Chapter Twenty-Two
The Life of Althidia

He awoke to the warm, wonderful feeling that he knew as Healer’s Warmth. Only, his brain supplied, no one should be able to give it to him except Draco…

Draco?

He opened his eyes to find himself in what he assumed was the Hufflepuff common room. It was decorated in yellow and black, with large sofas, low tables and a big fire in the corner. The whole room was filled with people, all looking pale and serious.

“About time you woke up,” Draco drawled from where he sat next to Harry on a chair.

“You – you’re up? How?” Harry asked.

“Strengthening potion,” Draco replied simply, before bending down to kiss Harry lightly. When he straightened back up, he said, “There are others that need our help.”

Harry nodded, as everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours came back to him, from the vision, to leaving for Hogwarts, to the siege and how he’d gone out to heal Fred and Angelina amongst hundreds of Death Eaters.

He stood, still slightly shaky. Draco sent him a wave of strength through their Bond and he was steadied. Then he and the blonde both set to work on the other injured witches and wizards around the room. Draco was carried or levitated around the room by Remus Lupin.

Harry also recognized Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, Dean Thomas, Padma and Parvati Patil, Colin Creevey – he’d grown! – and several others. Colin Creevey’s little brother, Dennis, was hurt. Harry rushed over to them and surveyed Dennis’ injuries. Madame Pomfrey was trying her best to heal the young man, but it didn’t seem to be working, for Dennis’ face was ashen and his breathing uneven and shallow.

Harry felt the tightening around his lungs, but it wasn’t a bullet wound; instead it was a curse. He informed Madame Pomfrey of this and she began trying counter-spells as Harry placed his hands on Dennis’ chest, concentrating hard on relieving the trouble the young man had breathing. It became a bit easier and a few minutes later, Madame Pomfrey found the right counter-spell. The curse was lifted and within moments, Dennis awoke.

Harry was already on his way to the next victim when Colin threw his arms around his younger brother in a happy hug.

It was a depressing sight, all of the injured members of the Order. Harry felt the pain and worry radiating off all of them and at times, the only thing keeping him sane was the strength he received from Draco.

‘Don’t give it to me, you need it more,’ Harry told him as they were working on different people across the room from each other.

‘I’m fine,’ Draco told him back.

Harry didn’t answer; he didn’t need to. His feelings were openly conveyed for Draco to read.

Members of the Order kept arriving and leaving the room. There were about forty witches and wizards out at all times, reporting and trying their best to fight off the Death Eaters. So far they had had little success in doing so, but at least the Death Eaters hadn’t entered the building yet. They had surrounded the whole castle however; no one could leave and no one could enter the grounds.

In the middle of it all sat Ginny, keeping track of them as they came and left. Harry heard the instructions from her and Dumbledore to the key players – Sirius, Remus, Minerva, Severus, Ron and a few others. The Headmaster and the young Weasley also filled him in on what had already happened.

“All too many of the students are still here, as we were not able to send them off before the siege,” Dumbledore was saying, “Voldemort has somehow managed to break my wards and set up his own around the castle, so we can’t leave and no one else can get in. The children are forced to stay here.”

“The Floo-network is also cut off,” Ginny continued, “so we can’t contact anyone. We tried sending off owls, but they were killed as soon as they were spotted.”

Dumbledore said, “So far, I have sent off Remus and Minerva to take the remaining students under sixteen down to the dungeons, as well as any child over sixteen that wants to go. They have barricaded the door with the strongest magic possible, and I have placed my own wards from the outside. Their orders are not to open until someone from the Order comes down to say it’s safe to come out.

“Sirius went with them to collect any student over the age of sixteen that is willing to help us fight. He should be back shortly.”

“Hannah Abbott is taking care of the Muggles that are here,” Ginny said. “They are up in one of the dormitories, as we don’t want them going out yet. The Death Eaters have yet to make an actual attack on the castle; so far, they have only surrounded us. The Muggles that are here are all trained with guns and will be wearing bullet proof vests. I will be giving out as many of those as possible to the wizards as well.”

There were two girls sitting in the corner, transfiguring small objects into bullet proof vests. They were handed out to the occupants of the room after being covered with as many protecting spells as possible.

Throughout it all, Harry kept an eye on Draco. The blonde continued to drink of the strengthening potions, something which Harry knew that he would be paying dearly for as soon as they wore off. It worried and scared Harry, and he wanted to tell everyone that Draco was not up to doing any of this and he shouldn’t have to do it. Yet he took one look at his boyfriend’s face and he knew that trying to stop the blonde from doing what he was would be impossible.

