A/N: So here's chapter 4, where it finally happens.. I got a little dramatic and that explains this chapter. It's one of my fave chapters so far. Thanks to Phoenix, my only reviewer thus far.. And on we go!
Chapter 4
All stared down at the scene. Both Death Eaters and Aurors cried out in horror.
"Did he turn the wand on himself?" an Auror said. Ella Lindstrom was sobbing uncontrollably. Others just stood in shock, staring at the scene.
Voldemort was dead.
The Death Eaters gathered around their dead lord, casting off their masks. "Lord," one cried out, "what have you done? A mere boy destroys you!" Infuriated cries followed.
The Aurors gathered around Harry, who lay sprawled on the ground, his clothes scorched and his eyes dripping a few tears. "Is he dead?" someone said.
"N- ...no." Harry fought his way to a sitting position, or at least vaguely.
A Death Eater burst out of the crowd of his brothers and ran straight for Harry. Several Aurors drew wands and began curses. "No!" Harry cried out. His face assembled into something angry and yet looked something like a smile. "Let him."
Draco knelt beside Harry. Tears poured down his face. "You're alive. Oh God, you're alive. Harry--" he was nearly sobbing. "You're alive."
"Draco..." he tried to sit up. "Draco, please.."
Draco put his arms around Harry, pulled him close, kissed both his cheeks, his forehead. "Please don't die," he said. "I have the perfect birthday present."
"Really?" Harry murmured. His hand brushed Draco's cheek, then flopped back down. "Let me see. Let me see."
Draco dug in his pocket with his free hand, dug until he found the globe in his pocket. He pressed it into Harry's palm. "Squeeze it," he whispered.
Harry obliged, stared into it. Memories flicked quickly, one by one; Harry smiled a weak, sickened smile and laughed in a pure happiness. "Draco," he said, "it's wonderful. It's perfect."
"Thank you.." Draco ran his hand over Harry's forehead, over his scar, through his hair. "You did it. You got rid of Voldemort. You saved everyone."
"But I'm dead," he mumbled. "This isn't how it's supposed to go. I'm not supposed to d--"
Draco put his finger on Harry's lips. "Shh," he admonished. Then he smiled. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Harry coughed. "Oh, God, Draco, I, I.. I'm.."
Draco pulled Harry close and kissed him until it hurt, kissed him until he could barely breathe, and even then he panted against him. Draco kissed him as if by doing it he could breathe life back into Harry's body.
He pulled away and held Harry in his arms as he died.
Harry pressed the globe into his hand. "Keep it," he said. His voice was so listless that Draco had to strain to hear. Draco leaned his ear towards Harry's lips. "You need it more than me. Love conquers all, and hate conquers nothing, remember?"
Draco's face flickered. Those were the first words Harry spoke after their first kiss.
"Nothing is more important than love, not even life... I did it for you, Draco, I did it for everybody.. you're free now... do what you've always wanted to do. I love you, Draco.."
"I love you too," Draco whispered. Harry breathed one faint, quick breath, and he died.
Draco looked up at the people, all of them. The Death Eaters, frozen, staring at one of their own crying over the dead body of their archenemy. The Aurors, staring at the Death Eater holding their hero close, sobbing over the death of his archenemy.
"Don't you understand?" he said. "I loved him. He loved me, and now he's dead, along with Voldemort. Is it that hard to understand?" Draco looked down at Harry's body, kissed his forehead, and placed him back on the ground. He stood. "Did you hear him? I did. He said, 'Nothing is more important than love, not even life.' Did you hear that? He was willing to sacrifice himself to save you all. Even you!" He whirled on the Death Eaters.
"How many of you are Death Eaters simply because your parents told you to?" Draco shouted. "How many of you are Death Eaters simply because you crave power?" He wiped tears from his face.
"People like you, who look down on people because they're different, Muggleborn or something, you're pathetic!" Draco began coughing violently, recovered, and went on. "This normal, average, Muggle-raised boy, he was more of a man than any of you! He sacrificed himself so others could live, so others could sleep at night knowing their wives, husbands, friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, whoever are safe!" A sob burst from his lungs, but he held back, wiping his face again.
"What do you do? You go against him, proclaiming that your life is more important than millions of lives and look what you've done; you go and kill this innocent, honest boy!" The Death Eaters stared at him as one. Draco wiped his face again, shaking with sobs again. "I loved him." He gestured at the Aurors. "These people cared so much for him that they were willing to give their lives for him. So many people cared about him; what right did you have to force this burden on him, force him to do this thing to destroy your master!"
"He was your master," someone yelled. "He was your master, too, until you started sleeping with that little Muggle-loving bastard Potter!"
Draco flushed with fury. "Zabini! I know you, you bastard, and I know you don't give a damn what happens to anyone else. You know where that leads you?" He gave his face a final wipe; his face turned hard as stone. "Nowhere! Apathy leads you nowhere! Vicious self-indulgence feeds the bodily desires, but what about your soul? What about your damned soul?"
His voice stopped and he began coughing violently again. "Do you understand now? He was more than just a lover." Draco shook his head, staring at the ground. "He was my love."
He looked up at the people, then back down at the body one last time. Then he walked away.
