Greetings people from Mars. Here comes slash...
He awoke to a burning sensation in his right eye. He slowly raised his hand to it, straining at the effort on his muscles, but a cold, firm hand stopped him before he could touch it.
"It burns," he whispered.
"It will do." Snape replied. "Your eye was damaged. But don't worry, it will be healed by tonight."
Harry cracked his left eye open to look around the Hospital Wing. Luckily, there was nobody else there. He closed his eye again.
"My head hurts."
"You were having a fit. Like last time, you managed to put up a powerful shield that stopped us from getting to you. Your head was hitting the floor repeatedly. You are very lucky that you're not dead."
"What happened to Trelawney?"
"The Headmaster has her in his office."
"And how long have I been here?"
"A day, no longer. The rest of the school is under the impression that Voldemort possessed you as a last attempt to make a dent in the school's morale. It appears that he was having trouble controlling Trelawney – probably because there isn't enough in her head for him to work with," Snape mused, and Harry was shocked to find that he was amused by the comment.
"When can I come out of the Hospital Wing?"
"Probably tonight. Although the Headmaster recommends that you do not attend classes tomorrow. He believes you have endured too much."
"What day is it today?"
"Tuesday evening."
"Ha. I'll have missed two Potions lessons this week."
"Don't worry, I've set you extra work to do. It wouldn't do for you to have any misconceptions about my tolerance for absence." Snape said silkily. Harry scowled.
"Yes, sir," he said grudgingly.
"You remind me of someone, Potter."
"Really? Who would that be?"
"Don't you know?"
"Well, not if –" Harry began irritably, then froze. "What did you call me?" he whispered fearfully. Snape bared his teeth at him.
"I had my suspicions. Professor Dumbledore confirmed them after you blacked out."
"The bastard," Harry breathed. "He swore he wouldn't."
"Five points for language, another five for insulting a teacher." Snape said automatically. "The point being I know that you're not dead, Potter. You're very much alive. I thought you might like to know. It does explain a lot of things."
Snape stood and billowed out of the room in the amount of time that it took Harry to collect his wits. He stared at the door, completely dumbfounded. Dumbledore promised he wouldn't tell anyone without Harry's consent. He had broken another promise. He had broken far too many. This one was the last.
Scratching furiously at his back, he leapt from the bed and stormed across the room. He paused in front of the mirror to take in his appearance. He was still dressed in the clothes Draco had forced upon him as they had hurried out of the dungeons. His own jeans, the bottoms steeped in McGonagall's blood. What he assumed was Draco's T-shirt, with long sleeves that covered shi hands. He rolled the sleeves up irritably. His feet were bare, and on closer inspection hadn't been cleaned – they were still stained with blood, splattered up his ankles.
He stormed up to the door and pushed. It wouldn't open. On impulse, he pressed one hand against it. Tiny gold sparks shot out from around his fingers.
"Aperire!" he snapped. The door swung open and he marched out into the corridor, following the trail of Snape's magic – like faint tendrils of smoke wafting near to the floor, grey and cold, moving in snake-like patterns in the way that Snape himself moved. He could see and eel the magic of the students too, of course, but concentrated solely on Snape's. The smoke was strengthening, getting brighter as he jogged down the corridors. Those that he passed stared at him in wonder, but he ignored them. He wanted to get to Dumbledore. Or Snape. Or Draco. Whoever he came to first.
"I can see you," said a voice in the shadows. Harry stopped and turned to Draco.
"Congratulations. I can see you too,"
"No, I mean I can see your magic. Your essence, as it were. You're all red and bright and loud."
"I didn't know you could see people's magic." Harry frowned. "When did that start?"
"Just a few days ago. What does my magic look like?"
Harry considered it for a moment, watching Draco's magic swirl around him.
"It's quite bright, and it's a dark green. It's moving erratically, as though it doesn't know what to do." He decided. Then he frowned at him. "Why do you reckon we can see people's magic?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Draco shrugged. He held up his left hand, scar shining. "Maybe it's something to do with this?"
"Possibly."
"Harry…"
Harry sighed.
"What do you want?"
"Don't be presumptuous." Draco scowled.
"You're predictable. Come on, out with it."
"Well, I was wondering if we could go down into the Chamber of Secrets…"
"No!" Harry said, shocked. "I don't even know if it's still there. Dumbledore's probably closed it off or something…"
"He can't have done. You said yourself, it takes a Parselmouth to open it,"
"Well then he could have used Lingua Omni…"
"No. I researched it. You can only speak the language if you know how it's meant to sound. I doubt anyone in this school has heard much Parseltongue, at least not enough to know how to speak it."
"But why do you want to go down there?"
"Because it's fascinating. Why won't you, you weren't like this about going into Hogsmeade."
"That was different," Harry scowled. "I didn't meet Tom Riddle in Hogsmeade, nor did I nearly get killed there."
"Please, Harry!" Draco whined.
"We're not going, and that's final!"
