Disclaimer: Oh yes, of course they're mine. Just as the sun is made of ice
and money grows on trees. Miss Rowling? If you wish to sue please find
someone else, I can't even afford a lawyer let alone a settlement.
Warnings: Er, if you made it to here, it's easy sailing from onwards. Only the Epilogue to go and then I'll polish this up to be 100% compatible with HPatOotP. Then it's on to the sequel .... Smoke & Mirrors.
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.
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Blood & Nails.
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Part Thirty. Shed His Wings.
"I knew what you had done. Well, I knew the basics. Maybe not every single detail but I could work it out enough."
Harry couldn't really reply. He had been magically paralysed and then levitated back to his bed. He could move his eyes, his eyelids and was still able to breathe but that was about it.
"Violation of the mind? How cold, even for you. I thought you loved him, Harry?"
Harry closed his eyes and tried to break the spell without the use of his wand. A sharp slap to his face made him open them again.
"Don't even try it." A nail was levelled straight at his left shoulder. "Or I'll make you hurt. Slowly."
Harry was rather angry right now. Mostly with himself for not realising it before, not that he was too sure about how he should have.
"Do you know what I've had to do? Can you possibly imagine how hard all this has been? I go to enormous lengths to get you out of the way and somehow it all went so fucked. Draco was arrested, okay, fair enough. I can sort of see how that worked out. I even consoled myself that it was better than nothing. At least he would have been away from you. But then you go and do the unimaginable. You get him off Death Row. That's what the Muggles call it, don't they? Believe me, I was not impressed."
Harry felt himself bounce slightly as his captor sat down next to him.
"I'm only telling you this so you can fully understand. I wouldn't want you to burn in hell without knowing why, after all. You took him away from me. No, don't frown, you did. You betrayed me for the last time and I'm really not going to take it anymore. I don't know why I love him, especially after the way he's treated me, but I do anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter."
Harry couldn't even whimper as the knife made a slight incision in his forearm. He was actually glad about that.
"He was mine and don't worry, I'll get him back. All that planning ... ruined. But that wasn't really the worst. Do you know what the worst part was?" A pause as if he was expecting an answer. "So many people in this world act in a crazy way." He leant forward to look directly into Harry's eyes. "Do you have *any* idea how hard it is to act sane? To act normal?"
A slight creak from the mattress as he stood up and began to pace. "Well, I'm sick of acting normal! I'm sick of pretending to be fine and playing at being cool. I'm tired of the whole mess. But it'll all be okay. I'll kill you, they'll think it's Draco and I'll slip away, distraught at discovering your body. I'll go away for awhile, maybe Germany, and then I'll work out a way to find him. We'll work it out. He'll love me back one day."
Harry wished he could say exactly how unlikely that was but had to resort to blinking it out. His message was not conveyed.
"We'll be happy, and there will be no more of Harry *bloody* Potter." A cold sneer. "No loss, really."
A noise from the living room made both pair of eyes look to the open doorway. A small black blur ran in and jumped up on the bed.
"Fuck off." He swiped at the cat but it jumped back and hissed, scratching his hand as it went passed. "Argh, stupid cat, I'll wring your bloody neck." Another swipe for the feline.
The feline jumped from the bed to the top of the chest of drawers.
"I always hated this fucking thing." He only got a step closer before the cat leaped and then seemed to almost turn inside out.
A heavy black boot smacked into the side of his face, knocking him to the side.
"You hate me? Well, I'm not too fond of you, either." Draco growled out after he had quickly steadied his landing.
Both pairs of eyes widened at him.
"Draco?"
"You know, the whole time I was on my way over, I was praying that I was wrong, Weasley."
Ron rubbed his face, still looking confused. "Doesn't suit you." He motioned to Draco's hair, which was currently black.
"Likewise." Draco hissed out.
Ron smiled slightly, running his hand through the white blonde hair he was currently sporting. "I like it. Reminds me of you. Can't keep it all the time though."
Draco looked out the door to the living room. "Where's Hermione?"
"Dead."
Draco closed his eyes, wishing he wasn't such a dickhead. "Morgan?"
Ron sneered. "Sadly the little creep seems to have gone out for the night. Pity really, always hated the way he looked at you."
Draco's glare still had not dimmed. "I thought you got over this little infatuation?"
"It's not an infatuation. I told you, I love you."
"I remember ..... now."
