Inside Your Mind

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters; they are all from the mind of J.K.R, once again…lol.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Sixteen – Consequences and Emotions

Even the beauty of the Saturday that had captured them before couldn’t lift any weight from their heavy thoughts as Harry and Draco walked from Dumbledore’s office after that meeting. Their moods no longer matched those of their carefree friends by the lake, so they headed for their own quarters, where the stormy ceiling was better suited to their feelings.

When they reached their room, they simply entered and went to Draco’s room, just laying down and staring at the ceiling. Neither needed to speak, for both were thinking the same thing. They had known this would happen, but they still wished that the world would somehow take pity on them and give them more than two months to just have one another without worrying about losing anything.

:I’d wish things were different, but there’s no use. Believe me, I’ve tried.: Harry sounded more tired than anything, but not from lack of sleep. Voice devoid of emotion, he continued. :Why is it that when I finally find someone, something has to come and fuck it up?:

Draco snorted before commenting dryly, :That would be because I am Draco Malfoy, the son of Voldemort’s most prominent Death Eater and you, love, you’re none other than Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, our only hope in this war, the Boy Who Lived. You know, you just had to be special even before you knew what you were doing. If you weren’t so damn Gryffindor, we wouldn’t be having this problem.:

Laughing lightly, Harry turned on the bed to face his boyfriend, who followed his lead. They grew serious again as they looked at one another, once again struck by how much they had come to care about each other in the short period of time.

Reaching out with his left hand, Harry gently traced Draco’s angled cheekbone with his finger, then moving the touch to the other’s lips. “I can’t lose you,” the Gryffindor whispered aloud, for words spoken seemed more solid, and if the two needed anything then, it was something more secure than just their own hopes. “I won’t,” he said, louder this time, and firmer. “We can do this.”

“How can you be so sure?” Draco’s silver eyes were wide and held real fear, an expression Harry was not used to seeing on his boyfriend’s face.

“You know, for someone so arrogant, you’re awfully unsure sometimes.”

The blonde rolled his eyes. “Harry…”

“Okay, okay,” the other continued with a sigh. He looked down before continuing. “I’m not sure. But I have to try to convince myself of it because I can’t allow what happened to my parents or Sirius happen to you.’ Raising his eyes to meet the now concerned stare of his boyfriend, he said, “If it hurt that much to lose them, I can’t imagine what it would be like if I couldn’t be with you.”

Harry’s own eyes were now filled with fear as well, and the two boys looked at each other as the many outcomes of their situation washed over them. In a second they were clutching at each other, hugging each other so tightly that they couldn’t breathe. But that didn’t matter. The only thing either was thinking was that they needed to be as close to the other as possible, to know that they had each other to rely on, but mostly, just to feel the emotions that had once terrified them.

Finally allowing their feelings to wash over them deeply, the desperate clutch softened and they just held each other close, each head buried in the shoulder of the other. After a minute, Draco suddenly started laughing into Harry’s shoulder, and Harry pulled away slightly to look at him strangely.

:Who would have thought that one day I would be holding on to Harry Potter for my life? I’m not even supposed to laugh genuinely, and here I am, practically crying into the shoulder of my former enemy. And you, you’re supposed to be strong; you’re not supposed to let the pressure of anything get to you because how are you going to save the world if you can’t handle pressure?: Still laughing, the blonde sat up, his moment of emotional weakness over. Harry wisely did not point out how obvious it was that the blonde was embarrassed, and simply laughed as well, for he did see the twisted irony of the situation.

“I guess we’re each other’s weaknesses,” he said in response.

Draco’s gaze became sharp as he said, “I’m not supposed to have a weakness.’

“Too bad. You’ve got one.”

“Well…” Giving him a slow once over, Draco commented, “I suppose I could have done worse.”

Harry simply raised an eyebrow before lifting his shirt to change it. Deliberately moving slowly across the room, he grinned as Draco’s eyes followed his every move. Then, as he pulled his new shirt over his head, he sent his boyfriend memories of their nights and watched in satisfaction as his silver eyes gleamed.

“Never knew I could go from emotional and hopeless to horny in five seconds flat,” Draco commented, while simultaneously sending his boyfriend some images of his own.

