Unable to understand what he was feeling, Draco went to the only person he trusted in the entire school... besides Harry, who could be dead for all Draco knew, and besides Blaise, who was dead.
"Professor Snape?" Draco asked timidly, very un-Malfoyish.
"What do you want!" Snape practically shouted. Then, seeing it was Draco, softened his tone to something resembling 'fatherly.' "Oh. Hello Draco. I didn't realize it was you, come in."
Snape was taken aback at what he saw. Draco was disheveled, his hair all over the place, and his face streaked with tears. His robes were also in a haphazard fashion, looking crumpled and dirty.
"What happened!" Snape asked, concern filling his voice.
"I-I..." Draco burst into fresh tears.
Snape waited patiently for the boy to regain his composure. Severus Snape had never been one of the most comforting people in the world.
Finally, Draco stopped crying, and looked up at his potion's teacher, and basically life-long friend.
"Harry Potter, sir," he finally said, one tear rolling slowly down his cheek.
"Potter? What's that boy done now to get you into this sort of shape?"
"He... He might be dead sir?"
Snape didn't fully comprehend what Draco was telling him at first.
"You came to me to tell me this? Why not the headmaster!" Draco could see Snape was frightened, but was trying not to show it. After all, if Harry really was dead, then Voldemort would have an easy time taking over the wizarding world.
"B-because sir," Draco was near tears again, but held them back, "because I thought you might want to explain to me why I don't care that the savior of the wizarding world is gone," Snape opened his mouth to speak, but Draco continued, "I don't care that the hero Harry Potter is gone... I care that Harry is gone..." and here Draco broke down, leaving Snape to slowly herd him towards Dumbledore's office.
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"Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, acting confused, yet already having an idea of why the boy was in his office.
"Harry might be... might be..." Draco couldn't finish the sentence.
"Harry Potter might be dead, Albus," Snape said for him. Draco looked up at Snape gratefully.
That was when Dumbledore did what both Snape and Draco least expected. He laughed.
"My dear boy!" Dumbledore said, turning to Draco, "Harry isn't dead!"
Oh dear gods... He's in denial! Was Draco's first thought.
"But... But I saw him, he was a ghost, he flickered... He was gone..."
Albus laughed a little more, then continued, "Of course you saw him as a ghost, he's in the ghost world, but he's alive. Although at the moment, I don't think he's in very good condition..." Dumbledore trailed off, suddenly not laughing very much longer.
"How do I get him back, sir?" Draco asked, overjoyed that Harry was alive, but not so happy about the 'not in very good condition' part.
"Well... I think Severus has a few Paene Umbra potions left..." Dumbledore said.
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Pain. That was all Harry could feel. It was like a steam roller had gone over his body breaking ever bone anyone could possibly break.
Harry didn't remember much of why he felt like this. It had something to do with a curse... But which one? He remembered Draco being there... saving Draco, that was what he had been doing... but from whom? And why? A death eater, perhaps? Voldemort, even? No... Voldemort couldn't have gotten into the school... Blaise, then?
The pain came back full force and Harry blacked out. The last image on his mind had been Draco... Draco's eyes, his hair... his voice. And suddenly Harry heard Draco's voice, loud and clear, as if he was standing right next to him. "Don't worry Harry. I'm coming, I promise," and Harry blacked out.
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"What does a Paene Umbra potion do?" Draco asked as Snape searched vigorously through his never ending supply of potions.
After much grumbling and the sound of breaking glass Snape finally answered, "It means, Almost a ghost, in Latin. It will temporarily let you into the ghost realm. But only temporarily. No more than an hour. I could strengthen it to allow you a longer time period... but we don't have time for that. In the long run, only an hour and no preparation time will be best."
Draco nodded his head, then whispered almost to himself, "Don't worry Harry. I'm coming, I promise."
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"Ah! I found it!" Snape yelled triumphantly, holding a smile vile above his head. Inside of the glass tube was a greenish liquid which looked rather unhealthy to drink.
Looks like it'd kill you... ha-ha... wait... that's what it's supposed to do... Draco suddenly felt very uneasy, but he wanted Harry back. He wasn't sure why... he had an idea, but he didn't want to touch on the possibility that maybe... maybe Harry could be a friend... or more... his heart hoped more.
"Maybe even mates..." Draco said under his breath.
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It was Draco's voice that woke him up. All it said was "Maybe even mates..." but that was enough for Harry. He moved towards where he thought he heard the blonde's voice. Unfortunately, in the shadow world, sounds tended to reverberate, and echo around. Depression... pain... hopelessness... he just wanted it to end. Harry lay down and went back to a dreamless sleep.
