Chapter 16

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run –

R. Kipling



There was a moment, back in the sombre rooms of Hogwarts castle, where Hermione stumbled. Walking aimlessly round the corridors near Dumbledores office, she felt something, like the flicker of a candle, almost burnt out. And then she stumbled and fell. Ginny reached out quickly to catch her, and got a slight grasp of her sleeve, which prevented Hermione going straight into the ground. Ginny helped her friend into a sitting position, then crouched down next with an even more worried expression crossing her face, making her skin pale and delicate, and her freckles standing out more than ever.

She looked over at Hermione. The girl was shaking uncontrollably, her teeth were chattering from an imaginary cold. But her eyes, her eyes were focused on a darkened spot that only she could really see; her pupils were deadened, hollowed out holes stretching backwards into nothingness. Ginny bit back a gasp, and leaned her face in close to Hermione's as though she wasn't quite convinced the brown haired girl could hear her.

'Hermione?' she asked in a whisper, the eyes looked up to her face, looking lost in their own darkness. 'Hermione what's wrong?' There was a fearful note in Ginny's voice, she was afraid to ask the question.

'I felt him' she said simply, in the voice of a child, gazing now at the floor in a sort of numb wonder. Ginny was more worried than before, Hermione had never, ever acted like this. When there was a crisis, she always got through it by use of logic, probably thinking that looking for a solution saved you from getting too worked up about whatever problem they were facing. She remembered when Harry had been trapped in the dream world, and Hermione had announced to them all that they were going to get him back. That was the Hermione she knew, the Hermione standing in front of them all with a determined look on her face, ready to give them answers. The Hermione in front of her now looked like she couldn't tell you what two plus two made.

'Who did you feel?' Ginny asked slowly, and kindly, as though she were indeed talking to a small child.

She now shook her head at Ginny, as though the red head was silly for asking such an obvious question. 'Draco' she replied, as though she too were talking to an idiot.

Ginny tried to rid herself of the waves of relief that were now washing over her. Draco was a great friend to her, but she just didn't know what she would have done if Hermione had told her that that was Harry she was feeling. She also felt completely and utterly guilty for feeling this way. She tried again to get Hermione to talk sense. 'Hermione, what was it that you felt?'

This question had a completely unexpected effect on the other girl. The bullet holes in her eyes gave way and unleashed a river of tears, sending her flying forward into Ginny, who hugged her friend with a mix of sympathy and surprise. It was while Hermione was lying weeping in Ginny's arms, that she finally answered the question. 'Pain,' she whispered hoarsely, 'Complete and utter pain.'



Harry felt himself almost sliding back into his body, as the building crumpled around him, and he fell, breathing heavily, against a tree trunk, two bodies beside him. He let himself be calmed for a moment or two, like the quiet after a storm. He'd never ever felt that powerful before, like he could bet anything, like he could do anything. But he'd also felt so angry, and merciless, and he hadn't liked that at all. But it was over now, and he was back to being himself, and he had to get the people back to Hogwarts.

He stood, and looked at the fallen classmates who were strewn in front of him. Ron looked like he was just asleep, an ugly lump forming at the back of his head. Harry held out a hand, and stunned him. Ron could be waking up anytime soon, and he didn't want to talk about anything with his former friend just yet, he wasn't ready.

He then looked across to Draco, and bit back a lump of bile that was fast rising in his throat. There was hardly a recognisable feature about him anymore, blood had marred his skin, stained him. His once silver blond hair now hung in strings around his head like a dirty, broken halo. His eyes were closed, one was swollen shut. Harry watched as his chest rose and fell shallowly. Once, twice, three times, and then, it seemed to stop. Harry went rushing forward to him, wanting to shake his head, to do something to jar life back into him, but Draco now looked limp lifeless in his arms, ready to embrace the death that appeared to be waiting for him.

