The Memories Remain
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or Harry Potter; I only own bits and pieces of the plot.
Italic-Flashback or emphasis on a word, Spirits talking in the real world.
Bold Italic- Dreams
Bold- Harry talking back to spirits in his head. If I haven't fixed this on other chapters please excuse it.
This is Slash. If you have a problem with it, do not read it, simple.
Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth-Albus Dumbledore
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"…Draco?"
I blinked and watched in horror, as the person who I had thought was Draco morph into someone real. Someone I knew. Someone also blonde. Cloud.
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Cloud's P.O.V
Something changed in Harry's expression. The soft upturn of his lips died to be replaced by a tight line. His brilliant green eyes dimmed and turned glacial. He looked empty and untouchable.
He sat up slowly, roughly pushing me away from him. His eyes never met mine as his arms wrapped around his knees and he stared at the comforter.
"…Harry?" I asked nervously, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. His hand lashed out and smacked mine away harshly.
"Get out," he snarled wildly, eyes glinting icily.
"No, I-" I began, but he cut me off again.
"I said - get out!"
His eyes flared dangerously and he seemed to be just holding back from baring his teeth. I hurried out of the room with the realisation that my presence only made things worse. Shutting the door behind me, I leant back against it, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I met a pair of mahogany eyes glaring furiously into mine.
"Something's wrong," Tifa stated knowingly, arms folded across her chest.
I stared impassively back at her, "What do you mean?"
She sighed in irritation, still glaring at me angrily. "With Harry. What did you do to Harry?"
"Nothing," I said defensively, stalking away from the door and into the kitchen. She followed me and began her lecture as I turned on the coffee machine and hoped in vain that it would drown her out.
"How can you say nothing? The whole building probably heard him yell at you to 'get out'!"
I leant on the counter and ran a frustrated hand through my hair. "I told you I didn't do or say anything. I just checked on him and then he woke up…" I trailed off, hoping she'd let it drop.
"Surely you must have done something?"
"Tifa! I just said I've done nothing. He called me someone else's name and then yelled at me. So if you can explain to me how that makes me wrong, then please go ahead!"
Her glare lessened in intensity and her arms uncrossed. A small 'click' was heard from the bedroom. Tifa whirled around and marched to the door. She twisted the handle and pushed against the door. It stayed shut.
"Harry, please open the door?" She asked pleadingly. There was silence from the room. She knocked loudly on the door and waited for an answer. Still no sound came from within.
Tifa glared at the door and hit harder against the wood of the door. This time there was a sound; only it wasn't the sound of footsteps or the click of the lock. It was a loud 'thud' and when Tifa tried the door, it was still locked. My heart was beating away furiously in my chest. Harry was hurt. Harry was hurt and alone. Harry's door was locked. Shit.
"That's it," she muttered and she drew her leg back and slammed it against the weak point of the door. The door broke inwards, wobbling unsteadily. The lock had been torn out of the wall by the force placed on it.
I followed Tifa as she raced through the door. The cover of the bed had spilled onto the floor on the left side of the room, the window was open partially and an arm stretched out past the bed from the same side.
"No," I murmured, horrified, and moved quickly to the other side of the bed and pulled Harry back onto the bed. Shutting the window and fixing the covers over him again, we left.
Tifa left the door ajar and headed to the lounge room, muttering, "The window, honestly, as if he possibly considered being able to survive the fall? He doesn't even have mako."
I sat next to the door and leant my head against the wall. This time I'll be here when he walks out rather than when he wakes up and maybe this time I won't get pushed away.
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Harry's P.O.V
There was a buzzing in my head and an uncomfortable pressure behind my eyeballs, signalling a massive headache. However that was nothing compared to the feeling of having hope swell my heart till it was about to combust, only to have it viciously ripped out of my chest and thrown on the floor once reality hit.
Cloud was Cloud and Draco… Draco was dead. They were different people and not even close to looking the same. They should not be – could not be - confused. Draco equalled lover and friend and fiancée and – and dead. Cloud equalled friend and frustratingly hot guy and in-a-perfect-world… lover. Completely different people and yet… I had spoken the forbidden word in front of one about the other.
