Chapter 26 – Start of an Uprising

It's hard to get myself to pull away from Pansy's body. I know that when I do, I'll never set my eyes on her again. But the faint sound of footsteps upstairs lets me know that I'm running out of time. Snape can only stall for a little while – I need to hurry this up.

Waving my wand around, I try to find Harry in the small illumination of the wand light. Yeah, I could make the light brighter, but I don't want it to be seen from under the door. Besides, having a full view of this mess will only turn my stomach. When I finally see him, his back is facing towards me, blood staining the whole backside of his jacket, completely blocking out the Gryffindor shield with crimson.

Sasha slithers on over to the front of him and nudges her nose to his pale face with disappointment and grief in her eyes. Like she's trying to wake him up, just thinking he's simply asleep, only for him not to respond. She looks at me with sadness in her eyes and it hurts to look at her. I strain my eyes away from hers to look at Harry.

Sucking in my breath, preparing for all the wrong that will take place after this, I kneel down beside his body and pull him into my lap, so that his emotionless face is looking up at me. His eyes are shut and his head is slightly tilted off my knee. I use my wand-free hand to gently tilt his head to face me. Sasha comes into view of the wand light and makes a noise that almost sounds like a squeaky cry. With remorse in her tiny eyes, she gently rests her head on Harry's unmoving chest.

I sigh, trying to hold it all together. "Harry…" I say to his lifeless, cold and pale face. I gently brush my hand through his matted black hair, moving his bangs aside so I can see his scar. "You're an idiot." I move my hand down to his chest, beside Sasha's face, where more blood is visible from when Goyle's blade pierced straight through him to the hilt. "You shouldn't have saved me… but I guess I owe you one." My shoulders quiver slightly with inaudible laughter. "I might just slap you when you wake up."

If he wakes up. But I can't bring myself to say that out loud.

I lift my wand up, and Sasha backs away as I bring it down to the wound on Harry's chest. The light dies down, making the room turn black again, but I can still see Harry, just slightly in the darkness.

I take another breath, gripping the hilt of my wand tighter as my palm begins to sweat with anticipation, causing the thing to slide in my grasp. I graze the tip of the wand over his chest and try to control the shivers from the cold and concentrate. This particular spell can only be used once and only once. And unless done right, it won't bring Harry back. I have one shot at this… just one…

My wand glows a pale blue color that illuminates half his face in a frozen looking light. I look at him desperately and gently run my hand through his hair as if to calm him – I keep forgetting he's dead. It's as if he's just asleep – even though he can't feel a thing. Once the pale light begins to get stronger, it wraps itself around Harry's body, covering the wound in a darker blue. The color is eerie as it begins to strengthen, turning into a night blue and casting a shadow over Harry's face, causing his pale skin to look more alive.

I'm staring at the gash on his chest, watching impatiently, and concentrating to see if it begins to close. And it does. Slowly, but finally the wound on his chest is starting to shrink together. I feel my heart flutter and see Sasha reappear on the corner of my eye. I manage a weak smile, "It's working." I whisper in the cold, seeing my breath leave my lips. Sasha hisses happily in response.

Still, I keep my eyes on Harry. The gash gets smaller… smaller… almost to the point where it's nothing but a flesh wound. But then the light begins to die down, just when it was about to tighten completely. Oh, no… No, "No!" I blurt out. Finally, the light dies, leaving my wand and evaporating into the ice cold air. I keep my wand there as if the glow will reappear but it won't. It's over. That was the only time – the only chance I had at reviving him… and I failed.

I look at his face – still lifeless, still cold. "Harry?" I say softly. Nothing. Not even a twitch.

I shake my head unable to believe this didn't work. Sasha looks up at me, but I don't turn my head to her. Instead, I push apart the rip in Harry's shirt where the blade went through so I can see the cut. There's hardly anything there – just a thin red scratch. My fingers graze over his soft and cold skin, feeling the small scar. Finally, I pull my hand back and press my forehead to Harry's chest, hugging him so tight, he might snap. And now, I don't do anything but cry. I try to keep quiet, ignoring the tapping of footsteps upstairs. I don't care. I'd stay here and rot with the rest of these bodies if I could.

Why is this happening to me? I lost everything, and the one shred of luck I get – the one chance I have to bring him back to me is gone – he's gone. I don't want to go without him, because I'll feel alone – I already feel alone. Even the sudden hand on the back of my head isn't comforting me. I didn't even hear Snape open the door. I want to tell him to go away, but I can hardly open my mouth to talk.

"That hurts…" A raspy voice says into my ear, but it's not Snape. My eyes shoot open and my crying suddenly stops with a gasp. I loosen my grip on Harry and look down at him to see his eyes half open. My heart leaps with shock. He's breathing. He's alive! Sasha pricks up her head and hisses happily.

"Harry!?" I say almost breathlessly.

