~Dry Tears~
Harry stopped dead-cold. His hand wondered aimlessly around Draco's torso trying to find a familiar beat or the soft rhythm of a pulse. Nothing. A burst of panic exploded through Harry all at once. He practically leapt to his feet towering over the blonde, immediately shaking him.
"Draco?!!" Harry cried, "Draco, please wake up!" He looked around frantically and started shouting, "Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!"
No answer. No one came. No one could hear the frantic boy shouting at the top of his lungs in the dark.
Tears began pouring down Harry's face, "Where is she?!!" He cupped Draco's face into his hands, "Come on, Draco! Don't die on me! I promised I would find a cure! You're not going to die on me!"
Hysterics were finally setting in. Harry couldn't think. Everything was a rushed blur. He pinched the tip of Draco's nose and pressed his lips to the blonde's own. He breathed into the Slytherin, filling his lungs with precious oxygen. Harry watched as Draco's chest rose up and fell back down. He stopped and began beating onto the blonde's chest, checking for a pulse now and then, receiving nothing in return.
Time seemed to stop and rush by at the same time. Harry's only life seemed to be breathe, pump, breathe, pump, breathe. Nothing else mattered. Sweat mixed in with tears as they dropped off his sinking face. Nothing.
Endless time rushed by. Harry shouted for Pomfrey again, but she still did not appear. Even still, Harry didn't give up. He kept breathing into Draco, praying to every god he could think of to let him be ok. To let this be just some horrible nightmare and that he'd wake up to the morning in sweat- damp sheets to find Draco sleeping peacefully in his arms. But the light never came, the nightmare didn't go away because it wasn't a nightmare, it was real.
A hand rested on Harry's shoulder and he jumped back, expecting to see Madam Pomfrey he shouted, "Help him!"
His eyes adjusted to see a figure that was too tall and too broad to be that of Pomfrey's. Harry didn't need to see the person's face. He knew it was Snape. His voice was practically a hoarse whisper, "Please, help him."
Snape moved around the raven-haired boy and up to Draco. Harry couldn't see Snape's face, but somehow he could feel the Professor's emotions fall as he checked for a pulse. Something burst inside of Harry and he went mad. He pushed Snape out of the way and returned to what he was previously doing: breathing, pumping, breathing, pumping.
Harry felt a strong grip on his shoulder that turned him around. He fought the hold trying to get back to Draco. His other shoulder was grasped equally hard and he couldn't move, but he wiggled fiercely.
"Let me go!" Harry screamed as he continued to twist and struggle.
Snape bent down and looked Harry right in the eyes, "It's over, Harry! There is nothing we can do!"
Harry stopped moving and gazed back at his Professor. The loudness and the sincerity of Snape's voice shocked him back to reality. That was it, it was over.
Tears beyond tears flowed through Harry's eyes pouring down his cheek. He buried his face into his hands. All at once, energy left his body and he felt weak and dizzy. Unable to hold himself anymore, Harry dropped to the floor pulling his knees up to his chest slowly rocking back and forth.
Anyone would have expected Snape to just walk away and leave the crying Gryffindor to himself, but what he did do might have even shocked Dumbledore to death. Severus Snape sunk down on his own hands and knees, grabbed Harry in a tight hug, and let tears seep out of his own eyes.
Harry could feel everything and nothing. His body was just one mass of numbness. Everything was cold and dark. He couldn't see, he couldn't feel, he couldn't breathe, but something warm wrapped around his body. Harry clung to the warmth as if it would suddenly disappear too, and there he cried long and hard.
Time passed and was lost, forever gone in the past. Snape finally picked himself up off the floor and helped the broken boy into his arms. Harry was still weeping as hard as ever, not loosening the death grip he had on Snape's robes.
Snape was slowly walking out of the infirmary. He reached the doors when a small voice called out, "P-Please, I-I d-don't want to l-leave him yet."
Severus looked down into his arms and in a soft voice he hadn't used in five years spoke, "Harry, its over."
