Today is the Day
Summary: Understanding the entirety of someone you love right before it all ends only magnifies the feelings that will soon be left for yours to keep. HPDM.
A/N: Unbeta'd boo hoo so all grammatical errors (there's a lot, I'm sure) are all mine so whatever. You've been warned, grammar Nazis.
Disclaimer: Today is the Day is a fictional work made out of boredom and feels. All the characters in this story belong to J.K Rowling and any similarity of the plot to other stories is purely coincidental. No profit is being made out of this, and no copyright infringement intended.
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The too-green eyes behind the slight curve of those sweet-kissed lips gave the entire truth of what and who he truly is, and the once unbreakable walls came crashing right in front of Draco and—surprisingly—didn't even try and build it back like the many times Draco has seen him do.
It should be terrifying to finally see Harry Potter beyond the barriers because it's new and an uncharted territory. But instead, he felt…oddly relieved—maybe because upon finally seeing it, Draco now understood why he has fallen truly, madly, deeply and irrevocably in love with Harry fucking Potter.
The puzzle Draco had long since forgotten about now lay before him in completion, and it's mesmerizing and painful at the same time to see what had formed. For years, he had tried to uncover the reason for his attraction to Harry, but his refusal to succumb under Draco's watchful eye annoyed Draco to no end. It felt like the Harry Potter he knew back in Hogwarts was replaced with a seemingly similar one only with a few cracks in the head—a version Draco had hopelessly fallen in love with.
He guessed that maybe it had something to do with the warmth he had felt when he clutched onto Harry too tightly in the Room of Hidden Things because it is what didn't change even after the war. Draco reveled in it because a touch could send electricity coursing through his veins; a smile could make his heart beat more than what was normal; and a look could make his skin tingle with impish delight. Only in these times could he forget the mystery that is Harry Potter and barely realize that he was unconsciously being pulled towards The-Boy-Who-Gravity-Himself.
And so, the mystery remained unsolved… until this very moment.
Now, Harry is stripped bare and there will no longer be walls to refrain Draco from seeing the truth. Unfortunately, time is running short for the both of them and Draco has just lost his chance to take his fill to love all that is truly Harry Potter and it's all Harry's fault. There is no time left for Draco to feel Harry touch the surface of his vulnerability, to trace the scars of the nightmares etched on his too pale skin, to kiss the worry evident on his lips, to utter his name in a soft whisper as if it was the most beautiful word ever created, to remind himself that Draco was wholly his, to feel Draco's walls close on him and engulf the both of them in a passionate rhythm that rockets them both to something so much better than ecstasy.
There is just so much to do but time constricts them and Draco is just so angry because it is all The-Boy-Who-Fucking-Does-Whatever-The-Fuck-He-Wants' fucking fault. But maybe it's not wholly his because maybe Draco had known all along and simply refused to acknowledge the scary truth because he is still a fucking coward after all. Some things never do change.
"What?" He expected his voice to falter and maybe even harden to express his anger, but it came out calm—too calm for Harry to feel guilty.
Harry raised a hand to touch his cheek, and the gesture—albeit small—was so full of affection and promise that Draco had to move away before he leaned unto the touch. It hurt to see the frown form on his face but Draco had to think of himself, too, because the feelings they both share as of this moment will soon be left only for Draco to consume because the other party will forget Draco and all that is magic.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, "but I don't want to live in this nightmare anymore. These nightmares consume all the goodness of the sweet memories and left them beyond capable of fixing. I can't just stand here and watch them fade to nothingness."
"But it will become nothing to you after today," Draco said in a whisper, but Harry heard him nonetheless given the way his too-too-green eyes shimmered for a brief second. "Don't you think it's unfair for me to feel the weight of these memories while you go and forget?"
"I'm sorry, Draco." Harry closed his eyes and when he opened them again, it was for Draco to see the sincerity of his apology and Draco had to fight the urge to cry. "But I'm so tired. Won't you let me rest?"
Draco was, once again, torn—the same kind of torn back when his hand, holding the Hawthorn wand too tightly, shook slightly under the gaze of a living Dumbledore; his resolve wavering due to the promising offer that he had so wanted to accept. Only this time, his hand—now free of the comfortable weight of the wand—is clasped tightly beside him to refrain himself from the temptation of touching Harry's too familiar skin. Of course he wants Harry to rest, but does resting mean forgetting who he is? He wanted to argue, but knew all too well that nothing could break the determination Harry acquired from being too Gryffindor.
Instead, he said three words that meant more than what it really is because it is Draco being fully honest with himself and to Harry. He didn't mean to use it to make Harry feel guilty—but to make Harry understand that what they have is more than just fluff and sex and he supposed he might as well since it will be the one and only time he could and would say it because these words were only meant for Harry to hear and no one else. Since when do Malfoys do loyal? It's funny and sad all at once.
