Chapter 5
Harry knocked the redhead's hands away, looking over the crowd of Slytherins. "Draco isn't going anywhere."
"Draco belongs with Slytherins!" the pompous female voice sneered. "He doesn't belong with a Gryffindor. You have no idea what he is!"
The redhead smirked. "Pansy is right. You have no idea what you won. If you can't use Draco properly, he should return to where he belongs." He raised a hand, a band of white glimmering on his finger. "He belongs with us."
Harry looked around, noticing similar rings on all the Slytherins' fingers. "You want to duel for him." He shook his head. "No way. Draco isn't some plaything to be passed around in duels!"
"You believe that tripe?" The redhead laughed, tilting his head back. "You don't even know what the duels are, do you?"
"Blase," the whiny female voice grated out, "just get this over with. Once the Gryffindor loses, we don't have to worry about this."
"I'm not letting you abuse Draco!" Harry told the crowd.
Blase looked over Harry, lifting an eyebrow. "Are you willing to duel on that? On Draco's... happiness?"
The raven haired boy hesitated, looking over at Draco. "I don't want to see him hurt," he whispered. Louder, he said, "I want Draco to be free from these duels. I will fight every one of you to keep him from being passed around like a toy."
Pansy snorted. "He still has his noble heart! How... Gryffindor."
"So I see." Blase pulled out his wand. "Then we'll duel. Right here."
"What?" Draco said finally, spitting the word out. "Have you lost all sense of dueling?"
"Draco." Harry placed his hand on the blond's shoulder. "Let's just get this over with. The faster I duel, the faster we can get to the Astronomy Tower."
"Confident, aren't you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "Wouldn't you?" He pulled out his wand, and nodded at Draco. "Do you have roses?"
After a pause, Draco nodded back and pulled two crimson roses from his robe. He quickly fastened the roses to the duelists chests, then held out his hand for Harry's wand. Harry gave him the wand, and Draco held it close to his chest as it disappeared. "You're going to win?" Draco whispered as he cupped Harry's face.
"Always," he promised, a power growing within him. "I will always win to set you free."
The hand slipped down to Harry's chest, coaxing the power to reveal itself in the form of a sword. After the sword was drawn, he pointed it at Blase, one hand under Draco's back to support him.
"Impossible!" Blase breathed. "The sword..."
Draco straightened, and went over to the redhead. After giving over his wand, Blase ripped the sword from Draco's chest. "You aren't a real duelist, then," he drawled, pointed his own sword at Harry. "That is, if Draco can't find the sword within himself."
Harry tensed, his hand tightening over the hilt. "It's a sword. The rules just say that I need a sword to duel, right?"
"If you believe so." Blase darted forward, attacking ferociously. Harry put all his concentration into blocking all the slices, grimly looking for a way to counter. "You see? You can't win this."
Harry's eyes landed on the ring encircling Blase's hand innocently, noticing the crest was done in black instead of pink. "I will win," he said stubbornly.
Blase pulled back, watching his opponent pant with extertion. "Do you know what Draco is? Why we want to win him?"
"That doesn't matter," Harry grit out.
"He has the key to the power of eternity. Haven't you seen the castle yet?" The redhead smirked at Harry's confused look, and proceeded to attack again. Harry blocked Blase's attacks desperately, a little doubt worming itself into his emotions. "You haven't, obviously." Blase stopped again, watching the emotions play across the raven haired boy's face. "Do you even know who it is, really, that Draco follows the will of?"
Harry's grip faltered. "That... doesn't... He will follow his own will!"
A chorus of derisive laughter followed that statement. "Oh... stupid, stupid Gryffindor," Blase mocked. "Stupid, naïve Gryffindor. Why don't you ask him some time what the truth is? Or does he not answer you?"
Harry didn't answer. His opponent took the opportunity to attack again, causing Harry to jump back to keep from losing the duel.
"Harry!"
Draco's voice came from right behind him. The raven haired boy crouched down, ready to spring. Suddenly, he felt his hand changed the grip on his sword, pointing it back towards Draco. The slight pressure of Draco's hands slid across the tip of the blade, and a calm descended over Harry. He changed his grip again, placing his victory of the duel on this one strike.
"It's done!" Blase cried triumphantly, striking. The sound of the swords meeting filled the narrow hall one last time, and rose petals started drifting to the ground.
"Impossible."
"With the fake sword, how...?"
Harry turned to the Slytherin group, the rose still proud and perfect on his chest. "Anyone else?" He saluted the group with his sword mockingly. "I'll be happy to win against all of you." As he lowered his sword, the group parted slightly as if to let them pass. Harry strode through the crowd, Draco following shortly after.
"You'll see!" the whiny female voice shouted out. "You think it's noble to save him. Just wait until that soulless body turns on you!"
