A/N Hellooooo. Here's the next chapter, it's super duper duper DUPERRRR long. So have fun with that. Andddd we're almost at the end omg. After this there's going to be an epilogue out soon. And schools starting but I want to try and keep writing anyway. I'm planning to write some one shots and then I have this idea for a longer fic that I'm going to release later once I've gotten a chance to write a good chunk of it. Okay I'll let you go read now.
Dear Potter,
I'm going to leave my house today. I've been thinking furiously about when was the best time to make a break for it and I couldn't see how one was better than the other. I'm usually alone most days. The dark lord has seemed to lose all interest in me. Actually I think he forgot I even existed. My father has returned, you see, and now he can punish him instead. I've had to go to a few meetings, the mark burns like mad whenever he summons us, but that's all mostly. I've had some of the house elves bring you extra food, as I assume they're not feeding you enough. I'm extremely grateful you haven't been murdered yet, though I do not understand what is the point in holding you hostage. The dark lord has droned on for so very long about finally killing you, I would've thought he would've done it the first chance he got. Clearly I was wrong. Don't tell anyone I said this but I don't think the dark lord is quite as smart as he leads others on to believe. He's a bit full of himself really. More than a bit actually. Sorry, off topic, again. Point is I'm leaving, and I'm going to find the Order. Don't know how. I have no idea where their headquarters would be, as you never told me. Which makes sense, I would've put all of them in danger most likely. So I am going to leave my house and wander around for a while, whilst praying I do not get caught. I hope you know that I would take you with me if I could open the cell door. But I tried, multiple times, and it came to no fruition. The dark lord clearly placed heavy charms on the door, that I have no way of opening. So the only thing to do is find someone who can. I have only seen Severus once, and he barely even looked at me. I don't know what to think about him anymore. At first it was oh so easy to believe he was a death eater like the rest of them, but now I'm not so sure. I don't think he wanted to go through with it, even if it had been his plan all along. Just the way he looked, afterwards. Something about it wasn't very Severus-like. Doesn't matter much now though. I'll be gone without a trace soon enough. I best be going, I want to get a good head start so that no one catches me. Well, bye then Potter. I will do my damn best to save you. Please do not die while I am gone.
Sincerely,
Your worst enemy and first love
Draco folded the letter carefully and placed it among the ever growing stack in his box. Shaking slightly he took out his wand and whispered "Diminuendo."
The box shrunk, along with his letters and he held it a moment longer before slipping it into the pockets of his robes. He wasn't about to leave this behind and risk the dark lord finding it. Or his father. He blinked quickly, not sure why he was getting all mushy over his stupid box. He shook his head and grabbed his book bag filled with supplies. He'd asked the house elves for some food, money, and a spare cloak. He didn't want to be burdened down with his things as he traipsed all over the country. It was as thrilling as it was terrifying to finally be leaving everything to do with the dark lord behind. Well, nearly everything, save for the mark on his arm which would still continue to burn by the dark lord's summons. Draco inhaled sharply and summoned his broom. Steeling himself, he walked down the stairs and out the front door. He was about to mount his broom when something stopped him. Someone was watching him. The back of his neck was prickling uneasily and his stomach had grown tight, as if someone was twisting his organs.
"Hello?" he called in uncertainty. In hindsight it would've been much smarter for Draco to have just kicked off the ground before someone caught him.
"Draco." Luckily it was only Severus. Draco knew he should fear him, yet something in him told him to wait.
"Oh, it's you." He turned to face Severus, who had just appeared from behind the tall trees in front of the mansion. The man seemed to have a talent for making appearances at dramatic moments.
"You're leaving." he said softly, turning his head upwards. The clouds had darkened ominously and Draco cursed himself for not leaving sooner. He was going to have to fly through the rain.
"Yes. I have to do something, you can't stop me." Both of them knew very well that was not true. Draco had never worked well under pressure or spontaneously.
"I have something for you." He brought his eyes back down to look at him, carefully he took a thick envelope out of his robes and handed it to Draco. He took it, raising his eyebrows and bringing his fingers to the seal to open it. However Severus shook his head sharply.
"Not yet. You'll know when."
"Er, alright then. If that was all?" Draco stepped away, getting ready once more to leave. Before he could leave Severus pulled him closer and for a second there Draco thought he was going to be taken prisoner, but instead he hugged him. Draco stiffened, unsure of what to do. Fuck it. He might be dead in a few days. He threw his arms around Severus and buried his head in his shoulder. After a brief (or long, Draco couldn't really tell) moment Severus stepped back and nodded at him. Unsure of what to say Draco nodded back, trying to pull himself together. Before he could change his mind he swung his leg over his broom and tied his bag around it. Looking at Severus one last time he kicked off from the ground and flew upwards. Leaving his home behind.
It took Draco about five minutes for him to regret his decision. It was bloody cold up here. And there was this gigantic tube of metal that nearly knocked him out of the sky. For a moment Draco had thought that the dark lord had sent some sort of contraption after him, but he decided that he must be mistaken. Hopefully that was. But he was cold. He was cold and he was lost. His plan to fly all over Britain and find the order somehow was not going well at all. Because how on earth was he going to make it all over Britain without keeling over? He was already exhausted and he had hardly been in the air any time at all. After he started to grow worried that he would fall off his broom from numbness, Draco descended towards the ground when he noticed he was above London.
The dark lord wouldn't just go running around Muggle London looking for him right? That would be ridiculous. Awkwardly Draco half stepped, half fell off his broom and swung it over his shoulder, getting a better grip on the bag as well. Thankfully, he had landed in a backalleway and there was no one around to wonder what the hell was doing. Draco didn't really know himself so it would've been a painful hassle to explain. He jingled the money in his bag, he would need to go to Gringotts if he wanted to exchange it for Muggle money. Draco chewed his lower lip. Gringotts was open most hours of the day, would it be best if he went extremely early in the morning so there was less of a chance for someone to recognize him? Damn. He really hadn't thought this through. Fuck it. There was nothing else for him to do. If someone recognized him, well he would just run in the other direction and hope they didn't catch him. He swung open the door to the Leaky Cauldron and strode inside, doing his best to look like he had any place being in there.
The barkeeper startled at the loud thump the door made as it shut. Draco held in a flinch.
"Er-Can I have a room please?" he said slowly, not making eye contact. Thank Merlin no one he recognized was in here.
"Right this way then lad." Tom nodded at him, looking him up and down, before motioning towards the stairs. "I'll show you where you can stay. Got your money with yah?"
"Yes, yes here. How much?" After paying Tom, he showed Draco a small, dingy room upstairs. It smelled like it hadn't been cleaned in ages, and there was an odd heaviness in the air that clung to his skin. He was a tad worried that a rat would come and gnaw at his toes in the middle of the night, but he tried to shove his thoughts to other places. He could just stay here until morning. And then at the crack of dawn he would go to Gringotts and take some money out of account and exchange it for Muggle money. After that he supposed he would just have to wander all over Muggle Britain and pray that he somehow picked up some clues on the Order along the way. Because that was most definitely a brilliant plan.
Dear Potter,
I hope you're not doing too terribly. Which I suppose is too much to ask for considering you're at my house at the moment. Where the dark lord and my father live. Well you'll simply have to do your best to survive. Because I'll kill you if you die. Okay, let's move on. I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's too upsetting. I suppose I have absolutely no right to be complaining, it's a likely possibility that you're being torchered right now, and I am setting out in a few minutes with money jangling in my pockets. But now writing letters to you doesn't feel the same, because we actually were something, and now we're nothing. I hate thinking about this, because we should still be together. I love you, I like to believe you could've loved me. Somehow. And now there's some stupid war and you're captured and I'm on the run but not really and it all fucking sucks. A part of me wishes we had never met, that way I wouldn't' have to continue to feel this way. This morning I woke up in a cold sweat. When I closed my eyes and sleep took me I saw you. At first you were staring at me with a small smile on your face, you brushed hair out of my eyes and pressed a kiss to my nose. You knew that always made me laugh. Then you pulled away abruptly and looked bloody terrified.
"What are you doing?" You asked, shaking your head wildly back and forth. I woke up after that. I hate myself. I thought I said we were going to move on. Why do I keep forcing myself to relieve these moments? I don't want to remember. Actually moving on now, my apologies. I have a better plan now. Last night my owl, Ulysses, flew into the room I'm staying in. I sent a letter with him, one addressed to Hermione Granger. I know how incredibly risky it is to send letters nowadays, but he's the smartest owl out there. He knows to keep to the skies until he gets there. I asked Hermione if she could give me some clues to the Order location, or hell, just somewhere we can meet up. So that I can tell her everything and we can formulate some kind of plan to break you out. This has to work. It is going to work. While I wait for her response I'm going to be staying in Muggle London. Some absurd part of me is rather excited. Father never let me go to Muggle London. Said it was dirty. Obviously now I know that's not true, he was being stupid and closed minded as usual. Yet this small act of defiance he will never witness has my heart pounding. I can't wait to go walk the streets and shite Potter, maybe I'll even eat in one of those cafes. Oops. I've been writing for nearly half an hour. I meant to leave 15 minutes ago. Damn. I better be off now then. I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy
Draco nearly fell down the stairs on his way out of the Leaky Cauldron. His entire body was practically vibrating with excitement. He, Draco Malfoy, was going to Muggle London. Although he was excited it felt terribly inappropriate to be so. After all, everyone else in the Wizarding World was busy fighting a war, and what was he doing? He was completely useless. So far he had only managed to escape his own home, and even then Severus had caught him leaving! He would make a bloody terrible spy. He had no idea how Severus managed. Sneaking around was quite the hassle.
"Thanks for the room." he said awkwardly, standing by the door. Tom nodded at him, pinching his brows together.
"Course, course. And who are you my boy?"
Draco froze, unsure of what he should say. After clearing his throat several times he choked out,
"Draco, sir. My name is Draco." He left out the Malfoy part, save someone decided to kidnap him by recognition of it.
"Draco…" The crease between his brows deepened as if he was thinking very hard about something.
"Er, that's right."
Tom opened his mouth, and Draco sensed that he was about to ask what his last name was, however he abruptly shut it and shook his head.
"Doesn't matter." Draco heard him murmur softly. "You best be on your way then boy, be safe. Crazy world we live in now." He gave Draco a firm look before giving the Leaky Cauldron a sweep with his eyes, as if to make sure no one was listening in on them.
