You Jump, I jump

Written by StrawberryGirl87

Hogwarts no longer feels like home, it is time to move on but Harry has nowhere else to go. Standing on the precipice of uncertainty he finds a helping hand from the most unlikely of people. Someone who is willing to stand by his side when things seem bleak.

Chapter Ten

With Godrics Hollow being a mainly wizarding village it was difficult not to attract attention, especially not when the most popular wizarding newspaper was running front page notifications daily that Harry Potter was a missing person. In the end Harry snuck up to their room under his cloak and Draco ordered room service for two at the bar, paying twice the amount owed just to keep the owner happy before following Harry up. He was just glad that they would only be here the one night.

Harry of course reached their room first and couldn't help but be amused when he found one double bed instead of two singles as he'd expected. His hopes had flared at the sight of it, thinking that Draco had done it on purpose and that maybe he had wanted to share a bed with him again just like their first night. However his hopes were quickly dashed when the Slytherin had come to join him and seemed horrified at the mix up.

Draco however had only been horrified because of the implications of what it meant for the two of them this evening and how he didn't want Harry waking up in the morning to find him with a rather embarrassing tent in his pyjama trousers, which might have only caused awkwardness between them. Ever since he had seen the Gryffindor in the shower it was all he could think about.

"It's okay," Harry said as Draco had been about to go back down to the bar and rectify the problem. "I honestly don't mind," He said honestly, happy for any excuse to be close to Draco. The thought of sharing a bed with him, being able to smell the sweet vanilla scent of his hair and feel the warmth of his pale skin as they fell asleep side by side seemed like something close to heaven to Harry.

"Are you sure, I could always sleep on the floor," Draco said looking at the wooden floor that was filthy and looked particularly uncomfortable however there wasn't much that he wouldn't suffer through for Harry.

"Don't be silly, there is plenty of room in the bed, it's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before," Harry said, mumbling the last part but Draco heard and smiled. Quickly changing the subject, Harry asked, "Was there anything interesting in the Prophet?"

Realising that he still had the paper tucked under one arm he began to unfold it, "Actually yes, of course they still haven't stopped printing that you're missing but there was something else too, " He said as he opened it up to the page of notifications. "I noticed that Hermione put this in the paper, I think she wanted us to know about it." He hoped that by adding the part about Hermione it might increase their chances of being able to go.

A knock on the door signalled that their lunch had arrived, leaving Harry to ponder the funeral announcement he went to fetch their meal. When he returned with the assortment of bread, cheese, meat, fruit and several bottles of pumpkin juice, summoning a table to put it all on he found that Harry was wiping away tears.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked with concern, he hadn't been expecting such an emotional reaction to the paper. He had assumed that the notification had been put there for his benefit rather than Harry's. It had always been the belief that Severus and Harry were enemies but apparently he had been mistaken.

"Hermione knew that I would want to go, to pay my respects to him, he was a great man," Harry said as he wiped away his tears, he had been crying a lot of late, though he had a reason for every one of the tears he shed. Each one grieved for something or someone that had been lost to him over his life and he had lost a lot.

"I thought that you hated him," Draco said, confused at what Harry was telling him. He couldn't imagine Harry not hating the man who had killed Dumbledore, someone Draco knew Harry had been very close to.

"We misunderstood each other," Harry explained sadly, "I wish I had known him better while he was alive. I was there when he died, I sat with him while until he passed, he gave me some of his memories right before he died which helped me to understand him better."

"You were with him when he died?" Draco queried and Harry nodded at him, "Will you tell me how it happened?"

"Of course, were you close to him?" Harry asked as they settled themselves on the bed, helping themselves to the food that Draco had ordered though neither of them felt particularly hungry, both in too sombre a mood to want to eat much.

"He was my Godfather, he meant more to me than my father, he did more for me than Lucius ever did too. I miss him," Draco ended sadly.

"Severus was always working for Dumbledore because ultimately he loved my mother and had done since they were children together. It's the reason that he hated my Dad so much and me too to start with but really he just wanted to protect me, I was his last remaining link to her."

"I never knew that about him, he always kept himself closed off emotionally, of course he protected me but I never knew that ultimately he was loyal to Dumbledore and not the Dark Lord," Draco admitted, realising that he might not have known the man much at all.

"The night of the great battle Voldemort summoned him to the shrieking shack where he was hiding when the Elder wand wasn't working right for him-"

"The elder wand?" Draco interrupted, confused, "Isn't that just part of a children's story?"

Harry shook his head, "I found out last year that the Deathly Hallows are all very much real unfortunately. Dumbledore was the master of the elder wand before he died, Voldemort believed that because Snape had killed Dumbledore that Snape had become the wands master and by killing him the wand would then answer to Voldemort and he'd finally be able to kill me." Harry explained though he felt as if he wasn't doing a very good job. "The problem was the elder wand never answered to Severus."