The emerald shine of Harry's eyes became too bright to be real, but then again, Draco loving Harry was once thought to be a load of bull and look what happened.
"I love you, too. I love you today, tomorrow, and forever." The too-too-too-green eyes behind the saddest smile Draco didn't think was possible were all too much for him to agree with what was happening.
"Then don't leave." He couldn't help it. It was stupid for him to beg when he knew it would only end the same way. "You're happy with me, right? You said so yourself! Why must you do this if being with me can cause you your happiness? You can forget all the hell living in your thick head if you're with me, right? Then don't fucking leave!" He's shouting now, and he is deeply sorry for giving The-Boy-Who-Infuriates-Him-To-No-End a hard time, but he just had to. His emotions are in full control now, and it was impossible to contain it any longer. "Please," he added a little more quietly.
"I want to live, Draco, not just survive." And that was all it took for Draco to feel something he couldn't understand until he felt a tear slide down his cheek and his heart throbbing so painfully in his chest—Draco Malfoy was feeling all the emotions and it shouldn't be possible, yet he knew that just had to be it.
"What?" Because Draco isn't capable of saying anything longer than that. Pathetic.
Harry, on the other hand, is still breathing evenly for Draco's liking. It's impossible to look so composed in this war where emotions are clearly winning, yet here is Harry Tearless Potter. Draco supposed it should be possible for Harry because he has done so many impossible things at such a young age that this is just too small in comparison to what he had done. "Being with you is my way of surviving and because of you; I found that I want to live, so give me the permission to do so, Draco. Please."
And Draco did because he understood—because before Harry, he, too, was just surviving the aftermath of the war. And when Harry saviour-to-all-distressed-damsels Potter appeared, Draco started to live. Funny how Harry gave him a reason to live while Draco was just his idea of surviving and he supposes he should be offended, but he knew that it only meant that he, Draco Malfoy, was able to give Harry Potter a reason to want to live.
Today, Draco put more force into the kiss than necessary not because he's desperate as it is the last kiss but because he wanted to convey more what words couldn't. Draco ignored the rules he has set to himself in the beginning because it's Harry Potter whom he's ignoring the rules for and not just anybody—Harry Potter who gave him more than what his family had given him in only a moment of infinity. He is grateful that the fates had given him Harry Potter tied in shocking ribbons of silver and green with a card attached to it in red and gold written: For Draco.
It's the only gift Draco had untied in a painfully slow pace that took years to finally come undone and when it did, he was elated for the first time because finally, Draco was given something he actually can love and care about for years and not get tired of it. And although it came with a few broken parts, he cherished Harry nevertheless because he represented the very future Draco wanted.
When they broke apart because air was an annoying necessity, Harry smiled like the boy he knew in Hogwarts and it was like being back in first year when Draco offered a hand of friendship. Only this time, Harry took it without a second thought and accepted all the good and the bad of Draco Malfoy and cherished it with his life. It was painful when their fingers no longer touch, but Draco was hopeful that maybe in the near future, they will cross paths once again because Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were destined to be together now and forever. They share the same sky after all; one sky, one destiny.
"When you see me around, don't forget to say hello, okay?" Harry said. He tilted his head to the side and smiled so painfully sad that Draco couldn't reply because he didn't want to start crying in front of Harry. "Okay?" Harry repeated.
Draco blinked a few times and took a deep gulp of air and said, "Okay."
"Okay."
Harry smiled one last time before vanishing into the building, and Draco smiled back despite the sadness of it all because in a few moments, there will no longer be a Harry Potter and a Draco Malfoy because today is the day Harry will have his memory obliviated—the day he will forget the magic that made him who he is; the day he will forget all the friends he had made in Hogwarts; the day he will forget Draco Malfoy and the sweet kisses and touches they shared and all the fluffiness that is Harry and Draco together; the day he will finally move on from the war.
Draco let the tears fall freely this time. He didn't care how loud his voice got as moments passed and doesn't stop even when Hermione and Ron appeared beside him guiding him towards the apparition point—where life will still continue even when it shouldn't because Harry Potter is bigger than life itself, and it's insulting to think that Life will go about even without Harry remembering moments of his past life. But maybe it's just Life's way of coping with the loss of a greater being—moving on in honor of Harry's last wishes.
Hermione and Ron—friends he didn't think he'd have—seemed to think the same way because they took their time in going back to the flow of reality. They, too, were silently crying with Draco and they all knew they shouldn't because today should be celebrated. It was supposed to be a happy moment especially for Harry because today…
Harry Potter will finally live.
~ el fin
Reference/s:
"…truly, madly, deeply…" – One Direction's Truly Madly Deeply
"One sky, one destiny" – A part of Kairi's letter in Kingdom Hearts