Harry screwed his own eyes shut, fighting angry tears. He was not going to let this happen again, he wasn't. Through the darkness and the loss and the pain he thought back to a lesson with Madame Pomfrey when he hadn't been paying attention, when he'd been busy reading a book he'd taken from her shelves to research from.

He knew what he had to do, the pages stood out in his mind clear as day. He summoned over a rock from the ground, and had to take out his wand to transfigure it into a portkey, then to charm it so it shimmered blue. He then looked down at Draco, remembering something he'd said to him, after they'd all helped to rescue Harry from his own nightmares. He'd been talking to him in their heads, partly because Draco didn't want people to hear him talk like this out loud. He could recall what he'd said now, could picture the look on his face when he'd said it. I could have taken ten times as much pain, if it meant you didn't have to deal with it alone.

Well, Harry thought, holding his hand above Draco's heart, it was now his turn to repay the favour. He concentrated hard on finding the specific part of him that connected him to Draco, and he located it, could see it almost as a burning ball of light. He focused on it, and felt it stretching out of him, joining him and Draco together in a web of light. The other boy's body jerked a little then went back to being still. But the beams of light weren't still. Tiny little beads began to crawl up them quickly, racing each other in their climb. They reached their target in no time, slipping into Harry, who already had his face in a grimace of preparation. And Harry felt it with each little prick; it was like needles piercing his body, all at the same time. He closed his mind off against the agony now consuming him, and took another small glance at Draco. The boy was now breathing, he could see that, and all over his body, wounds were beginning to disappear, to heal seemingly of his own accord. But Harry only had to look down at his now blood stained robes, to know that this wasn't so. At least the spell was working, now he just had to keep on going. He felt the bone in his leg break, felt blows hit his face, and could feel white-hot pain coursing down his back.

This was the point where Draco woke up. He expected to find death when he opened his eyes, not his face now completely injury free, and his limbs feeling surprisingly nimble. All his questions were answered however, when he looked at Harry, or what was halfway between Harry and a bloody corpse. He saw the stone that was in front of them both, glowing a kind of shimmering blue, and the web of light that had encased them both. It took him a few moments to react, but when he did, it was to break the light with his hand. His live skin passing through the barrier seemed to be enough to break the spell. He stood up slowly, immediately recognising that Harry had not managed to heal all of his wounds. Not that he was complaining. The boy who lived now looked horribly close to damaging his name by dying, and Draco was pretty sure that if the spell had kept going, he would have.

'Harry you idiot' he murmured, before summoning Ron's unconscious body over to him, he took hold of the boys arm with one hand, and gripped Harry's arm gently with the other, leaving his fingertips free. He concentrated on the rock in front of them both, knowing exactly what Harry had done. He held out his partly free hand, and shouted 'Accio', hoping that Harry had got the positioning right. He felt the rock touch his fingertips, then the jerk behind his navel that at least they were going somewhere other than here.



Madame Pomfrey didn't have a lot to do, and she didn't like that. All the other members of Hogwarts staff had regular tasks to do, something they could depend upon to keep them all busy. But she had to wait for sick people before she had a task to complete. She was either bored out of her mind, or rushed off of her feet.

She was forced to rethink this statement several moments later, when Draco Malfoy came tumbling into the hospital wing, carrying with him the unconscious bodies of two boys, whom Madame Pomfrey recognised as being Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. The Weasley child looked like he'd just had a bad knock on the head, but Potter's injuries looked much more serious. The Malfoy boy himself had a couple of injuries, but nothing too serious. The nurse matron gestured from him to help move the two boys to beds, and having done that, she looked at the boy who was awake.

'Can you run all right?' she asked sharply, not wasting a second in getting her words out. The boy nodded quickly, seeming to get the next part of her instructions without her even having to say it. He darted out the door to the hospital wing looking surprisingly sprightly for someone who was injured. Madame Pomfrey took another glance at the Potter boy, knowing he was her most urgent case, then set about to cleaning up the blood, so she could at least get a clear view of what it was she had to fix.



