Because I feel positively evil for letting it hang like that. . .
DISCLAIMER: I am not JK
Rowling and the world of Harry Potter does not belong to me. I wish it did, but
it doesn't. I am making no money off this trifle of a story.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cursing Voldemort for what he had done to Draco, Harry shivered at the darkness began to shroud him. Sitting on his trunk on the side of the road, Draco's trunk beside him, and Draco's body curled in his arms, Lucius's words continued to flow through his head and he bit back a cry as he pulled Draco's body in closer, trying to get him warm to stop the shivering. Wait. Shivering? Harry's breath caught in his throat as he paused and looked down at Draco to really examine him for the first time since leaving the manor with his body cradled in his arms.
It was the slightest of movements, but Draco's chest was rising and falling in time with the weak and ragged breathing that came from his mouth. The shivering was getting worse as he was obviously cold out here just as Harry was. Rolling him over for examination, Draco's head fell back to expose a thin, lightening shaped cut on his forehead. Harry blinked twice, not sure he was seeing this and he traced his index finger over the cut just to make sure it was really there.
His eyelids fluttered at the touch and Draco opened them to stare back into Harry's eyes. "Did we die?" he whispered, wincing from the pain that encompassed his entire being. "Oh no, he got you, too."
Laughing, relieved to hear that voice again, Harry leaned down to kiss the cut. "No, he didn't."
"Just me, then?"
Harry placed a finger over Draco's lips shushing him and made Draco lay aside. With no other options, Harry stuck out his wand hand and waved it. The deafening bang made Draco whimper and they were both temporarily blinded by the lights of a large triple-decker bus that was a very violent shade of purple. The doors opened up and Stan Shunpike stepped off the Knight Bus to greet them.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan-"
"I know who you are," Harry replied. "I need to go to the Leaky Cauldron."
Paying for them both, Harry and Stan pulled their luggage onto the bus and Harry carried Draco on against Draco's protests.
"Look, Ern, its 'Arry Potter," Stan said. "Wot 'appened to 'im?"
Harry looked to a very perturbed Draco as he laid him down on the bed Stan led them to right behind the driver as a second bang occurred and they were on a different street than before. Draco winced at the sound. "Long story."
"Woss 'e got that cut on 'is 'ead for?"
"Cut?" Draco asked, his pale voice going even paler. Digging through his trunk, Draco produced a mirror, took one look in it, caught sight of the lighting shaped cut on his forehead that looked so much like Harry's, and let out a shriek.
"Nice cut you got there," the looking glass said back.
"You be quiet or I'll crack you to pieces," Draco commanded, tracing the cut. Shoving it back into the trunk, he turned to Harry with wide eyes. "I'm going to have one of those ugly scars, too."
"It looks that way," Harry replied as Draco clapped his hand over the cut. "At least we're both still alive. I thought I had lost you. Would you rather have one of us dead?"
"Of course not but now we're going to be the ugly scar twins," Draco answered. "We'll walk down the halls at Hogwarts and people are going to say, 'Hey, there go the kids with the scars.' My perfect skin is now forever marred with this hideous imperfection. Oh no. Hogwarts! What are the other students going to say when I show up there looking like this?"
"They'll stare at you and point and whisper about how you're the Boy Who Lived," Harry said, bitterly.
Draco paled a second time. "Holy cricket, I'm a Boy Who Lived. Not even the good Boy Who Lived. I'm the other Boy Who Lived. I'm the secondary Boy Who Lived. I'm the Boy Who Was Lucky Enough Not To Get His Fool Self Killed."
"Stop whining, Draco. I've been living with this for years. It isn't that bad."
"Not for you. You're Harry Potter, the first Boy Who Lived. You're the original. You were just a baby and Voldemort was at the peak of his power. You probably smiled at him before he tried to kill you. I'm the Boy Who Sacrificed Himself For His Boyfriend. I had almost five years of training behind me, I'm one of the best wizards in my year, and Voldemort just got his body back." Draco paused. "What happened to Voldemort, anyway?"
"Mystery. I don't know but I'm sure we'll find out once we get back to school."
"How are we going to get back to school? Where are we? What happened after I was dumb enough to throw myself in front of you before the curse could hit you?"
"You weren't dumb," Harry said. "I'm alive, aren't I? We're both alive and together. That's all that matters, right?"
"Yes," answered Draco.
