CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Once in a while, a love comes along that's beyond your imagination. It's so incredible, so impossible, it seems like something the movies are made of. You could never imagine it happening to you. And when it does, sometimes you're too blind or too slow or just too amazed by it to seize the chance.
And sometimes you realize it too late.
*********************
"W....what?" He said, so softly she barely heard it.
"I...I love you too Harry Potter." Harry felt as if the ground had fallen from beneath him, and that he was floating, suspended in mid air and kept afloat by the mere echo of those words. Time seemed to stop, the world ceased to spin, and the only thing left in the world was Harry, Lara and that bloody cage that stood between them.
And that's when it started. The power within him, slightly weakened already due to his emancipation from the cage, began to grow. It's light and warmth began to flood his veins and fill his mind with it's awesome power. He felt his fingers tingling with apprehension as walls of power built up behind them. His eyes, previously lifeless, began to fill with light and energy, they sparkled again with a hope and shone like stars.
Harry reached out his hand, touching the bars of the cage. And from where his hand came into contact with the metal, a light began to grow. It threaded it's way through the metal bars until they began to crack and splinter. Suddenly, the cage gave way, and the metal bars disintegrated like they were made of sand. Lara stared in shock as she stood up, stepping out of the rubble that had previously been her prison. Harry turned towards Voldemort, emerald eyes glittering.
And at that moment, Voldemort felt the icy grip of fear.
His eyes widened in horror, his face rapidly losing colour. He took several tentative steps back, intent on trying to make a break for it. But Harry would not allow it.
Raising his hand, Harry felt a fresh wave of power burst free with such force he couldn't halt it. The energy exploded from his hand and hit Voldemort in the chest, it's tenticles of light threading their way through his body. The light continued to weave through his form even as the Dark Lord fell to the ground, his life line finally extinguished.
But still Harry could not hold the light. It continued to flow out of him in torrents of raw energy. He walked outside the tent and was affronted with the army of Voldemort, who stared at the flowing form of the *boy who lived* in all his glory and power.
Harry directed his arm over the army, the jets of light washing over them. As each of the creatures came into contact with the light, they fell to the ground, until there were none left standing.
"Harry! No! Don't kill them!" Lara cried, emerging from the tent behind him.
"I'm not, it's just a stunning spell." Harry said, his voice deeper and darker than Lara remembered it. He continued to let the light escape him, holding his hand up to the heavens so that the stars themselves seem to shine brighter above them.
And then, suddenly, the flow of energy stopped and Harry fell to the floor, having finally used up his life source.
"No!" Lara cried, running to the fallen boy and kneeling beside him. She felt his pulse, and when she realized it wasn't there her life began to crumble. She knelt over the body, her eyes absolutely bursting with tears. She began to sob uncontrollably as she felt the warm body of Harry beneath her, so alive and yet so lifeless at the same time. She felt a grief well up inside of her so all consuming that she felt her body weaken at the mere weight of it.
Sitting up, she looked into Harry's face, caressing his features, running her hands through his dark hair. Her tears fell onto his cheeks as she tried to commit to memory the face of the boy she loved more than life itself.
And as she watched his peaceful face slip into the palor of death, she did the only thing she could think of and began to pour her dwindling life source into his. And as her life trickled away from her and the world began to fade, a thought popped into her mind. A thought that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
*If only... If only I had said it sooner I might have known true happiness.*
And then the world went black.
*************
Draco Malfoy arrived at the army camp with several ministry wizards to see Voldemorts entire army on the ground, apparently dead. Walking towards the main tent, where most of the bodies were facing, he saw two corpses lying in front of its entrance.
Harry Potter and Larrissa Black, together at last.
The next few minutes were a blur for Draco. He vaguely heard ministry officials gather around the tent, inspecting the bodies. He heard the scream of the Auror who found Voldemorts body in the tent and the rush of officials trying to close off the perimiter when they discovered the army was not in fact dead, but merely stunned.
But Draco didn't care. All he could focus on was the two dead bodies of Harry and Lara.
