So apparently (according to this thing that's going around) JK Rowling said that Lilly was pregnant with her second child when she died and apparently talked James into making peace with Snape. Who knew. I sort of even wrote that into my fic before I knew haha
Their pace was much slower now. Instead of their usual silence, they crashed through the forest, breaking branches and knocking rocks from their perches. Scratches appeared on their bodies that they had managed to avoid through all of their previous travelling. Instead of the birds the usually chirped happily, creating the soundtrack for their journey, all that could be head was a raging fire that burned away Severus.
"I'll kill her," Draco said stamping on a stick, "I'll kill her as soon as she shows her face again."
"You can't do it alone, Draco," Ginny called from beside him. Draco stiffened slightly in shock as her hand entwined with his. "You'll always have us." He slowly relaxed into her grip, feeling Harry's arm around his waist, Sirius standing before him with a fond smile and fond eyes and Hermione gripping onto his shoulders from behind. And then he realised it; he was surrounded by a real family. A family that was much better than a biological family; this family was full of love. His spirits were lifted high and his heart fluttered in his chest.
"Uhhh… Guys?" Ron broke the moment and every heart dropped through their chests into their feet when their attention was brought to the advancing wall of fire.
The wall towered over their heads, jumping from tree to tree. The leaves were dry and dead from autumn meaning that every leaf set alight in brilliant puffs. A branch from closer to where they had lay Snape to rest fell to the ground in an almighty crash, sending even more sparks into the air in the crash of the embers. The magical fire was only as loud as a flickering campfire but the damage it was causing was much, much worse. Embers from leaves and falling branches flew into the air and danced with each other in the soft breeze before they twirled towards another dried out tree. The wall advanced quicker each time another tree was set ablaze but the group still stood dumbstruck, staring at the orange flames that devoured the forest just 100 meters away from where they stood. It was only when another branch fell on the border of the line of fire that anyone was snapped back to their senses.
"Hermione?" Harry blurted, automatically turning to Hermione for help. If they were ever in trouble Hermione was always the one to get them out; whether it be with logic or with strength, she was the one who could do it.
Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish and she shook her head in pure shock. "It's too big" she merely stuttered before muttering nonsense beneath her breath.
"Just fucking run!" Ron yelled grabbing the person nearest and dragging them along with him.
Draco violently shook his arm free of Ron's grip, "Get off me!" He yelled.
Ron stopped and turned, blocking Draco and stopping him in his tracks, "I don't actually care at the moment! I want to get out of here! Just be grateful I even told you guys and didn't just run off!" He was spitting, he could see Draco flinch as flecks hit his cheeks. Ron spun on his heel and started to sprint again.
Draco's arm was suddenly dragged forward by Harry as he bolted past him. Draco was jolted forward but his body was moving faster than his legs could take him. His toe scraped the ground. He lost balance and his chest hit the leafy ground. The wind was pushed out of his body. Gasping, unable to call to them, he watched as his new family run at full speed away from the fire, away from him. He rolled onto his back and stared past his feet, taking shuddering gasps, losing oxygen quickly. The fire was close; if he didn't get up, in under a minute he'd be consumed, resting with his father. But he couldn't raise his legs, his arms ached, and he knew that his brain was slowly being starved of oxygen.
Burning was not the most graceful way to pass. He'd scream, his flesh would blister and melt away. Slowly he'd burn. He couldn't bear the pain so in a quick decision his raised his wand to his temple, ready to whisper a spell that would kill him in a flash of green.
Then, out of the smoke that was quickly consuming the forest, a hand reached out and pulled the wand away. And then it slipped beneath the crook of his knees and the other under his shoulder blades. He was lifted from the ground, head lolling back. He couldn't even speak. But slowly he was learning how to breathe again. But with breathing came the scratching of the smoke at his lungs and the wrenching coughs that ripped at his throat.
He gazed up at his saviour and saw the dark bearded face of Sirius Black, deep in concentration, puffing from exertion. He gripped onto him so tightly that Draco was not sure if the man was gripping because of pain or because of love. His cloudy brain could not decipher the signals. He regained control of his neck muscles and craned to see where they were headed. Not far away he recognised the skinny legs of Harry and the fiery hair of Ginny. Ron and Hermione must have been some way in front.
Sirius was an extremely fast runner, strong too. He gained on the four teens in what seemed to be quite a short period of time. As they joined the group, Ron and Hermione came into sight 50 meters ahead. Draco listened carefully to the panting of Sirius. "I'm so, so sorry," He said breathily.
"No need, my son." Son? The words felt strange as the rolled off his tongue, but a good kind of strange, a comforting kind of strange. He cradled Draco in his arms, the boy was light and bony. He felt like a child. He felt like his child. He held him tighter to his chest and pushed on through the smoke. "It shouldn't be too much further now."
And he was right, suddenly the smoke stopped as if there was a wall preventing it from travelling any further. They could see it dancing in magnificent, eerie swirls where it suddenly stopped.
The group stopped, but they dare not cross the boundary for they all knew what lay ahead even though their vision of it was blinded by the thickening black of the smoke.
"Draco, it's up to you. This is your decision to make and yours only," Sirius said looking down into Draco watery blue eyes.
"Uhm…" Draco looked in the direction they were headed. Possibly his worst nightmare and most likely his death. Then he gazed over Sirius's shoulder towards the ever approaching fire. The barrier between the mansion and the forest should keep the fire out. Either way they weren't safe, how could he be expected to choose between unavoidable death and just about certain death? Either way someone was going to die.
And then Harry appeared at his head, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He spoke softly, barely audible over the fire that had finally begun to rise in volume. And while stoking soot and dirt from Draco's pale skin he said, "I love you. I trust you. I'll follow you wherever you go, no matter what." And then he planted a kiss on the cheek he'd been stroking.
"Sirius, I think I can walk," Draco announced, a new wave of confidence flushing through his veins. Sirius lowered him down to the ground. His feet skittered in the leaves for a second before finding a footing. He buckled his legs just in case as Sirius allowed Draco's full body weight from the support of his arms. But strength had swept through him, the kind of strength he'd never known he'd possessed until now, and he knew that strength was his love for Harry.
He puffed out his chest as he drew his hawthorn wand from his pants pocket, holding it by his side. He took a deep breath of smoky air and stepped over the threshold into the fresh air of Lucius and his mother's house. He waited as five bodies passed through the wall, coughing slightly and filling their lungs with smokeless air. But he didn't look back at them, he was staring at the stark white walls of his childhood home and wishing that he'd never had to see it again.
Harry stepped to Draco's side, eyes darting about the alarming marble statues, most of which were surrounded with glimmering ponder that shimmered with the same blue as Draco's eyes. They were exactly as he had seen in the crystal ball. There were huge magical creatures scattered throughout their property; huge dragons hoarding treasure, nursing babies or fighting with other dragons; giant snakes, some entwined with each other or with other statues, some creeping up the sides of the house. And then there were the people. Men and women whom Harry assumed were all family members and were definitely purebloods. Each one was unnerving as the last. Each one so detailed that they seemed real. Harry flicked his eyes between the statues of people, double checking to make sure that they weren't living.
And then one moved.
You thought I was going to kill Draco, didn't you? The crystal didn't say that did it?