"Right now, we're on the Knight Bus and heading for the Leaky Cauldron. I suppose we'll stay at the Leaky Cauldron before we go to King's Cross and take the train back to Hogwarts." Draco nodded and they were quiet for some time and then Harry said, softly, "I thought you had died."
"I told you that I couldn't let him kill you if I was still alive. I was coming out of the pain when I heard him say the words and I didn't think. I just threw myself in front of you. I love you. I had to do everything I could to stop him from killing you. Now I have this ugly blemish."
"Look at it this way, if we're the scar twins, at least we're bound forever, even if we're also bound to Voldemort."
"I know," Draco answered. "It just - the scar is really ugly on me, Harry. You look okay but I look like a fool. I'm going to be the other Boy Who Lived. People are going to stare and ask me, 'Aren't you Harry Potter' and I'll tell them, 'No, I'm Draco Malfoy.' Then they'll say, 'Oh, you're that other Boy Who Lived. Well, when you see Potter, can you lick his feet for us? Kiss his ass.' Not that I'd have a problem with the last request."
"Draco," scolded Harry.
"Well if you can want to lick my thighs, I can surly want to kiss your ass," Draco replied. Harry blushed a deep shade of crimson and looked away from Draco's gaze. "What? I can't want to kiss my own boyfriend's ass? Not to mention the other things I want to do to your ass."
"Aren't you supposed to be the chaste one who blushes easily when I mention licking your thighs?" replied Harry. "Now you're getting awfully brave." He smiled as Draco lay out next to him and rested his head in Harry's lap.
"I am the chaste virginal one. Aren't you?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "I am." Running his fingers over Draco's head, he cupped his palm around the nape and let pieces of Draco's hair slide between his fingers. Draco yawned and smiled up at Harry. "Tired?"
"Mmm," answered Draco, nodding.
"It has been a long day. Easter. Voldemort. You almost dying-" Harry said as his voice trailed off. "I can't believe you actually sacrificed yourself to keep me alive." Tears began to prick at his eyes as he continued, his voice laced heavy with emotion. "Thank you just isn't enough, is it?" Draco let out a short laugh. "Maybe you were right. That was really dumb of you, Draco. What if you would have died? I thought you were dead, Draco."
"I don't know," Draco replied. "I've never felt pain like that before. My body felt like it was on fire and my head felt like it was going to explode. Everything was black. I couldn't see anything. And then he hit me with it again and when things started to come back into vision, I panicked. I thought he had already killed you but then I heard him say the curse and I acted. All I knew was that I couldn't let him hurt you. So I used any of the strength I had left in me and threw myself over you. The next thing I remember is opening my eyes and you were staring back down at me. I wasn't really concerned with dying myself. I didn't think that far ahead. I just knew that I couldn't let you die."
"And you lived through it," Harry said. "I wonder what happened. Not that it matters because you're still here with me."
"I love you," Draco mumbled, yawning again.
"Love you, too. Go to sleep now. I'll wake you up when we get to the Leaky Cauldron."
Draco nodded and his eyes fell shut. He shifted on Harry's lap and he soon fell asleep. Turning his head, Harry's fingers sifted through Draco's hair as he watched rain patter to the ground. Thousands of questions swarmed through Harry's mind, a good majority of them having to do with the thin body snuggled into his embrace. No matter how much Draco hated it, he was now another Boy Who Lived and though Harry was not even close to complaining, he couldn't understand why. When Harry had survived the killing curse, it was because his parents died out of love to save him. The spell had rebounded, leaving Voldemort close to death until he reappeared during Harry's first year at Hogwarts.
Draco was alive and that was all that really mattered to Harry. After the day they had, everything that they had been through, nothing could have turned out more perfect than to have the two of them alive, close together. Lifting a finger, he traced over the lightening bolt-shaped cut that was so much like his own before replacing his finger with a light and feathery kiss. Draco's pale skin seemed even whiter than usual underneath the thin red line where the spell had hit him. Harry would be mad at him, furious that he was stupid enough to almost get himself killed, but the relief was too great to allow such negative feelings.
How Draco managed to survive those fatal words that so frequently ended in death, Harry had no idea. He felt that a day or two at the Leaky Cauldron before returning to Hogwarts with the rest of the students would give both Harry and Draco some quiet time. Harry could already see how much the thought of having to deal with all the attention and staring was bothering Draco and Harry figured it was best if they didn't have to deal with that right away.
Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry was starting to feel very tired and he raised a sleepy hand to shake Draco awake. His touches were light and careful, executed for the sole purpose of getting Draco up long enough to carry his things to the room they'd be staying in. Draco rolled over, batted at Harry's inquiring hands and buried his face into the mattress of the bed.