"This is where Lockhart tried to Obliviate us, but Ron's wand backfired and he caused the tunnel to collapse instead." Harry explained as they came to the dead-end, a hole faintly visible in the rubble. Draco peered at it.
"Why did he try to Obliviate you?" he asked, head in the hole.
"Because that's the key to his success. He would go to a person who'd done something heroic, make them tell him how they'd done it, then Obliviate them and take the credit. He was going to wipe our memories then take us back, saying that we 'tragically lost our minds at the sight of her mangled body'."
"Git,"
"Indeed,"
"Can we go through?"
"If you must."
He watched, amused, as Draco wriggled through the gap in the rock. He got most of the way through then dropped and landed apparently awkwardly on the other side, his feet still hooked in the gap.
"Ow."
"Move it, I'm coming through."
Draco shuffled out of the way and Harry squirmed through the gap. Draco helped him through the last bit and they carried on walking down the tunnels.
"How far is it to the Chamber?"
"Not too far."
After five or ten minutes they came to the solid stone doors that Harry recognised with an awful mixed sense of foreboding and excitement. He glanced at Draco, who was waiting impatiently.
"Aren't you going to open it?" the Slytherin asked irritably. Harry grinned.
"You do it."
Draco looked at him uncertainly.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Just say 'open' in Parseltongue. Simple."
Draco gave him a sceptical look but did it anyway. To his surprise, the doors cracked open, sliding smoothly out of sight. He gaped at Harry, and started as Harry tugged him through.
They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly-lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.
"What the hell…?"
Harry peered down the chamber, lifting his wand higher to offer more light. He grinned as he saw what Draco was staring at. He grabbed the Slytherin's arm and dragged him forwards. Draco squirmed, not particularly willing to get any closer.
"Relax, it's dead." Harry rolled his eyes. Draco stopped squirming and let Harry pull him forward. The Basilisk was indeed dead, and hadn't been moved from where it had been slain. Nor had the body deteriorated, to Harry's surprise. Draco moved around to the mouth and gingerly poked at it.
"It's got a fang missing," he said, puzzled. Harry nodded.
"It bit me, and the fang snapped off in my arm."
"Shouldn't you be dead by now then?"
"Yes, but Fawkes – that's the Headmaster's phoenix – came down with the Sorting Hat and healed me with his tears."
"The Sorting Hat." Draco said disdainfully, raising a pale eyebrow.
"Yeah. I pulled Gryffindor's sword out of it. It's a really nice sword, it's got rubies set in it and everything. That's what I killed the Basilisk with. Fawkes destroyed its eyes so I could look and see what I was doing, and I stabbed it through the top of its mouth."
"Fascinating." Draco murmured, and bent to the remaining fang. He stuck his hands into his robes, delving for something, something that turned out to be a small flask. He glanced at Harry.
"Yes, you can collect some poison," Harry said wearily. "Just be careful."
Draco smiled beatifically and knelt down beside the fang. He carefully snapped the tip off and held the flask beneath it. Thick, dark green liquid poured out into the container, sizzling slightly. Once Draco was finished, he stood and looked around.
"Is there anything else here?" he asked Harry, who had sat down and was leaning against one of the pillars.
"There's a massive statue of Salazar Slytherin himself at the far end, if you're interested. I never really liked it much. A Basilisk came out of his mouth when I was down here last."
Draco chuckled and walked over to the far end of the room. Harry leaned against the pillar and listened to Draco's footsteps as he walked to the other end of the chamber, growing fainter as he went. Then he heard something that made his blood run cold.
A hiss.
Draco was speaking in Parseltongue.
"Greetings, Salazar Slytherin!" he said jokingly in ignorance. Harry was up and running before Draco had finished speaking.
"No! Not in Parseltongue!" he yelled as he caught up with Draco. Then he noticed in horror that the mouth of Slytherin was slowly getting wider, as though to admit something through the gaping hole. Swearing, he grabbed Draco's arm and yanked it. "We have to go, now!" he practically screamed.
"Why?" Draco asked, confused.
"Because last time this happened, a Basilisk popped out of his mouth! How do you know there aren't any more?"
Draco went white.
"Oh shit," he whispered
"My thoughts exactly." Harry snapped sarcastically. "Now move!"
Draco responded and sprinted down the chamber, Harry following closely. They had taken about twenty steps, when Harry felt the floor shudder as something large landed on it. The shaking knocked Draco off balance and he fell heavily. Harry stopped running. Draco was about to turn his head to look behind them but Harry grabbed it and forced it towards the doors.
"Don't look at it, it'll kill you!" he said forcefully, and hauled him to his feet. Cradling the flask of Basilisk venom with his right hand, Draco grabbed Harry's hand with his other and they ran down the chamber. Harry could hear the Basilisk slithering along the corridor, getting steadily closer. He knew they wouldn't make it to the doors in time. He plunged his hand into his robes and brought his wand out, folding into the hand that was wrapped in Draco, so they were both touching it.
