Work Text:
Harry shot up out of the bed with a sore throat, a drained wand and was overwhelmed with flashbacks.
He stood in front of the creature, tired from half an hour of fighting and he was beginning to lose hope. With everything else taken away from him, he turned to hate. He hated the world, he hated this thing that was slowly killing him, he hated Voldemort, he hated Dumbledore but most of all, he hated the Wizarding World for leaving him in this godforsaken hellhole.
He launched another ball of light at the creature that sent it sliding a few metres away. While he had the upper-hand, he pointed his wand to the sky and sent a bright green flare flying into the sky with a whispered word, "Periculum", in hope that someone would find him. He was doubtful that even if someone saw the flare, that they would actually investigate the area, because if he had learnt anything from his life, it was that you can't depend on other people. The creature was strong, there was no doubt about that. An entire war hero’s repertoire of spells, and nothing worked. Yet one spell seemed to delay his inevitable defeat. “Nutritor”, which was a nutrition spell.
Harry was running out of strength and magic. He could feel his core draining. His wand was practically useless and close to snapping, not unlike his glasses. They were cracked and caked in dirt and tears. His vision blurred and his body swayed, at and beyond its natural limitations. Harry cast one more healing spell upon himself and threw away his wand. Calling up all his strength and magic left in his core, he wordlessly called up a wall of rock and dirt to block the creature's way.
Feeling the last of his available magic trickle away, his knees buckled and he fell to the floor in a heap. As he pulled his knees up to his chest and covered his face, he could hear the monster throwing itself against the wall. The shrieks and howls of the beast grew dull as whimpers filled his ears. He wildly looked around for a person, until he realised that the whimpers were coming from him. He squeezed his eyes shut so tight that they stung. His head pounded and his chest ached from the loss of his magic.
Harry's ears rang as he heard the creature shatter his line of defence. Bits of rock flew everywhere, narrowly missing his head. The rest of his body did not share the same fate, his legs bled and his back twinged from a large, blunt rock slamming into him. He sobbed loudly, the intense pain unlike any other he had faced. He heard the creature shriek in triumph, and then it began to feed. It was unlike anything Harry had felt before. He screamed as his body thrashed and jolted his back, sending waves of pain down his spine.
It’s jagged teeth tore at his body, sending chunks of his skin flying. Harry could feel his strength seeping out of the holes in his last line of defence. He groaned softly and his eyes started to close. But out of the corner of his eyes he could see something. The beast turned away, facing the figure in the distance and let out a terrifying cry. The figure pulled out a long thin object from their pocket... A wand! Harry immediately snapped to attention; gone was the fatal fatigue that plagued him. He was filled with sudden rush of adrenaline, albeit he was unable to do anything.
Harry kept his eye on the figure being approached by the monster. They were tall, wearing a long cloak that billowed in the wind, and had.... white hair? No... It was blond. The figure disappeared and Harry heard the belated crack, as the man appeared right next to him. Through his hazy vision he peered up at the wizard. He seemed familiar, as if Harry should know him. "Glasses," He croaked out and the man extended his arm and a blurry object flew into his hand, before he bent down and handed Harry the object.
The object, was his glasses, he realised as he felt the familiar metal. He quickly put them on, only to find them cracked. He once again looked up at the wizard, only to be surprised by a loud CRACK! as the blond man disapparated and appeared in between the confused creature and it's meal. The wizard once again, drew his wand and faced the beast. He quickly cast several spells, and judging by the colour of the spells now surrounding the creature, they were diagnostic ones... Was he trying to identify it?
Harry stared in disbelief. He hadn't even thought to try and figure out what it was; he had just went straight to battling the thing. The figure launched spell after spell at the monster, trying to find a weak spot. Harry looked upon the scene in despair; before not too long, the man’s energy and magic would be drained and he would be in the same boat as he was. The man stopped.
Harry stared at him, willing the beast to be destroyed. He wiped his face and paused, his hand hovering over his mouth. He smacked himself in the face and his mouth moved, but the wind caught his words. Harry frowned, what was going on? The blonde raised his wand to his throat and when he spoke, his voice was distorted. “SATIO!” Harry flinched at the loud noise and then winced as his legs shifted. He watched as the monster staggered towards him. Looking the creature in it’s yellow eyes and laughed. It was a laugh of hysteria, that sounded empty and dead.
The monster, spurred into action by his hysterics, broke into a run towards the bleeding boy. Harry didn't flinch. He didn't blink. He didn't make any attempt to get out of the creatures path. He just kept laughing, the sound terrifying. His laughter never stopped, even as thick, dark blood spluttered out of his mouth, staining his lips and toppling onto the grass at his feet, he continued to make the nerve grating sound. Harry could vaguely hear the sound of a pop and he jerked away from the sudden appearance of the blonde wizard who had saved his life.
Another loud roar from the monster drew his attention away from the tall figure and he screamed as it lunged for him. In his peripherals he could see the wizard throw out his wand hand towards him. The creature vanished and Harry was left panting on the ground, his hands above his face. Harry turned to the wizard next to him, ready to thank him profusely and forge a life debt. Only to gape at the familiar pale face of one Draco Malfoy.
“Draco?” Harry choked out, just before the blackness at the corners of his vision consumed his entire vision. As he lost consciousness, Harry heard the familiar sarcastic voice of Malfoy.
“Oh, for Salazar’s sake, what are you, The-Boy-Who-Passed-Out?”