Ron raised his eyebrows. "That one's not my fault."
"You set me up!"
"It wasn't supposed to be you." Ron said sullenly. "I don't know what went wrong there."
Draco narrowed his eyes at the wand Ron was holding.
"Recognise it." Was the playful question.
"My wand from school."
"Yeah. It always seems nice holding it. I can almost feel your energy in it. You had it so long, it won't accept mine. Just like Charlie's used to."
"Where did you get that?"
Ron gave a disappointed look. "I helped you pack for moving into here, remember?" He sighed. "Why should you? Harry's messed your mind up so badly you'll probably never be sure of anything."
Draco held his hand out slowly. "Give me my wand, Ron." He knew he had to get his old wand away from the other man. He carefully felt for his own, wishing that it wouldn't have to come to that. Cursebreakers were not the kind of people you wanted to take on when you were already at a disadvantage. He looked to Harry who was looking back at him. "Yeah, he scrambled my mind for a few months, but *you* nearly got me executed."
"It's not my fault that you somehow got down there. I go to all the trouble of slitting my throat and nailing my hands to a wall and you wander in before Harry? That was just cruel."
"You sound like a broken record. Honestly Weasley, all this whining is very unbecoming." Draco took a step closer. "Let's stop all the foolishness before someone gets hurt."
"But that's the point! It's about god damn time Harry gets hurts for the way he treats people! He took you away from me."
"No, I went willingly."
"Oh, come on, Draco. You don't love him, you only think you do. He's screwed with your mind and worked on you until your convinced you can't live without him."
"I could live without him, I just choose not to."
"And don't think that he loves you, not for a second. You'll only get worse that way."
"He loves me."
"No, he loves the idea of you. Wake up, won't you? This is Harry fucking Potter. The boy who always has to have the best. The best broom, the best books, the best boyfriend." Ron spat out angrily.
Draco raised his left hand and wiggled his fingers. "Fiancee." He raised an eyebrow as Ron gave a frustrated howl.
"He doesn't love you!"
"Tell me, Weasley, did you put Hermione to sleep *every* night? I'm sure her headaches must have been something awful, not just the tiny ones she used to complain about."
"Irritating bitch, I should have killed her years ago."
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Did it turn you on, Ron? Did hurting those defenceless people get you hot?"
"It wasn't about that!"
"Oh, of course, you did all that for me." Draco pulled a disgusted face. "How tragic."
"You were supposed to be mine! Opposites attract and all that crap! We were perfect opposites and you went to *him*!"
"What the hell are you blathering about?" Draco inched forward a little more.
"You were a Slytherin, I was Gryffindor!"
Draco covered the next move forward by attracting Ron's attention to pushing back his fringe. "Harry was Gryffindor."
"Only just. He *should* have been in Slytherin, with all his back stabbing kind."
"Certainly would have made meeting him at night a lot easier for me." Draco gave his perfected sweet smile, designed to infuriate. It never failed.
"You're short, I'm tall, you're naturally smart, I had to practically fight for decent marks, you're ... " Ron trailed off, thinking hard.
"What? I'm rich you're poor? Is that it? You're in love with my money?"
"No!"
"It would make sense, you always hated being poor."
"NO! You were supposed to be mine."
"Based on what? Our height? Give me a break!" Draco was almost within reaching distance now. "Or, I know how about this one ... I'm sane, you're clearly not."
"He did this to me! And you! You didn't fucking help."
"Oh, stop blaming everything on someone else. How do you think I could ever love a whining little bastard like you?" He raised his voice an octave. "Oh, it's all their fault! It's their fault I'm poor. It's their fault I'm gangly. It's their fault I hack up children for a hobby." He sneered. "I've tied up and tortured people, I've ordered an execution, something I've always been against, even before I was facing one. In fact I've even killed two people with the very wand that you're holding now. I've done some pretty low things in my life Weasley, but I've *never* hurt a child!" He took the last small step and plucked his old wand out of Ron's hand so quickly the redhead merely blinked and looked at him in shock. "Nighty night." Draco spat coldly and then muttered the sleeping charm, calmly watching Ron keel over.
He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. He walked over and sat down on the bed, giving a nod to Harry. "Don't panic, I *am* going to free you, I just want to say a few things first." Draco shifted uncomfortably, hating that he had to do this but knowing it was necessary. "I sorry I left, okay? Now, in my defence, I'm sure you can see why I was upset, but yeah. I had time, to cool down and I'm sorry I acted so over the top." Draco gave a slight glare. "I hope you know I am rather looking for another apology anyway. I know you said it before, but come on!"