"Draco," Harry called. "You need to get up. We're at the Leaky Cauldron and I'm too tired to carry my stuff, your stuff, and you."
"I'm sleeping," came Draco's muffled reply.
"If you were sleeping, you wouldn't be able to answer me." Draco mumbled a few unkind words into his pillow. "Get up"
With a groan and a glare, Draco pulled himself off the bed and grabbed the end of his trunk. Following Harry, they dragged their tired bodies off the Knight Bus, said goodbye to Stan and Ernie, and headed inside. The lighting was dim and Tom the innkeeper hurried up to them right away.
"I've got your key right here," he said, holding it out to Harry.
"My key?" asked Harry looking to Draco who shrugged. "What do you mean by my key?"
"Professor Dumbledore contacted me ahead of time. Said that you and Mister Malfoy would be arriving here tonight. Paid for your room and everything."
"Oh," was all Harry could say.
"Would you like something to eat?"
"No thank you, Tom. We're both rather tired so if we could just go to our room and get some rest, that would be fine."
"Right then. Follow me."
Tom led them up a wooden staircase, Harry and Draco each lugging their trunks behind them. They stopped before a door with a brass number six on it. Opening the door, Tom led them inside. There were two beds, polished oak furniture, and a fire crackling in the hearth.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Tom said with a bow before he exited the room and shut the door.
Draco shoved his trunk into a corner by the bed. Pulling off his robes, he dropped in only his boxer shorts to the bed. "How does that old kook know everything?"
"Who?" Harry asked, changing out of his robes.
"Dumbledore! The man knows everything that happens to everyone. Probably knew I was still alive before you did." Draco sighed, rolling over to bury his face in the pillow.
"Oh. Well - er - at least he'll probably be able to tell us what happened to Voldemort, right? That's a good thing."
"Yeah," Draco mumbled, clearly already falling asleep again.
"Yeah," said Harry, distant. "Goodnight, Draco."
"Night, Harry."
Crawling under the covers, Harry removed his glasses and placed them on the table separating his and Harry's bed. He soon fell asleep, the only sounds in the room being the breathing of the two in perfect synchronization.
~*~
Harry and Draco spent two days at the Leaky Cauldron, eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the shops along Diagon Alley. During the day, they would walk along the long road and check out the stores. The first afternoon, Draco had pulled Harry into Knockturn Alley despite Harry's persistence and they reemerged a half hour later after dodging one of Lucius's friends that Draco particularly wanted to avoid. Harry was glad to be back in Diagon Alley after the whole charade in Knockturn Alley where he was feeling very foolish ducking behind people and things to avoid the man in question.
At Quality Quidditch Supplies, Draco had spent an hour complaining about the Snitch where, when Harry had defended the Snitch, Draco had accused Harry of loving the ball so much that if it came down to the Snitch or Draco, Harry would choose the Snitch. Harry had scoffed, told Draco that the Avada Kedavra curse inflicted brain damage to him, and pulled Draco away before he could cause a scene.
Even Flourish and Blotts had proved to be interesting, Draco purchasing himself another copy of Hogwarts, A History since his old one was back at the manor and he did not expect to get it back any time soon. The second afternoon spent there, Draco had dragged Harry to get ice cream and proceeded the read the entire book to him out loud. By the end, Harry couldn't figure out why Hermione liked the book so much and he was looking even less forward to going back to school. He knew far too much about it to love it as much.
When Harry woke up on the day they were to return to Hogwarts, he found Draco already dressed and had packed them both up so all Harry had to do was dress and eat before grabbing a taxi to King's Cross. Touched that Draco had let him sleep in and got them ready, Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and dragged him down to Diagon Alley where he treated him to breakfast. After eating, they headed out to muggle London where they called a taxi. Harry handled the money and told Draco to be quiet for fear he would say something out of the ordinary and expose them.
Sitting in the taxi, Draco was looking in a regular muggle mirror and trying to comb his hair over the scar on his forehead. Draco's hair, when not slicked back, hung just to his chin and most of it was not covering his face as he tried to hide the cut.
"I'm not going out with you in public looking like that," Harry said, cocking an eyebrow as he watched Draco.
"I can't go back to school with my head looking like this." Draco parted his hair in the front so that he could see through. Harry laughed at only being able to see Draco's eyes through the mop of white blond hair. "Don't laugh at me, Harry. This thing is hideous."
