Title: Save Me From The Dark

Author: Princesspepper

Rating: This chapter may be NC-17 as well…

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

Pairing: Harry/Draco (suggestion of Ron/Hermione, but, of course, that is not important).

WARNINGS: Sexual content, adult language, self-harm (cutting, more specifically—it says suicide, but it doesn't get that far), kinda dark, and some Ron-bashing.

(A/N): Yeah, I wrote a :limey: scene for this chapter. But then I realized I shouldn't post it here! If you'd like to read the lime (blowjobs! YAY!) go to my account at I have the same penname. Yup. Too limey for thanks to: ozumas girl, BlindingEchos, Beloved,twodollartrick, Pure Black, fishnetfairy, driven to insanity, Justajester, Elle H. M.,Confused-Gal, Adina, black-ravenrose,Scott Darkfire, Lusten, andMishapsErrors!

(Chapter Nine: Tables Turn)

"So we meet again, Mr. Malfoy?" a cold voice said to Draco.

Draco had no idea where he was; he was quite disoriented. He looked around the dark chamber and saw the shadow of a door far, far away. He was scared. He began to run towards it, but it seemed as if the faster he ran, the farther away it got. Draco cried out in frustration, causing the cold voice to cackle.

"You can run but you can't hide, Draco," sneered Voldemort, "you know it's your fault…"

And with that, the lights flashed on. Draco looked down to the floor to find Harry, dead at his feet. Draco dropped to the ground, sobbing. Then he got up and glared at Voldemort, anger radiating.

"YOU. DID. THIS!" Draco cried venomously.

Voldemort merely cackled again, approaching Draco, seemingly staring right through him with his red pupils. "You are wrong, Draco. It's all your fault. His blood is on your hands…"

Draco looked down only to discover that Voldemort was quite literally right. His hands were covered in blood, as was the front of his shirt. He examined Harry's body closer to see Draco's favorite dagger protruding from his still chest.

"NO!" Draco cried out.

"Yes, Draco, YES." Whispered Voldemort. He raised his wand to finish the sobbing boy off, and Draco screamed…

"Draco… DRACO!" Draco opened his eyes to find Harry leaning over him, much to his relief. Draco already knew he had been screaming out loud, and he had tears in the corners of his eyes.

"It was only a dream…" Draco whispered. Then he flung himself at Harry, knocking him over with the force of his embrace. He begun kissing him all over, so thankful that he was not dead.

"Draco… Draco… what happened?" Said Harry, giggling in between words for Draco was still kissing him and it tickled quite a bit.

"Another awful dream…" Draco whispered. Harry looked quite sympathetic as he grabbed Draco and forced him back into a laying position.

"I know how you feel. I had a ton of nightmares in the beginning of the year, about Sirius and all… it's awful. I'm assuming you dreamed about me?" Harry said.

Draco nodded and continued to kiss Harry. Harry looked at the clock and saw it was nearly four thirty in the morning.

"We should get back to sleep, love," Harry began, reluctant only because he was enjoying being kissed, "we've only got another two hours before we must wake up."

Draco nodded and got into a more comfortable position, but then held out his arms so Harry would fall into them. He complied, kissing the top of Draco's head possessively.

"Harry, don't let go. I don't think I'll have bad dreams if you're holding me." Draco whispered. Harry nodded and turned around, his arms still around Draco. And Draco slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

When Harry woke up to the sound of the alarm clock, he found that he was in the exact same position as he was when he had gone to sleep. Draco was still asleep peacefully in his arms. The alarm clock hadn't woken him up. Harry carefully turned off the alarm clock and pondered how to wake Draco up gently.

He settled for kissing his forehead. Sure enough, Draco begun to stir and opened his eyes. He smiled warmly at the sight above him; always happy to wake up to the man he loved. They slowly got out of bed, and headed towards the washroom to take a shower. Together. And lets just say, it was the best shower either of them had ever partaken in.

Later, they headed down to breakfast, holding hands. The rest of the day went on as usual; being shunned by their peers, sitting at tables alone, finding empty classrooms to, er, talk. Yeah, that's what they were doing.

After dinner, the two boys were heading back up to Draco's room. When they were halfway there, Draco stopped suddenly.

"Oh, sod it all! I forgot my bloody Charms book in the Great Hall!" Draco complained.

"Would you like me to come with you?" offered Harry.