"Hey…" He groans with a smile on his exhausted looking face.

I can't believe this… he's alive! I just can't get myself to believe what I'm seeing right now. It did work – the spell really did work!

"You're all bloody." Harry says, moving his hand off the back of my head and to my face. His hand is still cold and slightly shaken. His thumb rubs against my cheek bone to push off a bit of dirt of dried blood. I shut my eyes briefly just taking in every caress. I can finally feel his skin against mine again. And I know it's not a dream – I just know it.

Tears are still running down my face, but not because I'm upset. I'm just happy he's back.

Suddenly his eyes shoot open like he just realized something and he bolts up into a sitting position, startling Sasha. "Goyle!" He yells and immediately grips his head in pain. I grab onto his shoulders to keep him steady. "He's dead." I say. "Everyone is dead." He tries to look around but I pull his head away to focus on me. Even though he won't be able to see much in the dark, I don't want him seeing any of this mess.

"Don't look. Just don't look." I say. He's panting now – looking scared, but not taking his green eyes off me.

"Where-"

"Harry it's okay." I try to sound reassuring, but he still looks terrified. He must think we're still in the arena, or somewhere else entirely – which we are, but something tells me he thinks we're at the Capitol.

He's shaking, I can see it. Gently, I hug him close to me and rub his head. "You're okay." I say softly, "You're safe now." God, it hurts to see him this scared. But even still, I'm just glad I can finally embrace him again.

His arms gently wrap around my waist, "What happened, Draco? Where are we?"

I swallow hard. He doesn't recall anything does he? "Harry. Do you remember anything that happened before you… passed out?"

He groans thoughtfully, but it takes him a few moments to get his words out. "Goyle… did something to me." He says at least. "And I can't remember what, but I remember looking at you. There was a lot of blood… my blood?"

I nod, trying to keep calm for his sake as the vision of him leaning over me, dying and with blood dripping from his mouth and chest shoots back into my own brain. The memory hurts – seeing him giving his life for mine and jumping in front of Goyle's sword. It kills me to see those visions over again. Now I remember something else; in training the same thing happened: When Goyle wanted to duel he had me pined – he stood over me, sword raised high. And just when he was about to slaughter me, Harry stood in his way. Then he said he would give my life for mine. And that's exactly what he did in the arena. Did Harry know? Did he plan it to end like this? Now that I think about it, he sounded so earnest – there wasn't a single hint of doubt in his tone, then. Goyle and Harry's voices echo in my head from that day.

"You'd give your life for him!?"

"Yes. I would."

I shudder slightly at the thought. He knew… his whole plan from the beginning was to get me to win, just like mine was to get him to win.

I swallow hard, to clear my throat, trying to sound calm. "You're blood." I say after a moment. But I say it so quietly that I don't even know if he heard me. "Do you remember anything else? Anything that you said?" There's no way I can tell him what actually happened. It's the same thing with me when I passed out and remembered Pansy's death. All those memories came back to me on their own. If I tell Harry he died, it'll only cause him more shock. He needs to remember for himself.

"I told you something…" He grips the back of my jacket and nuzzles his head into my shoulder. "I told you to win. Didn't I?"

I nod again.

"And then… the blood. Goyle…" He grips my jacket tighter, "I remember I couldn't breathe. It felt like everything was caving in on me. But I heard your voice. You were yelling but then all of a sudden your voice faded." I hug him tighter. He heard me? He heard me yelling for him to come back? I wonder if heard me say that I would win for him. "Draco… Was I dead?" I shudder again, but not from the cold – his words make even my bones shiver.

I don't answer. I don't even move.

"Please. Just say something."

I swallow hard and nod. "You were dead…"

"But then. If I'm here… and you're here… then who won?"

We pull back and he looks at me. I shift my eyes awkwardly and shrug. He blinks. "You?"

"Shocking, I know…"

"No, I mean… God, Draco… You won! How did you get rid of Goyle?"

My eyes shift around the room to find his body, but it's too dark to see. I tell Harry the whole story – everything that happened after he died. I tell him about how I tried to get Goyle to climb the tree and how I hid nearby. I tell him how he fell, how he realized I tried to trick him and how he started after me again. Then I tell him about Blaise and finally, how Goyle died. He seems enticed by the story but when I start describing Goyle's death he groans in disgust. Then lastly, I tell him about my Good-bye with Blaise, just so he knows I wasn't making it up when I first brought it up to him in the arena.

"Huh. So that really was Blaise. Well, I'm sorry, but Goyle deserved it."

I just nod.

"So… how am I still here?"

I hold up my wand and his eyes grow huge. "Draco that's-" He sounds about ready to scream at me so I interrupted him.

"Against the rules, I know."

"They can-"

"Kill me, yes, I know that too. But they won't. I already won."

