Wooooo new chapter! And quickly too! I'd just like to say, I'm really happy with the way this turned out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It has a twist that surprised even me! Read on, and please review!
Chapter 8: Pain and Misunderstanding
Harry struggled to hold his breath as Lucius turned the corner and walked right towards him. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen, and Draco's father looked nothing short of mortified. Harry was confused and frightened. What if they got downstairs to find that the Dark Lord was not yet finished? Why did Lucius look the way he did? He cast a worried look at his professor, but found a new hope as he saw the determined look in the older man's eyes. He had a plan, and Harry was more than ready to hear it.
Lucius approached the stairs and ascended. They heard his footsteps retreating into a different wing. Snape tugged the cloak off with an air of annoyance.
"Sir, where's Vold-"
"Hell if I know."
"But, Professor… what if the coast isn't clear? I mean, I'd like to finish the slime off more than anyone else, but this seems too dangerous. Even Malfoy looked scared out of his mind-"
"…which is why we are going to exercise extreme caution when we go down there. The cloak will go back on and we will refrain from making the tiniest of sounds. You're doing an adequate job of obeying me. Don't screw this up now, boy. And don't worry about Lucius. He's not the least bit frightened. He would torture his son in front of the entire wizarding world until the boy's last breath if he wouldn't get thrown in Azkaban for it. No, Draco's heart is too pure for that man to do so much as make an effort to love him."
The cloak was repositioned on them, and with a deep breath from both, they submerged themselves into the darkness of the dungeons. Harry's heart was beating so fast, it sounded like one continuous buzz. He feared that if Voldemort remained, the deafening sound of his own heartbeat would give them away.
As they walked along the narrow corridor, silence was all they were greeted with. Cautiously, Severus checked each and every cell. Each one was empty. As more time passed, Harry began to wonder just how large this dungeon was. It seemed to stretch for miles. His thoughts were interrupted by a gasp from his potions master and a sudden cold wind as the man darted from under the cloak and away from his side. Slowly, he turned his gaze to where Snape ran. Nothing could have prepared him for this.
Draco was curled up in a corner. Tears silently escaped from his gray eyes as he shivered, naked and bloody on the cold floor of the cell. He had had his eyes closed, and the touch of his Godfather was enough to send him through the roof with fright.
"Please… please not again. Please…"
Snape took the bloody boy in his arms and rocked him back and forth, whispering soothing words in his ear as he did so. "It's alright, Dragon. It's me. It's Sev. You're alright. I'm here." But Draco seemed to be in a trance of some sort. None of the words seemed to register. It was as if he was caught in a memory of what had just happened to him. Harry couldn't take the pain on the boy's face anymore. He had to give it a try.
Snape slowly disentangled himself from his godson and let Harry take his place. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco, smoothed back his hair and began to whisper just the way that Snape had.
"Dray, please be okay. Please snap out of it. We want to help you. I need you… I… I love you." Draco melted back into the larger boy's frame and the hysterical muttering subsided. Now all that could be heard were the quiet, yet pained sobs from the blond. Suddenly, that wasn't all that could be heard. Footsteps quickly became louder from the distance, and all Harry could do was listen in fright. He closed his eyes as he panicked, hoping to disappear like a chameleon into the stone wall.
"The Golden Boy has come to save my son."
Harry looked up. All of his fear had turned into determination. Draco seemed to want to hide inside of Harry's body. He began to shake as he pressed his back farther into the Gryffindor's chest. Harry rubbed his hands up and down Draco's back. "Shhhh, it's alright…"
But it wasn't alright. Lucius slowly advanced on the pair in the cell, but only after hexing Snape into the cell next door, locking the gate behind him as he landed with a thump.
"Would you like to know what my son is best at, Potter?"
Harry tried to hold back the fear in his voice. "Making people happy."
Lucius laughed. "You could say that. He makes the Dark Lord quite happy, you know. Would you like to take him for a spin? Maybe see what all the hype is about? You know, he raves about how good my son is. I was actually planning on taking him for a test drive right now before I was so rudely interrupted. I suppose watching someone else could do the trick though. What do you say?"
Harry couldn't hide his disgust. "Go to hell."
