Oblivio Nex
Chapter 4
The next day dawned and Draco woke up scowling, as the birds' twitterings woke him. He yawned and stretched in an almost childlike gesture and smiled as his eyes automatically fell on Harry.
He glanced at the sleeping boy in the bed next to his, messy raven hair stuck up everywhere and Harry's cheeks were flushed with the warmth of sleep. Draco thought he'd never seen anything so tempting and wished he could have woken up next to him.
Suddenly he had a thought and, smirking, softly padded over to Harry. He then gently lifted up the covers and slid onto the bed, lying face to face with Harry. Draco's heart gave a little leap as the other boy shifted closer to him, so close their noses were almost touching and their knees bumped together.Draco bit his lip uncertainly before stroking the dark hair he had longed to touch. Harry gave a soft moan of contentment and leaned into the gentle petting. Draco snatched his hand away and rolled his eyes when Harry frowned a little from the lack of contact.Draco then blew softly on Harry's exposed neck and giggled quietly when the boy shivered and muttered something. Draco blew his neck again, longer this time, and Harry jerked awake.
The Gryffindor sat up with a start, wondering what had made him wake up. He gave a yelp of surprise when he saw the smirking blonde next to him and jumped back.
"What are you doing in my bed?" Harry demanded.
Draco couldn't help but laugh at the boy; he sounded annoyed but looked so cute the effect was ruined. Harry's mussed hair and his flannel pyjamas all added to his 'grumpy bear' look.
"Why are you in my bed?" Harry asked again, a little grouchily after being laughed at.
Draco stretched out in what reminded Harry of a very cat-like gesture and the blonde smiled at him innocently.
"Yours looked more comfy," Draco said.
Harry looked into his beautifully wide silver eyes and collapsed face down into his pillow with a moan.
"'Oo ea'ly!" came Harry's muffled cry.
Draco leaned over him with a frown.
"What?"
Harry sighed and pulled his face from the pillow.
"I said 'Too early'!" Harry huffed.
"For what?" the pale boy asked.
"You. Now get out of my bed," Harry said, annoyed at Draco for harassing him in the morning like this. He'd just woken up from a dream about the boy, for Merlin's sake, and now here Draco was, right in his bed! Any more temptation and Harry might just have to give into those urges and jump the unsuspecting blonde.
"No. It's cold out there. Besides, this is getting you back for waking me up yesterday!" Draco said as he wriggled down further into the warm blankets.
Harry rolled his eyes; the boy was far too vengeful for his own good.Harry decided to just keep his mouth shut and hope Draco would soon leave.
Draco looked at Harry out of the corner of his eye and smiled triumphantly. He'd won! He rolled next to the boy and into Harry's unwitting arms and looked up at him, fluttering his eyes in what he hoped was a winsome manner.
"Keep me warm?" he asked.
Harry's breath caught in his throat at Draco being once again unexpectedly so close. He had to remember to keep his lower body away from Draco; if the blonde even so much as leaned in a little closer then he'd know just how Harry would like to keep him warm! Yet he couldn't help tightening his hold on the beautiful boy and enjoyed the startled expression on Draco's face as he responded to the brat's play.
Just when things seemed to be taking an interesting turn, the door that connected their room to the Hospital Wing opened and in walked a very irritated looking Snape.
"Potter, Draco, if you'd just-"
The man suddenly broke off when he saw the two were actually not in separate beds but the same one, and in each other's arms no less. Both boys and the professor flushed crimson and Draco quickly crawled out of Harry's bed.
"Sorry, sir," Draco muttered. For some reason he felt a little ashamed that Snape had caught him.
"Well, I am a little disappointed Draco. I thought you had more taste. Get dressed and be outside in five minutes." With that, the dark haired man swooped out.
Harry snorted and covered his face with his hands.
Draco bit his lip again and glanced at Harry.
"Oops?" Draco said, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Oops? That's all you can say?" Harry asked as he glared at the boy.
Draco shrugged, unconcerned.
"Does it matter? It's not as if we know him," Draco said.
"We did once, and will again when we get our memories back," Harry growled.
"Let's worry about it then. Besides, it was fun."
"He thought we…that we're…" Harry blushed.
Draco couldn't help but flush a little at that thought, too, but then smiled.
"Thought we were what?" he asked innocently.
Harry scowled at him and threw a pillow.
Draco just laughed and soon Harry joined in, mostly because of how cute Draco looked when he was even the slightest bit messy. He really ought to come up with more ways to get the boy messy…
-
When the boys shuffled out of their room they walked up to Professor Snape, who watched them critically.
"I will now be conducting some tests to gather information about the chemicals in your bodies. With the results I'll be able to find out if you've done this with a potion," the professor explained to Draco while ignoring Harry completely.
Snape approached them, wand at the ready. Harry's mind shot to thoughts of pain and he tensed as he waited to see what 'medical tests' the professor was going to do.
Snape's wand descended with a muttered word and both boys felt a strange tingle scan their bodies. Snape nodded and then turned to Madam Pomfrey.
"I'll return when I have found if it was a potion." Snape walked out of the Hospital Wing, leaving two very surprised boys.
"What's the matter with you two? You looked as though you thought he was going to curse you," Madam Pomfrey said with an amused smile.
Harry glanced at Draco and shrugged. Perhaps the greasy git wasn't as bad as Harry had thought if he was really going to help them.
"What do we do now?" Draco wondered aloud.
"Wait," Madam Pomfrey sighed.
-
It was late in the evening when Snape stormed through the doors of the Hospital Wing. Draco and Harry were just about to play a game of chess after finishing their work, and had decided to play in the empty Hospital Wing so they could wait for the potions master to return.
