Over and over Harry threaded his fingers through Draco's soft hair. It was longer than Harry remembered, or possibly he just hadn't noticed before.
Draco's tears had long since dried on his cheeks, his eyelashes sparkling with the moisture.
His breathing was shallow but steady and Harry's heart clenched and unclenched as Draco stirred, a hitch in his breath as he tried to open his eyes but seemed too weak to do so.
"Harry?"
Draco's voice was strained and dry-sounding, his eyelids relaxing as he went limp in Harry's arms.
Harry drew in a deep breath and nodded frantically, grasping first Draco's shoulder, then his hands.
"Thank Merlin Draco, I thought…" but he couldn't finish the sentence.
Draco shuttered as a fresh tear fell from his closed eye. Sliding a hand over Harry's cheek he whispered, "You're here."
Harry kissed Draco's fingertips, pulling him up into his arms. "You scared me."
Draco sobbed, his face damp as he pressed it into Harry's neck. Harry just held him through his tears.
"Draco, love, look at me," Harry whispered in his ear as Draco lifted his face, revealing bloody tear streaks. His eyes opened and Harry noticed that Draco's eyes were no longer clear, but marred, once again, with shallow, bloody cuts.
"I can't," Draco choked through his tears and Harry cast a quick healing spell to close the wounds.
"It's alright love," Harry whispered, gathering him into his arms and gently rocking him like a child. "It's fine. You'll be fine."
Draco held on tightly to Harry's shirt, breathing heavily. "It was my father, Harry…he…he was Dumbledore…"
At that, Harry's heart sank. Dumbledore had been captured, most likely murdered, and Lucius Malfoy had been ordered to take his place at Hogwarts. Dumbledore, the Secret Keeper to Grimmauld Place, had been tortured to the point of giving away Remus and Draco's location. Harry found it hard to process that information.
Draco must have found his silence as a cue to continue. "Is…is Remus…?"
Harry just nodded. It was enough.
Draco tightened his grip on Harry's shirt, burrowing his face in."
"We need to get out of here Draco," he whispered, sending a quick eye to Voldemort's crumpled body. "We need to find Snape and get back to Grimmauld Place before any other Death Eaters find out he's dead."
Draco nodded and climbed to his feet, holding tightly on to Harry's arm. Harry hesitated, not sure which direction to go.
"He's with my father in the main chamber," Draco finally said. "If I know Severus, that's where he'll be."
"Doing what, exactly?" Harry asked as he led the pair of them out into the corridor. Harry already knew the answer to that question. He had seen the hurt in Snape's eyes and knew all too well what he had in store for Lucius Malfoy.
Draco grinned a bit and didn't reply.
Severus closed his eyes taking a deep breath. He lowered his wand; his white knuckled slowly returning to their normal color.
There was a crackling breath from Lucius Malfoy, who lay in a crumpled, trembling mass on the stone floor.
He didn't let the breath back out.
Snape held his breath for a long moment, the sound of his heartbeat filling his ears and pounding on his eardrums.
He finally opened his eyes, catching Lucius' dull, lifeless gaze. As he stared into the dead man's eyes, his own began to burn. It wasn't until he couldn't see anymore that he realized he was crying, waves of burning tears falling so fast that he could barely register their presence.
Before he could so much as think he found himself on his knees, clutching at his heart and forcing himself to breathe.
It was harder than he remembered.
He felt a presence somewhere behind him before he felt a cold, gentle hand fall on his arm.
"We have to go," Harry snapped from behind him, not sure why he felt angry.
Snape made no move to acknowledge he had been heard. The gentle hand lying on his arm didn't budge.
"I'm sorry," Severus said softly, staring at Draco's hand.
Draco reached for his hand and held it tightly. "No you aren't. You aren't. You don't have to apologize."
Snape dropped Draco's hand and stood, shaking out his robes. "We have to go."
Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing, just followed Snape back out to the grounds and, grabbing Snape's arm with one hand and wrapping the other around Draco's waist tightly, allowed himself to be Apparated back to Grimmauld Place.
For the first time, Harry landed on his feet after Apparition, Draco coiled up next to him, his head resting comfortably on his shoulder.
Snape muttered something and made his way to the study and Harry found he couldn't watch him go.
"Is he going…" Draco began, and Harry just held on tighter.
Harry smoothed Draco's hair. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," Draco sighed, "Even if it was just a week. It seemed much longer."
