Reviews – For chap 1
Reviews – For chap 2
jacquida – Yeah, I wanted there to be a lot of unrealistic/dramatic dialogue. I write differently for certain fic's. I'm glad you still liked the plot and so on though!
Spamy02 – Lmao, I believe you, it's a great song. Hands you tissues you just made my day! I am so glad you cried from the middle to end, because that means I did my job as a writer! Thanks so much for R/R'ing! Thanks for fav'ing it, and loving it as much as I do! I hope you enjoy my other fic's! Try 'Invisible Christmas,' if you want a romance/comedy…it's kind of got the same tone to it, as this does. 'The Parchments Of Love,' is my longest and still incomplete fic. It's Romance/Comedy as well, and if you are waiting for it to finish before reading…you will be waiting along time. It's going to be 100 chapters long.
yaeko - Yes, I agree! Thank you so much for R/R'ing, and I'm super glad you liked it!
lucky - Awe, Thanks! Hands you some tissuesAwe, I'm glad you loved it as much as I loved writing it!I'll try to keep up the good work, and you have fun reading my other fics
Authors Note – Hey everyone! I JUST LOVE THIS FIC! I think it's one of my best so far Anyway…the song used is "Slipped Away, by Avril Lavigne" I hate Avril, but I LOVE her music…the wording is just fantastic! Please enjoy!
Beta's Note – GUESS WHAT…MILLIE MOTOU IS BACK AND BETA…THAN EVER! Ok that was a really cheesy joke but I BETA not gives up my day job…ok enough with the BETA jokes already…
So let the magic begin…
Chapter Two – Slipped Away
Na na
Na na na na na
It was late. Harry sat in a hard wooden chair across from his friend Hermione. They were in his kitchen. He was upset. Hermione was trying her best to cheer him up, but it didn't seem to be working. Harry knew Ron didn't approve of his life style, but to miss his best friends only wedding was just too much for Harry to handle.
"I can't believe he hates me this much!"
Hermione drew soft circles along Harry's shoulder, "He doesn't hate you Harry. He's just jealous. He thinks he's losing your friendship, and he just doesn't understand your relationship…your marriage."
Harry placed his head in his arms as he leaned on the table. "Thanks Hermione."
"No need to thank me Harry, were friends."
Harry nodded.
"Where is your husband anyway?
"He said he had some errands to run." Harry sighed. "He's obviously just avoiding your visit. I know he is."
"I see. What is his problem with me anyway? I mean…I've accepted him. Why can he barley be in the same room as me?"
Harry breathed in deeply and stood. He paced the room a bit before falling hopelessly to the black leather couch. "It's not just you Mione. He gets this way with all, well, you know."
"Mudbloods." She stated, rather then asked.
"Yeah. I don't know why though. At first I thought he hated them because of the influence Voldemort and his father had on his life, but now it's as if he fears you, and is not disgusted."
Hermione nodded and joined Harry on the couch. "Now that you mention it…he was always uncomfortable by my presence. He seems to flinch when I try to contact him in any way."
"It's not just you."
"I know. It's all Mudbloods. But why?"
"It's not just Mudbloods Hermione. It's muggles too."
"Muggles?" She questioned. "But Harry, you are half muggle!"
"I know, but I'm not a Mudblood. I'm just a half. He has it in for both, and that's why he avoids you. Maybe that's why he had such an attitude with me when we first met." Harry chuckled at the thought of meeting his love for the first time.
Harry sat up and as he did Hermione pulled him into a hug. "We will figure it out Harry. We can't let Draco live on this way any longer. He has to come to terms with this fear. We shall confront him once and for all when he returns home."
"Agreed." Harry whispered.
I miss you
Miss you so bad
I don't forget you
Oh it's so sad
Draco sat in front of a grave, a muggle grave. He reached out, and brushed the top of the cold stone. His hands began to shake and he drew it back. He placed a single long stem blue rose in a vase that sat to the left. He repeated this action to the vase on the right. His right hand brushed the cold stone once again, but in the front. His fingers began to trace the words…
In loving memory of Lana Lang.
When Draco came to the date he couldn't trace it. He couldn't even bare to look at it, and so he ignored it.
I hope you can hear me
I remember it clearly
"Lana…" Draco said in a mere whisper, almost breathlessly.
