Phase 8

26 December. In the beautiful morning, Harry was awakened by a rough shake on his shoulder. Sleepily he opened his eyes and offered a groggy smile to the star of his dreams every night, who in turn shouted before his face: "POTTER!"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Stuff it, Potter. Come with me now!"

Draco only gave Harry a chance to put on his dressing-gown and spare glasses. Obediently Harry followed Draco to his room, while a couple of passing students sniggered at the episode.

Lorelei greeted Harry with a soft noise from where she perched near the window, and he smiled at the phoenix. Harry's attention was immediately attracted to Ice on Draco's bed. The small hamster was happily munching a sultana biscuit on a pillow. Next to the hamster was a small satchel full of assorted biscuits, lying open and spilling its contents. Harry thought that Ice when eating made a very adorable sight, but apparently Draco didn't feel the same since he glared at the hamster and exclaimed, "How did it find my stash of home-made biscuits?"

"Huh? They are not Ice's breakfast?"

"No! This is my private emergency supply!"

"But then…"

"This is why I brought you here. I tell you something. This morning I received a huge package from home," Draco gestured by expanding his arms, "…filled with various kinds of food. The contents of this package were supposed to be enough to feed the whole Hogwarts population, maybe including the lake's inhabitants and creatures from Forbidden Forest all together. So after opening the package to see its contents, I went to take a bath. When I returned, this…," he pointed at Ice and hissed, "… hamster had been devouring half of the food!"

"Half?"

"I'm serious!"

"Are you sure Lorelei didn't participate?"

"Lorelei doesn't eat, Harry. I thought you knew it." Harry shrugged, so Draco went on, "I put Ice inside its cage, but this mad rodent obviously objected being deprived of its unfinished meal. When it tried to eat the bar of the cage, I was forced to let it out. The second I opened the cage, it ran towards where I stored the rest of the package. And as you can see now, it hasn't become full even after consuming that much food, including the edible wrapper!"

"Uh… I don't know what to say… How is it possible this hamster's stomach accepts a lot of food in a go?"

"And look at the speed at which it eats! This is monster! A very greedy monster!"

Yet Harry didn't miss the fondness flashing in Draco's eyes although he was glaring at Ice, and spoke it aloud, "You love this monster, none the less."

Draco looked both sheepish and angry at once, "If I didn't remember this is an Antipodean Opaleye and still under age, I would turn it into seaweed and eat it myself."

"Charlie would be very angry…"

Draco whined, "It's not different from domesticating a real dragon. At this rate I'll be bankrupt before next Christmas…"

"No, you won't. Just keep Ice away from food. It won't die, either."

"Hey, if that's your idea of treating a pet, I'll confiscate Hedwig from you!"

Harry gasped. "Merlin, you never cease to amaze me, don't you? I thought I knew you well enough, but you keep showing a new virtue one after another. You're an animal-lover as well."

"I don't like your sarcasm, Potter."

"And you said I couldn't distinguish real praise from irony." Laughing, Harry pulled Draco into his embrace. Burying his face on the Slytherin's platinum hair, Harry breathed deeply. "Mmm. I love you so much."

Draco rested his chin on Harry's shoulder, closing his eyes. He murmured, "I always hated you, you know."

Harry's reply was gentle, "Yes, I know."

"I always wanted you to suffer."

"So did I to you."

"I always thought you should be dead, especially after my father was sent to prison."

"I understand that feeling."

"I wished you were the Boy-Who-Never-Lived. I hated you that much."

"I once wished you'd stay a ferret for ever."

One corner of Draco's lips curved upwards. "And what if I did?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I would find myself losing my heart to a snowy ferret. People would think I had gone mad, and they would chuck me out from the war against Voldemort. I would return to the Muggle World, find a decent job, and live happily ever after with the ferret."

Draco's smile had become wider. "And how about your sex life?"

"Of course I'd try to become an Animagus. I imagine it would be a weasel. I seem attached to various species from this animal family. With a bit of magic, we can produce dozens little weasels and ferrets together."

"Gross, Potter." Yet, he was grinning. He pulled back to meet Harry's eye. Yielding to his own urge to see those green almond-shaped eyes without anything in the way, Draco removed the glasses in a somewhat tender manner.

"What if I had let Hermione die that time?" Draco barely parted his lips when speaking, "Would Amora Aevus still have bound us together? If it had, what would you do?"

Harry took his glasses from Draco and folded them. He closed his eyes and stayed silent for a while before answering, "I honestly don't know. I'm not imaginative, as you said so yourself." Opening his eyes slowly, he smiled and continued, "Just one thing is for certain: this kind of feeling is not something based on reason. In that case, I would throw a tantrum and try to break this bond at first. Maybe I would stop trusting Dumbledore and hate you more than ever. Maybe I would try to kill myself. Nevertheless, assuming my suicide attempts failed and they managed to convince me to spend the rest of my life with you, in the end I would undoubtedly fall for you. I would surely regret having such feeling for you and try to banish it – being a good Gryffindor I am, but I wouldn't be able to escape it."

Ice had found Draco's hoard of chocolate and sweets after the biscuits were finished leaving no single crumb. The puny hamster was now enjoying the new treat on Draco's table, close to a pile of neatly furled parchments – Draco's holiday's homework. Yet neither of the boys paid attention to this. They were simply too immersed in each other.

"Now I'm completely convinced that being Gryffindor is the worst fate." With that, Draco pecked Harry's cheek briefly. Although Harry was taken aback, he quickly composed himself and grinned widely to his fiancé.

"What was that for?"

"For being such an honest and somehow endearing dim-wit," Draco answered truthfully. Harry's grin disappeared, replaced by a smile of true delight.

Securing his arms round Draco's waist, the Head Boy leaned forwards and brushed the tips of their noses together. He continued nuzzling Draco's face down to his neck, revelling in the warmth and vanilla scent of this boy he loved more than anything. He heard a contented sigh and saw Draco close his eyes.

Harry lifted his head to kiss the closed lid, and he felt Draco's grip on his arms tightened considerably. For Draco the lips were tickling and sending tingling sensation mercilessly all over his body. It felt rather arousing. And he wished Harry would not stop.

Just like fulfilling the unspoken wish, Harry pushed Draco gently to sit on the bed and eventually laid their bodies together, all the time kissing the burning skin of Draco's face and groping lightly. In this current atmosphere, neither of the boys gave a damn about any splendour for Draco's first kiss, as their lips were getting closer and closer, slowly but steadily attracting each other. Lorelei had been gazing out the window, as if enjoying the light play of morning sun over the white ground.

Three sharp angry barks made the boys jump away from each other, and when Harry tried to shut the toy up, Fluffy bit him with all its three heads. Its bite was definitely worse than its bark.

Harry yelped, suddenly repenting having brought Fluffy into being and bestowing this toy with tendency to be over-protective towards Draco. Not only did he get stinging pain and tooth marks on his hand, but Fluffy had totally depleted his chance for something very intimate with Draco. And in such a beautiful morning like this…

Meanwhile, the blond was covering his face with both hands, his ears pink. When Harry touched his arm, he flinched perceivably at the contact.

"Cocco…" Harry tried once again to touch his fiancé. Draco lowered his hands but he didn't look at Harry. Instead, he absently observed Ice sniffing and tasting the gilt edge of his Advanced DADA homework's parchment. Fluffy kept giving occasional barks, as if rudely ordered Harry to leave.

Running his fingers through his hair, Harry cleared his throat and said nervously, "I think I should go back to my room and take a bath first. So, uhm… I'll fetch you later for breakfast, okay?"

Draco nodded wordlessly, and after putting his glasses back on his nose, Harry got up from the bed. He threw a nasty glare at Fluffy, who growled and glared back at him.

