad smile he tied it to the snowy white owl in the keep. "Hedwig, please give Harry this letter after the attack is over. Give him my love." He gave the owl a final parting caress, smiling briefly when she nipped his fingers affectionately.
He quickly made his way down from the Owlery, it was nearing nightfall. Dinner had already started and Hogwarts assured him that every student who was free of the dark mark was in the Great Hall. Draco made his way across the grounds of Hogwarts, sparing a glance at the empty cottage that the half-giant inhabited.
The plan was for Hogwarts to sound an alarm the moment Draco erected the shield, any one who wished to fight would be filed out to the grounds where he would be downing as many Death Eaters as he could, then once he was de-unusable the shield would fall and any victory would be up to the remaining fighters.
When he neared the edge of what would soon become a battle ground, Draco turned towards Hogwarts. "Here goes everything. Good luck lover."
Blowing one final kiss, with the hope that once all this was over Harry might accept it, Draco moved toward the dark shadow he knew to be his father in his Death Eater robes.
"Draco, my son," Lucius purred from under his mask, "have you come to join us?"
The silver haired boy shook his head. "No father, I'm here to warn you. If you don't leave now you won't leave these grounds alive."
Laughter came from all sides. "You know as well as I do, Draco. We will be victorious tonight, Hogwarts will fall."
Draco smirked, looking every bit the Malfoy heir that he was bred to be. "Hogwarts won't fall as long as I am standing right where I belong, between you and them." Draco took several steps back. He brought his wand up and pointed it to his heart. "Goodbye father. Ligo Animus Patrocinar Contego!"
A bright white light surround Draco, it lifted him into the air where he hung for a moment of silence before the light began to pulse growing bigger and bigger and bigger until it finally exploded into a bright white wall of light, surrounding the castle completely.
'Goodbye Harry, my love.'
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Harry had been sitting in his usual spot with Ron sitting next to him and Hermione sat across from him. Ginny was on his other side, stealing blushing glances at his profile, and giddy with the feel of finally being able to show her love for Harry. He ignored the looks as best he could, though they were annoying him to no end.
Harry sighed as he stole another glance at the Slytherin table. Draco had been missing from every meal since there encounter in the hall the day before. Even Nott had showed up at meals, though he was sporting a rather impressive limp.
Harry felt awful as he thought about what he had done to his one time lover. Something inside of Draco broke; Harry saw this as Ron had dragged him away eager to set him and Ginny up.
'Good luck lover.' Harry jumped as he heard Draco's voice go through his head. It sounded so sad and condemned. The emerald eyed man shook his head. He had to find Draco. Standing up and ignoring Ginny's worried questioning, he moved toward the entrance of the Great Hall.
He stopped suddenly, his hands ready to open the door. He felt pain shoot through his scar. His eyes widened.
'Goodbye Harry, my love.'
"No!" Harry shouted hauling the doors open with a loud bang! "They're here! Death Eaters are at the gates!" He motioned to several teachers, Hagrid, Sprout, and Madame Pomfrey, "Take all the students who can not fight to the tunnel under Hogwarts it should take you to Hogsmeade from there get the children to safety. The rest of you who can fight come with me!"
He waited for no one as he ran out of the doors towards where he knew Draco was. Harry ran as fast he could, he knew that the people who were going to fight would be able to easily follow the loud pounding of his feet hitting the ground.
When e reached the giant wooden doors that led to the outside grounds of Hogwarts, Harry wasted no time in thrust them open and storming outside. The sight of a large white wall that would flash briefly with different colors surrounding the castle shocked the green eyed wizard, leaving him incapable of doing anything but stare. The group of people running to catch up to Harry where stunned into the same state.
"What's going on?" Harry asked no one in particular.
Beside him Dumbledore stood with his mouth opened slightly in horror. "Marianna."
"What?" Harry tore his gaze away from the color changing wall and to his headmaster. "Professor, do you know what is going on?"