"I wish I could have given you a better grave. One that can honour your memory as a hero."
Draco leaned in and hugged the grave, "oh Lana. It should have been me!"
What a pretty boy you are. I'm gunna take you. Your all mine.
"It should have been me."
No! Let go of me! Please! LET GO!
And why would I do that? You're the hottest piece of meat in this town. Totally fuckable.
Draco fought back. He hurt the man and ran for dear life. Why did he not have his wand? He thought. The man finally caught up with him, and dragged him to an alleyway.
You miserable piece of shit, your a whore. You'll pay for hitting me.
Don't touch me! My father will hear of this!
I'm shaking in my boots.
The man began to beat Draco with pure force.
"Me…it should…it should have been me!" Draco coughed, and sobbed out. Tears came slowly from his eyes and hit the grave without a sound.
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh
Thank you…
For what? Why thank me? I didn't do a thing.
Where…where is she? The girl who saved me, I want to see her.
I am terribly sorry. She was already dead when they found the two of you the other day.
It should have been me…Na na
Na na na na na
Hermione slowly opened her eyelids. She looked down to see Harry sleeping on her. She smiled. We must have fallen asleep, she thought. She lifted slightly to check the time from where she was. The clock on the microwave showed that it was 12:30 am.
She turned her head and noticed that only two sets of shoes were at the door, hers and Harry's. Draco is not back yet, she thought.
Harry shifted from Hermione's movements. His eyes shot open. "Sorry."
"For what?" Hermione asked.
Harry blushed. "For falling asleep on you."
Hermione chuckled. "It's alright Harry."
Harry's smile soon turned to a frown. "Draco's not back yet?" He asked as he shifted off of Hermione.
"Suppose not."
Harry cradled his legs and leaned his head on top of them and his arms that were wrapped around his legs.
He looked up to the sound of a creaking door.
"I'm home, love."
Harry beamed up right away. "Draco!" he called as he ran toward his husband and wrapped his arms around him. "I missed you."
"I can see that," Draco said into the squeeze of a bear hug.
Draco glared over the room, and noticed that Hermione was still there. He winced at seeing the girl watching their actions. Draco leaned back and kissed his husband on the cheek, "sorry I was gone so long."
"I'm just happy that you came home."
"I'll always come home to you Harry. Don't ever doubt that! I love you." Draco said the last part as he held Harry's chin and took his lustful lips into his own.
He let go and walked past Harry towards the kitchen, keeping his distance from Hermione of course.
"Thank you for looking after Harry while I was gone." He said, almost sicken.
"Why thank me? I didn't do a thing." Hermione replied.
Draco shot his head towards the girl with shocked-wide open eyes.
"What is it, love?" Harry asked.
They were confused by Draco's reaction to her words, and stared at the blonde in wonder.
He was frozen. "Didn't…do. Didn't do a thing." He whispered shacking the glass of water he had in his hand.
I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand
I wish that I could see you again
I know that I can't Oh oh oh
I hope you can hear me
Cause I remember it clearly
After Hermione's words were repeated in a whisper from Draco's mouth, all that could be heard was the loud smash of glass to the floor, and the sound it made with the water that collided with it.
"Draco!" Harry yelled, and ran to his lover. He shook him, "Are you alright?" he asked repeatedly.
Draco snapped out of his memories.
"Lana…" he whispered with a sob. He crashed into Harry's arms crying endlessly.
Harry turned his head to Hermione with a confused and saddened look. He then carefully picked Draco up into his arms, avoiding the glass around them on the floor. He brought him over to the couch he and Hermione were previously lying on and laid him down. Hermione was now sitting in the matching chair angled from the couch.
"Draco I think it's about time you tell Hermione and I what is going on with you?"
Draco was quiet, but tears were still sliding down his pale face.
"Didn't do a thing."
"What?" Both Hermione and Harry asked in unison.
"It should have been me…"
The couple looked to eachother and then back to Draco, awaiting his explanation.
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh
"Do you remember the first time I ran away from home?" Draco asked.
Hermione decided to be quiet through Draco's confession just incase her presence made him rethink telling his story.
"You mean the time your father wanted to send you to Voldemort to get your dark mark? How could I forget?"
Draco, embarrassed by his tears rubbed his hands over his eyes, making them red and puffy. He turned so he was lying on his side, and Harry comforted him while he kneeled on the floor with his arms around the other man.
