Gilded Soul

Chapter 20 Dream Separation

Draco arrived in the maze alone. It felt odd and unnerving being there without Harry, who, he rationalized, was still in his armchair by the fire, still angry with him no doubt. He began walking slowly along the path, keeping alert to any danger no that he was without help or back up. A voice cackled through his mind and he could almost see the twisted reptile face hovering in front of him. “I can feel your loneliness like a palpable wave, Draco.”

“Shove off, snake face,” he quietly spoke to the voice in his mind.

He was met by more of the cackling laughter. “Trust your instincts, boy. You can’t tell Potter you love him, not when I’ll be killing him soon.”

That rankled him. “Harry. Will. Beat. You,” he spoke the words curtly and assuredly. He had no doubt Harry would kill the monster; his only concern was if the final battle would leave Harry dead or dying as well.

Voldemort’s laughter died quickly then. “You honestly believe that child could best me in battle?” The shouts in Draco’s mind seemed to scrape at his skin painfully.

“He already has, what is it… four times now? No wait, five. He beat you when he was barely a year old. Some wizard you are.” Draco braced himself for the expected onslaught from the dark wizard, but none came. He thought he had effectively driven him away until the sky darkened above him, turning from pale dusk to full blown night. Storm clouds gathered above him and lightning streaked the sky.

“I will mark you as my own, Draco. I will enjoy breaking you,” a slithery voice slinked through his mind. Draco shuddered just as a bolt of lightning struck the maze ahead of him. The bright lightning reminded him of Harry’s scar and he thought of him. He thought of his face and his touch and the way he tasted. He thought of his messy pitch-black hair and his startling green eyes. He thought of how much he loved him, and he knew that when the time came, he would do anything to stand at Harry’s side as he took down this evil wizard, this sick demented half-blood.

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‘I love you’ had he really said that? Harry all but smacked himself in the forehead for his stupidity. Draco had gone to bed ages ago, seemingly unfazed by Harry’s statement. Harry just stared into the small flames, now burning down to embers in the fireplace, thinking about what an idiot he had been. Had he really thought Draco would see him as more then just a friend with benefits? Had he expected the Slytherin to confess his undying love and commitment? Why was he so shocked at the response, or lack thereof?

He really had thought the Slytherin felt the same. This quick progression from nemesis to lover must have addled his mind, he decided. No, there was no way it would work outside the walls of Hogwarts. Even if Harry lived through the battle with Voldemort, he wanted to one day have a stable home and a family of his own, maybe be an Auror, or even one day come back as a professor. None of those dreams saw Draco fitting into the puzzle, and he was sure Draco had his own hopes and dreams for the future that didn’t include The Boy Who Lived tagging along. Maybe they could remain friends, but even that seemed unlikely.

Harry fell asleep there in his armchair and dreamed about a life after Hogwarts, A life after Voldemort.

He stood at King’s Cross Station, just outside Platform 9 ¾ and pulled his wife into a sideways hug. His wife looked like an older version of Ginny, which also reminded him of pictures of his mum. She pulled two young boys aside and gave them quick kisses, much to their dismay. “Now James, Albus I want you both to be good, and James, don’t pick on your little brother.”

James rolled his eyes but nodded and smiled when Harry leaned over and ruffled his head. “Listen to your mum. Albus, don’t worry about the sorting. We’ll love you no matter what.” Harry gave them both light hugs and shooed them away towards the train.

A little girl pulled at his pants leg and he lifted her up and twirled her around, causing her to squeal in delight. Hermione and Ron looked on, holding hands and ushered their own children off the platform and onto the train.

Out of the corner of his eye a flash of white beamed, separating an older Draco Malfoy from the crowd. He had his own son and wife clinging to his arm as he made his way over to where Harry stood. He nodded curtly in Harry direction, and he could feel his face flush at the small gesture. He saw the boy, who looked much as Draco had at eleven, pull his father down to whisper in his ear and point at Harry. He watched as Draco nodded at the child and they walked over to Harry.

“Potter.”

“Malfoy.”

Draco tugged his son, who had clutched onto his fathers leg and hid carefully behind it, and placed the child in front of him. “This is my son, Scorpius. He didn’t believe I was once friends with the savior of the wizarding world, so I told him I would introduce him to you.” He looked down at the small blonde boy. “Scorpius, say hello to Harry Potter.”