He was healing a young woman, eighteen or nineteen years old. He guessed she was right out of Hogwarts. Out of Hogwarts, into the war… It was not a future and he wished fervently for it to be over with this battle.

Ron came to sit next to him. He was fastening his own protective vest around himself. Another vest was in his hand: Harry’s.

“How’s she doing?” he asked, as Harry continued to work on the young woman.

“I think she’ll be okay, in a few minutes. I gave her some Keyahla potion.” He sighed. “She’ll be okay,” he repeated softly, although his eyes weren’t on her anymore.

“He’ll be okay,” Ron said, seeing who Harry was looking at. “He’s strong.”

“I know he is,” Harry said, closing his eyes, adding in his mind, ‘But not that strong.’

They sat in silence. Ron began putting the vest on Harry, carefully so that Harry wouldn’t have to take his hands off the young girl. The colour was returning to her face, but she still had some way to go.

“I asked him to be Leo’s godfather,” Ron said.

Harry gave him a weak grin, “’Mione told me you would. What did he say?”

“He stared at me at first, as though he couldn’t believe it. And then he said, in that lovely drawling voice of his, ‘Are you sure you want a Malfoy as his godfather?’”

“What did you say to that?” Harry asked.

“I said, ‘Yes, but really, the only thing I want is your money’.” Ron grinned, and Harry allowed himself a small smile. “He just growled. And then he agreed with a –”

‘BOOM!’

The castle’s walls shook and a few people in the room screamed, as what sounded like a bomb went off somewhere close by. Ron quickly finished the work he was doing on Harry’s vest and stood as Dumbledore spoke to the room.

“It has begun…” the Headmaster said sadly. “Everyone, to the Entrance Hall. We shall give our guests an appropriate welcoming.”

The Hufflepuff common room was almost empty, save for Madame Pomfrey, six injured wizards, the injured young woman – and Harry and Draco. Harry had stayed behind after the rest of the Order had left with Dumbledore; he needed to finish healing the girl before he joined the fighting. The other injured wizards Madame Pomfrey would take care of; their wounds were not life threatening.

Draco was on the other side of the room, healing one of the six wizards. He looked tired; his eyes were getting more and more unfocused. When the wizard before him was healed and awake once more, Draco fell back on the bed himself, his body drained of energy.

Harry ran to him.

On the table a few feet away from the bed stood the strengthening potions Snape had produced for Draco. Harry picked up the strongest one, the Imara potion, and unscrewed the cork.

Draco’s breathing was laboured, his face ashen. His eyes were closing, as though he was falling into unconsciousness. Harry placed the vial to the blonde’s lips and poured it into his mouth. It was more than what was healthy; more than what was possible for the body to take in, but Draco was dying; Harry could feel it. The other boy swallowed automatically. Within moments, his eyelids fluttered open again, the grey orbs once again focused.

Neither said anything, but both knew that what Harry had just given Draco was a deadly amount of the Imara potion. Still, both knew why and they didn’t have the time to discuss it.

Draco stood unsteadily, his eyes widening as he realized what that meant. His legs were working once more.

“We should go,” he said quietly.

Harry nodded. They made their way through the common room, over to the door.

Just before they reached the door, Harry stopped Draco. “Put this on.”

He held out his Invisibility Cloak. Draco stretched out his hand – Harry saw how his hands were shaking – and took the fabric in his hands.

“So this is how I was able to see only your head in Hogsmeade,” he mumbled, stroking the fabric gently.

“It isn’t big enough for the two of us, so you have to take it. There’s a bigger chance of you making it than me. I can always fight the Death Eaters, but you are too weak.”

“Harry,” Draco said, his voice soft and unlike the Malfoy Harry had known for six years.

“I have the strength to fight them, but I don’t want you even trying,” Harry continued, not hearing or just ignoring Draco.

“Harry…”

When the Boy Who Lived still continued speaking, his voice trembling slightly, Draco grabbed hold of Harry’s cloak and drew himself up to meet Harry’s lips. Harry stopped speaking and closed his eyes, sharing his desperation with Draco in the kiss. His arms circled Draco’s waist as the blonde’s hands ran through Harry’s messy black hair.

