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Draco stood behind a stone parapet of Hogwarts, watching with a speeding heart as the Dark Lord walked into the courtyard. He was still very alive. Where was Harry? Oh fuck, where was Harry?!
Dread so intense it numbed his fingertips washed through him. And then he spotted Hagrid. Who was he carrying?
Voldemort stepped into the open courtyard, rubble and blood all around, and smiled sickeningly.
"Harry Potter is dead!" he called out.
Draco's knees threatened to give out at the black wave of despair that hit him.
No. No.
It was not true, there was no way.
But as his ears buzzed, drowning out anything else that was said, he really looked at the body in Hagrid's arms. It was him, there was no mistaking it. It was Harry. His arms and legs dangled limply, his messy black hair hanging in his face. Draco ached to be able to brush it away, to see those green eyes open.
A terrible sound was threatening to erupt from his throat and he grabbed at the wall next to him. He felt a hand touch his arm, and turned in a daze to see Luna standing beside him. Tears spilled silently down her cheeks. He had never seen her cry, not even in the dungeon of the manor, and it somehow made the realness of it sink in even more.
Voldemort was speaking again.
"And now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us... or die."
Draco caught sight of his mother and father standing behind the Dark Lord. Narcissa was staring pleadingly at Draco, holding out her hand toward him. Even if he had wanted them to, his legs would not have moved. He stayed where he was, Luna's small hand on his arm. He pleaded with himself to wake up from this nightmare.
From the piercing silence, Neville Longbottom's voice rang out. Draco touched Luna's hand before he stepped away and climbed over the ruined parapet in order to see what Longbottom was doing. All the while, his eyes struggled to remain off of Harry's motionless body for more than a few seconds at a time.
"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone," Neville was saying.
Draco recoiled. Of course it mattered. It was the only thing that had ever mattered.
Someone called out for Neville to stop, but he was advancing slowly out of the circle of onlookers. He had the sorting hat clenched in his hand. Voldemort's horrible serpent was sliding on the rough ground at his feet, toward Longbottom.
"People die every day. Friends, family. Yeah, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here," Neville continued, his voice rising. He pointed to his chest, his heart.
"So's Fred, Remus, Tonks... they didn't die in vain. But you will. 'Cause you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! It's not over!"
In a flash of silver light, Neville pulled a gleaming sword out of the hat. A wave of gasps spread throughout the crowd, and Draco looked to Hagrid. Harry was on the ground… and he was getting up. Dirt and blood streaked his face, his hair wild and expression ferocious.
He was alive.
Stars danced across Draco's vision, but he knew he had mere seconds to act. There would be time to process these emotions that threatened to drown him later. Harry was wandless, meters from Voldemort. Draco sprinted into the courtyard, wand in hand.
"HARRY!" he cried out, and then he flung his own wand into the air toward Harry.
Harry reached out a hand and summoned it into his grasp. He spun toward the snake and yelled "Confringo!"
All Hell broke loose.
Death Eaters apparated away, Bellatrix was shrieking, spells were flying. The air sparked with the energy of magic. Neville swung the glittering sword over his head and then brought it down on Nagini as she lunged for him with fangs bared wide. Her head spun away from her body in a spray of blood.
Voldemort screamed, a horrible sound. A streak of green light sped toward Neville, but Harry was there, and he deflected it.
"That's it!" Harry cried. "That's the last one!"
It took Draco a moment to process what he'd meant. The snake. Nagini was the last horcrux.
Draco had only moments to look at Harry, alive alive alive, his green eyes blazing with fury and fire, before the battle swept him up again. A Death Eater he had seen only in passing appeared in front of him, spitting about how he was a traitor. Draco had no wand. He flung his hand out in desperation and the Death Eater went sailing backwards into the stone wall behind him. His head cracked against it and he crumpled into a pile of black robes on the ground. A wave of dizziness passed through Draco as the wandless magic took its toll on him, he stumbled backwards, and then Luna was at his side again.
"Stay behind me, Draco," she said calmly. "You don't have a wand."
Draco swallowed his pride and did as he was told. The small girl was fierce and wiry as she fought their way through the mass of bodies and hissing magic. Her hair whipped around her like Medusa and her wand acted as an extension of her arm. Draco did all he could by using bursts of wandless magic to unbalance enemies to give her and those fighting around them the upper hand.
One of the werewolf Death Eaters lunged for Luna and Draco lashed out again, nearly collapsing to his knees with the effort of the wandless stunning spell. The werewolf was flung away into the fray, and his wand clattered to the ground. Draco stumbled forward and snatched it up. He had won the fight, and he could only hope that the wand would obey him because of it. It was shaky going at first, but he got the hang of it enough to be a worthy opponent. He turned so his back was to Luna's and they worked as a unit, circling with each other and keeping enemy duelers at bay.
An overly zealous woman shrieked toward them in a cloud of black smoke and Draco pointed the stolen wand at her and screamed "Flipendo". He watched in sick satisfaction as she slammed into the ground face first, so hard the stone cracked. She struggled to get back up for a moment, and then collapsed. Draco put a body bind on her, just in case.
