Chapter 34

The even beats of Malfoy's heart still echoed in Harry's head. Despite feeling a little guilty about it, he had pretended to be asleep for almost half an hour this morning, just because he didn't wanted Malfoy to move.

Malfoy's warm arms had been wrapped around him, making him feel like had been in his own little protected world.

Harry felt bad about enjoying it to the extent that he had, especially since Malfoy's intentions clearly had been so noble (and platonic). But Harry had never, ever shared a bed with someone in that way; never cuddled. He hadn't even gotten the chance to just lie in bed and hug his own mother as a child. This was his first time.

And, despite that it was Malfoy that was the one holding him, he had appreciated it immensely. Or maybe he had because it had been Malfoy. A worrying thought.

"We need a sword that won't break," Malfoy said suddenly, pacing again, snapping Harry from his memories.

"One that's Goblin made then," Harry concluded.

Malfoy snorted loudly.

"Yeah, we'll surely have a big luck finding that, the goblins hate making weapons. We're lucky if we find something sharp enough to cut hot butter with!"

Harry stared at Malfoy in surprise. "Have you suddenly gone daft?"

"Excuse me?" Malfoy demanded.

Harry stared in surprise, but then a grin started to spread over his lips. "Wait, I can come up with something whereas you cannot? Hold on for just a few seconds, would you? I have to savor this moment…"

"Potter…" Malfoy warned, but Harry could easily see the corners of his lips twitch as he tried to hold back a smile.

"The Sword of Gryffindor," Harry said. Malfoy looked almost taken aback for a second, but then he shook his head.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that. Just one problem though; do you know where the sword is?"

"No," Harry admitted easily, "but I know how to get a hold of it."

Malfoy's eyebrows rose.

"The sorting hat. You can pull the sword out of it."

Malfoy opened his mouth, but shut it again as he started pacing back and forth again and stayed silent.

"It sounds like it would work. Are you sure that the hat thing is doable?"

Harry nodded. "Dumbledore told me that a true Gryffindor could pull the sword out of the hat."

"And that would be you, of course," Malfoy said with a roll of his eyes, though Harry could hear it wasn't an insult.

"I've done it before," Harry simply replied. "I killed the basilisk with it."

"I believe you," Malfoy said with surprising solemnity. "I believe in you. But you do realize this our last chance, don't you? We will need to take the train that leaves tomorrow, since we can't travel by magic. By the time we're there, you won't have more than a few days left. We won't have time to peruse anything else." By now Malfoy stood still, meeting his eyes steadily.

"It fits. Right now, it's the only thing that fits. And even though we might have gotten it all wrong…" Harry had to clear his throat in order to continue at the thought of what that prospect would mean. "… we don't have anything better, we don't have another option."

Malfoy sighed heavily. "Then I'll get us two tickets for the Hogwarts express tomorrow."

"The Hogwarts Express?" Harry asked a bit surprised, "I didn't know the train did anything but Hogwarts students…?"

Malfoy nodded. "It leaves for Hogsmead every Friday at eleven, and goes back to London at Sunday, as a holiday trip. Mother took me a few times as a kid," Malfoy explained with a shrug.

Harry laughed mirthlessly. "Bet our trip won't really qualify as a holiday, do you think?"

Malfoy's lips didn't even twitch. "No. Let's just hope that the train goes fast enough…"

*ϟ*ϟ*

Harry woke as someone shook his shoulder lightly. He groaned. His head felt like a cannonball; like his neck was too weak to hold it up.

"Potter, wake up, we'll be there in just a few minutes," Malfoy's surprisingly gentle voice said.

Reluctantly Harry opened his eyes.

To get to King's Cross station, they had been forced to Apparate. Like last time, it had done nothing good for Harry, and he had fallen asleep on the train as soon as they had found a compartment to sit in.

He found that he rested his head against Malfoy's shoulder – and probably had been doing so during the whole time he had been asleep – so despite his cannonball-feeling he straightened up quickly.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly and hoped that he hadn't drooled, "What's the time?"

"Quarter to eight and it's all right," Malfoy replied with an indifferent shrug.

"Good," Harry said, but blushed a little anyway.