Harry slowly shook his head back and forth still letting out sobs, "I-I didn't get to say g-good-b-bye." More tears poured down Harry's cheeks.
Snape sighed and brought Harry back over to the bedside, wondering if he should let the Gryffindor linger over Draco, but knowing full well it would be even further trouble if he didn't say good-bye. Severus set Harry back to the ground making sure he could stand up on his own before he made his way out of the infirmary to give him a little privacy. Outside, he moved so he could see Harry in the window of the door to make sure he didn't need to come and pick him back up again.
Harry hardly noticed Snape leave. He glanced at Draco, barely able to keep his gaze on him. He was so peaceful and still, like he was a sleeping angel and any moment he would wake up and Harry could kiss him and laugh at the silly mistake he made, but it didn't happen.
Harry grabbed Draco's hand, squeezing it tightly in his own. Something cold brushed against his fingers and he opened his hand to find the silver ring still fitted snugly on the pale finger. Harry half smiled and sniffled, coughing a bit, making his throat feel like it was swallowing sandpaper.
"Funny," Harry spoke softly to himself, "it took all this time to realize something that should have always been. My Concrete Angel."
Harry pulled up Draco's hand and kissed it lightly. A final tear dropped from his eye and cascaded off his face to land on the sterling band. The raven-haired placed Draco's hand back onto his chest and slowly turned to walk away too shocked to even cry anymore. He made his way to the exit and placed his hand on the door and made the effort to leave, but something caught his eye.
A faint silver light began pouring from behind him. Harry turned around and watched, wide-eyed, as the light grew brighter shining up the whole room. It seemed to swirl and dance as Harry went closer looking for the source. He found it; the ring.
Harry stood back at the bedside as the light seemed to revolve around him and Draco alike. It appeared as if the silver beams went through Harry as he stood there watching. His tear-soaked robes began to pull slightly as moisture collected off the cloth and his face into many little droplets.
Harry never stopped gazing in pure perplexity as his countless number of tears turned gold, and strangely, a few turned silver. They began to sphere around Draco's still form, encircling him in a gold ring of tears. Harry's tears began to twine together, slowly sinking downward. The droplets began falling onto the ring, evaporating, or more like dissolving into the silver band until each tear was gone.
A strange glow began to shoot from the ring into Draco's body giving his skin a silver aurora. Silver light sunk into hair and down to his feet coursing through his veins. His body lifted up off of the bed and rose into the air.
Gold with flecks of silver shot back out of the band creating a misty ring above Draco's body. It slowly spun in a cloudy circle, slowly entangling itself around the Slytherin's body.
A part of the ring broke and now it was just a line of a misty cloud coiling itself around the blonde. Draco's back arched into the air and his mouth slowly opened. The golden line twirled up his body, pausing only when it found the parted lips, then floated inside, down his throat until it was all devoured.
Harry never blinked. He watched as the hazy mist disappeared into Draco's body. His mind couldn't even begin to focus on a decent thought. One message processed through his brain, 'What the hell is going on?!!'
The Slytherin's skin glowed a brilliant flash of bright gold. Draco slowly drifted back to his position on the bed and the lights dimmed to total darkness.
Snape stood as wide-eyed as Harry. He would have burst into the room had he not have been so dumb-struck. Never in all of his years as a student, a Professor, or a Death Eater had he seen anything that compared to this. The magic didn't have its effects only on Draco and Harry, his eyes were dry too, and so were his clothes.
Harry just continued to stare blankly at the now still body of the blonde boy he had learned to care about, and even love, over such a short period of time. He knelt down beside the bed and rested his arms on the mattress placing his head soundly in them.
'What the hell just happened?!! Was that like some death send off?!!' Images of a misty gold ring encircling Draco's floating body flipped through his mind.
Harry didn't look up when he felt a hand slide through his hair. He didn't need to see whose it was, he knew, "I'm coming Professor Snape." The Gryffindor sniffed back a few tears that were stinging his eyes to be released. His throat burned as if it were set afire.
