This Time
Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Harry Potter and Three Doors Down owns the song, "This Time".
Author's Notes: Hmm…Song fics are fun! I know this story is cheesy, but I was bored so I wrote it. And plus, I like the song.
Warning: Slashity, slashity slash, slash. Yes. This is good old HPDM. Don't like? I don't care.
--This Time--
Unsure of yourself,
You stand divided now.
Which road will lead you there?
Harry looked at the note. He could barely read it as his hands trembled and sweat mixed with dirt and blood dripped from his forehead down his face. A metallic substance swirled in his mouth, but he wouldn't swallow it. If he swallowed it, he knew he would be sick. He let it dribble out of his mouth and down his chin, a crimson bubble popping over his mouth.
"There's nothing you can do now, Harry," the letter read. "Everyone is gone."
He crumbled the yellowing parchment in his hands and began ripping it, crying out. His voice bounced off of the dungeon walls as he threw the pieces of parchment in all directions. When it was over, silence weighed down on him.
He couldn't believe it, he wasn't going to believe it. Voldemort could not have killed them all so quickly. But Harry began to wonder and to panic…could he?
Harry spun around and glared down at Draco, who was seated in the corner. His vivid green eyes burned into Draco's ice cold blue ones.
"It's all your fault," Harry spat through clenched teeth. Muscles tensed in his jaw as he stared at the other boy through pure hatred.
"I didn't do anything," Draco defended himself, his eyes lowering to the floor. He wasn't going to stare at the acid of Harry's inner being, his eyes. He wasn't making that fatal move.
"You didn't do anything?" Harry screamed, clutching onto his hair and shutting his eyes tightly. "You brought me here, brought me to him! And you've put us in this bloody dungeon to die! And you've practically killed everyone else too!"
"How was I supposed to know Voldemort was going to capture me as well? How was I supposed to know that I wasn't good enough for him?" Draco said, hand holding tight onto one of his knees.
"Everything's not about you!" Harry said, eyes open again and arms stuck out helplessly. Draco sneered over at him.
"My father will come soon anyway," Draco said. "That'll show you. Fath-"
"Draco, you're father doesn't care!" Harry screamed, his voice scratchy. It sounded as if he were almost pleading Draco to understand, to get one ounce of human in him. "You still don't see that? Nobody cares about you, Draco! I know it sounds harsh and everything, but it's the cold, hard truth! Nobody is going to be there for you, nobody's going to be your knight in shining armor! It's all on you now."
Something had changed in Draco's eyes at this last proclamation but Harry wasn't sure what it was. He thought he saw what might be fear, and sadness, but it was quickly replaced by heated anger.
"You don't know anything about me, Potter," Draco hissed. "Maybe that all pertains to you, but you know absolutely nothing that has to do with me."
"You're right," Harry said, sitting down cross-legged in front of Draco. "I don't. So tell me." Draco looked at Harry skeptically, with one eyebrow arched high up to his hairline.
"What're you getting at?" he said, back rigid against the dungeon wall.
"How many times has your father hugged you?" Harry asked, head tilted forward as he gazed at the blonde over his smeary, blurred glasses. Draco's eyebrow came down and furrowed with the other one, a crease forming along the top of his head.
"Never," Draco said. "Showing signs of emotion is weakness, Potter. He's a respectable man and can not lower himself to hugging anyone. Neither can I, for that matter."
"How many times has he let you call him, 'Dad'?" Harry asked, eyes still intent upon Draco. Draco shifted uneasily and his eyes searched the room as if for an escape.
"Never," Draco responded again. "Like I said, he's a respectable man and prefers to be treated that way." Harry nodded, an almost wicked smile spread across his face. He raised to his knees and crawled over to Draco, staring him straight in the eyes, so close their noses were lightly touching.
"And how many times has he told you that he loves you?" whispered Harry. This seemed to touch a nerve in Draco that Harry didn't seem to think was there. But it's what he had been going for. Draco's eyes closed and a single tear fell down his cheek.
"Malfoy's don't cry," he barely whispered, more to himself than to Harry.
"But you aren't Malfoy anymore," Harry said, face still centimeters from Draco's. "You're Draco."
Draco's eyes fluttered open and he flinched slightly, as if he just realized Harry was so close. His watery eyes stared into Harry's.
"Never," he said. Harry leaned back.
"What?"
"He's never told me that he loves me," Draco muttered. He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and showed Harry a thick, silver scar running along it. "That's what happens when you ask him if he does." Harry stared at the scar on Draco's arm for a minute before turning away.
"You've got something going there with that whole 'emotion is weakness' thing," Harry said, resting on his elbows.
"What do you mean?" asked Draco, running a pale finger along his arm.