Draco was almost there, almost about to reach the gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's room, when he passed Ginny and Hermione. He himself didn't even notice them there, just kept on running to get to his goal. Ginny and Hermione, both weeping openly now, looked up in amazement as they watched him pass, as though both convinced that they were now hallucinating. When they looked at each other, and saw identical expressions on both their faces, they knew it wasn't a dream, and they took off down the corridor after Draco.

The adults in the office were all setting up some kind of counter plan that would no doubt be long, drawn out, and complicated, and would probably be flawed in some way. This was proven by Sirius standing up, stamping on the battle plans, and stating quite certainly that they were a pile of bollocks. The rest of the people in the office were saved from responding to this by the sudden and very startling arrival of Draco Malfoy, panting from the exertion of running whilst injured.

Dumbledore stood up quickly. 'Draco, how did you get out? Where's Harry? And how did you get out of there, erm, so healthy?' he said, picking three questions whose answers would immediately tell them all what had happened since Harry had left the hall all those hours ago.

Draco however, did not answer those questions, knowing full well that things would only fully be explained once Harry woke up, he wasn't quite ready to put the word 'if' into that sentence. 'Professor, I'd love to answer your questions right now, but I really think you need to get to the hospital wing first.'

No more was said, and the occupants of the room quickly followed Draco down the stairs and back in the direction from which he came. They met Hermione and Ginny at the bottom of the stairs, and then began to fully speed up, and run as group back to the doors of the hospital wing, with only one member of the party knowing what they would find there.



Once the doors to the infirmary were once again flung open, and a large group of people had filed in, a collective gasp was taken in at the sight of Harry Potter on the bed. Even with a large portion of the blood gone, he was a harsh sight to see. Madame Pomfrey was busy healing the most critical wounds, and didn't even bother to try and shoo them all out.

All heads turned to Draco, partly because they couldn't bear to look at the boy on the bed. Sirius ran forward to be nearer to his Godson, and Ginny let out a dry sob, before burying herself in her mothers hug. Tears were running down Molly Weasleys face as well, all the more so when she saw Ron lying on the next bed.

'Draco, how did Harry get like this, what did Voldemort do to him?' Dumbledore asked, his voice strained and tight.

'Harry was fine professor. He beat Voldemort, and destroyed the building where we all were. The injuries he has now, those were my injuries.' Draco stopped, feeling for some reason very ashamed of himself. Harry was everyone's favourite boy, their hero, and now here he was, suffering again, and it was because of Draco.

Dumbledore didn't really need to hear anymore. 'Of course' he said quietly, 'he performed a pain transfer, and an extremely powerful one at that.' Draco didn't respond, he just hung his head and stared listlessly at the floor. That was before Hermione flung her arms around him, and sobbed into his shoulder.

Draco, not quite knowing what to do, stroked her hair softly, and hugged her right back. And Hermione felt more comforted than anyone else could make her, because she was holding Draco. He was here, solid and real and alive. When she had felt that blast of pain, that horrible feeling of embracing death, she had been convinced that she would never get to hold him again. But Harry had taken his place instead, Harry had taken his pain, and now he could be dead. She let forward a fresh cry and cursed the harshness of the world, not yet willing to let go of Draco.

The room was lost for half an hour or so in silent contemplation, when Madame Pomfrey stood and declared that Harry would live, and that most of the wounds had been healed. Draco let the breath he had been holding out slowly, still clutching Hermione to him, and the full gravity of what had happened began to sink in. Harry had almost killed himself for Draco, a year ago the thought would have been more than laughable, it would have been sadly hysterical. The thought of anybody putting their life on the line for Draco was beyond comprehension for him, and he would just have to wait for a day when he could pay Harry back.

The room, as one, turned their attention on Ron, whose bump Madame Pomfrey could heal in seconds. The swelling went down, and Ron was healed. He was still silent on the bed though, almost as though he were just taking a casual nap, afraid of what he going to wake up to.