One thing managed to register with Draco as he watched Harry's back leaving his room. Harry didn't seem to have a problem with morning breath.

-- X xxxxxxxxxxx X xxxxxxxxxxx X --

"Have you heard? About Nott's sister?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Blaise Zabini. Today was New Year's Eve. Blaise had returned to Hogwarts just a few days after Christmas, and surprisingly so had some other students including Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle. Presently the two Slytherin boys were lying down cosily on Draco's bed when Blaise suddenly brought up the subject.

"The goddess-like Youleen Nott? Whom I've always believed an adopted child? What is it with her?"

"She's dead."

"What? Why? When? How?"

Blaise frowned. "Easy, mate. What is it between you and her? She was your first love or something?"

"No. But I've met her several times and she was always very nice to me. We had a correspondence going until last year. She's– was like a big sister to me."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Never mind. Tell me, what happened to her?"

"I overheard Pansy this morning. She said that Nott's sister had defied the Death Eaters. So she was… raped and killed."

Draco blanched. "Ah… but… oh, god." He stood up and clasped a hand over his mouth. "I thought… I thought she had received Dark Mark last year. They said she was forced to, but because of that, the Notts obtained a few privileges. Including her brother being made Slytherin Quidditch Captain."

"Yeah, I heard she was quite a powerful witch, very proficient in Dark Arts. But maybe she had got the Dark Mark, and then recently deserted Death Eaters."

"When did it happen? What do you know, Blaise?"

"From what I caught, most likely she was killed about two or three days ago. A few days after Christmas night, Pansy said."

"I can't believe this. This is… Youleen… she…"

Blaise watched his friend in silence for a long time, before he sighed and said casually, "You see, I might have been able to obtain more information if you hadn't forgotten about our deal. In fact, I actually planned to exact it from you today."

"Huh? What deal?"

"You've promised to teach me the peeping charm, remember?"

"Spying charm. It's easy actually. You just need to read the basic instructions in my notebook, and then I'll help you practise. Get the notebook, it's in there," Draco pointed at the drawer next to his bed. His mind was still full of thoughts about Youleen Nott, one of the most impressive women he had ever seen. Perhaps… she was indeed his first love.

Finding the said notebook, Blaise's attention was drawn to another thing inside the drawer. He brought out a suspicious greyish rag from a material similar to a sack. Raising his eyebrows, he asked, "What's this?"

He was completely taken aback by Draco's reaction. The blond's eyes widened and Blaise could perceive sudden anguish flicker over those pale orbs. In a flash, Draco snatched that rag away from Blaise's hand, and he stood frozen for a while afterwards, clutching the rag tightly in front of his chest.

"Uh, sorry," Blaise said timidly. Fluffy barked menacingly at him.

"No problem," his friend replied, shoving the tattered fabric back into the drawer. "I forgot it was there. You've got the book?"

"Yes. Listen, Draco. If you want to talk about it…"

"You know I don't talk to anybody about that summer."

"Well, okay then. I understand, really." Blaise ran a hand through his hair, and suddenly he beamed. "We've had enough sentimentality in this morning to last an entire month. Let's move to a more entertaining subject, shall we?"

Draco watched his friend with narrowed eyes. Blaise's idea about entertaining subjects seemed distorted for him ever since he was engaged to Harry.

"How much entertaining?"

"As entertaining as it is about Harry Potter."

"When will you stop obsessing over someone else's fiancé?"

"Not in any time soon, since this someone else's fiancé is too hot to be overlooked. So hot that our Ice Prince couldn't help but melting before his presence." Draco's expression clearly said: 'You're off your trolley', so Blaise explained, "You've slept with him this holiday, haven't you?"

"What! Me? With Harry? What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, come off it! I only left you for about a week, and all of a sudden you can't separate more than fifty metres from him. I can't believe you've used up the entire 72 hours already, so of course it opens the door to a wholly different interpretation."

"We, Malfoys, so do not endorse pre-marital sex. Engrave that in your dirty mind."

"And this came from He-Who-Plans-To-Celebrate-New-Year-Only-With-Harry. Why am I gobsmacked?"

"Just ask Harry."

"Well, if that's the case, what a good thing I'm not Potter. I'd be frustrated beyond belief with such a traditionalist as my fiancé."

Despite that, Blaise still maintained that devilishly impish look on his face, and Draco suddenly felt self-conscious in front of his best friend. Trying his best to look nonchalant, Draco muttered, "Honestly, you should clean up that obnoxious smut-filled brain of yours before it's too late. To think I've been deflowered… I can never follow your twisted way of interpreting things."

"Actually you're more like a maiden from Middle Ages who had just received her first kiss. At least you allow touching each other, don't you?"

"Yes. But we have limits."

Grinning from ear to ear, Blaise questioned boldly, "So, is that true Potter is a hell of a kisser?"

"How should I know? I haven't kissed Harry…"

Without blinking, Blaise intervened, "Haven't kissed?"

"Listen to me first, okay? We haven't kissed…"

"HAVEN'T KISSED?"

"Hush! Not so loud, idiot!" Overwhelmed by surprise and mortification at Blaise's outburst, Draco glanced around him in alarm, forgetting conveniently the privacy of his room.

Nonplussed, Blaise clamped his lips and then repeated his enquiry for the third time in a low hiss, "Haven't kissed?"

"Let me finish! We've kissed! Only not on the lips."

Blaise disregarded such defence. "Blow me! Draco, you've been with him for how long… three months! Not only you keep your virginity intact, but you haven't kissed yet either? What did you do when you were together? Clean each other's Firebolt?"

"Have you been with another boy, Blaise? You don't get it; I can't bring myself to kiss Harry. Every time he tried to kiss me, I'd suddenly feel embarrassed and scared."

"So it's your fault," Blaise nodded. "Quit being a prude, Draco. You may look rather lovable that way, but we must pity your sex-starved fiancé. Poor Potter."

"Hey! Whose friend are you?"

Waving his hand, Blaise went on, "Well, I've never been with boys, but Harry Potter is an exception. He is the Hogwarts Sex God! People are dying to touch him, and you, granted with a privilege as his exclusive boyfriend, waste such a chance. It makes me think, Draco, have you kissed anyone before?"

"That's strictly a private matter, Zabini," Draco put an expressionless mask.

However, Blaise saw right behind the cool answer and stated with glee, "Malfoy, I heard a negative."

Draco willed all trace of embarrassment to leave his face and managed to say with dignity, "I've never found anyone worthy to be kissed."

He glared as Blaise laughed. "Haahaahaa! How more virgin can you be? I thought it was bad enough that you're always fidgety whenever people around you are talking about sex, but now this!"

"Look here! I fail to see what's so funny about being as virgin as possible, and having never had a kiss. I don't go kissing any person I meet. I wait for the right one."

"Yeah, okay, Draco." Blaise coughed a little from the force of his laugh. "Great Salazar, no wonder I'm always under impression you look like an innocent choir boy despite being a Slytherin. But, now you're bonded with Potter for ever. You have your Mr Right."

"Remember that it wasn't my choice to be bonded with him. But I digress. I like him now. Still, I find it difficult to be intimate with him. It's… strange just to think doing it with a boy."

"I think it has nothing to do with Potter being a boy. You have no experience with a girl either. Ha! Now I have one thing I can crow over you!"

"Did your parents teach you about the decencies? I tell you once again, we've kissed! On cheeks, on forehead, on my face; he's even kissed my neck."

"Oh, no, Draco baby. You can't say you've kissed unless it's a caress of lips to lips. I can't understand, really. You let him kiss you in any part of your face – even your neck – but not the lips?"

"You don't know how I feel! Ugh, you make me even more confused. I admit Harry is handsome, and I like it when he touches me. But kissing is too much."