Harry refused to answer verbally, and instead lifted his sword slightly as if he was thinking about turning and using it on the girl. Draco reached out, covering Harry's sword hand. After a deep breath, they left the group of Slytherins behind.
"Draco," the raven haired boy whispered as his wand was restored to its normal state, "I don't think I want to go to the tower tonight."
A short pause. "I understand," Draco finally answered, his voice neutral.
There was something he had to ask Draco. It was on the tip of his tongue... it was about these duels...
Maybe he would remember in the morning.
***
"Draco, what are you doing?"
"Shh. You are engaged to me, aren't you?"
"What...? Stop."
"You engaged yourself to me, noble one."
"Your father, in Azkaban... Lucius Malfoy, the Malfoy family... France..."
"Don't remember that."
"France... family in France..."
"Wake up."
Harry woke with a start, Draco's voice still echoing in his ears. There was something important about France and the Malfoy family. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, and noticed something.
Draco was no where to be seen. Puzzled, Harry pulled on a dressing gown. As he pushed his arm through a sleeve, his ring became caught on a loose thread. He pulled his arm out, and the ring slid off his finger to the floor. Harry bent over to pick the jewellery back up, and his fingers brushed over the cover of a small book. His curious fingers picked the book up, raising it close enough to his face that he could read the title without his glasses.
What he read made him drop the book, memories flooding into his head. Harry touched his scar, eyes wide. His lips moved silently as he tried to process this information. Finally, he croaked out a sentence.
"Draco is dead."
Harry picked up his ring, and slowly slid it back on his finger. "Draco is dead. He's been dead for years. He died shortly after the murder of his mother, his father is insane in Azkaban..." He continued babbling in that vein of thought for another minute, his fingers lightly splayed over the cover of the book.
Over Draco's diary.
A pale hand gently covered Harry's slightly darker hands. "You shouldn't have picked that up," Draco's voice floated to him, tone cold.
"What are you?" Harry asked, his voice being dragged out of him. "Y-you're... Ron told me. You were in that experiment. You died."
"Everyone in the experiment died," Draco bit out. "My mother... my friends... my father might as well have... You have no reason to talk, Potter. You knew."
He had, but... "I saw you. My first day at Hogwarts. You were there, more real than the ghosts. But you're dead. And you..." Harry looked up at him, the stunned feeling starting to wear away. "Why?"
"Which 'why' do you want answered first?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"Why did you show yourself to me? Not just that... but the ring. You gave me the diary! And..."
Draco's lip curled in distaste. "Of course I gave you those things. That noble heart... it triggered the spell. He chose you and it was up to me to get you interested in having me. You're the same age as I was when I died... twelve..." Draco stroked his body, a leer on his face. "I doubt I would have interested you with the promise of this body. Keeping your interest on the project and who died certainly worked."
"You cast a charm or a hex or..."
"It was simply a spell, Potter." Draco gracefully took his diary from Harry's hands. "Like the one that keeps me here."
Harry stopped, looking at Draco. All of his emotionless defences had been stripped away. What stood before him was a nasty, spiteful, and uncertain boy. "Tell me about the spell that keeps you here. Draco."
Startled, the blond just stared at him. After a few moments, he started talking.
"We thought we were going to gain immeasurable power. That's what the book said. The power of eternity... a castle where dreams, miracles... anything that shines could be found. We all wanted it. Some wanted it to prove something to their parents... some to revive the Dark Lord, for power. Yes, Potter, our families followed the Dark Lord, the one that killed your parents, without coercion. I wanted the power so I could do something for my father... to help him in the wizarding world.
"The book said there needed to be a sacrifice. Someone willing to bear the entire weight of the spell. My mother volunteered. She would have done anything for my father and the Dark Lord. But the spell rejected her and she died. She died, my father went to jail, and I was the one that the spell liked. It created this world... a shadow to your world, always touching but never actually a part of it. And it killed me. Sent me here. To be a plaything for power seekers."
Draco's voice became more heated, more acidic. "Whenever someone with a noble heart came to Hogwarts, that person would be pulled into this dueling game. For the power of eternity. That's part of how the swords are pulled from my body. It's my power now. But no one is pure. They say they'll win and save me, but in the face of limitless power, they forget about their promise and noble heart. They die and you will too. You'll see that power, Potter, and you'll die the same way I did."
Harry stood. "I told you I'd win for you, always. You're wrong, Draco. During that duel, I'll win. I won't die."
Draco's eyes fixed on a spot past Harry's ear. "Well then." He took a white rose from his sleeves, fixing it onto one of Harry's robes. "Wear that to your classes. The power that heads all of this will see it. The End of the World. He'll take you to the edge of this world, to the gates of roses, and duel with you." He smirked. "And he will kill you."
