Loss

by Breninblack

Disclaimer: All belongs to the ever-wonderful JKR.

Chapter Notes: A second (bonus!) chapter for the fabulous number of reviews I got. I really want you to review this chapter and tell me how I did because I've never written a scene like the opening one here. I want to know how I did. I'm biting my nails here . . .

Chapter Twelve: When We Collide

Draco hovered over him, hands on either side of him, breathing down his neck. He reached up a hand and traced it down Harry's jaw line. Harry shivered. Draco's touch was lighter than he had imagined. Draco also had that peculiar smell that he had never noticed before.

'Come on, Harry. I know why you were in the changing rooms. There's no point in hiding it now. No point in lying to yourself,' Draco whispered. Harry felt like little chills were being sent down his spine every time Draco spoke in his ear. 'You were there to watch me. It's a shame you weren't actually there. We could have had a fabulous time together.'

Try as he might, Harry could not stop himself from entertaining that idea. Then, quite suddenly, Draco sat on his crotch and wiggled around ever so slightly, making Harry painfully aware of the growing erection struggling against his pants.

'Looks like you're enjoying this as much as I am. What do you say, Harry? You think we ought to do something about it?' Draco asked him as he slid himself up and down Harry's crotch.

'Please, Draco.' Harry could hardly believe he was asking for this, but it felt so good that he could hardly refuse. Draco quickly undid the buttons of his pants and in one swift motion pulled them and his boxers down to his knees.

And then there was a hand around his cock and it was moving up and down slowly at first, then faster, and faster, until Harry could no longer think straight. He grasped at Draco's hips and pulled Draco close to kiss him. It so shocked Draco that he stopped for a moment.

'Don't. Stop,' Harry growled. He arched up into Draco and Draco began to pump him again. Finally, with one final thrust of the wrist, Harry came, shooting all over Draco and himself. Satisfied with himself, Draco sat back on the couch and watched Harry.

When Harry had regained some of his senses, he realized Draco still had a kicking erection that was fighting against the boy's own pants. Figuring it was only fair if he returned the favor, Harry climbed forward and on top of Draco. As he stroked Draco's cock, he made work of savagely kissing Draco's mouth.

Draco came with a jerk and Harry muttered a cleaning spell and sat back. Neither of the boys said anything for a while, just basking in the post-coital haze. Then finally, Draco spoke:

'Where did you learn to kiss like that?'

Harry shrugged. 'I've been around,' was all he said.

'You were a man whore!'

'No! I just . . . have a lot of experience in that department.'

'Who would have thought? Harry Potter, Boy Wonder, is a player. Even more strange, the Boy Wonder is a fag. I think gay lads around the world have all just creamed themselves.'

Harry shook his head. 'Whatever. So, are you going to come?'

'I just did, Potty,' Draco said with a smirk.

'I mean to the spirit world. Are you coming with me to get S ren and Sirius?'

'Don't forget Gus. I bet they're watching us, those pervy freaks, and he'd be very put out if you left him out of all the fun.'

'And Gus,' Harry added, looking around suspiciously. 'It's kind of creepy, don't you think? You never know when someone could be watching you in the spirit world.'

Draco just shrugged. He got up from the couch and stretched like a cat, his disheveled shirt rising above his waist. Harry stared at the pale skin of Draco's stomach in fascination.

'If you like what you see, Potter, you'll have to come back for more another time,' Draco said, catching him staring out of the corner of his eye. 'I've got something else I need to do.'

'Before you leave, will you meet me and Remus tomorrow night at the front of the school? He's been doing some research on the veils and stuff and I think it'd be a good idea if we all pooled our knowledge.'

'Remus and I.'

'Yeah, whatever. Will you?'

'Sure.' With another shrug, he left the room.

Harry remained in the astronomy tower a little longer, wondering where this left them. He wasn't sure if this meant they were dating, or if it was merely one of the one-night stands Draco was famous for. Either way, there was no turning back now.

€€€€€

The next evening, Harry and Remus walked around the lake. Remus had come by that afternoon to have tea with Dumbledore before meeting with Harry.

'Thanks for coming, Remus,' Harry said, gazing out at the giant squid dip it's long tentacles above the lake's surface.

'I'm always happy to visit you, Harry,' Remus replied. 'And I'm just as eager to get Sirius back as you are.'

'I've asked Draco to come, too. I hope you don't mind. He spent much longer with S ren and Gus and probably knows a lot more than me.'

'I can't say that I like the kid, all things considered. But I'll manage.'

'Here he is now.' Draco approached them at the front steps where they had stopped. He smiled warmly at Harry and then looked at Remus.

'Draco Malfoy, sir,' he said, holding out his hand. Remus didn't shake his hand, but nodded politely. 'Harry's told me a lot about you. So has Mr. Black. I think he misses you.'

Remus got a strange look in his eye and Harry almost thought he might start crying right there. 'Excuse me for being rude,' he said, extending his hand, which Draco shook with a smile. 'I see you've matured quite a bit since your third year.'

'One can only hope so, sir.'

'Right,' Harry said, clapping his hands together. 'Now that we've all kissed and made up, let's get inside, shall we?'

