Bonus Scene: For all my readers that may have felt a little cheated, I'm so sorry. I wrote this whole story and completely forgot to throw this scene in somewhere. So here it is, the scene you were waiting for. The Black Lake...

Draco paced back and forth at the edge of the forest. He could see his team gathering ahead at the Quidditch pitch. He wondered if their uniforms were as hot and tight as his. He patiently waited, forcing himself to take deep breaths, as Harry knelt on the ground, intentionally jinxing his broom. "This had better work, Potter!" Draco snapped as Harry rubbed a jinxing balm on the bristles. "You and that daffy Headmaster are failing to realize what this stunt means!"

"Calm down, Draco." Harry recited for the millionth time. He pulled a wrapped piece of taffy out of his pocket and threw it at the blonde. "Just pop this in your mouth and chew it. Dumbledore had it made just for you. It has an extract of gillyweed in it, so it should help you stay under."

"Stay under?!" Draco squeaked before he could stop himself. Harry looked up, shocked by the outburst. "You mean I...? I mean, I have to-?" The world tilted on its head and Draco was feeling sick to his stomach. "I can't do this, Potter. I-I can't." Harry put down the broomstick, standing to meet Draco's gaze as the blonde paled considerably.

"Deep breaths, Draco. Remember that." Draco forced a deep breath in, but it froze in his throat, along with bile.

"I can't do this, Potter. What if this doesn't work? What happens someone pulls me out? What happens then?"

"Then we'll try something else." Draco shook his head, plucking his cursed broom from the ground.

"They'll know." He said, trembling. "They always know." Harry rolled his eyes, having the nerve to straighten Draco's pads.

"They don't know that someone you're supposed to hate is standing here with you now. They don't know that you are going to go up there and follow through with this to protect your mother. They don't know how brave you are, Draco." Draco felt his heart leap in his throat. No one here has ever said something so...so nice to him. Don't have anyone to blame about that but himself, he guessed. "Draco, this," he forced up Draco's sleeve, showing him the clean, unmarred skin of his forearm, "means that you are ready. That you have what it takes. He has put you through enough pain."

You have no idea, Draco thought bitterly. "Fine, don't be such a bloodied Gryffindor about it."

Harry smiled, turning up at one side, like it was meant to be a smirk. "I'll take that as a compliment." Draco couldn't help but smile also as they shook hands. As he turned to leave, his heart pounded and his palms sweat. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"Deep breaths." He told himself as he ran up to the Quidditch pitch, cursed broom in hand.

"Deep breaths," Harry said as he pulled Draco's wand out of his pocket. He felt wretched, like a monster, as he took the piece of hawthorn between his hands and snapped it in half. It was a necessary evil, though. Draco couldn't be trusted to do it himself. He said so himself.

"We'll have to snap my wand, and toss it in." Draco told the Headmaster as he leaned over his desk.

"And why is that, Mr. Malfoy?" He asked, his eyes twinkling over his half-moon spectacles. Draco once again turned back to Harry, who nodded in encouragement. When Draco had started to trust Harry? Harry would never know, but he couldn't help but feel a odd form of pride at the gesture.

"Father will look for it. They need tangible proof that I went in. They'll never believe otherwise. Harry will have to do it, though. I think if I have my wand, I'll be too tempted to save myself."

"A noble thought, Mr. Malfoy."

"Nobility has nothing to do with it, Headmaster. It's only cowardice."

"I would like to call it a different name." Dumbledore smiled, warm and proud. "I would call it courage." Harry watched Draco swell with emotion, but quickly squash it. He never lost that small smile on his face, however.

He could already hear Draco swearing and yelling at his teammates as they circled over the pitch. Draco was certainly a demanding man. Harry had a brief moment of worry that perhaps Draco would give the Room of Requirement a run for its money.

He pulled his wand from his bag, stashing his things behind a tree, before making his way down to the lake. It had been raining earlier that day, so Harry luckily didn't see a soul around the lake. As he neared the edge, he heard shrieks and screams from the pitch. He chanced a look to the sky to see, sure enough, Draco's broom absorbed the jinx and was now jerking around like a wild stallion. Anyone who could see the outside would be watching him, not Harry. He rushed into the lake, casting a hasty Bubblehead charm, before submerging himself in the cold water, out of sight before anyone could notice.

The water was as dim and grimy as he remembered. Shadows of grindylows and mermaids passed him, but he ignored them as he kicked forward, determined to reach the center of the lake before Draco fell. He was unsure how long the broom would keep him in the air. When he tested the balm, he only lasted five minutes on the broom before it threw him, but he would bet money that being suspended a few dozen feet in the air would lengthen that time.

Once in position, he let go of the pieces of Draco's wand letting them float away on the current. Harry could hear the muffled cries of someone falling, then a large weight fell into the water behind him, crashing on top of him.

Hands scrambled to grab hold of Harry. They desperately clung to whatever they could, making Harry fear for not only Draco's life, but his own, too.