Harry knocked the redhead's hands away, looking over the crowd of Slytherins. "Draco isn't going anywhere."
"Draco belongs with Slytherins!" the pompous female voice sneered. "He doesn't belong with a Gryffindor. You have no idea what he is!"
The redhead smirked. "Pansy is right. You have no idea what you won. If you can't use Draco properly, he should return to where he belongs." He raised a hand, a band of white glimmering on his finger. "He belongs with us."
Harry looked around, noticing similar rings on all the Slytherins' fingers. "You want to duel for him." He shook his head. "No way. Draco isn't some plaything to be passed around in duels!"
"You believe that tripe?" The redhead laughed, tilting his head back. "You don't even know what the duels are, do you?"
"Blase," the whiny female voice grated out, "just get this over with. Once the Gryffindor loses, we don't have to worry about this."
"I'm not letting you abuse Draco!" Harry told the crowd.
Blase looked over Harry, lifting an eyebrow. "Are you willing to duel on that? On Draco's... happiness?"
The raven haired boy hesitated, looking over at Draco. "I don't want to see him hurt," he whispered. Louder, he said, "I want Draco to be free from these duels. I will fight every one of you to keep him from being passed around like a toy."
Pansy snorted. "He still has his noble heart! How... Gryffindor."
"So I see." Blase pulled out his wand. "Then we'll duel. Right here."
"What?" Draco said finally, spitting the word out. "Have you lost all sense of dueling?"
"Draco." Harry placed his hand on the blond's shoulder. "Let's just get this over with. The faster I duel, the faster we can get to the Astronomy Tower."
"Confident, aren't you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "Wouldn't you?" He pulled out his wand, and nodded at Draco. "Do you have roses?"
After a pause, Draco nodded back and pulled two crimson roses from his robe. He quickly fastened the roses to the duelists chests, then held out his hand for Harry's wand. Harry gave him the wand, and Draco held it close to his chest as it disappeared. "You're going to win?" Draco whispered as he cupped Harry's face.
"Always," he promised, a power growing within him. "I will always win to set you free."
The hand slipped down to Harry's chest, coaxing the power to reveal itself in the form of a sword. After the sword was drawn, he pointed it at Blase, one hand under Draco's back to support him.
"Impossible!" Blase breathed. "The sword..."
Draco straightened, and went over to the redhead. After giving over his wand, Blase ripped the sword from Draco's chest. "You aren't a real duelist, then," he drawled, pointed his own sword at Harry. "That is, if Draco can't find the sword within himself."
Harry tensed, his hand tightening over the hilt. "It's a sword. The rules just say that I need a sword to duel, right?"
"If you believe so." Blase darted forward, attacking ferociously. Harry put all his concentration into blocking all the slices, grimly looking for a way to counter. "You see? You can't win this."
Harry's eyes landed on the ring encircling Blase's hand innocently, noticing the crest was done in black instead of pink. "I will win," he said stubbornly.
Blase pulled back, watching his opponent pant with extertion. "Do you know what Draco is? Why we want to win him?"
"That doesn't matter," Harry grit out.
"He has the key to the power of eternity. Haven't you seen the castle yet?" The redhead smirked at Harry's confused look, and proceeded to attack again. Harry blocked Blase's attacks desperately, a little doubt worming itself into his emotions. "You haven't, obviously." Blase stopped again, watching the emotions play across the raven haired boy's face. "Do you even know who it is, really, that Draco follows the will of?"
Harry's grip faltered. "That... doesn't... He will follow his own will!"
A chorus of derisive laughter followed that statement. "Oh... stupid, stupid Gryffindor," Blase mocked. "Stupid, naïve Gryffindor. Why don't you ask him some time what the truth is? Or does he not answer you?"
Harry didn't answer. His opponent took the opportunity to attack again, causing Harry to jump back to keep from losing the duel.
"Harry!"
Draco's voice came from right behind him. The raven haired boy crouched down, ready to spring. Suddenly, he felt his hand changed the grip on his sword, pointing it back towards Draco. The slight pressure of Draco's hands slid across the tip of the blade, and a calm descended over Harry. He changed his grip again, placing his victory of the duel on this one strike.
"It's done!" Blase cried triumphantly, striking. The sound of the swords meeting filled the narrow hall one last time, and rose petals started drifting to the ground.
"Impossible."
"With the fake sword, how...?"
Harry turned to the Slytherin group, the rose still proud and perfect on his chest. "Anyone else?" He saluted the group with his sword mockingly. "I'll be happy to win against all of you." As he lowered his sword, the group parted slightly as if to let them pass. Harry strode through the crowd, Draco following shortly after.
"You'll see!" the whiny female voice shouted out. "You think it's noble to save him. Just wait until that soulless body turns on you!"