"I do," Dumbledore replied, his eyes shimmered with a strange wetness that Harry thought could only be tears, "Unfortunately, I do."
Harry waited a moment for the old wizard to explain what was happening, but when he failed to elaborate the younger wizard questioned, "What is it?"
Dumbledore shook his head to clear it of unwanted thoughts. "It's the Ligo Animus Patrocincar spell, otherwise known as the Soul Protector Spell." He replied gravely, "Extremely dark magic, forbidden centuries ago from use."
"Is it a danger to us?"
Shaking his head once more, Dumbledore answered, "No, the Soul Protector Spell creates a shield that protects from virtually any spell, creature, or potion. The spell draws power from the soul of the two wizards or witches that cast it. If they are strong enough, the casters will complete the spell with only a magical drain and a few years taken from their lives."
"And if they aren't strong enough?" Harry hesitated in asking.
"Then they die, and their souls are lost." One tear fell from Dumbledore's sad blue eyes. "The last time this spell was cast, the caster died from it only moments after finishing the incantation."
"The caster," the younger wizard had not missed how the word was singular, "I thought you said that there needed to be two."
"That's why she died."
Harry turned his gaze away, allowing the Headmaster a moment of grief. Green eyes searched the wall, looking for any signs of the casters. He found it rather quickly in the floating form inside of the wall. "Headmaster, I found one of the casters inside of the wall, but I can't find the other."
Dumbledore's eyes followed Harry's finger as he pointed to where the body floated in the air. He scanned the area around the body both visually and magically, but when he found no trace of another caster his lips thinned in dismay. "There is no other caster." He said finally, "The two casters can never be parted for more than a few hundred feet or the spell will fall apart. Whoever has cast the spell is extraordinarily strong, stronger than most of us here."
"Who is it?" Harry squinted into the shield, trying to make out the figure's features but failing to do so.
Dumbledore remained silent, the answer to that question eluding him.
Gradually, over the next few hours, the shield began to grow weaker. The flashes of colors would last longer than they had before and more of the body in the wall was noticeable. It finally began to flicker as Hagrid came back to tell the Headmaster that all of the younger years had been escorted safely away from Hogwarts.
"It's coming down!" One of the remaining students shouted.
Harry watched as, for the slightest of moments, the figure in the shield was released from his magical prison before he was wrapped up in another ball of light that shimmered away, taking the figure with it. Pushing thoughts of whom the figure was Harry brought his wand to the ready, motioning for the other fighters to do the same.
Many of the Death Eaters who were not already dead by the time the shield fell were weakened considerably. The students were able to apprehend the remaining dark wizards with little casualties. Ron took down Lucius Malfoy for striking Hermione with a strong slashing hex, and after a short argument about leaving his two best friends (one of which was no longer able to fight) Ron was able to convince Harry to search for Voldemort and end the war.
The Boy-Who-Lived caught the wizard that had caused that name by surprise and was able to steal Voldemort's wand. Harry broke the wand in two, causing the Dark Lord to go into a fit of rage and send his precious Nagini to attack the boy. Summoning the Gryffindor sword, Harry cleaved the snake in half. It was only a few moments before sunrise that the green eyed man plunged his sword through Voldemort's chest, effectively killing him.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
"It is done, Dragon Child. The Death Stealer Lord is dead."
Draco's body was lowered onto the large silver and gold bed that had once been a place of escape from reality. The silver wizard's soul had left his body the moment that the shield had fallen.
Death began to settle on the beautiful man's body. Draco's already pale skin was whitening, his once warm skin was cooling, and his heart began to slow.
"He cannot be yours yet my friend." A pale light surrounded Draco's body, pulsing in a steady beat. "The child in him belongs to us."
A cold wind blew through the room, "His soul is gone." The voice was a harsh whisper of a breath. "His body belongs to us. It is the pale mortal's time."
"It is not the Dragon Child's right time!" Hogwarts boomed, "The child growing in him has a soul. The child was supposed to be one of many!"