"Last summer, the only reason Sirius died was because of me. I couldn't control my emotions and they got to my head, Sirius paid for my mistake," said Harry.
"Potter," Draco shook his head. "You're even more of a dunderhead than I thought you were. That was hardly your fault." Harry whipped his head around and stared Draco down.
"You don't know anything about that," he said.
"I know a lot more than you think I do," said Draco, wrapping his arms around his knees.
"I screwed up," Harry said, turning back around to face away from Draco. "Nothing more to it."
"Fine," Draco settled, slipping his sleeve back down. "But are you going tolet yourselfscrew up this time?"
Last time you fell and you hit hard
Your wounds have healed by now
But you still see your scars, yeah
"No," murmured Harry. "I'm not giving up…ever."
"That bloody Gryffindor courage, eh?" Draco asked. "I suppose it does come in handy sometimes."
"Too bad that Slytherin cold-heartedness gets you nowhere," Harry said, still not facing Draco. Draco sighed, leaning his head back onto the wall.
"Whoever said I was cold-hearted?" he asked, closing his eyes.
"I did," Harry sniffed. Draco had been nothing but since the first day that Harry met him. How could he think anything else? Draco had never shown signs of actually being human, so Harry was forced to believe he simply wasn't.
"I'm your only ally right now, Potter," Draco said. "So it isn't wise to mess with me." Draco pushed himself up and walked over to Harry. Harry glanced back at Draco and made a noise like he didn't care what Draco had said. "You look like you're giving up, Boy Who Lived. I've rather gotten used to the whole 'Harry Potter Saves the Day!' headlines in the more recent Daily Prophets. Come on, give them something to write about, scar head."
"You almost sound like you're enjoying this, ferret boy," Harry said, standing up and facing the other. "How do I know you haven't got some kind of sinister plot to kill me up those grimy sleeves of yours?"
"That was very Slytherin of you," observed Draco. "The first rule of it all: Don't trust anyone."
"I trust people, Malfoy," Harry said. "Just not you." Draco reached out and grabbed Harry by the shoulders, his fingernails digging into Harry's skin. He pulled Harry forward dangerously and stared him straight into the eyes.
"I loathe the very sight of you, too, Potter. At least I did. Everything we've been through these past weeks has taught me things, things I never wanted northought I would ever learn.Andwe're all each other's got at this point. And I'll be damned if I give up my only lifeline," Draco said.
But it's not the way it used to be right now
You've come so far to just let this go, my friend
The same way you did the last time
Harry smiled dramatically, "Are you telling me I'm the light of your life, Draco?"
"Hardly," replied Draco, letting go of Harry's shoulders.
"Than what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that this time, I'm on your side, whether I like it or not. And I can't let you fail, because that would mean that I have failed. Failure is not acceptable."
You'll break when you fall
Don't make the same mistakes you did all over
You've got to believe in yourself this time
"And just how are we supposed to get out of here?" Harry asked, his arms folded across his stomach.
"That…" Draco said. "I don't know. Let me think." He walked away from Harry with his fingers caressing his temples, murmuring to himself. Harry tapped his chin lightly.
"I know," he said. He walked over to the door and pointed at it. "Alohamora." With a small click, the door creaked open.
"First off," Draco said, now facing the door and Harry. "How the bloody fuck did you do that with no wand? And second off, why was it so easy?" Harry stared down at his hand. He had forgotten that he didn't have a wand. And it had even worked...
"I'm…not so sure…" muttered Harry, still staring down at his hand in amazement.
"Well, okay," Draco rolled his eyes. "but why was it so simple?" Harry blinked out of his trance and turned to Draco.
"Because they would expect us to believe that there were all kinds of spells and wards on this place. They would have us think there was no way out and that it was just too hard. Really, were you about to believe that they had just locked the door?" Harry said. Draco shook his head. "Exactly. So they avoided the hassle of all that magic and being traced, and they locked us in."
"You better get some medicine from Pomfrey, Potter," Draco said, brushing past him. "Granger is rubbing off on you." Chuckling, Harry followed Draco out the door.
Live on, live it up today
This life's your cup
So drink it up I say, yeah
They followed a long, winding staircase upwards. Torches lit their way every ten feet or so, but it was still dark and they tripped numerous times.
"Do these blimey stairs ever end!" Draco said. Harry rammed into Draco's back, his noise squishing and his glasses going askew.
"Why'd you stop?" he said, rubbing his nose.
"Cause there's a door," Draco said rather lamely. Opening it up, a flood of moonlight hit them full on.
"We're outside?" Harry asked, peering into the vast night. Nodding, Draco stepped forward, but his foot seemed to sink through the ground as if it were a ghost. At the last minute, he clutched onto Harry's ankle and pulled the other boy along with him.