"I didn't tell you everything that happened during those five weeks."
Harry leaned down and kissed his husbands forehead. "It's ok Draco. You can explain it to me. I'll understand."
Draco blinked a few times quickly drying his eyes.
"You knew I ran away. The part you didn't know was that I escaped to a muggle town. It was about the second week. I decided to go to a club. I wanted some excitement, and boy did I get it. A man came up to me. He wasn't handsome, but he wasn't hideous either. I decided to dance with him…"
"Go on."
"We were dancing, and things got a little heated up. We decided to get some air. We went out the back, and he started to kiss me. It was good at first, but then he got really rough. He held my arms to the wall and started sticking his tongue down my throat."
"He…he didn't rape you, did he?" Harry asked scarred of the answer.
Draco shut his eyes tight. "No." he opened his eyes to see a relieved Harry. "He didn't get a chance to."
Harry fidgeted. "So what did happen, my love?" He asked as he slicked his husband's loose hair from his eyes to the side and back of his head.
"Once I pulled back and said 'No. I don't want this.' He got real angry and started to force it on me. I kicked him where it hurts, and he started to rough me up. I finally got a few good punches and kicks in, and ran for it."
Harry looked down at his fragile husbands body. How could someone do such a thing to his Draco?
"I was running past an alley when he caught up to me, and pulled me by my hair. He dragged me into the alley, and started to say, 'you miserable piece of shit, your a whore. You'll pay for hitting me.' I wondered why at a time like this I did not have my wand."
Harry looked over to a quiet gasping Hermione.Herm
"I said, 'don't touch me! My father will hear of this!' Hoping he would be scared off. He just stated, 'I'm shaking in my boots.' I began to fear this man even more, until I felt it. His punch led me to believe that the night in that alley would be my last."
Harry's eyes widened. "Thank Merlin it wasn't."
"No."
"What?" Harry asked shocked. Why would Draco not be thankful that he was alive? Did he really not care? Was he really stating that he didn't care about his life? Their lives? Their marriage?
"Thank Lana Lang."
"Lana Lang? Who is Lana Lang?"
"No. Who was Lana Lang?" Draco said with a slur.
Harry froze. He held on to Draco's hands and squeezed tight, urging him to go on.
"Lana was a beautiful sixteen year old girl who died because she made the mistake of saving me."
"Draco…"Harry trailed off.
"She heard what was happening to me. She knocked the man out for a split second, and then he had the nerve to attack her as well. He ran like the coward he was, leaving us dead. We laid there on that cold ground together."
"No." Hermione squealed as she held her hand to her mouth, with teary eyes.
"I reached for her. I thanked her for trying to save me. It was the least I could do. She said, 'for what? I didn't do a thing.' How could she have said that to me I thought? What did she mean by it…but then all was dark."
Draco began to sit up, and Harry sat on the couch with his husband in his arms. "It's ok Draco. You are safe, go on…"
"I know." Draco said with a small smile. "The next thing I knew…I was waking up in a hospital bed. I asked the nurse on duty where the girl was. I asked her where the girl who had saved my life was, because I wanted to speak to her, and make sure she was alright. The nurse gave a sad look, and apologized. The girl. Lana. She had saved me in that alley, and had died in it. I knew from that minute that nothing would be the same."
I've had my wake up
Won't you wake up
I keep asking why
And I can't take it
It wasn't fake
It happened you passed by
Harry's arms tightened on Draco. "I love you. So much." Harry sighed. It was the only thing he could think to say.
"It should have been me…"
"But it wasn't." Harry said as he kissed Draco lovingly on the lips. "And I thank Lana for that."
Hermione was now sobbing. "There is one thing I still don't get," she said, breaking the slight silence.
Draco turned to her, quivering in Harry's arms. He had forgotten she was there.
"What?" he asked roughly.
"Why is it…why does that situation, make you…"
"Hate Muggles and Mudbloods like yourself?" He cut in.
"Yes."
"It's simple. I don't hate Muggles or Mudbloods. I just pretend I do so they will keep their distance from me."
"Why is that?" Harry asked.
"Because Lana was a muggle her whole life, but when she died I looked up everything I could find about her. I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know her. I found out that she had done things that were known as 'odd' in the muggle world. I put it together, and found that she was indeed a Mudblood. From that day on, I decided to keep my distance. I did not want my body, me, my life to cause any more pain to Muggles or Mudbloods."