Madame Pomfrey looked at him in worry, completely unaware of the circumstances that had brought him here. 'He's not waking up.' She said confusedly.

'That would be because he's been stunned.' Came a weak but yet at the same time harsh voice from the other bed. People couldn't quite believe that Harry had managed to wake up so quickly, but he didn't seem to notice. Sirius gave him a quick hug, and Ginny ran forward to see him, but the boys face was a complete mask.

'Wake him up' he ordered, caught beneath Ginny's overwhelming embrace. It was that that made him cave in a little. He gave a slight smile at her face, and gave her hair little kisses, a little shocked himself that he was suddenly so alive.

'Well learnt Potter, though I assume you must have learnt that when you should have been paying attention to me.' Madame Pomfrey said, letting the upturned corners of her mouth betray her supposed strictness.

Harry gave her a slightly abashed yet pleased stare. 'I'm not complaining' he replied. 'Why did I heal so quickly?' he asked.

'Pain transference means the wounds lose some of their lasting severity, if you make it in time to help or healing, people usually recover from the spell pretty quickly, though it was still a great risk for you to take.'

'It was' Harry agreed instantly, meeting Draco's eyes across the room. 'But it worked. Now come on, wake him up.' Harry said, not wanting to dwell on things that would be much discussed later. His mind was set on sorting out the Ron situation.

Madame Pomfrey gave him an affronted look, then pointed her wand at Ron, muttering 'enervate.' The youngest Weasley son opened his eyes slowly, and raised his head an inch or two, to get an initial idea of where exactly he was. He saw the brightness of the hospital wing, and felt white sheets underneath him. He took a deep breath, now knowing exactly what the situation was, and then sat up fully, looking straight into the face of Molly Weasley. Those who were not Weasley's backed away from the scene quickly. Ginny, not yet wanting to face her brother, held on tighter to Harry, who didn't look at Ron, but shut his eyes to listen to every word.

Mrs Weasley stepped up to her son with an accusing look on her face, before raising her hand and slapping him once on the face. Ron didn't put a hand to the burning red mark, but looked up at his mother with a glare. 'You don't understand mum, you haven't got a clue.'

'I don't care' she snapped back, her voice no more than a strangled whisper. 'I don't care whatever problems you have, however insecure or neglected you were feeling. That man killed your father, and you became his son.'

Ron's face flashed white, and then stayed a deathly pale sort of colour. He opened and closed his mouth several times, looking as though he wanted more than ever for his mother to tell him that everything was all right, to tell him that if he said sorry things would be fine. But it wasn't, nothing he could do would take back the intense betrayal on his mothers face when she had said those words. He instead sank back into his covers, and spoke to Harry directly, for the first time in ages.

'You saved me, why?'

Harry looked at him, his face completely blank, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Ron would have liked for him to shout, to scream and threaten him, but he didn't. He looked at him as though he were a stranger, and replied to his question with ice in his voice. 'I didn't, Draco did.' He said simply, giving Ron even more to think about. Even though his injury had been healed, he had the world's worst headache. After all he had done, Draco Malfoy had been the one who must have saved his life. Ron felt as though he had finally completed his descent into darkness, and that it was nothing like he had expected it to be. It shouldn't have been like this, he should have been powerful, respected, he should have been able to crow over his old friends, he should have been able to watch them beg for his forgiveness. But it wasn't like that; everywhere he looked now, people looked back with anger, betrayal and coldness on their faces. The only person who really looked different was Snape, who looked at the boy with a terrified sort of familiarity on his features. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

'So' said Dumbledore, 'what is to be done with you, Mr. Weasley?'

Everyone fell silent; most people knew that at the tips of their tongues was the word Azkaban, prison and torture in return for Ron's betrayal. Dumbledore's eyes fell on Draco Malfoy, and he felt it was now time to test the boy.