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Draco gulped down the despicable tasting potion, and felt himself seem to float. The feeling was replaced by a sense of lightness... almost like he could float if he wanted to... but could walk about too.
"Harry!" he called into the grey world. At first Draco couldn't tell why this place was different from Hogwarts... and then he noticed the lack of color. Everything was black and white... or different shades of grey.
"Strange..." he murmured. Then continued his search for Harry.
60 min.
"Harry! Harry answer me! It's Draco! Draco Malfoy! I want to help you! Where are you?"
Draco heard a strange cackling noise off to his left, and turned down the corridor to find Harry. It didn't sound like the golden boy though...
59 min.
"Peeves!" Draco shouted. Although he knew he was in a ghost world, the place had seemed to empty that he was amazed to see anyone here... even ghosts.
Peeves stopped cackling insanely, and turned to Draco.
He began to say in a sing song voice,
"Awww... Poor Drakie Wakie died? For shame!
"Who for this tragedy is there to blame?"
"Have you seen Harry Potter?" Draco didn't want to play games.
58 min.
"Is Ickle Harry-kins lost too?
Whatever are we to do?"
Peeves cackled at his stupid rhymes.
"Peeves! Help me! He could die! For once in your pathetic death, help someone!"
Peeves just started to laugh manically, and flew up through the roof.
"Goddamn it!" Draco shouted up towards the ceiling.
57 min.
If I were Harry... where would I be? Draco ran to the Slytherin common room, because that was the last place that he had seen the world's Golden Boy.
56min
55 min.
54 min.
53 min.
52 min.
51 min.
50 min.
49 min.
It seemed as though Draco was moving under water, all of his movements were slowed. He looked at the 'watch' that his twice removed uncle had given him for Christmas one time. It was apparently a muggle contraption, but it had been enchanted to run on magic, automatically change times from time zone to time zone, and take voice commands.
48 min.
He still wasn't at the Slytherin dorms. There was something wrong. why couldn't he go fast? What was wrong with this world?
47 min.
"Maybe you should try gliding?" came a voice from behind Draco.
"Huh?" Draco stopped running and turned.
There stood nearly headless Nick, hovering a few feet above the ground.
"I said, maybe you should try gliding. It gets you going faster."
"R-right," Draco said. Nearly Headless Nick had always creeped him out slightly, with his head flapping all over in strong winds and such. It wasn't a pretty sight.
46 min.
"How do I float?"
Nick just shrugged. "You just do. I can't explain it. It's like explaining breathing... ah... breathing... I haven't done that in a while..." Nick stared wistfully off into space.
"Right. Uh. Thank you for your help..."
45 min.
Draco started to jump. "Float... c'mon, float..." He kept telling himself.
44 min.
43 min.
42 min.
41 min.
40 min.
39 min.
38 min.
"Got it!" Draco screamed, as he found himself suspended in mid air. He started to do swimming motions to go forward, and very quickly learned that it wasn't going to work that way.
37 min.
36 min.
35 min.
Finally Draco could glide forward, and at an amazingly fast speed, too.
"Hold on Harry, I'm coming!" he yelled, flying through the halls.
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In his dreamless sleep, Harry suddenly smiled.
Suddenly, he wasn't so dreamless.
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25 min
Ten minutes later, Draco began to shout, overjoyed.
"Finally!" Draco yelled in victory after finally getting to the Slytherin dungeons.
He shouted the password, and nothing happened.
"Damn it! Open already you fucking door!"
24 min.
Eventually, Draco was too frustrated to do anything but kick the door to the dungeons in frustration.
He did not expect, however for his foot to fly through the door.
23 min.
His foot was quickly followed by his body, and he found himself sprawled on the floor of the common room.
"Well... I'm here... so where's Harry...?"
22 min.
Harry could feel Draco in the room. He stirred slightly, and awoke slowly.
"Draco?" he asked.
"Guess again..." came a voice that made Harry begin to shiver.
21 min.
Draco could have sworn he had Harry... and someone else?
"HARRY?" Draco shouted as loud as he could.
20 min.
No one answered for a while. Draco waited. He had the inexplicable sense that Harry had heard him... where was he?
19 min.
18 min.
"Help..."
"Harry!" Draco yelled out of joy.
He ran over to where Harry was laying, which was behind a couch, strangely enough, and came face to face with the last person he wanted to see.
A/N: I have FIFTY REVIEWS! Yay! Halfway to one hundred! That's so cool! This story is almost over... It might not be quite twenty chapters... maybe seventeen or eighteen. One of those. Anyways, thank you all so much for reviewing! I love you all!
Oh, and I know Draco is really really out of character in this chapter... but I think it works okay...