"More likely you're afraid you couldn't entertain him with your inexperienced tongue," Blaise sniggered. His friend hit him playfully.

But Draco knew Blaise had a point. He had a suspicion that his inexplicable fear whenever Harry was going to kiss him was actually an excessive worry that Harry would find kissing him unpleasant. Harry hadn't kissed a boy before, but he had some kissing experience with various girls. Draco would feel miserable if Harry compared him to those girls and decided that kissing Draco was less satisfying.

-- X xxxxxxxxxxx X xxxxxxxxxxx X --

By the next hour he would have had another thing occupying his mind. When he was walking with Harry on the way to Great Hall later on, Draco spotted a familiar face who wasn't supposed to be here right now. Theodore Nott had returned to Hogwarts before holiday ended as well. Although he was dressed in mourning, his face didn't betray any sense of bereavement.

Telling Harry to wait for him, Draco approached Nott alone.

"Malfoy," Nott greeted him first. "How are you?"

"Fine, Nott. Thank you. Listen, I'm sorry about your sister."

"Thanks."

Draco sighed. "Do you know that I know… knew your sister? Youleen and I corresponded for years. We were quite close although we didn't meet often."

Nott's face was expressionless. "I didn't know that. Well, then you must be grieving too. She was a good person."

"When did the funeral take place?"

"There's no funeral."

Draco banished horrible imagination from his mind and asked carefully, "I know this sounds inappropriate, but… what happened to her?"

"She left them, but they found her. You know the end."

Draco couldn't help fidgeting in front of Nott. The other boy was cold and distant, and he suddenly wasn't the same weedy-looking boy Draco was familiar with. Granted, Nott had shown him before that he was a smart and independent boy, but in this present moment, Theodore Nott was simply a strong and dangerous young man.

"She sacrificed everything for love," abruptly Nott said. Draco almost blurted 'Eh?' but held back just in time and came out with a more dignified response.

"You mean she fell for a man from the Light Side? Or a Muggle?"

"A Muggle. She was just like you, you know. Youleen saw this man tortured by her fellow Death Eaters, and felt compassion for him. She took a risk and freed him, and they ran away together. During their escape, they fell in love with each other. Youleen had never been keen on the Dark Lord's methods, so she decided to leave our family and the Wizarding World. She wanted to protect the man she loved and find her true happiness, even if she could only achieve it in Muggle World. I knew all of these because she secretly contacted me and told me everything… just a day before they dumped her body on my family's doorstep."

During Nott's tale, Draco felt like blood leaving his body. He didn't know why Nott told him such details, and questioned himself to what extent Nott compared him to Youleen's tragedy.

"It sounds like a Muggle's romance story. But I knew her personality, and it all fits perfectly with her. She had her own beliefs, and she regarded love above everything. She was also very brave," he said quietly.

"That's why I said she was like you. You two possess a bravery which is very admirable, especially since both of you are Slytherin. Youleen didn't know she would fall in love with this man before she released him. She only did what her heart told her to do. I believe the same reason lay behind your courageous act that summer. I even say you showed much greater guts than she did, because you weren't as powerful or experienced as her."

"You will never know how scared I was. Even if I were that powerful and experienced, it would still have been the most terrifying moment in my life."

Nott's lips curled upwards faintly when he replied, "Courage in front of fear. I must admit that after that summer, I've grown to respect you a lot, Malfoy. There's definitely more in you than meets the eye. You keep something else behind your outer appearance as a cowardly bully."

Draco smiled although he was rather irritated by Nott's bluntness. "Most people grow up at one point of time. However, you don't know the reason why I saved Hermione that time. I might be trying to become a spy for Voldemort."

This time Nott showed a true smile, and suddenly he looked like a good friend for Draco. "Probably, but if my intuition is correct, you'll just make a lousy spy. Previously I would say that you didn't have the nerve, but now it can be adjusted to: you're not tough enough to lead a complicated double life. Too bad, being Potter's fiancé is a great means for spying task, though it makes you more despised by the Slytherin House."

"Only a handful Slytherin do not object whenever I declare that I'm still a part of their House right now, Potter's fiancé or not. They hate me, more and more with every passing day."

"That's to be expected, seeing your closest friends are mostly from Gryffindor – our old enemy. But the truth is, not that many of us actually hate you, Malfoy. Mostly they're just plain scared to associate with you, or they're pretending to hate you to gain Pansy's favour."

"In any case it makes no difference; I still lost my place in Slytherin. I'm lying if I say I don't care about it, but I don't regret what I did that day. That was my own choice. Even if one day I end up like Youleen or worse, I will never regret it."

Nott nodded solemnly. "Neither would she."

-- X xxxxxxxxxxx X xxxxxxxxxxx X --

What would death feel like?

He had been repeatedly convinced that he was going to die in the process of his fantastic rescue – from the instance he stunned Mr Crabbe until he eventually reached Hogwarts with the unconscious Hermione Granger in his arms. After he recovered from his injuries, he got the tightest protection from the members of the Order of the Phoenix, even if at that moment he had no idea who these people were.

Although he was not in mortal danger when he stayed in Hogwarts, his daily life after that summer escapade was nothing better than a nightmare. His sixth year at Hogwarts was the most hellish year in his life. His friends hated him, he lost their respect, he got death threats at least once each day... As if those were not enough, the girl of his dreams suddenly went out with none other than Harry Potter. He wished Cruciatus Curse were legal.

At first Draco really didn't know what to do with this situation, while he was isolated from other Slytherin without given a chance to explain – not that he had invented satisfying explanation anyway. But without any back-up from his Slytherin friends, he couldn't stand up to Potter. Even Professor Snape didn't want to help him go against Potter, for a ridiculous reason he found out only much later.

He was angry and miserable, but the final blow came much sooner than he'd expected. What his father said about him was what really made him wish he died. His mother and Severus had always supported him, but Draco felt like truly losing his balance when his father despised him that much. He felt like a scum.

These were all started from Granger. He loathed her more than ever. What did he obtain from saving her? He really should have just let her die. She was never supposed to exist in the first place anyway.

And despite everything, there she was – smiling at him so brilliantly rivalling the sun outside. There she was – conversing to him as if they were long separated siblings. There she was – helping him collecting his scattered books from the floor after his ex-goons proved to the world that they were blind and bulky. There she was – hugging him and crying along with him in that empty classroom after curfew. There she was…

She didn't care that Draco rebuffed her approach every time, didn't care that Draco still called her mudblood. She let Draco shout at her. She stood up without losing her smile after Draco pushed her harshly to the floor. She closed her eyes and didn't move when Draco threatened to hex her, effectively quelling his anger and hatred.

As days went by, the ice barrier of pride and prejudice surrounding Draco's heart melted. He started to accept Gran– Hermione's presence around him. He started to behave in more decent way towards her, while she kept trying to reach him. After months of endless friendly advances, they eventually could refer to each other as 'my friend'. Potter and Weasley had tried to befriend him as well, but it was Hermione who tried the hardest. And it was Hermione whom Draco felt affected by the most.

For Draco, she had ceased being the annoying mudblood Granger. She was Hermione, his friend. Somehow, Draco believed she was his saviour. Draco had saved her life, but she had rescued him back from his own hell. Her voice was always soothing, not only for his ears but also for his soul. Her touches were always warm and healing, not only on his skin but also enveloping his soul. Her smile was all he needed to feel better.

It had come as an utter shock for Draco when one night he stopped dreaming about Cho and him together, instead he dreamt of Hermione holding him close, giving him a sense of peace, love, and hope. For the first time after Draco left his family manor that summer, he wanted to live.

He had never been fond of that kind of bushy hair and bossy looks. He preferred eyes in blue or exotic black colour to the brown ones. He always thought she had unattractive body, more unattractive personality, and most of all unattractive blood. None the less, Draco couldn't stop dreaming of her. Couldn't stop falling deeper and deeper for her.