'Draco, it was you who was most directly wronged at the hands of Mr. Weasley's actions, therefore I feel it is your choice for what is to happen to him.' he said, sorry for the immense pressure he was now putting on the boy, and yet all the same curious to see just what his answer would be.

The request hit Draco like a slap in the face, the words ringing in his ears, along with all the things Ron had said to him, had done to him back in that room. He looked at the boy, and saw that he was now completely terrified. Now was his chance for revenge, for complete and utter revenge. Snape had made a movement at Dumbledore's words, almost flinching. And Harry, Harry had looked at Draco with a steely expression. 'It's your choice' rang a voice in his head, 'I really don't care.' Draco saw once again the look on the faces of the people in the room, and knew what his answer must be. He met Ron's eyes as he spoke. 'He's done a lot to all of us, but he hasn't done it, I feel, for reasons that should put him in prison. I say we keep him here in the castle, I don't know where, and see if we can give him a second chance.' He said slowly, taking in every aspect of Ron's shock at what he said. In that moment, Ron and Draco finally completed their reverse of roles; only time would tell if some balance could be struck between them.

Dumbledore nodded, a twinkle now it again in his old blue eyes. He clapped his hands once. 'All right it's settled then. Professor Snape, I'm sure, will be all too willing to oversee Mr. Weasley's rehabilitation, perhaps we should leave them to be better acquainted.' He motioned for them all to leave the room, including a Harry who was now so well he could stand and walk, though he still held on to Ginny, perhaps for different reasons.

As Draco was leaving, Madame Pomfrey pointed to the bruises on his arms and legs. 'Let me heal those Draco.'

'No' he said, putting hands to his wounds almost protectively. 'I'd like them to heal normally thank you.'



Left alone in the hospital wing, Ron eyed Snape with complete dislike and mistrust. The potions master returned the glare, but with it was a look of knowledge and understanding, mixed in with a sort of grim resolve.

'What makes you think you can help me?' Ron spat. Just because these people were giving him another chance, did in no way mean he was going to fall at their knees all of a sudden. Ron's desire for pride and respect was still strong, despite the situation he was now in.

Snape sneered at him. 'Don't think you can fool me boy; I know exactly what is going on inside your head. I've seen that look before. I saw it when I looked in the mirror eighteen years ago…..'



Outside the hospital wing, the four friends piled into the room where Draco and Hermione had become a couple all that time again. They looked at each other, all bathed in the same light streaming in through the window. Everyone had something to say, some story to share or question to ask. But all these were suddenly pushed aside, as the world fell in and they collapsed into a mass group hug. They had all the time in the world to discuss what had happened that day, but the moment now was completely sacred.



'Harry, Draco, I have to talk to you.' Sirius said, beckoning the boys into an empty classroom. It was about a week after that day, and the school was still ringing with the after effects of what had happened. Nobody had been told about Ron's involvement in the plan. He was being kept in a secret wing of the castle, under the watchful eyes of Snape and Dumbledore. Harry had been to see him once, taking Hermione and Ginny with him. Draco had opted to stay away, wanting to maintain a sense of closure on the whole thing. When they had seen him, Ron had looked completely healthy, yet slightly lost inside. He insisted over and over again that he was indeed going to get better, that Snape was helping him, and that if he had the nerve, and he could recover. Harry hadn't said much, he had just handed Ron the letter he had sent him, with the question why. While the word hung between the two boys, the girls took their one and only opportunity to look at the note that had sparked off Harry's reaction. On one side of the parchment, there was a photo of Draco, his nose bloody and his eye swollen, in obvious agony. Below it, in ink were written the words 'and just think, this is before the real torture even begins!' the words seemed to sparkle with glee, and Ron's writing was clearly distinguishable. On the other side of the parchment was quite obviously a map of where they were, but Hermione and Ginny didn't notice, they looked back at Ron with disgust on their faces.

He didn't notice, he looked at Harry, saying 'isn't it obvious?'

