Title: Die Once, Shame on You. Die Twice, Shame on Us All.
Prompt: Crossover/Game/Last of Us
Description: Professor Draco Malfoy is not himself and Professor Harry Potter wants to know what is going on.
Pairing: Not really anything. Slight mentions of Drarry.
Other Prompts:
(word) Utopia
(color) Silver
(word) Honest
Author's Note: There will be zombies!
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It was classes like these that made Draco Malfoy really question why he wanted to teach Potions at Hogwarts in the first place. The children were loud and whining, the boys would not stop teasing the girls, and he had to clean up two spilled potions already. There wasn't a class that went by without a cauldron exploding or a child getting green hair. He never really liked children in the first place, being a professor was not his first choice, not even his second or third. In fact, in the list of things that Draco Malfoy had ever considered being at least once in his lifetime, a Potions Master at Hogwarts wasn't one of them. Draco twisted the platinum band around his finger that seemed to always make him stop questioning his occupation in an instant.
Harry Potter. He was the reason he was even here in the outside world instead of locked up in Azkaban for who knows how long. Pre-War Draco would have probably fainted from sheer disbelief if any were to tell him that nearly 5 years after the war he would be married to his school rival. Post-War Draco couldn't understand it on some days.
After Harry had spoken on his behalf and he was set free, Draco had decided to stay low. With his father having received the Kiss right before Draco's hearing and his mother having died months after there was no one to raise the Malfoy name from the dirt. That name once defined him; he wore it with pride and nothing less but now he never even so much as thought of it. He was Draco Potter-Malfoy, now.
His hands vibrated from the movement of the desk in which he sat. His attention snapped to the students before him. He saw a cauldron shaking violently and glowing a sickly, green. The students were frozen in fear and curiosity. Draco quickly sprang into action.
"Everyone get down, this instant!" He bellowed as firmly and commanding as he was able to.
The students quickly reacted to the shouted order. Well, all except for one. Albus Severus Potter-Malfoy.
"Albus!" He sprinted towards his son who just stared blankly at the shaking cauldron. Draco covered the boy with his robes as soon as the cauldron had exploded with great force nearly knocking the 38-year old professor to the ground.
"This is why I specifically tell you all to pay attention during class and take detailed notes." Draco managed to say as he made sure his students were safe.
"Professor Malfoy, look!" A Slytherin girl pointed out.
Draco looked towards the cauldron which was blasted on to the floor. A misty silvery gas was emitting from the cauldron and filling the air. He quickly covered his nose with his robes.
"Everyone get out quickly!"
They all but hesitantly fled out of the classroom but Albus stopped at the door.
"But, Professor-"
"Get out, Mr. Potter!" He hissed and watched as his son followed his peers and slipped out of the door. He will be alright. Scorpius will make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. Right now he had a cauldron to deal with.
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Harry Potter was interrupted from his grading when his son, Albus, had rushed through the door. He seemed to be trying to tell Harry something but the young wizard was too out of breath to form coherent sentences. Harry stood up quickly and walked across the room, putting his hands on Albus' shoulders to try to calm him down.
"Come on, Albus. Calm down and tell me what's wrong," he said calmly.
Albus just shook his head before blurting out, "Potions. Explosion. Gas. Father. Help him."
Harry's pulse seemed to stop. "What happened in Potions? What happened to Draco?"
"I...I'm sorry, Dad." Was all the little boy managed to say as tears welled up in his green eyes.
In an instant, Harry was ushering Albus out the room and he closed the door behind them in the hallway.
"You stay right here, Albus."
When Harry arrived at the door of the Potions classroom in the dungeon, he found a blond-haired figure pressed against it.
"Draco!" Harry rushed to his husband. He cast many spells over the man who looked extremely exhausted to make sure no harm was done before going over to touch his arm. "What the hell happened in there?"