************
Draco wriggled in the sofa uncomfortably, painfully aware of the pictures around Dumbledores' office, their contents staring at him like children at a zoo. He was very relieved when Dumbledore finally shuffled in, looking rather flustered.
"Sorry about that Draco, I've been trying to shake off those reporters all day."
"They all want to hear the story don't they? About what happened?"
"Yes, and I have only told them that Voldemort is dead. I do not wish to divulge further information on the subject at the moment."
"You sound like you are talking to reporters again." Draco said, smiling slightly, although it was clear his heart wasn't in it.
"I know." Dumbledore said simply before taking a seat on the other side of the desk. "But although they do not have a right to know what happened, you do."
"So you've finally discovered what happened that night?" Draco said weakly. Dumbeldore nodded solemly.
"Yes, I put a spell on Harry, Lara and Voldemort which allows me to see the last images they saw. Compiled with a few interviews with the Dark Creatures found on the field, I can acurately deduce what happened."
"So..."
"Once you and Mr. Potter split up, he was lead by the Vampire to the tent where Voldemort had apparated with Lara. He placed her in a cage with a special spell that..."
"Absorbed any curses thrown at it, yes I've seen it." Draco said impatiently.
"Yes." Dumbledore said, deciding not to dwell on Draco's rude interruption. The headmaster continued his story, much of which the Slytherin had already guessed. Near the end of the tale, however, the wizened old man began to fill in the big gaps in Draco's version of events.
"So Lara," Dumbledore continued, "noticing Harry's lack of determination in fighting Voldemort, finally admitted that she did, in fact, return his love. What happens next is rather complicated.
You see love, in itself, is a sort of magic. It has it's own power. In it's raw form, you could call it the most powerful magic on earth. But it's rarely pure. In the case of Harry and Lara, it was.
So when Harry discovered his love was, in fact, returned, the energy inside of him began to feed off his love of Lara, until it grew to monstrous proportions. Harry used this excess magic to free Lara from her cage before turning on Voldemort, killing him.
By now, the power had gotten so out of control Harry couldn't stop it, so he walked outside the tent and used the power to stun the entire army of Dark Creatures. When that was done, his energy continued to flow out until there was nothing left. And when his life source was at last emptied, he fainted.
Lara, fearing to lose a love she only just realized was there, began to feed Harry the remainder of her life source, until she too blacked out. That's how you found them when you arrived." Dumbeldore said, at last finishing his tale. Draco nodded, slowly getting up from his chair and walking around the room.
"Do you think they'll live?" Draco asked softly.
"I don't know." Dumbledore said honestly. "When you found them they were very near death. Harry would've died instantly had Lara not kept him alive with a bit of her energy."
"But they've been in a coma for two weeks damn it!" Draco exploded.
"They are hanging on to life by but a thread. The healers fear to tamper with them for fear of pushing them over the edge and into death."
"When can I visit them?"
"That is one of the reason I called you here today. The healers have approved you visiting them, but no one else. I think perhaps that they hope a familiar voice will bring them back to consciousness."
"When can I visit them?"
"I have organized a portkey to leave whenever you wish."
"I'll go now." Draco said promptly. Dumbeldore nodded, obviously expecting this.
"Very well." He said softly, pointing to a large quill sitting on the edge of his desk. "There is your portkey. Hold it and say 'volta' when you wish to return." Dumbledore instructed as Draco reached forward and touched the quill, the headmasters office immediately spinning away.
*************
"I'm here to see Harry Potter and Larrissa Black?" Draco asked at the front desk of St. Mungo's Hospital.
"Ah, you must be Mr. Draco Malfoy. They told me you were coming. I have great news."
"You do?" Draco asked, his voice climbing an octave in his excitement.
"Yes, Miss Black regained consciousness this morning. She has an almost hundred percent chance of full recovery." Draco's face split into a wild grin as he relaxed visibly, although the thought of Harry still nagged at this heart.
"That's good news. So where can I find them?"
"It's on this floor, down the corridor in room 3." Draco nodded before heading off down the white washed corridor, following her instructions until he reached a door with a golden three inscripted on it.