"Thank you. You too." He swallowed hard and hoped he didn't look half as terrified as he felt.
With that he swung open the door to the Leaky Cauldron, and stepped out into the Muggle world.
It didn't take long for Draco to realize that he knew absolutely nothing about Muggles. Shite. He should've taken Muggle studies. Their currency was bloody confusing. Pounds and pence. He couldn't understand any of it. After nearly an hour of talking with a more and more confused innkeeper, he managed to get a room inside the Motel Mirth. Draco was quite surprised to find that it looked much like his room inside the Leaky Cauldron.
After settling in, he realized that he had nothing to do but wait. And soon after that, he realized that he was much too chicken to go wandering about Muggle London by himself. No matter how much he was excited about the prospect of sitting in a cafe and drinking the strongest cup of coffee possible. But no, that was not in the cards for Draco. He flopped on top of his creaky bed and stared at the ceiling mournfully. He was turning out to be a complete failure at all of this war rubbish. He shut his eyes firmly, and fell into a fitful sleep.
He awoke to a loud banging on the door. He fumbled for his wand and rolled out of bed as fast as he could. He swallowed down a yawn and took a trembling step forward.
"Who is it?" he called, not really sure he wanted to know the answer.
"Hermione Granger." It sounded like Hermione, however Draco knew enough now about what went on during war to know about impersonations.
"Proof please." He responded uneasily, still gripping his wand firmly.
"Er...I know that you and Harry used to be together. For a bit, before...Oh that's enough right? I can't think of anything else!" Her voice was high and panicked. Draco could imagine her wringing her hands in worry.
"Alright. Yes, that's enough I believe you. Here." He unlocked the door with a wave of his wand and he faced Hermione Granger. It hadn't been long since he had last seen her, yet she looked incredibly different. Her eyes had dark circles under them, almost like they were bruised, and her face had that hollow, sunken look of someone who had not been eating. Draco blinked.
"I was able to place a tracking spell on your owl. That was stupid what you did, sending me a letter. You're lucky I'm the one who found it." She shook her head and brushed past him.
"Er-I know, but I had to send a message to you somehow." He felt himself flush, and he looked away from her.
"Right." She didn't say anything, she sat down on the edge of his bed and ran her hands down her face. He sat next to her cautiously.
"Is Harry still in your house?" She asked, voice shaking. His pulse quickened and he fought the urge to begin pacing the room.
"Yes, I would've helped him escape but the charms…"
"I assumed so." She bit her lip and gave a long sigh. "Can we go somewhere else? I want to tell you everything, but not here. It's too depressing." He tried not to feel too insulted. The corner of her mouth quirked up. "No offense."
He snorted softly. "None taken, it smells in here anyway." He stood and offered her a hand. She took it and together they left the motel.
"Have you ever been to London?" Hermione asked, giving him a glance as they strode down the busy street. "Muggle I mean."
He shook his head. "No, my father never wanted me to."
Her mouth formed a small "o" before she spoke. "He doesn't seem like a very good man your father."
"Obviously." Draco said much more stiffly than he meant to.
"Oh I didn't mean anything by it, just-"
"It's alright, I know he's terrible, believe me. Where are we going?" He was desperate to move on from the subject of his father. It always made him feel icy and slightly sick inside. Memories of long lectures about Muggleborns and bloody purity poked at his head. He shook himself a little, as if that would help get his head clear.
"A cafe, it's only a block from here. I used to come here with mum sometimes, when I was still in primary school." Her eyes were glistening as she said so, they had a faraway look in them. People were walking briskly around them, Draco was surprised to find that Muggles were no more polite than wizards. No one seemed to have any qualms about bumping into others without an apology before continuing on their way. By now Draco had already been jostled by several people.
"Everything alright with them?" he questioned, hoping he didn't come off as bloody nosy.
She pressed her lips together, reminding him of Mcgonagall.
"Yes, they'll be safer now." Safer...Draco stopped walking, his mouth opening in shock.
"You obliviated them." He said plainly.
"How did you…" She stopped as well, her head tilted and eyes questioning. He shook his head. He wasn't sure he should tell her about what he had done to Harry. Although she most definitely would've agreed it was for the best.
"Nevermind." She said, probably noticing his pained expression. "It doesn't matter right now. We shouldn't be standing in the middle of the street." She jerked her head and pointed towards a small building, with fading bricks. "We're here."
"Alright." He shrugged and held the door open for her, not able to resist a glance over his shoulder.
"No one's following us, I was watching." Hermoine said softly, giving him a sad smile. He nodded, finding his throat was too thick to speak without his voice breaking. He wasn't sure why the rush of emotion had suddenly hit him. Perhaps it was because he had had more than a few fantasies about him and Harry walking into a Muggle cafe while holding hands. The idea of it had seemed terribly romantic at the time. Not so much now when Harry didn't remember their history together. Draco had made sure to thoroughly erase all traces of him.
"Over here is good." She pointed a finger towards a booth in the back. The cafe was empty, with only a few people scattered about here and there. They sat and Hermione leaned forward to whisper,
"Give it a few minutes, then we can talk." Leaning back in her seat she began to chatter on about random meaningless things. Some fake job (he assumed), getting her drivers license finally, classes she was going to register for this coming fall. Draco could hardly follow a word of what she was saying. He really should've taken Muggle studies. After a waitress came for their orders, the pair of them ordered cappuccinos, and Draco raised the steaming liquid to his lips. He nearly choked as the piping hot coffee ran down his throat and through his chest.
"Fuck."
"It's hot." Hermione deadpanned, before snorting into her own cup. "You should've blown on it first."
"Clearly." he set his cup down, not quite ready to taste it again. She rolled her eyes before casting a spell around them.
"Alright then. Do you want to go first, or should I?"
"Er-I can I guess." Draco hadn't really been looking forward to this part, best to get it over with now.
"So...I don't know how. But the death eaters, they captured Harry. And when I finally got a chance to go see him, he told me to obliviate him." He sucked in a breath, hoping she didn't explode on him.
Her hand raised to cover her mouth, eyes widening and filling with tears.
"He still remembers you and most else-" Hopefully. "It was just me I erased."
She blinked rapidly and opened and closed her mouth several times before raising her cup to her mouth and taking a long sip.
"Sounds like Harry. It was his idea wasn't it?" She wasn't looking at him, instead she was studying the couple a few booths away. They were holding hands, and after a brief moment of staring intently at each other, they began making out. Draco felt a pang and swallowed, trying to ignore the pain in his chest.
"Yes, I didn't want to. But it made sense. I guess." She turned back to study him.
"Good. That way you're out of danger and you can help us. Anything else you have to tell me? Anything that could help us?" She folded her hands together and leaned forward once more, her eyes now shining not with tears, but with anticipation.
"Severus. I don't know if he's on your-our side." He corrected himself before continuing. Hermione nodded approvingly, a small smile on her face now. "He's been acting oddly though, when he's around me. And I don't know what to think. There's no way of knowing now I guess, so it's not like it matters much." He shrugged, doing his best to keep his voice at a neutral tone.
She wet her lips. "That's interesting. I was so sure he was on our side before he killed Dumbledore...It just doesn't make sense how he could possibly play both sides like that." She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Nevermind him. We can discuss Snape later, he's much too confusing." She raised her head and stared him right in the eye. Draco was the smallest bit afraid. Something about the look in her eyes made him want to run the other direction.
"You're in, right? No backing out now, after I tell you everything, you have to stay with us."
"Yes," he said automatically. This was the right thing to do. And it felt fucking amazing. Merlin knew he had made enough mistakes for a lifetime.
"Let me get this straight." He drained the last of his coffee and grimaced at the coldness of it. Coffee was rather disgusting when it had been left out for too long. They had been here for over an hour, however no one seemed to be paying them any mind.
"Weasley is going to pretend to be Harry, and go into hiding. Then me, you, Luna, and Ginny, we're going to figure out a way to break Harry out while Weasley misleads everyone." Hermione seemed to be the master of complicated plans.
She nodded. "And Remus is going to go with him, the two of them are going to try and find any horcruxes while they're at it." She rubbed at her eyes and Draco wondered when she had last gotten a full night of sleep. And he still had no idea what the bloody hell a horcrux was. Hermione's explanation had been so confusing he had given up on trying to follow after the first several minutes of what sounded like a class lecture.
"Okay, yes. That makes sense. How are we going to go about breaking him out?" Draco couldn't help but feel slightly hopeful. Even though Harry would no longer remember him, he could be safe. Key word could. No news had gotten out yet about Harry being held prisoner, or if he was dead or alive, so that was good he supposed.
"We don't know quite yet. The others wanted to make sure we could trust you before we all got together." Draco blinked.
"So they sent you?"
"I can defend myself best." She said smoothly, brushing lightly at her sleeves. However the rising blush on her cheeks didn't escape his notice.
"Oh, I understand. Where are we going to meet?"
"Grimmauld place." Draco leaned back in his chair, trying to ignore the panic rising in his chest. He wasn't sure what about the place made him quite so apprehensive. Perhaps the memory of his mother going there every year and coming back dejected, telling him about how the house hadn't let her in, had tainted his feelings towards the place. He never understood why she kept going back there. She had hated Sirius, he thought. His mother had always wrinkled her nose at the mention of him. Yet every fall she had gone back, eyes bright when she returned. Once his father had told him about Walburga Black. The mother of Sirius and Regulus Black. Draco did not wish to relive that conversation. He had a vivid memory of feeling sick afterward. The story had left an awful aftertaste in his mouth. Thankfully his father had never repeated the story, or told anymore details of it. Draco was fairly sure his father admired their mother just a smidge.
"You alright?" Hermione asked, brows pinching in concern as she observed Draco's pinched face. He did his best to smooth out his features and school them into nochancalance.
"Yeah, yeah of course. That sounds good." He tried to smile, except his mouth ended up turning down instead of up. She frowned but made no comment of it.
"We'll head there now then, Ginny and Luna already set up there. Molly's bloody furious at the lot of us." Hermione winced.
"Molly? Weasley?"
Hermione snorted softly before her face settled back into a grimace. "She yelled at all of us, I've never seen her so angry. Makes sense I suppose, but still. I would've thought she would've been more understanding."
"Oh...Guess it's hard for her to accept that we're really at war." Draco shrugged, not knowing what else to do.
Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I know, it's hard for all of us to accept. But not thinking about it, or pretending it isn't real, isn't going to help anyone. People are dying, we need to do something before it's too late, while we still have a chance. And ugh-" She gripped at her hair, Draco half expected her to jump up from her chair and began pacing the room. Though he supposed that was something Harry would've done, not Hermione.
"I can't believe her! She knows people who died in the first war for goodness sake! More people are going to die no matter what, and-and-"
"Hey I know. I know this is real." He said quickly, not wanting her to start going off on a louder tangent and attract more people's attention.
"Sorry, it's not you I'm mad at." She took a long breath and stood up. "Come on, let's go." She placed a wad of bills on the table and jerked her chin towards the door.
Draco followed her out of the cafe, giving a small wave to the waitress who had gone to clean their table.
"Draco!" Hermione practically dragged him out of the cafe, muttering something under her breath.
Dear Potter,
It feels good to not be on my own. I didn't realize how much I appreciated having other people to talk to, but I really do. It feels nice not to just ramble on to you all the time. No offense meant, but you can't talk back to me. I wish I could send these letters. Perhaps I will one day. If the war is over and all is well...maybe I'll send these to you and you can find it in your heart to forgive me. We'll never have what we once did, yet I can't help but pray we might somehow still be friends. Part of my heart will always belong to you, and I think that means I'll be able to let you go. I think anyway. I got to Grimmauld place tonight. You never told me Kreacher was your house elf now. He was very happy to see me. I asked him if we wouldn't mind cooking something for us (Hermione got a little testy about that, not sure why) and his face broke into one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen. He's a damn good cook. Blinky's food hasn't been so good in the past few years, probably due to stress. The dark lord always scared the shite out of her. I can relate. We didn't do much planning today, and for that I'm sorry. Luna said we need to rest, even though none of us have done much quite yet, and most of us found ourselves agreeing. Hermione didn't say anything about it, just pressed her lips into a thin line and went off to go do something. I think she's lovesick. I saw her writing letters, Potter. I mean sure, she could be writing to her parents, or cousins, or someone else...but who writes letters to those kinds of people? No no no, letters are meant for love. Try and convince me otherwise. I bet she's writing to Weasley. Okay I'm sorry. It's honestly none of my business. I'm merely trying to keep my mind off bigger matters at hand. I should be thinking of a way to rescue you, I know I know. But everytime I think of possibilities my mind wanders to the fact that you don't remember me. And fuck it hurts so bad I can't even breath. I'm serious. Before writing this letter I began listing possibilities (even though Luna told me to rest, sorry love) and I had to stop because I got this tight pain in my chest. All of a sudden I couldn't breath and everything became fuzzy. I ended up ripping the paper to shreds. I mean who am I kidding. None of my ideas are that bright in the first place. Clearly. Sorry. I don't remember what I was trying to tell you. I guess the main idea of this whole letter is that we aren't going to give up on finding you. And after our brief rest today, we will be working to the bone until we find you. We're not just finding you because you're the only hope of this whole thing, trust me. We're going to find you because all of us love you dearly, and we cannot imagine a world without you. Even though a world where you don't remember me hurts like hell, I think a world where you didn't exist at all would be unbearable. Shite. I'm so screwed.
Sincerely,
Draco
The next morning Draco woke to soft giggles. Sleeping on the couch had been a bad idea. With his eyes still squeezed shut he sat up and wondered if he could leave the room without Luna and Ginny noticing. He did not want to know what they were doing. He stood up shakily and tried to take a step in what he hoped was the opposite direction.
"Draco you can open your eyes." Ginny laughed. "It's safe." Draco felt himself flush bright red. Oh. He opened his eyes uncertainly and stared at the two of them. Luna was sitting on the counter, her ankles crossed. And Ginny was sitting behind her, chin resting on her shoulder.
Merlin. This was going to be an awkward journey.
"Morning." Luna said dreamily, tilting her head up and smiling at the ceiling.
"Good Morning." he replied, giving the back of his neck a small squeeze. He was sore all over. Sleeping on the couch really had been a terrible idea.
"Hermione still not up?" Ginny said, more to herself than any of them, glancing at the clock.
Luna frowned and followed her gaze. "I guess not...She should be up by now it's past eight."
Draco felt his insides twist with worry.
"Should we go knock on her door?" Ginny asked Luna. She nodded and hopped off the counter.
Draco stayed standing, not knowing if it would be appropriate for him to follow.
"Will you make some coffee while we go check up on her Draco?" Ginny asked him, following Luna out of the room.
"Oh, er-yes of course." Draco didn't mention that he had no bloody idea how to make coffee. He'd never even watched someone do it. The two girls left the room and Draco wandered into the kitchen, feeling discouraged. He was useless. Merlin he couldn't even make coffee. How was he going to help rescue Harry when he couldn't even get them energized to do so? Draco began opening random drawers, hoping he would find coffee beans. Or grounds. Did one have to ground coffee beans before they made them into coffee? Could he perhaps get away with transfigurating water into coffee? Draco was contemplating doing just that when Ginny and Luna sprinted back into the room, their eyes wide with fear.
"She's not here! We checked she's not in her room, not anywhere in the house and she didn't leave a note!" Ginny was shaking her head in disbelief, Draco noticed her clench her trembling hands together.
Luna's eyes filled with tears of worry. "What if someone broke in? That's not...not possible right? We put up wards…"
"I can go out and check-" Draco started but was interrupted by the bang of the front door. The three of them pulled their wands out and pointed them at the intruder. Hermione walked in, yanking a slippery, silver cloak off her.
"You idiot." Ginny groaned, falling onto the couch. "You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack." She covered her eyes with her hands. Draco shared in the sentiment.
"Sorry." Hermione didn't look very sorry in Draco's opinion. He noticed the shadows under her eyes were more prominent than they had been before. She didn't look like she had slept at all.
"Where were you?" Luna asked softly, she sat on Ginny's leg and ran a finger along her calf. Draco bit back the jealousy rising in his throat.
"I have to tell you guys something, and I need you to believe me."
Ginny murmured something into her hands that sounded like I don't wanna know. Draco swallowed, he wasn't sure he wanted to know either.
"I…" Hermione began, then shook her head and sat on a stool. "Okay so I know it's going to sound insane."
"Come on, tell us! You worried us sick, we wanna know where the hell you went!" Ginny said, sitting up, nearly knocking Luna off her. Luna tapped lightly on Ginny's leg, as if asking her to calm down.
"Okay okay! I will. So I still had one of these in my bag." Hermione reached inside her pocket and pulled out the little gold coins they had used to communicate. Ginny opened her mouth but Luna nudged her, more firmly this time.
"And I was going to throw it away, because we can just make new ones now. But then I noticed that this one had a message on it." She showed them the coin, even though he couldn't read the message from here.
"It just said Severus on it." Draco cocked his head, confused. Severus...why would his name be on a coin?
"Professor Snape?" Luna asked, her face suddenly lit up in excitement.
"He was trying to send us a message wasn't he!"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "That can't be, we know he's not on our side now, he killed Dumbledore for crying out loud!"
"I know, that's what I thought too." Hermione nodded at Ginny. "But there's these numbers on it, under his name. It's an address."
"You didn't!" Ginny squawked, rising to her feet. "You went to the address didn't you? Are you insane? You could've been fucking kidnapped!"
All three of them stared at her in disbelief.
Color rose to her cheeks and Hermione stood as well, crossing her arms angrily.
"Well I wasn't, alright?"
"No! No not-"
"We can argue about this later." Draco broke in, it suddenly hit him what this might mean. "What happened when you went to the address?"
Hermione shot him a grateful look before continuing. "The address is here in London, so I could walk there." She explained.
"You walked!" Ginny was turning a bright angry red now.
"And I brought the invisibility cloak and waited outside." Hermione continued, ignoring Ginny. Well that was sort of smart. At least she hadn't broken in.
Draco nodded, doing his best to ignore Ginny's outraged squeaks in the background.
"I only had to wait ten minutes before Professor Snape came out. He didn't say anything to me, but he knew I was there. He dropped this on the ground for me to read." She fumbled in her pockets again and drew out a crumpled piece of paper. "Here." She shoved the paper at Draco, spots of color still high on her cheeks.
Draco took the paper and carefully uncrumpled it to read what it said.
Dear Draco and Ms. Granger,
It is my assumption that one of you will end up reading this, as both of you are my two most clever students. I am taking a huge risk in giving you this letter, so please do me the courtesy of reading it quite thoroughly and disposing of it properly. I understand that what I have done paints me in the worst of the light, however I ask that you listen fully to what I have to say. I am still a spy, and I intend to play my part till the very end. Albus Dumbledore was already dying when he asked me to kill him, he wanted me to take the part of Draco, who was intended to go through with the deed. I did as he asked and fled with the other death eaters. I will soon be the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, and I shall do my best to protect what students I can. Do not return, although I know you aren't stupid enough to even consider it. Help Potter escape is all I can ask of you two. And whomever else you have happened to drag along. I cannot give too much away in this letter, save it be taken by the wrong people. However I can tell you that I Will not Ask much moRe of you than this. You are Decidedly Still children, after all. Take care of yourselves.
Sincerely,
Professor Severus Snape
"Wards." Breathed Draco, staring at the letter in awe. His heart was pounding very fast now, and his mind was racing in excitement. Ginny, who had come to stand at his shoulder to read the letter, frowned.
"What's up with the last part? And bully for him, he's still an asshole."
"Ginny!" Luna said, with a groan.
"Alright, alright. I know you like him, but he sucks. Anyway, what were you saying about wards Draco?"
"That's what he wants us to know, that we can bring down the wards and then break Potter out. The wards must be what is keeping the charms in place." Draco nodded at Hermione who cracked a smile.
"That's what I was thinking too, do you know how to break the wards?" She asked him.
Draco shook his head no. "But I can't imagine it will be too difficult, at least now we know what we have to do."
"Exactly, and that brings us one step closer to getting Harry." Hermione said with a grim smile.
"Yes." Draco replied, trying not to let the guilt creep into his voice. He ignored the painful twisting of his stomach. Right now was a moment for celebration, not sorrow.
"Good job Hermione." Luna said softly, playing with a strand of her hair. "But why didn't you wait for us to get up?" Draco turned to look at Hermione. He wanted to know the same thing. She had scared them all to death for Merlin's sake.