"You'll be coming with me. Imperio." Harry was caught off guard by this and couldn't throw it off. He noticed Draco still holding onto him for dear life. He hadn't heard the spell being cast. He had no idea that Harry wasn't in his right state of mind. Harry's mind was racing too much to try to fight what happened next. His pants became tight as he flipped the smaller boy over so that Harry was pressed down on top of him. He propped himself up with one arm as he savagely attacked the boy's lips with his own and unbuttoned his jeans with his other hand. He made his way down to a gash on Draco's collarbone with his lips, his salty kiss making the blond cry out in pain as he lifted the boy's legs. Harry felt as if he was watching what happened next from far away and there was nothing he could do about it.
Two cries echoed throughout the dungeon simultaneously as he plunged himself into Draco. One voice was Draco's, the other from Snape.
"My Dragon, you're so beautiful." He grunted in between thrusts. Draco's eyes widened at the name that he had been called.
After a few short minutes, Harry and Lucius both moaned as Harry finished, falling limp onto the frail boy's body. Harry was tired, and slowly felt the curse being removed. A slow, obnoxious applause came from Malfoy.
"Bravo, Potter. Encore." Harry felt disgusted with both himself and the man that stood above him. Anger took the place of his fatigue as he leapt up to meet Lucius eye to eye. It was then that he realized that his wand wasn't in his jeans anymore. He decided to resort to the only thing he could think of.
He punched Mr. Malfoy with as much force as he could muster.
The older man hit the ground with a thud, and Harry ran over to the cell that held Snape. Slowly, he let him out, but only to be stared down angrily.
"He will never trust you again."
Harry looked over at the broken boy on the floor.
"I couldn't fight it. Oh Gods, Snape… I really didn't think that…"
"That it would turn out like this? Potter! Why do you think I was so afraid to let you come with me tonight? I KNEW that you would find a way to screw this up!" Harry tried to fight the tears as he ran to Draco's side, taking the now passed out boy into his arms and kissing the blond all over his face. He was pulled back by strong arms and the vacant spot next to the unconscious boy was filled by Draco's godfather.
"Draco, please, love. Wake up. Wake up, please. I'll keep you safe. Please, Draco, be alright." After two minutes passed in silence as the man rocked his godson, he picked Draco up similarly to the way he had at Hogwarts that night, and left Harry behind as he made his way for the stairs.
Harry wiped his fearful tears and made his way to follow his professor.
"Dray, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me… please."
Days passed and there was no sign of Draco in any of his classes. Harry began to worry about the condition of his lover. Or was it his ex lover? Harry couldn't bear to think of losing Draco. He was determined to make Draco understand. The class was dismissed for lunch and Harry darted out of the room, way before Ron and Hermione had even left their seats.
Ron and Hermione had heard what happened a few nights ago. They were sympathetic, but Harry had a feeling that they blamed him for what had happened just as much as they blamed Lucius. That thought left Harry unsettled. Maybe they were right. Harry knew he could fight off the Imperio curse. Why couldn't he when it mattered most?
He sped through the halls which were currently empty. His head was bowed low as he made his way to his dorm. Naturally, he bumped into someone, and naturally, that certain someone was Draco Malfoy.
"Dray, I'm sorry, let me get that…" he started as he began to pick up Draco's fallen books.
"It's fine." With a sad, yet slightly frightened look, Draco moved to pass Harry. Harry held out his hand to stop him.
"Can we talk? Please, Dray? You need to understand… I couldn't control…"
"I said it is fine." Draco's eyes flashed in the angry way that they used to.
"But Dray…" his hand brushed Draco's chest and the blond shivered.
"Please… just… don't touch me." His eyes filled with tears. "Please… don't hurt me again." He slid down the wall and put his face in his hands. "You… you told me you loved me… just minutes before-"
"I DO LOVE YOU!" Harry exploded, making Draco cringe. Harry's features softened as he knelt in front of Draco.
"Dray, you didn't hear it. I wasn't myself… it was the Imperious… Dray, I would NEVER willingly hurt you. Never. Please believe me. I'm dying without you."
"Dray…" Draco began.
"I always call you Dray. You're my Dray. You always will be, if I have a way to control that."
"…I'm not your Dragon?"
"What? No, Draco. I never call you Dragon…"
"You were under the Imperious."
Harry's expression went from desperate to extremely happy. "Yes. Yes! Oh, thank god you believe me, I thought you'd never speak to me again."
"I wouldn't have… if you hadn't just called me…"
He paused.
"That night… you called me Dragon."
