As an early warning: this story is going to contain plenty of angst. This story only contains angst... and romance. And maybe a little bit of humor- but it's all overshadowed by angst. Just so you know. Draco/Harry, Harry/Draco. Don't you love slash? ^__^ And to think, it's kinda multiple Harry-Draco... purely for the angst factor. LOL
Chapter 3: Calm Before the Storm
Shamera
catch me as i fall
say you're here and it's all over now
speaking to the atmosphere
no one's here and i fall into myself
this truth drives me into madness
i know i can stop the pain if i will it all away...
-Evanescence, "Whisper"
"How's the research going?"
There was a rustle of the papers before Hermione looked up, her eyes bleary from the intensive research that she had been doing.
"Not very well." She admitted with a frown, straining her neck to look up at Harry as he walked to her desk. "There's a ton of information here… there's so many wizards who've tried to sum up what magic really is… all their stories and opinions are different, too different for me to make out anything logical."
"Magic isn't really logical, 'Mione." Harry pointed out with a smile as he leaned over her chair to peer at what she was reading. "If it were logical, I'm sure that it would be explained off like electricity or air pressure."
"Still…" Hermione trailed off. She shut the heavy tome that had been set before her and sneezed quietly as a layer of dust flew off, Harry ducking behind her to avoid the grime that was flying around. "All this research isn't doing anything to help me here."
Harry kneaded her shoulders gently. "Maybe you should go out and take a walk or something. It might help you clear your mind. All this dust and darkness with only give you allergies. I'm willing to bet your eyes are already sensitive enough to light as it is."
Hermione gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment, not willing to let the tension flow out of herself yet. She had informed the Ministry yesterday of her change in research, and when she had mentioned that Harry Potter had thought she should do more research on the essence of magic, everyone seemed to perk up and encourage the funding for that study, never mind how absurd it seemed to their current cause. With the simple mentioning of Harry's name, she had gotten more help and support than she had gotten the entire project.
It made her feel… empty, somehow. That the entire wizarding world would once again be trusting Harry to get them back on their feet, despite the fact that the boy was still dealing with the fact that the people he loved were slowly dying. It was that type of information that jaded her, made her think that perhaps the wizarding society wasn't that strong after all, to have to lean on one boy.
"I doubt I'll be able to think up anything outside that I can't think up in here." She intoned dryly.
"It doesn't hurt to try!" Harry said with a slight cheer in his voice, noticeably forced. Hermione hated that. She hated that Harry was trying to be optimistic and cheerful for their sakes, and worried over what he was really feeling. "Fresh air would do you good. Maybe a different approach to everything." He hesitated for a moment before offering, "Draco and I were going to go shopping for Christmas presents… do you want to come with us? We're all going to separate at some time in order to get presents for each other, but I figured you should come too… you've been worrying far too much about us both…"
No, Hermione wanted to say. You're the one who's been worrying far too much, Harry.
"…and not only that, you haven't even answered the letter from Ron yet. It looked kind of important, and it's not like you to forget about letters from friends, Hermione."
The brunette felt a small pang of guilt, finally remembering the crisp letter that Pig had delivered just yesterday, but not having the time to open the letter, only accepting it gratefully from Pig and letting the small owl out to fly back to the Weasleys.
"See?" Harry asked, understand her expression instantly. "You need to relax."
And it was that reason that Draco, Harry, and Hermione headed out two hours later for the small shopping center in the muggle community, bound in their warmest sweaters and jackets, covered with snow-repellent charms.
"Do you know how meaningless all these things here seem?" Draco asked calmly, using a finger to poke at the glass figurines that were dangling before him. The three of them had somehow ended up in a crystals shop in the small plaza that looked promising for selling unusual and unique gifts. The entire street that they were shopping on looked to be managed by proprietors who sold their own handcrafted items, making the gifts more expensive and more expressive than the regular company-made products.
