Author's Beginning Notes: Um.. all at end, like usual. Thank Yous below.
Thank You To:
- Shinigami's Night -
- Fanny chan -
- omowiro soga -
- LenaLovely12 -
- Roseann Riddle-Malfoy - (I think)
Harry stood near the door, looking over at Draco, whom was rolled over on his side, breathing slowed. Harry figured he was asleep, and wondered if he should wake him. He decided against it, and, as quietly as he could, went over to the chair in the corner and sat down to wait for the blonde to awaken.
Harry watched Draco sleep, the blonde looking child-like in his slumber as he ever when he was in his teenage years. Harry smiled despite his trying not to. He shook his head and stood up from his chair. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside Draco, on the edge of the bed. A lock of Draco's silvery-blonde hair had fallen over his eye, and Harry brushed it aside, and shook Draco lightly. "Draco, wake up." He said, ceasing to shake him. Draco grumbled, and curled up around himself, burying his head under the pillow.
Harry sighed and looked away.
"Fine then." He said to the still sleeping Draco.
Harry heard the door click open and turned in his place to see who was coming in. It was only the nurse.
"Oh," She said, "I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to interrupt." She tucked a long, brown bang behind her left ear, and went to the chair Harry had sat on before. "I just came to bring him a change of clothes." She set the mentioned clothes down on the chair. "Could you see to him changing when he wakes?"
Harry nodded and flashed her a smile.
She blushed and hurriedly left the room.
"Still the same old Harry Potter." He mumbled, recalling his school days, and being able to make almost every girl, and some boys, turn as red as a tomato, just as the nurse had. Harry looked down at his shoes with a small sigh.
"Harry?" Came a quiet voice from his left. Harry jumped, not expecting it.
Harry looked down near his left elbow and found Draco peering out from under his pillow up at him. Harry smiled and turned toward him.
Draco pulled the pillow up and sat up. "What are you doing here?" He asked, confused.
"Draco, I think we have a lot to talk about." Harry said to the blonde. Draco furrowed his eyebrows, still looking at Harry. "What about?" He asked.
Harry chewed his bottom lip, thinking. "I'm not sure where to start." Harry said. Draco tilted his head. "It's always easier to start from the beginning." He suggested, and Harry nodded. "Sounds like a good place to me." He replied.
"I was talking to Hermione outside in the hall, you know, after I left." Harry began. "She knows about how we used to be-be together." Harry paused, feeling odd after saying that. He looked up at Draco, who was wait for him to continue.
Draco didn't seem too surprised, but it did appear he felt just as uncomfortable as Harry did. "I told Ginny." He admitted to Harry, feeling guilty for being the one to spill their secret.
Harry shrugged. "Yeah, Hermione told me Ginny was the one to tell her about it."
"Yeah," Draco said awkwardly.
"She told me some other stuff, too." Harry resumed. "Like what?" Draco questioned.
"She said that you'd seemed distant for a while. I don't remember exactly." It was the truth that he did not. Harry had been trying to think of what to say to Draco, and nearly all of the previous conversation with Hermione had slipped from his mind.
Draco said nothing.
"Draco, can I ask you something?" Harry said when talk had slowed to a stalemate.
"You just did." Draco said, suddenly jovial.
"Draco," Harry sighed, rolling his eyes. "Sure." Draco said, looking down at his lap, suddenly serious once more.
"Why did you kiss me?" Harry asked, and thought again. "All that stuff you said, was it true?"
"It's a long story, Harry. So very long." Draco said, and he seemed, to Harry, to look tired then, and rather pathetic as he sat there.
"We have as long as it takes to set things in order." Harry told him.
"True,"
"But?" Harry quirked an eyebrow questioningly at Draco.
"It's still a long story." Draco answered, hiding a smile.
"Ugh, you," Harry sighed. "Just tell me." He pleaded, and wondered if Draco was still affected by his pouting. He decided to give it a try. Draco smiled despite himself.
"Alright, where to start?"
"From the beginning." Mocked Harry, and he smiled at Draco's annoyed glance.
"Okay, start from when you found out I'd gone and all that. Hermione's been on about it all earlier, anyway." Harry added.
"The war then." Draco said softly, distantly.
"Tell me what happened." Harry whispered, resting a hand on Draco's arm. He looked into the blonde's eyes. Draco nodded, and did as he was told.