"Close your eyes, and whatever you do, don't open them!" he shouted. Draco nodded frantically and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Harry followed suit and turned them face where he hoped the Basilisk was. "IMPEDIMENTA!" he bellowed. Magic surged through the matching scars, Draco's magic being drained from him as Harry called upon it, throwing all his own magic into the spell, praying to whoever was listening that it would work.
Drained, Draco collapsed to the floor, pulling Harry down with him. Crying out, Harry swore as he landed heavily on his wrist. The foundations of the chamber were shaking at the surge of magic that had been put to use. Harry cracked his eyes open, keeping them trained on the doors, and pulled Draco behind a pillar, not daring to look behind them. Draco moaned as he was moved, and Harry placed a hand over his mouth to silence him. He listened for a moment, the only sounds his and Draco's laboured breathing. He couldn't hear the slithering of the Basilisk. Steeling himself, he peered around the side of the pillar.
The Basilisk was lying prone on the floor of the chamber, eyes closed. Sighing in relief, Harry removed his hand from Draco's mouth and leaned his head on Draco's shoulder, breathing heavily.
"You can open your eyes," he said quietly. "It's out cold."
"Nice work."
"Sorry I used all your magic. I just wasn't sure how much it would take to knock it out."
"It's fine. I don't need any magic to get out of here, do I?"
Harry suddenly realised that they were sat on the floor, holding hands, Harry's head on Draco's shoulder – and it seemed perfectly natural. He never would have thought of it like that a year ago, he thought wryly. He glanced at his watch, noticing that he still had his wand clutched in it.
"We need to be getting back. It's nearly ten o'clock. You don't want to be caught out after curfew, do you?"
"I'm already out after curfew." Draco pointed out, not moving from where he was sat. Harry prodded his side gently, and Draco squirmed. "Don't tickle me," he grumbled, seizing Harry's hand so he couldn't poke him any more. Harry chuckled against his shoulder and he breathed in his scent. It was something like ashes and something biter and something sweet. He closed his eyes and concentrated on memorising the scent of Draco Malfoy, thumb rubbing gentle circles over the back of Draco's hand.
When he woke up he was lying on his side on the cold stone floor of the Chamber of Secrets, something long and warm against his back. There was also something long and warm draped over his side and across his stomach. He smiled and yawned, peering at his watch again.
"Crap!" he yelped, sitting up suddenly and dislodging Draco's arm, waking the blond up. He looked adorable when he first woke up, Harry thought fondly. His eyes were half-open and his hair stuck up all over the place, he screwed up his nose and scowled at Harry.
"I was asleep, you know." He complained. Harry grinned.
"I know. And I also know that you have Charms in half an hour." Harry said sweetly. Draco stared at him blankly, then it sank in what Harry had just said.
"Crap!" he yelped, struggling to his feet. He ran over to the door and pelted through it. Smiling wryly, Harry followed, ordering the door closed again, noticing that the Basilisk was still out cold on the floor. He and Draco had some serious power between them. He locked the door and strolled leisurely down the tunnel, squeezing through the hole in the blockage and finally catching up with Draco, who was standing impatiently at the base of the entrance, his foot tapping the floor maddeningly.
"Take you time," he said curtly. "How am I supposed to get out?"
"The same way I got out last time, I suppose." Harry replied with a shrug. "Cicatrix!" he called to nothing. Draco raised an eyebrow. Then there was a burst of flames a few feet away and Cicatrix landed on Harry's shoulder, trilling happily. "Hello. I haven't seen you for a while. Will you take us out of here the same way Fawkes did the other time?"
Cicatrix trilled in agreement, and flew over to the entrance, his tail feathers waving. Harry took hold of them and beckoned for Draco. He drew the Slytherin against him, his spare arm wrapped around his waist. Draco leaned into his chest and Harry felt the slightly familiar feeling of extraordinary lightness as Cicatrix's tail feathers grew hot, and with a whoosh they were shooting up the pipe. Then, like last time, before he had time to enjoy the ride, they were hitting the floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Their feet squelched, and Harry grimaced. The bathroom was flooded.
"Looks like Myrtle's even more depressed than usual," he sighed, and stepped out of Draco's embrace. "Go on, get going. They'll miss you if you don't turn up for Charms," he added, pushing Draco towards the door. He pulled the Map out of his pocket and inspected it. There was nobody around. "Go on, you're clear."
"What about you?"
"I'll wait a bit, just in case. And I'm not in any lessons today, Dumbledore said I could take the day off."
"So? Are you going to?"
"I'll probably just take the morning off. I don't want to miss any more Potions." He looked up into Draco's grey eyes. "Snape knows. Dumbledore told him."
Draco frowned.
"But you said that Dumbledore promised he wouldn't tell anyone without asking you first."
"I know," Harry said heavily. "But he did." He offered Draco a lop-sided smile. "Just thought you might want to know. He's going to be acting weird in the lesson. Now go, or you'll be late."
Draco nodded. He pressed his lips briefly against Harry's before leaving.
"Ooh, has Harry got a boyfriend?"
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to face Myrtle, who was grinning as she emerged from one of the toilets.
"Shut up, Myrtle."
There. Slash.
smokey