White light surrounded them as they hit the water.
Both boys became unconscious on impact.
Arms closed around them, pulling them back to the surface.
Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor walked steadily back to the castle, each carrying a boy.
Dumbledore met them at the door and took them to the Hospital wing. Nobody spoke, nor did they pass anyone; they were all at dinner.
Madam Pomfrey didn't know what to do with them. Physically, both of them were fine. All they could do was to wait for them to wake.
"Potter has lost the will to live…" Harry lay with his eyes closed, listening to the sounds around him. He tried to think about what had happened.
The knives…The Cliff...Malfoy…
Harry's eyes flew open. Had he killed Malfoy?
He looked around the room.
Malfoy was on the bed next to him, staring at the ceiling.
Draco didn't even need to look over to know that Harry was awake. An insane smile curled at the corners of his lips.
"You've lost it, Potter," He said, not bothering to keep his voice low. "You've finally lost it"
Harry reached for his glasses and sat up. Malfoy did the same, his smile growing ever wider.
"You tried to kill me, you know that?"
Harry couldn't speak. Instead he just buried his head in his hands and cried silently.
"They're awake!" Madam Pomfrey screeched from her office doorway. She, Dumbledore, Sirius and Mrs Malfoy came running out.
Narcissa sat down beside her son and proceeded to plant kisses all over his head.
Sirius stood at the end of Harry's bed, his arms crossed as if trying to keep out the cold. He smiled sadly.
Harry didn't look up. He felt completely ashamed of himself and he didn't want to face anyone.
It took ten minutes of coaxing for him to meet his godfather's eyes. When he did Sirius smile warmly and sank onto the bed beside him.
"How are you feeling?"
"I wanted to kill them. All of them…even the baby…"
Sirius glance at Dumbledore why surveyed Harry with concern.
"Was Voldemort inside you, Harry? Did he make you do this?"
Harry shook his head.
"Its…Its my magic…there's to much… its going to my head…" He clenched his fists and the room began to shake with his anger.
"Stop it, Potter!" Malfoy said, sending him a mental slap through his mind. Harry opened his eyes.
"You were right, Sirius, I do need something to vent it on"
"You've already talked about this?" Dumbledore asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Not really, he cracked my table at the meeting the other day and shook the foundation when he ran into the wall. If that was an accident…well I'd just hate to be the guy on the other end when it's forceful…you get what I mean?"
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe Tokugawa could help us there." He turned to Draco's bed where his mother was still cuddling him.
"And how do you feel, Draco?"
"Fine. If that's what you say after someone tries to murder you" He glared at Harry with mock accusation and Harry knew that the blonde boy forgave him.
"When can we leave?" Harry asked blankly, not sure if he wanted to face his friends.
Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey glanced at each other. Harry sighed and picked up an apple from his bedside table.
"I'm not suicidal," he said, letting the fruit levitate an inch from his palm. "I just wasn't myself"
Dumbledore looked at his pocket watch.
"It's been Saturday for fifteen minutes. I suppose you can leave in the morning…"
"Saturday!" Draco exclaimed. "We've been out of it for two days!"
"Has Claire or anyone come to visit?" Harry transferred the apple to his other palm. Dumbledore watched him with an odd interest.
"No. I wont let them in. it's up to you to tell them that you jumped off a cliff," Madam Pomfrey said, rather insanely as she straightened the sheets on another bed.
"I wasn't thinking. I didn't even realise I was doing it until…" Harry stopped explaining himself and looked over at Malfoy.
"Until you stopped choking me." Malfoy finished. "I could see it in your eyes."
Harry nodded miserably and Malfoy continued on.
"Which means you actually love Claire and you actually meant to jump at the end."
The group talked until day break when Dumbledore finally advised Sirius to go home.
"You don't want to be here when the hoards of people show up pretending to be sick so they can see the boys…Harry where are you going?"
Harry was climbing out of bed and putting on his sneakers.
"I'm going running. I haven't been out for over a week"
"Your right" Draco followed Harry's lead and jumped out of bed.
Harry left the hospital wing, much to Madam Pomfrey's protests, and made his way to the grounds.
He met the rest of his fellow Gryffindors in the Entrance hall as they were leaving for their jog.
"Hey, Hey!" he opened his arms dramatically, grinned, and hoped his friends didn't notice the falseness of his smile surface. He could still see knives and guns but he had no urge to kill anyone.
"Harry!" Hermione and Claire screamed simultaneously and ran at him. Hermione got to hug him first but was pushed away in seconds and Claire closed in.
"Why's Potter the hero?" Malfoy appeared beside Harry and Hermione screamed once again, jumping at the new arrival with joy.