She swallowed and turned to go into the kitchen. "I just thought it would be better to get a head start on things."
"A head start on things!" Ginny said in outrage, burying her face in her hands. "Hermione, no! You know we have to stick together, it's dangerous out there. And you're not going to do anyone any good if you get yourself killed!"
"I agree." Luna said simply, with a small nod.
"Thanks love." Ginny winked at her. Draco squeezed his eyes shut and turned his focus back to Hermione.
"She's right. All of us have to be careful, you know." He said as gently as he could.
Frown lines gathered on her forehead and she didn't respond for several seconds.
"Fine, I know. I won't do it again. I'm going to go make some coffee, I have a headache." And with that she stormed into the kitchen. Draco could hear the slam of the coffee pot and hear her hiss angry incantations.
"Bloody hell." Ginny muttered, rolling her eyes. Luna elbowed her.
"She's sad, give her a break."
Draco blinked. He wondered what was going on with her. Most likely it had something to do with Harry and Weasley, though something about that felt off.
"We all are." Ginny replied quietly, not sounding like herself anymore.
"It's going to be alright." Luna pressed a kiss to her forehead and Draco joined Hermione in the kitchen, pushing the memories of kisses like that to the back of his mind.
Dear Potter,
Most days I can pretend I didn't obliviate you. Then Luna and Ginny start making out. Every damn time I see them it reminds me of you and I. All the kisses, the hugs, even though there weren't that many to begin with. Every single one was special to me. I don't think I can ever forget any of them. I thought that I would be able to let you go. And now that I'm actually thinking it through, I don't know how that's even a possibility. I mean fuck, I've basically been in love with you since third year. And two years before that I was already obsessed with you. You've been such a large part of my life for so long, I literally can't imagine what it would be like for you to be gone. Well, I can. But then I experience chest pain, I can't breathe anymore, I start wheezing, I'm sure it's terrifying to watch. Although this doesn't just happen when I think about you, so I don't really know what is causing this strange experience. It's not that important right now. What I mean to say is, I don't know how I'm supposed to act when we rescue you. (That's right, I said it. When.) I don't know how well a job I did obliviating you, I can only guess that I did well enough to erase all your memories of me. But how am I supposed to pretend nothing happened? How am I supposed to act like another one of your friends? I don't know what to do. I'm half terrified I'll start bawling the moment we break you out. Merlin, just thinking about seeing you alive has my eyes welling with tears. I best go before I start crying and Luna comes in. She's always very keen to talk about feelings for some reason. I hope I see you soon, even though I don't know how I'll react quite yet.
Sincerely,
Your worst enemy
Draco was sitting in the kitchen very early one morning, drinking coffee that Hermione had taught him how to make, when he heard a frantic knock at the door. Immediately he stiffened, and placed his cup of coffee down on the counter. Slowly he drew his wand from his pocket and crept towards the front door.
"It's me." Croaked Hermione's voice from outside the door. His first instinct was to fling open the door and make sure she was alright, but he held himself back.
"Proof?" he asked, hand already on the handle.
"I know…" Her voice was weak, and he could tell her breathing was heavy. "I know about you and-and Harry." He swung the door open and there on the doorstep was Hermione. Bleeding all over it. There was a gash on her side that was rapidly leaking blood. The fuck?
He did his best to carry her over to the couch without jostling her further. She was muttering something, but he couldn't understand a word she was saying. Okay, okay, okay. Draco didn't know what to do. He was shite at healing spells. And his hands were shaking so hard he didn't trust himself to do it. He turned to go get Ginny or Luna but a hand on his arm stopped him.
"No…" she whispered. "I don't want them to see."
His eyes widened. "Well I'm not going to just let you die! I don't know what the bloody hell to do!" He said angrily, his voice rising. Why why why, had she left the house without someone again?
"Towels…" Her eyelids were fluttering shut and she seemed to be getting paler by the second.
"Okay, towels." He turned and went to go get Luna. He felt like he was going to be sick. What if she died? No. No she wasn't going to die. Draco would not allow that. He knocked on the door where Luna and Ginny had gone to sleep.
"Guys!" He called, his voice high and panicked. Normally he would've tried to be the calm one in this situation, but the fact that Hermione was bleeding out on the couch and he had no idea how to help her was scaring the shite out of him.
"Urgh, what?" Came Ginny's sleepy voice. He heard soft footsteps approach and Luna opened the door, her hair messily strewn across her face.
"Draco?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Then she saw the look on her face and she paled. "What is it? What happened?"
"It's Hermione, she went out again and came back. She's hurt, really hurt, and I don't know what to do-"
"Okay, show me. I'll get my wand." Luna hurried back into the room and came out with her wand, an angry Ginny trailing behind her.
"She did not leave the house again. Tell me she did not leave without one of us again." She said, her lips pressed tightly together.
"Ginny, there's no use in getting mad at her right now. We have to help her." Luna ran down the stairs to where Hermione lay on the couch, in a pool of her own blood.
Ginny gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Merlin...I'm going to get towels Luna." She sprinted off in the other direction, as Luna approached Hermione.
"Told. You." Hermione gasped, raising a finger at Draco.
"Shhh. I need to think." Luna muttered. She clamped her lips together firmly, though Draco didn't miss the fact that she was shaking like mad. He wiped at his eyes, now was really not the time for him to fall apart. But fuck it. He hated feeling so helpless.
She gave Draco a worried look. "I can bandage her wounds after we staunch the blood flow. After that though...we're going to need potions. And I don't think the mending charm is supposed to be used on wounds like this." Her eyes filled with tears and she moved closer to Draco so Hermione couldn't hear. "We're really going to need to get potions Draco. She might-she might die if we don't." She pressed a hand to her mouth and let the tills spill over.
He nodded even as he was internally screaming about the fact that by the time they found potions, it might be too late. Healing potions weren't just sold anywhere.
"Okay here." Ginny ran back into the room with a bunch of towels in her arms. She shoved them at Luna and quickly backed away.
"Sorry sorry." She said, screwing her eyes shut. "Blood, you know how it makes me."
"It's okay, Draco will help." Luna handed him a towel and began instructing him. "So you're going to hold this to her side, and I'm going to take off her shirt so we can clean her up a little better."
"I'll get her some water for when she wakes up." Ginny said, turning on her heel and practically sprinting out of the room. Draco pressed the towel to Hermione's side as gently as he could.
"Is she okay?" he asked Luna, motioning his head to where Ginny had run to. Mostly just to get his mind off the blood covering his hands.
"I think so, it's mostly because of the chamber back in first year. It's not really my place to tell you, but you can ask her later. She's pretty open about it now." Luna said quietly, as she peeled Hermione's shirt off as gently as she could.
"Oh, that must've been hard for her. I mean the chamber and all." He replied, fighting the urge to yank his hands away from the sticky blood. He closed his eyes briefly, willing himself to remember that Hermione would've done the same for him. At least, he hoped she would.
Luna was silent for a little while before she responded. She had finally worked Hermione's shirt off and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it aside. It wasn't until the blood flow had finally slowed down that she spoke again. She muttered an incantation and bandages sprung from her wand and wrapped themselves gently around the wound. She sat back on her heels and sighed.
"I don't think anyone really thought about how hard it was. She was only 11, she didn't know what was happening." Luna shook her head, and to Draco's surprise anger flashed in her eyes. "I can't believe no one noticed. An adult I mean."
Draco felt something icy brush against his insides. That was true. He had never thought about that before. Someone should've noticed when an 11 year old girl was possessed and wandering around the castle covered in blood at odd hours. A newfound admiration for Ginny Weasley sprung up inside him.
Abruptly Hermione gasped and attempted to sit up.
"No! Stay there." Luna shook her head frantically and grabbed her hand. "You can't move, you'll start bleeding again."
Hermione's eyes widened, and a smile began to spread across her face. "The wards, I know how to take down the wards in your house Draco." Well that surely wasn't what Draco had been expecting.
"You mean to tell me that you couldn't wait for one of us before leaving?" Ginny stormed back into the room and pushed a glass of water into Luna's hands. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at Hermione angrily. "Look what happened to you! Why are you doing this to us Hermione? Why are you doing this to yourself?" Furious tears were welling in her eyes as she gestured at Hermione.
"I'm sorry." she said quietly, looking ashamed. "But I-"
"I know you found the answer! Okay, but that doesn't matter now because what if-" A sob escaped her and she left the room. A door slammed upstairs. What if you die?
Draco shuddered a shallow breath and stared at Luna. Her eyes were wide with fear.
"Er...I'm going to be fine guys." Hermione blushed, and fixed her gaze on the ceiling. "Really."
"You don't know that." Luna snapped, she used the same tone Draco had often heard when she was furious with him. Hermione blinked and opened her mouth to reply, however Luna was already following Ginny out of the room.
"Please don't tell me you're going to leave me too." she said desperately, her voice tight with pain. Draco sighed and sat on the couch at her feet.
"No, I'll stay. I have to go out and find potions soon though." He pressed a hand to his eyes before glancing back at her. "We don't have any here, and you're going to need them soon."
Her brows pinched together and Draco knew if she could, she would've been pacing the room.
"Oh, sorry. Should I tell you about the wards now in case…" she trailed off and Draco didn't catch what she meant until her eyes filled with tears and she closed her eyes.
"Fuck, you're not going to die. We're not going to let you."
"I know, I'm sorry." She repeated, eyes still closed. Vaguely, Draco heard a door creak open and he realized Luna and Ginny were probably listening to their conversation.
"Well, just focus on getting better." He almost said that it was fine, but it wasn't. Not in the slightest.
She nodded quickly. "I will. The wards…" Draco let out a strangled laugh. Merlin nothing could shake her focus.
"Alright then, tell me about the wards."
Dear Potter,
One rather awful thing has happened of late, however I suppose something good has come out of it. First off I want you to know that Hermione isn't going to die. Because I'm going to break into my house, find some damn potions, and take you with me when I leave. Sure, this could go terribly terribly wrong. But Granger needs potions and I need you, so fuck it. Really there isn't anything else we can do. I hope you don't punch me when I rescue you. I feel sick every time I think about it. I know what's going to happen when I see you again, and yet I still delude myself into thinking we're going to make out once it's safe. I'm going to end it here and stop torturing myself. I leave very soon after all. See you soon Potter.
Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy
After heaving in the bathroom, Draco hugged Luna, waved farewell to Hermione and Ginny, and walked out the front door. Everyone had decided it was best for him to go alone, in case he was captured. That way not as many of them would be put into danger. Draco's stomach was burning with anticipation and nerves. Breaking into one's own home was completely thrilling, who would've guessed. He apparated to the back of his house and closed his eyes briefly. He could do this. He was going to do this right.
"You're going to need to put some of your blood on the house, and after that say your name. If I'm correct, which I don't mean to sound conceited but I know I am, the wards should fall for a couple seconds. Then you can go in. Once you're inside you can bring them down permanently since the house will have recognised you. You can get the potions, and then get Harry and you should be able to apparate right back. I think."
Well hopefully Hermione knew what she was talking about. Apparently she had gone back to her own home to experiment with wards, and in doing so she had discovered the trick to getting them to fall from the outside. In her haste to get back to Grimmauld place before the rest of them woke up, she hadn't been paying attention. And a snatcher had cursed her. She managed to apparate to the front doorstep, practically bleeding out. Since then she had regained some of her color, but without a blood replenishing potion she was still extremely weak.
Draco drew in a breath and took out a small knife. He slashed his palm quickly and held it to the house like she had said. Something in his chest pulled. Was that a sign it had worked?
He tried the back door. It swung open easily. He resisted the urge to laugh hysterically.
Draco wanted to sprint in the other direction. Every bone in his body seemed to scream at him to run. This wasn't his home. This was where he had been forced into taking the dark mark, where-
Stop it.
What mattered was getting out of here as swiftly as possible. Steeling himself, he walked into his house and let the door click shut behind him. Okay. First up. Potions. Severus kept some stored in the basement he believed. Fuck he really hated the basement. His father had locked him in there for three hours once. He didn't even remember what he had done. Draco listened for a beat, praying he didn't hear the quiet murmuring of a death eater meeting. Then he frowned. Now that he thought about it, his dark mark should've been stinging whenever meetings were called. Granted he had barely been gone a week so perhaps they hadn't had a meeting. Yet...something didn't sit right with him. Well now wasn't really the time to contemplate such thoughts. After only silence answered him, he crept down the basement stairs. Trying to make as little noise as possible, in case someone happened to be home. After shakily shoving the correct potions into a bag, he speed walked up the stairs, accidentally slamming the door behind him.
He winced, waiting for someone to come running. The house stayed eerily quiet. This was fucking creepy. After no one attacked him, he flung himself down the stairs to the dungeons. All the thoughts seemed to flow out of his brain. Only a name was wrapping itself around Draco again and again. It was pitch black down there.
"Lumos." He murmured, holding his wand aloft.
"Hello?" Came a shaky voice. Draco nearly fell to his knees. In hindsight it shouldn't have shaken him so much. He hadn't been gone that long. Yet something in Harry's voice caused something in Draco to unravel.
"It's...Draco. Malfoy." He sputtered, trying to get a grip on himself.
"Malfoy?" Draco pressed a hand to his mouth and swallowed hard. So Harry only remembered the worst enemies thing. He couldn't decide if that was better or worse than having been erased completely. After blinking furiously he stepped forward and illuminated Harry's face. His eyes widened as Harry realized it was in fact his worst enemy who had come to see him.
"What are you doing?" He asked sharply. Draco didn't reply. He was too busy scanning Harry to make sure he was unhurt. At least visibly. There was a bruise on his face, and he was rather dirty, but other than that he seemed unharmed. Draco blew out a breath.
"Bombarda will probably work the best for breaking the cell. I'm not sure alohamora will work this time."
"Stand back please." He said in a low voice, raising his wand. Harry narrowed his eyes but did as he said.
Draco pretended his hand wasn't shaking as he said, "Bombarda." And the cell door exploded. Wow. Draco hadn't actually expected this to be so easy.
"How did you-how?" Harry stared at him unbelievingly. "Snape tried that a couple days ago." He said in such a low tone Draco almost didn't hear.
"Severus was here?" He asked, not sure he had heard right. Harry stared at him with an odd expression on his face.
"Er-yeah. He's come almost every day actually, he doesn't talk though. It's kind of creepy." He shrugged and came to stand next to Draco. He was shaking, his left hand kept twitching oddly.
"What did they do to you?" Draco blurted before he could stop himself. Harry eyed him warily.
"Cruciatus, Voldemort slapped me once." He pointed at the bruise on his face. Draco's chest squeezed and he reminded himself to breathe. He couldn't lose it now, they still had to get out of here.
"Will you come with me? I-er, Her-" He paused and realized he should probably refer to everyone by their surname so as to not freak Harry out. "Granger, Lovegood, and the Weasley girl, we're all staying at Grimmauld place."
Harry blinked a few times. "No offense or anything, Malfoy, but I really don't trust you."
Shite. He supposed that made sense but they really shouldn't stay here much longer.
"Look." He started, fumbling for a good reason. He was about to continue when there was a flash of light and Harry collapsed. For a second Draco thought he was dead, and he raised his wand to kill whoever had done so, but it was only Severus. Of course it was.
"He wouldn't have gone with you willingly." Severus said tonelessly.
"I had it under control." Draco snapped, crossing his arms. Why was it that Severus always deemed to show up at the most dramatic of moments?
"Yes, obviously. Are you going to carry him or shall I?" He asked, giving Draco a slow blink.
"What-what, no!" He said. "You're not coming with me!"
"I believe I am, whether you want me to or not."
"Fine. Whatever, come along then. You can carry him, I have this." He held up the bag of potions. Severus raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Been stealing from me?"
"Yes." He replied flatly, not even bothering to look at the man. Flashes of anger had risen inside him, and he wasn't quite sure why. Severus was only trying to help. At least he hoped he was trying to help.
Severus gathered Harry in his arms and inclined his head towards the stairs. "Lead the way then."
Draco gritted his teeth and brushed past them. If he wasn't scared out of his wits, he would've stomped up the stairs like a child. Once he got up the stairs he realized now was the time to bring the wards down. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and let the feeling of magic rushing around him overtake him. He felt a tingle pass through him, and he knew anyone else in the house would feel the same.
"I can apparate." Draco spoke softly, holding out hand to touch Severus's arm.
"Don't splinch us please." Draco glared at him and was about to flourish his wand, yet he felt a prickling at the back of his neck. That was when he should've left. He should've gotten them out of there as quickly as possible. Yet his stomach squeezed and he lowered his wand, searching.
"Draco." Severus warned, his voice low.
"Someone…"
"Ah, yes." Came his father's cool voice. "Someone indeed." A bead of cold sweat trickled down his back. He felt nauseated. He had never realized how much he hated his father's voice. How much he hated his father in general actually.
"What do you want?" Draco asked. His voice shook and his father laughed, shaking his head.
"Some son you are. I just came to give you your going away gift. Since I did not get the pleasure of doing so last time." His father smirked and strode over to them, not even glancing at Severus and Harry. With a jolt Draco realized the pair must be invisible.
Draco was ready to say fuck you, before two specks of spit landed on his face. Any words Draco had thought to say got burned in the back of his throat. His father had just spit on him. What the actual fuck. Lucius was smiling at him still, a wild kind of pleasure alight in his eyes. Draco made a choking sound. He recoiled, not even having the capacity to feel embarrassed as he flinched away from his father.
"Nothing to say now boy?" Lucius asked, eyes still glittering. Mutely, Draco fumbled for Severus's arm. He had to get out of here. He nearly vomited all over his father as he was yanked away, twisting and turning. Severus must've deemed him unfit to apparate. Which was pretty true at the moment.
Dear Potter,
You are not speaking to me. You've spoken to everyone else, even Severus. I couldn't believe my own ears when I heard the two of you talking quietly in the kitchen. I didn't make much effort to speak to you either at first. I had some weird chest pain, and my breathing became incredibly difficult. I stayed in there for a couple hours before Ginny pounded on the door and told me to get out before she broke down the door. I bet she would've. Hermione's going to be okay though, I'm glad. I won't pretend I wasn't worried sick. Everyone's still pissed at her though. I don't understand why she would do something so incredibly stupid. I mean she's literally the smartest person in all of Hogwarts. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if she was the smartest person in the whole wizarding world. No matter. She's safe now at least. I tried talking to you the other day, but you left the room right as I entered. I certainly helped no one told you about our history, and then what I did. I don't think anyone would have. Hopefully that is. I wonder what you do remember of me. All the terrible stuff I guess. That doesn't erase the sting I feel every time I see you though. You're still beautiful. Merlin. I'm doomed. I'm going to go wallow now Potter. There doesn't seem to be much else I can do at the moment.
Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy
Draco flung his letter box under the couch as Severus walked into the room. Draco was honestly surprised that he was still here. For sure he had thought that he would've left by now. However he seemed to want to stay to make sure Hermione healed properly and they knew what they were doing. It quickly became clear to Severus that they were a lost cause. No one knew where Weasley was, it seemed he had done his job of disappearing almost too well. And Potter kept mentioning something about finding artifacts or something or other. Draco didn't know what was happening anymore. He had given up trying to keep track of the disaster they were stuck in.
Severus raised his eyebrows at him but said nothing. Draco crossed his arms and looked away.
"Doing well Draco?" he asked softly. Draco pressed his lips together to stop them from shaking. Hot tears burned the back of his eyes and he squeezed them shut briefly.
"Yeah...I'm doing alright." He shrugged and made to leave the room, but Severus laid a hand on his arm, stopping him.
"Potter-"
"I obliviated him, yes. It doesn't matter anymore so there's really nothing to say about the whole matter. I don't know why you even brought him up, it's not like I bloody care!" Draco babbled, unable to stop the words from falling out of his mouth. Severus took a step back, as if the rush of emotion was too much for him to be around. Draco was horrified to find tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. Shite. Yet he couldn't move. He should've sprinted out of the room as soon as the tears started falling but the only thing he could seem to do was stand there, shaking. He ran an unsteady hand through his hair and tried to breathe. Severus stood there for a beat before placing an unsure hand on his shoulder.
For some reason that only made Draco sob harder. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He knew that he and Harry were supposed to be together. But Harry didn't remember that, and he never would. He would never know about their history together, about how they were so in love that they decided to go against Severus's demand and stay in a relationship. How Draco had tried, and failed, to teach Harry occlumency.
Neither of them said anything. Draco was fairly sure Severus thought he was incredibly stupid for letting his heart get the best of him.