That attack to Hogsmeade in January, when Harry killed one Death Eater, was the culmination of the threats to his life. That moment, he was grateful that Harry saved his life – no, he was extremely grateful that his life was saved. He didn't care about pain or whatever would wait for him after his death. The only thought he had that time was: he didn't want to be separated from Hermione. Afterwards, the situation was considerably calmer, meaning no more actual threats from the Dark Side. Anyway, he was forbidden from leaving Hogwarts ground during school year.

From then on, Draco decided that no matter what he would definitely stop consorting with Lord Voldemort and his followers, even though it meant he must defy his own father. He would never return to the people who had tried to kill him, and more than anything, he would never support those who threatened the one he loved. Then suddenly his father, through his mother, told him that it was safe to go home. And went home he did.

He felt braver than he thought he was capable of when he followed his mother home. The Order members couldn't guard him as tight as usual when he was inside Malfoy Manor, but nothing happened. He didn't meet his father, his Cruciatus-freak Aunt Bella, or any other Death Eater, and neither did he see Lord Voldemort again – which was the best part of all. Even though he finally found out that he had been betrothed to Pansy Parkinson…

Back to present time and his original musing: what would death feel like? What would his death feel like?

Would it be painful? Would it feel like freeing himself from every burden? Where would he go after he died? Would he leave an imprint of himself as a ghost? If he indeed died any time soon, he would leave unfinished business.

He had not yet repaid his mother's sacrifice. His mother, who had assisted him to rescue Hermione, and then begged for his life on behalf of him. And he had not been able to prove himself worthy of the title as his father's son. This one was probably an impossible mission, judging from everything he had done which led to present situation. But still, he kept hoping.

How about his friends? Blaise, Ron, Hermione, Harry… Nott was right – his friends now mostly consisted of Gryffindor. How unpredictable this life was. Just look at the changes one summer day had brought upon him. He was now a good friend with a Weasley, having a strong feeling for a Muggle-born, and – surprise, surprise – engaged to Harry Potter. This was like a dream.

"What are you thinking, Cocco?"

He turned towards the black-haired boy lying on his stomach beside him on his bed. His fiancé – one who was bound to him for ever. This might be like a dream, but this was reality. "What awaits us after death, Harry?"

Harry smiled, "Dumbledore said it would be but the next great adventure."

Draco snorted, "Dumbledore hasn't died yet. What does he know?"

"More than both our knowledge combined, that's I'm sure of." Harry lifted his body to sit and nuzzle Draco's cheekbone. "Why do you suddenly think about death?"

Blushing heavily, Draco fought the urge to push his fiancé away. Blaise's laughing face still haunted him. "Because people may die at any time."

Harry stopped nuzzling at once. Facing Draco, he stated without blinking, "I won't let you die."

"Aren't you afraid to die yourself? Or you're trusting Dumbledore's words too much?"

Harry tilted his head and frowned slightly – and a thought crossed Draco's mind that Harry reminded him of Ice. Meaning that Harry was very adorable. Straightening his neck, Harry replied, "When I think about it in moments like now, I'm scared of death. And I'm afraid that my friends, my loved ones would die, leaving me alone. I really don't want to die myself. Dead people need a miracle to bring happiness for ones they left behind."

After gazing for a long time at Harry, Draco leaned forwards to press their foreheads together. "I wonder, Harry."

"Hmm?"

"Let's say this bond never existed, because somehow I had died a day before my 17th birthday. And no, I don't think I'd join the next great adventure. Were you going to kill yourself too?"

"No way would I do that. I would stay alive so I could find a way – any way – to bring you back to life. I'd spend the rest of my life for that purpose."

"Even if in the process you would need to do many unspeakable things and take other people's lives?"

"No doubt about that. Because for you, only for you, I'll die and thousand other things."

Draco closed his eyes and smiled.

-- X xxxxxxxxxxx X xxxxxxxxxxx X --

"Tell me again, why are we here? Waiting for any unidentified flying object?"

"Uhm, close. But, no."

"Then how many hours left before the stork arrives with my New Year prize?"

"Impatient, are we all? In a minute, Cocco."

"You said so five minutes ago, and five minutes before that. I will never trust you to make estimation of time."

"No problem. That's supposed to be your job anyway."

Draco glared at his fiancé, but Harry kept staring at the black sky above them. Feeling ignored, the Slytherin folded his arms and grumbled under his breath. The snow was thick under his feet, but his daily dose of Flame Draught gave him the warmth he needed without excessive thick clothing. The same applied to Harry.

At eleven that night Harry had brought both of them to a clearing near the cliff of Hogwarts, saying they would fetch a very special New Year present for Draco. Now they had been standing for fifteen minutes without doing anything, while Harry watching the plain starless sky incessantly. Draco wondered whether by now Harry had accidentally sprained his own neck and was unable to lower his head, but didn't tell Draco about it.

Suddenly Harry's face brightened and he grabbed Draco's arm, exclaiming: "Look! It's started!"

In the night sky, a colourful pulsating glow appeared low on the horizon and within the next few minutes it had risen and dramatically transformed into a giant arched drapery. Spectacular curtain of light, with interwoven green, violet, and red trimming, stretched across the sky, waving and swirling as if it were blown by zephyr.

"Harry, what the hell is that?"

"Aurora Borealis. Haven't you ever heard about aurora? It is a magnificent natural phenomenon…"

"… also known as Northern Lights. In short it is the result of interaction in Earth's atmosphere between solar wind carrying particles charged by the sun and the Earth's magnetism. Thank you, Potter. I know what that thing above is. But as you must've known too, this activity happens over Arctic hemisphere. Aurora Borealis is hardly ever seen in this region." He added with pained look, "Don't tell me this is another form of your magic. If you say you transported it or even created it by yourself, I'm going to kill myself. If it's an illusion, I'm going to kill you."

Harry laughed hard, and Draco waited for him to sober up with a scowl marring his face. Irritably he asked, "Have you finished?"

Sniffing, Harry said a little breathlessly, "Don't worry, Cocco. You don't have to kill anyone. This is the present from the heaven itself. Dumbledore told me that a rare occurrence of Aurora Borealis would happen in New Year's Eve, and this is the perfect place to watch it."

Draco lifted his chin in annoyance. "You said this would be my present! I take it as exclusively mine. But this… Everyone would enjoy it too!"

"Says who? The only magic I used for tonight is a Concealment Charm, so only you and I could see this aurora. Well… perhaps Dumbledore could too, if he wanted to."

'Concealment Charm? To conceal hundred mile-wide object far off in the sky?' Forcing a sweet smile, Draco replied, "How sweet of you, robbing other people of a chance to see such splendour." He added with a mischievous wink, "Not that I complain, of course."

Harry grinned joyfully and linked his hand with Draco's. Both boys looked up to the sky, enjoying the unforgettable celestial beauty dancing up there.

Looking at the face of his fiancé who was still watching the aurora, Harry marvelled at the reflection of Aurora Borealis in Draco's mirroring silver eyes. It was something out of this world.

"You are… out of this world," he just had to say it.

Draco turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

Sliding his arms round Draco's waist, Harry pulled his fiancé closer as he elaborated, "Do you know how your eyes reflect the aurora? It makes your eyes look like a pair of galaxies."

"Mm, that was the weirdest compliment I've ever received. But, are you serious? The aurora was reflected in my eyes?"

Harry nodded, his own eyes reflecting adoration for the fair Slytherin in his arms. "Everything about you is so full of magic."

For a moment the Northern Lights was forgotten, as the two boys gazed deeply at each other. The slightly shorter one lifted one hand to Harry's face and swept the black fringe to reveal the famous lightning bolt scar. Draco kissed the scar softly, but he didn't pull back immediately. He let his lips rested on the scar for a few seconds, and during that time a trail of thoughts came into his mind.

