I dreamed of you. I dreamed you were wandering in the dark, and so was I. And we found each other—we found each other in the dark.

-The Green Mile

Harry awoke to a blinding white light, and the sound of whispering voices. Even through the dim haze of consciousness, the voices sounded familiar to him. It was the same voices he'd heard nearly every day of his life for the past seven years.

Ron and Hermione.

Harry blinked his eyes open slowly, the lethargy of unconsciousness still clinging to him like a vice. He stared at the two—they were standing on the left side of the bed he was now laying in, their heads bowed together in discussion. A blindingly white wall served as their backdrop, causing Harry to squint as light assaulted his pupils. Where was he anyway? He gazed around at the unmistakable white walls with a grimace. St. Mungo's?

Hermione gasped suddenly. "Harry! Thank Merlin, you're awake!" She bent over him, grabbing his hand and holding it to her chest, tears gathering and spilling over her cheeks. "Oh, Harry! How are you feeling? In pain? Queasy? Do I need to call a mediwizard?"

Harry smiled weakly. "I'm fine, 'Mione." He did feel a bit strange though. His mind felt sluggish—he felt like he should be remembering something.

"Hey mate," Ron said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and lowered his gaze as Harry moved to look at him. "We were beginning to worry about you. You've been out for almost a week now."

"A week?" Harry replied blankly.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione's grip on his hand tightened. "We're so sorry. We were under Tom's spell and we—we didn't know what we did! We couldn't help it! Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!"

It all seemed to come back in a rush. The round room: being tied to the wall, and a deathly green curse flying towards him Then the sound of Draco's voice ringing above it all, casting the spell that had saved Harry's life and ended his own.

Suddenly, breathing became difficult. "Hermione, where is he? Where's Draco?"

Hermione's brown eyes went large. She looked back to exchange a quick glance with Ron before turning back to Harry again.

Harry's heart felt as if it would spring from his ribcage. He tried to sit up, only to have a searing pain slice across his chest.

"Harry, you shouldn't sit up," Hermione said. "You're still injured and—"

"Where is he, Hermione?"

"He's here…" she answered slowly, "but, Harry, I don't—"

"Go get him, 'Mione." Ron said.

Hermione dropped Harry's hand to stand up and look back at Ron once more. Harry could see that she was trying her best to control her expression.

Ron nodded, and with a slight smile said, "Go on. Go get him. He's been waiting just as long as we have."

With a confused sort of sigh, Hermione walked around the bed and made her way towards the door. She turned back for a moment when she reached the doorway, her lip catching under her teeth the way it usually was when she was concerned about something. She opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind and left without a word. Harry watched her go, wanting to believe that the sudden pang in his chest wasn't because he was worried.

"Harry?" Ron's voice was soft at his side. Harry turned back towards him, and was surprised to see tears shining in his bright blue eyes. "I owe you a real apology."

"Ron, really it's alright, I know you were under a spell and—"

"No," Ron interjected, stepping forward. "I won't allow it to be all blamed on that. Maybe Hermione can, but I can't." Ron took a deep staggering breath. "All that stuff about Malfoy, before—before I was really under the Imperius Curse—I meant all of it. I knew what I was saying and what I was doing. And I should've known better, Harry. I should've known. Especially considering what happened last year with the locket and everything else…Merlin, Harry, how can I ever ask you to forgive me now? I was so angry, and I didn't see…how can I expect—"

"Ron," Harry reached out and took Ron's hand in his own, squeezing it tightly. "It's okay. Really. I know why you did it."

Ron's lips quirked into a miserable frown. "You saved my sister, Harry—hell, you saved my whole family. I owe you so much."

Harry smiled. "How is Ginny?"

"Terrified," Ron said, taking his hand from Harry's to rub it across his face. "She remembers everything. Mum and Dad have been doing what they can, but she barely responds to them. She thinks you'll never want to see her again."

"Why in the world would she think that?"

Ron eyed him warily. "She says she remembers trying to kill you."

"She was possessed!" Harry said with a halfhearted chuckle, feeling strangely elated in the aftermath of it all. "How can she feel guilty for anything when she didn't even have control over her own body?"

Ron's hand rubbed over his face once more before dropping it limply down to his side. "For the same reasons I feel guilty, I suspect."

Grief swelled in Harry's stomach like a balloon, effectively extinguishing his elation. "I'll talk to her, Ron. Everything will be okay. You'll see. It's all over now."

Ron nodded distantly. He moved his gaze to the door Hermione had left through not minutes before, and his face creased with some dark thought. "Harry…about Malfoy…was—was everything Ginny said about the two of you true? I mean, are you two…together?"

There was a beat of painful silence. "Yes," Harry answered finally.

"I thought you were," Ron said, half to himself. "He woke up right after you passed out back at the manor, and even when the Aurors came they couldn't pry him from your side. I don't think he's gone home once all week. We talked a couple times, and even though I still think he's a slimy git, I can tell that…he loves you." Ron looked at him then. "He saved your life, didn't he."

Harry felt very small at that moment, sitting on the bed with Ron looking at him like that—like he could see straight through him. "Yeah. He did."

