Haunted

XII

“Astronomy tower… Midnight”. Harry’s words had repeated themselves in Draco’s head all day since he had pronounced them. Now, he was waiting under the moonlight that reflected his glow like a beautiful ice sculpture. He felt the cold breeze go through him like silk, closing his eyes to feel the wind better.

Draco heard a rustling of cloth and footsteps getting closer and, if his heart still beat, it would have been reaching top speed in anticipation. He couldn’t see anyone, but he knew better.

‘Harry?’, he asked looking around.

There was no response, but the Gryffindor took off his Invisibility Cloak instead.

‘Not that I mind at all, but isn’t sex at the Astronomy tower too much of a cliché?’, Draco asked.

‘Who said I’d called you up here for sex?’

Draco looked at him intrigued.

‘I was actually going to jump’, he continued.

‘Are you out of your bloody mind?!’

‘I fell in love with my enemy’s ghost. Of course I am. Just think about it, would you? A whole eternity together, free to do whatever the hell we want. We could even shag in front of McGonagall if we wanted to’, Harry laughed.

‘But Harry, are you sure you want to do this? Because once you’ve done it, there is no turning back.’

‘You think I don’t know that? But I’ve thought about it, and it’s the only way. The world doesn’t really need me alive anymore since I killed Voldemort, and, to say the truth, my whole existence has centred around you lately. Where’s the sense in being alive if the one thing I want, I can’t have?’

‘So, you’re sure you want to do this?’, Draco asked.

‘Er… haven’t you heard a word I just said?’

‘OK, but don’t jump’, Draco supplicated.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I don’t think I’d be too attracted to someone with a smashed head.’

‘Do you have a better idea?’, Harry asked invitingly.

‘The Killing Curse, perhaps?’

‘No. The last time I used it, I promised myself I would never cast it again.’

‘Well… you could drown in the Prefects’ Bathroom. I know the password, so…’, Draco offered.

‘You know, I just had a better idea. Follow me.’

Draco recognized the place to where Harry had leaded him for the enormous tapestry which showed Barnabas the Barmy’s trying to teach a group of trolls how to dance ballet. Harry walked past the white wall in front of it three times until a door appeared.

Draco’s jaw dropped after going across the door and he found himself in a room full of the most diverse collection of killing devices, both muggle to magical that went from the tiniest razorblade to the largest canyon.

‘What do you think?’, Harry asked lifting a sharp dagger from the floor and pretending to stick it in his heart.

‘A little too melodramatic. Besides, wouldn’t you prefer something more original? Look around you!’, Draco pointed out.

‘You’re right. See if you can find something quick that doesn’t involve decapitation’, he said, looking at the intimidating guillotine in the far corner of the room.

Unfortunately, most of the killing devices were pretty much to torture as well. The most pleasant ones the could find were a plain poison, a gun and a tape of the whole Hogwarts’ staff doing a striptease.

‘Hey, Harry! What do you reckon that is for?’, Draco asked, pointing at an electric chair.

‘Cool! But I don’t think that’ll work in here, since there’s no electricity in the castle.’

‘Bummer…’

‘I think I’ll just go with the poison. I don’t think I’d be a very witty ghost if I blew my brains out.’

‘Alright, but do it already… I’m getting impatient.’

‘So, this is it’, Harry said taking the cork off the small bottle. ‘Here’s to you.’

Draco saw how he gulped the black liquid with a disgusted face and, after stumbling a little, Harry fell to the floor. Draco knelt beside him to listen to his heart. Its rhythm begun to slow down… the heartbeats became weaker and somehow more distant. Suddenly, Draco could no longer hear it.

‘Come on, Harry… get out of there.’

He was beginning to feel nervous. He didn’t really know how long it had taken him to leave his body, but he didn’t like the waiting one bit. Myrtle had seen him before he got his glow, so that was obviously not the problem.

Harry’s heart beat again.

‘Oh, Merlin! Die already!’

He waited silently so he wouldn’t miss any heartbeat, but it never came.

He waited for Harry’s ghost to emerge, but it didn’t.

‘Come on, Harry!’, Draco cried. ‘What the fuck are you waiting for?’

«This can’t be happening. He can’t leave me…»

The door to the Room of Requirement flew opened and Draco turned around as though expecting to find Harry on the other side.

‘Harry!’, Granger and Weasley screamed.

The redhead was holding the Marauders’ Map and was aiming his wand at Draco.

‘What the hell did you do to him, Malfoy?!’

‘Nothing! He killed himself and I’m waiting for his ghost to come out. That’s all’, Draco said calmly, turning to look back at Harry.

‘That’s… that’s all?!’, Weasley shrieked.

‘Don’t worry. He’ll come out… any minute now…’

‘Why on Earth would Harry do such a thing?!’, Granger cried.

‘To be with me! You were so busy doing who knows what, that you missed he fell in love with me! Now, would you mind leaving us alone so I’m not distracted when he comes out?’

‘But what if he doesn’t come out, you idiot?!’, Weasley yelled desperately, apparently pretending he hadn’t heard the falling in love part.

‘He will. He has to…’

Harry’s funeral was at dawn, but Draco wasn’t there to see it. He never moved from the Room of Requirement, always waiting and murmuring to himself ‘He will come back for me… he’ll come…’.

If there had been a tiny bit of sanity left in him, he would have realized that unconsciously, Harry had beat him at his own game once more.



A/N: I\'m sorry to all of you that expected an ending where Harry and Draco die happily ever after and spent an eternity shagging around the castle, but honestly, I\'m sick of happy endings...
And another thing, in case I didn\'t express myself correctly, Harry does NOT kill himself as revenge, that\'s just how it turned out.