He entered the room to find it much like most of the other hospital rooms that he had visited, with several neat beds and a single window at the back of the room. At the moment, the view outside was of the Eiffel Tower.
However he did not pay much attention to these details, his focus instead being on the sound of Lara's voice travelling acorss the room from the bed at the end of the room, at the moment screened by a white curtain.
"What do you mean I can't see him? He's a few metres away! All I want to do is talk to him."
"He's in a coma dear."
"I don't give!" Lara said, her voice close to hysteria. "I want to see him, I want to see if he's alright!"
"He is a in a stable condition. There is nothing anyone can do for him at the moment."
"How do you know? What if you've missed something! His life could depend on it!" Lara screeched. Draco chuckled as he called to the hysterical girl from the other side of the curtain.
"Nice to see we've got our old temper back."
"Draco?" Lara cried, her voice filled with disbelief.
"The one and only." The blonde replied happily, his heart finally freeing itself after a tense two weeks of worry.
"Hurry! Pull back the curtain, I want to see you!" Lara cried as Draco reached across and pulled back the white material, revealing Lara sitting up in bed looking far too alert for someone who had just woken up from a two week coma.
"Hello Miss Black. Long time no see." Draco said, smiling as he sat down on the edge of the bed and embraced Lara.
"Two weeks, the nurse told me."
"You have no idea how glad I am that you are alive and well." Draco said, his mind still struggling to believe it. Lara's face tightened slightly at the boys words.
"But he's not." Lara whispered, her eyes darting to the bed across the room from her, also obscured by a thick white curtain.
"He will be. You made it, and so will he." Lara nodded slightly, although it was obvious she was struggling to believe it.
"I'm so scared Draco, I'm so scared of losing him."
"I know you are, now that you've finally admitted you love him. Let's ignore the fact that he was staring death in the face when you did."
"You know what happened?"
"Dumbledore did some funny spell to see the last images you experienced."
"Yeah I know the one." Lara said softly, a silence falling over the pair. "I can't believe I took so long to say it though." She said after a while.
"Neither can anyone else."
"I can't stop thinking about all the moments of joy and happiness I may never have, all because I was too stupid to... to..." But Lara couldn't continue with the sentence, as a fresh wave of tears began to flow out of her eyes.
"You will experience them, he's not dead. And he's not going to die." Draco said softly, holding out his arms and enveloping her in another embrace.
"I know." Lara said hoarsly, trying to convince herself that her words were true.
"Do you mind if I... if I see him for a bit?"
"No, go ahead." Lara said, lying back down in her bed as Draco got up and walked over to Harry's, disappearing behind the curtain.
Behind the white barrier, Draco grabbed a nearby chair and sat down slowly, not taking his eyes of the sleeping form of Harry.
"You and me, are very different." Draco said, not asking himself why he was talking to someone in a coma, but feeling that he needed to say some things to Harry that he might never get another chance to say.
"You are good at heart." Draco continued, leaning forward in his chair. "You don't have to try and you show compassion and kindness. But me? I have to work my ass off to do something good. I suppose it all comes down to reputation. Mine is very different from yours in that respect. You're the son of one of the most renowned wizards ever to live, and I'm the son of the most hated wizard alive, next to Voldemort of course." Draco took a deep breath, letting the words flow out of him easily.
"I suppose I should stop here and simply say I'm sorry. Sorry for all the rotten things I've done. But then I think, you weren't particularly nice to me either. I think we just got off on the wrong foot, and it sort of escalated from there. You can't really blame anyone, it's just the playings of fate." Draco said thoughtfully, pausing to take a good look at Harry.
"But these last few weeks. I could almost call you a friend. We've been there for each other; out on the field with Voldemort we worked together. For the first time. And it wasn't as bad as I imagined it." Draco said, smiling slightly at the thought. If he had known he would be saying these things to Harry a year ago, he probably would've gagged.
"That doesn't mean you aren't a prat sometimes though. I mean this thing with Lara. Could either of you have been anymore stupid? It was so bloody obvious you were madly in love with her, and vice versa. But neither of you did anything about it. No... correction..... you did do something, only it was too late to actually enjoy it. There you were, staring death right in the face, and you finally had the guts to tell her. Congratulations mate." Draco said sarcastically.