"Er, no, it's alright. I'm a big boy, I think I can get it by myself." Said Draco resentfully. "You go on ahead without me."

"Alright then, see you in a few." Responded Harry. It was strange for Harry to walk alone, as he and Draco had seemingly been attached at the hip all day. But Harry continued his way to Draco's room. And who was he to meet on his way up, but Ron, of course.

"Potter! Hello there!" Ron said menacingly. "Couldn't help but notice you didn't turn up in the dorms yesterday. I take it you were spending the night with your boyfriend?" he finished.

In fear of another beating, Harry kept his eyes down and tried to keep going, hoping that Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't show up. But luck just wasn't going Harry's way these past few days…

And before Harry knew it, he was lying on the floor again, after suffering another cruel beating. This time he was just whimpering with pain, although the wounds were much worse. Good, Harry thought, at least I'm starting to get used to it.

He lay there and waited for Draco to come by, for he was fairly sure he couldn't move if he tried. After five minutes that seemed to last an eternity, he heard approaching footsteps, which got progressively faster once their owner caught sight of him.

"HARRY! Oh no, not again! I walk away for ten minutes and this is what happens!" Draco was practically crying as a reaction to seeing Harry in this state.

"Draco, stobbit," said Harry through a heavy bloody nose, "Ibs not your fault. Now could you blease helb be ub?"

"Yes, yes of course. And I think you should see Madame Pomfrey this time, it looks more serious…" So Draco hoisted Harry to his feet and let him lean on him. Draco led Harry to the Hospital Wing, and was greeted at the door by a very distressed Madam Pomfrey.

"Oh dear, that looks painful. Right this way…" she said as she bustled about getting a bed ready for Harry.

"Mister Malfoy, you can go. This shouldn't take too long. I'll send Harry up to you when he's all better." Said the medi-witch brusquely.

Draco nodded and headed off, looking at the ground ashamed. When he got up to his room he felt the wave of depression threatening to take over.

It's all my fault. It is all my fault. It is all my fault. Everything is my fault. It's all MY fault. IT'S ALL-MY-FAULT!

Draco's conscience was taking over his entire brain as he was pacing the room. Harry would be better off without me. EVERYONE would be better off without me…

Before Draco knew what he was doing, he found himself in the washroom reaching into the third draw from the top… and for once he had to think twice.

I promised Harry I would never do that again… but he's hurt… and it's ALL MY FAULT…

So Draco pushed his doubts aside and pressed the familiar blade to his skin…

When he was finished, Draco sighed with relief. He had done something wrong and now he had paid for it. All was well. He heard the portrait to his room swing open and got startled; dropping his knife to the floor with a clatter.

"Draco! I'm back and I'm all better! Madam Pomfrey did a great job! Where are you?" Harry asked suspiciously, noticing Draco was nowhere in sight.

Draco panicked. He couldn't let Harry find out he was doing this; he would go bonkers!

"Oh, hi Harry!" He shouted through the door, "I'm just in the washroom! I'll be out in a minute!"

Draco had to destroy the evidence, and fast. He quickly picked the blade up from the floor and whispered a cleaning charm. He looked around for any other clues and he found a few drips of blood on the floor. He cleaned that too. Then he clotted the bleeding on his arm and put a temporary concealment charm on it. He stuffed the knife back in the drawer and slammed it. Then he casually opened the door and strolled out.

When he saw Harry, he strode over to him quickly and caught him in an embrace; he was so happy that he was better.

"I'm so glad you're alright…" Draco whispered, kissing Harry.

"Mmm…" Harry said distractedly. He could tell there was something fishy going on; he just didn't know what.

The next day during lunch, Harry and Draco decided they were going to walk about the school instead of sitting in the Great Hall. They figured the hallway would be deserted, so they wouldn't be bothered. Well, they were wrong.

Ron and his new best mates decided to roam too, plotting new ways to make Harry's life miserable. Sure enough, when the three rounded the corner, they came face to face with none other than the subject himself.

"Well, well, well…" said the Weasel quietly, "boys, it seemed we have stumbled across young Mr. Potter and his boyfriend taking a stroll. Well what a coincidence, that's what we were doing as well."

"Beat it, Weasel," sneered Draco, attempting to intimidate the three, although he knew there was no chance Harry and himself would walk away unharmed.

