"I can't do this," Draco said miserably, dropping to his knees on the floor of the bedroom. "I need a break."
Harry sighed, feeling Draco's pain but also knowing that they couldn't stop. Not yet. They'd barely been practicing for two hours, and Draco had yet to make any kind of progress.
"Draco, I know how hard this is," he said gently, crossing the room to put his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "I know. But…we need to keep trying. You need to focus on clearing your mind. That's the first step, alright? Without that, we can't move forward."
"Harry, I understand, but I'm just so tired. I barely slept last night, and I just-…I just feel like I have no control over myself right now. I am trying, but I don't know how to have an empty mind, especially now! I can't get him out of my head. I just keep seeing his face over and over again. It's driving me insane." He broke off, shivering perceptively in the sinking light of the late afternoon.
Harry crouched down so that he was face to face with Draco and tried to portray a sense of calm that he didn't feel on the inside.
"Okay, how about this?" he said, his voice soothing, "How about you start by just trying to think about something else, something…peaceful…and safe…Try to focus on a memory that makes you feel happy, alright? A memory that makes you feel strong. Whatever it is. Maybe it can be a place or something nice from your childhood. Just something simple. Anything."
Draco looked up at Harry, nodding slowly.
"I can…try…to do that," he said quietly, and Harry smiled, rising to his feet again.
"So, this time," he said, holding his wand ready, "when I penetrate, try to pull us back to the memory you've chosen. It won't be easy, especially with me in there, but I know you can do it, and after this, we'll take a break for a little while, alright?"
Draco nodded again, looking a little sick to his stomach, and Harry forced himself to swallow his own spinning emotions.
"Legilimens!" he said forcefully, pointing his wand at Draco, and he was in.
Darkness pulled at him, darkness and pain, and he pushed even further, hearing Draco's cries but not relenting. Going easy on him wasn't going to do him any favors. Harry knew that. He knew that he had to keep going.
Suddenly, a familiar pale-faced vision filled his senses, the same one he had seen in Draco's mind on and off for the last two hours…Voldemort. He felt his stomach flip over as he heard the sickly laughter begin. "You can't push me out, Draco, you insolent little fool," Voldemort was hissing, and Draco began to shake, leaning against the wall for support. "You can't hide from me. You're nothing without me." Images of the Death Eaters were now flashing through Draco's mind, and then…Draco himself, twisting and curling on the ground…screaming in pain. This was new.
"It's not REAL, Draco," Harry found himself yelling, trying to get through to the other boy. "FIGHT IT. You have to fight it! I believe in you. You're strong enough to beat this!"
"He's wrong, Draco, and we both know it. You're not strong enough. You never have been, and you never will be. You're weak, and you'll give yourself to me, begging for death, before the end. You know that he doesn't really love you. How could he? Look at yourself. And look at him."
Voldemort's voice was grating, like fingernails on a chalkboard, and then Harry saw himself, mangled and broken at Lucius's feet. Draco screamed.
Harry prepared to pull out, unable to stand anymore, but before he could, he heard a small whisper from Draco, so quiet in comparison to the scream that for the briefest of moments, he wondered if he had imagined it.
"You're wrong."
Harry felt his heart speed up, but he remained silent, his wand still held out in front of him connecting him to Draco's thoughts. Could it be?
"You're wrong!" Draco said again, only this time with a louder, stronger voice, and Voldemort's image began to falter, flickering like a dying street lamp in Draco's mind.
"My god, Draco, you're doing it!" Harry cried, his entire body shaking. "You're pushing him out! Keep going! Bring us to your memory, the one you chose. These are YOUR thoughts, not his. Take back control!"
Before Harry had even finished speaking, the corners of the blackness started to glow, as if something on the other side was struggling to get through. The ethereal light expanded and began to break through piece by piece, dancing through the shadows of the vision, dissolving the darkness, erasing Voldemort and his Death Eaters, crumbling the entire scene like fire to paper.
And then, quite suddenly, Harry saw himself again. He saw himself, only this time he was…beautiful. His face looked down from the sky like a wild sun, and his eyes were twinkling as though they each contained a universe. When he smiled, the world around him lit up with music, and Harry could only watch…in awe of what he was witnessing.
Without even quite realizing what he was doing, he lowered his wand, breaking the connection, and for a moment, he was lost, once again alone with his own thoughts.
He looked up, slowly meeting Draco's eyes.
"D-Draco," he stammered, unsure of what to say, "that was-…that was…"
"That's what I see when I look at you, Harry," Draco said softly, clasping his hands together nervously. "In a way, I always have. You-…you're the thing that makes me feel safe…the thing that makes me feel happy. Loving you is what makes me strong."
For an extended moment, Harry couldn't even speak, and then he crossed the room in three strides, colliding with Draco like a supernova, pressing his mouth to the other boy's with a fervor that he had never known before. It was as if Draco contained the world's supply of oxygen and Harry had only just realized how badly he needed to breathe. His hands roamed everywhere, cupping Draco's cheeks, sliding down the back of his neck, and finally coming to rest on his hips, yanking the other boy against him as if they couldn't possibly get close enough.