"Who did it answer to?" Draco asked, completely enthralled by the story that Harry was telling him, relishing every detail that was divulged. He had always found wand lore fascinating, especially the tale of the three brothers and the elder wand.

"It actually answered to you," Harry said which initiated a stunned gawp from Draco.

"The elder wand answered to me?" He asked in surprise, never would he have believed it if anyone other than Harry had been the one to tell him.

"It did, until I disarmed you in Malfoy Manor, yes," Harry told him. "After that the wand answered to me, not to Snape. Voldemort didn't understand that though, he thought that it was whomever had killed the previous master that took control of their wand, Snape knew all this of course but protected you to the end. If he had known then Voldemort would have come after you, he truly believed that processing the elder wand was the only way to defeat me. Severus died when Voldemort, under the delusion that killing Snape was the answer to his problem, ordered his pet snake to kill him."

"What about the other hallows … the resurrection stone?" Draco asked thinking of his sister and being able to see her again, being able to talk to his Godfather one last time but Harry was shaking his head sadly.

"The cloak of invisibility you've seen, it belonged to my father," Harry began, thinking that he should start with the least inflammatory explanation first, "Dumbledore gave it to me when I was eleven, the first Christmas I was at Hogwarts. Strangely it's the cloak that is the least sought after of the hallows but it is also the one that I could never live without. Dumbledore also left me the resurrection stone that night when I finally understood that I had to die to defeat Voldemort. It allowed me to see my parents, to help me understand and to guide me but I knew how dangerous it was. The living should never have been given the power to summon the dead so before I went to him I dropped the stone somewhere in the forbidden forest, I don't even remember the exact location."

Harry watched as a sadness dawned over Draco's handsome features and he understood how the loss of that stone took away the possibilities of seeing those he had lost one final time but he wouldn't feel guilty for dropping the stone. It was better left where it was. He fully believed that the living shouldn't have power over the dead, the dead were better left where they were at peace.

"I'm sorry, it was selfish of me to ask about it," Draco said sheepishly, not wanting Harry to think badly of him for desiring the stone.

"I know why you did and it crossed my mind too once but not even wizards can undo death, you know that. Severus was one of the bravest men I knew, he led a double life for so long but never really lived at all after my mother died," Harry said, he truly admired the man that Severus had been and had knew the wizarding world was a lot worse off without Snape being a part of it. However no resurrection stone was ever going to be able to fix that.

"So is it okay that we go to his funeral, I would like to say goodbye to him?" Draco asked and Harry could hear how much it meant to him that they be able to go and the plain truth was it meant a lot to him as well.

"I want to go, Hermione knew I would which is why she let us know about it but with all this crap about me being a missing person … " Harry said pondering the situation for a moment as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice, "I'm going to have to go under my cloak and you'll have to have a few glamour charms on you as well, just to be sure. I don't want to take any risks, it's too soon for me to go back to the wizarding world officially."

"I don't want to go back either but I need to say goodbye to him," Draco said understanding the risk they were taking. "It wouldn't feel right to miss it." Harry nodded his understanding, feeling the same way.

With them both acknowledging that neither were ready to go back to the wizarding world as themselves but that attending the memorial of Severus Snape was something that they had to, they continued with their meal in a pensive silence. Draco watched Harry eat, loving his passion for each flavour every time he put something new into his mouth.

"What are you staring at?" Harry asked bemused as he felt Draco's gaze on him.

"I love watching you eat, you seem to really love food," Draco said enthralled as Harry finished his mouthful, swallowing before taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"It's because I never really had much of it growing up, I don't take it for granted," Harry explained after taking a deep breath, preparing himself for Draco's reaction.

"What do you mean you didn't have much of it growing up?" Draco asked with confusion, not sure what Harry could mean.

"Severus' funeral isn't until the day after next right?" Draco nodded, "I want to take you somewhere tomorrow, I don't really know how to explain it to you until I can show you."

"Alright," Draco said confused, "Are you sure you don't want to stay in Godrics Hollow any longer?" He asked, he wanted to be sure that Harry had everything he needed from their visit here, not prepared to leave until he had.

"I think I've said everything I needed to say to my parents. It was nice to spend the morning with them, thank you for giving that to me. I think that going back to my Aunt and Uncle's house is something that I have to do, I just don't think I can do it alone. It isn't going to be an easy trip for me."

"As long as you want me Harry I'll be by your side, whatever you want to do. If this is something you have to do then this is what we'll do," Draco said reassuringly.

"Thank you Dray," Harry said with a smile, looking at the Slytherin affectionately, he truly didn't know what he would do if he didn't have Draco with him.