Jekyll was cleaning out the old documents on her computer and found a random chapter of The Photo she'd written ages ago, but never uploaded since it involves a scene that would happen only later in the story.

As you might have noticed, she doesn't write on this story anymore.

This is because she lost contact with her second co-writer back in 2007 and felt absolutely no desire to keep on writing on her own.

THEREFORE

The writer VG Jekyll,
Presents to you with a hint of sadness and a small tear,

THE PHOTO
Chapter 10
the last & random chapter to be uploaded


Draco sighed deeply as he realized that he didn't know where he was. Wasn't this corridor supposed to lead to the Great Hall? Apparently not, since when he had arrived at the end of it, he saw yet another unknown corridor heading even deeper into unknow Hogwarts territory.

He bit thoughtfully down on his lowerlip and whirled around to glance back at the hallway behind him. Should he go back and retrace his steps? He took a few steps back, but then hesitated again. If he went all the way back, he would surely waste another hour on getting to the Great Hall.

He cursed softly under his breath. Blaise was holding a tight rein on him lately, keeping a close eye on his wereabouts and with who'm he conversed. He hadn't even been able to speak with Dani for a few days, so when he found the chance to sneak away to meet her, he had taken it without a second thought.

But because of that, he was now left with the problem that if he wasn't in the Great Hall to meet up with Blaise very soon, the other would definitely find another humiliate way to show his 'ownerschip' over Draco. As if feeling him up in the middle of Professor McGonagall's class hadn't been enough!

Draco groaned as he still remembered the looks and whispers of the other students as the Transfiguration Professor demanded outraged that Zabini kept his hands above the table. And Blaise's infuriating smirk afterwards.

"Shite," he cursed again. Screw humiliation; Blaise would kill him if he were late!

"I hate him, I hate him! Merlin, I hate that wanker so freaking much!" Draco leaned back against the wall when a voice suddenly spoke up.

"Is there something wrong?" the voice asked and Draco glanced searching around to find the speaker. It turned out to be an old wizard in a painting across of him. He pushed himself away from the wall and went to stand in front of the painting.

"Does this hallway lead towards the Great Hall?" he questioned the painting.

The wizard in the painting shook his head slowly and raised a pipe to his mouth. "No it doesn't, mister-?" the old man trailed off expectantly.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," Draco told him absentmindedly his name. The painting started to talk to him, happy to finally have someone to talk to after years of lonelyness, but Draco didn't really listen to his words.

"-I thought they had forgotten about me. You are the first person in 30 years that I've seen. It's really bothersome to be stuck in this painting, but sadly ehnough some enchantments can't be broken."

Draco nodded vaguely at the painting, but then his gaze fell on the wall against which he had been leaning previously. He frowned as he stared at the large wooden door with an elaborately decorated doorway. That hadn't been there before.

"Hey you! Painting!" he addressed the painting he'd been asking directions to. "Has that door been here all the time?"

The elderly wizard stared a bit annoyed down at him from his portrait. "Excuse me," he said, "-but I would prefer if you'd call me Carnelian."

Draco restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Has that door been there all the time, Carnelian?"

Carnelian raised his chin slightly as he stared past Draco to the door. "No. It appeared the moment you pushed yourself away from the wall. I believe this is third time that I've seen that door appear."

"It's no normal door then?"

"No door at Hogwarts is normal, you as a student, should know that. Each and every door has its own mind and this particular door has the tendency to appear and disappear whenever it wants. Therefore, I've only seen it three times in the past two hundred and eighty five years I've hung here."

Draco strode towards the door, having forgotten all about Blaise and him being late. He put his hand on the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it didn't budge. He then turned back to face the painting again. "Paint-, Carnelian, how do you open it?"

Carnelian raised a brow at him and didn't seem impressed with Draco's attitude. "It is not wise to open that door."

Draco growled softly under his breath. "Well, I can't go in the room anyway, seeing that it doesn't open," he said sarcastically. He was annoyed at his situation and even more annoyed that a mysterious door had appeared that couldn't be opened. He wanted to know what lay behind it, even if it was only an empty room or a broom closet.