It seemed to go on for hours, but he couldn't be sure of how much time truly passed. It was a mess of screaming and explosions. Pieces of the castle walls that were hit with spells blasted apart and crumbled to the ground. Draco prayed he did not come face to face with his parents.
Slowly, so slowly, the crowd thinned out. He looked around frantically and was relieved to see that the majority still standing were on the light side. He heard Harry's voice, raised in defiance in the near distance. He exchanged a glance with Luna and they both scrambled over the rubble toward him. Harry was standing with McGonagall in the center of the courtyard, and they were facing Voldemort as a duo.
Magic cracked and flashed between them, echoing like fireworks in the dawn light. McGonagall went flying backwards as two spells collided, and thankfully someone thought fast enough to slow her descent with a levitation spell.
"STOP!" Harry roared, blasting a crackling ball of white light at Voldemort. "Stay back, all of you. I don't want anyone else to try to help. It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."
Draco's feet tried to carry him forward as they screamed back and forth at each other, but a light grip on his wrist stopped him. He turned to see Hermione, looking at him with a tormented expression. Her face was filthy with grime, her hair an unruly mess. Ron was beside her, tear tracks in the dirt on his cheeks and eyes red. Luna took Draco's other hand in hers. They stood as a terrified unit and watched the boy they all loved fight for his life, and for all of the wizarding world.
He didn't know how long it lasted, but he heard the killing curse on Voldemort's lips at the same time Harry threw a disarming spell. His stomach dropped and he opened his mouth in a seemingly soundless scream as the green light flew toward Harry Potter. There was a deafening boom as the two spells collided, fire and debris blasting out in every direction. Everything was so loud for several seconds, and then the green light sparked and changed direction; straight back towards its caster.
The Dark Lord fell to the ground.
No one moved. It was silent. Harry was gasping for air in the center of the courtyard with Draco's wand in one hand and the Elder Wand in the other. Then his knees started to give and he hit the dirt and Draco was running for him. Several voices raised in alarm, but Draco ignored them. He could faintly hear Hermione yelling back in his defense. He reached Harry in seconds and slid to the ground next to him, grabbing his shoulders.
"Harry. Harry, please," he gasped.
Harry looked up at him through his dark lashes. He looked like he was about to pass out. Draco gently gripped his chin in one hand and tilted his face up so he could examine him. He was filthy and there were cuts all over him, but nothing looked life-threatening. He tried to say something, but nothing intelligible came out when he moved his mouth.
"Shh, you're okay," Draco said. "It's over."
Rocks clattered on Harry's other side as Ron reached them. He grabbed onto Harry's right arm and searched his face desperately.
"You okay, mate?" he said, his breathing ragged.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut and made a quiet humming noise, and then he tipped forward. Draco caught him, Harry's head colliding with his sternum. He held him against his chest, sitting in the rubble with a leg angled out on either side of Harry, knees bent.
"Harry," he whimpered frantically. "Please, don't you dare die on me."
Hermione and Luna were there now, standing defensively over the boys as cameras flashed. Cameras? Had reporters gotten there? And then Madam Pomfrey was suddenly kneeling next to them, ordering Draco to hold Harry still while she cast diagnostic spells on him. Draco's whole body was shaking and he clung onto Harry for dear life. Ron watched everything with wide, concerned eyes.
"He's stable," Madam Pomfrey finally said. "Just exhausted. It took everything he had, depleted all his energy."
"What do we do?" Ron asked.
"Get him to the hospital wing. I'll keep the aurors at bay and then I'll be there. Go, go," Pomfrey replied stiffly.
Not wasting a single moment, Draco slid an arm under Harry's knees and then another behind his back. He lifted, his legs quivering with the effort of standing. Ron and Hermione fell in step on either side of him, and Luna stayed back to help Pomfrey.
"That's a Death Eater!"
"The Malfoy has Potter! Stop him!"
Piercing cries struck Draco like stunners and he winced. Someone tried to run up to them, wand brandished. Before Draco could even react, Hermione was blocking their path.
"Fuck off," she hissed, pointing her wand at the person's face. "He's with us."
A wave of appreciation for her washed through him and he hugged Harry tighter to him. His head lolled against Draco's chest and one of his hands dangled down. Draco noticed the two wands were in Ron's hand. Thankfully, it wasn't very far to the hospital wing. Hermione pushed through the doors ahead of them and Draco took Harry to the bed at the farthest end of the room. He wanted him as far from the doors as possible, just in case.
Harry was stirring somewhat as Draco laid him carefully on the bed, but he didn't seem coherent.
"Draco," he slurred.
His eyes were green slits and he grabbed blindly at Draco's sleeves.
"I'm right here," Draco said, sinking down beside him and giving Harry his hands.
Harry clumsily fumbled with his fingers and then stilled again, his eyes slipping closed. Draco sucked in a shaky breath. He could feel his whole body quivering. He stared at Harry's jeans and the white bedsheets with an unfocused gaze and tried to breathe through his mouth, but the air felt thick.
"Hey," Hermione said, her face appearing directly in front of his.
He realized this wasn't the first time she'd tried to get his attention.
"Draco, look at me, come on you're panicking," she said.