It was actually Draco's idea to stop at the crystals shop, thinking he could get something romantic and special for Harry (at least that was what Hermione speculated. Why else would Draco stop at a crystals shop? …okay, maybe to please his own whimsical and fleeting interests in all things that were pretty. Klepto!). But he had done nothing but grumble about the bad quality and meaningless tokens since he had gotten inside. It made the two Gryffindors roll their eyes at each other, knowing that no matter how much Draco changed- he was still the same inside.
"I think it's the idea behind the gift that counts, not the actual worth of the gift itself," Hermione said, hiding a smile as she examined the small glass unicorn that was in the case before her, the delicate statue showing an elegant beauty that she found fascinating.
"Yes, it's the thought that counts." Harry provided helpfully from an aisle away, where he had been looking at the music boxes. In all honesty, Harry found the items in the shop frivolous also, but deemed it as a good start to their Christmas shopping. Draco was right. Nothing in the shop was practical, just things that were pleasant to look at. But he didn't want to tell Hermione that, since she was so enchanted by the items in the shop. "Besides- you can always enchant them."
Draco smirked, and peered over the low shelves at Harry, "Aren't you the little law-breaker, now?"
"It's not against the law to enchant muggle items anymore." Harry pointed out. "Not while we're trying to leave as many traces of magic as we can."
Draco's smirk stayed where it was. "Yes, I can see it now- even after the fall of the wizarding world, muggles are going to discover our items hundreds of years later and blow themselves up by accident thinking that it's just an ordinary artifact. It'll be like land-mines… you never know if there's a curse on it or not."
"Ancient artifacts are already like that. Most have curses on them anyway."
The blonde rolled his eyes. "You're missing the purpose, Granger."
"No, I'm not. You'd be leaving a legacy if you enchant something simple now. Imagine someone's surprise when they discover a part of another person's personality from hundreds of years ago. It may look useless, but it can be extremely meaningful for a long time."
"Does that mean you're getting the unicorn?" Draco asked with amusement, pointing to the glass unicorn that Hermione was still staring at.
She sniffled. "Heck- why not? I have no reason not to get it."
Harry smiled. "I think I'll get something too, then." He picked up a plain, wooden music box and showed it to the others. "We can get an inscription in here… something memorable. Then we'll always remember this conversation."
"Why would you want to remember this conversation? It's a useless memory among everything that's happened to us." Draco peered at him again. "Don't you want to remember something more meaningful?"
"But this is how our conversations are- quite inane." Harry grinned at Draco's squawk of protest, and continued, "We can't only remember the good and bad memories, right? Most of our life is the in-between moments… conversations like this one."
"So what are you going to have inscribed in there?" Hermione asked. "'Memories of the inane'?"
Harry pondered this. "You know, that's actually not such a bad idea, 'Mione."
The made their purchase and Harry asked specifically for an inscription that he wouldn't tell neither Draco nor Hermione. They were going to put up the music box after all their Christmas purchases, and left the shop for the next one.
Seeing that from then on, they were just buying gifts for each other, the three of them separated and agreed to meet back at the center of the plaza in an two hours, where they would go for hot chocolate and pick up Harry's box, then head home for the day.
And it was two hours later that saw Harry sitting before the large Christmas tree in the center plaza, trying to tie the bags that contained the wrapped presents meant for his friends. He was glad that he had taken his wand with him, just to enchant some of the things before it was wrapped by the assistants.
Harry smiled to himself as he looked through his bags, closing them tightly to make sure that the now falling snow wouldn't get inside and soak the presents. He knew that this coming Christmas would be a hard one, especially considering the circumstances. But it was a Christmas that he knew he had to remember forever.
Breathing in the cold air, Harry looked around the plaza for any sign of either Hermione or Draco. He knew that he had felt someone…
"Gotcha." Arms circled him from behind where he was sitting, and Harry startled to feel a smile pressed against the skin of his neck underneath the thick scarf that he wore. Light-blonde hair fell against the front of his jacket as Harry squirmed around to face Draco.