Harry shook his head, never breaking eye contact with his old friend. 'Not to me it isn't.'

Ron let out a small, tight sigh, as though he were keeping his emotions on a tight leash. 'Then I'll explain it to you sometime. But not now, not here.' He said, and the conversation had been over.

The rest of the school were under the belief that Ron had been taken ill, and was resting back at home. This was to help his rehabilitation, and also to spare his family from nastiness. The Weasley's had gone to see their son, but even Ginny would not tell about what had taken place. All the normal students knew, was that Draco had been taken by death eaters, and Harry had saved him. This was of course enough to mean that Harry now received fresh looks of admiration as he passed down the hallways, and Ginny laughed at his efforts to duck away from fresh waves of 'fans'.

Now, as Harry saw a group of girls fast approaching, he quickly followed Sirius into the classroom. Draco, smirking slightly, shut the door behind them quietly. Sirius stood in front of the two boys somewhat nervously. He cleared his throat.

'Well Harry, as you know, I've been cleared now, and this means that I can make that offer about taking care of you again, if you still want it.' he didn't even need to add more, because Harry was already nodding his head at him furiously.

Sirius laughed, easing the tension in his shoulders a little. 'Great. Well my next offer is, that, after what's happened with your parents, I would be glad to welcome you into our home as well.'

Draco's jaw dropped slightly. He wouldn't have to stay at Hogwarts this summer. He could go and stay with Harry and Sirius; he could gain a sense of having a family again. 'I, yeah sure, I'd like that.' he said, trying to sound casual. Sirius looked pleasantly surprised, like he hadn't expected for Draco to take him up on his offer so quickly. The man's face broke into a smile, and he clapped both boys on the back.

'Great' he said for a second time, before striding purposefully from the room, probably to go and make all the arrangements, leaving a pair of grinning boys in his wake.



It was now the last day of the year, but Harry was no longer dreading having to go home. He was going back to Sirius's, and Draco was coming with him. The two of them were closer than brothers now, with a friendship too strong to break, having been through so much together. With Hermione and Ginny, they shared a bond so strong it could cross between the boundaries of life and death; it was a love insusceptible to darkness. And at times it was all that could keep them going.

Harry looked into the mirror in his room one last time, smiling at his reflection with a look of real happiness that hadn't been present in his face for a long time now. He wasn't scared anymore, he wasn't worried or guilty. He had proved to Voldemort that he wasn't a little boy anymore. He had grown, and he was ready for whatever was going to come his way.

From behind, two hands snaked around his waist, and he turned to look at Ginny, really look at her. Her fiery red hair wound around in circles and glistened with gold in the light. He saw himself in her eyes, and her love for him, and he knew that he could meet any challenge to come his way, if he had the promise of looking into her eyes when it was all over. He bent his head, and kissed her slowly, feeling her open her heart to him, and welcome him in. when he broke contact, she looked at him with a dreamy smile on her face.

'I'll see you soon won't I?' she asked, her face still very close to his, her mouth still parted slightly.

Harry kissed it again, before murmuring 'of course' against her silky, curling hair. Holding her close, before grabbing his bags, and walking hand in hand with her up the stairs. Draco and Hermione were waiting for him, looking as though they too had taken up the opportunity of being alone, like Harry and Ginny had. Hermione kissed her boyfriend on the nose, then threw her arms around both him and Harry, planting a kiss on her friends cheek. 'Do take care of yourselves won't you?' she said, laughing slightly at her worry. More hugs and kisses were exchanged, and then Hermione and Ginny disappeared to board the Hogwarts express. Harry and Draco grinned at each other, unsure about what was going to happen now. Sirius soon came up behind them, shrinking their luggage with a wave of his wand. He smiled at the two of them.

'So, when was the last time you two flew on a motorbike?'

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!



DISCLAIMER: Characters are JK Rowlings, Poem is Kipling's

AUTHORS NOTE: There you go, its done!! Think I shall probably do a sequel. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review!!