Never A Memory

a/n: Sorry it took forever and a day to finish this and get it out. I had a busy friggin' week, man, lemme tell you...nah, nevermind. Here's the update! Enjoy!







~“Temporary” Equilibrium ~



“When all stellar energy sources are exhausted, the interior of a star will undergo a
gravitational collapse. In this sense a star is a "temporary" equilibrium state between a gravitational collapse at stellar birth and a gravitational collapse at stellar death.” ~Astronomical Physics



Minutes later…

***



Harry’s mouth dropped open when he and Deans pulled into the train station’s parking lot in Deans’ black Honda. Before the car was fully parked, Harry had opened the passenger door and jumped out, running towards the scene unfolding before him.



Helicopters circled above as squad and S.W.A.T. cars and vans swerved in and were parked near the tracks, acting as a barrier for the law enforcement officials trying to get a handle on the situation, screaming into walkie-talkies and gesturing wildly to one another. Near the train, Draco hovered inches above the ground in an upright position, the tips of his toes slightly brushing the concrete from time to time. His head was thrown back and his mouth slightly open, his hands were lax by his sides and the whites of his eyes could be seen from where Harry stood, yards away, and they seemed to be glowing.



A sphere of red and gold crackling energy surrounded the Malfoy heir and the inner core of the sphere seemed to be filled with blue and green string-like energies, swirling around and moving through Draco’s body. The lower third of the spheres disappeared within the concrete below Draco and the pavement was cracked and uneven, standing up at odd, jagged angles until the outer sphere ended near the train and where the police and S.W.A.T vehicles strategically lay.



Harry stared as his running slowed to a walk, wondering in amazement at why Draco looked so peaceful and he was reminded of when Draco was taken up into the air after killing Voldemort and granted a second life by ancient magic that few understood.



Harry found his steps drawn towards the outer sphere and he was shocked out of the semi-trance when a gruff-looking Muggle police officer roughly shoved him back. “Sir, this area is not safe,” The man said to Harry pulling him away before turning to another officer speaking into a headset. “Lieutenant! I thought we vacated the station!”



“We did Sergeant Bowler,” the lieutenant snapped. “Get him out of here!”



Harry opened his mouth to protest but Deans, who had finally caught up, pulled on his arm. Harry turned to him and saw an older man behind him with a salt and pepper beard step up quickly and addresses the man with the headset. “Lieutenant Fitz, I am Dr. Laeverton from St. Mary’s Hospital. This is Michael Deans and Christian Hale. We know this man.”



“You know him?!” the lieutenant barked, violently jerking off his headset and stomping forward. “Then tell me, doctor, what the hell is he and how the hell are we going to stop him?!”



“He’s not dangerous--” Harry began before a sonic wave of invisible energy shot from the sphere’s core--Draco Malfoy--and pushed outwards, throwing every person back who wasn’t anchored to something and shattering the glass of the nearby train’s windows and the glass of the surrounding vehicles.



Harry, whose wandless magic had automatically activated a shield around his body, enabling him to remain standing, gaped at Draco, trying to make sense of what was happening to him.



“Not dangerous, huh?” the lieutenant muttered as he came to his feet and picked up his headset. “Those waves have been getting increasingly bigger.”



The headset crackled in the man’s hand. “I--a--shot--’Nant--” a voice said over the communication. The lieutenant raised the headset to his ear. “Say again?”



“I have a shot, Lieutenant!”



“NO!” Harry shouted. “You cannot--”



The man turned to Dr. Laeverton as he waved dismissively at Harry. “If your input isn’t going to be productive, I must ask you to vacate the area.” Then he pulled out a walkie-talkie, adjusted the channel, and put it near his mouth. "Captain, target is in range. Alpha Dove has a shot. Permission to take down target?"



The walkie-talkie crackled. "Granted," the captain answered from wherever he was.



"No!" Harry said again.



“Lieutenant, I’m sure there is a way to diffuse the situation without shooting my patient,” the Doc said calmly.



The man shrugged. “We’re using rubber bullets. It won’t kill him.” The man raise his fist to an unseen party, flattened his fingers and teetered his hand in short movements. A rifle went off and Harry watched helplessly as the large blue rubber bullet shot through the sphere and slammed into Draco’s left shoulder. His body snapped forward and he wavered at an odd angle before his eyes snapped shut, his mouth formed a frown of severe consternation, and his hands closed into tight fists. Slowly, Draco moved upright again and suddenly another sonic wave shot forth; only this time, the train and the vehicles were surrounded by the invisible energy and began levitating at the height Draco hovered above the ground.