Near midnight on New Year's Eve. Just the two of them. Under a once in a blue moon occurrence of Aurora Borealis. Probably there would never be a more perfect moment than now for his first kiss.

On the other hand, Harry was in heaven. Draco's lips felt smooth and silky over his skin, sending delicious thrills all over him. The slim body filled his arms and pressed against his own body perfectly, and the other boy's scent was as enticing as usual. Deliriously he opened his eyes as Draco pulled back a little. The lovely pale face was illuminated by the strange lights from above, and those grey eyes had never looked more alluring than now.

Draco was blushing, but he eyed Harry intently. Harry felt a tremor run along his spine, recognizing what Draco's intention was right now. Both of them leaned closer and closed their eyes at the same time.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something important. But who cares, it's a public place anyway."

Whatever miracle happened just now was completely annihilated by the voice. Draco and Harry whipped their heads towards the source of disturbance, swearing ferociously inside their minds – especially Harry.

A girl pretty enough to rival the Aurora Borealis up there was standing about ten metres away, flanked by two gorilla-like boys.

"What do you want, Parkinson?" Draco asked icily. He tried to detach himself from Harry, but it was of no avail since Harry didn't loosen his hold.

"Ooh, good thing you asked, Malfoy. Tonight you can give me exactly what I want." As she finished saying, three other persons appeared from behind dark bushes. Harry and Draco recognized them as sixth-year students – each from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. All three of them were members of DA, and all of them had their wands out.

"Don't be stupid. You know the consequences of any effort to harass our beloved Head Boy. Not even Prof. Snape would be too happy."

Pansy's lips curled upwards unpleasantly. "What a pity I happen to know that neither Professor Snape nor Dumbledore is in Hogwarts at present." She half-covered her lips with gloved hand, still showing the wicked smile, and went on in a mocking voice, "Perhaps I should wait a little longer to give my dear Draco a chance to have his first kiss before New Year comes. But then, I don't want to appear too lenient with my ferrety ex-fiancé and beloved Harry-bloody-Potter."

"Go shag Crabbe or Goyle, Pansy." Crabbe and Goyle blushed heavily hearing Draco's spiteful remark.

"Perhaps later," Pansy replied carelessly, making her faithful goons even redder. Eyeing Harry and Draco, she said softly, "It's time to settle old debt between us."

The six opponents raised their wands.

Since it was clearly impossible to talk them into leaving Draco and him alone, Harry prepared for a fight. He still didn't want other people to see the Aurora Borealis, especially these bad guys, but he had no other choice. The Concealment Charm he cast upon the sky must be maintained all the time and it demanded energy and concentration. Harry brought his mouth close to Draco's ear. "I'm sorry, Draco. I guess I must let them see the aurora too."

After Harry muttered that, gasps were heard from people around them. The Aurora Borealis had become visible for the others' eyes. Those celestial lights had started to flicker away, ready to end the show.

"What's that?" Goyle exclaimed in sheer amazement.

"An aurora, Greg," Pansy answered, unblinking. But her attention immediately reverted to Draco and Harry. "Nice distraction you have up there. Let the Northern Lights become a witness of your defeat tonight."

"You are no match for me," Harry said coolly. The other Gryffindor DA member opened his mouth to make the first attack.

"Expelliarmus!" "Protego!"

Harry's shielding charm deflected the spell, causing it to hit the sixth-year Ravenclaw instead. Draco immediately cast a Stunning Spell to the disarmed student. Next, the other two DA members joined forces to cast Blasting Curse in retaliation, and Harry countered this attack half-way with the same spell. The impact after these blasting curses collided shoved the two students backwards until they fell on their backsides, while on the other hand Harry didn't move even an inch.

"Taranta…" This time it was a combination of Crabbe and Goyle, but before they finished the incantation, Harry had cast an Impediment Curse and knocked them backwards. The Hufflepuff one tried a Conjunctivitis Curse, which was easily deflected by Harry. As Harry said, they were no match for him.

The Ravenclaw boy had recovered from the Stunning Spell and retrieved his wand, so it was six against two. However, they were unable to lay even a single scratch on Harry and Draco. Harry sighed in a bored fashion. On the other hand, Draco was alerted by a faint smirk on Pansy's face. She most likely had some nasty cunning plan in store to ensure the success of this ambush.

Suddenly a mass of fire shot down from the sky to where Harry and Draco were standing. In reflex, both boys sprang apart to avoid being burnt. Harry was immediately occupied by a couple of hexes thrown to him, while for Draco's surprise the fire didn't die once it touched the snowy ground. Instead, it evolved into a trail of fire which rapidly ran after Draco like a snake.

In order to escape the trail of fire pursuing him, Draco went several steps backwards before he managed to extinguish it properly. When he lifted his head, he saw Harry's back as the black-haired boy was battling their opponents alone. Knowing he must not stay too far from his fiancé and that Harry might need his assistance as well, Draco quickly headed forwards. But he could only advance one step further, because the seventh adversary had participated.

"Okay, enough all of you." That was delivered in a calm voice, at the same time with Draco suddenly feeling his torso rendered immobile. His grip of his wand slackened and it plunged to the snow next to his left foot. An unknown hand grabbed him from behind and Draco perceived the tip of a wand being pressed on the back of his neck. Harry turned and froze on his spot, his eyes widened.

"Don't move, Potter. Otherwise I can't guarantee Malfoy's safety."

Without needing to turn his head, Draco had already known who was holding him captive. That voice was all too familiar. Draco gritted his teeth. "Nott, you…"

Pansy simpered. "Very well, Theodore. I owe you a lot for this." The boy himself didn't look too happy, but besides nodding slightly Nott didn't say anything.

She turned to face Harry with an evil smile, but her lips uncurled at once in surprised fear when she had got a good look at the Head Boy. Harry's face was beyond murderous. Involuntarily she stepped back.

"Greg! Stun Potter!" Pansy ordered, tremor apparent in her voice.

"Stupefy!" Goyle's spell hit Harry's defensive wall and rebounded to render the caster unconscious. Draco bit his bottom lip to suppress a laugh, but unbeknown to him, the other boy behind him was holding back his amusement as well.

"Idiot! What a goon!" Pansy hissed at the stunned Goyle. "Vincent, revive him!"

As Crabbe performed Ennervate on his mate, Pansy cast Stunning Spell herself towards Harry. She had trained quite hard recently, and it successfully stepped up her power. The wall protecting Harry visibly crumbled, yet Harry was ready with a Protego Charm to shield him behind the wall.

After effectively blocking Pansy's attack, Harry raised his wand towards Pansy, his eyes cold enough to freeze the hell. "Frendo…"

"DON'T!"

Draco's desperate shout distracted Harry, who spun around towards his fiancé. This gave a perfect chance for Pansy to regain her composure and repeated her attack.

"STUPEFY!" This time, the three DA members assisted her and those simultaneous attacks breached Harry's fortification straight away and hit the black-haired boy. Draco felt his heart stop for a moment as Harry's body was thrown back and collapsed in a slow motion.

If the word were not 'Stupefy' but 'Avada Kedavra'… How ever so easy it was to die.

In the black sky, the Northern Lights had completely faded away.

-- X xxxxxxxxxxx X xxxxxxxxxxx X --

Usually Draco wasn't so keen on the fact that Harry was more powerful than an average teacher in Hogwarts, simply because it still ignited his competitive spirit. He often forgot that his life and Harry's were interrelated. At this moment, there was nothing Draco would love more than to have his bonded fiancé as the god of Wizarding World.

