VIII-
Draco stared up at the wall, eyes clouded with pain. Harry was slumped in the corner, eyes dim. Blood was caked on the sheets, dried to a dirty red-brown color. Draco coughed gently, blood rolling out the corner of his mouth and forming new spots on the blankets.
"You promised." Draco whispered before turning over and facing the wall.
Harry bowed his head, bitter tears rolling down his cheek.
It was three days later when the pain subsided. Draco sat up, wiping a hand through his hair.
"Harry... you know what you have to do right?" His voice was sharp and uneven. Harry sat up, nervous. Draco continued, ignoring Harry's growing fear. "You have to..." He gulped.
"Malfoy... don't-"
"You have to kill me."
"No! I won't!"
"You have to! If I live..." He bit his lip, avoiding Harry's gaze.
"If you don't-!"
"But if I do... You know what'll happen." Harry nodded silently.
"How?"
"Any way you can." He murmured back. Harry flinched. "Anything's better than..."
"I can't. I can't!"
"You know the killing curse. They taught it to you." Draco recalled the saying the new teachers had recited to them, "Knowing the killing curse in live makes in stronger in death." His voice was hard and bitter. "They want to turn us all into inferius. Well I won't! I won't Potter! Kill me now. And never let me live again."
"You're-"
"I'm thinking clearly! Burn me! Rip me to shreds! Just don't hand me to him!" The room was cold and silent for a long time.
"You can't ask me to do that..."
"And why not? You promised."
"I said I'd help you not kill you!"
"What's the difference." Draco said, the life going out of his eyes. He stared blankly up at the ceiling, hands folded. "Live or die I'm in hell."
"Malfoy... I can't."
"Why? WHY!"
"I... I don't have a wand."
"Strangle me."
"I won't!"
"I knew it! It's not that you can't. It's just that you're thinking all for yourself!" Draco sat up, eyes hardening. "Screw you Potter. There are other ways to kill myself."
"I won't let you."
"Why do you fucking care so much! Huh? What's it to you? Hm? Why do you fucking care if I live or die?" Harry tore his eyes away from Draco, turning his head to the side.
"I just- you don't have to give in. Not yet. It's not too late."
"I thought you'd say that. Well then, what's your big plan."
"Escape."
Draco's eyes widened in disbelief and he stood, pulling himself from his bed, still looking in shocked silence at Harry Potter.
"Escape?" He said as though it were the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. "How in- you know there's dementor's guarding the castle? Madmen? Inferius? There's no... escape."
"There is."
"How?" Harry paused, eyes searching as he mentally tried to figure out a way this would work. Something... anything... and finally, an idea hit him.
"The witch's hump." Harry said, eyes clearing. He laughed lightly, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall in relief. "The witch's hump!"
"What are you talking about?"
Harry stood, excitement in his eyes. "Escape. We're escaping. Tonight."
"But-"
"Trust me?" A moment passed, Draco's eyes searching Harry's.
"What- what about your friends?"
"I'll send them a letter when we get there."
"Where exactly are we going...?"
"12 Grimmauld Place..."
"What?"
"Do you? Trust me?"
"Yes."
After a moment, Draco shivered and Harry joined him on the bed.
"So does this mean you're not going to kill me?" Draco said, looking down at his stomach and clearly disappointed.
"Not if I can't help it." Harry sighed, leaning backward. "I never thought we'd..."
"We'd what?"
"Even be talking. Or... that I would ever decline killing you." He laughed but blushed, quickly covering it with a frown.
"Why aren't you? The real reason." Draco demanded. Harry sighed.
"There's been enough death as it is..." He murmured. "Plus... it would mean I'd be all alone again."
"What about your friends...?"
"Friends? The ones who put me under a curse? The ones who haven't even tried to find me?" He paused, eyes filling with grief as though this were the first time he were even admitting it to himself. "No. I'm alone now."
"No."
Draco met Harry's eyes.
"You're not alone."