The red and gold outer sphere glowed brighter and began to pulse as Muggle officers ran to and fro, the mood around them becoming less professional and more frantic. Harry continued to stare in bewilderment as the lieutenant slowly came to his feet and, eyes wide in disbelief, came to stand next to him.



Harry turned and met the man's gaze.



"Alright," Lieutenant Fitz murmured. "I'm listening."



Harry's mind raced, trying to formulate an excuse that would convince this man not to order his precinct to unleash hell on Draco Malfoy.



"Who is he, Hale?" Deans demanded as he came to his feet as well. "I know you know."



Harry's green eyes flickered over to Deans' hazel ones, and then over to Dr. Laeverton's as he came to stand with them too. All three of them stared at Harry, their eyes hard and expectant.



Harry swallowed past his fear and turned to gaze at Draco Malfoy as he hung, suspended at the center of the spheres of energy, the residual pressure waves pushing outward causing the train and the vehicles to bob in the air. "He saved my life once," Harry said softly. "Whatever is happening to him, we need to concentrate on getting him out alive. He's a good man...And it would be my fault if he died today."



***



Ron Weasley paused when Hermione stopped in her tracks, staring open-mouthed at Malfoy as something clicked in her brain. They were just about to approach the local precinct's Captain, posing as UK Secret Service and the FBI with the American Aurors who claimed they did it all the time, to get his officers to stand down and get the helicopters away from the area. Mackle and Anin had been sent off in search of Harry and Boyle and Nadger were on their brooms, circling above the helicopters and using their magic to keep the flying Muggles away from the dangerous reach of Malfoy's exploding energy.



Ron turned towards his fiancée. "What is it, 'Mione?"



Hermione took in a deep breath, her eyes flickering to Ron's. "Ron, I need you to handle the Captain on your own. Can you do that?"



Ron laughed in her face.



"Really, Ron. I need to find Harry."



"Mackle and Anin are after him," Ron said. "I--"



"Ron, you need to convince the Captain to get everyone away from here, including his men."



"Why?"



Hermione looked back at Malfoy suspended in his sphere of energy, apprehension churning in her stomach. "Because it's his magic that's outside of him. And...that's exceptionally problematic."



***



"I don't understand, Mr. Hale," Dr. Laeverton said. "How do you--"



Suddenly, Mackle and Anin were at Harry's elbow and insistently pulling him away. Frowning, the Doc stepped forward. "Mr. Hale--"



"Listen, Doc," Mackle said, interrupting him. "First of all, it's 'Agent Hale' with the United Kingdom Secret Service. Second, back the fuck up."



Harry blinked at him and then grinned. Mackle was a Muggle-born who had become an Auror two years before Harry and had plenty of experience dealing with Muggles on their own terms and without having to use magic. Anin, Mackle's partner, smiled pleasantly at the three men who stared after them as they pulled Harry away and his smile turned to acid when he regarded the young Auror.



"Nicely done, Potter," Anin bit out. "This is quite the catastrophe."



Harry's grin instantly vanished. Anin was usually pleasant but, as an Auror, the older man was all business. Having no argument, Harry remained silent.



"Alright, here's the deal," Mackle said, standing between the two. "We've got Boyle and Nadger up high. Granger and your partner Weasley are with two American Aurors trying to handle the situation with the Muggles. Do you understand what's happening with that Malfoy bloke?"



Harry shook his head silently.



"I recognize the Doc," Anin said, squinting back at the three Muggles they had left behind. "Granger showed me a picture. Who are the other two?"



"Michael Deans, the younger one, is Malfoy's Muggle Social Worker--"



"A what?" Mackle asked and Anin shook his head at him.



"And Lieutenant Fitz, the bloke on the left," Harry continued, "is with the local precinct."



"I see," Anin said. Anin frowned and looked back at Malfoy. The three wizards braced themselves as another wave of invisible energy radiated from the large sphere. Mackle gestured to the Muggles who slowly returned to their feet, talking animatedly to one another.



"We need to get them out of here," Mackle said.



"Hermione!" Harry shouted as he saw her running towards them. Breathlessly, Hermione skidded to a halt in front of them and waved her hands.