"It's only for the better."

"You know, it would be very simple to take you down and burn you with an well-aimed incendio."

Carnelian lost his posture for the first time since they started talking and stared affronted at Draco. "You wouldn't dare! I am school property! You would be expelled for that!"

Draco shrugged and smirked smugly. "They won't miss an oldie like you. As you said, they probably have long forgotten about you."

Carnelian stared hatefully at him, then crossed his arms. "Fine," he snarled. "There are runes in the upper-right corner and down there in the left corner. You have to push them at the same time to make the lock open."

Draco glanced down at both corners of the door and indeed; there were a few rules. The only problem was: how could he push both at the same time? You would have to stand in an impossible position to reach both at the same time…

… and that was how Harry Potter found him.

The Gryffindor had been watching every step of Draco Malfoy on the Marauders' Map, hoping for a clue that would explain the blond's weird behavior around him lately. And he was startled to see a big room appear right after Draco's dot hadn't moved for some time. So naturally, Harry had raced to wherever Draco was and stared startled Draco, who was standing in the most ridiculous position he'd ever seen.

He watched amused as Draco streched out his body almost diagonal as he reached with his wand in one hand to the left corner of the door, while he seemed to try to touch the exact opposite spot at the bottom with his foot.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" he finally asked.

Draco froze and then stood within moments straight up again to snarle at Harry. "Potter! What do you want?"

Harry shrugged, but couldn't hide his laugh. "What were you doing?"

Draco narrowed his eyes and glared at the laughing Boy-Who-Lived, feeling rather humiliated. "What are you laughing at!? Are your Mudblood and Weasel not around to laugh at?"

Harry stopped laughing and took a threatening step forward. "Shut up about my friends alright! I'm not dissing your friends, even when they are two thickheaded idiots!"

"They aren't my friends," growled Draco back.

Harry blinked bewildered. "Oh um, well, you don't hear me about your boyfriend Blaise!" He rephrased his words. This time Draco literally growled at him and the Slytherin turned towards the door again.

"Shut up," Draco just said and ignored Harry with a hyperventilating heart, in favor of pondering about the door and the runes.

Harry frowned slightly and stared scrutinizing at Draco. Something was off about how the blonde had reacted to Harry's words. Shouldn't he be a bit more protective of his boyfriend or something?

"So-" Harry walked closer. "What are you doing?"

Draco glanced for a moment back at him but then looked back to the door. "You push on the runes down there," he suddenly ordered as he pointed downwards. "I'll push the ones up in the right corner."

Harry raised a brow suspiciously. "Why?"

Draco rolled his eyes at his wary companion. "Because it will open the door, what else could it do, you dimwit."

"A lot," Harry answered calmly and crouched down beside him. "What's in the room?"

Draco looked annoyed down at him, but was soon annoyance-free when he realized how close Wonder Boy was to a certain part of his anatomy. He was distracted by thoughts of what could happen if Harry just leant slightly to the right and towards Draco's-

He was startled out of his thoughts as Harry touched his leg to get Draco's attention. Draco jerked away from the concerned looking boy, so he wouldn't notice his sudden excitement.

"That's why we want to open it," he answered harshly. "How dim can you be?"

Harry rolled his eyes at him, not willing to get into an argument with him for a change, and stared again at the runes in front of him. He didn't have Ancient Runes so he had no idea what the tiny swirls and other odd shapes meant.

"Okay, push them now!" Draco ordered as he pushed down on his runes. Harry pushed his own runes and the door unlocked with a dry 'click'. Harry stood quickly up and reached at the same time as Draco for the doorknob, their fingertips briefly brushed each other. Draco jerked away at the touch, but Harry seemed undaunted. He opened the door and peered inside.

"What's there?" Draco asked and grabbed the edge of the door to open it further. Darkness was all they could see as they peered in.

"Hello?" called Harry. It didn't echo back, but disappeared as if sucked up by the thick blanket of darkness.

