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They were both cornered in the Room of Requirements. The flames around them were at least thirty feet tall and seemed to flicker with more anger every time they collided with the water barrier they had desperately cast in an attempt to protect themselves. It would not stand long, they knew the Shielding Charm would have been more powerful, but it did not protect from fire, only from curses.
“It’s no use Potter, stop fidgeting and sit,” Malfoy sighed.
He had been curled up in the farthest corner for a dozen of minutes, his legs pressed up against his chest and his head buried in his knees.
The black-haired boy was pacing restlessly since they had fallen from their broom. They were almost there, almost at the door, a few more meters and they would have been out… but then one of the flames had found it quite clever to engulf the tail of the broom, causing the two boys to crash to the ground. The door had not fully close yet, but now a pool of fire separated them from it and no Aquamenti could get them past.
“Seriously, put your sodding arse down Potter. We’re not going to make it out of this alive so for Merlin’s sake, stop strolling like you could suddenly have a fucking brilliant idea!”
The green piercing eyes caught the tired grey ones only to be hit by a fearless resignation.
“We’re not going to die here Malfoy. You’re not even going to die tonight,” he said before resuming his pacing, furiously sliding a hand through his dirty dishevelled black hair.
“Yeah, brush your hair, it’ll make your brain work faster…” muttered Malfoy under his breath.
“It’s the Room of Requirements, we should be able to ask for what we need.” Harry’s brows furrowed. “Blimey, why doesn’t it work? We need another broom, come now!”
The wall of water trembled and Harry took a step back, looking at it with apprehension for a few seconds.
“Glaring at it won’t make it last longer.” The sharp sneer made Harry’s blood boil and he spun around.
“Shut the fuck up Malfoy! Why don’t you help me? The solution won’t fall from the sky you know, you could at least make yourself useful for once!”
The shrug he received was all it took from him not to jump on the other boy and strangle him to death. “I’ll die anyway. Better off here I think, no witnesses, no humiliation, no torture, no Azkaban.”
All the sadness and the desperation poured in those few words made Harry’s fury crumble a bit and he took a step toward the curled up body.
“I told you. You won’t die Malfoy because I’m going to find a way to get us out. I can’t die here anyway.”
A crack behind made them both flinched and Draco looked up, scoffing. “I can’t die here anyway? Seriously? So as you’re the Great Saviour Harry Chosen One Potter, you won’t die here? Well sorry to disappoint Potty, we’re really going to die this time.”
Rolling his eyes, the other boy sank to the floor, folding his arms around his knees. “Once a prat, always a prat, right? I’m not saying I won’t die because I’m Harry Potter, I’m saying I can’t die here otherwise we’re loosing the war.”
“Self-centred much? You’re not the only one who can cast the killing curse on him. If you die, I’m sure Weaselbee or Longbottom will be honoured to take the lead.”
Harry sighed and shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
“Oh, excuse me. I’m fucking so dumb I’m not even able to understand English anymore.”
“For fuck’s sake Malfoy, stop! I have to be killed by Voldemort! He needs to kill me! Otherwise nobody will be able to defeat him!”
For a moment, the only sound heard was the crackling of the flames lightly hushed by the wall of water. Widen grey eyes were locked with sad green ones, and judging by the open mouth of the blond, he wasn’t expecting any of that.
“Breathe Malfoy,” Potter teased, taking a new intake himself. “See the positive side of the story, I’ll never be able to make your life miserable again once we get out of here.”
Grabbing his wand, the green-eyed boy muttered another spell to hardened the water barrier and sighed.
“That makes no sense at all,” said Malfoy abruptly. “This is your stupid hero-complex issue; you don’t have to die to be the hero, you know. We don’t need a martyr. Just kill –”
A quiet laugh interrupted him and he glared at his classmate. “He lives inside me.”
“Wh-what the –” He cut himself short and cleared his throat, mentally cursing himself because Malfoys don’t stammer. “What are you talking about?”
There was a long silence during which Harry wondered if Malfoy could be trusted with this, and he finally shrugged.
“The night he murdered my parents”, he started,“when my mother jumped in front of the cradle to protect me, she sacrificed herself. That’s why he wasn’t able to kill me afterwards, that’s why his curse backfired. But in the process, he lost a part of his soul and… well… I don’t really know how it happened but… it came through me, inside me… He doesn’t even know about that.”
No answer came but it was fine, he didn’t expect one. “I’m one of his Horcruxes, Malfoy. That’s why he must kill me.”
The blond man’s features were twisted in a mask of pure shock and… Harry didn’t know, what was that spark glowing in the back of those grey irises. “Don’t make that face, it could make me believe you genuinely care and don’t want me dead.”
As if it was possible, the hidden sparks grew bigger and horror was now clearly visible across his whole pale face. “But… I don’t want you dead.”
“Liar.” The forgiving smile was small but here on Harry’s lips. He did not have time for joke; he needed to find a way to get out of here before it was too late.
“You can’t die.”
It was a quiet confession, almost too quiet to be heard, showing how much it cost him to do it. However, the resignation shown upon his face earlier was now plastered on Potter’s, marking his scar with a bolder shape. “Everybody dies, Malfoy.”
“I know,” the boy suddenly whispered, his eyes falling on the ground, glaring at it like it was its fault he was talking about this. “I know that, it’s just… You can’t die… yet.”
And there was a silence again, Draco’s courage slowly gathering enough to look at the wizard in front of him. Harry was already watching him, as if he was trying to read his mind, to read his soul. But he couldn’t of course. Even with a Legilimency charm he would not have understood the true meaning of this statement. Draco’s feelings were far too much mixed up to be understood. “Because I need to save the world first?” his voice then asked softly after a few moments.
“No… Because you deserve to live.”
But there was no time to reply as a huge crack exploded nearby and both boys were now on their feet, looking anxiously behind the wall. Everything was blurred and a little distorted by the constant wavering of the water. “What was –”
But Malfoy didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence because a broom had launched itself through the barrier, shattering it in a waterfall of thousands cold raindrops. Fortunately and with a Seeker’s reflex, Harry had grasped the handle in time and griped Malfoy’s waist, pulling him to him. With a quick impulse on the ground, they were up, too up for the flames to hurt them.
It had been a matter of second because just then, the Fiendfyre made its way to their safe corner and ravaged it, the flames licking the wall, the stoned floor, and various objects that had been lucky enough not to burn yet.
Draco’s hands were clasped around Harry’s stomach, his face buried in the other boy’s shoulder, holding on for dear life, holding on like never before, not even when they had been on the same position earlier.
When they passed the entrance door, flying faster than they ever did, the handle of the broom hit the wall, making them both lose their balance and fall, rolling over. The door then clamped shut, hushing the crackling and the roaring of the fire.
One of them coughed and the other lifted his head, peering around to make sure they were alone, but no one seemed to be on the seventh floor anymore. “You okay?” a raspy voice said while Draco was still choking his lungs out. “Alright,” he managed to crack nonetheless after a few try.
Harry was next to him, rubbing a hand up and down his back in order to sooth the coughing fits. “I’m good Potter, no need to worry,” he smirked after few more minutes. Some of his blond bangs were falling on his face, making him look more vulnerable and out of reach, but he tugged them back behind his ears.
“Well… I need to go now.”
The softness of Harry’s tone surprised them both but Draco only nodded. Raising, he glanced one more time at the blond boy and opened his mouth to add something yet no sound came out.
“I don’t care how you do it, I don’t care if you don’t even want to, use dark magic if needed or find a fucking way out of it, but Potter, for Merlin’s sake, come back.”
These were Draco’s words.