"I do wonder what Lara is going to do if you don't pull through." Draco said softly, ensuring Lara couldn't hear what he was saying although he had a feeling this particular curtain was sound proofed to stop sneeking reports overhearing the healers conversations.
"I mean I've been talking to Dumbledore about this love of yours, and I highly doubt she could go on living without you after all this, feeling the way she does. You are her bloody other half for goodness sake." Draco felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched Harry's shallow breathing, trying to convine himself it was not getting any shallower.
"You've gotta live through this mate! You can't die, you just can't! For her sake, and for Hermione and Ron's, Ginnys and Sirius's, and... and mine." Draco cried, a single tear finally escaping it's dam and slowly rolling down his cheek. "As much as I hate to admit it, you've become something like a friend, someone I don't want to have to suffer the death of. Damn it Harry! Just wake up!" Draco yelled, standing up from his chair suddenly.
He took one last look at Harry's peaceful face before pulling away the curtain and stepping out of the room it made. Quickly wiping away the remnants of the single tear's path from his cheek, he walked back to Lara's bed and sat down.
"Did you hear anything?" Draco asked softly, controlling the emotion in his voice.
"No, the stupid curtain is sound proofed. I can't hear what the healers say about Harry and his status. I haven't even seen him, they keep the curtain closed." Lara said bitterly.
"I understand, just hold on. You'll be out of here soon." Draco said soothingly.
"A day or two and I can go back to Hogwarts, although I need a few days rest before I can return to classes." Lara supplied, feeling slightly happier at this thought.
"Hold on to that thought, okay?" Lara nodded in reply. "Good, I'd better be returning to Hogwarts, but I will see you either tomorrow or the day after, okay?" Draco said encouragingly.
"Okay, goodbye." Lara said softly, embracing him lightly before he got up and made his way out of the room.
************
"Hermione! Ron!" Lara cried happily, making a motion to stand but being held down by Draco firmly.
"You aren't to strain yourself." He said warningly. Lara frowned, crossing her arms in impatience as she waited for Hermione and Ron to cross the common room and reach the couch where she lay. She had come back from the hospital that morning, although was under strict instructions to stay in bed.
"Oh Lara, we heard what happened."
"Draco just can't keep his mouth shut can he?" Lara said, attempting to be funny although it was plainly obvious her heart wasn't in it.
"Don't beat him up over it, Dumbledore gave him permission to tell us and Gin." Hermione said softly, immediately recognizing the mood Lara was in and why.
She couldn't really blame her though. She was in the same state of mind herself.
*********
"Have you spoken to Sirius?" Ron asked the next day. He had dropped by during lunch to check on Lara, as had become his habit, along with Hermione, Draco and Ginny. None of them wished to face the Hogwarts students and their gossip, always speculating what had happened that night, trying to get the truth out of the quartet. However none of them spoke of the events, as it was too painful for them. Especially with Harry remaining in the state he was in.
"Yeah, he dropped by the hospital several times and came by last night."
"How is he?"
"Worried, like we all are. He demanded to know what happened, and is throwing a fit at Dumbledore for allowing it to happen." Lara said, smiling faintly at her protective father.
"Sounds like Sirius." Ron said, although his voice was missing the usual personality behind it. An uncomfortable silence descended on them as they ate the lunch provided for them in silence, each thinking the same thing but afraid to voice it. It was Lara who finally overcame this fear.
"I wish he would just wake up. I hate this waiting." She said croakily, stunning the occupants of the common room with her sudden mention of Harry.
"I know. I wish the healers could do something more." Ginny said, continuing the topic of conversation.
"They're avoiding it, because they don't want to push Harry over the edge." Draco said, repeating the information Dumbledore had supplied to him a few days ago.
"But what if something they do could save him?" Hermione questioned.
"We just have to hope they know what they're doing." Ron said, although his voice didn't sound like he did.
As another silence descended on the common room, Lara fell deep into thought.