I am so stupidly moronic.
I cracked open an eyelid and was instantly assaulted by light. The throbbing faded to the back of my mind, a handy trick I learnt during the war. Wincing, I sat up and mentally flinched as I remember my less-than-kind words to Cloud.
Blinking away the fog that had glazed over my eyes, I saw two faces peeking through the door or… where the door should be.
"Marlene, why is there a hole in the wall where the door should be?" I asked curiously as the young children scrambled onto my bed.
Marlene looked up at me, eyes wide with innocence. "Tifa was worried," she stated simply, getting comfy on my right while Denzel sat on my left.
"So she kicked the door in?" I questioned, surprised, raising an eyebrow.
Marlene and Denzel nodded as Marlene lent over and whispered in Denzel's ear. He shook his head in answer to whatever she had said. She frowned and nodded to him and he shook his head again.
"What is it?" I asked suspiciously, tired of the conversation that was obviously somewhat about me.
Marlene crawled closer and picked up my hand and drew a pattern in it. Her eyes were sad and worried.
D-R-A-C-O
"Draco?" I whispered desolately. She nodded with a forlorn look on her face.
"What about him?" I asked, voice soft and strung out.
"He makes you sad, not like Cloud. Cloud makes you happy but Draco used to make you happy too. Now all Draco does is make you sad, and he wouldn't want that," Marlene stated, patting my hand consolingly.
"How do you know that?" I rasped, tears wetting my eyes.
Marlene smiled, pearly teeth flashing. "Because you were in love and people don't want their loves to hold onto them forever if they're gone."
"How do you know he's gone?"
Marlene traced more meaningless patterns on my hands and said simply, "Death has marked you."
Marlene was wise, in the way that children always were. They could see the things that adults couldn't because their minds were not shut to possibilities or rotten with age-old prejudice. Children didn't buy into the stories that adults told to disguise the truth; they just let it slide because more often than not the truth was something that wasn't worth getting into. She was right, so right and she somehow made it seem so easy to just forget.
"Draco was a good friend of mine, and because of that he died. It was my best and worst day."
Marlene hugged my neck and Denzel decided to pipe up.
"You really are perfect for each other," he stated and hugged me as well.
I had no idea what he was talking about and there was no point in asking because I was sure he wouldn't tell me.
Silence echoed within the room but it wasn't oppressive or awkward, just comfortable. Drowsy, my eyelids began to droop and the children snuggled in next to me.
I was beginning to drift when a small voice interrupted.
"Harry? Promise you won't leave us for Draco."
"I haven't left yet have I? So don't worry."
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Cloud's P.O.V
"You've been sitting there for at least three hours," Tifa said, looking down at me. "I've never seen you sit still for so long."
Her face portrayed insinuation and a certain innocent suggestiveness. I mentally groaned at the meaning behind that look.
"No," I said sternly, flat out rejecting her idea.
Her eyes made a subtle shift from insinuating to imploring, with a healthy dose of disbelief mixed in.
She raised an eyebrow. "You don't fool me, Cloud Strife. So don't think for one second that I'll let this go, you like him, admit it, you do."
Make her stop, I begged silently. Tifa was telling the truth, she wouldn't let this go, and the following words she said I'd let her assume that she was right, because then I was neither denying nor confirming her insinuation. Though it was true… sort of.
"Cloud, it's okay to act on affection, I know Harry likes you too."
Really? He told her-No, no one would tell Tifa who they liked, then they'd be forced to act. Dammit, classic Tifa trick of wheedling the truth out of you by giving unverified information that gets your hopes up. Sometimes I hated this woman.
"Tifa as much as I… appreciate this talk, I don't need your help in this situation. I think it's best if things stay as they are and we just forget-"
"OBILVIATE!" A fuzzy voice yelled.
"Cloud and I were arguing over an incident the night before and I told him of my plans to move out. He tried to stop me and we found you guys were eavesdropping on us."
The voice was fuzzy but familiar and I knew this story. Harry and I had done that, right before he moved out. Only I don't remember why we were fighting. The voice referred to itself as Cloud and I, which meant it was Harry but I'd never heard the language that he spoke. Things were missing from this memory just as they were from the memory of the argument. The pieces of the memory were missing, forgotten.