Ron smiled, and just like that the tension between them dissipated. "Well, I'll have to keep that in mind then, next time I want to pummel him to death."

"Thanks, Ron" Harry said with a bemused smirk.

"Do you love him?"

And the tension was back. Harry's heart leapt into this throat. "I—er—" A sudden knock on the door saved him from the—most likely stupid—reply he was about to make. The door creaked open, and Draco Malfoy slid silently into the room.

Their eyes locked, and it felt as if every nerve in Harry's body was a bright blazing light shining with such a happiness, he felt as if the emotion was radiating from him.

He heard Ron chuckle softly at his side. "Guess that answers that question. I'll leave you two alone then." Ron walked towards the door, exchanging a brief curt nod with Draco before sliding past him and out of the room.

Clearing his throat, Draco smiled tentatively, "So…I guess I should welcome you back to the world of the living. You're a bit early, you know. I had this whole ordeal planned—balloons, cake, Hagrid dancing on a stripping pole, the whole shebang. Unfortunately, Hagrid got hungry after practicing his routine and ate the cake, so—"

"Draco, come here."

Draco's mouth snapped shut, and he walked towards the bed with an agonizing slowness. But as soon as he was within reaching distance, Harry grabbed him and pulled him down, not caring if it hurt. He pressed their lips together in a sinuous kiss, relishing in the way Draco's body melted against his own, and the way those hands slid up his neck to cup his face.

Harry only released him, for the need to look at him again. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered.

"You did," Draco's breath was hot against his face. "But that damn Gryffindor luck of yours always seems to pull through."

Harry couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up his throat. "What do you mean?"

The Slytherin stood, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small star-shaped keychain.

Harry frowned at it, his hands reluctant to release their hold on Draco's robes. "My present from Luna and Neville?"

"Is that who gave it to you?" Draco asked with a quirked brow. "I was wondering where you got it. Lightwood trees are incredibly rare you know, and they take years to grow, but the bark from a mature tree has very powerful magical properties." He handed the small charm to Harry, who took it thoughtfully.

He noticed there was a small crack across its center that hadn't been there before. Harry ran his thumb over it, an unexpected thought dawning on him, "Luna said it would help me find the things that I'd lost."

Draco perched himself on the edge of Harry's bed, placing one hand on the far side of Harry's hips to keep his balance. "After you left me…I opened those doors. I don't remember much, but I do remember that there was darkness, and I could hear you calling my name but I couldn't find you. It was so dark, Harry…darker than anything you can imagine." His grey eyes sparkled like the reflection of stars on a still lake. "I was lost in it, with no hope of finding my way back out. And then I saw something—a light in the distance. I ran towards it, and the further I ran the louder your voice got. And then I found you, Harry—I found you in the dark."

Gently, Draco took the keychain from Harry's hand and set it down on the bed, before leaning forward. His face stopped just above Harry's, and the Gryffindor couldn't help the shudder of anticipation that flitted across his skin. Draco's hand came up to stroke Harry's cheek softly, and Harry's eyes fluttered shut. He loved the feeling of Draco's skin against his own. Draco's fingers dipped lower, his nails running across Harry's chin before coming back up and running delicately across the length of Harry's lips, light and tickling like the tip of a feather.

"Harry," Draco breathed, his thumb stopping so it barely touched the center of Harry's lower lip. "Why did you come into my soul first?"

Harry opened his eyes, but Draco was too close to see properly. "How is it not obvious?"

"Humor me."

Harry's mouth opened and closed several times before he finally replied, "I love you. What other reason did I need?"

Draco's forehead fell heavily against his own. His skin felt smooth and cool. "But I betrayed you. I thought that after you found out you would think that I didn't—"

Harry chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I wanted to hate you. I tried, but I just couldn't. What we went through…what you did for me—it meant too much for me to just let it go. And then…and then you saved me. And like it or not I do know you at least a little bit, Draco. You're as Slytherin as they come, and I know you lot aren't exactly known for willingly putting yourselves in danger, especially for the sake of someone else. So, for you to sacrifice yourself for me like that—for Ginny too—how could you possibly think I wouldn't realize it for what it was?"

Draco made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm still stuck on the belief that you're idiotic and borderline suicidal—scratch that, I think you've earned the title of genuinely suicidal now."

Harry grinned, but said nothing. Instead he moved to tangle his hands in Draco's hair, liking the way it slid through his fingers like fine silk. Draco hummed contently against him and dropped his hand back down to Harry's neck, delicately kneading the skin there. Harry took a deep breath, "Hey, Draco," and exhaled.

"Yeah?"

Reality seemed to blur for a suspended moment. "I killed him."

He felt the Slytherin tense against him. "I know, Harry."

"I didn't want to. But he attacked me…and he…he fell, and the knife was just there and—"

Harry was cut off as Draco closed the short distance between their mouths. The blonde's hand dipped under the small of his neck, pulling Harry in closer. Tendrils of electric pleasure danced across Harry's lips, before crawling down his jaw to prickle at the tip of his spine. Draco's lips moved heatedly against his own, his teeth nipping gently at Harry's bottom lip. Harry more than got the message. He opened his mouth and his senses were flooded with Draco's wonderful taste. Their tongues moved together, caressing, and Harry felt a soft, heated shiver run all the way through him.