"When I came back and you weren't here, and Remus…Remus was…" Harry's voice hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut. "I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again. I didn't know…"
He pressed his cheek to Draco's and tried to hold back a sob to no avail. "F…for the first time I…I was scared that I would fail and not be able to save you. I was more scared that you were hurt than what would happen to me. I would give my life for you in a heartbeat."
"That's stupid," Draco said with a sniffle. "Stupid, stupid hero."
Harry managed a laugh through his tears. "It's not stupid. It's noble."
"Noble's just a nice way of saying stupid," Draco said as he pressed a kiss to Harry's neck. "Naturally, I never had a doubt in my mind."
Harry grinned and smoothed his hand over Draco's cheek. "Thanks for that. Also, remind me to teach you how to throw off an Imperius curse just in case the need to do so ever arises."
Draco drew his bottom lip between his teeth, another tear breaking free from his hazy gaze. "I didn't mean any of it, I swear. I tried to fight against it. I tried until my brain screamed but…the words were coming out of my mouth and I couldn't stop them. I'm sorry."
"There's no need in apologizing," Harry whispered. "I'm just glad you're alright."
"I had almost forgotten what you looked like," Draco's voice sounded as he ghosted his fingertips over first Harry's cheekbones, then his lips, then finally bringing them to gently grasp at his neck. "…Almost forgot your eyes. Today, when I saw you for however brief of a time, I remembered all over again. I don't want to forget again, Harry. It would hurt too much."
Harry sighed, his eyes burning and dry. "You won't. Snape's got a potion that works. It will help Draco. It will."
Draco nodded but Harry could tell that he didn't believe him.
"Don't leave," Draco said against Harry's neck. "Don't ever leave."
Harry tightened his grip and simply said, "Never."
His knuckles were strained, his tight grip on his knees making his hands cramp.
He had been staring at Remus' hand, open and sprawled next to the book Remus had been holding when he fell.
That was the only part of the man he could bring himself to look at. Even then, his motionless hand blurred in and out of focus as waves of silent tears broke.
He hesitantly sent out one of his hands, laying a single, slender fingertip in the middle of Remus' open palm.
Just as his dulled skin tone suggested, he was cold.
Severus doubled over, pressing his free hand over his mouth as he wrapped Remus' hand together with his.
It hurt. More than anything he had ever experienced this hurt. The piece he had been missing, the piece he had looked to fill with Voldemort and with Hogwarts, the piece that turned out to be the easiest to fill, was now lying very still on the floor next to him, not breathing and growing colder and duller as time passed.
He expected his mind to be racing, but it was blank.
Severus couldn't force himself to look into Remus' eyes, knowing he would find those blank as well.
"You can't leave me," He said in a tone barely over a whisper. "Not when I just found you."
He didn't expect a response, but he wanted one more than he wanted breath.
The thought that killing Lucius would ease the pain, would somehow made them even, was completely false. Severus had killed more than he cared to mention and regretted all but one. He would never regret being able to see the torturous pain he was causing reflected in Lucius Malfoy's eyes. Nothing could make him regret that.
He could feel his tears pooling and running down the back of his hand, cleaving to Remus. He didn't want to let go. He never wanted to let go.
"I need you," Severus whispered and before he knew it his head was resting on Remus' chest. Never in his life had he felt this helpless. Never in his life had he felt so alone. He couldn't remember the last time he cried and up to this point he couldn't recall a reason to.
He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
He sat there for longer than he could say, crying and trying to remember how to breathe. He wished that Remus would hold him back, take a deep breath, say something, but he knew he wouldn't. Never again.
He tightened his grip, squeezing his eyes shut against his tears.
"We're going to go back to Hogwarts," Harry said into Draco's neck. "We're leaving here and we aren't coming back. I can't stay here."
Draco nodded slowly. "Do…do you think it will be alright for me to go back?"
"I…truthfully don't care," Harry replied. "Dumbledore would have wanted you to go back. Now, it's safe for you to do so."
"Alright," Draco sighed. "Let's go. Should we…should we get Severus?"
Harry was silent for a long while until he finally said, "No. He'll come when he's ready. For now, let's let him grieve."
Draco nodded, closing his eyes as Harry pressed on. "The people at Hogwarts deserve to know what happened. They deserve to know that Dumbledore is dead, but Hogwarts still remains. They deserve to know that Voldemort is gone and will never, ever be coming back. They deserve the truth."
Draco allowed Harry to lead him to the fireplace and before he knew it he was sprawled on the worn rug in front of Severus' hearth.
"To your common room, then?" Draco said a tad breathlessly, grasping Harry's hand.
Harry climbed to his feet and helped Draco up. "Yes, I suppose so."
And they left, trailing soot all the way to the door.