Here he was – hopeless, disarmed, tied up to a chair, with his fiancé lying unconscious across this dimly lit unused room in the Sixth Floor. There had been five other students waiting inside the room – three of them came from Slytherin, and the rest were again DA members from Gryffindor. It seemed like the time had come for them to re-evaluate the DA membership. Dumbledore and Snape were not in the school, most likely busied by the Order's business and might not return until the next day. Only a few things could be worse than this situation.

One of those few things was a psychotic girl kneeling beside the said fiancé, wielding a gleaming silvery knife and tracing that knife along Harry's cheek and neck. At one point the knife was pressed deep enough to cut Harry's skin, and blood appeared in a line along the cheek of the oblivious boy.

Draco had tried to stifle his gasp, but a faint strangled noise was still heard from him. Catching the sound, Pansy fixed him an icy stare. There was nothing but malice in her eyes and her voice.

"Are you afraid I'm going to damage his pretty face, Draco?"

Draco maintained a neutral expression and forced his tone to sound level. "No. You can kill him if you wish."

"I'd rather kill you, actually. But my parents told me that you're needed alive. The Dark Lord seems quite fond of you." Pansy narrowed her eyes, "Filthy little whore."

"It's not my fault that Voldemort prefers boys, Pansy. But personally I don't think you'll have to try very hard to win his heart. Your personality is beastly enough. Maybe if you flatten that chest and stuff your knickers with socks, he will be more interested."

Pansy marched towards him and slapped him so hard that Draco felt his neck snap. She hissed dangerously, "Don't test my patience, Draco. You're needed alive, but nobody says you must have all your limbs intact."

After spitting the blood from his mouth, Draco slowly lifted his face. "You know you mustn't damage the prize that the Dark Lord seems quite fond of."

"You're such a conceited bastard, Malfoy."

"And you're such an ill-tempered, jealous bitch! What have I done to you to deserve this? Go to hell, Parkinson!"

"Shut up, nancy boy! What had you done to deserve this, you asked? You saved a mudblood and turned your back against us, yet you're still alive! You think it was just out of respect for your parents? Wrong, Malfoy! If the Dark Lord himself hadn't forgiven you, you and your mother, even your father wouldn't be still strutting about! The Dark Lord ordered Death Eaters to stop trying to hurt you, for whatever reason he had in his mind!"

Draco narrowed his eyes in incredulity. He always knew it was strange that Voldemort let the Malfoys live, but he thought the Dark Lord needed his father, and he didn't want to dwell on that creepy subject. It was good enough that his whole family was safe, so why fret over it? But, Voldemort forgave him? To think that his engagement to Harry was wondrous enough…

"You got away with betrayal, while my family was punished because my brother had failed to kill Potter. Gale was never a Death Eater – he was never a Dark Arts practitioner for that matter. He was a black sheep in the family. Yet he offered You-Know-Who to kill Potter, in exchange for my freedom. My brother only wanted to save me from a cursed fate if I became a Death Eater. Like Nott's sister." Pansy stopped breathlessly for a moment, before she continued, "I don't want to end up like her. I don't want to be forced to flee, to be hunted, and to be killed because I can't bring myself to murder someone."

"It's a risky thing to do, but you can always switch sides. Why would your parents still grovel before Voldemort after he caused your brother's death?"

Pansy flushed with pained anger. "It's you who caused Gale's death! Everything is because of you!"

"The hell I caused everything! Stop being hysterical and think with logic! Use your brains, Pansy. Neither you nor I can fit within Voldemort's circle and activities! Just leave him before it's too late!"

"He will kill us if we dare leave him! We're not in the same position with you! Because I'm not a whore like you!"

"Drop that already, will you! Have you forgotten that until the beginning of this year I was still within the list of must-die targets of Death Eaters! I almost died that time in Hogsmeade!"

"I wish you did die that time! I'm going to tell you a secret – the Dark Lord was furious when he found out our betrothal had been annulled! Therefore…"

"We all agreed it was a secret, Pansy. You must not tell Malfoy about it," Nott suddenly interrupted the shouting contest. He gave Pansy a penetrating look and said, "This is not Malfoy's fault. He knows nothing."

"Stay away from this, Theodore! This is between Malfoy and me!"

"I'm concerned about you, Pansy! You're letting your mind congested by grudge and unreasonable, misdirected revenge! You're going to destroy yourself!"

"Listen to Nott, Pansy. He is definitely more clear-minded than you are at this moment."

Pansy spun her head towards Draco and hissed, "Don't you dare tell me what to do, Malfoy. You are nothing but a misbegotten scum! And don't think I'll let some worthless wimp like Nott preach me."

"He cares about you, stupid girl!"

She brandished her wand and pointed it to Draco's forehead. "I don't care about him, nor do I care about you. You have ruined my life. I'll just end yours as the exchange."

"Stop it, Pansy! You're going to regret this!" Nott reached for her wand, but she turned and cast a Banishing Spell towards Nott, who slammed the wall forcefully and collapsed to the floor. She set back her attention to Draco and smirked.

"Let's see who's going to regret this in the end."

She aimed her wand between Draco's eyes, and prepared for a curse. A sudden rush of wind hindered her movement, and the resonant voice following it shot a dangerous chill along her spine.

"Don't touch him."

Draco watched the sight in front of him with a mixture of relief, awe, and horror. Harry stood on his feet steadily on the place where he had been lying unconscious before. His body emitted an eerie faint glow and his green eyes seemed brighter than normal human's eyes. Somehow this Harry reminded Draco of Voldemort himself, whom he had the misfortune to meet two summers ago.

"What? How could you wake up so soon?" Pansy shrieked.

Instead of giving her the answer, Harry put her under a full body-bind spell – with wandless magic. For a while, the other students could only stare and gave Harry plenty of time to untie Draco. Once he was freed, Draco grabbed Harry's arm and hauled him towards the door. He didn't have his wand with him, so they would better get out of this place immediately, while their opponents were still awestruck with Harry's sudden recovery and his magic performance.

Somebody suddenly cried: "Seize them!" and Pansy's cronies were awakened from their trance. They quickly blocked the way to the exit door, aiming their wands towards Harry and Draco.

"Seems like we can't leave peacefully," Harry muttered.

After he said that, the only window of that room broke with an explosion, shards of glass flying every way and scattered down the floor. The next moment, a flash of gold and scarlet whizzed through the window, and everyone save Draco and Harry gasped at the sudden appearance of a majestic bird.

"Harry, did you just call her here?" Draco looked at the boy beside him. Harry nodded, "Let's see the power of your phoenix."

The power turned out to be a simple hit and go. Lorelei shot down towards Crabbe and her own body collided with the boy's forcefully, sending him to the floor, before she moved towards the next victim. Draco felt like watching a giant red Bludger with tail, wildly attacking innocent players on the ground. The Bludger caused panic among those students, as Lorelei nimbly evaded curses directed at her and slammed anyone nearby.

Draco didn't know about Harry, but he was rather frustrated with how Lorelei fought. He knew she wasn't a real phoenix as Harry had said, but he always believed she could at least show something more impressive than that body-impact attack. He really hoped right now that Lorelei was just hiding her real power.

Meanwhile Harry was actually even more disappointed with the bird's accomplishment than Draco was. He had exerted a lot of energy and mental power to create the phoenix, and he had been convinced before that Lorelei was not this pathetic despite not being a real phoenix. In any case, she was supposed to have some magic power inside her body. Harry absolutely never expected this ridiculous style of fighting, although he must admit it was not futile at all. Their adversaries were already intimidated by Lorelei's form of a phoenix, and Lorelei had a strong build to say the least. Even Crabbe and Goyle looked positively dazed after the bird knocked their skulls.

