Here we are, part two of the climax. Sorry it's short, I took out a part that I didn't like.
Chapter Thirteen: Poker Face
The haze cleared from Draco's eyes and he found himself blinking in confusion as his mind resurfaced from the effects of the curse. When he came back to himself, it took a moment to realize exactly what was happening. He was currently on the floor, wrestling with none other than Harry Potter. Upon seeing the way the other boy's eyes were clouded over in a strange manner (and noting that, while they were fighting, Potter was not slinging half-clever insults his way, which was certainly out of the norm) Draco suddenly remembered everything that had happened over the last week, right up until he'd been cursed by Cepheus. And he knew had had to do something to break Harry out of the curse as well, and fast.
Finding that his hands were too occupied in keeping Harry's wand from pointing at him to remove his own from where it was hidden in his pocket, Draco then tried a verbal approach.
"Snap out of it, Potter!" he yelled, hoping it would get through to the boy. It had no effect, but Draco kept trying. "You're under his curse, just try to break out of it! Come on, Harry!"
From the other side of the room, Cepheus chuckled softly at Draco's futile attempts. He supposed he could have put the boy back under the Imperious Curse, but at this point, it was more fun to watch him struggle. And more realistic.
If he had stopped to think for a moment, he might have realized that his plan had hit another snag. Sure, he was rejoicing in the fact that the fight seemed real and Draco would probably be killed by Harry eventually, but he was too caught up in it all to notice that he himself had broken character. Arthur heard Draco trying to stop his servant, wondering whom the sorcerer behind the curse the blond was referring to could be. And then he heard Cepheus chuckle and realized that the man was doing nothing. And that made the prince very confused and very, very concerned.
The boys continued to fight on the stone floor, rolling about and knocking over many a handcrafted tabled and precious vase, with Draco saying various things imploring Harry to shake off the curse (ranging from "please, Harry, I'll be your best friend…" to "your mother was a mudblood whore, Potter, what do you think of that?"). Clearly, this tactic wasn't working; he needed something stronger, like a way to shock Harry's brain into control again.
Then, as he swatted Harry's wand from his grip with his left arm, Draco realized exactly what that shock could be. It was the boy's hidden shame― something meant to show that he was tough enough to survive as a real dark wizard, but in truth only served to remind him of his cowardice. He hadn't wanted the thing in the first place, but it seemed as though, today, it would serve its purpose.
With one swift movement, Draco pinned Harry to the floor beneath him and pulled back the sleeve over his left arm, revealing the black, twisting outline of the Dark Mark.
Merlin ran up the second flight of stairs he'd encountered, nearly knocking over Guinevere and the Lady Morgana as he did so. He could apologize later; right now, his magic was telling him to go to King Uther's bedchamber with the utmost of urgency.
The initial revelation of Draco's Dark Mark was not enough to get Harry out of the spell, but the Slytherin wizard found a way around that. With Harry still pinned wandless beneath him, he pressed his forearm to the other boy's forehead; curse scar and Dark Mark met solidly. Harry screamed.
The pain was terrible― Harry felt as though Dobby and Crookshanks had taken turns bashing him with a hot poker and scratching at his skin (respectively), then focused a Cruciatus Curse inside his skull. But when the white-hot pain dissipated, Harry found himself stunningly lucid. Draco was standing over him, offering a hand. He accepted, standing shakily.
"What just happened?" Harry asked, retrieving his wand.
"I'll fill you in later…" Draco mumbled― rather uncharacteristically― while looking away. They turned to Cepheus, prepared for a fight.
Unexpectedly, the white-haired man was merely looking at them with a sense of great distain, but he did not appear to be about to try to curse them again. Instead, he seemed disappointed, but just as condescending as ever as he leaned some of his weight on his staff.
"I should have known that you would ruin everything," he stated, his tone unnervingly calm. "But who could expect anything less from the future of wizardry?" He smiled coldly. Draco had his wand out now and both Hogwarts students were standing in duel-ready stances. But neither dared to initiate anything. "So it seems as though there must be a change in plans― a shame, really, as the original could have worked perfectly with your cooperation. But no matter." He lifted his staff, and the two young wizards prepared to either dodge an attack or put all their strength into a defensive strategy. They didn't anticipate his actual choice of moves. "Looks like the prince will have to suffer," he said, pointing the staff in the direction of the currently defenseless prince, the magic words hiding in wait behind his tongue.
And it was then that Merlin, in true heroic fashion, finally made it to the battle scarred room, with magic words of his own ready to beat Cepheus to the draw.
Yeah, I decided to cut it there again. But before you throw me in the stocks and begin tossing the rotten vegetables, let me speak; I can assure you this is the final time I stop at so climactic a point, as this story is nearly over. And I will update as soon as I can, because there are only a few chapters left and I want to finish this for you guys as soon as possible.
Please review! I'm not sure if you guys get this, but reviews really help me know what you like or dislike and they help me not forget about this story, so they're really important.
Reviews will be used to pop the tension balloon and relieve all this pressure.