In the darkest hours, when the flame of light flickers and threatens to die… Who will step forth to rekindle the flame? Who will come forward and resurrect hope from the brink of insanity? Who will be there to save the savior?
Post OotP. Later slash. Possible/probable Mpreg(Much later in the story, I think.) Dark themes… Bad Latin. Probable OOC-ness. Future pairings include DM/HP, FW/GW(Mostly suggested), HG/SS, GW/NL,suggested/discussed RL/SB.Please review. I welcome and beg for suggestions and corrections, but flamers risk being roasted themselves. Some of my information may be incorrect or inaccurate, but lets face it. We're not perfect, right?
--------Pale gray eyes swept critically over the interior of the train compartment. Nimble fingers that had, over the summer, become even more slender and skilled with age and maturity tapped absently on a black-clad knee. The sixteen-year-old seemed quite distracted, which was unusual for he was usually quite focused and alert. As again Draco Malfoy's pale eyes swept across the empty compartment, he caught a flash of vivid red just outside the window. His attention sluggishly slid to the crowd outside the Hogwarts Express. So pleased was he to have an animate object to observe, he didn't even remark to himself any snide comments about the red-headed boy who stood talking animatedly to one Harry Potter. Harry, however, looked rather subdued. He noted that both boys had grown over the summer, although Harry's previously too-thin frame had filled out quite a bit since last he'd seen the-boy-who-lived. The bushy-haired muggle-born was nowhere in sight, but Draco suspected she was lurking somewhere nearby.
Harry stood, nodding absently while his friend talked at him without missing a beat. His face had matured some, losing some of the baby roundness of childhood, and his emerald eyes had become more intense, almost scalding as they peered from beneath unruly locks of black. It had been an entire summer since the battle at the ministry of magic, where Harry's godfather and one of the few links to his departed parents had fallen at the hands of his own cousin. It had been an entire summer since Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, had been imprisoned. Draco had stood dutifully at his mothers side, trying to comprehend a life without the iron-strong influence of his father. Narcissa, although she had grieved both openly and privately, had shed not a single tear for her lost husband.
Draco sighed heavily, noting dismally that the young wizards he'd been staring at had disappeared from his field of vision. He'd been spacing out again. His mind had begun to wander like that more and more. It would be most inconvenient later on, he knew, but the hollowness he felt didn't have a spare shred of care. A boredom, almost a numbness, had been spreading through him since the end of the previous term.
Draco's attention was once again refocused as the door to his compartment slid open and a dark-haired boy slipped quickly in, not pausing to look at Draco as he turned to peer out a crack in the door. With a sigh, the black-haired wizard turned to fix Draco with a searing emerald gaze. Tension instantly sang through both their bodies as they stood stock still, staring at each other. Draco's fingertips tingled as he suddenly froze in his subconscious tapping.
"Malfoy." The taller boy said shortly, his voice lower than Draco recalled it being before.
"Potter." Draco replied quietly. A long silence stretched between them. "Well, are you going to stare at me like a boob or sit down?"
Harry looked slightly taken aback by the comment. As Draco's gaze slid back to the window, he sat cautiously across from the Slytherin boy. Neither of them spoke as the train pulled away from the station. It wasn't until long after the trolley-witch had come and gone that they even dared to look at each other. Draco glanced at Harry, who glanced at Draco, who averted his gaze back to the window. Only to then look back at Harry, who quickly looked away, causing Draco to fix his stormy gaze elsewhere.
It was Harry who broke under the pressure of the pause, "Have a nice summer?"
"It was alright. Yours?" Draco said, shifting so that his right ankle rested on his left leg.
"It was alright…" Harry said, nodding a bit too quickly.
"You ditched the glasses?"
"Yeah…muggles have this thing called contacts…"
"Yeah. Contacts…" You haven't said a single snide thing to him since you set eyes on him. Draco subconsciously noted. Harry's thoughts were running along the same lines. He hasn't said a nasty thing since he saw me…
"I, uhm… I'm sorry about your father…" Harry said uncomfortably.
Draco shrugged, turning a pained gaze out the window, "He had it coming I suppose." He said softly, shocking the dark-haired boy across from him. "My condolences about your godfather…"
"Right, right… Sirius…" Harry murmured, astonished at the almost sympathetic words. "If you, uh, don't mind my asking, we are still enemies, aren't we?"
"I don't mind, not at all. Enemies, yes of course. Be odd if we weren't, after all." Draco said, smirking subtly at Harry.
The Gryffindor couldn't help but return a small smile before shaking himself and rising. "Well, I'll uh… be getting back to the Weasel- Weasley, I mean. I'm sure he's wondering where I've got to… Uhm…"
"Yeah, Weasley." Draco said vaguely
"Er…bye." Harry said, before darting out of the compartment. As he quickly made his way down the train he couldn't help but wonder to himself what strange warp of reality had just occurred…
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"Harry! There you are! Come on, quick! I found the book you wanted." Harry smiled slightly as his bushy-haired friend dragged him into a compartment. Ron was the only other occupant Harry assumed that Hermione had chased the others off to talk safely about their discovery.
"We were looking in the wrong places again. It was right under our noses. See here?" She held up a book with Fur and Feelers for any Wizard written in silver cursive across the cover and spine"Page three hundred and forty six. Chapter seventeen. It covers every step of the process!"
Harry stared at the book, wondering if years ago a younger Remus Lupin had proudly presented the very same book to his eager companions. Harry was determined to do this. At first, Hermione had been outraged that he would even attempt such a thing. But he felt like it was something he had to do. Something that would make his late Godfather proud. Hermione had made him swear on everything she could think of that he would register as soon as they were finished. After all, unregistered Animagi were illegal.
Ron grinned at the book as he took it and flipped through its pages, "I bet I'll be something cool. Like a fox. Or an eagle."
"I'll be an otter, most likely." Hermione said as she sat down beside him with a triumphant smile. "After all, that's what my patronus is, isn't it?"
"Knowing my luck, I'll be a snake or something otherwise misleading." Harry said as he flopped down across from them.
"Maybe you'll be a stag, like your father." Hermione said encouragingly
"Or a dog…" Ron said, giving his friend an odd look.
"Harry… Are you sure you don't want to wait a bit before we start trying this?" Hermione said carefully. Although Harry's temper had been remarkable controlled since the death of his godfather, they were still cautious about when his personality would swing back to what it was.
"I'm sure." Harry said shortly. An awkward silence stretched for a few minutes before Hermione began quietly explaining how they would go about the transformations.
Harry continued to stare blindly out the window as a light drizzle began to fall… Nothing seems right anymore… I feel like I have to prove I'm alive to myself…Voldemort may still be alive… But it seems like nothing could happen to me now. Nothing could possibly happen that would be able to save me from the black hole that's formed inside my chest… Is this what it's like to grieve? Cause it feels more like I'm dieing…
To be continued…
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Oh, my god. I don't know WHERE this came from…It's short, I know. But hopefully the next chapter won't be. Anyone who knows me or has read work from my previous penname Lecta might know that I have a few procrastination problems when it comes to long stories. Here's hoping that I can keep this one going!! Please review!!