Harry refused to answer verbally, and instead lifted his sword slightly as if he was thinking about turning and using it on the girl. Draco reached out, covering Harry's sword hand. After a deep breath, they left the group of Slytherins behind.
"Draco," the raven haired boy whispered as his wand was restored to its normal state, "I don't think I want to go to the tower tonight."
A short pause. "I understand," Draco finally answered, his voice neutral.
There was something he had to ask Draco. It was on the tip of his tongue... it was about these duels...
Maybe he would remember in the morning.
***
"Draco, what are you doing?"
"Shh. You are engaged to me, aren't you?"
"What...? Stop."
"You engaged yourself to me, noble one."
"Your father, in Azkaban... Lucius Malfoy, the Malfoy family... France..."
"Don't remember that."
"France... family in France..."
"Wake up."
Harry woke with a start, Draco's voice still echoing in his ears. There was something important about France and the Malfoy family. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, and noticed something.
Draco was no where to be seen. Puzzled, Harry pulled on a dressing gown. As he pushed his arm through a sleeve, his ring became caught on a loose thread. He pulled his arm out, and the ring slid off his finger to the floor. Harry bent over to pick the jewellery back up, and his fingers brushed over the cover of a small book. His curious fingers picked the book up, raising it close enough to his face that he could read the title without his glasses.
What he read made him drop the book, memories flooding into his head. Harry touched his scar, eyes wide. His lips moved silently as he tried to process this information. Finally, he croaked out a sentence.
"Draco is dead."
Harry picked up his ring, and slowly slid it back on his finger. "Draco is dead. He's been dead for years. He died shortly after the murder of his mother, his father is insane in Azkaban..." He continued babbling in that vein of thought for another minute, his fingers lightly splayed over the cover of the book.
Over Draco's diary.
A pale hand gently covered Harry's slightly darker hands. "You shouldn't have picked that up," Draco's voice floated to him, tone cold.
"What are you?" Harry asked, his voice being dragged out of him. "Y-you're... Ron told me. You were in that experiment. You died."
"Everyone in the experiment died," Draco bit out. "My mother... my friends... my father might as well have... You have no reason to talk, Potter. You knew."
He had, but... "I saw you. My first day at Hogwarts. You were there, more real than the ghosts. But you're dead. And you..." Harry looked up at him, the stunned feeling starting to wear away. "Why?"
"Which 'why' do you want answered first?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"Why did you show yourself to me? Not just that... but the ring. You gave me the diary! And..."
Draco's lip curled in distaste. "Of course I gave you those things. That noble heart... it triggered the spell. He chose you and it was up to me to get you interested in having me. You're the same age as I was when I died... twelve..." Draco stroked his body, a leer on his face. "I doubt I would have interested you with the promise of this body. Keeping your interest on the project and who died certainly worked."
"You cast a charm or a hex or..."
"It was simply a spell, Potter." Draco gracefully took his diary from Harry's hands. "Like the one that keeps me here."
Harry stopped, looking at Draco. All of his emotionless defences had been stripped away. What stood before him was a nasty, spiteful, and uncertain boy. "Tell me about the spell that keeps you here. Draco."
Startled, the blond just stared at him. After a few moments, he started talking.
"We thought we were going to gain immeasurable power. That's what the book said. The power of eternity... a castle where dreams, miracles... anything that shines could be found. We all wanted it. Some wanted it to prove something to their parents... some to revive the Dark Lord, for power. Yes, Potter, our families followed the Dark Lord, the one that killed your parents, without coercion. I wanted the power so I could do something for my father... to help him in the wizarding world.
"The book said there needed to be a sacrifice. Someone willing to bear the entire weight of the spell. My mother volunteered. She would have done anything for my father and the Dark Lord. But the spell rejected her and she died. She died, my father went to jail, and I was the one that the spell liked. It created this world... a shadow to your world, always touching but never actually a part of it. And it killed me. Sent me here. To be a plaything for power seekers."
Draco's voice became more heated, more acidic. "Whenever someone with a noble heart came to Hogwarts, that person would be pulled into this dueling game. For the power of eternity. That's part of how the swords are pulled from my body. It's my power now. But no one is pure. They say they'll win and save me, but in the face of limitless power, they forget about their promise and noble heart. They die and you will too. You'll see that power, Potter, and you'll die the same way I did."
Harry stood. "I told you I'd win for you, always. You're wrong, Draco. During that duel, I'll win. I won't die."
Draco's eyes fixed on a spot past Harry's ear. "Well then." He took a white rose from his sleeves, fixing it onto one of Harry's robes. "Wear that to your classes. The power that heads all of this will see it. The End of the World. He'll take you to the edge of this world, to the gates of roses, and duel with you." He smirked. "And he will kill you."