Draco slapped his arm and looked over at him annoyed. "What do you think you're doing, idiot!" hissed he. "What if there's something dangerous in there?"

Harry rolled his eyes, only making him more irate. "They won't hold Fluffy here at Hogwarts anymore," said he carelessly. "If that's what you're worried about."

Draco furrowed his brows. "Fluffy?" he asked curiously.

"Oh?" Harry seemed to think he should have known about this 'Fluffy', but when he noticed Draco's curious look, he turned back to stare into the darkness. "A three-headed monster dog; nothing to worry about."

"A what! Dammit Potter! Why do you always know more than I do?"

Harry shrugged shortly. "Perhaps because I'm always in the middle of it. But trust me on this when I say that I would trade with you any day. Ignorance would be a bliss." He stopped talking for a moment to stare appeasing at Draco.

"Although, maybe you would get euphoric at the thought of having a Basilisk's fang stuck in your arm. You would surely know how to play the crowd and bask in the attention of a near-death experience."

"Potter, I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know that one cannot survive being bitten by Basilisks. They are highly poisonous," Draco crossed his arms and raised a brow, trying to goad Harry into admitting he was just making things up .

Harry didn't bite though and only grinned wickedly at him, making the blond's heart flutter. "Tell me about it," the dark-haired Gryffindor answered carelessly. "It was painfull as hell, almost as if ice was traveling through all of my veins till my body felt numb with cold. I nearly passed out," he admitted as his eyes became glassy and he clearly was lost in the memory.

Draco uncrossed worriedly his arms, realising from the other's behavior that he might actually be telling the truth. The thought of his-of Hogwart's Golden Boy being in dangerous situations and pain was quite unsettling, even though he had known the other was a bit of a trouble-magnet.

But actually to come close to death? What if he did die by the Dark Lords' hands one of these days? What would Draco do?

"The Chamber of Secrets became even darker than it was and and that moment I knew that if I passed out, I would probably not wake up again. But then I heard the Phoenix song and before I knew it, Fawkes had landed right beside my shoulder and cried on the wound. It felt warm... soft and warm..."

"The tears of a Phoenix," Draco whispered with awe in his voice.

Harry shook his head to clear away the memories and his attention back to the the open door and the darkness behind it. "Shall we go in?" he said without waiting for Draco to agree and used a "Lumos" to light his wand and carefully went in. Draco followed him only seconds later.

Harry squinted into the velvet darkness and wished his 'lumos' gave of more light than it did. It seemed as if the room sucked the light away though, but it didn't feel dangerous, just… mysterious.

"Potter, it's too dark!"

Harry smirked over his shoulder at his attractive companion, making his face look spooky as it was touched by the wand's light. "Don't worry, Malfoy. The worst thing what can happen is you tripping in this darkness."

Draco scowled at him. "Oh bugger off with your damned Gryffindor optimism."

"Same to you and your Slytherin pessimism." shot Harry back at him and then disappeared from his sight.

"Ha-Potter!?!" Draco glanced frantically around as he just lost sight of him. "Where the hell are you! If this is one of your sick jokes, I'll-"

"You'll what?" asked Harry as all the torches suddenly caught flame and made the chamber bade in their eerie light. Harry lowered slowly his arm with which he had lit one of the torches.

"I only lit one, but all the others immidiately caught fire too. Curious," he commented surprised. They both walked further into the room, decended small stairs and saw that the floor of the chamber was very uneven with stone platforms but also patches of stone that had sunk deeper into the floor.

"This whole room is odd," was Draco's thought on it.

"What the-" Harry murmured and Draco followed his gaze.

They both glanced up at the ceiling and saw full surprise that there were actually rats walking upside down on the ceiling, as if though they thought they were on the ground.

"How the hell-?"

Harry walked further, his eyes still glued onto the ceiling. "How is that possible?"