"Harry! Malfoy is going to implode!"



Harry drew his brows violently together. "What?!"



"That sphere is his magic, Harry," Hermione tried to explain. "Collectively, a trained wizard has the magic of a thousand Killing Curses. If that energy escapes the sphere, this whole place is going to all hell!"



"I thought you said he would learn to control it," Harry shouted.



"A wizard's magic is tuned the wizard's emotions, Harry," Hermione said in a rushed voice and stamping her foot. "The only way for a wizard to push all of his magic outside of his body is to completely loose control of his emotions. His overwhelming memories must have triggered that, Harry! Look at him!"



Harry bit his lip and stared over at Malfoy. "What is the inner sphere?"



"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's what is connecting Malfoy to his magic. It's the only reason he hasn't lost it yet."



Harry turned back to Hermione. "Could he regain his magic?"



Hermione looked away. "In theory..."



"In WHAT theory?"



Hermione spread her hands helplessly. "Harry...if he snapped out of it...um, maybe..."



"Maybe what?" Harry said, exasperated. "Maybe if I calmed him down?"



"You wouldn't be able to reach him, Harry!"



Harry turned once again to Malfoy's outer sphere and clenched his teeth. "Watch me."



"Harry, NO!"



Hermione surged forward to grab Harry but Anin and Mackle restrained her, watching carefully as one of the Ministry's youngest Aurors approached the red and gold wall of crackling energy.



Harry murmured the Shield Charm and tried to push into the outer sphere. Instantly, Harry was thrown back and he landed heavily on his back. Harry listened as the roaring noise of the Muggles running to and fro, the sirens blaring, the shouting, the helicopters, and everything else faded away as he approached the outer sphere again. It wasn't that the outer sphere made any noise; it was that the energy was so intense, it muted out everything else. Harry took a deep breath and concentrated. He conjured the Shield Charm again and turned slightly to Accio Hermione's wand. Taking both his and Hermione's wands and pointing the tip of them at separate areas, he slowly eased them in. Automatically, energy spiked and crackled around the tips of the wands, and Harry bit his lip so hard he tasted blood as he pulled the two wands together.



Once the two wands connected, a brilliant white hot line of energy shot up the edge of the outer sphere in front of Harry's Shield. Immediately, Harry pushed forward into the weakened spot. Heat enveloped Harry as he slowly made his way through Malfoy's exploding magic and the Shield fought to wrap Harry in a safe cocoon of energy. Harry's lungs felt compressed and the pressure on his ribs was nearly unbearable. His eyes watered and his vision blurred. Soon, he was walking blind and the sound in his ears was a screaming silence. Dizziness attacked him and Harry closed his eyes against it. His stomach churned and he clenched his teeth. The pressure was so painful and the heat so unbearable and he couldn't see or hear and then, suddenly, someone was speaking.



"You must stay hidden, Draco." Snape’s voice. Harry would recognize it anywhere.



"I know." Malfoy?



Harry turned toward the sound as it faded away and tried to blink the blinding tears out of his eyes. His skin began to cool and the pressure lifted from his heart and, abruptly, Harry heard a new voice.



"It is what you do that defines you, Draco. I wouldn't delude myself otherwise if I were you." Dumbledore!



"You're not me," Draco snapped back.



"Very true."



Harry fought to open his eyes but they wouldn't cooperate.



"Does this mean you don't care, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson.



"It must."



"I don't believe you."



A pause. "One day, you will. And then you'll second guess yourself; again and again."



"I hate you."



Another pause. "Good. It will hurt less."



Suddenly, Harry's body came flush up against another's and the voices shifted and wavered. Then Harry's eyelids began to work again. As Harry opened his eyes, the voices merged together, sounding like a room full of people was all talking at once.



In front of him, Draco hovered with his eyes shut tightly and his fists clenched at his sides. And he was listening.



Harry looked around, realizing that the blue and green of the inner sphere came from his memories. His memories were what was connecting him to his magic! Or, maybe, Malfoy had subconsciously used his magic to pull his memories from his mind so he could shift through them. Maybe it was the other way around and this was simply the end result.



Harry took a deep breath and reached up, curling his fingers around the back of Draco's neck and into his light blond hair. Connecting with Draco's magic, Harry dispersed his Shield Charm and allowed himself to levitate with Draco, inches above the ground.



Harry pressed his forehead against Draco's, feeling the tingling of his old scar touching his skin. "Malfoy."