This time he waved his old wand, deactivating the spells on Harry who immediately sat up and wrapped his arms around Draco's neck, dragging him in for a hug. "I *am* sorry."
Draco kissed the side of his neck, slipping his arms around his waist. "I know."
"I couldn't let them kill you."
"I know." Draco took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I probably would have done the same, or worse."
Harry looked to where Ron was softly snoring but had to close his eyes. "So ... you're a cat?"
"Only when I have to be. I came back to keep you close. A few years back, Severus invented this potion that changes my hair to black, and keeps it that way, even when I'm in my Animagus form. Let's face it, white cat, grey eyes ... it doesn't take a genius. Steel *was* a private joke between us."
"So you're just not a registered Animagus?"
"Well, I am actually, just not on the catalogue that the general public gets to read."
"What?"
"Never mind, just tell me how much you love me."
"Love you lots." Harry tightened his hold. "Enough to forgive you for anything." He whispered.
Draco cleared his throat and shifted slightly. "So, I'm guessing that this is one of those moments where we have to be mushy?"
"It wouldn't go astray." Harry nodded his head, without letting go of his lover.
"Well, okay, but bear in mind that I'm not very good at this." Draco pulled back a little so they could look at each other and thought for a few seconds on what he might say. "Um, okay, I've got one, here goes." He took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "I hope, I wish and I pray, that I never again, lose a single memory of mine that has you in it." He smiled and ran his hands through Harry's hair. "Not even one of the bad ones." The smiled faltered a little and he looked worried. "Was that okay?"
Harry nodded and then clutched him harder.
The front door slammed shut. "HEY GUYS, I'M BACK!" Morgan's voice rang throughout the quiet apartment. "The Chinese place was closed, something about a religious holiday, had to get pizza! I wasn't too sure what you new guys eat, so I got a collection ..... " The curious sound of five pizza boxes hitting the floor was what was heard the second after Morgan's voice trailed off. "WHAT THE FUCK?"
Draco smiled weakly and sighed. "At least he'll be happy to see me."
To Be Continued.
Warnings: Er, if you made it to here, it's easy sailing from onwards. Only the Epilogue to go and then I'll polish this up to be 100% compatible with HPatOotP. Then it's on to the sequel .... Smoke & Mirrors.
.
.
.
Blood & Nails.
.
Part Thirty. Shed His Wings.
"I knew what you had done. Well, I knew the basics. Maybe not every single detail but I could work it out enough."
Harry couldn't really reply. He had been magically paralysed and then levitated back to his bed. He could move his eyes, his eyelids and was still able to breathe but that was about it.
"Violation of the mind? How cold, even for you. I thought you loved him, Harry?"
Harry closed his eyes and tried to break the spell without the use of his wand. A sharp slap to his face made him open them again.
"Don't even try it." A nail was levelled straight at his left shoulder. "Or I'll make you hurt. Slowly."
Harry was rather angry right now. Mostly with himself for not realising it before, not that he was too sure about how he should have.
"Do you know what I've had to do? Can you possibly imagine how hard all this has been? I go to enormous lengths to get you out of the way and somehow it all went so fucked. Draco was arrested, okay, fair enough. I can sort of see how that worked out. I even consoled myself that it was better than nothing. At least he would have been away from you. But then you go and do the unimaginable. You get him off Death Row. That's what the Muggles call it, don't they? Believe me, I was not impressed."
Harry felt himself bounce slightly as his captor sat down next to him.
"I'm only telling you this so you can fully understand. I wouldn't want you to burn in hell without knowing why, after all. You took him away from me. No, don't frown, you did. You betrayed me for the last time and I'm really not going to take it anymore. I don't know why I love him, especially after the way he's treated me, but I do anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter."
Harry couldn't even whimper as the knife made a slight incision in his forearm. He was actually glad about that.
"He was mine and don't worry, I'll get him back. All that planning ... ruined. But that wasn't really the worst. Do you know what the worst part was?" A pause as if he was expecting an answer. "So many people in this world act in a crazy way." He leant forward to look directly into Harry's eyes. "Do you have *any* idea how hard it is to act sane? To act normal?"