*Oh Harry!* She thought wearily. *Why are you doing this to us? To me?*
Once in a while, a love comes along that's beyond your imagination. It's so incredible, so impossible, it seems like something the movies are made of. You could never imagine it happening to you. And when it does, sometimes you're too blind or too slow or just too amazed by it to seize the chance.
And sometimes you realize it too late.
*********************
"W....what?" He said, so softly she barely heard it.
"I...I love you too Harry Potter." Harry felt as if the ground had fallen from beneath him, and that he was floating, suspended in mid air and kept afloat by the mere echo of those words. Time seemed to stop, the world ceased to spin, and the only thing left in the world was Harry, Lara and that bloody cage that stood between them.
And that's when it started. The power within him, slightly weakened already due to his emancipation from the cage, began to grow. It's light and warmth began to flood his veins and fill his mind with it's awesome power. He felt his fingers tingling with apprehension as walls of power built up behind them. His eyes, previously lifeless, began to fill with light and energy, they sparkled again with a hope and shone like stars.
Harry reached out his hand, touching the bars of the cage. And from where his hand came into contact with the metal, a light began to grow. It threaded it's way through the metal bars until they began to crack and splinter. Suddenly, the cage gave way, and the metal bars disintegrated like they were made of sand. Lara stared in shock as she stood up, stepping out of the rubble that had previously been her prison. Harry turned towards Voldemort, emerald eyes glittering.
And at that moment, Voldemort felt the icy grip of fear.
His eyes widened in horror, his face rapidly losing colour. He took several tentative steps back, intent on trying to make a break for it. But Harry would not allow it.
Raising his hand, Harry felt a fresh wave of power burst free with such force he couldn't halt it. The energy exploded from his hand and hit Voldemort in the chest, it's tenticles of light threading their way through his body. The light continued to weave through his form even as the Dark Lord fell to the ground, his life line finally extinguished.
But still Harry could not hold the light. It continued to flow out of him in torrents of raw energy. He walked outside the tent and was affronted with the army of Voldemort, who stared at the flowing form of the *boy who lived* in all his glory and power.
Harry directed his arm over the army, the jets of light washing over them. As each of the creatures came into contact with the light, they fell to the ground, until there were none left standing.
"Harry! No! Don't kill them!" Lara cried, emerging from the tent behind him.
"I'm not, it's just a stunning spell." Harry said, his voice deeper and darker than Lara remembered it. He continued to let the light escape him, holding his hand up to the heavens so that the stars themselves seem to shine brighter above them.
And then, suddenly, the flow of energy stopped and Harry fell to the floor, having finally used up his life source.
"No!" Lara cried, running to the fallen boy and kneeling beside him. She felt his pulse, and when she realized it wasn't there her life began to crumble. She knelt over the body, her eyes absolutely bursting with tears. She began to sob uncontrollably as she felt the warm body of Harry beneath her, so alive and yet so lifeless at the same time. She felt a grief well up inside of her so all consuming that she felt her body weaken at the mere weight of it.
Sitting up, she looked into Harry's face, caressing his features, running her hands through his dark hair. Her tears fell onto his cheeks as she tried to commit to memory the face of the boy she loved more than life itself.
And as she watched his peaceful face slip into the palor of death, she did the only thing she could think of and began to pour her dwindling life source into his. And as her life trickled away from her and the world began to fade, a thought popped into her mind. A thought that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
*If only... If only I had said it sooner I might have known true happiness.*
And then the world went black.
*************
Draco Malfoy arrived at the army camp with several ministry wizards to see Voldemorts entire army on the ground, apparently dead. Walking towards the main tent, where most of the bodies were facing, he saw two corpses lying in front of its entrance.
Harry Potter and Larrissa Black, together at last.
The next few minutes were a blur for Draco. He vaguely heard ministry officials gather around the tent, inspecting the bodies. He heard the scream of the Auror who found Voldemorts body in the tent and the rush of officials trying to close off the perimiter when they discovered the army was not in fact dead, but merely stunned.
But Draco didn't care. All he could focus on was the two dead bodies of Harry and Lara.