The voice chuckled, "Last time I checked I wasn't a professor. Then again, I wasn't Snape either."
Harry's ears perked up at the familiar voice, but... no... it couldn't be. It just couldn't. Harry slowly raised his head out from his arms to come gaze-to-gaze with Draco Malfoy.
The raven-haired's mouth fell open and a bunch of ramble poured out, "But who?!! What?!! Where?!!"
Draco continued to chuckle, "Why, when, and how."
Tears shined back in Harry's eyes, "But, you're... you..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"No, Harry," Draco breathed, "I'm very much alive. And I'm not going anywhere."
Harry lifted up his hand and pressed it against Draco's cheek unsure if he could believe him. Draco grabbed his hand into both of his squeezing it for reassurance.
Finally, the thoughts just processed through Harry's emotionally strained mind, "Oh my God. Draco."
Draco didn't have time to reply as he was pulled into a passion-searing kiss. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around Draco, caressing his back, trying to pull him even closer to near devouring him.
Draco ran his hands through Harry's hair before finally pulling back breathlessly, "Damn, if this is the attention I get, maybe I should nearly die more often."
Draco meant for it to be a joke, but apparently Harry didn't think it was funny. To the blonde's surprise he exploded, "How can you say that?!!"
Draco half-smiled, "It was just a joke."
"A joke? A joke! Sure you can joke about yourself dieing! You don't have to sit here and watch yourself take your last breath and then know there isn't anything you can do to help!" Harry started visibly shaking.
"Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to take it that way," Draco wrapped his arms around the trembling Harry, "I'm sorry."
"God, Draco," a few tears escaped Harry's eyes, "You don't know how scared I was. You were... you were..."
"But I'm not," Draco whispered, "I'm here." Draco planted a soft kiss on Harry's lips.
"God, Draco," Harry gazed into the eyes that held a familiar color of silver, "I love you."
Draco watched as sea green slowly shaded into jade, "I love you too."
Harry pulled Draco into a slow, passionate kiss.
|~*~|
Unaware to the boys, Snape still lingered outside the infirmary, watching through the door window. He was still dumb-struck by what just has happened, but he saw Draco alive and what seemed to him healthy and quite strong by the looks of that hungry kiss. He wasn't about to question this miracle.
Severus didn't stick around. He had things to do, people to see, especially a certain nurse who was suppose to be watching over Draco. Sometimes the 'bastard' effect had its advantages.
Snape turned toward the direction of his dungeon in dire need of some rest. The halls were empty so nobody saw the contempt, almost happy, smile spread across his lips. Nor did anyone hear him whisper through the corridor, "Merry Christmas, Harry and Draco."
~Fin~
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Author's Note: So *peeks head from around the corner* can I come out now? This was my first attempt at any type of slash AND NOT ONE FLAME!!!! And like I said I finished it! I'm so proud of myself! Yea! I want to thank all of my loyal readers who have waited so patiently for each individual chapter to come out. You guys are great! Over 250 reviews! WOW! I love you guys!
Ok, sad part, or maybe happy to some of you, this story is over. BUT WAIT! If anybody wants me to, I'm not saying I would, but how about a sequel? You never know what a few reviews would do to encourage it! Besides I already have a nice plot lined up and everything that hopefully you all will enjoy as much as this one!
If I do write a sequel it will be posted here as like the next chapter or something that way there won't be a million places to go if you accidentally get lost and need to go back to previous pages. Don't expect it for awhile though because summer vacation has just rolled around and sadly I do have a life (well, sort of).
Ok, again if I do write a sequel would you all be angry at me if I didn't personally write back to each of your reviews? Don't get me wrong, I love all of my reviews! I even praise and bow down to most! But it gets to be very overwhelming when you have so many, and I keep writing the same thing over and over again! Ok enough of my ranting! Oh, and I'll be going back over this story to beta my grammar, but no story changes so don't worry!