"Draco…" His eyes soften and he leans in, trying to look understanding, "They'll still torture you."

I put my wand back down and stare at it on the floor, "They already have, Harry. They still are. But I have to finish this…" I grip my wand tight, suddenly thinking of my father. The thought of him makes me grip the thing more firmly with hatred and rage. "I'm not stopping until all of this ends."

There's a long silence between us, until finally, I feel his finger on my chin, lifting my head up to look at him. "Then I'm with you."

I look at him softly, "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Draco, we were in this together since our names were reaped from those bowls. You brought me back! After all this, you think I'd just get up and say 'see ya later?'"

I try not to laugh. "Not funny, you git."

"The point is I'm not leaving you even if you try to push me away."

I smile at him lightly. He really wants to see this thing through with me – even if he can die? And this time never come back. I know he cares about me. But I care about him too. What if I lose him again? I won't be able to bring him back like I did just now.

"Harry, I—mmf." His lips cut me off, probably to stop the argument I was about to start.

I don't care where we are right now and I just melt right into him. His lips are cold against mine and I taste a hint of blood.

"Harry…" I say when we pull apart. He just looks at me wearily and lifts a hand to brush a few locks of hair out of my eyes. "We need to go upstairs…" I tell him.

"Then what?" He says.

I shake my head and place my hands on his chest where his heart is now beating at full health. "I don't know… But I don't want to stay here…" I know he's not entirely sure where here actually is, but I think he's got an idea.

My shoulders quiver, "I'm freezing…"

Sasha cuddles up beside my leg and I wrap my arms around myself, shivering. It feels like I'm only getting colder by the second, but that could just be my nerves sky rocketing. If it weren't for the rest of the bodies being down here, I wouldn't mind staying a little while longer.

I lower my head and stare down at the floor. Harry wraps his arms around me and I rest the side of my head to his shoulder.

"It's okay, Draco." He says in my ear calmly, I guess sensing how scared I am. "We'll get through this. I promise, we'll figure something out and end this whole thing. No one else will have to die."

I think of Pansy again, but this time I can't shed a tear. I feel like a statue – more lifeless then any of these bodies down here. I feel like I'm just so unable to feel any sort of emotion, even though I know I'm feeling so many.

My body goes limp in his arms. "Draco please…" Harry says, hugging me tighter. "You're not giving up." Is it that obvious that I'm so worn out?

It feels like the cold has completely numbed me to the bone. My teeth chatter and I tighten my jaw to make them stop. "Harry… what now?" I say tightly.

His shoulders rise and fall with a sigh. "We face this." He pulls me back and I feel like an old ragdoll. My head is low at first, but I slowly lift it up to look at him. He tilts my chin with a finger to keep my head from bobbling over. "We go home. And we deal with whatever happens."

"But what can happen?"

Harry shakes his head. "I don't know… But if your father is the president – we're in for Hell when we get back."

I sigh – this doesn't surprise me. But facing my father isn't my biggest worry. I can handle him… in fact I know exactly what I need to do…

"Harry." I say jadedly. I blink up at him feeling my eye lids getting heavy. "I'm tired."

He opens his mouth to speak but the stiff sound of the door opening up stairs makes him jump. I don't even flinch – I'm too exhausted to react to anything. My head turns to the sudden light a top the steps where Snape stands in the door frame. Sasha slithers around my shoulders slowly. Something about her just seems depressing. I wonder if she can really sense what this is all about.

Harry looks back at me, relief taking over his face – he knows Snape is on our side. His shoulders drop, allowing him to release the tension, "Let's go home."

Home? I'm not even sure what that is anymore.

AN: Did you people really think I was going to kill off Harry!? I'd have to be going mad if I were to do that! Lol, but I like how I had people guessing :3 Keep your pants on ladies and gents, it's not over yet. (No, I'm not hinting a sex scene... yet.)

Anyway, I'd like to inform you all that this may be the last chapter for a few days. No, not becasue I'm busy with College! That's acually not it for once... Apparently we're supposed to get hit with a hurricane this weekend... Now, we have a genorator, so I'll be able to keep up with my writing - and since classes will most likely be cancled I'll have more time to write. However, power is said be out for awhile which means no internet. So if power does go out and whenever I get it back - that is when you'll probably have your last few chapters. Just thought I'd let you guys know, becasue I'm not dying, Mother Nature just hates us all. THE END IS NEAR. Am I the only one who has completely forgotten about the world ending in another two months?

I'm also sorry if this chapter isn't to your liking. I had major writers block through this one and it took me awhile to get through it. But, I got some ideas for the ending (adding onto what I already had at least). Well, I hope you guys enjoy. See you... whenever. Honestly, I don't know... I just hope this hurricane isn't as bad as I'm hearing. Needa go stack up on food n' shit tomorrow! SHOPPING!

Haha, okay, bye guys! I hope you enjoy! 3