"Magic rats? Magical ceiling? Or perhaps we are the ones actually walking upside down, who knows." Draco answered dryly. He had to keep himself from laughing as Harry nearly fell into one of the potholes in the floor and then had to suffer Harry's rough laughter as he nearly stumbled into one himself.

He wandered away when his eyes fell on a large chest on the left side of the room. He walked curiously towards it, while Harry went to the right side of the room to stare at a glass cabinet which seemed to be holding snow globes.

The lid of the chest had been closed, but was cracked through the middle. Draco lifted part of the lid out of the chest and threw it to the side. Harry glared at him as it made a loud startling noice, but Draco only shrugged in response.

It held bottles of all sizes, filled with suspicious liquids. The Slytherin pulled one out and screwed the cap off. He look a small whiff and pulled a face as the putrid smell filled his nostrils. He quickly put the cap back on and placed it as far away from his in the chest.

It was with a bit of hesitation that he took another bottle out and pulled the cork out. He opened it and saw startled how from the bottom of it a red droplet started to rise and trailed up the neck of the bottle. When it was at the top, it flew up in the motion of a falling droplet, but then upside down. He followed it with his eyes till it touched the ceiling and disappeared.

"This is all... quite strange," he commented to no one special and put the cork back on the bottle. "Um Potter, maybe we should leave this place?"

"You're not scared, are you?" Harry asked. He glanced over his shoulder at the blonde, before glancing at a carpet hanging on the wall. It portrayed some sort of tentacled monster and a knight with unicorn battling it.

"Scared? Me?" Draco snorted. "I thought you might be."

"Nah, there's very little left in this world to scare me."

Again, Draco wondered how much the Boy-Who-Lived had went through to be able to say something like this.

"Potter, did you inhale something bad or so?" Draco suddenly asked, trying to ignore how ironic that statement was. "You're awfully polite today. Normally you would be snarling and ready to fight me for whatever reason you can find."

"You aren't missing it, are you?"

"Well, since I usually end on top-" Oh, bad choice of words, oh well can't change it now. "-It probably is you who might miss it."

Harry simply stared incredulous at him then shook his head slowly. "You know, it never creases to amaze me how large your ego is." He muttered and dissapeared behind a conveniently placed wall that had small round mirrors placed inside some of the stones.

Draco glared at the last place he had seen Harry and then turned 180 degrees. Stupid Gryffindor. Should never have let him come too. And who cared he looked really cute while his frame was being lit by lightening? Who cared that he had unnaturally beautiful eyes. So what if he was hot while only wearing jeans?

Certainly not Draco!

He stalked as carefully as he could to the others side of the room, hoping that creating some distance between him and Harry would help him calm his heart, that suddenly had sped up while he'd been thinking about the photo he'd hidden in his room.

He stalked around a large pillar at the same moment as Harry on the other side of the room walked around the end of the wall and suddenly they stood nose to nose. Green eyes blinked shocked at silver ones. Their faces were barely an inch away from each other and their breath waved between them.

"Uh? Were-weren't you on the other side of the room just now?" Harry asked startled.

Draco glanced out of the corners of his eyes to his surroundings, for some sort of reason unwilling to move away from the other. "I am at the other side of the room."

"That's odd." Harry muttered and Draco felt his breath caress his cheek. "Since I am sure I was quite far away from you just now."

"Everything in this room is odd," whispered Draco, realizing that they still hadn't moved an inch and still were close enough to touch. If he just leant a bit forward, he could-

Harry licked his dry lips, unconcious of the movement and what it did to Draco. Draco gulped and then desided to let common sense take a hike.

He leaned closer and kissed Harry Potter.

Harry stopped breathing for a long moment as his mind tried to catch up with what was happing, but then his body took over and not only did the air again reach his lungs, his arms quickly found their way onto Draco's hips.

He kissed back and his body went flush against Draco's as his eyes closed. He couldn't think anymore and didn't care either. All he wanted right now was to be even closer to the other, to touch, taste, feel. Draco's lips moved tempting and he couldn't resist.