"Your hair is hideous," replied Harry, still laughing. "Come on, Draco. Just let it go. Its only a little cut."
"It's only a little cut for you. You have that unruly mess of black hair to cover it. My skin and hair is almost white and this thing looks like red ink on white parchment."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Draco, I'm not going out with you in public like that. I'll pretend I don't know you if you walk around with your hair looking like that. I love you, but I don't love you that much."
The driver of the taxicab snickered. Draco looked cross.
"But it's simply horrid, Harry. Look at it."
"I can't. You're covering it with your hand."
Draco scowled. "Be serious, Harry."
"I am being serious."
Giving up, Draco slicked his hair back and spent the remainder of the ride staring into the mirror, tracing the cut with his index finger and ignoring Harry's chuckles.
They arrived at King's Cross and had just passed through the barrier into Platform nine and three quarters, dragging their trunks towards the train, when they heard a shriek and Harry was seized around the waist from behind.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Hermione shrieked, hugging Harry. "Come on. I already got us a compartment." Rushing between them, she grabbed Harry's trunk and pulled it onto the scarlet steam engine. Draco and Harry exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed her onto the train.
Once Harry had sat down inside the compartment, Hermione seized Draco around the waist and hugged him as well. "And you. Poor dear. Is that-" she stared at the cut, lightly tracing over it and Draco winced. "I'm sorry. Does it hurt?"
"Only my ego," replied Draco, pulling out of Hermione's grip and sitting down.
"I've been wanting to see it for days. I didn't really believe any of it until I saw you."
"What are you babbling about?" asked Harry.
"Well it's been all over The Daily Prophet," Hermione replied.
"What has?" asked Draco.
"That Voldemort lost his body again after failing to kill you. That you're another Boy Who Lived."
Draco looked faint.
"It's all over The Daily Prophet?" he asked, weak, as he traced the cut on his head that was just beginning to heal. Hermione nodded. "Bloody hell, I should've known. How does everyone know what happened before we did?"
"It always goes that way with me," answered Harry. "What I want to know is why you lived. Did it say?"
Hermione shook her head. "No. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will have more answers than I do and if he doesn't, then I would suggest just being grateful that you're still alive. I'd hate to say it, but I told you so."
"Hermione," scolded Harry.
"She's right, Harry," said Draco. "She did tell us. You know, when Voldemort was there and he was talking about killing you, I just kept thinking of Hermione telling me that I was blinded because my father hit my weakness. I felt like such a fool."
"I didn't want to be right," she said, pulling Draco into a hug. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"
Draco launched into his personally tailored description of what happened.
"He just walked into your dining room like it was an everyday occurrence?" she said.
Harry and Draco nodded, shrugging. "Er - yeah."
They ate snacks from the trolley as Harry and Draco explained the events in detail from the time they got to the manor leaving out Harry's thigh licking episode to the time they reentered King's Cross. Draco even made it a point to tell Hermione that he had read Harry Hogwarts, A History, which she beamed at and told Harry that it was about time. Harry proceeded to then tell her that he didn't see what all the fuss was about because he thought the book was rather boring. Both Hermione and Draco scowled, told him that he just didn't appreciate literature, and launched into yet another discussion on the book.
All through the train ride, students had been dropping by their compartment for short amounts of time and Draco, getting furious at them for wanting to see his formings of the scar, ended up leaving to visit every compartment so that they could see the cut without bothering him. Hermione said he was blowing things out of proportion and Harry said he was being paranoid and needed to stop obsessing over something as tiny as the scar. Draco swore he was in his right mind and both Harry and Hermione had rolled their eyes at this.
The carriage ride back to Hogwarts wasn't much better. Once they arrived, Peeves was pelting water balloons at the students and began singing one of his obnoxious rhymes about Draco and the scar. If Peeves wasn't already dead, Harry was certain that Draco would have killed him. He threatened Peeves with going to the Bloody Baron, reminding the poltergeist that the Baron was his house ghost. That got Peeves away long enough for Draco to get his trunk inside and remain drier than most other students had fared.
Before they could head anywhere else, there was the sound of feet stamping down the halls and Ron appeared coming into view.
"Can I see it?" he shouted, running up to them and staring at Draco's forehead. Clapping a hand over his forehead, Draco's eyes grew wide and he single handedly pulled his trunk in the direction of the dungeons. Ron shrugged. "What's his problem?"