************
Draco wriggled in the sofa uncomfortably, painfully aware of the pictures around Dumbledores' office, their contents staring at him like children at a zoo. He was very relieved when Dumbledore finally shuffled in, looking rather flustered.
"Sorry about that Draco, I've been trying to shake off those reporters all day."
"They all want to hear the story don't they? About what happened?"
"Yes, and I have only told them that Voldemort is dead. I do not wish to divulge further information on the subject at the moment."
"You sound like you are talking to reporters again." Draco said, smiling slightly, although it was clear his heart wasn't in it.
"I know." Dumbledore said simply before taking a seat on the other side of the desk. "But although they do not have a right to know what happened, you do."
"So you've finally discovered what happened that night?" Draco said weakly. Dumbeldore nodded solemly.
"Yes, I put a spell on Harry, Lara and Voldemort which allows me to see the last images they saw. Compiled with a few interviews with the Dark Creatures found on the field, I can acurately deduce what happened."
"So..."
"Once you and Mr. Potter split up, he was lead by the Vampire to the tent where Voldemort had apparated with Lara. He placed her in a cage with a special spell that..."
"Absorbed any curses thrown at it, yes I've seen it." Draco said impatiently.
"Yes." Dumbledore said, deciding not to dwell on Draco's rude interruption. The headmaster continued his story, much of which the Slytherin had already guessed. Near the end of the tale, however, the wizened old man began to fill in the big gaps in Draco's version of events.
"So Lara," Dumbledore continued, "noticing Harry's lack of determination in fighting Voldemort, finally admitted that she did, in fact, return his love. What happens next is rather complicated.
You see love, in itself, is a sort of magic. It has it's own power. In it's raw form, you could call it the most powerful magic on earth. But it's rarely pure. In the case of Harry and Lara, it was.
So when Harry discovered his love was, in fact, returned, the energy inside of him began to feed off his love of Lara, until it grew to monstrous proportions. Harry used this excess magic to free Lara from her cage before turning on Voldemort, killing him.
By now, the power had gotten so out of control Harry couldn't stop it, so he walked outside the tent and used the power to stun the entire army of Dark Creatures. When that was done, his energy continued to flow out until there was nothing left. And when his life source was at last emptied, he fainted.
Lara, fearing to lose a love she only just realized was there, began to feed Harry the remainder of her life source, until she too blacked out. That's how you found them when you arrived." Dumbeldore said, at last finishing his tale. Draco nodded, slowly getting up from his chair and walking around the room.
"Do you think they'll live?" Draco asked softly.
"I don't know." Dumbledore said honestly. "When you found them they were very near death. Harry would've died instantly had Lara not kept him alive with a bit of her energy."
"But they've been in a coma for two weeks damn it!" Draco exploded.
"They are hanging on to life by but a thread. The healers fear to tamper with them for fear of pushing them over the edge and into death."
"When can I visit them?"
"That is one of the reason I called you here today. The healers have approved you visiting them, but no one else. I think perhaps that they hope a familiar voice will bring them back to consciousness."
"When can I visit them?"
"I have organized a portkey to leave whenever you wish."
"I'll go now." Draco said promptly. Dumbeldore nodded, obviously expecting this.
"Very well." He said softly, pointing to a large quill sitting on the edge of his desk. "There is your portkey. Hold it and say 'volta' when you wish to return." Dumbledore instructed as Draco reached forward and touched the quill, the headmasters office immediately spinning away.
*************
"I'm here to see Harry Potter and Larrissa Black?" Draco asked at the front desk of St. Mungo's Hospital.
"Ah, you must be Mr. Draco Malfoy. They told me you were coming. I have great news."
"You do?" Draco asked, his voice climbing an octave in his excitement.
"Yes, Miss Black regained consciousness this morning. She has an almost hundred percent chance of full recovery." Draco's face split into a wild grin as he relaxed visibly, although the thought of Harry still nagged at this heart.
"That's good news. So where can I find them?"
"It's on this floor, down the corridor in room 3." Draco nodded before heading off down the white washed corridor, following her instructions until he reached a door with a golden three inscripted on it.