He opened his mouth to invite him in and the kiss became even more passionate. It was only when he felt Draco's rather cold hands on his lower back when Harry snapped back to reality. What was he doing? He was kissing Draco Malfoy! That was what he was doing!

And it was wrong! He had to stop. Now!

He ripped himself away from the Slytherin, not noticing how his hands seemed reculant to let go of Draco's shirt and took a step back. He stared wide-eyed at Draco, whose cheeks were flushed and his own eyes spaced-out.

"I have to-um go. Yeah, got something to do-I think." Harry stuttered and backed even more away from Draco.

Draco wouldn't have it though. He caught the Gryffindor by the belt buckle and pulled him back for yet another kiss; this one shift and chaste. Then Harry stepped away from him and resumed walking stifly towards the door. Near it, Harry halted and turned slightly to glance over his shoulder. Emerald eyes swerved onto silver ones and Draco's breath caught in his throat.

Then Harry finally broke the gaze and stepped through the doorway. Leaving Draco in a room that suddenly seemed so very cold and lonely without the other's presence.

'Mischief Managed!'

The End of The Photo


Note from Jekyll: And simply because I already had written this too; a scene from what could have happened in the future!

[Harry and Draco have a talk about the situation with Blaise]

"Listen Draco," Harry said with a sigh as he racked a hand through his already wild hair. "I can't be with you until you break up with Zabini."

"Don't you think I would if I could!" Draco hissed sharply.

Harry was startled by this out-burst and stared incredulously at the Slytherin prince, who suddenly slid down to the ground. Harry croutched down besides him. "What do you mean?" he asked puzzled.

He received an icy glare of which he wasn't sure was directed to him or someone else. "He is using me, Harry," Draco told him plainly. "Do you think I would voluntary be with that asshole?"

"He's forcing you?" Harry inquared incredulously.

"He has-" Draco looked briefly away from him. "-black mail on me."

"What kin-?"

"None of your business, Potter!" hissed Draco, in his embarrasment and rage falling back to the last name calling, however Harry didn't even seem to notice.

"He uses you-?" the Gryffindor whispered and resulutely stood up. "I'm going to kill that bastard!!!" He had only taken half a step away before he was pulled back by the arm. "Don't you dare it, Potter. He'll-I wont let you do it!"

"Why not? Do you on some sort of twisted way like him using you?" Harry shook his hand off and stared with ire at the blonde, directing his anger from Blaise to the person that stopped him from bashing the bastard's skull in. "Are you some kind of machosist!?!"

Draco's mouth fell wide open in shock and before Harry knew it; he was on the ground with an inraged guy on top of him. Draco glared down at him as he held Harry firmly by the neck of his robes. "Idiot! I am not some kind of sick person! If you get into a fight with him, he'll make me pay! Asshole, think before you act, for once!"

Harry was silent for a moment, calming down as he thought over Draco's words and stared up at the fuming boy above him. "Then I'll just have to find a reason that has nothing to do with you," he then said calmly and grinned. "Though I am really enjoying this position, Draco, will you please get off?"

Draco was stunned, but then quickly got off the boy and up on his feet, too absorbed by the fact that he had been 'on top' of Harry to realise what kind of reaction he himself caused on the boy in question. Harry turned his back slightly to the blonde.

"I have to go," he quickly mumbled.

"Don't go after Zabini!" yelled Draco after him.

[Harry found Blaise and and hits him hard]

"What did you do that for?" spat Blaise and Harry turned around to him. The Gryffindor had a golden glow around him-probably from the sun behind him-and he looked as an angel of revenge as he stalked towards the Slytherin.

"Do I need a reason, Zabini?" asked he on an icy tone. "If so, then it probably wont be difficult for me to find one." Harry narrowed his eyes at the speciment in front of him. "When I feel dissatisfied with you again, you will feel it. Remember that with everything you do."


Note from Jekyll: If there are still questions or if you just wish to vent: I'll answer reviews to the best I can. But I am not going to continue this story myself, sorry about that.

Demitria Miriam has adopted this story! Go read it on her account!