"Draco- we're in public!"
"So?" The tone was defiant. They had both learned long ago that though they had survived their relationship and the wizarding world was starting to accept the idea that the Boy-Who-Lived would be paired with a former Death Eater's son, the muggle world was still as intolerant as ever. "It's not like anyone can really get a good glance at us under all this snow and layers of clothing that we're wearing." Draco shifted to the side as he took Harry's gloved hand and began to pull gently on the fingers of the gloves. "Besides, I want your opinion on something."
Harry bit back any further protests and clenched his hand slightly when the cold air met his skin. "My opinion on what? You never seemed to need my opinion on anything before." He teased.
Draco hummed his agreement before saying, "Well, I think I should ask for it when it comes to this." He leaned his head down to kiss the palm of Harry's hand, and sliding a gold ring down Harry's forth finger.
Harry's breath hitched in his throat as he felt the cool band pressing even colder than the snow around them. He could feel rather than see Draco's smile at his dazed expression.
"I had this for a while… but I had it engraved today."
Draco took the opportunity to lift Harry's hand so the words would be visible. "Ai, for love. Our names are inside the band, along with yesterday's date."
The simplicity of it astounded Harry. After all they had been through, after all the trials they had endured, it all came down to one word. It made everything seem so trivial, and so meaningful at the same time. He may not have been able to believe in a romanticized version of reality before, but Harry was seriously having his doubts on whether or not he was currently stuck in a dream. A good or bad one, he couldn't tell.
"And you…?" He finally breathed out after a few moments, turning wide green eyes towards the boy behind him. Draco only grinned and lifted his own hand, wiggling his fingers around a bit. He had already taken off his gloves when Harry had been staring, and an identical ring sat on his finger.
"I'll admit- the muggle storeowner gave me quite the look when I told him the names, but Harry can be short of Harriett, right?"
Harry tried to swap Draco with his gloves, but missed as the blonde boy ducked away, laughing as he did so.
But then Draco gave out a small 'oof' as he was knocked to the snow-covered ground, his arms coming up automatically to encircle the widely grinning Harry, who had him pinned down with his arms.
"You're such a sap, Draco Malfoy." Harry declared. "Unbelievable pounce as well, but-"
Draco gave out a squawk of protest and flipped them over so that it was Harry who was buried in the snow. "Me? Don't be ridiculous." He snorted disdainfully. "I'm dignified, elegant, and incredibly pretty if I do say so myself."
Harry laughed for a moment, and then brought a hand up to Draco's face, watching the shine of the ring against the pale skin that Draco supported, his glasses starting to fog up with the snow falling on it and his warm breath underneath. "Have I mentioned how much I love you?"
He watched as Draco's grey eyes widened, and then soften as they stared at each other, the world outside the parameter of themselves falling apart like glass pieces. For that moment, nothing else existed and even the snow around them didn't seem so cold anymore. It was as if the sights and smalls of the world had intensified so much that they had disappeared, and the onslaught of emotions that rang throughout Harry's body allowed him to rest his worries and fears for just that one second needed to tell Draco how he felt. It was a moment where's Draco's expression turned wistful and almost bittersweet, and Harry pulled the other boy down towards him so that they wouldn't be that far away from each other, for every centimeter apart was a centimeter too far.
Draco leaned down into the soft kiss, eyes flittering shut as he allowed Harry to take control, allowed his elbows to rest on the snow for support and felt the raven-haired boy wrap his arms around Draco's waist. The contact of skin on skin was addictive, even if it were only patches of skin. The feel of Harry below him made him warm, and Draco groaned when the other boy pulled away, and opened his eyes to find amused green orbs staring at him.
Draco smiled back, still feeling the tingling of when the universe had stopped a moment just for the two of them. "You have now."