"I understand now." Hermione said, clearing her eyes of the tears that she had previously let out.
"I'm sorry." Draco said sadly. "I just didn't want you hurt, and you reminded me of Lana. The way you look, the way I pictured her to be, and the way your spirit is. You just reminded me of her so much, and so I couldn't let you into my life. I wanted you to be safe. I don't want to be the cause of anymore deaths." Draco cried out.
"Hush, my love." Harry said in a calm and soothing way. "Lana's death was not your fault.
"But it was Harry. You see…what happened to me, had happened to another before me, and she witnessed it. She vowed to not let it happen again, and because of that vow, she saved me. And by saving me, she died. Where is the justice in that?" Draco asked the last part a little louder.
"It is not fair. When it first happened…I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't. I denied that she was dead. I was a worthless pureblood. She died saving the wrong person."
Now you're gone
Now you're gone
There you go
There you go
Somewhere I can't bring you back
Now you're gone
Now you're gone
There you go
There you go
Somewhere you're not coming back
"Don't say that!" Harry raged. "How…how can you say that? It's like you are denying what you have become. What we are. What about our love and marriage we share? Does that mean nothing to you?" Harry asked while squeezing Draco into his arms.
Draco gasped. "No Harry! It means everything to me!"
"Then please understand that her death was not your fault. She wanted it that way. She wanted to save you. You being alive isn't going to cause anyone pain. It is not going to endanger Hermione or anyone else for that matter. Oh, Draco. You are so sweet and loving. I am so happy to have you in my life. You came into it at the right time and you will leave it at the right time, and with me. We will live on, and we will die together with our love, and in eachother's arms. There is no other way. Everyone is safe. I made sure of that by killing Voldemort, and I'll be damned if another person dies by anything that is not a natural cause."
Draco was amazed at how wonderful is husband's words were. "It wasn't my fault?" He questioned, as if he didn't really know.
"That's right. You are here for a reason Draco. You are here for me, and the people who know and love you. Lana did a brave and great thing by saving you. She led you to me. I will now and forever thank her for that, and cherish the life she had."
Draco nodded and held onto his Harry. He started to kiss his husband passionately. He couldn't believe how wonderfully free he felt. He was so happy to have finally told Harry his secrete. He was truly grateful for the first time in years, and he owed it all to Lana.
"Draco…"
"Yes, love?"
"Live for her. Live because she saved you. Live because that's what she wanted. Live because she was a hero."
"I am living Harry."
"No your not. You have been hiding for years Draco. I want you to really live, and enjoy everything life has to offer you. You were right to thank her all those years ago. And when she asked for what, you should answer…for life. When she said she didn't do anything, she didn't know that she had. She had saved you. Maybe she felt guilty for what happened to the other man, but something in her gave her courage. She fought for a heart of courage, and she got one. She did the most courageous thing a person could do. She stood tall, and saved a life."
"Harry, that was beautiful." Hermione chimed.
"It is true." Harry stated. "It's a lesson I have learned. Lana's blood might have been different, but her heart was like my parents. She died for life."
Draco looked shocked. Harry barely ever mentioned a thing about his parents. "I promise. I promise Harry. I'll live for Lana. I will. I'll live for her, and I'll live for you, but most of all, I'll live for myself."
"Good." Harry smiled, and leaned into his husband.
Hermione was in awe. She never thought the secret would be so complex. She loved seeing her best friend with such a man. She was truly happy and blessed, knowing that she was staring at the best couple the world could ever know. She just wished that Ron could see the same thing.
Someday…she thought. He will see. Someday…
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh
Draco placed two long stem roses in the left vase, one blue and the other red. Harry repeated this action with the right vase.
They held onto eachother.
"Thank you Lana Lang. You will always live on in our hearts. Happy 19nth Birthday." Harry said, and then kissed his lover gently on the side of his head.
Na na
Na na na na na
"Lana, thank you. Happy Birthday." He said. He left the warm embrace his husband was giving him, and bent down to the grave. He traced his fingers over the lettering…
In loving memory of Lana Lang. This time he was able to look and trace the date. 1987-2003.
He hugged the grave then kissed the top of the warm stone and whispered, "I live for you…"
I miss you.