Draco looked up at the professor and rolled his eyes – honestly, the man was so tense!
Harry saw the look and quickly hid his grin, knowing that if Snape saw it he'd be ten times more irritated than he already looked.
Madam Pomfrey glanced up at the furious professor with surprise.
"You've found out?" the nurse asked.
"Oblivio Nex," Snape hissed at the befuddled boys.
The nurse paled.
"Are you sure?"
"Quite," Snape said tersely.
"Who do you think-"
"I'm sure we know which one. I've just come here to inform you. The headmaster already knows and we'll decide what to do later."
Madam Pomfrey nodded worriedly.
"Well, what was it?" Harry asked, annoyed.
"Potter, I suggest you and Mr. Malfoy go to sleep," Snape growled, clearly still angry with the boys.
"You're not going to tell us what happened? You're not going to say how we got like this?" Harry asked, outraged at the man's curt dismissal.
"No," Snape said simply.
"You have no right! This is about us!" Harry said hotly.
"The meeting will be held at ten pm," Snape told Madam Pomfrey, ignoring Harry.
The nurse nodded again.
Harry clenched his fists angrily and then noticed Draco's unusual silence.
"You're not going to stand for this, are yo-" Harry stopped when he turned to look at the other boy and saw that Draco had paled significantly. Draco's eyes had a strange look in them and Harry was surprised when he recognised a glint of fear. "Draco?"
He touched the frozen boy tentatively and Draco snapped out of his trance, assuming a sudden blank expression.
"Yes?"Draco asked.
"Aren't you going to say something? Aren't you angry?"
"Mmm," Draco answered vacantly, "I think I'm tired. I'm going to bed."
Draco walked to their room quickly without a look at the three people he'd left behind. Harry caught the glance between Madam Pomfrey and Snape and wondered what the hell was going on.
"At least Draco hasn't lost his respect for authority; perhaps you should follow his example, Potter?" Snape drawled, before he suddenly left as quickly as he'd come.
Harry then followed Draco into their room worriedly.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked Draco as he sat down next to the him. "Do you know what the potion was, the one that Snape said we took?"
Draco nodded numbly.
"What is it? What is Oblivio Nex?" Harry asked.
"It's a poison designed to kill. It was created about twenty years ago. The Dark Wizards used to carry it with them when they went on missions as a means of easy death if they were caught. It's designed a certain way, so that if the person hasn't drunk it all in one go, it wipes the memories of the drinker so they would be able to avoid answering questions," Draco responded, sounding as if he was reciting something out of a textbook.
"So, we'll never be able to get back our memories?" Harry asked, his voice wavering.
"No, we'll be able to get them back. The Ministry found a remedy a couple of years later so they could question their prisoners, and I presume Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape will easily be able to concoct the remedy. But don't you see what this means, Harry?" Draco asked, lifting his sorrow-filled eyes to meet Harry's.
The confused Gryffindor frowned.
"It's a suicide potion. One of us, or both of us, was trying to kill himself," Draco whispered, hugging his knees to his chest.
Harry's mouth opened in shock and terrified thoughts crashed their way into his brain. How could one of them try to commit suicide? Surely their lives hadn't been so terrible?
"But Draco, someone could have slipped us that potion with the intention of killing us or making us forget! I don't think-"
"No, Harry. If someone was doing that, why would they use that particular potion when there are thousands of others much more potent? One of us took that potion for a reason and I think… I think it was me," Draco finished in a small voice, tears filling his eyes.
"What? No! Why would you? I don't believe it," Harry muttered angrily as he raked his hand through his hair, distressed.
"Yes, it's true," Draco insisted. "I know about the potion, you don't. It's obvious that-"
Harry held the boy by the shoulders and squeezed tightly.
"No," he said firmly, "You didn't, so stop working yourself up. This is pure speculation. There could be a hundred things wrong with what you're saying, so don't base your beliefs on half-formed facts."
Draco looked up at Harry, in shock at the power in the other boy's voice.
"Don't say you did that. Don't say you would have left this world without so much as a backward glance, because if you did… if you did then you left me, too. And if you left me, that means we mean nothing to each other in our real life," Harry continued seriously, still clutching Draco by his shoulders.
Draco bit his lip and nodded. Harry's hold relaxed and he gave Draco a sheepish smile.
"You okay?" he asked the blonde.
Draco nodded and then flung himself into the stunned boy's arms, only calming when he felt Harry's arms wrap around him gently.
Draco heard himself give a small hiccupped sob, but stopped before he lost control completely, only allowing a few tears to trickle down his cheeks. He didn't understand why this was affecting him so much. As soon as he had heard that phrase - Oblivious Nex - he'd felt a glimmer of old pain and a fear so great that it had threatened to engulf his entire being. He'd been lost at that moment, and the words he had spoken to Harry now circled through his mind, especially that textbook reference to the potion that was in both of their veins.
He knew he'd taken the potion with the intention of dying. He knew his real life had been just one horror after another. Even if he couldn't remember it fully, he'd felt enough in that one instant of remembered anguish to realise the truth. And it had killed him to know this. For, as Harry said, if he had done it, then he'd have done it freely leaving Harry behind. Draco knew he could never have left the dark haired boy if they'd been friends, the other wizard simply brought out so much emotion in him that he couldn't believe he would ever turn his back on that, but he had tried to leave, so therefore it wasn't very likely that they had been friends. And as Draco now clung to Harry, he wondered with a great morbid curiosity why exactly his life hadn't been worth living…
-
To be continued…