"You do understand that there is not much chance tat you will return from this battle, Mr. Malfoy?" The man asked Draco, truly concerned. His quill hovered above the signature line. "Yes, I do." Draco replied, without hesitation.
The man glanced at Draco briefly, then signed his own name on the line, and passed Draco the clipboard when he was finished.
Draco scanned over the form, and then took the offered quill and signed his own signature where needed. He handed the forms and quill back to the man.
"Pleasure helping you, Mr. Malfoy." The man smiled cruely, gathering his stuff. He swept from the room quickly.
Draco sighed, pushing a lock of his blonde hair behind his ear. He turned around to find Severus Snape standing in the doorway.
"Draco," Snape spoke to him, coming into the room. "What did you just do?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the boy.
"Signing my will, of course." Draco smiled warily, knowing that most likely neither of them would survive through this war.
Snape scowled. "I take it you have no faith in your fighting ability?" Draco glared for a moment, and then he snorted. "Professor, you know as well as I do that it's a one in a million chance or surviving this. That bat told us so when he was asking for volunteers." Draco said.
"That bat," Snape growled, "is Albus Dumbledore." He calmed, realizing where Draco was coming from, and took pity on him.
"I'm just a soldier, Professor. I don't have any sort of special training. My chances of getting through it were grim before Dumbledore said it aloud."
Snape put a hand on Draco's shoulder. He squeezed gently, and spoke, "Draco, you are an amazing wizard." He told him. "You may not see it, but everyone else can. You have more power than anyone else could hope for. Why can't you get that through your thick skull?" Snape said, tough not with his usual bitterness. "There may be a one in a million chance, as you said, but there still is that one percent."
Draco laughed at the last remark. "No offense, Professor, but that doesn't help much at all."
"It never was much help to anyone else, either." Snape said with an actual smile.
Draco returned the smile, and looked down at his feet, feeling foolish. "You are right, though." He said, and knew Snape had smirked.
"Oh, get out of here!" Draco told his potions master good-naturedly.
"As you say." Snape said, removing his hand, he quickly left, remembering he had left Sirius alone in his office.
Draco looked up as he heard the door close behind Snape.
Draco reached into the breast pocket on the front of his robes and pulled out a small, wallet-sized photograph.
He looked down at a plain, un-moving photograph of a smiling Harry Potter. The picture had long since stopped moving as the other wizard photos did.
In the photo, Harry was waving at the camera, cheeks flushed, and smiling brightly. His emerald eyes were lit up happily, and his raven colored hair messy as it ever was.
Draco knew that when the picture still moved, that he himself entered the photo. His picture self would wrap an arm around Harry's waist, smiling at the camera just as Harry. Then Harry would kiss his cheek, and they'd laugh, resuming waving to the camera.
Draco could remember the day Harry had had some random person in Hogsmeade take the photo. Though the person could not remember it, as Harry had to cast a memory charm just in case.
Draco sighed.
It had been their first date. Harry had spent the whole Saturday before preparing the Shrieking Shack for the event.
Draco felt tears prickling in the corner of his eyes, and he returned the photo to his pocket, not exactly in the mood to go about reminiscing about the past.
Draco turned toward the door, hearing a sudden commotion coming from outside in the hallway. The door opened, and an extremely panicked looking Remus Lupin appeared.
"Malfoy," He breathed, obviously out of breath from running. "It's started. You need to come, now." Draco's heart began to beat faster in his chest.
It wasn't supposed to start so soon. He wanted to say, but Remus grabbed his arm, and he pulled him from the room. "We need to hurry." Lupin told him, and he knew it really had begun.
Oh God, He thought, sending one last, fleeting glance over his shoulder, he could see many more students following not far behind them.
Author's Ending Notes: Okay, so here's a new chapter. Joy, eh? For all those who want e-mails when I update (since the updates are few and far between) you can leave your e-mail address in a review, or something of the sort. I'll try my best to keep a steady update pace, though I can't promise anything.
At the moment, FF.net is being evil and won't let me log in, so I've passed my Sunday deadline I'd had set for this chapter. Sucks, doesn't it? Oh well, hopefully I'll get it up today, if not, then Tuesday. ( -_-; )
Hope you all had a lovely Valentines day.. I really wanted to do a short ficlet for this story in honor of it, but just didn't seem inspired to do it. Ah well, maybe next time. XD
Well, until the next chapter, this'll be cheerio for now. =)
PLEASE REVIEW!! ^_^