He entered the room to find it much like most of the other hospital rooms that he had visited, with several neat beds and a single window at the back of the room. At the moment, the view outside was of the Eiffel Tower.
However he did not pay much attention to these details, his focus instead being on the sound of Lara's voice travelling acorss the room from the bed at the end of the room, at the moment screened by a white curtain.
"What do you mean I can't see him? He's a few metres away! All I want to do is talk to him."
"He's in a coma dear."
"I don't give!" Lara said, her voice close to hysteria. "I want to see him, I want to see if he's alright!"
"He is a in a stable condition. There is nothing anyone can do for him at the moment."
"How do you know? What if you've missed something! His life could depend on it!" Lara screeched. Draco chuckled as he called to the hysterical girl from the other side of the curtain.
"Nice to see we've got our old temper back."
"Draco?" Lara cried, her voice filled with disbelief.
"The one and only." The blonde replied happily, his heart finally freeing itself after a tense two weeks of worry.
"Hurry! Pull back the curtain, I want to see you!" Lara cried as Draco reached across and pulled back the white material, revealing Lara sitting up in bed looking far too alert for someone who had just woken up from a two week coma.
"Hello Miss Black. Long time no see." Draco said, smiling as he sat down on the edge of the bed and embraced Lara.
"Two weeks, the nurse told me."
"You have no idea how glad I am that you are alive and well." Draco said, his mind still struggling to believe it. Lara's face tightened slightly at the boys words.
"But he's not." Lara whispered, her eyes darting to the bed across the room from her, also obscured by a thick white curtain.
"He will be. You made it, and so will he." Lara nodded slightly, although it was obvious she was struggling to believe it.
"I'm so scared Draco, I'm so scared of losing him."
"I know you are, now that you've finally admitted you love him. Let's ignore the fact that he was staring death in the face when you did."
"You know what happened?"
"Dumbledore did some funny spell to see the last images you experienced."
"Yeah I know the one." Lara said softly, a silence falling over the pair. "I can't believe I took so long to say it though." She said after a while.
"Neither can anyone else."
"I can't stop thinking about all the moments of joy and happiness I may never have, all because I was too stupid to... to..." But Lara couldn't continue with the sentence, as a fresh wave of tears began to flow out of her eyes.
"You will experience them, he's not dead. And he's not going to die." Draco said softly, holding out his arms and enveloping her in another embrace.
"I know." Lara said hoarsly, trying to convince herself that her words were true.
"Do you mind if I... if I see him for a bit?"
"No, go ahead." Lara said, lying back down in her bed as Draco got up and walked over to Harry's, disappearing behind the curtain.
Behind the white barrier, Draco grabbed a nearby chair and sat down slowly, not taking his eyes of the sleeping form of Harry.
"You and me, are very different." Draco said, not asking himself why he was talking to someone in a coma, but feeling that he needed to say some things to Harry that he might never get another chance to say.
"You are good at heart." Draco continued, leaning forward in his chair. "You don't have to try and you show compassion and kindness. But me? I have to work my ass off to do something good. I suppose it all comes down to reputation. Mine is very different from yours in that respect. You're the son of one of the most renowned wizards ever to live, and I'm the son of the most hated wizard alive, next to Voldemort of course." Draco took a deep breath, letting the words flow out of him easily.
"I suppose I should stop here and simply say I'm sorry. Sorry for all the rotten things I've done. But then I think, you weren't particularly nice to me either. I think we just got off on the wrong foot, and it sort of escalated from there. You can't really blame anyone, it's just the playings of fate." Draco said thoughtfully, pausing to take a good look at Harry.
"But these last few weeks. I could almost call you a friend. We've been there for each other; out on the field with Voldemort we worked together. For the first time. And it wasn't as bad as I imagined it." Draco said, smiling slightly at the thought. If he had known he would be saying these things to Harry a year ago, he probably would've gagged.
"That doesn't mean you aren't a prat sometimes though. I mean this thing with Lara. Could either of you have been anymore stupid? It was so bloody obvious you were madly in love with her, and vice versa. But neither of you did anything about it. No... correction..... you did do something, only it was too late to actually enjoy it. There you were, staring death right in the face, and you finally had the guts to tell her. Congratulations mate." Draco said sarcastically.