“You learn something new every day. I think we should put it to good use.\"

“Well, Potter, for once in your life, you may be right,” the blonde drawled in response while walking closer.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Great Hall was more crowded than it usually was on a Sunday morning, where most of the upper years were gathered waiting to leave for a Hogsmeade. When the couple reached their friends, everyone asked what had happened in Dumbledore’s office the day before and why hadn’t they returned.

Draco sighed before turning to explain. “Pansy’s father knows.”

Everyone was silent before Ginny spoke up. “How?”

Not wanting to get into it after finally getting past it somewhat the day before, neither Harry nor Draco responded. Noticing that they were uncomfortable, Blaise supplied, “Because Pansy’s a jealous hag.”

“So Pansy wanted revenge, then,” Hermione stated, as always one of the first to catch on.

“And a point for Granger,” Draco remarked sarcastically. “But here’s the twist; Pansy doesn’t support Voldemort.”

“Then why-”

“Yes, why is something that someone with a brain would ask,” interrupted Draco. “Considering she’s supposed to be helping the side she’s on, not damaging it; but, evidently, Parkinson doesn’t possess the ability to think.”

The others at the table just started at him, a little wide-eyed. “Okay…” Ginny commented slowly. “I think we may have found Draco’s breaking point.”

“Wow, you Gryffindors really have the ‘state the obvious’ thing down,” the blonde said, the familiar drawl once again present. “I want to get out of here,” and without further words, he left them.

“Your boyfriend is being a dick,” Seamus said bluntly.

Sighing, Harry replied, “I know. Who ever thought that Draco would be the emotional one in a relationship?”

His friends nodded their heads in agreement, and Harry went off to follow Draco.

After catching up to him, Harry slowed down and matched the blonde’s pace. They walked for a moment together before the Gryffindor said :You realize that you’re being a bit insufferable.:

:Yes, I do.:

They just left it at this and continued to Hogsmeade, for even Harry knew better than to try to convince Draco to act otherwise. So, they spent the better part of the afternoon just wandering in silence, just enjoying being able to walk about freely instead of being at Hogwarts all day.

Unfortunately, tranquility and Harry Potter are not two things that are associated with each other, a point proven but the sudden appearance of Bellatrix Lestrange. A sneer that looked as though it had been permanently engraved into her features was in place as she pointed her wand at the two.

Meanwhile, Harry and Draco had instinctively moved closer to each other, and Bellatrix’s eyes flashed a quick look of surprise before they narrowed again. “So it’s true…” she whispered.

In her momentary lapse, the pair had drawn their wands, making the Death Eater laugh. “You think you can actually harm me?”

“I think we can try,” Draco growled, making the female laugh again.

:Harry, we have to do a spell together.:

The raven-haired boy sent him a surprised glance. :Are you sure? We’ve never tried, we don’t know what could happen-:

:Stop thinking like Granger! Bellatrix is pointing her wand directly at us and I’m sure she’s about to say some words that will bring us to a place we most definitely do not want to be, I can assure you, so yes I’m fucking sure, Potter!:

After a very quick mental count of three, they simultaneously raised their wands parallel to Lestrange’s and firmly said Stupefy!.

A huge beam of red light streamed from each of their wands, and the two beams met in the center point between the two outstretched wands. Forming a massive cloud, the red light charged into Bellatrix, the force of it knocking her backwards about six feet before even stupefying her.

Harry and Draco breathed in relief, until Bellatrix hit the ground. The instant her body hit the floor, the magical energy spread across the floor in a circle that was about twelve feet in diameter, surrounding the female Death Eater. People had stopped walking by now, and watched in wonder as the magic seeped into the ground, making it glow a deep red. About five who were not paying attention as the magic was spreading were caught on top of the luminous stones and they too were stupefied along with Bellatrix. Numerous gasps were heard and Harry and Draco looked at each in a kind of horror. While doing the spell had probably saved their lives, they knew that this would not end well.

Draco grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and pulled him into the first building he spotted. “What are you doing?” the other asked.

“Apparating us right outside of Hogwarts grounds,” Draco answered shortly.

“You can apparate?”

