Title: "Mask"

Author: Lyla Hayden

Rating: Mature, "R", "M", whatever. Warnings are; slash, gore, the usual nasties but nothing too graphic.

Pairing: HP/DM, what else?

Summary: When one bears a mask to become someone else, sometimes that mask becomes who you are, despite all your true thoughts and feelings. Such a mask cannot be shed easily and often times it takes another to rip its roots out. Harry's mask has deep roots, but the one who helps him remove them is the one he would least expect.

A/N: Meh…Update for you from the girl who stayed up too late. Enjoy part eight of "Mask"!

"Mask"

Part Eight:

"Deception"

A scream stuck in his chest threatened to be released as wide eyes met the blue lightning coursing through his body. The Firebolt flickered before catching fire. Harry slid from the firey broom when the electricity halted. Twenty feet to the grass was nothing to any normal person, really. Twenty feet to the grass unconscious with a burning piece of wood falling after you is not a good thing, to say the least.

Grouchy at having been woken up so late, Madam Pomfrey opened her door to find a frantic Draco Malfoy cradling a very burnt Harry Potter in his arms protectively. "Oh, Merlin! Put him down on that bed over there! Hurry, boy!"

Draco didn't need to be told twice. He gently set the boy on the bed and sat back a bit. While he did care for the Gryffindor, he was glad to have the smell of burning flesh weaken. "Strip him as best you can, and be gentle."

"Speed and quality don't always go together," Draco shouted angrily as he peeled the scraps of fabric from the large wounds as gently as he could. Skin fell away, blood and puss leaking out over Draco's fingers unnoticed.

He managed to get most of the uniform off the ravenhead but as he looked him over, his heart stopped in horror. Harry wasn't breathing. "Get back, boy!" Madam Pomfrey shoved him aside roughly, looking desperately for a pulse.

The medinurse jerked out her wand and began spouting off as many breathing spells as her sleep-deprived mind could think of. A gasp from the blackened boy told her that at least one of them had worked. Tears filled Draco's eyes.

The smell of burning flesh had now filled the room and was drifting down the hallway. Draco looked on worriedly as the mediwitch worked, his mind only half there. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep and been moved to one of the vacant beds.

A groan the next morning woke Draco with a start. He jumped from the bed and raced over to where he knew Harry to be. The boy had been wrapped with gauss, the horrible smell gone from the room for the most part. Draco leaned over to examine him closely. A hand tugged at him rudely and Draco spun around, hissing angrily.

Severus leapt back. "Draco!" Said boy ignored him, turning back to the burned boy. "Draco Malfoy! Do not ignore me!" Draco reluctantly turned back around, his glare potent and pissed enough to match even Lord Voldemort's. "You have to tell me what happened, Draco."

"He was hit by lightning," Draco said quickly before turning back to Harry.

"You both were soaking wet, Madam Pomfrey told me. It wasn't raining. Where were you last night, Draco? Draco. Draco!"

"It was raining and we were at the Quidditch pitch." A soft hand fell on his shoulder and Draco snapped his jaws at it. "Go away." Severus sighed and walked out, heading to the headmaster's office to report.

Draco looked Harry over, moving closer. Remembering the night before, he watched the boy's chest rise and fall with each breath. His hands were covered in dry blood, puss, and even bits of Harry's flesh that had come loose.

Worriedly, he touched his bandaged forehead, cheek, and neck, feeling for a pulse at the last stop. The doors to the infirmary banged open, two worried Gryffindors running over to the two of them. "Get away from him, you evil ferret!"

Draco turned around, his eyes ablaze. The two skid to a halt. "If you lay a hand on Harry, Malfoy, I swear I'll kill you!" Hermione screamed, proving to the Slytherin that she wasn't all warm and book-loving.

A fierce growl rose in Draco's throat as he glared at the two of them. "Stay away!" he screamed out hoarsely. Spinning back to Harry, his eyes softened with tears. "Harry…You can wake up now," he whispered, his voice choking partway through and tears falling freely down his ash-covered cheeks.

"Get away from Harry right now, Malfoy!" Ron growled, pulling out his wand. Draco half-turned to look at them. The tears staining the blonde's cheeks caused Ron to fumble his wand, the clattering of the wand rolling away the only sound in the room.

Draco looked down at Harry and climbed up onto the bed with him, laying on his side, parallel to the sleeping boy. "Harry," he croaked out, gently kissing an open space of clean skin on his shoulder. "Harry, I'm here. Draco's here for you."

A soft shine caught his eye and he picked up Harry's hand with the utmost care. Narcissa's ring lay cold and untarnished on his finger. Draco sat up a bit, careful not to force Harry's arm any way it couldn't go, and pressed his lips to the silver that had saved his hand from the flames.