Harry led them up to the third floor and into the Room of Requirement. The room had suited itself to their needs, as it always did, and had provided a large table, three chairs, and plenty of books, quills, ink, and parchment.

'So this is what this room looks like,' Draco said in awe. 'I never actually made it in here.'

'This isn't what it always looks like,' Harry said, as he sat down.

'It equips itself with what you need,' Remus added, as he pondered the shelves.

'You know about this room?' Harry asked in amazement.

'You're forgetting that I was one of the original troublesome four,' he said. A slight sadness came over his face for a moment, but he quickly recovered. 'We knew this place better than anyone. Including the Headmaster. Let's get to work, shall we?'

'Where do we start?' Harry asked.

'From the beginning,' Remus said, sitting down. 'Here - hand me that parchment and quill, Harry.'

Taking the parchment and quill, Remus spelled it to transcribe all the information they discussed. 'Veils were invented in by Wolfgang de Guass in 1557,' Remus said. 'He was into muggle drugs and made it into the spirit world by overdosing on LSD. I don't know how, but he created the death veil to take him back to the spirit world. It seems that he didn't think his plan through and neglected to figure out what happened to the body when you pass through the veil. So, presumably, he's still stuck there. Anyone have anything to add?'

Harry and Draco shook their heads. 'So how about how the veil works?'

'Well, obviously, it takes you to another plane,' Harry said. 'We've both established that.'

'The plane exists on top of this one,' Draco added. 'The spirits are confined to this world, but they aren't allowed to disturb anything if someone from the physical world can see them doing it.'

'To be in the other plane you have to be separated from your body?' Remus asked.

'Yes and no,' Harry said. 'S ren and Gus explained it to me because I didn't really understand either. When you go into a coma or through a veil, your body and soul separate temporarily. There is still a bond between the two that allows you to go back.'

'But you can only go back if you have a body.'

'Interesting,' Remus commented. 'Go on.'

'Like you said, it was never discovered for sure where the bodies went when a person went through the veil. However, S ren and Gus seemed to have figured it out and have developed a device to send me there to retrieve the bodies.'

'Too bad we can't talk with them,' Draco commented. 'They could shed a little more light on the situation.'

Just then, an owl appeared at a window that Harry hadn't noticed before. He went to the window, untied the letter at its leg and released it. 'There's no return address.'

'Open it,' Draco said.

Harry opened the letter and began to read aloud: 'The bodies go to an old abandoned building. They are stored in glass cases lined up on shelves. To release a body, you smash the glass case. Only bodies that went through the veil are stored in this building. If a person went into a coma and their body was destroyed, they will be eternally stuck.

'The exact location of the building is unknown, but a device has been developed to take you there. That device will be sent to you shortly. Included is an approximated sketch of the main room of the building.'

'It's from Gus and S ren,' Harry said. 'They must be here. Thank you, guys,' Harry said to no one. He took out the picture from the envelope and passed it around. Draco and Remus studied it carefully.

'So when we go to bring people back, who do we rescue?' Harry asked. 'The more people the better, but we've got to be sure that they'll help us fight.'

'It's a good bet that anyone that the Dark Lord put over there will want to work against him,' Draco said.

'Not if they were one of his Death Eaters,' Remus pointed out. 'They would have no choice to go back to him because he'd have them killed if they didn't.'

'So no Death Eaters,' Harry said. 'What about muggles?'

'It would be no use,' Draco said. 'When you go through a veil, you get stuck in the plane over the wizarding world. Even though they would be familiar with the magical world, they wouldn't be any help because they still wouldn't be able to do anything magically. The last time the Dark Lord had the veil was over 15 years ago, so anyone they knew would have grown up by then. It would be hard for them to just show up again.'

'No Death Eaters and no muggles. How do we find out who to rescue then?'

'I imagine we go to the Ministry and check their database of missing people,' Remus suggested. 'We don't really have the time to go about rescuing everyone, so we should stick to Aurors, members of the Order and people who were known to be anti-dark arts.'

There was a tap on the window and the three men looked over to see another owl at the window. Draco got up to get the letter.

'There's a package here, too, addressed to Harry,' Draco said, sitting back down. He passed the package to Harry and opened the letter. 'It's a list of people who are all willing to fight against the Dark Lord. S ren and Gus must have spoken to them. I think I've even met a few of them.'

'This must be the device,' Harry said peering into the box. He lifted a small steel orb out of the box and then a sheet of parchment with instructions. 'It looks like all we have to do is press the top of this orb and it'll take us there.'

'So I'll compile a list of Aurors and Order members and when you guys go, you can take it with you,' Remus said.

'How long will it take you?' Harry asked, jumping up. 'I want to do this as soon as possible.'

'We should go slowly, Harry,' Draco said. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder. 'One mistake and we could really screw things up.'

'It'll take me a few days, at least.'

'We've got a holiday coming up,' Draco said. 'I think we get two days off next week. We can do it then.'

'Alright. I'll come back next Sunday night and then . . . we'll do it,' Remus said. It was clear that he was scared it wasn't going to work.