They fell silent for a while as they both stared out through the window at the now moderately familiar surroundings.

In complete honesty, Harry felt terrible. Not only the cannonball feeling, but he actually felt Voldemort preparing inside his head. He didn't know exactly what that meant he was doing, but it seemed as though what he didn't have for himself he took from Harry. Voldemort was now strong. Harry… was not.

He knew this was the final battle. He knew because Voldemort's surge of power wasn't caused by the usual steady increase; this he had created for himself as a response to their actions. Hopefully, this meant they were on the right track.

However it was with that fact, Harry knew this was the night this battle would be won or lost. And he knew that Malfoy probably would have to fight it alone.

"Malfoy…" he said softly, almost inaudibly.

But Malfoy replied. "Yes?"

"I know I have asked this of you this before, but considering Washington, you didn't listen to me much..." Harry started, unsure how to continue, unsure what to say in order to make sure that Malfoy would do as he asked. "If this… gets out of hand, I need you to run."

Malfoy sighed heavily. "Potter, listen..."

"No, you listen!" Harry burst, but immediately whished he hadn't because of the pain that exploded inside of his head. He put his hand over his forehead and shut his eyes for a moment, but then shrugged the pain off. This was more important. "This is the last chance. Both for him and for us. He knows it. And you know what will happen if he wins; he will kill you. And I know this is selfish of me, but I can't bear the thought of you dying, so you have to run. If I… you will see it, so if I start to die, you will have to run. I don't care if there's a slight chance of saving me from becoming Voldemort. I don't care; I can't let myself kill you. Don't stay."

Malfoy looked at him with a mix of anger and disbelief. "What about me then, Potter!" he burst. "Do you think I can bear the thought of you dying!"

Harry honestly didn't have a reply. He had never thought about that. He met Malfoy's furious eyes and finally was able to rasp out: "I'm afraid you won't have much of a choice."

The change was immediate. The anger disappeared instantly and was replaced by something that almost broke Harry's heart.

Malfoy took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he turned away. Harry didn't know what to do or say, so he just ended up looking at Malfoy until the blond turned back to him.

"I… I need to tell you something, Potter," Malfoy said. "Something that I probably should have told you long ago…"

An intense feeling of that he needed to hear this overcame Harry. He had no idea why, but it was there never the less. "Yes?" he urged.

"I…" Malfoy hesitated. "I guess there's no other way to say this…"

The pause was killing Harry. He wanted so badly just to shake Malfoy and demand that he should tell him, but he had a feeling that it would just scare him away.

Finally, oh finally, Malfoy opened his mouth. "I'm in-…" the next three words that left Malfoy's mouth was drowned in the unnaturally loud screeching of the breaks as the train suddenly slowed down.

The abrupt decrease in speed flung Harry forward, and weakened and with nothing to hold on to he landed harshly on the floor.

Malfoy held on to the shelf he had grasped until they came to a complete halt, but then quickly got to his feet and helped Harry up.

"Bloody mad train driver…" Malfoy cursed. "Are you all right?"

Harry nodded quickly. "What were you going to say? I didn't hear you over the breaks."

For a moment, Malfoy looked disappointed, but then it changed into something akin to relief. "It doesn't matter," he said with a shrug and let go of Harry. "We should get going."

Harry quickly grabbed Malfoy's arm, desperate to hear the words he was almost certain he had lost. "Malfoy…"

Malfoy sighed and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I won't run, Potter, I will not leave you."

Disappointment flooded Harry. He had been right; the fragile moment was over. He didn't even argue with the fact that Malfoy had, once again, refused his plea for him to leave. He just let go of Malfoy's arm with a heavy feeling of having missed out on something important in his chest.

But Malfoy's hand dwelled on his shoulder a little longer. "I… I just wish I could have done more for you, Potter," he said with a sigh, moved his hand from Harry's shoulder to the door-handle and opened the door to their compartment. But before he opened it, he stopped again, and said, without turning around: "Your eyes are red again, Harry."

Heh... Yeah... There's not much left now guys... But we're going to pass 40 chapters at least, I can tell you that. One of which I'll be off writing now. Hope you enjoyed.

Until next time, everyone!