Fears
The dawn surprised them still in the kitchen. Lupin leaned in the doorframe, not daring to step in and wake them up. It was the first time he saw the two of them sleeping. HE observed them for a good while.
Harry had his head on Draco's, and his chest raised and lowered at the rate of his even breathing. Draco had his face crushed against that chest in movement, and their fingers were interlaced.
Lupin smiled inwardly. It was a matter of time that both realized what was obvious for the rest of the world. The lat five years Grimmauld Place had witnessed the meetings and mix-ups of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, in their attempt to get to know themselves and put up with each other. Lupin knew that they couldn't get along ever if they continued hiding secrets that hurt them that much. Nobody knew what Harry saw in dreams, nobody knew why Draco was more and more haggard. But everyone was conscious that those unsaid things were the cause of their grief.
Lupin coughed slightly to wake them up finally. Although they had managed to sleep, even for only one night, they had to get up and be prepared to travel to Hogwarts. It was going to be a very long day.
Harry was the first in opening his eyes, unfocused and still dozed. He had a strange weight on his chest, and when he lowered his head he discovered that it was Draco. He smiled sweetly, remembering the previous night. Harry shook the shoulder of the Slytherin, that had taken Harry's chest as his own pillow, and Draco woke up.
"Harry, Draco," said Lupin in a smooth voice. "I'm sorry for waking you, but there's an emergency in Hogwarts and Hermione can't take charge of it."
"Hermione Granger can't take charge of something?" Draco repeated, incredulous. "That's new."
"Ron ahs owled a while ago. Hermione has undergone a nervous attack, and the school is a bit out of control. Scrimgeour has approved the mission about half an hour ago. The case is yours."
"What case? What happens in Hogwarts?" inquired a worried Harry.
"I don't know," responded Lupin, shaking his head. "They haven't giiven me any explanation, only that they wanted you to be there as soon as possible. The sooner the better, in fact."
Harry rose abruptly, striking Malfoy's arm, that still rested on him, against the table. He whispered a hurried "Sorry" and went to his room to change. Draco imitated him shortly after; less than twenty minutes later they were ready to Apparate in front of the iron entrance of Hogwarts.
A thick fog covered everything, preventing them from seeing properly. The unrequited blindness joined the nervousness Harry felt. It was the first time in years he was going to work with someone, his last mate had died in the battle. Neville had been a good friend until the end.
He pushed the cold metal and he entered in the school's lands followed by Draco, who walked a couple of steps behind him. Both had the feeling of being observed – that was not nice.
They passed by Hagrid's cabin, dark in spite of the daylight. The windows had the shutters closed as expression of grief for the death of the half-giant that last day of war, when everyone lost everything. Harry bent his head when surrounding it, gained by the pain and the repentance; a warm hand settled on his shoulder. He didn't have to turn to know that Draco felt his pain.
"The fog is dissipating," said Draco with a higher-than-normal voice. Harry knew that he was on the brink of tears. He nodded, too busy keeping his own emotiosn at bay. After losing Dumbledore, Hagrid's death had been the one that had affected him the most.
The fog retired absolutely when they arrived at the school. They could see Gryffindor tower half demolished, shining against the sky more or less clear. The east wing of the castle presented a sad aspect, the stones outstanding from the walls. Everything was just like five years before, when Voldemort tried to destroy the castle before cornering Harry in Godric's Hollow.
Everything was a symbol of how destroyed they had been. Of how broken they still were.
Draco's hand was still on his shoulder when Ron opened the door.
"Thank Merlin you're here!" the red-haired man exclaimed. "Hermione has spent the night in the hospital wing, Ginny didn't want her to come back to our room."
"What's happening Ron?" Harry asked as a greeting. "Lupin said that you needed us both, but you didn't say what for."
"Come in."
They followed him through narrow corridors until arriving at the third floor bathroom. Memories they didn't want to come back haunted them. Images of a washbasin exploding, blood, too much blood, an unknown spell and scars on a very white skin.
"What the hell is inside?" Harry asked. "Why have you requested our presence?"
"Because it's something that concerns you both. Hermione has not been able to fix this, and I don't seem to get to it. We need this bathroom. And we need it now."
They had arrived at the door of the bathroom almost without realizing. Draco's handwas still on Harry's shoulder, but the pressure had diminished. When the weight disappeared, Harry felt an emptiness inside, that unrecognizable feeling arising to fill it.
Ron pushed the wood and the enclosure was in the open. It was just like the last time they had seen it, except for a heavy fabric that hid a part of the washbasins. In a dumb gesture he urged them to retire it, and walked back towards the door. He didn't want to be there when it awoke.