When they broke apart, Harry was startled to realize that he was crying. Harry Potter, crying – he hadn’t cried in years…

“Shh,” Draco said, drying Harry’s cheeks off with his thumbs. When Harry saw Draco’s eyes, so filled with love and devotion, his walls broke completely and he sobbed into Draco’s shoulder.

“It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair…” he mumbled again and again.

Draco knew they didn’t have much time to get out there; the Imara potion would only last a couple of hours at most. After that he would be helpless and – dead. Still, nothing could make him pull away from Harry at that moment. However, a few minutes later when the sobs had subsided, Draco had no choice.

“Harry, c’mon,” Draco said, pulling away slightly. “We have to go.”

Harry nodded, and tried to dry his cheeks with the back of his hands. He looked embarrassed of how he’d acted and Draco just had to pull up and kiss him again.

“I will never leave you, Harry,” he said softly. He held Harry’s hand up, and fingered the ring on his finger. “I will not leave you.”

Harry touched Draco’s necklace, and nodded. “And if you do, I will come after you.”

Draco smiled slightly at him. “I’ve managed to stay around for six years. Little things like three months in some future and some poison won’t change that.”

Harry nodded and Draco could feel how he was trying to convince himself of the words. When he spoke again, his voice was raw with feeling and he held his hand on the side of Draco’s face, savouring the touch. “We need to go.”

Draco nodded and kissed Harry one last time.

Harry pressed something into his hand. “Your wand. You may need it. And this,” he continued. “You know how to use it.”

The blonde nodded, taking the gun. He set both the gun and the wand in the holders on his belt. Then he swept the Invisibility Cloak around himself and began making their way up the stairs to the Entrance Hall. Harry stayed closely behind him, making sure the other boy didn’t stumble and fall. The staircases and the hallways they passed were eerily quiet, but they could still hear the yelling from the outside. Guns went off and Harry began to feel he pain inside of him as he neared the injured people outside. He knew Draco was feeling the same and kept even closer to him.

Then they were in the last corridor before the Entrance Hall and all Hell broke loose.

Suddenly they were surrounded by Death Eaters, and wizards and witches of the Order. He felt Draco’s presence draw away, towards one of the people on the ground. He felt the pain and the distress among the people around him. It was not only Order members, but Death Eaters as well, that lay injured and even dead on the ground.

He narrowly dodged the Cruciatus curse that a Death Eater sent his way. He sent the Stupefying spell back and then, with another whip of his wand, he bound the dark cloaked man with magical ropes.

He felt naked without the Invisibility Cloak. Still, it felt better that Draco had it rather than himself.

“Potter!”

There could be no mistake who that voice belonged to. Severus Snape stood by a body on the ground, protecting it from any attackers.

Harry ran to his side, trying his best to avoid attracting attention to himself.

The body on the ground belonged to a student of Hogwarts, a girl of Slytherin, judging by her colours. It was all that Harry had time to register, before he began healing her. She was unconscious from a spell, rather than a wound, so the only thing he could do was offer her Healer’s energy until she awoke. It proved rather difficult, as he tried to keep track of what was happening around him at the same time as he was working.

They were losing and he knew it. He could feel it inside, feel the hope drain out of the people around him. They knew that they were outnumbered. They knew that they were going to die.

The girl on the ground stirred and as soon as she did so, Harry was gone from her side and by the next one’s. Someone always kept watch for him, so that he wouldn’t have to both Heal and defend himself.

He found no tears when he discovered the first person that wouldn’t respond to the Healer’s energy; the first person that was dead. He didn’t have time to mourn the young man, an unknown face to Harry, but someone with a family and friends. Instead of mourning those people’s loss, he was already on his way to the next victim, hoping he could do better with that person.

There were hundreds of people fighting. Most of them belonged to the enemy side, Harry knew. No more than eighty or ninety of the Order’s members had had time to Apparate or Floo to Hogwarts before the siege.

“Harry!”

He turned when he heard his name being called. A second too late, he realized that it was no friend that had called, but a Death Eater. The Cruciatus Curse hit him in the back and he fell to the dirty, muddy ground, screaming in agony. Blind hot fire spread through his body and he could do nothing but helplessly writher on the ground.

Then he couldn’t even do that much, as a Death Eater placed a binding spell on him. His body froze, his face still twisted in pain.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

A dark figure appeared above Harry and the raven-haired boy could imagine the grin hidden behind the mask. At the same time, he felt Draco’s presence somewhere close by, through the Bind.

‘Don’t, Draco. Get out of the way.’

‘Why?’