In the mean time, someone had released Pansy from the Petrificus Totalus which bound her. Pansy grimaced and turned to face Draco and Harry. She was ready to fling a curse but just as she opened her mouth, Lorelei swished down and slammed her body against the girl, causing Pansy to lose hold of her wand. Draco deftly caught the wand and yelled, "Accio Fluffy!"

Through the same broken window where Lorelei had come earlier, a strange plush toy zoomed and landed on the floor before Draco. Draco pointed the wand in his hand towards it.

"Engorgio!" The tiny Cerberus had blown to the size of an adult Mastiff. Draco continued with a spell to animate the enlarged toy, so now Fluffy might move freely. Its three heads roared threateningly, and it quickly launched itself to attack the enemies.

Draco couldn't help proud expression dominating his face as he watched Fluffy prevail over their opponents. The brought-to-life toy could move very fast to dodge curses from the students. Moreover, Fluffy's canine teeth were definitely hurtful.

However, a made-up phoenix and a living dog toy were never enough to defeat some of current Slytherin's best wizards and witches, plus members of DA. In the end Harry had to take part too in this fight against some of those whom he had brushed up himself.

Draco had taken an active role in the ongoing battle as well, shooting curses here and there. He really wanted to get out of this place – out of this nightmare – as soon as possible. A sudden movement from behind him alerted Draco and he whipped about as Nott straightened his body, having retrieved his wand from the floor.

The two boys regarded each other momentarily, about five feet separating them. Nott opened his mouth, but he hadn't got the chance to speak. In a flash, Draco disarmed him and aimed the wand in his hand towards the boy. He couldn't risk any funny business in this situation. Nott wiped his eyebrow and said with a hoarse voice, his eyes boring directly into Draco's grey ones.

"You won't need to threaten me. I am the one who has made sure Potter would wake up soon."

"Or so you've said."

"I am on your side, Malfoy. I didn't have time to tell you about Pansy's plan tonight, so I just had to play along. And I…"

"Tell me one reason why I should trust you."

"Just trust me…"

"Tell me, Nott."

"I lied," Nott breathed. "She wasn't killed because of any affair with a Muggle man. She refused flat out the order to kill Potter."

"Eh?"

"She told me you had once written to her, some time before Christmas. You told her that Potter was so kind to you and loved you very much. That he was the one and only for you."

"I…" Was it his fault that Youleen got killed? Shouldn't this make Nott hate him even more?

"She loved you, Malfoy. You would always be her little Dragon. She wanted me to replace her protecting you and Potter."

He was dazzled by the ambivalence shown on Theodore Nott's countenance. There were grief, anger, uncertainty, and… warmth. Draco couldn't reply, something suddenly choking him from the inside. Involuntarily he lowered his eyes, although he was still wielding the wand against Nott.

"Watch out!" Nott's exclamation jolted him back to the present situation. Before his brain could register anything, Draco felt his body pushed forcefully until he was sprawling on the floor. Rubbing his sore backside, he lifted his head and saw Nott kneeling near him with a serious gash on his shoulder.

"Saved by the Captain," a cold voice said. "So the first who shall forfeit the game is you, Nott."

Draco could only watch in confusion and horror as Vincent Crabbe cast a curse to strangle Nott with invisible string. Soon Nott dropped down unconscious, his face ghostly pale.

Crabbe switched his attention to Draco and smirked. His eyes glittered with something Draco couldn't comprehend. It was something full of evil intention, close to how Draco remembered Lord Voldemort on that unfortunate day.

"Vin… uh, Crabbe?" Draco croaked hesitantly. Pansy's wand was not within his reach any longer.

"Yes, little one?" was Crabbe's pleasant response, which transmitted inexplicable electric shock to Draco's spine. There was only one person who had called him that, long time ago in the past. Before he could recall who it was, Crabbe's next word shocked him even more: "Crucio!"

Draco had been expecting the unbearable pain following that word. Yet it never came. Instead a faint shrill was heard, as Lorelei writhed in pain on the floor in front of him.

"Lorelei!" Draco leaped towards his phoenix, but Lorelei's tail suddenly whipped him away. There was an amused expression on Crabbe's face, who kept his wand connected to the phoenix, tormenting her.

"Stop it, Crabbe!" Draco tried this time to go after Crabbe, but Lorelei's tail hindered him again. "Ouch! Lorelei!"

The boy with the visage of Vincent Crabbe smirked maliciously. "Not only it is taking the Cruciatus for your sake, but also it is still trying to protect you from any potential danger. What a compassionate bird you are, Lorelei." He hadn't ceased his torture yet on the poor creature.

"Who are you! You're not Vincent!" Draco screamed, and the dangerous gleam appeared for the second time in Crabbe's eyes.

As Draco started to reach the peak of his panic since Lorelei was still cruelly crucified by either a brainwashed ex-fellow or someone else entirely, a hex from Harry across the room hit Crabbe's back and blasted him away violently.

Rushing onwards, Draco hugged his injured phoenix. Amazingly, after a little while Lorelei appeared to recover. Draco himself didn't register this as something extraordinary, overwhelmed by the crisis at the moment. No one else was aware of another strange gleam and satisfied smile flashing over Crabbe's face at this incident.

By that time, Harry had subdued the other students in that room. Only Pansy was still able to stand up, and she quickly picked her own wand which had been tossed across the room and then rolling on the floor near her foot, after Nott pushed Draco away from Crabbe's attack.

Looking about her, she sensed only agony and hopelessness. She even couldn't remember that her original plan was only to torture Draco Malfoy and scare the hell out of him, as a little vengeance. Now… Now, she could not care any more whether she would be expelled after this. Azkaban didn't sound too bad either. Malfoy had truly ruined her life.

Pansy screamed, "MALFOY!" And with wild desperate look, she cried it out, "Avada Kedavra!"

A familiar green jet light was shot from the tip of her wand, and Harry jumped to protect Draco. Neither Harry nor Draco had ever expected the girl to cast such a powerful, unforgivable curse. At the same time, no one in that room would expect the engorged ugly dog toy to leap between the green jet and the two targeted boys.

Draco had never received a birthday present as abominable as Fluffy. At the same time, Fluffy was one of the most valuable gifts he had ever got. This was not just a soulless toy, but one which bit and barked at him – and at other people it assumed were physically too close to him. A toy which lay on bed beside him every night for the past three months, giving him a sense of company and protection, helping him chase away his nightmares. A toy which listened to him whining and ranting – either nuzzling his hand or growling softly in response.

Seeing the same toy reduced to nothing before his own eyes tore his heart apart. For Draco it felt like losing a real pet. Like losing a friend.

"FLUFFY!"

-- X xxxxxxxxxxx X xxxxxxxxxxx X --

The next minutes were a blur in Draco's mind. Harry had disarmed Pansy the second after Fluffy was obliterated. Vaguely he noticed Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Tonks bursting through the door. He saw his own hands reach for Pansy's neck, and he would have strangled her to death had Harry not promptly restrained him.

Dumbledore looked unusually grim. He had left Hogwarts because of an urgent threat which required his aid, but it eventually turned out to be a clever hoax. Then shortly after he returned to the school, he detected a practice of Unforgivable Curse within Hogwarts castle. A strong confounding charm hindered Dumbledore so it took him more time than normal to locate where the curse was cast, and the panic increased after Prof. McGonagall reported that Harry and Draco could not be found anywhere either.

As the teachers detained the other students, Dumbledore watched Vincent Crabbe closely. Crabbe had suddenly fainted the moment Dumbledore and the teachers arrived there. After he was revived, the boy seemed confounded and could not remember anything ever since they brought Harry and Draco into that room. Everything from the case of that jinxed letter for Draco to the event tonight proved that Hogwarts had been infiltrated. Someone very powerful from the Dark Side had been hiding behind those incidents.