She sat down on the other side of Harry's legs and gripped Draco's forearms.
"Breathe," she instructed. "Breathe with me."
She inhaled and exhaled, slowly and dramatically. Draco struggled to imitate her and realized he'd been nearly hyperventilating. As soon as his heart rate calmed enough, it was like the reduced panic made room for other emotions.
"He was dead," he choked. "I thought he was dead."
His vision blurred and hot tears slid down his face. Hermione got up and walked around the bed to his side of it. She stood in front of him and hugged him around the shoulders. He buried his face in her stomach and gripped the back of her legs above her knees as a painful sob wrenched out of him.
"I know," she said softly. "He's okay. He's alive."
Draco couldn't do anything but continue to cry. If someone had told his younger self, years ago, that at nearly 18 he would be crying his heart out in Hermione Granger's arms because he loved Harry Potter, he would've cursed them on the spot. But here he was.
It took several long minutes for the tears to slow and his ragged breathing to return to a semi-normal state. Hermione held his blotchy, tear-stained face in her hands for a moment and then let him go. She turned to Ron, who immediately pulled her into his arms. Draco looked down at Harry. His dirty face was slack, his lips parted slightly. He had his head turned to the right, facing Draco. Draco brushed Harry's hair off his forehead gently. He wanted to wipe the dirt off, but didn't dare try in case it woke Harry again.
At that moment, the doors of the hospital wing banged open and Madam Pomfrey came rushing in in a flurry of gray robes. She glanced at the group of them and then immediately set to work gathering up potions and supplies.
"He's got to wake up enough to drink these," she said once she'd come over with a colorful variety of bottles.
Draco turned his hips on the mattress and touched Harry's jaw gently.
"Harry," he said, patting his cheek. "Harry, wake up."
Harry's face morphed into a scowl and he blinked blearily up at Draco.
"That's it," Draco said, nudging him into a straighter position. "You need to drink some potions. They'll help."
Harry was certainly not aware of anything that was going on, but he remained semi-conscious long enough for Pomfrey to tip the potions into his mouth. She pointed her wand at the tall windows along the wall and curtains unfurled to cast the room into darkness. She lit a handful of floating candles that hovered around the two nearest beds.
"Rest," Pomfrey said. "You all need it. He won't wake up for a while."
"What about the ministry?" Hermione asked. "The aurors?"
"You are all still minors who just survived war," Pomfrey replied firmly. "Minerva has banned them from looking for any of you for the time being. We won’t be able to stop them forever, but we can stop them for now. There are guards outside the doors of the hospital wing."
"Thank you, Madam," Hermione replied.
Madam Pomfrey nodded and walked away toward the doors, likely to report to McGonagall on Harry's condition. Ron sat down on the next bed over and let out a wobbly sigh. Draco felt a similar sentiment of relief. He nudged his shoes off with his toes, shed his outer blazer, and let himself drop onto the bed next to Harry. There was barely enough room for the two of them, but he didn't care.
He gathered Harry's limp hand up in his and pressed his mouth to his forehead. That was all he had time to do before a black wave of exhaustion overtook him.
It felt like he slept for years. He didn't dream at all. Waking up was slow and difficult. The grip unconsciousness had on him was strong, and he slowly became aware of fingers trailing across cheek. He blinked his eyes open with no little amount of effort and it took a moment for them to focus. He was greeted with the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen, framed by dark lashes.
"Hey," Harry whispered.
Draco stared at him in the dim light. He blinked.
"You…" he said, and then his voice failed him.
He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them to try again.
"You nearly die on me… scare me within an inch of my own life… and the first thing you can think to say… is hey? Merlin, Potter."
Harry blinked at him for a long second, and then his face split into an emotional grin.
"Mm sorry," he whispered.
Draco glared.
"Really, Draco, I am," Harry insisted. "And I… I did die."
Draco's glare dissipated in half a second.
"You what?" he croaked.
Harry seemed to realize his mistake immediately and tried to inch closer to Draco.
"I chose to come back, though," Harry persisted, as if this would make it better. "I'm here."
Draco swallowed harshly, mentally attempting to will his heart rate back down. Harry slid a hand under Draco's shoulder and pulled him closer. Draco pressed his face against Harry's jaw and exhaled shakily. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around him.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Harry apologized. "Are you okay?"
Draco could only muster a tiny nod against him.
"I'm not going anywhere. I promise," Harry told him.
"Won't let you," Draco grumbled, sliding his arm across Harry's chest.
They were silent for a moment, and then a thought struck Draco.
"My mother," he said.
"Hate to eavesdrop," came Ron's voice from behind him. "But McGonagall was here an hour ago and said she'd been detained under house arrest until a trial date could be decided."
Draco let out a breath of relief. She was safe.
"I'll speak at her trial," Harry promised. "She saved my life. I'll advocate for the most lenient sentencing possible."
There would be time to discuss the details later. There would be time to talk to the aurors and mourn the dead and every other terrible thing that would come next. But Voldemort was dead and the war was over. Harry was alive and Draco could hear the steady thump of his heart beneath his cheek. That was the only thing that ever mattered.