"-Forget this conversation. Some people aren't dead enough yet for what you're suggesting, for either of us."
Tifa rolled her eyes and huffed, "You don't get it do you? They will never be dead enough where your heads at. Seriously Cloud, how many times have you been told by various people to move on? Now you've been given the perfect chance. Go for it. Both of you are terrible at hiding how you feel for each other but you don't act on it because of the skeletons in your closets."
She paused and smiled deviously and her eyes twinkled. "My advice to you is, have some fun with the man. Who knows it may lead somewhere. You sure as hell aren't going to move on until you do something. Take him out, have some fun, give him a kiss goodnight and then let him pull you over the threshold and shut the door until morning."
I half-smiled at that and got up. It was getting late and I'd had enough of waiting outside Harry's room, I'd see if things were better in the morning.
"Night Tifa… truly hate to say this, but I think you're right, maybe a little fun would do us good and my bed's been awfully cold as of late."
She beamed and she turned away, probably heading to bed.
"Tifa." She turned. "You know you're not the only one who can see people's affections for each other." I flicked a business card at her.
"Rude's number should be listed. Have a good night, Tifa."
I left for my apartment and the damn good dreams that came with slumber.
0
"Hey guys, I found him!" I called out to the others. He wasn't facing me; instead he was facing the sunset. He was atop the ruins of the ShinRa building, the place where Sephiroth announced he wouldn't ever be a memory.
It was scary to consider that he must have scaled the whole building with out Mako to reach this point. He must have known I was there by now.
"Harry?" I called; confused by the foreboding feeling that twisted my gut.
He didn't turn. He waited in silence until evening fell and when he spoke, his tone was cold and dead. Everything about him was sending alarms off in my mind and cold quakes along my spine.
"Hello Cloud."
I forced myself not to take my sword and stab him right away for uttering that simple sentence. It was not the words that affected me but the tone. So mocking, so cold and utterly egotistical.
"No greeting back, how sad, and here I was thinking you had affection for me, oh, how silly of me, you're still holding onto those two spirits that love to improve the living rather than stay where they belong."
I could here an uncharacteristic snarl in his voice, but then again maybe for this Harry it was.
"I suppose it is a two way street though. I mean it's hardly fair-" he paused and turned.
His emerald green orbs shone like a Soldiers and a smirk had perched itself on his lips. His face was in shadow mostly except for some moon light that filter past the overhang of the buildings last few stories. He was clothed in a black dress shirt with a crimson tie and black leather pants. His smirk became crooked and took on a psychotic nature. It made him look evil.
"-I know all about you, but you know nothing," he spat the word out like poison, "-about me."
He pushed his bangs back with a hand and shut his eyes, the insane little grin never leaving its place upon his lips. He opened his glowing green eyes and chuckled darkly.
"For instance, did you know I could do this," he announced as blue fire shot from his hand and flew towards me, dissipating before it came into contact with my face but I still felt the burning heat it emitted.
"That was called Bluebell flame, very pretty name for something so hazardous, but the same could be said for you, Cloud."
I flinched as I looked into his eyes and found nothing but cold anger and emptiness. This Harry didn't know the meaning of a soul, let alone own one.
"I can do this, too," he said, the psychotic grin playing about is mouth.
He waved his hand and I was frozen in place. A predatory grin snaked its way over the psychotic one as he sidled up to me, danger pouring from his skin. It made Harry incredibly arousing but bad boys didn't like rules or laws, and this one seemed intent on breaking the Planet's and me.
He stopped in front of me. "That was a body-bind curse, incited by the words Petrificus Totalus, but I don't need to recite the spells anymore," his hand trailed down my chest and he flashed his pearly whites at me. "I just think them and they happen."
He made a small 'heh' sound after and it sounded like a tiny, half-laugh of derision.
"But these are all low level spells, however, some of the best are the lower level ones. Like this."
He pointed to the ground near the edge of the building and said, "Confringo".
The metal exploded in a shower of steel and Harry smiled wickedly.