Harry stopped dead-cold. His hand wondered aimlessly around Draco's torso trying to find a familiar beat or the soft rhythm of a pulse. Nothing. A burst of panic exploded through Harry all at once. He practically leapt to his feet towering over the blonde, immediately shaking him.
"Draco?!!" Harry cried, "Draco, please wake up!" He looked around frantically and started shouting, "Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!"
No answer. No one came. No one could hear the frantic boy shouting at the top of his lungs in the dark.
Tears began pouring down Harry's face, "Where is she?!!" He cupped Draco's face into his hands, "Come on, Draco! Don't die on me! I promised I would find a cure! You're not going to die on me!"
Hysterics were finally setting in. Harry couldn't think. Everything was a rushed blur. He pinched the tip of Draco's nose and pressed his lips to the blonde's own. He breathed into the Slytherin, filling his lungs with precious oxygen. Harry watched as Draco's chest rose up and fell back down. He stopped and began beating onto the blonde's chest, checking for a pulse now and then, receiving nothing in return.
Time seemed to stop and rush by at the same time. Harry's only life seemed to be breathe, pump, breathe, pump, breathe. Nothing else mattered. Sweat mixed in with tears as they dropped off his sinking face. Nothing.
Endless time rushed by. Harry shouted for Pomfrey again, but she still did not appear. Even still, Harry didn't give up. He kept breathing into Draco, praying to every god he could think of to let him be ok. To let this be just some horrible nightmare and that he'd wake up to the morning in sweat- damp sheets to find Draco sleeping peacefully in his arms. But the light never came, the nightmare didn't go away because it wasn't a nightmare, it was real.
A hand rested on Harry's shoulder and he jumped back, expecting to see Madam Pomfrey he shouted, "Help him!"
His eyes adjusted to see a figure that was too tall and too broad to be that of Pomfrey's. Harry didn't need to see the person's face. He knew it was Snape. His voice was practically a hoarse whisper, "Please, help him."
Snape moved around the raven-haired boy and up to Draco. Harry couldn't see Snape's face, but somehow he could feel the Professor's emotions fall as he checked for a pulse. Something burst inside of Harry and he went mad. He pushed Snape out of the way and returned to what he was previously doing: breathing, pumping, breathing, pumping.
Harry felt a strong grip on his shoulder that turned him around. He fought the hold trying to get back to Draco. His other shoulder was grasped equally hard and he couldn't move, but he wiggled fiercely.
"Let me go!" Harry screamed as he continued to twist and struggle.
Snape bent down and looked Harry right in the eyes, "It's over, Harry! There is nothing we can do!"
Harry stopped moving and gazed back at his Professor. The loudness and the sincerity of Snape's voice shocked him back to reality. That was it, it was over.
Tears beyond tears flowed through Harry's eyes pouring down his cheek. He buried his face into his hands. All at once, energy left his body and he felt weak and dizzy. Unable to hold himself anymore, Harry dropped to the floor pulling his knees up to his chest slowly rocking back and forth.
Anyone would have expected Snape to just walk away and leave the crying Gryffindor to himself, but what he did do might have even shocked Dumbledore to death. Severus Snape sunk down on his own hands and knees, grabbed Harry in a tight hug, and let tears seep out of his own eyes.
Harry could feel everything and nothing. His body was just one mass of numbness. Everything was cold and dark. He couldn't see, he couldn't feel, he couldn't breathe, but something warm wrapped around his body. Harry clung to the warmth as if it would suddenly disappear too, and there he cried long and hard.
Time passed and was lost, forever gone in the past. Snape finally picked himself up off the floor and helped the broken boy into his arms. Harry was still weeping as hard as ever, not loosening the death grip he had on Snape's robes.
Snape was slowly walking out of the infirmary. He reached the doors when a small voice called out, "P-Please, I-I d-don't want to l-leave him yet."
Severus looked down into his arms and in a soft voice he hadn't used in five years spoke, "Harry, its over."