"We have no control over the lives of mortals or what happens in those lives. We came to claim a body, and we will get what we came for." Death demanded; its winds blew stronger.
"Bodies litter our beautiful grounds, go choose one of them and let the Dragon Child and his child grow in peace."
"Fool of a spirit." Death laughed, "The pale mortal does not carry one young mortal within him. His body houses the body of two young mortals. He is a rare treat, we will have him."
"There is no business of yours here my friend. Leave before we make sure that you are never allowed near us again."
The cold wind stopped blowing. Death left Hogwarts without another word; it would come back within a few months time to claim what belong to it.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Months had passed since the war had ended, most of the remaining Death Eaters had been captured and those that remained at large were being hunted down by legions of Aurors.
The mystery of the figure in the wall had yet to be solved, though a bigger mystery ate away at Harry Potter. Draco Malfoy had been missing since the incident in the hall earlier in the year. This fact ate away at Harry, who had found out a few weeks after the final battle what had really happened between his lover and Theodore Nott from the house elf Dobby (who had been cleaning the corridor when the incident occurred).
Harry's thoughts were never far from his silver haired lover, even as he sat during the Graduation ceremony. Dumbledore's and Hermione's words of praise and the future floated over Harry's head. He knew that after he left Hogwarts, he would spend as much of his time and fortune as needed to find out what happened to his lover.
Later that night, when Harry was in the dorm room by himself packing (the other boys were at celebration parties), he received a visit from Dobby who was holding two small bundles.
"Mr. Harry Potter sirs!" Dobby had said from behind the wizard, causing him to turn with his wand out. Dobby flinched and shook, "Mr. Harry Potter sirs, Dobby brought sirs a gift."
"A gift?" Harry thought of the many meaningless gifts he had received from wizards and witches that he didn't know as praise and thanks for destroying the Dark Lord. "Unless it's from Draco," he joked, "I don't want it."
"But gifts is from Master Draco Malfoy sir!"
Harry paused in his packing, his eyes clouded as he reached out to Dobby. "Then I guess that I'll take the gift."
An impossibly wide smile came across Dobby's face as he carefully placed both bundles, one in the crook of each arm, into Harry's care. Emerald eyes widened as he looked at the pale babies in his arms.
One, a baby girl, had wisps of silver blonde hair and her blue green eyes (eyes that Harry knew would match his with in a few years) looked at him curiously. Her bowtie pink lips were opening and closing involuntarily.
The other baby, a boy, had locks of ebony tangling on is head. Silver-grey eyes opened and closed tiredly.
"Wha-what is this?" Harry stuttered in shock.
"Babies Mr. Harry Potter sirs, the babies of Master Draco Malfoy sir and Mr. Harry Potter sirs! The final gift Master Draco Malfoy was able to gives to you sirs!" Dobby said excitingly. He had received orders that he and Winky were to become the nanny house elves of the babies.
"The final gift? Dobby, where is Draco?" Harry was afraid that Draco had left, abandoning both of the babies and Harry alone.
Dobby looked away sadly. "Master Draco Malfoy sir is dead, died after naming Nicolea Harold Potter-Malfoy and Narci Lillian Potter-Malfoy. The birth was difficult, but Master Draco Malfoy sir told Dobby to give babies to a loving home. Dobby could think of no ones more loving than Mr. Harry Potter sir. Master Draco Malfoy also wanted Dobby to tell you sirs, that he regretted nothing and that he loves you forevers sir."
Tears fell down Harry's face as he sobbed his sorrows for the world to hear. He held his children close, refusing to loose another loved one (for he had grown to love dearly within only a few moments of holding them). His lover was gone, leaving behind two children who would never know the love of their birthing father. His lover was gone, leaving behind a wizard who loved him like no other but who could also say those words out loud.
Draco was dead, leaving his family behind.
HPDMHPDMHPDMHPDM
Author's Notes: That ending was kind of depressing even for me. I can't believe that I killed Draco! However, if I get some reviews asking for a happier ending, I might right an alternate happy ending!
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