"Don't take that tone with me, Malfoy," Ron sneered right back, glaring at the unfortunate couple.

"God, Weasley, you sound just like me," marveled Draco.

At this point, Ron was through with the chitchat. "Crabbe, Goyle, GET HIM!" He screamed.

Draco braced himself for punches, but to his surprise, they only went for Harry. They pinned him against the wall and began punching him in the face over and over… Draco couldn't watch; it hurt too much. But at the same time, he heard Harry's muffled cries and knew he was just standing there while someone he loved dearly was getting pummeled. So he did something quite unexpected…

THWACK!

Ron's head snapped around in shock at what Draco had just done. It seemed as if he had punched Goyle full in the face, and hard! Goyle had fallen back and was holding his face in his hands, blood from his nose streaming through his fingers.

They were making quite a lot of noise, and Ron heard approaching footsteps, so he figured now was the right time to make a clean getaway. "Don't think this is over Malfoy, you might have saved your boyfriend this time, but we will get you for this—both of you!" and with that, Ron and his "gang" stormed off.

Draco turned his attention away from the retreating figures and looked at Harry, who had his mouth agape.

"Well no need to thank me," Draco said sarcastically. But then he paid closer attention and discovered that Harry wasn't looking at his face… he was looking at his arm.

Draco looked down at himself and realized in horror that the concealment charm he had placed upon his arm had worn off, and his sleeve was hiked up from punching Goyle. Harry had seen the new wound.

"Harry…" Draco said gently. But it was too late. Harry had broken off into a run… in the other direction.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. Harry's POV .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Draco wasted no time in tearing off after me, but it was no use, I was a much faster runner. We streaked through the hallways of the school, however aimlessly, little did he know. I had no idea where I was going, or where I could go, for that matter. I was mad and upset at the same time.

He had promised me he would never cut again. I didn't want to lose him. Never. But he had gone and done it. And at the same time I knew that if I just left him like I wanted to, he would slit his wrists! I wouldn't be able to bear that. I loved him so much. And on top of that I would have to live with the burden of knowing it was my fault. So I just ran.

The only place I had to go was our room; I couldn't go to Gryffindor Tower. He would corner me there, but I had no choice. I put on an extra burst of speed until I turned so many corners I couldn't see him anymore, then I ran to our room. I panted the password at the portrait and stumbled in, collapsing on the bed into sobs. I knew it was only a matter of minutes, maybe even less, until he caught up with me, but I didn't care.

Sure enough, not three minutes later, the portrait swung open again. I heard heavy breathing; he had been running after me the whole time. But I did not look up. I was still sobbing into the pillow.

His footsteps slowed as he neared me. I could tell he had no idea what he was going to say. As he sat next to me, I felt the reluctance. I could sense everything he was doing. Now he was holding his hand over my back, debating weather or not he should touch me.

So I saved him the trouble. I suddenly sat up and turned around, meeting his gaze. His eyes were pleading; he wanted me to forget what I saw. There was no chance of that.

"Draco—y-you promised me you would n-never do that again!" I said angrily in-between sobs. And believe me, it is hard to sound angry when you are crying.

He just looked at me, completely gob-smacked; mouth unattractively agape, looking like a goldfish out of water.

"Harry…" he said finally, "it was all my fault you got hurt. I had to do something, I had to…" but he stopped, realizing he was making no sense.

"That's no excuse," I said defiantly, "you promised me, and now you broke your promise. What else have you lied to me about Draco?"

"Oh… not much Harry," he said softly. "Please, don't be angry. I-I did it because I love you."

"Got a nice way of showing it don't you?" I said, seething, "breaking your promise, and trying to take yourself away from me…" I continued bitterly.

"Harry, please!" Draco cried, now desperate, "Forgive me! I'll never do it again!"

"Hm, this sounds familiar," I said coldly, "how do I know if you're telling the truth this time, Draco? How?"

But then he looked at me. With those eyes. And I couldn't be mad at him anymore. It was as if all of a sudden, all my insides turned to jelly. I believed him.

Draco smirked, realizing the effect he had on me. "Well, I'm glad that's over. We're doing pretty well, huh? We've only been together for just over a week and we've already had two fights! It's a sign! We must be in love!"

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. Normal POV .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Harry smiled, but then mock-pouted. He threw his arms around Draco and then whispered in his ear, "Now aren't you going to heal me? After all, it is all your fault…" He said, making Draco realize just how foolish he had been.

