A/N: Written for Draco's Den FB groups Half-Blood Prince Drabble Writing Competition, Round 2! RoseyPoseyAshes was my delightful beta for this piece!

The prompt for this round was Draught of Living Death and my pairing was Terence Higgs/Theodore Nott.

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Summary: After all of that, their hard work goes down the drain.

Rating: M

All of That

"He only needs a little, Nott," Higgs whispered. The sound of his voice slithered into my subconscious and I shivered as his breath washed over the sensitive skin of my neck.

"And it won't kill him?" I asked, confirming again that it was safe.

"Of course not." His hand caressed my back. I peered down at my father, hidden behind a pile of rubble. The castle I had called home for the last seven years was a ruin of wreckage in only a few short hours though the fight had moved on from here. The hair on my arms stood on end because spellfire still crackled in the air. "Come on, we haven't much time. The Dark Lord is calling for me."

I took a deep breath and sent a quick prayer off to whichever deity that was listening. Ignoring the way his breath rattled in his chest, I tipped my father's chin back. Too much would surely kill him, but a little would be enough to fool the Aurors and… I squeezed my eyes shut to clear my thoughts and gently slipped a small dribble of potion down my father's throat. His breathing shuddered and slowed. My own heart stopped when his chest refused to rise.

"Shit, I've killed him," I whispered in panic.

"No, you haven't. Wait for it." Higgs sounded calm and I wanted to believe him, but seconds dragged by that felt like hours. Then, finally, his chest rose a fraction.

"See, he's fine. Let's go." Higgs stood, twisting his fingers through mine and pulled me along after him. Higgs had been my rock, my source of comfort in this last year, more important to me than my own father and I couldn't imagine leaving him to face this alone. The further along down the corridor we went the closer the sounds of fighting became. We slipped down the staircases quickly, passing nobody but dead bodies before we found ourselves inside the Great Hall.

"There!" Higgs pointed to the other side of the room and I could see Potter taunting the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord screamed in rage, the sound was inhuman as it wormed its way inside my head.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

"He's attempting to disarm him?" I breathed in disbelief, gripping Higgs's hand tighter, glad he was there with me.

"Potter is a fool," Higgs hissed.

A moment later, the Dark Lord's dead body hit the floor as Higgs and every other Marked Death Eater fell to the ground on their knees. The sounds of their screaming was like a thousand forks scraping along a thousand ceramic plates and I wasn't the only one with my hands over my ears, attempting to block it out.

Three Months Later

"Nott, talk to me," Higgs urged from his cell beside mine. I couldn't bring myself talk to him.

I'd just found out they buried my father directly after the battle. In a mass grave with all of the other unclaimed Death Eater bodies. He'd had nobody there to claim him, and I didn't even know whether he was actually dead or just sleeping. I hadn't told anyone what Higgs and I had done. I needed to be proven nothing but a schoolboy set on a terrible path by his terrible father.

Then, as long as they hadn't done something ridiculous, like cremate him on a pyre before burial, I could free my father and we could both go into hiding. That had been the plan all along, regardless of who won, but I hadn't foreseen the Ministry imprisoning anyone and everyone even associated with Death Eaters.

"He'll be fine," Higgs tried. "He'll live. You'll get out of here and you'll both live. You can go to the continen—"

"Shut up," I muttered, speaking for the first time.

"Nott… Theo," Higgs whispered fervently.

I ignored him.

I learned that in prison you had nothing but time. Time to think about who you are and who you have become. Time to consider all the possible outcomes in your life. Time to realize that the man imprisoned next to you might actually be the love of your life, but due to the Mark on his arm, you'll never get a chance to find out. The thought threatened to break me.

"Nott!" a guard shouted down the corridor.

"Here," I replied, sticking my hands through the bars so I could be handcuffed.

"Trial is in fifteen minutes," the guard said, opening the cell and leading me away.

Perhaps I could convince the Wizengamot that Higgs had been pressured into taking the Dark Mark? I heard that Draco Malfoy had gotten off due to coercion. But I knew it wasn't likely. Higgs was the only Death Eater in his family. Who was supposed to have coerced him?

One Year Later

"You don't have to keep coming back here." He looked haggard as though he were forty-one instead of twenty-one. "Ten years is a long time."

"It is, but not so long that I can't wait."

"I don't deserve you," he whispered. We both ignored the tears that slipped from his eyes. His beautiful green eyes that I had always admired. My chin quivered, but I held back my tears.

"How is your father?" Higgs asked.

"He died. Just after making it to Italy, he was killed by an Auror."

"All of that—"

"For nothing." I nodded.

"I'm sorry," Higgs replied. "The Draught of Living Death was my id—"

"And I freely administered it," I reminded him. "It's no more your fault than mine. It was his fault."

I didn't know if I meant my father, the Dark Lord, or the nameless Auror who had killed him. Suddenly, I was sick of this place. The idea of staying even a moment longer had nausea rolling in my stomach. I stood quickly and nodded to the guard.

"See you in a few months," I said to Higgs, signaling my intent to return. I would always return.

Fin.