'You want to get Sirius back, don't you?' Harry asked, sensing his unease. 'This is the only way it can be done. We've got to at least try.'

Remus nodded. 'You've just got to promise me you'll be careful, Harry. I couldn't stand to lose you, too.'

'I promise, Remus. Nothing is going to happen to me.'

Remus glanced at his watch and stood up. 'Well, boys, it's late. I should get going. You'll need to get your rest for your classes tomorrow.'

'Thanks for coming, Remus,' Harry said again.

'It was my pleasure,' he replied. Harry walked him to the fireplace in the corner and gave his friend a hug. 'See you next week, I guess. Try to stay in one piece and out of trouble until then, okay?'

'Will do. Good night.'

After Remus had left, Harry sat back down at the table across from Draco.

'How can you be so sure of yourself?' Draco asked. 'I was under the impression that S ren and Gus don't even know if this is going to work and if it doesn't we're pretty much walking deadmen. How can you be so confident that everything's going to work out? Aren't you the least bit scared?'

'I could ask you the same thing, Draco. I overheard Pansy talking with Millicent in the hall today. She seemed rather distraught about a confrontation you apparently had with her the other day. She was telling Millicent how she'd owled your father and that he was very upset with you. She said he told her that he was going to come up to the castle and take you away.'

'Don't believe that cow. She's all talk. We did have a confrontation, and I'm sure she owled my father, however I do not think he'd waste his precious Death Eater time to come all the way up here to deal with me.'

'Don't you think he's mad?'

'I know he's mad. He probably figured out I was gay a long time ago and has been pretending it's not true ever since. But now that I've officially renounced his plan for me and brought S ren into the picture, he's sure to be spun up into a tizzy. But he's always mad with me. I have never been the son he's wanted me to be.'

'Aren't you scared?'

'No. I've put up with his shit for 17 years. This is no different from all of the other times he's been furious with me.'

'What would he say about us?'

'What about us?'

'Well . . . I just assumed that since we . . . ' Harry started.

'Since we what? What did you assume?' Draco was clearly having fun tormenting him.

'Since our little encounter in the Astronomy Tower, I figured we were in some kind of relationship now,' Harry said, his cheeks burning up.

'You're so conventional! Believe me, Potter, I've had more one-night stands up there than you can count. It never means anything.'

'I see,' Harry said, crestfallen. He got up to leave, but Draco stood up in front of him, blocking his path to the door.

'But for you . . . I think I could make an exception,' he said softly, kissing Harry on the mouth. He gently pushed Harry back into a chair and kissed him again.

'Do you think we should tell anyone?' Harry asked, in-between kisses.

'Do you want to deal with the Weasel when he finds out his Golden Boy is dating the one and only stunning Draco Malfoy?' Draco challenged.

'Good point,' Harry said. 'Hey, do you mind if we never leave this room?'

'Sounds like a fine idea to me,' Draco muttered as he unbuttoned Harry's pants.

A/N: Another chapter, finished and done. What do you think? I want your opinion on how I did with the sex (although, technically, it wasn't sex, it was just a couple of hand jobs . . . ). Was it believable? Please review!

Also, this fic will be nearing the end. I think there maybe a couple more chapters left (at LEAST two, maybe as many as five or six...but I'm not sure yet). Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see before the fic ends and I'll see if I can work it in there.

Lions and tigers and reviews! Oh my!

JitsaruJakara: Ah! I feel so honoured! A capitalized title! Yay! That is WAY awesome that you can do the Draco thingy with your hair. Except Draco doesn't have pink hair. Now there's a thought. Can you imagine him with pink hair? That might make an interesting fic...and Hooray for Babies! (p.s. - you're my Best Fanfic Friend, too!) Do let me know what you think of these two chapters...I'm really nervous about them!
fifespice: Wow! So many reviews from you at once! I wanted to cry I was so happy! You're right, Luna is in Ravenclaw. I don't know what I was thinking... Hope you enjoy the chapters!
Peaceful Angel: I don't really like how Hermione is acting here. She's completely gotten away from me! She was still being a little sissyish at the beginning of chapter 11, too. Maybe she'll shape up in the next few chapters...
Fazkleto: Oh! You think my story is great? And you think it has warm humor? Oh my oh my oh my! I couldkiss you right now! But that might be a little weird... I realized after I had started writing the story that the timeline was completely messed up, as far as Lucius and Narcissa and the Marauders ages go. I guess this will have to be extremely A/U, then. And it is sad that Remus can't see Sirius. They make such a perfect couple that it breaks my heart every time I read OotP (even though they technically aren't even together in the books - they're together in my mind).
Shania Maxwell: Glad you're looking forward to the next one! Here's two!
Ashes of Stars: Even short reviews like yours make my day. It reminds me that people like the story enough to take the time to post a comment.
suishoku-ketsurui: I hope this is soon enough for you! I don't always get them uploaded immediately after I right them because I don't have the internet at my house (or at least, I'm not allowed to use it), so I have to go to the library...But here's two chapters for you!

Next Chapter: Sunday night arrives and they test the device. insert foreboding music here