That same day Severus left and they were alone again. The five of them were in the living room, warming themselves by the heat made him feel sick. Draco was listening to everyone talk about founding Weasley, he didn't have the heart to participate in the conversation. It wasn't like he ever came up with any good ideas. Harry and Hermione kept giving each other side glances, as if they knew something that the rest of them didn't. After what must have been the fifth side glance Ginny exploded on the pair of them.
"Alright! What is it you aren't telling us?" She demanded, glaring at them angrily. Draco was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of her anger.
"Er-We can't really tell you, Dumbledore-"
"Is dead." Ginny said flatly, finishing Harry's sentence for him.
Hermione gave Harry a look. "She's right, you know, I think they deserve to know."
Harry looked torn for a brief moment before speaking again. "Alright, but I don't want him in the room when I tell you guys." He jerked his head towards Draco. He felt as if he was being stabbed in the chest over and over again.
"Harry!" Hermione's eyes grew wide and she shot an apologetic look towards Draco. "He rescued you, you have to remember that!"
"Yeah well, he's also the reason I was there in the first place." Harry replied darkly, curling his hands into fists. Draco couldn't breathe. He was right after all.
"I trust Draco." Luna said firmly, without the usual airiness to her voice.
"I know you guys do, but after everything I have a hard time believing he's really on our side."
Hermione, Ginny, and Luna glanced at each other uncertainly.
"Look, Harry-"
"It's fine, I understand. I'll be upstairs." Draco said stiffly, not looking at any of them as he hurried out of the room. The stairs creaked eerily as he walked up them, trying to ignore the sound of hushed voices from downstairs. He wandered down the hall, not knowing which room to go into. Finally he stopped at a room marked Regulus Arcturus Black. He frowned, he didn't know much about Sirius's brother. He hesitated a brief moment before pushing the door open and stepping inside. The room was covered in dust, and looked as though no one had been in there for years.
Draco wracked his brains to see if he remembered ever hearing anything about Regulus.
He was a traitor, did you know that cissy? Bellatrix's voice came back to him. Last summer he remembered the hushed (on his mother's part) conversation, where Regulus came up. He frowned and sat on the edge of the dusty bed, having nothing better to do than to sit there and try to distract himself. He picked up an old picture sitting on the nightstand. In it a young Sirius had his arm thrown around his brother, squeezing him close. Draco blinked. Odd. He wouldn't have thought the Black brothers would've been close.
Dear Potter,
Hermione is a good friend. She told me about the horcruxes. I guess I see why you didn't want to tell me. In the case that I actually am a terrible person and rat you out to the dark lord. It makes sense. Yet something has been nagging at me this whole time. Why is it that you trusted Severus (who bullied you for several years I might add) yet you do not trust me? Whatever, it's fine. It's not actually. I'm not. But I'm going to pretend everything is just bloody brilliant. Because honestly, what else is there for me to do? Potter, I'm very tired of everything. I know it's apparently too much to ask, but I want to be happy. I want to be happy and in love, and fuck, I want a normal life. I have complained about this before, but I am going to again, because I feel sorry for myself. You have it much worse, I am sure, yet I am currently drowning in self pity because you won't even look at me without disgust written all over your face. Shite. I'm crying again. Why is it that this always happens? Why do I seem to cry all the bloody time now? It's fucking annoying. I'm basically a waterfall.
Sincerely,
Your worst enemy (and yes I still hate you)
A few weeks later they found themselves breaking into the ministry. Of course it fell upon Draco to be the distraction. He wasn't even polyjuiced, just to ensure that every single eye in the room would be drawn to him. Hermione had come up with this idea actually. Once again, she was correct. While the rest of them snuck into the Ministry, intending to go steal the horcrux that they didn't know where it was, he was to walk into the middle of the Ministry. Where the most employees would be, and yell that he had seen Harry Potter. Draco was a wanted man himself, and Hermione's idea had been for him to pretend to sell Harry out. Which actually, worked out quite brilliantly.
"Hey! I know where Harry Potter is!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, doing his best to look confident. He crossed his arms and glared at everyone, praying the lot of them could hurry the hell up. All the chatter in the room went deadly silent, and hundreds of heads swept his way. Draco blinked, then continued.
"I know where Harry Potter is, and if you pardon me, I will tell you exactly where he is!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed several people creeping towards him, wands already poised to attack. Then he glimpsed someone shake their head slightly. He gave his silent thanks to that person.
"Alright." A witch wearing bright green robes spoke first. "We will hear you out and then decide what to do with you."
Those hadn't been Draco's terms but he was willing to compromise. He cleared his throat dramatically.
"Yes, okay. Harry Potter is-" He broke off, horrified to actually see Harry and Ginny creeping slowly behind the crowd of people. The bloody hell were they doing? They couldn't find another exit?
The crowd began to murmur and Draco hastily continued. "In Muggle London, he met up with me there a couple days ago. Apparently he assumed he could trust me." He laughed, but it was hollow to his ears.
"Muggle London is huge, how the bloody hell is that supposed to help us!" Someone in the crowd yelled.
"I guess it's a good start." Another person muttered.
"NO!" A shrill voice shot through the collected voices. "HE'S RIGHT THERE!" Screams began as people surged towards where Harry and Ginny had begun sprinting towards the fire places.
"CATCH HIM!" Draco recognized the voice of Dolores Umbridge as she chased after them, her wand raised, face twisted in fury.
In the chaos Draco took the chance to sprint after them, dodging curses all the while. He watched as Harry and Ginny were pulled into the fireplace, and disappeared. Where were Hermione and Luna? He wanted to stay and find them, but he knew that if he stayed there wouldn't be any hope for him. He would be captured and sent to Azkaban, where he would be of no help to anyone. Among the curses, he apparated out of the ministry. Dear Merlin he hoped he didn't splinch himself.
Draco apparated in front of Grimmauld place and fell to his knees panting. A dawning realization hit him. Hermione and Luna were still in the Ministry. All of a sudden a weight was being pressed down on his chest, and tears leaked from the corner of his eyes. They were still in there, they had left them there. Without meaning to, he began rocking back and forth, trying to get a grip on himself. He was fine. He should be getting inside and discussing a plan. Not vibrating on the front steps. He wasn't helping anyone, he was a fucking failure.
"Draco! Merlin, I thought you were still stuck there!" Ginny's voice sounded far away to his ears. He felt as if he was watching the scene unfold from above. He could see himself, arms wrapped snugly around his knees, breathing harshly.
"Shite, are you hurt? Hang on." Her footsteps retreated hastily. She was going to leave him out here, she didn't want him coming back inside because he was a miserable excuse for a human. Honestly he didn't really deserve to be let back in.
"...I don't bloody care, help me! I'm not equipped for this sort of thing!" Ginny's voice came through the pool of his own thoughts.
"Fine, fine. Jeez, Ginny don't look at me like that."
"Prat."
Draco tried to take a breath, however he ended up choking on air and hacking.
"Oh, er...are you hurt?" Funnily enough, Potter's voice brought him back to reality. His thoughts trickled down to a small stream and his vision grew less fuzzy.
"Yeah, I'll come inside in a second." he replied, too tired to be embarrassed by the roughness in his voice.
"Alright…"
"Are you mental! We can't leave him outside!" Ginny yelled. Draco could picture her with her hands on her hips, glaring at Harry. He was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that glare.
"Er, right. Can you walk?" Draco was finally able to draw a shuddering breath into his lungs and he stood, not looking at either of them.
"Hermione and Luna are okay, they were being chased and they ended up bumping into dad." Ginny brushed a hand against her eyes. "They're safe now, and dad knows where Ron is so that's good."
Harry nodded, although he said nothing. Nearly all of the air rushed out of Draco's lungs. They were safe. It wasn't his fault.
"Come on then, I'm hungry." Ginny grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder.
Dear Draco,
It's risky of me to send this. But when haven't I been doing insanely risky things in the past couple weeks? I'm sorry I chastised you for sending me a letter. I understand now that you were desperate, as I am now. It's not so much that I am in need of your help, actually I think we're making excellent progress at the moment. It's that, well, I need someone to talk to. I used to think we had nothing in common, though clearly I was sorely mistaken. I realized how much you were keeping to yourself for years, and I wish I had been there for you to confide in. I know you haven't agreed to be my listening ear, but I am going to ask you too anyway. I'm so fucking lonely Draco. I don't know what's happening to me. I didn't tell you this, but I obliviated my parents, so they would be safe. Very similar to what happened with you and Harry. I can't really tell anyone else this because they won't understand. They can be sympathetic of course, yet no one will really know the agony that everyday life has become. I tried to be a good daughter. However something says I just messed up everything even more. If my parents ever do get their memories back, will they even love me anymore? I took everything from them, how could they ever forgive me? This, this is the reason I can't stop doing dangerous things. Because what does all of it matter anymore? Some days I feel so much I can't breathe, and most days I feel nothing at all. I feel nothing, and then I feel everything. I don't think I'm doing well, Draco. But I don't get to complain. My parents are safe, and at the moment so am I. That's enough feeling sorry for myself for now. How are you faring? You lot are safe right? Don't try to meet up with us, I think we've decided it's best to split up so we can get horcruxes killed faster. I believe Ron is going to meet up with us soon. I'm rather excited about that. Even though you haven't replied yet I do feel a bit better. Just knowing you're reading this brings me quite a bit of comfort. You're a good friend Draco, and for what it's worth, you were a really good boyfriend to Harry too. Take care of yourself.
Sincerely,
Hermione Granger
Draco set the letter down gently, then wiped at his eyes with one hand. That certainly had not been what he was expecting when he had received a letter from Granger. It was still a shock to him that she had chosen him to confide in, rather than Ginny or Harry. She probably didn't know how rubbish he was at comforting people. He blew out a breath and lay down on the floor. Suddenly, he felt very tired. He heard the distant murmuring of Harry and Ginny speaking, the sound soothed him into a fitful sleep. The last thing he saw before his eyes fell shut was his box of letters. That really shouldn't be in the open for anyone to see. Draco reached a hand to grab it and hold it safe, however his eyes seemed to be like weights now and he knew nothing more.
"Fuck." A shaky voice had his eyes opening slowly. Draco groaned and sat up. Why had he decided to sit on the floor? The couch was right next to him, but no, he had practically collapsed on the floor. Draco stretched a little and yawned. His vision was still blurry from sleep. There was a figure holding something in front of him, a box it looked like. He shook his head a little and stood shakily.