"This is magic like you've never seen, Cloud and where I come from I'm the most powerful. If I turned against you, I could wipe out this entire planet without lifting a finger against you, I could make it quick and you would never know it happened or I could draw it out and drink in the screams and suffering as all you cherish dies."
He turned away from me again. "Where I come from though, there are forbidden magic's. Ones that cause pain and suffering like no others. The three worst could get you killed in an instant if you were caught. Do you want me to tell you what they are?"
I still couldn't move and I couldn't stop myself from getting slightly turned on by this dark Harry, despite that I knew this one was not the one I really wanted. What I was feeling was only a fraction of what I felt for the Harry that I left sleeping in his apartment.
A blur of black and he was in front on me again, "You tell yourself that, Cloud and maybe it'll come true. But you can't hide from me. You know, and I know, that you want me."
He leaned in close, his breathe ghosting over skin, I couldn't help but follow him with my eyes.
"Now that I have your attention we can continue with the lesson." He pulled back and smirked smugly.
"The first unforgivable is the Imperious curse. It gives you complete control over a person, unless they have enough shielding on their minds to shake it off. You, my dear, would have no problems with such a lovely curse."
He frowned for a minute before I felt power wash over me and the ability to move return to my body but the will to attack the figure was missing.
He looked toward the sky as he continued, "The next unforgivable I'll save till later but the last and worse is the killing curse. However, I think this curse is very overrated for it's too fast, but the second that is a fun one to use."
He looked back at me and the psychotic smile emerged again. "You see you say the word 'Crucio'-"
Pain raced through my body, burning in my veins and pounding in my head. I lost sense of what my body was doing only that the pain was still occupying my body. I lost my senses to pain. I was deaf, blind, numb and couldn't speak for the life of me. Then the pain receded to a dull ache and my senses returned.
I heard him say, "-And you feel pain and ache of a magnitude that no one can escape. A perfect torture and terrible death."
I looked away from his burning eyes and was surprised to hear a 'thud' echo from his position. Turning back I saw him on his knees, pain etched into his face but not in his eyes, which remained as lifeless as before.
Then his body flickered, like a failing hologram or picture and when he looked up, he wasn't even a darker version of Harry. Long silvery hair fluttered in the wind and a glittering oversized katana was swept in front of my nose.
"Sephiroth!"
A deep baritone cut through the air as an intruder occupied Harry's body.
"Poor Cloud, didn't even realise that Hadrian wasn't the one speaking. Didn't you wonder how he knew? Knew the words? Knew this place? I thought you were a much sharper sword than this, but it seems I overestimated you. Don't worry, I'll give you a chance to make me reconsider, just before I kill you."
"Get out!"
Sephiroth growled. "No! You've had your chance." He said, answering himself.
"My body, my rules!" he declared and the voice became Harry's again as the body changed back to the proper owner's.
Harry shook his head and glanced at me. "Don't worry about him, he's always like that. Now, as a memento of our little chat, I leave you this-"
He looked up at the night sky once again and above us a burning ember flickered to flame and divided into lines to create an outline.
"That was Flagrate using Gubraithian Fire, it'll burn forever in you memory and in this sky, a holly for truth on the body of a hydra for the conquest of a powerful enemy. But not all enemies reside in the visible world and not all enemies choose so to be. I bid you goodnight, Cloud and remember, I am but a messenger."
I am not the evil I seem… or am I, hehehe. Lovely dreams, Cloud.
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I'm really hoping I didn't give away too much there and I hope you're at least slightly confused by the goings on and kind of happy that the possibility of Cloud and Harry's relationship actually getting off the ground is now foreseeable and I really hope you review.
I say this with complete sincerity, if someone's reviews a one-word review or I receive none despite the 190 of you who supposedly read this, you will be punished. More so than dark Harry punished Cloud.
Thank you to the few people who reviewed the last chapter and the helpful fanfictionee who pointed out that the 3 & 2 chapters were the same, I had no idea and I bet I looked really stupid, so thanks.
I look forward to what the next chapter brings and hope you kind of hate me for not updating for a while, 'cause to me that means you wanted to read my story badly.
Thank you to my wonder friend and editor, you help so much.
Phoenix for you thoughts,
Tawny