Harry slowly shook his head back and forth still letting out sobs, "I-I didn't get to say g-good-b-bye." More tears poured down Harry's cheeks.
Snape sighed and brought Harry back over to the bedside, wondering if he should let the Gryffindor linger over Draco, but knowing full well it would be even further trouble if he didn't say good-bye. Severus set Harry back to the ground making sure he could stand up on his own before he made his way out of the infirmary to give him a little privacy. Outside, he moved so he could see Harry in the window of the door to make sure he didn't need to come and pick him back up again.
Harry hardly noticed Snape leave. He glanced at Draco, barely able to keep his gaze on him. He was so peaceful and still, like he was a sleeping angel and any moment he would wake up and Harry could kiss him and laugh at the silly mistake he made, but it didn't happen.
Harry grabbed Draco's hand, squeezing it tightly in his own. Something cold brushed against his fingers and he opened his hand to find the silver ring still fitted snugly on the pale finger. Harry half smiled and sniffled, coughing a bit, making his throat feel like it was swallowing sandpaper.
"Funny," Harry spoke softly to himself, "it took all this time to realize something that should have always been. My Concrete Angel."
Harry pulled up Draco's hand and kissed it lightly. A final tear dropped from his eye and cascaded off his face to land on the sterling band. The raven-haired placed Draco's hand back onto his chest and slowly turned to walk away too shocked to even cry anymore. He made his way to the exit and placed his hand on the door and made the effort to leave, but something caught his eye.
A faint silver light began pouring from behind him. Harry turned around and watched, wide-eyed, as the light grew brighter shining up the whole room. It seemed to swirl and dance as Harry went closer looking for the source. He found it; the ring.
Harry stood back at the bedside as the light seemed to revolve around him and Draco alike. It appeared as if the silver beams went through Harry as he stood there watching. His tear-soaked robes began to pull slightly as moisture collected off the cloth and his face into many little droplets.
Harry never stopped gazing in pure perplexity as his countless number of tears turned gold, and strangely, a few turned silver. They began to sphere around Draco's still form, encircling him in a gold ring of tears. Harry's tears began to twine together, slowly sinking downward. The droplets began falling onto the ring, evaporating, or more like dissolving into the silver band until each tear was gone.
A strange glow began to shoot from the ring into Draco's body giving his skin a silver aurora. Silver light sunk into hair and down to his feet coursing through his veins. His body lifted up off of the bed and rose into the air.
Gold with flecks of silver shot back out of the band creating a misty ring above Draco's body. It slowly spun in a cloudy circle, slowly entangling itself around the Slytherin's body.
A part of the ring broke and now it was just a line of a misty cloud coiling itself around the blonde. Draco's back arched into the air and his mouth slowly opened. The golden line twirled up his body, pausing only when it found the parted lips, then floated inside, down his throat until it was all devoured.
Harry never blinked. He watched as the hazy mist disappeared into Draco's body. His mind couldn't even begin to focus on a decent thought. One message processed through his brain, 'What the hell is going on?!!'
The Slytherin's skin glowed a brilliant flash of bright gold. Draco slowly drifted back to his position on the bed and the lights dimmed to total darkness.
Snape stood as wide-eyed as Harry. He would have burst into the room had he not have been so dumb-struck. Never in all of his years as a student, a Professor, or a Death Eater had he seen anything that compared to this. The magic didn't have its effects only on Draco and Harry, his eyes were dry too, and so were his clothes.
Harry just continued to stare blankly at the now still body of the blonde boy he had learned to care about, and even love, over such a short period of time. He knelt down beside the bed and rested his arms on the mattress placing his head soundly in them.
'What the hell just happened?!! Was that like some death send off?!!' Images of a misty gold ring encircling Draco's floating body flipped through his mind.
Harry didn't look up when he felt a hand slide through his hair. He didn't need to see whose it was, he knew, "I'm coming Professor Snape." The Gryffindor sniffed back a few tears that were stinging his eyes to be released. His throat burned as if it were set afire.