"What happened to you guys?" Parvati asked as the rest of the group came over.
Harry and Malfoy glanced at each other.
"We got in a fight," Malfoy explained finally and Harry realised that he was using the same excuse as when the two boys first became friends. "And we fell in the lake and passed out with the cold"
"What were you fighting about?" Hermione asked suspiciously, raising a mocking eyebrow.
"Um…" Harry looked at Malfoy again.
"We forgot…you know, the cold and all…"
Hermione seemed to accept this as a reasonable explanation as they made their way outside. Malfoy broke away from them at the door and went to join his fellow Slytherins who bombarded him with questions about his disappearance.
This morning Tokugawa had an announcement to make to the group before they set off.
"On Saturday week all of you will be participating in a hunt for the enjoyment of the rest of the school and the guest students…"
"What kind of hunt?' Ron broke in rudely.
"A man hunt. Or you could call it a mock hunt. There will be four teams… of course these are your house colours… and you will spend twenty-four hours in the forbidden forest hunting the other teams. I shall explain on the day the rules of the game. You may go now. Harry, may I have a word?"
The rest of the group set off, chatting excitedly about the hunt, while Harry waited, patiently, behind.
"Dumbledore spoke to me this morning. He said you need something to vent your anger on, is that true?"
Harry nodded and waited while Tokugawa contemplated the information.
"Harry, this morning, instead of using your physical strength to run, I want you to use your magic."
Tokugawa smiled slightly at Harry's puzzled look. "Most witch or wizard's magic is in a straight line down the centre of the body. Its what keeps us in harmony. You magic, however, is not in a straight line. It is all over the place, filling your veins and nerves. This is what is making you delirious. You need to learn to focus you power and to do that you must get rid of some of it. When you run, there is a message being sent to your brain telling you to drain you energy. Today I want you to practice redirecting it to the source of your power. Lets see how you go"
Tokugawa hoisted two sandbags onto his back and set off slowly with Harry beside him.
It didn't take Harry long to redirect his brain messages, He found it a bit like meditation, and after the fifth lap he and Tokugawa were powering on ahead of the rest.
On the tenth lap, Harry was feeling no exhaustion at all so Tokugawa transferred one of his sandbags onto Harry's back.
By the time it was time to head off for showers Harry was only panting slightly while the rest of his team set off, almost collapsing from tiredness.
Harry didn't go to the showers today. Instead he wandered slowly up to the cliff where he had previously lost his mind.
He stood, a good metre back from the cliff edge, surveying the mucky scene before him with hardened eyes.
His handprints were still pressed deep in the mud, as were Malfoy's. He stared at the footsteps leading backwards over the edge.
A cool breeze rustled his hair and he looked up at the sky thoughtfully. The threatening rain clouds had disappeared from sight and had been replaced by big, white fluffy ones that lazed across the sky, only letting selected patches of sun through. Harry was standing in one of these patches, meditating when something rustled the branches behind him.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Hermione stepped up beside him, her voice sounding quite hysterical, as if she'd been searching for him for a while.
A quick glance at his watch told Harry that he had been there for over two hours.
"Just looking," he said idly, opening his eyes and studying Hermione's expressions as she stared at the imprinted mud before her.
"You didn't fight, did you?" she whispered, putting the pieces together. Harry shook his head sadly, knowing he could deny it no more. Hermione's eyes widened in horror.
"You mean you actually jumped? Why would you throw your life away like that, Harry? Why?"
"I wasn't myself" Harry stepped forward to look over the cliff and Hermione grabbed his hand hurriedly.
"Just looking" he said again and led her closer. Together they peered down at the calm, clear water below.
"So how does Draco fit into this?" she asked, looking quite pretty, standing on a cliff with her hair blowing wildly about her face.
"He tried to stop me. Listen Hermione" Harry turned her urgently so they were facing each other. "You can tell the others that I jumped but you must not tell them what I am about to tell you. It says between you, Malfoy and me. Got it?"
Hermione nodded hesitantly.
"You remember when we were talking about my eyes? Well I had a magic overload and went crazy. I started seeing everyone dead. Everyone murdered…by myself. I came up here, without knowing, and jumped. Malfoy caught me and we fought briefly. I choked him almost to death, note the bruises on his throat, then I realised what I was doing and I jumped again…Malfoy tried to grab me again and we both fell. Do you understand?"
Hermione looked terrified at the current information and she stepped away from Harry in a hurry.
"You need help, Harry, go and see Dumbledore!"
"I saw Dumbledore! I'm getting help from Tokugawa. He's helping me drain my magic. That's why I was so energetic this morning!"