The boy smiled meekly up at Harry and it made him smile. Usually he hated getting attention, and kept his scar deftly covered by his messy black hair, but something about this was different. He looked at the child, who bore such a striking resemblance to Draco, that he wondered briefly if his wife had even contributed. Harry held down his hand to the small boy. “Hello Scorpius. I’m Harry.” His eyes met Draco’s then, and the cold gray shifted into the warm molten silver that he knew at one time had been for him alone. “Your father and I were very good friends.”

The dream shifted then, and suddenly the blonde boy had bright green eyes paired with his silky blonde hair. Draco was telling Harry how much he had missed him, and began kissing him passionately, pinning him against the brick edifice of the platform. “I’m sorry I left you, Harry. I’m sorry.”

--

Draco smiled at the look of sheer bliss on Harry’s face. He was still curled up in the armchair in front of the fireplace, his slight form taking up hardly any room in the overstuffed chair. He was glad Harry wasn’t being plagued with the same dreams as he had been.

He had woken up alone in bed feeling safe and warm with his thoughts about Harry. He felt colder as he found the bed empty, and saw Harry’s shadow from the firelight. He walked over and found him dreaming and talking in his sleep. Something about his father maybe, because he kept mentioning the name James. It was otherwise unintelligible. He sat down at the foot of the armchair and leaned back against it, taking Harry’s hand in his own and drifted back into sleep.

When he woke up next he had an ache in his neck and Harry was awake and watching him. He was in the same place, leaning against the chair with Harry’s smaller hand in his own. He smiled up at the dark haired boy and it was returned.

“You were having nice dreams.” It wasn’t really a question, because Draco could tell they were nice by the look on his face when he had woken up earlier.

“I was. For a change,” Harry responded.

“What about?”

“I dreamed I was married to Ginny, and we were dropping our kids off at King’s cross.”

Draco felt more than a small twinge of jealousy at the description. By the look on Harry’s face it seemed he had been having glorious life fulfilling dreams. He felt angry that fantasies with the Weaselette and a large brood of children would elicit those looks of pure joy from his Gryffindor. “Oh?” was all he managed to say.

If Harry caught the look of indignation coming from Draco, he didn’t say anything. “You were there too. You had a son who looked just like you, and he saw me across the station and wanted to meet me.”

“Why?” Draco asked, his curiosity peaked.

Harry puffed himself up in a haughty manner. “Because I’m the savior of the wizarding world, of course.” Draco scoffed but motioned for Harry to continue. “His name was Scorpius.”

“Whose? My son?” Harry nodded. “You have very vivid dreams, Potter.”

Harry cringed slightly at the use of his last name. “I guess.” He shrugged slightly. “It all went wonky from there though. Things shifted, I imagined your son with gr…” Harry stopped abruptly and a red wash crept up his neck coloring his cheeks.

Draco suddenly wanted to know what had happened in the dream. “What! What did you see?”

“Nothing important. It just shifted to you and I making out right there in front of everyone.” Harry was blushing furiously now and Draco felt suddenly content. Harry wanted him, even in his dreams about a happy straight family; he had managed to wiggle his way into Harry’s thoughts for the future. It pleased Draco to no end that Harry wanted him so badly. It was only fair, since the feeling plagued Draco constantly. He found his mind drifting off more and more to incorporate Harry into his post-Hogwarts plans. He was happy the feeling was mutual, though how realistic, he didn’t know. “A bit of an exhibitionist hmm, Harry?”

Harry only smiled and petted Draco’s head with his free hand. It seemed Harry had forgiven him for the previous night and Draco was glad it could go back to normal for a little while longer. He had a dreaded feeling that the calm wouldn’t last long though. It had been a niggling feeling at the back of his mind, that whenever they reached the center of that maze, it would mean it was time for Harry to face off with Voldemort.

Draco was going to cherish what time he had left with the beautiful scruffy Gryffindor while he could, because he doubted it would take long to get past the final trial. More than anything he wanted to prolong it, keep Harry from completing the maze, but maybe whatever was there would help Harry win. Maybe that was why Voldemort wanted it for himself. Maybe it was a mighty weapon, in which case, he wanted Harry to get it because then maybe he would live, and come back to him.

He wanted his Harry to come back to him.

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