A slight creak from the mattress as he stood up and began to pace. "Well, I'm sick of acting normal! I'm sick of pretending to be fine and playing at being cool. I'm tired of the whole mess. But it'll all be okay. I'll kill you, they'll think it's Draco and I'll slip away, distraught at discovering your body. I'll go away for awhile, maybe Germany, and then I'll work out a way to find him. We'll work it out. He'll love me back one day."
Harry wished he could say exactly how unlikely that was but had to resort to blinking it out. His message was not conveyed.
"We'll be happy, and there will be no more of Harry *bloody* Potter." A cold sneer. "No loss, really."
A noise from the living room made both pair of eyes look to the open doorway. A small black blur ran in and jumped up on the bed.
"Fuck off." He swiped at the cat but it jumped back and hissed, scratching his hand as it went passed. "Argh, stupid cat, I'll wring your bloody neck." Another swipe for the feline.
The feline jumped from the bed to the top of the chest of drawers.
"I always hated this fucking thing." He only got a step closer before the cat leaped and then seemed to almost turn inside out.
A heavy black boot smacked into the side of his face, knocking him to the side.
"You hate me? Well, I'm not too fond of you, either." Draco growled out after he had quickly steadied his landing.
Both pairs of eyes widened at him.
"Draco?"
"You know, the whole time I was on my way over, I was praying that I was wrong, Weasley."
Ron rubbed his face, still looking confused. "Doesn't suit you." He motioned to Draco's hair, which was currently black.
"Likewise." Draco hissed out.
Ron smiled slightly, running his hand through the white blonde hair he was currently sporting. "I like it. Reminds me of you. Can't keep it all the time though."
Draco looked out the door to the living room. "Where's Hermione?"
"Dead."
Draco closed his eyes, wishing he wasn't such a dickhead. "Morgan?"
Ron sneered. "Sadly the little creep seems to have gone out for the night. Pity really, always hated the way he looked at you."
Draco's glare still had not dimmed. "I thought you got over this little infatuation?"
"It's not an infatuation. I told you, I love you."
"I remember ..... now."
Ron raised his eyebrows. "That one's not my fault."
"You set me up!"
"It wasn't supposed to be you." Ron said sullenly. "I don't know what went wrong there."
Draco narrowed his eyes at the wand Ron was holding.
"Recognise it." Was the playful question.
"My wand from school."
"Yeah. It always seems nice holding it. I can almost feel your energy in it. You had it so long, it won't accept mine. Just like Charlie's used to."
"Where did you get that?"
Ron gave a disappointed look. "I helped you pack for moving into here, remember?" He sighed. "Why should you? Harry's messed your mind up so badly you'll probably never be sure of anything."
Draco held his hand out slowly. "Give me my wand, Ron." He knew he had to get his old wand away from the other man. He carefully felt for his own, wishing that it wouldn't have to come to that. Cursebreakers were not the kind of people you wanted to take on when you were already at a disadvantage. He looked to Harry who was looking back at him. "Yeah, he scrambled my mind for a few months, but *you* nearly got me executed."
"It's not my fault that you somehow got down there. I go to all the trouble of slitting my throat and nailing my hands to a wall and you wander in before Harry? That was just cruel."
"You sound like a broken record. Honestly Weasley, all this whining is very unbecoming." Draco took a step closer. "Let's stop all the foolishness before someone gets hurt."
"But that's the point! It's about god damn time Harry gets hurts for the way he treats people! He took you away from me."
"No, I went willingly."
"Oh, come on, Draco. You don't love him, you only think you do. He's screwed with your mind and worked on you until your convinced you can't live without him."
"I could live without him, I just choose not to."
"And don't think that he loves you, not for a second. You'll only get worse that way."
"He loves me."
"No, he loves the idea of you. Wake up, won't you? This is Harry fucking Potter. The boy who always has to have the best. The best broom, the best books, the best boyfriend." Ron spat out angrily.
Draco raised his left hand and wiggled his fingers. "Fiancee." He raised an eyebrow as Ron gave a frustrated howl.
"He doesn't love you!"
"Tell me, Weasley, did you put Hermione to sleep *every* night? I'm sure her headaches must have been something awful, not just the tiny ones she used to complain about."
"Irritating bitch, I should have killed her years ago."
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Did it turn you on, Ron? Did hurting those defenceless people get you hot?"
"It wasn't about that!"
"Oh, of course, you did all that for me." Draco pulled a disgusted face. "How tragic."
"You were supposed to be mine! Opposites attract and all that crap! We were perfect opposites and you went to *him*!"
"What the hell are you blathering about?" Draco inched forward a little more.
"You were a Slytherin, I was Gryffindor!"
Draco covered the next move forward by attracting Ron's attention to pushing back his fringe. "Harry was Gryffindor."
"Only just. He *should* have been in Slytherin, with all his back stabbing kind."
"Certainly would have made meeting him at night a lot easier for me." Draco gave his perfected sweet smile, designed to infuriate. It never failed.
"You're short, I'm tall, you're naturally smart, I had to practically fight for decent marks, you're ... " Ron trailed off, thinking hard.
"What? I'm rich you're poor? Is that it? You're in love with my money?"
"No!"
"It would make sense, you always hated being poor."
"NO! You were supposed to be mine."
"Based on what? Our height? Give me a break!" Draco was almost within reaching distance now. "Or, I know how about this one ... I'm sane, you're clearly not."
"He did this to me! And you! You didn't fucking help."
"Oh, stop blaming everything on someone else. How do you think I could ever love a whining little bastard like you?" He raised his voice an octave. "Oh, it's all their fault! It's their fault I'm poor. It's their fault I'm gangly. It's their fault I hack up children for a hobby." He sneered. "I've tied up and tortured people, I've ordered an execution, something I've always been against, even before I was facing one. In fact I've even killed two people with the very wand that you're holding now. I've done some pretty low things in my life Weasley, but I've *never* hurt a child!" He took the last small step and plucked his old wand out of Ron's hand so quickly the redhead merely blinked and looked at him in shock. "Nighty night." Draco spat coldly and then muttered the sleeping charm, calmly watching Ron keel over.
He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. He walked over and sat down on the bed, giving a nod to Harry. "Don't panic, I *am* going to free you, I just want to say a few things first." Draco shifted uncomfortably, hating that he had to do this but knowing it was necessary. "I sorry I left, okay? Now, in my defence, I'm sure you can see why I was upset, but yeah. I had time, to cool down and I'm sorry I acted so over the top." Draco gave a slight glare. "I hope you know I am rather looking for another apology anyway. I know you said it before, but come on!"
This time he waved his old wand, deactivating the spells on Harry who immediately sat up and wrapped his arms around Draco's neck, dragging him in for a hug. "I *am* sorry."
Draco kissed the side of his neck, slipping his arms around his waist. "I know."
"I couldn't let them kill you."
"I know." Draco took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I probably would have done the same, or worse."
Harry looked to where Ron was softly snoring but had to close his eyes. "So ... you're a cat?"
"Only when I have to be. I came back to keep you close. A few years back, Severus invented this potion that changes my hair to black, and keeps it that way, even when I'm in my Animagus form. Let's face it, white cat, grey eyes ... it doesn't take a genius. Steel *was* a private joke between us."
"So you're just not a registered Animagus?"
"Well, I am actually, just not on the catalogue that the general public gets to read."
"What?"
"Never mind, just tell me how much you love me."
"Love you lots." Harry tightened his hold. "Enough to forgive you for anything." He whispered.
Draco cleared his throat and shifted slightly. "So, I'm guessing that this is one of those moments where we have to be mushy?"
"It wouldn't go astray." Harry nodded his head, without letting go of his lover.
"Well, okay, but bear in mind that I'm not very good at this." Draco pulled back a little so they could look at each other and thought for a few seconds on what he might say. "Um, okay, I've got one, here goes." He took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "I hope, I wish and I pray, that I never again, lose a single memory of mine that has you in it." He smiled and ran his hands through Harry's hair. "Not even one of the bad ones." The smiled faltered a little and he looked worried. "Was that okay?"
Harry nodded and then clutched him harder.
The front door slammed shut. "HEY GUYS, I'M BACK!" Morgan's voice rang throughout the quiet apartment. "The Chinese place was closed, something about a religious holiday, had to get pizza! I wasn't too sure what you new guys eat, so I got a collection ..... " The curious sound of five pizza boxes hitting the floor was what was heard the second after Morgan's voice trailed off. "WHAT THE FUCK?"
Draco smiled weakly and sighed. "At least he'll be happy to see me."
To Be Continued.