Harry stood there. With his box of letters in his hands. His box, filled with letters from over six years, was in Harry Potter's hands. Except the letters weren't in the box anymore. They were strewn all over the floor and the couch. Harry was staring at him, eyes wide and mouth parted.
Draco let out a small, muffled sound. Harry must've read all of them by the looks of it.
"Hey, do you think it's safe to get takeaway for dinner?" Ginny came into the room holding a small folded paper. "This Indian place looks really good and-" She stopped short, raising her eyebrows. "What were you guys doing?"
Neither of them said a word. Draco and Harry continued to stare at each other, the silence stretching painfully. Ginny's smile fell into a frown as she surveyed the scene.
Harry opened then closed his mouth. Draco clamped his lips together to keep them from trembling. He felt naked. Those were only meant for him. Those letters were his most secret possessions, he had never meant for anyone to see them. All of a sudden anger bubbled inside of him and he was finally able to speak.
"Fuck you." He said, surprised at the amount of venom in his voice. Harry flinched and dropped the box. It fell to the floor with a soft clack.
"Letters." Ginny whispered, shaking her head a little as if she couldn't believe it.
"Yeah. My letters." He gritted his teeth and glared at Harry. How could he? How could he read every single one of those letters? He must've been asleep for a while, if he had had time to read all of them. Harry had grown so pale his lips had started to go white.
"Sorry." he said in such a low tone Draco almost didn't hear him.
"Shite, were all of these letters to him?" Ginny addressed Draco, regaining some of her composure.
Draco folded his arms and turned to her sullenly. "Yes." He said stiffly.
Harry said something he didn't catch, then turned away and ran up the stairs. Ginny inhaled sharply and fell back onto the couch. She landed on top of some letters and grabbed them, then flung them out from under her. Draco sat on an armchair, feeling hollow inside all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry." Ginny said, she was surveying his face, hands resting comfortably on her stomach. Draco shrugged, not really wanting to talk about this anymore.
"I know nothing excuses what he just did." Ginny began.
"Bloody right." he muttered, turning his gaze upward.
Ginny continued as if she hadn't heard him. "But he's been having these flashbacks and memory blanks lately. I'm not sure the obliviate worked quite as you intended…"
"Oh." He set his jaw. "I probably botched it, I was kind of distracted when I did the spell."
At the moment he didn't have it in him to be feeling sorry for Harry. Even though a small part of his brain was telling him that he would end up forgiving him sooner or later.
"It's scary. Having blanks in your memory." Ginny said softly, after a long stretch of silence. His conversation with Luna from a couple weeks ago poked at his memory. She was only 11, she didn't know what was happening.
"The chamber…" He started, not knowing fully what he wanted to say.
"I would wake up covered in blood. I was always terrified it was my own, after I was so paranoid I had killed someone." Her voice was calm, yet her eyes held a faraway look that made Draco repress a shudder.
"That must've been fucking scary." He replied. Not for the first time Draco wished he was better at comforting people.
Ginny laughed and shook her head. "You have no idea." She sat up suddenly, looking Draco dead in the eye.
"It's been sort of like that for him too, recently at least. He told me he has flashbacks about the two of you, and there are odd spaces of time he doesn't remember anymore. That have nothing to do with you." She twisted her hands together. "You have every right to be furious, believe me, I would be fucking pissed. But he wanted to know, I suppose, about what was happening in those memories and he thought those letters had the answers to all of his questions."
"They did." He rapsed, suddenly overcome with emotion.
"Oh you're such a softie damnit." Ginny laughed, her voice thick with tears. "I'm gonna hug you, alright?" She came over to him and threw her arms around him. He half sobbed, half laughed as she held him. The two of them practically hysterical.
"I think everything is going to work out." She said after they had calmed down a little.
He shrugged, not wanting to tell her that he didn't have much hope for anything anymore.
"Luna told me, trust me. She knows what she's talking about." Ginny nodded seriously at him. Draco couldn't help breaking into a grin and shaking his head.
"Yeah, she sure does doesn't she."
Dear Potter,
It feels strange writing to you now knowing that you've finally read all of my other letters. I think I might actually give this one to you, as there's really nothing for me to lose anymore. I was angry, extremely angry, with you at first. A part of me still is. Though after quite a bit of contemplation I have come to terms to why you read all of my letters. I'm sorry I botched the obliviate. I don't think I was trying very hard to do it correctly and now you're paying for my mistakes. I hope you can forgive me for that. I don't know how to be around you anymore. It scares me, you know everything about me, and I still don't know that much about you. I was speaking to Ginny a few nights ago, and she told me that you hardly ever talk about yourself. And when you do you always seem to be uncertain. I have no idea what your family is like, you told me you wanted to be an auror after Hogwarts a while ago, but I'm fairly certain that you were lying. If it is alright with you, I would like to get to know you. We haven't spoken more than a few words together since that particular incident, and I was wondering if it would be easier for the both of us if we write to each other instead? Sure it may seem incredibly sappy and a bit stupid as we sleep a couple feet away from each other, yet something tells me that this is a good idea. Normally I'm full of terrible, reckless ideas, but I don't feel a looming sense of dread so I must be right. I won't be offended if you don't want to. I merely wanted to try, because I miss you.
Sincerely,
Draco
Draco rose to his feet and crept up the stairs. He didn't want to wake anyone with the terrible creaking noise they always seemed to make. It was so early in the morning it was basically still night. He was very sure Ginny would have his head if he woke her up at this hour. She was by no means a morning person. His heart stuttered a bit as he stopped in front of Harry's bedroom. He could still destroy this letter. Half of him wanted to rip it to shreds and never think about it again. However the other half of him, the lovesick half, was filled with so much hope at what would happen if he gave this letter to Harry. He leaned his forehead against the door and took in a quiet breath. Slowly, he slipped the letter under the door and sat down on the stairs. He was surprised to find that he felt no sense of dread. Only excitement. Draco couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He didn't even know what Harry would think of it. Yet he was already so blissfully happy, any sense of dread was banished to a faraway place in his mind.
He sat there for so long that early morning light finally soaked through the curtains and into the dim hallway.
He heard the creak of a bed and hurried down the stairs, not wanting to be caught sitting there.
He started a pot of coffee and hummed lightly to himself. He heard the shower turn on upstairs and stiffened. Wait. Did that mean that Harry had read the letter by now? What if he hadn't read the letter at all and decided to fling it in the trash? He sucked in a breath and stood, not knowing what he intended to do.
Ginny came stumbling down the stairs, rubbing at her eyes.
"You make a lot of noise." She muttered, sitting down at the counter grumpily.
"Er-sorry, about that." He shrugged and went to take another cup out of the cabinet.
"Thanks." She grumbled, taking the mug of coffee from him and dumping what looked like a cup of sugar into it.
"No problem." He sat back down heavily, wishing Harry would just get down here already so he could gage his reaction.
After a long slurp Ginny said, "You wrote him another letter didn't you."
Draco nearly spit out his coffee and proceeded to spend the next two minutes choking on it. "How-how-" he sputtered.
"I don't know. Luna must be rubbing off on me. Fuck I miss her." Ginny set down her mug with a clack and sighed dramatically.
"You two are kind of ridiculous."
"We aren't ridiculous." Draco snapped, rubbing at his temples. Great. Now he was getting a stress headache. Maybe this whole thing was ridiculous.
" I think Harry is going to go to London later under the invisibility cloak, you should go with him." Ginny said conversationally, crossing her legs to try and appear more nonchalant.
Draco perked up. "Oh...he is?"
Ginny took another loud slurp and glared at him. "That's what I just said."
He chewed on his lower lip. "Alright, I'll ask him later then." He grinned at her.
She snorted into her mug, shoulders shaking.
"Go on then." She nodded upstairs. The shower was off now, and he could hear Harry moving around in the room upstairs.
"Right now?" he asked, suddenly feeling his pulse begin to race.
"Merlin." She groaned, burying her head in her arms and laying her head down on the table. "Spare me, it's too early for this conversation."
Draco sniffed. "Fine."
He couldn't believe it. Every single part of him was practically humming with excitement. Harry hadn't mentioned anything about the letter. But after a terribly awkward conversation he had agreed to let Draco go with him to Muggle London. Draco had absolutely no bloody idea what Harry was supposed to be doing in Muggle London, but honestly he didn't care. Ginny impatiently waved them off.
"Go on, go on. I'll be just fine here." She said impatiently, motioning them towards the door. Draco cast her a suspicious glance but she just smiled sweetly.
"Bye!" She said brightly, giving both of them a wave. Draco gave her a confused glance but she had already shut the door behind them. Both of them stood blinking in the sudden light. Clouds hung overhead, but as of the moment no rain had fallen.
Harry cleared his throat. "Alright then. I'll put the cloak over the both of us."
Draco swallowed, he could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage. "Okay."
The invisibility cloak was thrown over them and Draco marveled in the sensation.
After a flick of Harry's wand, and a loud pop, they were gone. Draco nearly fell on top of Harry as they appeared in Muggle London.
"Er...This way." Harry pointed a finger in the direction of a small cafe. Draco frowned. Why on earth were they going into a cafe? He had assumed they were supposed to be doing something productive.
"Alright…"
Harry made a noncommittal noise and they made their way in that direction. Once inside (they nearly knocked over a poor old lady on their way in, sorry miss) Harry took the invisibility cloak off of them.
Draco whipped his head to look at Harry. "Are you mental? What if someone recognizes us?"
Harry rolled his eyes and nodded pointedly at the empty cafe. There were two girls kissing in the corner booth, and a half asleep waitress leaning over the counter. Other than that however, there was no one.
"Oh."
"We'll apparate out if necessary." Harry said in a low voice. Draco shivered. He could feel his warm breath on his ear.
Draco nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"Right then. Miss?" he asked, trying to wake the sleeping girl. She started and brushed the hair out of her eyes hastily.
"Sorry, you can seat yourselves. Be with you in a moment." She smiled and shook herself a little.
"Thanks." Draco said softly. She nodded and went into the kitchen.
"Over here alright?" Harry asked, pointing at an empty table near a window. Outside rain had started to fall lightly. Draco had always enjoyed watching the rain from inside.