Snape immediately attended his godson, but Draco only told him: "I'm fine, Professor." The boy's eyes were fastened on a certain spot on the floor. He refused to be taken to the hospital wing, but instead walked out the room and out the castle like in haze. Silently Harry followed him, and he was the only one whom Draco could bear the presence of at this moment.

They had arrived in the place where they watched the aurora – same place where Pansy and her goons had besieged them and started the chain of other nightmarish events. Draco flopped on the snowy ground, and Harry followed suit with more grace. The black-haired Gryffindor brought a chocolate from his pocket, given briskly by Dumbledore before he walked after Draco.

"Take this chocolate, Cocco," Harry gently offered. Draco felt like mutilating something right now, so he took the chocolate and maimed it with his teeth. After a while he became calmer, but still the pain in his heart refused to go away.

"It's been past midnight now," Harry said absently. He was terribly exhausted, physically and mentally. This was how his first New Year with Draco had turned out. He needed miracle to make this better. Turning to his sullen fiancé, Harry felt even more agonized.

"Are you all right?" both Harry and Draco asked simultaneously. Harry immediately shifted closer to Draco and brought Draco's head to rest on his shoulder. The effect of Flame Draught had begun to evaporate, and now they only had their thin cloaks and each other's bodily warmth to fight that night's chilliness. Harry scrubbed Draco's upper arm and pressed his cheek against the platinum tresses. He heard a sniff from the boy in his embrace.

"She tried to kill us," Draco muttered bitterly, "And she killed Fluffy."

"We should be thankful that Killing Curse didn't hit us instead. Besides, Fluffy was just a t…"

"She killed Fluffy! How would you feel if it were Hedwig?"

Harry's chest constricted painfully. Did Draco really regard that toy so precious? "Our lives are more important," Harry repeated with a hitch of breath.

"I know that! But I… I just… I know…"

"I can give you a new one. It's going to be like your old Fluffy."

With an abrupt movement Draco stood up. "I don't want a new one! Whatever you say, it won't be the same! It won't be the Fluffy I got on my 17th birthday, not the Fluffy I brought to bed every night and watched me sleep, not the Fluffy I conversed with, not th…" Draco trailed off, having revealed too much. He blushed wildly, but he caught the expression in Harry's face and was startled. Harry looked sad instead of being amused.

The black-haired boy stood up too and spoke gently, "I had enchanted Fluffy to protect you. But it must be something else entirely that caused it to recognize a Killing Curse and jump like that in front of you."

Draco covered his face with both his hands. "Forget what I said, Harry. I think I'm a bit delirious. Must be something done by those duffers back then…"

Harry pulled the boy into his arms and stroked his hair in soothing manner. "It's okay, Cocco. You can say whatever you want in front of me. I'm here for you."

All the tension, the horror, the sorrow, and the relief merged into one and forced its way out Draco's heart and mind. He couldn't stop once the first tear had come out. Harry kept stroking his hair and back, whispering comfort and encouragement to him.

He recognized this mixed emotion; he had experienced it once before. That time he didn't cry in the aftermath – just for the sake of principle: boys don't cry. Tonight… He didn't know why he cried tonight, considering previously he was able to hold himself. Probably this was by the same reason of why he had broken down in her embrace that day. Because of regret. 'Because so many things have gone wrong.'

Maybe he should have never written that letter to Youleen. Maybe he should have asked Prof. Snape to confine Pansy ever since the jinxed parchment incident. Maybe he shouldn't have prevented Harry from cursing Pansy in the first place that night. Maybe he should have Accio'd Ice instead of Fluffy. Maybe he should have done this, maybe he should have not done that. No matter what, it was too late now. If only he could turn back time…

He gulped and enquired hoarsely to Harry, "Do you… do you ever consider trying using a time-turner? Maybe you can change the past. Maybe… Black would be still alive now."

The Gryffindor shook his head slowly. "I can never be sure whether I could make a better future with time-turning, but I have never considered using it to bring back Sirius from beyond that veil, nor will I do in the future. It's simply because I don't need that. Sirius never really leaves me. He is still here," Harry closed his eyes and placed his hand over his left chest. A soulful smile graced his face. "He's always here. With me, within every beat of my heart."

Draco stared as a voice from the past reminded him. "As long as young Master remembering me…"

A rag was all she left, but he would always remember her. Within every beat of his heart. How was it supposed to be different now? Fluffy, and Youleen…

A weight perched on his shoulder. Lorelei brushed her head against Draco's cheek repeatedly and emitted a soft chirp, in an unmistakable effort to console her master. The Slytherin boy recalled one particular flash of previous events, when the bird received the nasty Cruciatus Curse to protect him. It was more painful to see someone else close to him suffer because of him than to endure that pain himself. Lorelei was not as powerful as a real phoenix, yet as Crabbe or whoever it was had said, not only she took the Cruciatus for his sake, but also she still tried to protect him from any potential danger.

Here he was – safe and sound, with a fiancé who loved him more than anything else in the world, and a beautiful magical creature who would die for him. He had stayed alive after defying the most powerful and evil Dark Wizard. He must be the luckiest person in the whole universe.

No, he wouldn't want to turn back time. He wouldn't need that. All he needed were here with him, in this present. And he still had his fond memory of Fluffy to accompany him to bed.

Feeling the burden of his heart lightened considerably, Draco sighed and closed his eyes. Suddenly a soft gasp from Harry alerted him.

"Cocco, look at the sky."

A faint lustre was seen in the cold black sky, then gradually bands and rays of light added to it composing a gigantic curtain of lights. The Northern Lights had reappeared, more beautiful than before, dancing in ripple as if it welcomed the coming of a new year. The fabulous spectacle only lasted for a few minutes, but it was enough to glorify the magic of that time and place.

"I've never heard two occurrences of aurora in the same region just within a span of one hour…," Draco breathed. 'Youleen, is that you?'

Harry turned with a smile at his fiancé, who was still fastening his gaze at the fading aurora. "Must be magic. Or there's someone up there who loves you so much," he replied softly.

Gently he cupped Draco's chin to make the boy face him. In front of the sparkling grey eyes and luscious lips which half-parted sensually, Harry knew in his eyes there would never be anything more beautiful than Draco. Even the most fascinating Aurora Borealis was nothing compared to this boy. With a breathless whisper, Harry expressed his thought. Draco blushed and averted his eyes, but a delighted smile graced his face irrepressibly.

Harry brushed Draco's fringe to kiss the pale forehead. "Happy New Year, Cocco."

Draco looked up and smiled. "Happy New Year, Harry."

Lorelei released a quiet dulcet sound, before launching towards the now motionless plain sky. Her shiny feathers glowed in front of the black background, the sparkling dust from her tail replacing the hidden stars.

TBC

-- Kudos to frogslayr for kindly beta-ing this chapter.

-- Für GodrickGryphindor: Whoops, shouldn't have removed that A/N in chapter 4. That song's lyric is just my own invention, except for the phrase 'You put this spell on me', which was inspired by Triumph's Spellbound.

-- Für marie falcon:writhing on the floor in the mixture of confusion, guilt, and a mere impulse to imitate: But, but... it's always my greatest pleasure as a writer to torture the readers! You can't deprive me of that! ;-) And then, your next comment made me realize that deep inside my heart, I always want to see someone other than the Dursleys treat the Boy-Who-Lived like a doormat. I think Snape has been trying to do so, but Harry always manages to fight back. Seriously though, I don't get where and when Harry has ever got treated like a doormat in this story. Well, if Snape can't do it then nobody can.

-- Für ReflectionsOfReality: Uh, nope. I didn't think you had been sending me any signal at all. Note to self: Never use vague, ambiguous terms like 'You-Know-What'. May cause commotion. And worry not! You won't corrupt me or anything, because I regard what you gave through the review as 'providing insight'.