Harry couldn’t answer, as the Cruciatus Curse drew all of his energy out of him. He wanted to scream, wanted to claw, wanted to leave his own body. The binding spell wouldn’t let him do anything at all.

He couldn’t see Draco, but he could still feel the other boy move away. Just then, Harry realized with a start that they had performed the Audiosis spell without saying the words.

The Death Eater ended the Cruciatus Curse, but kept the binding spell on Harry’s body.

“The grand prize,” he hissed at Harry, circling him. “My Lord will be most pleased.”

Harry wasn’t listening to the Death Eater’s ramblings about becoming the closest of Voldemort’s men; instead he tried to keep track of where Draco was, at the same time as he tried to think of a way out of the situation. His mind came up blank.

‘I can stupefy them,’ Draco said in his thoughts.

‘No! They are too many, and it won’t do any good. Draco, leave me. Go heal the ones that need it.’

‘I’m not about to leave you and your Gryffindor bravery, you git!’ Draco screamed at him in his head and followed the sentence with a string of curses, which Harry assumed were directed towards the Death Eaters and their Lord, rather than towards Harry himself.

Suddenly, Harry heard, “Stupefy!” from somewhere above him, and knew that Draco had done just what Harry had asked him not to.

One Death Eater went down. Then he heard, “Crucio!” and the world exploded in pain once again. A scream passed his lips despite the binding spell; it hurt too much. Too much…

“Someone is here, with some sort of invisibility spell,” a Death Eater screamed.

“Find him!” the Death Eater above Harry yelled back. “I am quite sure that it is our young Mr Malfoy,” he added, his narrowed eyes back on Harry. Ending both the binding spell and the curse with a short word and a wave of his wand, he yanked the Boy Who Lived up from the ground.

“My Lord didn’t want you harmed,” he hissed in Harry’s ear. “He said he wanted to give you special treatment.”

The Death Eater handcuffed Harry magically. A loud ‘bang’ followed, and Harry knew that Draco had used his gun at one of the Death Eaters. He closed his eyes, his body and head tired after giving so much Healing Energy to the others and from the Cruciatus Curse. He saw the Death Eaters draw their own wands towards where the bullets had come from and he heard them begin cursing at the empty air.

‘Stop… Draco… Go… to… the common room,’ Harry managed to tell Draco, before the world went black with the help of a Death Eater’s curse.

When he awoke the next time, he felt a burning around his hands. He was tied up to something; a pole, perhaps, although he didn’t know and couldn’t tell. He was unable to turn around as magic bound him.

He was bleeding from several wounds; he could feel the thick liquid drying, hurting him even more. He forced his eyes open, knowing that he needed to do so. He needed to see the hell around him.

He felt a presence around him – Draco? His heart told him it was his Heart Mate, and Harry cursed him for not listening to what he’d said. ‘Go to the common room.’ He wondered how many ways the Slytherin could interpret those words. Still, he was too weak to maintain a link; his head was foggy and unfocused, just like his eyes were, he noticed.

The sky was filled with clouds, making the surroundings appear dark and grey. It was somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, where the sun had not set yet. In the distance, Harry saw Hogwarts looming, and for the first time in his life, the many towers looked dark and uninviting.

“Harry Potter. We meet again.”

Harry looked away from the castle – his safe haven – to the snakelike man before him. The dark cloaks swished forebodingly around him. Thin, inhuman fingers were pressed against each other, the sickly pale skin contrasting horribly against the black cloaks. He looked just as Harry remembered from his fourth year and from every nightmare he’d had since. The flat nose with its wide nostrils, and the hideous eyes, glowing a harsh red, were fixed on Harry.

“Voldemort,” Harry spat, gathering all the strength he had.

“Oh, still so… feisty. Why, Harry? You are going to die,” Voldemort hissed again.

Harry didn’t reply; he only glared at him. Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain shoot through his body.

“You see here, this is what happens if you go against me,” Voldemort continued. He gestured at the other Death Eaters, all carrying bodies in their arms. Despite it all, it was a wonderful feeling for Harry that it hurt, for it meant that at least some of the many people were still alive.

“There is no chance for you, young Potter.”

Voldemort stepped aside slightly, as two Death Eaters walked forth with someone between them. The long, greyish white hair was dirtied with mud, his robes torn and greasy. Harry saw blood, lots of it.

“No!” he screamed, knowing exactly who it was, and knowing full well that he was dead. He had seen it before, in Draco’s vision, and to see it for real made him want to retch.