"Yes, that looks fine." He said stiffly. Merlin, why was he so bloody awkward? For once he wanted to be able to hold a normal conversation and not sound like a bloody idiot during the whole of it. Harry gave him a curious glance and the corner of his mouth tilted upward.
Draco bit back hysterical giggles.
He slid his chair back and sat down. The waitress came back holding a paper and pen. She appeared to be fighting back a smile.
"What can I get you?" she asked them.
"Er, coffee for me." Harry said.
"Uh, me too please." Draco replied, feeling his face burn. She nodded and scribbled it down quickly, before seemingly skipping off in the other direction. Draco wondered if she was feeling alright.
"So…" Harry started, rubbing at the back of his neck. Draco turned his head to watch the raindrops race down the window.
"I really am sorry about reading the letters." Harry blurted out in a rush.
Draco felt suddenly more uncomfortable. "It's-" Fine. He was going to say. But it was still not fine. "I forgive you." He said instead.
Harry's face broke into a grin. "Brilliant, thank you."
Draco made a noise in the back of his throat and smiled a little, shaking his head.
"Here you are." The girl came back and placed their coffees down on the table. Now she was grinning from ear to ear. Draco must have had a confused look on her face because hurriedly she said,
"Oh I'm sorry I'm acting like a bloody idiot. I just really love love." She covered her mouth with her hands to try and contain giggles, but they spilled through her fingers.
Draco felt himself flush.
Harry snorted. "Er-thanks?"
She smiled shyly. "Have a nice time."
She gave them some spoons and sugar, before hurrying off in the opposite direction. There was a definite spring in her step.
Draco and Harry stared at each for an odd moment before bursting into laughter.
"I have a question." Harry said finally, after they had stopped laughing. Draco nodded, although his heart was already squeezing with worry.
"Can we say this is a date?"
Draco nearly spit his coffee all over him. A date? Merlin of course this could be a date. Draco was only sorry he hadn't been the one to ask Harry on a date.
"Yeah, yeah of course." He responded in a low voice. For the second time in an hour he was sure his face was on fire.
Harry placed his hands on the table next to Draco's and smiled. Draco had never noticed Harry had a dimple on his right cheek. Without thinking Draco entwined their fingers together, grinning.
The next months passed in a blur so fast Draco could hardly believe any time had passed at all. One moment they were reuniting with Hermione, Weasley, and Ginny, and the next they were separated and Draco didn't see Harry for weeks. In one spectacular moment of glory, Ginny and Draco managed to break into Gringotts and steal a cup from Bellatrix's vault. Next thing he knew Severus came out of nowhere, shoved a sword into his hands, and left with barely a word. Ginny told him that "the silent bastard" had nearly given her a heart attack. It had taken the pair of them a rather embarrassingly long time to realize what exactly they were supposed to do with the sword.
Around Christmas time they managed to reunite with the others, only to have Harry's wand get broken by a snake (or a spell Draco honestly had no bloody idea). Once Harry realized that they had the sword he had yanked a locket off from around his neck and killed it. Draco wasn't sure he wanted to know what that was about. All too soon after that Luna had gone to visit her father, only to discover that he was dead. He had been killed by Death Eaters for writing the truth in the Quibbler. All of them felt stung by her loss.
In February Draco took Harry to a lake, only to be attacked by some snatchers mere minutes after they had gotten there. The lot of them spent longer than Draco wished to admit thinking. They spent hours with books spread across the floor, pouring them. Draco soon discovered that Harry couldn't focus for longer than 15 minutes. Which frustrated Hermione to no end but Draco found rather endearing.
It wasn't until Harry had mentioned something about Ravenclaw that Hermione had practically screamed with joy.
"HOGWARTS!" Everyone startled, Ginny accidentally dropped a mug of coffee all over herself, Draco banged his head against a bookshelf, and Harry woke up from a nap. Luna just smiled politely and asked what Hermione was talking about.
Hermione turned red but continued hastily. "You say Voldemort was awfully fond of storing his soul in things of old value. Like pureblood relics and such." She nodded at Harry eagerly.
"Er, yes. Exactly like that." He said a tad uneasily.
"Right!" She had gotten to her feet and started pacing the room. "So think about it! Something from ravenclaw most definitely, and then his stupid snake I guess." She shrugged, eyes glinting with pleasure.
Everyone stared at her for a beat before Harry began nodding, a smile gracing his features.
"Yes, let's go right now."
Hermione's smile fell and she shook her head hastily. "No, we can't just up and leave! We need a plan to make sure everything goes smoothly. I mean none of us can go waltzing into Hogwarts."
"I don't think it's going to go smoothly no matter what." Luna spoke sadly as she picked at a thread on the couch.
"She's right." Draco said. "No offense Hermione, but every time we try and plan something it ends up going to shite."
Her eyes flickered between them before she sighed and twisted her hands together. "I know, I know."
"Well we have Snape at least, he'll help us get in right?" Harry asked, looking at Draco.
Draco smiled and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I bet he will."
Point being they ended up inside Hogwarts two days later with little to no trouble. Severus had seemed a bit confused as to why they would possibly want to be in there, but Harry had assured him that it was necessary. Everything had seemed to be going fine as they were all under invisibility spells, until they had heard Voldemort's voice rocket through the entire castle. And Draco's mark started burning so badly he thought he was going to die. Ginny and Luna had left to go search Ravenclaw tower, and he and the others were down in the Chamber of Secrets gathering basilisk fangs.
If it had been at any other moment Draco would've spent a good 20 minutes taking in the basilisk skeleton. However it was not any other moment and Draco was sprawled on the floor while everyone else was shouting.
"I have to go to the forest!" Harry screamed, his hand on Draco's shoulder, shaking him gently.
"You can't Harry! Voldemort has no mercy, he'll kill all of us anyway!" Hermione shrieked.
"Well then what else are we supposed to do!" Harry fired back, removing his hand from Draco's shoulder to stalk over to where Hermione was standing worriedly.
"We can fight for fucks sake!" She yelled frantically. Even through the pain Draco could hear that her voice was thick with tears.
"You're not going to give up, and neither are we. We have the basilisk fangs so now more of us can destroy horcruxes. We only have two left." Draco's pain was fading and he struggled to sit up, vision blurry. Hermione had her hands on Harry's shoulders and she was shaking him, hard.
"Okay?"
Harry made a choking noise then nodded sharply. "We should find the others."
"I'll go find them and we'll tell everyone we can that you're back, you and Draco look for the snake." Her gaze focused on Draco. "Are you going to be alright?"
Harry's eyes snapped to Draco's, his face immediately softening. Draco nodded hastily, struggling to get up. Harry rushed over and took his hand gently. Draco knew it was entirely the wrong time but he pressed a kiss to Harry's cheek.
"Guys…" Hermione said, but he could hear the smile in her voice. Shakily he gave her a kiss on the cheek too.
"Heyyy." Harry complained, tugging at his arm playfully. Draco pretended he didn't see the shadows in his eyes as he said it.
"We'll be okay." Hermione sounded slightly hysterical. It wasn't a question. As if she merely stated the words that would make them true. Harry's hesitation was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"What if…" She trailed off, the words too terrible to leave her lips.
"Don't think about that." Harry said hastily with a shake of his head. "We can't get through this if we're worrying about-that."
"We'll see each other after." Draco prayed his tone was reassuring. And that it wasn't a lie.
Draco did see Harry after. Only it wasn't how he had expected. Everything had happened so fast Draco wasn't really sure anything had been real at all. First he and Harry were searching for the snake, which they of course did not find. Second the whole school (besides a few Slytherins) had all rallied together to fight off the dark lord and his followers. Then Harry and Draco had gone into the forest and watched Severus get attacked by a snake. For a few seconds there Draco had been sure he was dead, however he shakily raised a vial to his lips and dragged himself to his feet looking around. Draco had run to him immediately, wanting reassurance that he was going to be okay.
The few seconds he had been gone Harry had disappeared and Draco realized where he had gone. Severus said there was nothing they could do now unless they wanted to be dead as well. Following this Draco started screaming and Severus dragged him off back towards the castle, muttering something under his breath. Draco pretended to believe that Harry would come back to him fully alive and well. He explained to Severus that they still needed to kill the snake, as Ginny and Luna had figured out the whole diadem ordeal. Severus nodded seriously and said after the dark lord was dead it would be easy to finish the snake off. At first Draco hadn't understood what he meant. When the dark lord is dead. It was something completely unimaginable. How exactly was the dark lord going to die? If Harry was going to his death, how was he going to finish the dark lord off in the process?
Immediately proceeding this he heard the dark lord's voice once more and his mark hurt so badly he was certain he was going to die. Everyone else ran out of the castle, and he thought he heard screams, though he was in too much pain to really focus on anything else. He considered asking someone to run the sword of Gryffindor through him when the pain suddenly stopped and he scrambled to his feet. Outside he heard people yelling, their voices indistinct. His stomach knotted in worry and he slipped outside, glad to go unnoticed.
He was only unnoticed for a few seconds, because when he realized Hagrid was holding Harry's body, an animal-like sound shot out of him and he fell to his knees. He didn't recognize the sound that was coming out of his mouth. It was painful for his own ears to hear.
Draco actually did pass out when Harry practically leaped out of Hagrid's arms and sprinted into the castle. Draco didn't see Molly kill Bellatrix, he didn't see Fred die, and he didn't see Lavender get bitten by a werewolf. When he awoke he realized that Harry and the dark lord were dueling. Feeling sick he dragged himself into a sitting position and crept towards the large crowd of people uncertainly. Somehow Hermione found him, and grabbed his wrist so tightly he was sure his circulation was cut off. He cried when the dark lord fell to the ground and his wand went spinning into Harry's hand. Everyone began screaming and tried to surround Harry. But Harry gently pushed everyone aside until he had gotten to Draco. He didn't have a chance to say anything before Harry wrapped his arms around Draco and kissed him. Draco started crying and so did Harry. There was silence for a moment before Ginny let out a whooping sound and soon after many more joined in. He wasn't really paying attention to anything else in the moment as he kissed the person he loved most in the world.
Dear Harry,
There's not much for me to write here anymore. Now I can talk to you whenever I like and I know you're always going to listen. I suppose this is going to be the end of my letters. I thought I would be more sad but I'm not really. We're going to spend the next year at Hogwarts together, and honestly, I couldn't want anything more than that. So I'm going to leave it here. I love you. A fucking ton.
Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy (no longer your worst enemy)