Harry brushed aside a wisp of hair that had fallen out of place across Draco's face, and before the moment could end and before he lost the courage to do so, he asked, "I wanted to know… if you would spend forever with me?"
He could feel Draco's ungloved hand capturing his own. "Forever and a day, love. Beyond forever, if I can."
And they smiled, knowing that this would be the moment that even the highest power would respect, because this was the moment that was framed in time just for the two of them.
"I come back only to find you two snogging on the street. Am I the third party member here?" Hermione grumbled as she lugged her bags behind her, glaring at the two amused looking boys. She had been a little late because one of the assistants on the shops had messed up with her wrapping, needing to start over from scratch. While she hadn't been worried that they would leave her because she was late, she hadn't been expecting the display of public affection, either.
"Of course not, 'Mione." Harry was saying cheerfully. "It's just that the gloom and doom was getting to us."
"What gloom and doom?" Hermione murmured under her breath before shaking her head. At least Harry's happiness didn't sound fake this time. She supposed that anything that made her best friend genuinely happy was worth her embarrassment.
"Besides," Harry added in, his arm entwined with Draco's. "It's Christmas season. We should enjoy ourselves."
"You're awfully perky today, aren't you?" Hermione mustered a weak glare at Harry, "Do something that you weren't supposed to before I caught you guys."
"No," Draco said brightly. "You stopped us before we could get to that."
Hermione only choked on her reply.
The three stopped before the crystals shop they had been in just a while earlier to pick up the present that Harry had bought, and was pleasantly surprised to see that no, Harry had not put something as ridiculous as 'Memories of the Inane' on the top of the elegant sherry wood box. Instead, there contained simply 'Memories' carved in a flowing calligraphy type script across the top. After the purchase, Harry had taken off a necklace that had previously been hidden underneath his shirt to place into the box, along with a rune stone that Hermione understood as 'protect' and 'communication'.
"Memories?" She asked lightly, curious as to those items, as she had been them before but had been too busy to notice them. She noticed Harry clutching those items tightly when she and Draco had first found Harry a few days (almost a week! Time flew by so fast…) ago. She had not concerned herself with them at that time due to the surprise and horror when she thought she had found her friend's corpse.
"Hmm." Harry agreed in his throat, looking delighted at the music that started up when he opened the box, and at the spacious and simple interior. "Memories of this world and another, I should have said."
Hermione and Draco exchanged glance, wondering if either of them should ask at the moment. Harry looked to melancholy, and they had had such a pleasant afternoon that they didn't want to fill it with reality. It was a memory that they wanted untouched by bloodshed and heartache. But curiosity got the best of Hermione, and she complied only to a certain extent, "A protection rune, Harry?"
Harry smiled at her after clicking the box shut and tucking it safely deep into his bags. "From a good friend of mine. A really… really good friend." His eyes flickered over to a confused Draco for a second, before looking to Hermione again.
Hermione didn't miss the fleeting glance. "Good friend, hmm?" She didn't really want to pry, but she felt the back of her neck prickle with the comment. "I suppose that same person gave you the necklace?"
"Actually… would you believe me if I said that my mother gave me that necklace?"
That prompted Harry to explain vaguely the feelings he had when he had previously fallen into the alternate universe. How he had met his parents again, and the warmth that his mother showered him with the entire time he was there.
Sorry about the bad quality of this chapter, and the meaninglessness that was shown. A chapter of fluff just for you guys. ^^;; But lots of love go to Jordan, Moony-Black, mandraco, NayNymic, (Marissa too, LOL), silva star, ddz008, TeeDee, Shinigami06, Alexa Donaghy, Cat, yumi-no-baka, Lily Evans Potter Black Lupin, frizzy, Kylie, Chibi Chingo, Fairady, Unintentional Nightmare, SilentPhoenix, HironiKoshinha, anon, Night Walker, and Diana Malfoy!! Thanks to everyone who hasn't given up on this story! ^^;; Another chapter should be out soon!
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