"Fuck," he mumbled against Draco's lips, panting a little from the severity of the kiss, "I just…I love you so much. I love you…so much. How can I ever tell you…show you…like you just showed me?"
"I already know," Draco whispered, threading his hands through Harry's hair and covering Harry's mouth with his own again.
Harry groaned, his hands finding Draco's chest. He slid them up and down over the fabric of the other boy's shirt, pausing over Draco's nipples to roughly pinch them between his thumb and his index finger, too feverish to focus on being gentle.
"God," Draco moaned, grinding his hips into Harry's. The moist heat of Draco's mouth was making every nerve in Harry's body stand at attention. Together, they were unstoppable…a force of nature. He finally understood. Side by side, they could stand up to anything that the world could throw at them.
He let his fingers dance down Draco's torso until he reached the front of the other boy's pants, ghosting his nails over Draco's obvious erection.
Draco shivered, prodding Harry's lips with his tongue, slipping inside, tasting him…learning him.
The hard cock pressed against his own twitched. Flesh only separated by thin boxers and trousers. Draco bucked against him and Harry licked his ear, letting his tongue slide along the outer shell. Draco was panting now, making whining little noises mixed in with low grunts. "Harry," Draco whispered. "Harry, you're torturing me. I need you. Especially after what we've been through today…"
"Mmmm, I know," Harry murmured in response, now rubbing Draco more seriously through the layer of fabric. He leaned in so that his mouth rested on Draco's ear.
"I'm going to make you feel so good," he whispered, edging Draco slowly toward the bed. "I'm going to fuck you until you-"
"Harry! Draco! Dinner in five!"
The two boys froze at the sound of Mrs. Weasley's voice, which had clearly been magically magnified to travel throughout the large house.
"DAMMIT," Draco cursed almost immediately, flinging himself dramatically across the mattress. "I can't believe this…I really can't…just…kill me now, Harry, if we're never going to be able to fuck again without the Weasley's interfering at every turn. With everything going on, I had almost forgotten that they were even here."
Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco's sudden return to his old attitude.
"Be nice," he said with a little smirk. "You've been mentally battling Voldemort all afternoon, and this is your breaking point?" he joked, his tongue snaking out to moisten his lips suggestively.
Draco just glared.
"Stop that," he grumbled. "You're making it much worse."
Harry laughed again, leaning over the bed to give Draco a smoldering kiss before pulling back with a mischievous smile.
"Oh, Draco," he said, "Draco, Draco, Draco…if you think that I'm not sneaking in here immediately after everyone's asleep, you are quite mistaken. But, for now, get up and let's go eat. I'm fairly sure that I saw the ingredients for Mrs. Weasley's sweet potato pie on the kitchen counter, and trust me, that's not something you want to miss."
Draco grinned wickedly and hopped up from the bed, and Harry was more than a little pleased to see his lover in good spirits, considering the long road that still lay ahead.
"Alright, stud, let's eat," Draco said, giving Harry a playful shove. "You'd better have two helpings. I wouldn't want you falling asleep on me later."
Harry let his eyes drift down to Draco's ass, admiring it in the dim light.
"I don't think that's something you ever have to worry about," he said, feeling his cock twitch again in anticipation.
As the two headed for the door, Draco suddenly stopped, regarding Harry with a different kind of expression.
"Harry," he said slowly, his tone more serious. "I just…I just wanted to say thank you. Again. For everything. I know that I, well, I come with a lot of baggage, and you-"
"Draco," Harry interrupted, lightly kissing the other boy on his forehead. "I love you. I'll always love you. You don't have to worry about that, and as for…everything else…we're going to beat this. I promise you we are. I don't know how, but we will. We'll do it together."
Draco nodded his head slowly.
"I actually think you're right," he said, grabbing Harry's hand and giving it a squeeze. "We're going to come out on top, you and me. And I'm going to take you around the world. There are so many places that I want to show you…when I'm free. Going with my family was one thing. Going with someone who I care about? Who I love? That will be something else entirely. Do you want to? See the world with me?"
Harry smiled, turning away slightly so that Draco wouldn't see the tears that momentarily welled up in his eyes.
"Of course I do," he said, all the while knowing that as long as Voldemort lived, Draco's entire world would exist between the walls of Grimwauld Place.
"We'll just have to take things one day at a time," Harry thought as he and Draco headed for the stairs. Just one day at a time. As long as we have each other, we'll be okay."
And looking into Draco's eyes, full of hope…full of love…he knew that somehow, they really would be.
Author's note: Enjoying the story? Not enjoying the story? Have any suggestions, ideas, or just general thoughts? Please let me know! A super big thank you to jcane, foxygirl98, AchillesTheGeek, Mashkai30, Heart Prayer, and an anonymous guest for their reviews! I'm hoping that the next chapter will be finished soon. Until then! -L-