"Draco!" He tried to yell, but it was muffled by the water. Draco met Harry's eyes and the look on his face was one of pure terror. His lips formed around a word that Harry couldn't understand, but he knew Draco was saying that one word over and over.

Harry took Draco's hands, holding him there with him under the water. Draco held on, his hands in a death grip, as gills formed on the side of his neck, and skin webbed between his fingers.

"You have to stay with me." Harry said loudly, and slowly. Draco squinted his eyes in confusion, but then nodded, hesitantly.

The water grew colder as the sun set. They couldn't really see the sky being so deep in the water, but they could tell by the growing darkness that night was falling. By now, the wand and broom would have washed up on the shore, and the curious students looking for a body would have walked away, disappointed.

Draco's head whipped around at every sound and every movement that happened under the water, and Harry's hands were starting to cramp from Draco's steady, steel grip, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. Terrified was an understatement as Harry watched Draco. His eyes were blown wide, tracking every shadow of motion around them. His body felt like taut steel, and tension radiated off of him in waves. Harry wondered if Draco's paralyzing fear was the reason no underwater creatures have come to investigate them yet. Then again, Dumbledore could have had something to do with it also.

Harry shifted his feet uncomfortably in the muddy floor of the lake, desperate for sound, color, anything interesting. He wished he had thought of a way to keep them entertained as they waited for nightfall. He wished that they could at least talk.

Draco's hands crushed Harry's suddenly, making Harry grunt. Draco's mouth formed around words rapidly. The only words Harry could really catch were 'Harry' and 'wand'.

Harry drew his wand, facing whatever terrified Draco, but stopped when he just saw what looked like a little seahorse. He looked back at Draco, perplexed, but turned back, in time for the seahorse to strike out with his tail, which had a sharp metallic talon on the end. Harry cursed, muffled by the water. There on his shoulder was a nice-sized gash, blood oozing out sluggishly. It curled in the darkness of the water like smoke, but then dissipated as the water around Harry started churning viciously.

Draco kicked and pulled with all of his strength, gunning for the surface as Harry struggled to follow him, trying to stop him. Did they wait long enough? Would anyone be there? Harry decided they would find out, because soon Draco was breaking through the surface, screaming in fear? Rage? Harry didn't know.

"Never again!" He cried, as Harry resurfaced, sound bursting in his ears like a clap of thunder. Draco swam for the bank, yelling, cursing, sobbing. Harry tried to follow. Thankfully, no one was around, and the night was black. Many of the lights in the castle were extinguished and the grounds were quiet.

"Draco, you have to be quiet." He hissed, finally catching up to him.

"Fuck you, Potter! Fuck all of you!" He reached the bank, crawling on to the grass, before collapsing on the ground. "Oh, Merlin! Never again!" Harry clumsily left the lake and rushed up to Draco.

"Draco, are you okay?" Harry was alarmed to see Draco crying hysterically, clawing the ground and sobbing painfully. "Draco!" He hurried to collect Draco in his arms, holding the taller boy to his chest as he cried and cursed loudly. "Draco, it's okay. It worked. You're safe." He rocked Draco lightly, but then winced when Draco gripped his injured arm.

Draco yanked his hand back, looking at the blood on his fingertips, before collapsing into hysterics again. "Issy! Issy! Irissia! I'm so sorry!" He clung to Harry desperately, sobbing into his neck, as Harry rocked them back and forth. "Issy! I miss you so much!"

Harry held Draco as his hysterics calmed into sobs, then the sobs calmed into whimpers. The night air chilled them to the bones in their wet clothes, but Harry refused to move. He held Draco protectively to him, as Draco clung to him with everything he had.

"Draco?" He asked softly. Draco sniffed before pulling away. His eyes were blank of emotion, as was his expression. "Draco?"

"Never do this to me again, Potter!" He seethed, standing. Harry followed, unable to process what just happened as they snuck into the castle.

They were climbing up the stairs when Harry spoke again, "Draco, are you alright?"

Draco said nothing. They continued to the Room of Requirement, the occasional sniffle the only proof Draco was still there.

"Draco?" Harry pleaded. The silence was scaring him, and the sad, hopeless look on Draco's face scared him even worse. "Please say something. Anything." The door to the room appeared and Draco stepped forward, entering the room, before turning in the doorway to face Harry.

"Thank you." Draco's throat closed with the weight of those two words, and he couldn't bear it. He shoved the door shut in Harry's face, leaning against it as he listened to Harry stomp away slowly.

Another sob ripped its way out, forcing stinging, bitter tears out of Draco's eyes. He remembered the feel of Harry's arms, warm and protective around him, as he held on for dear life. Fear and pain ripped through him and he fell, but then Harry was there to catch him. Harry was there to hold him as he slowly came back, the raw edges no longer scarred, but healing. "Thank you, Harry."

That night, he didn't have a vision. Instead, he dreamed of warm arms and fiery green eyes hiding him, protecting him...holding him.