"Oof," Harry said as they both landed on a grassy ground.
"Bloody hell!" Draco shouted and he rolled over onto hair, holding the boys head down as a red streak of light passed over their heads.
"Gehoofma," came the muffled voice of Harry. Draco dragged Harry to a nearby bush and hid them both behind it.
"What did you say?" whispered Draco.
"I said get off me," Harry explained. "What was that anyway?"
"Look and see where we are," Draco said. Harry peeked over the bushes and found himself facing a great battle scene. It was right in front of Hogwarts, and wizards good and bad were dueling. Harry caught glimpses of Dumbledore, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin…he even saw Ron Weasley over there.
"What?…" he whispered. "Voldemort did lie, not everyone is gone."
"Even I know not to believe the Dark Lord, Potter," Draco smirked.
Say it's mine so give it all up to me now
And walk that line, don't let this go
Don't go out the same way you did last time
Everything else happened in a flash. What Harry believed to be a Death Eater rolled over after being hit with a nasty spell and caught sight of the two.
"It's Harry Potter!" he screamed, pointing at them. Harry raced and got up, grabbing a nearby wand that had flown from its original owner.
It was the final battle.
You'll break when you fall
Don't make the same mistakes you did all over
You've got to believe in yourself this time
The battle went on for what seemed hours, the night sky never lightening and the statistics on each side never getting any better. Until, that is, long, cold fingers wrapped around Harry's shoulder.
Harry spun around and came face to face with Voldemort.
"You," he said viciously.
"Me," Voldemort smiled. That began their duel. After spells being deflected and some even hitting their targets, Voldemort raised his wand and began to shout out what Harry knew was sure to be a very dark, hideous spell.
As the searing bright light began to form on Voldemort's wand, there was no way Harry was going to dodge it if it came at him.
"Oh, no you don't, Lord Moldyshorts (A/N: Ok, I had to!) !" Draco screamed. He lunged forward and tackled Voldemort to the ground. That surprised Voldemort more than anything and his wand flew from his hand, skidding to a halt some feet from them. Voldemort hissed at Draco, who suddenly flung backwards and slammed hard into the trunk of a tree. Harry saw blood trickle down his forehead and stain his perfect blonde hair a light crimson color.
And Harry took the chance that Draco gave him.
Life's your cup, life's your cup
Drink it up
Life's your cup, life's your cup
Voldemort fell to the ground with a thud.
And it began to rain, hard. The raindrops fell on them all like pearls falling from a grand necklace. Everything had stopped. The only noise was the splatter of rain on the ground and the crack of thunder from overhead. No more spells were cast and no more threats were shouted.
Harry stood there, staring. He was really gone this time, Harry was sure of it. His fringe flattened to his head and he tore his eyes away from his victory, to all around him.
This was the first time he got to see the effects of the battle. The lives it had taken. While many Death Eaters had taken their fall, many Order members had as well.
There was Moody, the paranoid man that taught you good virtues in spite of yourself.
Arthur Weasley, the loving father that came off a little goofy but was deeply sincere.
Hagrid, the lovable giant that only really needed someone to care.
Remus Lupin, the kind werewolf that had found himself to be the last of his friends, the only love he had ever gotten.
Percy Weasley, the insecure boy that could never stay away from his family for too long.
Among others. Harry turned his head away. He didn't want to see it anymore. It made it seem too real. And he wasn't about to see Ron or Hermione out there. He just wasn't going to put himself through that.
Another hand was softly laid on his shoulder. He didn't turn around but kept his eyes rested on the body of Voldemort.
"You did it," Draco's voice whispered. "You finally did it."
"That was noble of you," Harry said, the tears pouring from his eyes mixing with the rain. "What you did." Draco wiped blood off of his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Don't tell anybody," he joked. "It would ruin my reputation."
"I promise not to then," Harry said. "So long as you don't tell anybody it was me who killed him. We can pretend it was an accident."
"I'm not sure anybody would believe us," Draco said, a sort of understanding in his voice as he rubbed Harry's shoulder with his hand. "But I'll stick to your story."
"Thank you," whispered Harry, turning to face Draco. He leaned forward and gave Draco a small kiss on the lips. Pulling away slowly, he turned back around.
"Wow," breathed Draco. "The Boy Who Lived just kissed me. No…no, that's not who you are."
"Then who am I?"
"You're The Boy Who Lives."
You'll break when you fall
Don't make the same mistakes you did all over
You've got to believe in yourself this time
Because you'll break when you fall
Don't make the same mistakes you did all over
You've got to believe in yourself this time…