Draco's right hand moved to Harry's hip, pressing him down into the mattress. Harry let out a quavering breath, feeling it mix with Draco's and pool hotly against his nose and mouth. And somehow that was all it took for Harry to know the words that were left unspoken between them—he knew them from the soft slow way Draco's lips moved against his own, as if he could somehow feel Harry's pain in the kiss. But more than that, he could share it. The pain of taking another life, and knowing how warm blood felt against skin. Draco pressed harder against him, his tongue delving into Harry's mouth and sending a wave of heat down through his chest and into his stomach where it coiled snapped at his veins like fire. Harry's back arched, as Draco's nails slid across his neck to sink into his collarbone.

Slowly, Draco's hand began to inch across Harry's hip.

Harry grabbed his wrist, breaking their kiss with a raucous grin. "Draco, we're in a hospital."

"Stop it, Harry" Draco smirked playfully. "You know how showing off your intellect gets me all hot and bothered."

"Draco!" Harry chortled. "I'm being serious! Plus, I'm still injured. Tom kind of sliced me open in case you hadn't noticed."

Smile falling, Draco sat up, his hand trailing across Harry's bandage ever so lightly. "My father always said the Healers here were worthless." His fingers stopped just at the base of Harry's ribcage. "Does it hurt?"

Harry took Draco's hand in his own and smiled, feeling a tender warmth settle over him. "It doesn't matter. I'm just happy you're okay."

Draco nodded and looked away. "I went to see Ginny while you were asleep."

Harry didn't know how to respond, so he didn't.

"She remembers everything you know."

"Ron told me."

"Yeah," Draco's eyes misted, as he lost himself in some dark thought that Harry would never know. "I think she hates me. Not that I care much, mind you, but still…it was strange—talking to her and seeing her look at me like she used to."

Harry's lip rolled under his teeth. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Draco."

"No, she does." Mirth pulled Draco's lips into a broken smile. "For not telling you what was happening to her I suspect. I don't blame her."

"Draco, you had no choice. You—"

"No!" Draco's head whipped back towards him, his eyes bright with a barely restrained anger. "I did have a choice, and don't you dare say that I didn't! I may have saved you in the end, but I could've told you everything right from the beginning. And it doesn't matter if I almost did, or if I tried to, the fact is that I didn't. I gambled with both of our lives thinking I could save my father. And that Dementor's Peck spell—hell, I didn't even know if it would work."

Harry blanched. "You—you didn't know?"

"I mean, I tested it on Tully, and she came back all right, but doing it in the heat of the moment like that is a whole other story. And that killing curse she threw at you…she could have killed you, Harry."

"But she didn't."

"But she almost did."

"But she didn't." Harry repeated, giving Draco a hard look. "Look, there's no point in playing out the 'what if's', and I don't want to. I can't. What happened, happened, and there's no use in thinking about what could've been done or should've been done because that's not the way it was done, and what the hell are you smiling at?"

Draco laughed a laugh that seemed to brighten the room. "Nothing. You're just starting to sound like me."

Harry stuck out his tongue. "Well at least one of us does."

The Slytherin bent down to kiss Harry on the tip of his nose. "I'll make a Slytherin out of you yet."

"Are you trying to insult my intelligence again?"

"Harry, darling" Draco drawled in long sarcastic tones, "when have I ever tried to insult your intelligence. Overall I think I've been rather successful at it."

Harry snorted. "You're not cute."

"On the contrary, I know I'm cute."

A moment of comfortable silence fell on them then, where both boys kept perfectly still, basking in the heat of another body so close to their own.

"Hey, Draco," Harry could just barely hear the sound of his own voice.

Draco hummed.

"I love you."

Draco placed another gentle kiss on the side of Harry's nose. "I love you too, Harry."

Just then there was a soft knocking on the door. Harry felt a wave of cool hit him as Draco sat up and rose from the bed, pulling his hand away as he left. The door clicked open and a rather tall mediwizard poked his head through.

He had mousy brown hair and thick horn-rimmed glasses. "Ah, Mr. Potter, I see that you've finally awoken. I'm sure your friends are quite relieved." He took a moment to look pointedly at Draco. "Now Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I must do a physical examination on Mr. Potter here and I'm afraid visitors aren't allowed in the room during the procedure."

Harry bristled at the mediwizard's tone, and was on the verge of telling him off when Draco straightened his robes and offered the mediwizard one of his coldest Malfoy sneers. "It's about time you got here. He's been awake for almost half an hour now. Do try and be less incompetent in the future."

The mediwizard simply stared at him, wide-eyed.

Turning back to Harry with a self satisfied sort of grin, Draco said, "I'll be back right after he's done. There are some things I need to attend to anyway."

Harry smiled back, nodding. "Okay. See you soon."

And without another word, Draco turned and left the room, leaving Harry quite alone with the shocked looking mediwizard.