The voice chuckled, "Last time I checked I wasn't a professor. Then again, I wasn't Snape either."
Harry's ears perked up at the familiar voice, but... no... it couldn't be. It just couldn't. Harry slowly raised his head out from his arms to come gaze-to-gaze with Draco Malfoy.
The raven-haired's mouth fell open and a bunch of ramble poured out, "But who?!! What?!! Where?!!"
Draco continued to chuckle, "Why, when, and how."
Tears shined back in Harry's eyes, "But, you're... you..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"No, Harry," Draco breathed, "I'm very much alive. And I'm not going anywhere."
Harry lifted up his hand and pressed it against Draco's cheek unsure if he could believe him. Draco grabbed his hand into both of his squeezing it for reassurance.
Finally, the thoughts just processed through Harry's emotionally strained mind, "Oh my God. Draco."
Draco didn't have time to reply as he was pulled into a passion-searing kiss. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around Draco, caressing his back, trying to pull him even closer to near devouring him.
Draco ran his hands through Harry's hair before finally pulling back breathlessly, "Damn, if this is the attention I get, maybe I should nearly die more often."
Draco meant for it to be a joke, but apparently Harry didn't think it was funny. To the blonde's surprise he exploded, "How can you say that?!!"
Draco half-smiled, "It was just a joke."
"A joke? A joke! Sure you can joke about yourself dieing! You don't have to sit here and watch yourself take your last breath and then know there isn't anything you can do to help!" Harry started visibly shaking.
"Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to take it that way," Draco wrapped his arms around the trembling Harry, "I'm sorry."
"God, Draco," a few tears escaped Harry's eyes, "You don't know how scared I was. You were... you were..."
"But I'm not," Draco whispered, "I'm here." Draco planted a soft kiss on Harry's lips.
"God, Draco," Harry gazed into the eyes that held a familiar color of silver, "I love you."
Draco watched as sea green slowly shaded into jade, "I love you too."
Harry pulled Draco into a slow, passionate kiss.
|~*~|
Unaware to the boys, Snape still lingered outside the infirmary, watching through the door window. He was still dumb-struck by what just has happened, but he saw Draco alive and what seemed to him healthy and quite strong by the looks of that hungry kiss. He wasn't about to question this miracle.
Severus didn't stick around. He had things to do, people to see, especially a certain nurse who was suppose to be watching over Draco. Sometimes the 'bastard' effect had its advantages.
Snape turned toward the direction of his dungeon in dire need of some rest. The halls were empty so nobody saw the contempt, almost happy, smile spread across his lips. Nor did anyone hear him whisper through the corridor, "Merry Christmas, Harry and Draco."
~Fin~
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Author's Note: So *peeks head from around the corner* can I come out now? This was my first attempt at any type of slash AND NOT ONE FLAME!!!! And like I said I finished it! I'm so proud of myself! Yea! I want to thank all of my loyal readers who have waited so patiently for each individual chapter to come out. You guys are great! Over 250 reviews! WOW! I love you guys!
Ok, sad part, or maybe happy to some of you, this story is over. BUT WAIT! If anybody wants me to, I'm not saying I would, but how about a sequel? You never know what a few reviews would do to encourage it! Besides I already have a nice plot lined up and everything that hopefully you all will enjoy as much as this one!
If I do write a sequel it will be posted here as like the next chapter or something that way there won't be a million places to go if you accidentally get lost and need to go back to previous pages. Don't expect it for awhile though because summer vacation has just rolled around and sadly I do have a life (well, sort of).
Ok, again if I do write a sequel would you all be angry at me if I didn't personally write back to each of your reviews? Don't get me wrong, I love all of my reviews! I even praise and bow down to most! But it gets to be very overwhelming when you have so many, and I keep writing the same thing over and over again! Ok enough of my ranting! Oh, and I'll be going back over this story to beta my grammar, but no story changes so don't worry!