"He thinks that the cut is a hideous imperfection that has marred his pretty skin," replied Harry. "I've been listening to him complain about how ugly it is, how we're now the ugly scar twins, and how he's not even the cool Boy Who Lived, but the other Boy Who Lived. Take him. Please."
"Getting sick of him?" teased Ron, wrapping his arms around Hermione. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," she replied.
"Not getting sick of him," replied Harry. "Getting irritated with him whining but I'm just glad that he's around to whine. "For a few hours there, I thought he had really died."
"You'll have to tell me all about it," replied Ron. "I imagine you already heard the story." Hermione nodded.
"Mister Potter," Harry heard and he turned around to see Professor Dumbledore. "Would you meet me in my office in ten minutes? Take your things to Gryffindor tower first but report there once you've finished."
"Sure," replied Harry and he went with Ron and Hermione in the direction of Gryffindor, glad to be back at school.
"Come on in, Harry. Don't be shy," said Professor Dumbledore as Harry entered his office. Draco was already sitting there munching on muggle sweets that the headmaster had offered him. "I'm sure you both know why I've asked you here."
"It probably has something to do with this thing on my forehead," replied Draco.
Professor Dumbledore laughed and said, "It does, indeed. I have a few things to tell you both. First, I want to tell you both that I'm very glad to see you both back in relatively the same shape you were when you left." Draco covered his scar with his hand.
"We're glad to be back, Professor," replied Harry.
"I'm sure you are. Second, Draco, since the fiasco on Easter at your manor, your father has been apprehended as a Death Eater and was sent to Azkaban. We do not know of your mother's whereabouts." Draco's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you but you did need to find out. Third, you're both probably wondering why Voldemort couldn't kill you, Draco."
"Yes we are," said Draco and Harry nodded.
"No one really knows for sure but you did sacrifice yourself to save Harry here, didn't you?" Draco, turning red, nodded. "I imagine it has a great deal to do with that circumstance, Mister Malfoy. Whatever the reason, the spell has indeed backfired and Voldemort has disappeared again."
"Again?" Draco asked.
"Welcome to life as a Boy Who Lived," said Harry. Professor Dumbledore smiled at them both.
"Yet another matter needs to be discussed, Mister Malfoy. The problem of where you will be staying now that your father is in Azkaban and your mother has disappeared. Is there anyone you can think of that you'd like to say with?"
Sighing, Draco frowned. "I have no other family and I have no real friends. At least I have no other family that won't desert me or tried to get me killed again. Most of my family was at that dinner and they just watched me be tortured."
"I understand," replied the headmaster. "I was afraid that you'd say that. In that case, I would like to present you with an offer."
"An offer, sir?" said Draco.
"Yes, Mister Malfoy. An offer. Since there is no where else to send you, I propose that you spend your summers here at Hogwarts under my care."
It seemed to Harry that Draco's entire face had brightened. "Are you serious?"
"I am," replied Dumbledore. "The only problem is that this summer I must go away for the first month of the holiday. Business with the ministry. And you cannot stay here while I am gone so I will have to put you under another's care while I'm away. Do you want to take advantage of this offer?"
Nodding, Draco answered, "Yes, sir."
The headmaster nodded. "Then it's settled. You will be spending your summer holiday under my care. For the first month of this holiday, however - well - Harry. This is where you come in. I'm afraid that since Mister Malfoy has no one else, that I will have to send him back with you."
"To the Dursleys?" Harry almost shouted and Dumbledore nodded. "You can't do that to him, Professor. That's cruel."
"I have no other options, Mister Potter," replied Dumbledore. "I will send you a letter upon your return at the end of the school term for you aunt and uncle clearly delineating that they are to take care of Mister Malfoy to the highest caliber for the first month of the holiday or the minister of magic will directly be reporting to them."
"But they don't care about that," replied Harry. "They'll give me trouble for it. I'll be in terrible trouble."
"They will not give you problems, Harry. If you're worried, I will put in the letter that both you and Mister Malfoy have special permission from the ministry to use your wands over the summer. Magic will keep them in line, I think." Harry, staring, nodded. "Right then. I suggest you two get back to your common rooms. You still have two months before the end of the term and I believe you both have a Quidditch game coming up. You do need your rest."
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore," they both answered.
"Thank you," said Draco before following Harry out of the headmaster's office.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yeah. Like I killed Draco. *snort*
You're welcome.
Loved something. Hated something.
Tell me in a REVIEW or email me at angeldlsm00@hotmail.com