Harry watched Draco. Draco watched Harry. Both stretched a hand and pulled at the same time the fabric with force. The washbasin that lead to the Secret Chamber was in the open, and the mirror seemed to summon up life. It reflected the room for a second before changing the scene for a shady place where red and green rays flew freely. Harry turned towards Ron to ask him, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. Therefore, he directed an inquisitive look to Draco.
"What do you think it is?"
"It seems a mirror charmed to show something different from which it would have," Draco said. "In theory it would have to be easy to undo the charm."
"I believe that the problem resides on what it shows," indicated Harry. "It must be more complicated than it seems, because otherwise Hermione would've fixed it."
"Well. Let's see it."
They approached more and saw the battlefield the last day of war, Godric's Hollow full of Death Eaters that attacked the Order then commanded by Harry. The sky was darkened by clouds that threatened storm and the smoke that emerged from the hollows where there had been trees before a curse reached them.
"Do you see what I see?" he asked Draco, getsuring to the mirror like hypnotized.
"It's the final battle. But I don't see why Hermione---"
Then a flash of light in the mirror called his attention. What he saw terrified him. He understood the reason why Hermione had not been able to disillusion the mirror.
That device was absolutely evil.
He was able to peel his eyes off the mirror to put them on Draco, who watched it paller than he usually was. He was wathcing the mirro completely transfixed, his grey never leaving it. Suddenly he separated from the crystal and looked at Harry.
"You're alive," he whispered.
"of course I'm alive," Harry responded in the same voice. "What happens, Draco?"
"The mirror---"
Harry returned to watch against his will. In the mirror, Godric's Hollow was a swarm of spells. Nevertheless, he only saw a blond shag that tried to escape from a green beam. Lucius Malfoy was pursuing him, and suddenly an Avada Kedavra reached a fleeing Draco. The young Malfoy fell struck on the ground, and Harry wanted to shout.
He realized a while later that he was was indeed screaming.
"Harry, Harry, calm down," Draco tighetened his grip on Harry's arm. "It's only an image."
"What do you see, Draco?"
For a moment, the former Slytherin closed his eyes. He thought he had understood the mechanism of that mirror, something of the style of the Mirror of Erised. He shook his head; he didn't want to say it aloud. But the inquisitive glance of those green eyes forced him to say something.
"I see the final battle," he began. "It--- he--- has you cornered, like then, but--- he throws you an--- an---" he couldn't pronounce it. "And you died there--- alone, without aid, I wasn't close enough--- I know that it's nothing more than a stupid dream, a nightmare that I'd better forget---"
Harry watched the frame of the mirror, tryting carefully not to watch the reflection directly. Mirror of Sraef.
"This mirror shows your more intimate fears," said a voice at their back, frightening them. "Only two people whose fears are the heads and tails of the same tossed coin will be able to undo the spell."
When turning, both saw Ginny standing up in the door, avoiding all visual contact with the mirror. "Ron and Hermione have the same fears, and Hermione doesn't know how to face them. She never knew. My apprehensions—well, let's say that they don't have anything to compare to. In the end we thought about you, opposites after all."
Draco didn't say a word, agape. Harry recalled to mind about Ginny's words. Wht if it were true that his fears contrasted with Draco's? How could he know for sure?
His fear became a physical pain. A so great pain that he could hardly stand it. He wondered whether that was what Hermione felt whenever she faced the mirror. The impotence of not being able to do a thing.
In his case, Lucius Malfoy was still alive, so that scene could still take place. But who wants to kill their own son?
"I see you dying too," he said aloud. "In Godric's Hollow. I see you die--- and I don't want you to---"
Draco embraced him forcefully, not loosening him. He was alive, he was still sane, thanks to Harry. He couldn't stand the vision of his savior suffering like that. When the first tears slipped down Harry's cheeks, Draco wanted them to disappear.
He brushed with his smooth knuckles Harry's cheeks,getting to smear the tears more than drying them, that unrecognizable feeling arising in him and urging him to approach even more. They had lived years of desperation and sadness, of too many hidden secrets struggling to be known.
He had welcomed in Harry in his arms, and he had him so close that he could feel the beats of Harry's heart. A stolen glance out of the corner of his eyes to the mirror confirmed his fears once again, but the weight of that body between his arms was much more real that the spells of a memory that never existed.
They looked each other in the eyes, before Draco identified his feelings. He could see recognition in Harry's, and that gave him the courage to go ahead.
He leaned smoothly and put his lips on Harry's. It was a fleeting contact before their lips were fused in a deeper kiss. Neither of them heard how the Mirror of Sraef broke in a thousand pieces, destroying their biggest fears with it.
Because that was not a dream to wake up from, nor a nightmare not to believe in.
They were broken, they were destroyed.
And nevertheless they were complete.