The Ribbon

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Prologue

As Harry Potter lay in bed, his thoughts whirled as he started up at the ceiling. He realized that he wasn't the post-pubescent boy he used to be, he had grown up into a very defined young man. With this new look came new feelings, and one of them troubled him more than any emotion he had ever felt: love.

Harry had not been known to be the biggest crusher, but he was known for crushing on the strangest people, and now it was no different. Well, actually, it was totally different because Harry had noticed that boys did not usually compliment each other on their looks. (After telling Ron that he "looked cute" in the hallway, Harry learned that lesson the hard way, a smack across the face.)

"Why does this have to happen to me?" Harry voiced his own thoughts to the pillow. "I can't be crushing on someone now, I have to leave Hogwarts soon, I don't have time to be in a serious relationship!" Harry knew that the one who he truly loved and desired with every fiber of his being was outside Hogwarts, running away from a memory…

…Tears found their way to Harry's eyes, and he let a few of them slide down his face, before he calmly wiped them away with the heel of his hand. He was almost certain of the impossibility of him actually being with his lost lover, and he knew that it would not make for good over coffee conversation once all of Diagon Ally knew of his desires. But why was he trying to hide his heart? He should've been open about it when he first noticed his feelings, but he hid it away, and now it had come back to bite him. Harry was ashamed to think of the now much deeper grave he had dug for himself over the past six years, it made him sad, and sick to his stomach. He had a forbidden love, he called it that because it was not at all typical of him, and he knew no one would accept his feelings the way they are.

"Oh Malfoy," Harry said angrily, his voice holding a pinch of sadness. "Why aren't you here to make fun of me? Or to repute my inferior breeding? Or something!" Harry now let himself cry, for he could no longer deny it. He loved Draco Malfoy, and he always would. No matter how close Draco came to being Dumbledore's murderer, Harry knew that he was not emotionally capable of such a thing. Murder did not link itself back to Draco, it didn't fit his style. He was mean, yes, but not a murderer. Harry looked up at the ceiling, and began to count the cracks in the plaster as he thought to himself. We could've had it all! He thought. We would prove everybody who thought we could never love wrong! Then they'd leave us alone, and we could be together forever, just me and Draco…Forever…

"Harry!" Ron burst through the door, running up to Harry, who had little time to sit up and wipe the tears from his face. "Harry! You've got to come and see this! The have a whole page in the Daily Prophet about it! It's unbelievable!"

"What? What is it? What happened?"

"You mean you didn't hear!" Ron hit him playfully in the head, but it still hurt. "They've found them! Well, he got away, but they've still got the other one, that slimy little snake! They're holding him at Azkaban! They say he begged for mercy and everything! Boy, I would've loved to see that!" Ron laughed.

"Ron, What are you talking about?" asked Harry, bewildered. "They got who? Who escaped? Who's at Azkaban and all that?"

Ron looked his friend straight in the eye.

"Mate," Ron said, smiling. "You're not gonna believe this, but they found Malfoy and Professor Snape, I mean, they found their little villainous hideout!"

Terror struck deeply into Harry's heart.

"And…? What happened?" Harry asked, taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the news that Draco might not have survived.

"Well, Snape and his other Death Eater buddies apparated their sorry butts outta there. But Malfoy was too weak to do anything." Ron gave a sort of smile. "They said that they found him lying on the ground and he didn't even budge when they drew close to him. He let them manhandle him all the way back here."

Tears formed in Harry's mind, but he refused to let them out, not in front of Ron, he thought. "What are they gonna do to him?" Harry was having trouble breathing as he asked this question.

"Well, they aren't really sure," Ron gave a quizzical look. "I suppose they'll just kill him in the end. I mean, after all he's done, what with letting in all those Death Eaters to the school, and with Dumbledore's death…"

"That wasn't his fault!" Harry shouted abruptly, catching Ron off guard.

"Even if it wasn't," Ron shook off the shock of Harry's last comment. "He still helped in the events that led up to Dumbledore's death. I guess you could call him an accomplice or something…" Ron took his leave, and Harry waited till he couldn't hear Ron's footsteps before he screamed into his pillow.

An accomplice! The thought filled Harry with rage. Draco's innocent! They haven't got sufficient proof! He didn't mean for Greyback and the others to show up! Someone else let them in…

Harry had only a second to think, for the sun was already setting and he would need some light source to direct him to where his lover was being held. Quickly dawning his Invisibility Cloak, Harry rushed outside the school's safe walls, and made his way to an abandoned part of the Forbidden Forest, Draco had to be there, he thought.

How was it? I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Please SUBMIT A REVIEW! I'm expecting at least 5 (FIVE) before Chapter 1 can make an entrance!

Hope y'all enjoyed it!

ShadowAngel26