Draco's eyes shot open, his pupils wide and unfocused. "My name," Draco whispered in a hollow voice.



"Yes," Harry murmured. "Your name is Draco Malfoy."



"I know," Draco whispered and a smile stretched his lips. "Yes, I know."



They bobbed there for a moment before Draco spoke again. "I've been looking for you."



"In your memories?" Harry whispered back.



"Yes."



"I am not a memory."



"No?"



"I am right here, Malfoy, and so are you. Look at me."



Slowly, Draco's eyes focused on Harry's face and he stared into Harry's eyes. "Harry Potter."



"That's right," Harry whispered, nodding against Draco's forehead. "You have to calm down, Malfoy. You could kill a lot of people if you don't calm down."



Draco twitched and closed his eyes.



"No, no, no," Harry said, shaking Draco slightly. "Look at me, Malfoy. You have to."



Draco opened his eyes and the silver irises flashed with familiarity. His hands came down and grasped Harry's wrists. Squeezing, Draco bit his lip and stared into Harry's eyes, emerald orbs shimmering reflections of the energy around them. "I need your help," Draco whispered.



"I'm right here," Harry murmured and cried out when an imploding pulse of energy shot inward and through them. Draco gritted his teeth and concentrated.



***



Everyone had gasped when they saw the outer sphere flash white and shimmer inward. Hermione struggled against Mackle and Anin, screaming about getting Harry out of there. The two Aurors watched stoically as the sphere shimmered again and became smaller.



Suddenly, the sphere turned silver and then a blinding white, obscuring Harry and Draco from view, and everyone threw their arms up to shield their eyes. When they moved their arms, the spheres were gone and Harry Potter stood among the wreckage, holding a sobbing, delirious Draco Malfoy in a tight embrace.



Finally, Mackle and Anin released Hermione and she ran forward. Reaching Harry, she slipped the Memory Draught into Harry back pocket and retrieved her wand before stepping to the side to meet Harry pained gaze.



"Get him out of here, Harry," Hermione murmured, her expression dazed and full of unrepentant awe. "We'll clean this mess up."



Harry nodded and Apparated himself and Draco back to London.



***



Arriving in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Harry pulls out a piece of paper and has Draco read it. Being invited, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place appeared to the Malfoy heir and Harry led him inside.



Draco's sobs had calmed by the time Harry had gotten him to the stairs leading up to the guest rooms, and his blond head was passively resting on Harry's shoulder. Once Harry settled him into a bed, Harry sat on the edge of it and handed him the Memory Draught.



"What is this?" Draco whispered, taking the vial and inspecting.



"Drink it, and you'll remember everything."



"Do I want to?"



Harry frowned. "Do you want to what?"



"Remember?"



Harry looked away and stood up. "That's not for me to decide." Harry walked into the bathroom and returned with another vial. "This will help you sleep without dreams," Harry said, handing it over. "It's a suggestion."



Draco raised his eyes to Harry's. "Will it be that bad?"



Harry's eyes softened a bit. "It might," Harry said honestly.



Moments passed before Draco said anything. "Thank you," Draco murmured finally.



Harry blinked, caught off guard. He didn't respond until he left the room--and Draco--and went downstairs and into the kitchen. Harry opened the fridge, looked inside, and closed it. Then he sat down at the kitchen table and buried his face in his hands.



"You're welcome."



***









a/n: Thanx for all the wonderful reviews! I live for them!



Incessant_Darkness: Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!



Cinque: Yeah, I even found myself feeling bad for messing with Draco so much. It's all turning around now, though. Thanx for the review!



Thrnbrooke: Yeah, man. Harry gets his, don't you worry. Thanx for the review!



lillillulu: Lol, sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoyed. Thanx for the review!



Jan: *grins* I hope you like it. Thanx for the review!



Airagorn Charda: All is fair in love and war, lol. Thanx for the review!



Snakevamp: Absolutely, and they are all learning from their mistakes. I hope you enjoyed the update. Thanx for the review!



Bigkt: Lol, yeah I did. I just had to put him on Channel 9; it was incredibly funny to me. Thanx for the review!



Alexkim: >_< Um...thank you for the...erm...review. I think.



Pleiades Wolfe: It ain't over 'til it's over. Thank you for the review.



P.S. Edited 3/01/07; if there are ay mistakes you have spotted, be sure to let me know. :-)