"Mister Malfoy," a warm voice said behind him. Draco looked over, his hands still gently holding onto Harry's. Albus Dumbledore stood tall a few feet away. "Would you come with me for a moment? I have a few things I wish to speak with you about."

"No," he said defiantly, turning back to Harry.

"Alright then, my boy. Severus, would you clear the room and cast the appropriate spells for me?" Severus nodded, leading the occupants out of the infirmary with a glare and snarl. The doors shut silently, Severus doing as he was told and casting the silencing and locking spells that Albus had requested of him.

"Mister Malfoy, would you please tell me what happened? Exactly what happened. Don't forget any detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem." Steel eyes watched the old wizard sit in the chair beside the side of the bed closest to him. "Start from the very beginning."

"From the beginning of today or when…" he paused, glancing down at the ravenhead. He tenderly ran a finger over his bandage-less nose.

"The very beginning," Albus concluded, eyes watching the couple curiously.

"Well, I noticed that he wasn't being himself sometime towards the end of sixth year. I didn't have the nerve to say anything until a few weeks ago. He always goes on these nighttime flights, long after everyone else has gone to bed…" Draco rattled off the entire story, pausing only to answer questions Albus piped in every once in a while.

When Draco reached the part about Harry's fall, he stopped. Albus urged him to go on and Draco nodded. "He fell from that broom of his. The broom was on fire and so was he. I cast a spell to put the flames out on him first, then the broom. The broom hit him soon after he hit the ground.

"I picked him up and ran as fast as I could to the infirmary. Harry was conscious for most of the run and he did…something…Something that made him lighter and the trip faster. I wasn't paying all that much attention to exactly what was going on, but I know he was having us ride the shadows.

"I guess he stopped breathing along the way, but Madam Pomfrey fixed him. He's breathing now, you see, so she must've fixed him. But…but he won't wake." Draco's voice shook.

"Draco, take a deep breath and lay down. Right there is fine, yes." He paused as the blonde followed his instructions. "It was not raining last night, my boy. That was the temper storm of Sebastian James. You were his target since you'd taken Harry from him. I'll explain that part a bit later.

"During those nighttime flights, Harry lets out all of the extra magical energy that he has stored within him. This is why he doesn't need as much sleep as others. The magic within him more than makes up for his sleeplessness.

"When he releases this extra magic, it comes out raw and strong. This is why he glows and why you seem to need less sleep as well. Last night he hadn't finished his song, the spell that releases the magic. His mind knew he wouldn't finish and so it released as much as it could with those last few notes to compensate.

"That is what caused the lightning to swerve and strike Harry himself. That ring you gave him saved his life three times that day, Draco. The ring helped to lessen the blow of the lightning and to heal him almost completely in just a few hours.

"The ring was the one that told his mind he wouldn't finish and had to release as much magic as it could. If it had not, Harry would have died almost immediately." Albus sat back with a deep breath, having finished his in-depth explanation.

Draco blinked, thinking over all that for a minute before saying, "You mentioned that Sebastian was mad because I took Harry from him."

"Ah, yes. Nearly forgot. When Sebastian was born, his parents feared he'd be female, and cast a spell on him that would allow him to change genders spontaneously. He was born female, much to the dismay of his parents. They forced his change to male, and so he grew up that way; his body male but his mind female.

"Like many of the girls, he fell for young Harry here. Crush or love, I'm not sure. He was quite taken with him, I must say." Albus shook his head. "He even came to me and told me of your day at the Manor."

Draco rolled over, turning his back to the wizard. "Meh," was all Draco said before he closed his eyes, sleep washing over him as if it hadn't even heard his name in years. Albus cracked a fatherly smile at the two and stood up.

"Sleep well, you two," he said, pulling the drapes around the bed shut and walking out of the infirmary. A group of worried students and teachers surrounded him. "Harry is fine. He'll be up and about by tomorrow. Let the boy sleep." With that, he headed out.

The group of onlookers tried to peek inside the room as Madam Pomfrey walked back in. She shut the door firmly behind her, making it clear they were not allowed in. The medinurse saw the drawn cloth and shook her head before going about her daily business.

To Be Continued

A/N: Bwahahaha…I are updating again…Oh, I'm good. I'm good and sleep-deprived. The next chapter is almost done. I have three parts of it done but I can't seem to get them to fit together...That's what happens when youdon't sleep, I guess.Also, I'm sorry to say that there will only be two more chapters. Well, two or three…I don't want the chapters to be too long…This one is borderline 'too long'. Although I must warn you, the last chapter doesn't have a plot…really…maybe…Ah, I'm too tired to think…I'm going to bed. Review?