He shoved Harry off of him, muttering something incoherent under his breath. Harry had an overly exaggerated hurt expression on his face as he said, "Ow, Draco! You hurt me!" Harry started laughing to himself while Draco glared in what he was obviously trying to make look like anger. But Harry knew better.

But then Draco pulled out his wand and started healing Harry's wounds. When he was finished, he looked at the clock; only to discover their next class had already started.

"Bloody hell! Look at the time!" Draco exclaimed, "Hey, what do you say we skive off the rest of the day? We could owl McGonagall and tell her we're not feeling well." Suggested Draco.

"Mmm, splendid idea darling," Harry responded, "so now we can talk about what happened."

Harry laughed when Draco made a face. "You know full well I'm not going to let this go until we talk about it."

Draco nodded submissively as he leaned back onto the pillow, readying himself for whatever Harry was going to throw at him.

Well to tell you the truth, the boys did a lot more than just talk. They managed to find a lot of other things to do with the rest of their day. But they did manage to accomplish quite a bit of talking as well, and now they had come to an understanding and agreement.

After much prodding and poking, Harry had gotten Draco to tell him what he felt before he cut. Draco had said that he felt like everything was his fault and that he had to punish himself for what he had done. Harry explained to him that it is a perfectly normal feeling to think that everything is your own fault, and there are other ways to express that.

As an exercise, Harry told Draco that next time he felt the urge to cut; he should channel that thought and energy into something more productive. That is how Harry got himself to stop, although Draco didn't know about that.

After they were done with the inevitable talk, it evolved into a snogging session, which things concerning them often did. But then that turned into something much different, and lets just say the whole thing ended with a whole lot of panting and sweating (what fun).

Eventually, it was time for dinner and Harry and Draco headed down to the Great Hall. When they arrived, they discovered that, as it always was lately, that when Harry and Draco went to sit down at the end of the table, everybody else moved over, getting as far away from them as possible.

Harry started to get very discouraged, but Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder comfortingly and whispered in his ear, "Don't let them get to you…"

Harry nodded and took a seat. Dinner pretty much went about as normal… well that is until Ron started taunting Harry from across the table, clearly trying to get them back for what had happened earlier.

Weasley wasn't talking to Harry exactly; he was more like shouting things to everyone else at the table loud enough for Harry to hear.

"…And then you know what I realized? Potter hadn't been in Gryffindor Tower the entire night! He had probably stayed over at his boyfriend's room!" roared Ron, staring expectantly at the rest of the table. They chuckled lightly, so as to not invoke the wrath of Weasley. The taunting continued… that is, until Hermione couldn't take anymore.

"RON, THAT IS IT!" she screamed, startling the Weasel horribly.

"But Hermione!" said Ron, still shocked, "everyone else finds it funny! Potter doesn't care, he's over there with his faggot boyfriend!"

Now that was really the last straw for Hermione. She jumped up from the table and smacked Ron full in the face. Then she calmly walked over to where Harry and Draco were sitting, and took a seat next to Harry.

"Hi, Harry." She said as if everything was normal; as if she hadn't just stood up to her boyfriend, the current bully of the school.

All eyes were on Ron, waiting to see what he would do next. He just sat there dumbly, face red from where Hermione hit him, completely gob-smacked. Nobody wanted to move. The Hall was completely still for a few minutes. Finally, Ginny broke the spell. She got up from her seat, smacked her brother across the other cheek, and went to sit next to Draco.

Before Ron realized was going on and could do anything to stop it, every Gryffindor was getting up and sitting on the other side of the table, leaving Ron isolated as Harry and Draco had been the last couple of days. Then dinner continued as normal, as if nothing had happened that was out of the ordinary.

Harry was beaming for the rest of the night. "I hope this doesn't mean you're moving back to Gryffindor Tower," murmured Draco when nobody was listening.

"Not a chance." Harry said, pecking Draco on the cheek. Draco was thrilled that Harry was so happy.

But at the same time he knew that it couldn't last.

(End Of Chapter Nine)

(A/N) Erm, right:-) Ehe, this chapter sucked, I'm sorry (not to mention it took forever to post…). I tried to make it better, but I couldn't do much without changing the actual events. Review please, it's appreciated. Until next time,

XOXO Princesspepper OXOX