Albus Dumbledore had finally fallen; the one wizard who Voldemort had always feared was gone. Harry felt the hope vanish, slipping out of him like water down a waterfall.

He could see the telltale red of Weasley hair as well, and he saw that it was one of the elder brothers, but he didn’t know which one. Bill or Charlie, he thought, his throat suddenly dry and his stomach filled with lead.

Further away, someone was still bleeding, still hurting, and Harry’s heart leapt, as he knew that that person was still alive. The person, a girl, sighed softly, and Harry hoped that the Death Eater who’d put her down didn’t notice that she was still alive.

”You see, this is what happens, young Potter,” Voldemort continued. “You try and you try, but in the end, it isn’t worth anything. There is no good and evil, Harry, only power.”

“You killed my friends!” Harry screamed, tears threatening to fall at the sight of Dumbledore still on the ground, face down.

“I did,” Voldemort said simply. “And now I’m going to do the same to you, the thing I’ve waited for, for almost twenty-five years. Say goodbye, Potter. Avada –”

“NO!”

The wand was roughly pulled out of Voldemort’s grasp and flew through the air. The Cloak slipped away from Draco’s form and he became fully visible. Both Voldemort’s and his own wand were in his hands, pointing at the Dark Lord.

“Ah, young Malfoy,” Voldemort hissed at Draco. “I was wondering why my Death Eaters hadn’t captured you. Seems you got a hold of Mr Potter’s Invisibility Cloak… Very impressive. But you don’t think I actually need a wand, do you? You should have let our poison work its way and died sooner. It would have been a more pleasant death.”

Harry wanted to scream at Voldemort to take him instead, but he knew that there was no instead. There was only death and it would come for both of them.

“Crucio,” he said and a black light shot from his fingers to engulf Draco.

Harry felt the rage building inside of him at the sight of his love, withering back and forth in pain, screaming. He felt the burning sensation inside himself as well, but it was pushed down as the fury rose and became greater and greater for every second passing. An inhuman strength found itself inside of him. His mind was focussed on Draco, with the other bodies and injured people just adding to the strength. In his world, only Draco and Voldemort existed – one of them he loved; the other one he hated.

He pulled against the magical binds keeping him set to the pole and suddenly, they let go.

Voldemort bent over Draco and picked up the two wands.

For a millisecond he stood dumbly, realizing that he was free, before the rage took over once more and he rushed towards Voldemort. He pushed the Dark Lord to the ground, grabbing his own wand and pointing it at Voldemort’s heart.

Before the Dark Lord had time to react, Harry had screamed the words at him. At just the same time, Draco managed to pull his gun and a bullet went off.

“Avada kedavra!”

‘Bang!’

A light shot from his wand, connected with the bullet and together, they hit Voldemort’s body, right where his heart would be, if he had one at all. The Dark Lord arched up, shuddering, before it fell finally still. Then black light began seeping through his body, first from only a few places, then more and more, until his whole being was engulfed in the light. A white light followed, blinding Harry.

When the light disappeared, so had Voldemort. Nothing remained where he had been but burnt, black grass.

The world seemed to stop in its tracks, to look to the spot where he’d been and then to glance over at Harry, who stood there, completely still, staring at the now empty ground. He could feel his own heart, beating rapidly against his chest, and hear his breathing, heavy with shock. Around him, the world awoke again, as the Dark Lord’s wards around Hogwarts came crashing down. Witches and wizards, all of whom had been denied access to the area since Voldemort took over the school, came running over the field.

Within minutes, the injured witches and wizards had been taken care of, and people were crying and hugging and screaming and laughing. The remaining Death Eaters tried to escape, but without their Master around, they had no chance. The angry population of the Wizarding World soon had them all in custody.

Harry still stood frozen on his spot still, his limbs having completely forgotten how to move. He watched the people around him reunite with each other and felt oddly detached. Until…

“Harry…”

The weak, small voice came from the ground. A weak cough followed, sounding harsh and horrible to Harry’s ears. He whirled around and ran to Draco’s side.

He was on his back, his face dirty and tired, with the gun that had shot the killing bullet at Voldemort next to him. There was a small amount of blood on the side of his mouth and more came when the blonde continued to cough, his weak body shuddering with every movement.

Harry knew without a doubt that Draco was dying.

One look in his eyes told him that; the facts only strengthened the knowledge. The energy potions had worn off with the Cruciatus curse and now he was fading away, second by second, with the light in his eyes. His body was weak, fragile, and his skin so pale it looked translucent.