Hermione gaped at him then shook her head sadly.
"I'm not suicidal, Hermione!"
"I know," she whispered and Harry thought she was going to turn and run away. Instead she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly.
"You can talk to me whenever you need to, Harry" then she left, as quietly as she had come.
Harry stayed on the cliff a while longer before heading back to the castle for lunch. Hermione must have told his other friends that he had jumped because they were all watching him with caution and Claire was fussing over him like there was no tomorrow.
"So…" Ron said, watching Harry finish his chicken strips. "Who won that fight between you and Malfoy?"
The rest of the small table fell quite and Harry looked around, trying to keep a smile from his face. They all looked so serious, except Tokugawa who simply seemed amused. After meditating for a few hours Harry felt much happier then he had earlier that morning.
"We didn't fight," he said, knowing that Ron was only looking for reassurance and already knew the truth from Hermione. " I jumped off that cliff and Malfoy tried to stop me"
It took a moment for the words to settle in then Claire suddenly burst into tears.
"Why, Harry? Was it something someone did to you?" she took a sharp breath before continuing in a whisper. "Was it you-know-who?"
Harry shrugged, only just remembering that none of the other students knew about his wandless magic and he felt he should keep it this way just for a little longer.
Hermione stared blankly into her food.
"Hermione, can we talk?" Harry led her from the hall, deeply aware that everyone else in the hall was watching them. The news of Harry's suicide attempt must have gotten farther then the Gryffindor group. Malfoy watched them with no expression on his face as Pansy, sitting next to him, started whispering about how Goyle and Crabbe had tortured Harry and that was why he jumped.
Malfoy suddenly stood up and ran after the Gryffindor's leaving the hall.
"You do believe me, don't you?" Harry asked, glancing at the blonde boy who appeared at his side.
"Yeah I do" Hermione said, sounding old and tired. "But are you sure Voldemort isn't in you? It's not like you to psyche out like this"
"Yes it is. Remember last year? Well this year I just have magic teaming up with my anger. Tokugawa is helping me sort it out. It wont happen again, I promise"
Over the next week nothing exciting happened except Lavender dumping Ron because he wasn't paying her any attention. Harry suspected that his redheaded friend still liked Hermione but after the last incident he had become too wise to admit it.
Everyone except Hermione trod around Harry with care, fearing he might try and kill himself if someone said something wrong.
Harry was becoming extremely impatient with these people and on several occasions he almost told them the truth. Hermione was becoming impatient as well and she told Harry about it on Friday afternoon before Transfiguration.
"Why can't you tell them the truth? Voldemort knows…why cant they?" she quizzed him while waiting for him to tie his shoelace in the entrance hall.
"Because I don't want them to know. It doesn't feel right to me"
"I just don't know how long I can keep this up, Harry" she huffed before leaving him there.
"You and Hermione have become close" Harry straightened up and turned to face Malfoy.
"She's the only one who'll talk to me without crying or asking if I need to go to the infirmary when I swear. Don't worry, I'm not hitting on her"
"Well that's a relief" Malfoy grinned jokingly as the two boys headed up the stairs.
"Hey Potter!" a gruff voice said about a foot behind him. Harry rolled his eyes and turned to face Crabbe and Goyle.
"What?"
Crabbe sent a surprise fist into Harry's gut and Harry doubled over, gasping for breath.
"That's from the boss"
Malfoy slammed himself, bodily, into Harry's attacker, knocking him off his feet.
Goyle stepped in; fists joined together in a hammer like stance, and hit Harry in the back of the head.
Harry twisted himself as he fell and threw a misjudged spell at Goyle who went flying back into the wall. Some of the stone behind him crumbled under the forced weight.
Goyle slumped to the ground, momentarily stunned. Harry took the moment to turn his attention on Malfoy and Crabbe; both were engaged in a violent tousle on the floor.
Malfoy, who was on top, saw Harry raise a glowing hand and he threw himself backwards.
Harry released his magic and Crabbe flew the length on the hall, slamming into the doors and tumbling down the steps.
Goyle was up again and this time he used stealth instead of strength. He hit Harry in the face, cutting his lip and bruising his cheek. Harry, abandoning magic, hit Goyle back, breaking his nose in the process.
Crabbe came blundering back up the stairs and grabbed Malfoy around the chest, pinning his arms to his side.
"WHAT IS GOING ON!" Snape came flying down the stairs, robes billowing out behind him, his face a mask of fury.
All four boys froze and Crabbe dropped Malfoy back on the floor.
"ALL OF YOU IN MY OFFICE, NOW!"
Review please!
The sequel should have something to do with the prophecy…