"I do wonder what Lara is going to do if you don't pull through." Draco said softly, ensuring Lara couldn't hear what he was saying although he had a feeling this particular curtain was sound proofed to stop sneeking reports overhearing the healers conversations.
"I mean I've been talking to Dumbledore about this love of yours, and I highly doubt she could go on living without you after all this, feeling the way she does. You are her bloody other half for goodness sake." Draco felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched Harry's shallow breathing, trying to convine himself it was not getting any shallower.
"You've gotta live through this mate! You can't die, you just can't! For her sake, and for Hermione and Ron's, Ginnys and Sirius's, and... and mine." Draco cried, a single tear finally escaping it's dam and slowly rolling down his cheek. "As much as I hate to admit it, you've become something like a friend, someone I don't want to have to suffer the death of. Damn it Harry! Just wake up!" Draco yelled, standing up from his chair suddenly.
He took one last look at Harry's peaceful face before pulling away the curtain and stepping out of the room it made. Quickly wiping away the remnants of the single tear's path from his cheek, he walked back to Lara's bed and sat down.
"Did you hear anything?" Draco asked softly, controlling the emotion in his voice.
"No, the stupid curtain is sound proofed. I can't hear what the healers say about Harry and his status. I haven't even seen him, they keep the curtain closed." Lara said bitterly.
"I understand, just hold on. You'll be out of here soon." Draco said soothingly.
"A day or two and I can go back to Hogwarts, although I need a few days rest before I can return to classes." Lara supplied, feeling slightly happier at this thought.
"Hold on to that thought, okay?" Lara nodded in reply. "Good, I'd better be returning to Hogwarts, but I will see you either tomorrow or the day after, okay?" Draco said encouragingly.
"Okay, goodbye." Lara said softly, embracing him lightly before he got up and made his way out of the room.
************
"Hermione! Ron!" Lara cried happily, making a motion to stand but being held down by Draco firmly.
"You aren't to strain yourself." He said warningly. Lara frowned, crossing her arms in impatience as she waited for Hermione and Ron to cross the common room and reach the couch where she lay. She had come back from the hospital that morning, although was under strict instructions to stay in bed.
"Oh Lara, we heard what happened."
"Draco just can't keep his mouth shut can he?" Lara said, attempting to be funny although it was plainly obvious her heart wasn't in it.
"Don't beat him up over it, Dumbledore gave him permission to tell us and Gin." Hermione said softly, immediately recognizing the mood Lara was in and why.
She couldn't really blame her though. She was in the same state of mind herself.
*********
"Have you spoken to Sirius?" Ron asked the next day. He had dropped by during lunch to check on Lara, as had become his habit, along with Hermione, Draco and Ginny. None of them wished to face the Hogwarts students and their gossip, always speculating what had happened that night, trying to get the truth out of the quartet. However none of them spoke of the events, as it was too painful for them. Especially with Harry remaining in the state he was in.
"Yeah, he dropped by the hospital several times and came by last night."
"How is he?"
"Worried, like we all are. He demanded to know what happened, and is throwing a fit at Dumbledore for allowing it to happen." Lara said, smiling faintly at her protective father.
"Sounds like Sirius." Ron said, although his voice was missing the usual personality behind it. An uncomfortable silence descended on them as they ate the lunch provided for them in silence, each thinking the same thing but afraid to voice it. It was Lara who finally overcame this fear.
"I wish he would just wake up. I hate this waiting." She said croakily, stunning the occupants of the common room with her sudden mention of Harry.
"I know. I wish the healers could do something more." Ginny said, continuing the topic of conversation.
"They're avoiding it, because they don't want to push Harry over the edge." Draco said, repeating the information Dumbledore had supplied to him a few days ago.
"But what if something they do could save him?" Hermione questioned.
"We just have to hope they know what they're doing." Ron said, although his voice didn't sound like he did.
As another silence descended on the common room, Lara fell deep into thought.
*Oh Harry!* She thought wearily. *Why are you doing this to us? To me?*