“Draco,” Harry mumbled, picking the other boy up in his arms. Draco’s head leaned on Harry’s chest and Harry held him closely, trying to warm and heal him even when he knew that there was no chance.

“I’m sorry… that I didn’t listen…” Draco said, his voice no more than a whisper.

“Shh, don’t think about that, not now,” Harry whispered back, stroking Draco’s hair out of his face. “You are going to be all right.”

“I love you, you know that, right?” he asked, touching Harry’s chest with a shaking hand. The fabric was torn and Draco seemed to suddenly see something. He pulled the fabric away weakly, showing the tattoo on his chest. The ‘D’, circled by a snake; a tattoo Harry hadn’t understood until now. The ‘D’ was right above his heart, for Draco – well, Draco was his heart. He may be a snake at times, but he was still always there, for him, supporting him and loving him… Always there…

“You have one too,” Draco mumbled. He ran his hand over the tattoo, and said softly, “Pretty…”

Then he guided Harry’s right hand to his own shuddering chest and pulled away the dirty fabric there. A tattoo was there, on Draco’s chest as well, but his was a capital ‘H’, with a lion guarding it.

Harry felt his throat tighten up, his eyes filling with tears, as he realized that he was about to lose the one person he really, truly loved. He knew he had never uttered the words to the other boy and even in this second, when Draco was dying in his arms, he had a hard time telling him. He knew he had to; knew that he would never forgive himself if he didn’t.

“I – I love you,” he said to Draco, touching his cheek gently.

The grey eyes lit up when he heard the words and he whispered, “Don’t be a nancy, Potter… Don’t cry…”

Still, Harry knew it was futile and for the second time that day, he let the tears fall freely down his cheeks. Draco held him, but Harry could feel his arms loosing the hold as he grew weaker and weaker. With the last of his powers, the dying young man pulled himself up to meet Harry’s lips.

They kissed, and it was a kiss filled with love and promise. They both tried their best to memorize it; the feeling of the other’s lips, soft and warm, as they both knew that they wouldn’t be feeling it again. There was promise in the kiss, though neither knew of what it promised. Both refused to let it be a kiss of goodbye.

Around them, a crowd had gathered, watching the two young men say their heart-wrenching goodbye. No one tried to do anything, as all of them knew of what had happened with the poison and they all knew that Draco would die, for even the greatest Potions Master in the world had not found an antidote to it.

When they finally broke apart, Draco’s eyes were no longer focused; instead Draco looked as though he was blind, his eyes searching and unclear. When he noticed this, Draco pulled himself closer to Harry and then stopped moving completely. He stopped trying to fight the war against his own body, stopped fighting the fight he knew he would never win. For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy truly gave up.

“I love you… Harry,” he whispered, finally surrendering to unconsciousness.

Harry held him close as the breathing became ragged, feeling the faint heartbeat slow.

Just then, when he sat there with his hand on Draco’s chest, he remembered the vial hanging on his belt; the last one, the only one he hadn’t used yet. The Althidia Potion suddenly hung heavily on his side. He fumbled to get it without dropping Draco – he still to this moment refused to let the other boy go.

He fought to remember the text he’d read months ago, when he had first realized Severus Snape’s position as the greatest Potions Master in the world.

The Life of Althidia…

Ever so gently, he laid the unconscious Draco down on the ground. He kept one hand on Draco’s chest, feeling each fading heartbeat. The seconds were precious; he knew that it wouldn’t be long until Draco’s heart beat for the last time.

He concentrated on their Bind and let Draco go completely when he felt the faint energy from Draco. He could now tell how the energy was diminishing and it would be easier to tell when he was about to go completely.

He bathed his hands with the Althidia Potion, making sure that he didn’t spill one drop of it.

Then there was a final sigh and Harry felt Draco’s heart pump the blood one last time. Time slowed down and the only thing in his world was Draco. With only one thing in his mind, he placed his hands on Draco’s chest.

A strong surging pulled him forth, into Draco. A bright shining light came from both their bodies, although Harry hardly noticed, as he was concentrating so hard on the task at hand. The light erased their surroundings; the witches and the wizards, standing around them disappeared. Like a large mouth eating the setting, the world was replaced by first light, then total darkness.

The world became quiet, with only the sound of breathing disrupting the silence. Harry noticed none of it, however; the only thing going through his mind was,

Live, Draco, live…

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