"Those stupid Gryffindors don't know how to-" Draco let out a hesitant sigh before continuing. "Follow directions properly. A cauldron exploded and let out a contaminated gas. I got rid of it but no one should be in that room for a while, however. A week minimum."
Draco collapsed against Harry's chest.
"Did you know you scared Albus almost to death?"
The only answer was a heavy snore coming from a sleeping Draco.
"Asleep, already, eh?" Harry snorted. "I should take you to Pomfrey, just in case I missed something."
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"I don't understand Poppy. It's been three days and Draco has not woken up, yet."
Harry looked over at the sleeping form in the hospital bed. Ever since Draco had let his eyelids flutter shut, they hadn't opened up again. Madam Pomfrey had been giving him special potions to keep his body continue to function normally under this..."magical coma" as Pomfrey had called it. But he was not getting better.
"I do not understand, Mr. potions don't seem to be doing anything. In fact, when I did a scan earlier this morning, I noticed something, well, interesting."
Harry's eyes took in how the nurse's eyebrows bunched up in confusion and how her lips pursed slightly. He felt a sickening feeling form in the pit of his stomach. Interesting was never good.
"What is it?" A million thoughts swarmed through the man's head. The worst of thoughts. He couldn't stand to lose Draco. Not after everything they'd been through. What about their children? They were all cauldron babies. Made from scratch. It had took years to perfect it and when Draco had burst through Harry's study on one particular night, the Slytherin held tears in his eyes.
"We did it."
"Do you understand me, Mr. Potter?"
Harry blinked away the thought.
"What?"
"I said that Mr. Malfoy is going through some type of change."
"Change?"
"Yes. His organs seemed to have failed one by one, yet, he's still breathing as you can tell, and the scan shows nothing out of the ordinary." She tried explaining.
"So...the thing that's wrong with him is that nothing is wrong with him?"
Pomfrey shook her head a bit, clearly frustrated with trying to explain something to the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Mr. Potter...Harry," she dropped the formality and tried a soft tone of voice. "What ever gaseous poison he was introduced him completely shut down his functions along with his magic. He should not even be showing up on the scan since he is supposed to be drained of his magic, let alone be breathi-"
A loud screech coming Harry's left immediately caused him to pull out his wand. Inside the bed that once held a sleeping, oblivious Draco Malfoy was an awake Draco Malfoy. His once moonlight pale skin now looked green and purple. The hair he once took extreme pride and care in now looked disheveled and molten. His eyes, oh Merlin, his eyes. Harry loved them. Instead of a pale silver, they were a black lake. Honestly, Harry wanted to vomit on the spot.
"This is impossible." The Hogwarts nurse whispered as he eyes widened at the sight before her.
"What's happened to him? What did you do?!" Harry screamed.
Draco stared at the two with a blinkless stare. For a second, Harry could have sworn he saw a flash of grey, but before he could blink, Draco had lunged straight for Madam Pomfrey. He was too fast, Harry couldn't react, and what was he supposed to do? This was...Draco.
The blood curdling screams that rose from Madam Pomfrey's throat as the creature that was once Malfoy bit into her frail, tender neck was enough to send Harry doubling over to heave. Blood. So much blood. Harry tried covering his nose to distract himself from the stench.
Poppy was already gone. Harry had known so, already. And it was all his fault. If he had been quicker. If he hadn't hesitated. If he hadn't-
The creature looked up at Harry and he almost let out a sob. This was Draco. What happened to him? Why had this happened to him?
The doors of the wing flew open. The entrance was crowded with the same creatures as Draco, except they were much smaller. In the crowd, he spotted Scorpius Malfoy. This just wasn't possible. What was going on?
The creatures started closing in on Harry. He could see Draco had now finished with Poppy. Blood trickled down his chin onto the marble floors below. His arms were outstretched towards his husband.
So, this was it? After all these years of him fighting for his own life? After finally getting the one he wanted, it would all end like this. The last thing Harry thought of before his world went black was that this was going to be his second time dying.