“Yes, and before you say it, I know I’m not supposed to but we definitely have to get out of here.” He wrapped the arm that wasn’t holding his wand around Harry’s waist, and lifted his other hand and then they were gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The first place they went upon returning was Dumbledore’s office. Quickly saying the password, they practically ran up the stairs, praying that the Headmaster was there.

Thankfully, he was sitting in his high-backed armchair, carefully placing what looked to be a fourth or fifth jar of lemon drops on his desk. Momentarily distracted, the couple looked at each other, somewhat thankful for the amusing hiatus.

Finally, Harry cleared his throat. “Um…Headmaster?”

The old man looked up and smiled. “I was wondering when you were going to announce your presence. Please have a seat.”

Sitting together in one chair for the second time that weekend, they began explaining what had happened in Hogsmeade, stumbling over their words. It was obvious that they were still dumbstruck by what had occurred.

When they finally took a moment to catch their breath, Dumbledore smiled gently. “Was anyone with you?”

“No,” Draco replied. “We were alone because I kind of pissed off our friends in the morning.”

The Headmaster chucked before sighing and saying, “Didn’t Remus and Severus warn you against doing spells together?”

Looking at each other, the two shrugged. “Not really. All we’ve done is practice swordfighting and we just started doing simple defense spells on our own. They’re really taking their time with it.”

“Well, I will have to then. You should refrain from doing any spells together until you have gone over them with either me, Remus, or Severus.”

“But-”

Dumbledore held up a hand, signaling that he wasn’t finished. “I understand that you had to defend yourselves and were simply looking for the best way to protect each other. I told you that your spells would be much stronger together, so you decided to use that to your advantage, which is completely understandable. But there’s more to this bond then just more strength in your spells. You must learn how to control the extra power, to center the spell on one thing, or it will affect its surroundings, as you witnessed today. You have much more power than you realize.”

Harry’s green eyes were puzzled as he interrupted, “Why didn’t we learn how to control it from the start? I mean, you must have known that a day like today would come sooner or later.”

“Yes, Harry, you’re right. I was hoping that it would happen later than sooner, but I should know that you can’t rely on hope. That will be what you will study next, regardless of what you were working on before. That was only a simple stupefying spell; you two are stronger than I realized. It usually takes a spell stronger than that to travel that far.”

“I think Parkinson told,” Draco commented dryly after a few minutes of silent contemplation of Dumbledore’s previous words. This elicited a laugh from his boyfriend, and it brought a slight twinkle back into the unusually serious azure eyes of the Headmaster.

“I think you young men should be off now,” Dumbledore said.

Harry and Draco left at this, because they knew it meant that Dumbledore had to talk to some people. Normally, they would be annoyed that he was hiding things from them, but at the moment, they were grateful. They weren’t sure how much seriousness they could take.

They once again retreated to the confines of their secluded room, still not bothering to change the atmosphere of their living room. With the moods they were in, they would have welcomed the rain that looked as though it would pour down on them and their velvet furniture at any given moment.

“Why does everything have to happen to us?” Harry pouted childishly.

Draco smiled and leaned over to plant a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s protruding lips. “Because, love, the best always have it the worst. They have to prove that they’re the best somehow.”

Looking at him doubtfully, Harry smirked. “So all this shit is going on cause we’re the best?”

“Yes,” Draco replied, completely seriously, causing his boyfriend to burst out laughing.

“That’s such bullshit,” the Gryffindor managed to get out between laughs.

The blonde held his arrogant expression until breaking down and grinning. “It is bullshit, Potter. Although I didn’t realize you were intelligent enough to figure that out.”

A couch pillow hit him in the face. “Hey!” he exclaimed, before throwing one back at his laughing boyfriend. This scaled into a full-fledged pillow fight that lasted ten minutes before both dropped onto the pillows that were now scattered on the floor, still laughing. They lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the momentary escape from reality.

:Draco?:

:Yes, love?:

:Promise me that we’ll always laugh like this, and lie together like this.:

:What’s with Gryffindors and emotions?:

Raising an eyebrow, Harry looked him straight in the eyes :I seem to recall you being the emotional wreck this weekend.:

Draco colored, staying silent, because he really couldn’t argue with that. He took a few seconds to regain his composure, only to lose it again as he saw the pleading in emerald eyes. He involuntarily smiled and said, :Potter, I wouldn’t have it any other way.: