-Summary: Harry loses his memory after Sirius' death -
he remembers nothing but his life at Privet Drive and the magic he's learned.
Once he re-meets everyone, his life is turned upside down... Rated R, Boy/Boy
love, Language, etc.
-Pairings: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
-Author Notes: Chapters 5 and 6 (that would be the last
one and this one) were especially hard to write, which is very strange
because these two chapters I had planned from the very beginning of the
story. In fact, they're the only plans I had, and I wanted to write it
down to a "T" because it came to me in a dream. (Seriously.) Didn't really
turn out right, though... I don't know exactly what it was that went wrong
in the last chapter.
I think this one turned out really sweet though. Tell me what
you think :)
***
Harry threw the door open so hard it bounced off the stone walls;
the sound echoed around the damp chamber. Even though it was very dark,
Harry could see blurred outlines of people grabbing a pale boy's white-blond
hair and forcefully pulling his head backwards. It looked like they were
kicking him in the back.
"DRACO! Can you hear me? Are you alright? Say something!" Harry
shouted.
As soon as he yelled, the people let go of Draco and slinked away
into the shadows. Both Harry and Draco faintly heard a girl shout, "Let's
go!" and a few seconds later, a door creak open and slam shut. Draco slumped
to the floor weakly.
Harry let the room slowly come into focus. He had been blinded
with pain only a few minutes before and everything was a little hazy. Or
maybe it was that greenish smoke in the air; it was like what had surrounded
him in the Common Room earlier. It was at this point that he knew for sure
he had shared Draco's pain somehow. And he was still sharing it - slowly,
his left side throbbed with a dull, aching pain in several of his ribs.
Harry quickly ran over to Draco and helped him to his knees. Harry
watched as the dim green fog surrounding them both slowly faded away. Draco
looked imploringly up into the dark around Harry's face, searching. Harry
felt like a tragic fist had closed around his chest. It was heart-rending,
the way Draco looked up at him.
Harry didn't even question the fact that he could see Draco's
every facial feature expressed through the dark. Even if he had thought
about it, he would have only been able to come to the conclusion that he
had cat's eyes or something.
"Draco, can you see me...?"
***
Draco felt his attackers drop their hold on him. He wilted to
the floor, clutching at his ribs in pain.
Strong, wild hands pulled him up to his knees. Draco couldn't
see anything through his pain, but he could definitely feel that this person
was trying to be gentle.
Draco looked at where he thought his rescuer's face should be,
but could only see glinting green sparks - Harry's eyes. He squinted, his
face contorted with pain.
Harry's voice floated through the darkness. "Draco, can you see
me...?"
Draco groaned. He couldn't even talk, the pain in his side was
so bad. He doubled over and pressed his forehead against the cold stone
floor, panting for breath.
The strong hands never left Draco's body. Slowly they gripped
Draco's other side and a shoulder and stayed clear of his broken ribs and
fingers, as if somehow knowing exactly where he had taken the worst blows.
Draco felt himself pulled to his feet, where he tottered and fell as he
left consciousness.
***
Harry pulled Draco to his feet and held on to him very gingerly.
The boy stumbled and fell into Harry's arms. Harry picked him up and cradled
his limp body as he made his way as quickly out the door as he could.
Harry knew he was strong, but he had no idea his adrenaline could
kick in so fast. Or is it adrenaline? he wondered. He shook his
head and followed a long tunnel.
"Hello? Somebody help! I've got a boy - he's been beaten and needs
real help!" he called out. His desperate voice rang off the walls.
Suddenly, a door flew open and a teacher with shoulder-length,
greasy black hair and deep black robes strode out, making his way quickly
over to Harry.
"What's all the racket - " he started, then stared down at Harry,
who was glistening with sweat and holding a lifeless Draco in his arms.
Several of Draco's fingers were bent at odd angles and there were spatters
of blood on his pale white skin.
"Quick, bring him to my office. Immediately, Potter," he
finished.
Harry followed orders and carried Draco to a cavernous room filled
with all manner of strange substances and liquids. There was an eerie feeling
in the air, but Harry didn't mind. He had to save Draco.
The teacher cleared a desk of some jars filled with a foul vinegar
stench and muttered a spell, charming the surface clean. "Set him down
over here."
Harry carefully lay Draco's body on the table, avoiding his left
side still.
He knew the blonde had been beaten badly, but he didn't know the
magnitude until he was in a better light. The sight was horrible. Blood
had soaked Draco's hair in several spots, making him seem as though he
had ruby streaks. Fingers were broken, there were bruises on his cheeks.
As Snape checked over Draco's body, Harry noticed many more dark abrasions
contrasting with his moon-colored skin.
Harry's stomach lurched as he looked helplessly at Draco, hoping
with all his might that he would just wake up and be okay. He felt like
he needed to go jump out a window. No - he felt as if he already had and
was falling, defenseless, from the sky. He turned around and stifled back
a cry, wiping his glistening face on his sleeve.
"Malfoy has been badly beaten - what happened? Why were you there?"
the teacher asked.
"I...," Harry didn't know what to say. He couldn't easily tell
this man exactly what had happened - he was sure that even in the wizarding
world, not many people had ESP or anything of the sort. "I just...," he
stopped again, but somehow he felt he could trust this man. At least, he
could if the man was as concerned about Draco as he looked. He swallowed
hard, and then spilled the whole story from where he had been in his Common
Room until he had found help. He purposefully neglected to mention why
he hadn't been in class.
"I see," the man said, looking at him very closely, as though
Harry had just said he wasn't really male, but female. "By the way, Professor
Dumbledore has told me all about your predicament over the summer and at
St. Mungo's, and I am supposed to introduce myself to you again. I am Severus
Snape, the Potions Master here at Hogwarts. And you are advised not to
do anything stupid in my class this year."
Harry looked back down at Draco. "Can't you do something about
his injuries?"
"Not by myself. I will need to take him to the hospital wing."
"I - I'm going with you!" Harry stammered.
Snape almost smiled. It's about time for their coming together,
he thought. I never would have believed it to happen, myself. Something
dreadful must have happened.
Snape conjured what seemed like an invisible stretcher, put Draco's
limp body on it, and started to walk it outside. Harry looked around at
the office once more and then ran to keep up behind the professor.
***
Harry couldn't sleep at all that night. He skipped dinner in the
great hall, again, and went straight to his four-poster bed. He was going
to sit in front of the fire like he did before, but he saw the chick's
blood smeared on the floor and decided the memories of what had happened
that day was too painful to relive.
And now he was lying here in bed, watching snippets of what looked
like a movie unfold inside his head. He could see through Draco's eyes,
watching helplessly through the dark as blow after blow was laid to his
body. "Crucio!!" someone shouted, and his entire vision lighted
up in electric green. Then he saw a door open and silhouetted against the
dim light outside was a figure of a boy with unruly hair sticking up. As
Harry watched through Draco's eyes, the boy's outline transformed into
what looked like some sort of beast.
Harry blinked and the image had gone.
He felt sick with worry. He had been pacing and running his fingers
through his hair all afternoon and all evening. It was so messy now, the
back of his head looked almost like a soft hedgehog.
He nervously bit down on a fingernail.
I've got to see him, he thought.
He jumped out of his bed, almost landing on Ron, who had fallen
out of his own bed, dragging all the covers with him. Ron had been avoiding
Harry the whole rest of the day, trying to give him his much-needed space,
but Harry had barely noticed.
Harry pulled out his wand and muttered an invisibility spell -
a spell only taught to those who were at the innermost of Auror training
- and crept quietly out of the room.
He noiselessly made his way through the corridors, as silent as
a slithering snake. Once or twice he stumbled accidently through a ghost
in his hurry, but luckily they only looked around confusedly.
Then he was climbing stairs, all the way to the top of the hospital
wing. He noticed a single occupied bed on the opposite side of the room,
held by a very familiar silver-blonde head. Harry practically leapt over
to Draco's bedside and undid his invisibility charm.
Draco's middle was bandaged up and so were parts of his head,
but at least his fingers seemed to be all healed. His head was turned to
the side and his expression was no longer of pain, but of almost disbelief.
It's hard to read people's expressions when they're not all
here, Harry thought.
Harry reached down and covered Draco's hand with his own.
The thought had just popped out of Harry's head but somehow he
felt as if he'd been thinking it ever since he first laid eyes on Draco
today:
I only know your name but somehow I feel as if I've known your
whole being all my life. It wasn't your fault, what happened to you tonight.
Somehow I feel like it was mine, not yours. And I don't even think I'm
friends with you, judging by how you spoke to me today, but if I hurt you
in any way I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, because
no one should have to go through what you had to tonight.
Draco seemed to know exactly what Harry had said, even though
he wasn't awake. Harry traced a finger across Draco's cheek to wipe away
a silvery tear that had somehow escaped, and reached back for Draco's hand.
Moonlight from a window spread thinly around Draco's head on the
pillow. Draco's hair glowed brightly, making it look like he was an angel
that had been shot down. An angel with a bloody halo, Harry thought
with a smile. He hoped he could be friends with this boy.
Draco stirred beneath him and Harry realized he had been increasing
his grip on Draco's hand. He watched Draco's stormy gray eyes open and
for a split second, their eyes met.
Harry made an inaudible gasp and willed himself invisible again,
even without the charm. He took his hand off Draco's and ran out of the
hospital wing.
***
Draco had been having a horrible dream. He had relived his attack
in his subconscious, but instead of Harry coming to save him, Harry had
transformed into the demon again.
Feeling something light tickle across his cheek softly, he shifted
and forced his eyes open, only to stare at a raven-haired boy who was staring
intently back. He was outlined by moonlight and looked almost like a spirit.
Harry Potter was leaning over him.
Or at least Draco thought he had been. All he saw was a pair of
avada-kedavra colored eyes stare and widen as his face contracted in a
gasp of surprise. And as quickly as he had seen it, the image had flickered
and blurred, and then it was gone.
For a few seconds after the vision before him had left, Draco
felt a hand linger on his own. The same strong hand that had saved him
earlier. And then, like a shadow, it had gone too.
Draco almost smiled. He turned over and immediately hissed at
a dull ache that had started in his left side. It slowly spread and Draco
realized he was now feeling it in his chest. He pulled up his shirt to
check, but all he saw was a slight discoloration on a few of his ribs.
His heart hadn't been touched.
Not physically, at least...