Darker Side of Me

Darker Side of Me –Chapter 25

It was all happening like some sort of sickening dream. Draco watched in paralyzed horror as curses flew back and forth. Flashes of bright light were blinding the circle that marked the inbounds of their duel.

Draco started the struggle against the hands that were holding him in place. He saw Harry run back and forth, trying to avoid the curses. He was throwing spells and curses of his own but they were weak ones, designed to disarm or stun.

Why wasn’t Harry using real curses? Had he learned nothing from the night Draco forced him to curse him? Did he think that was all just a game? Did he forget how important it is for him not to be afraid to fight fire with fire?

Draco hyperventilated. He was shaking under the increasing pressure of the people holding him back. He was shaking as he saw Harry crumble to the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs, hit from behind. One of the people in the circle had cast the curse and Draco had a good idea of who.

“You will not touch him!!” Voldemort’s powerfully angry voice cried out to his Death-Eaters. He cursed a whole row of people in the direction that the curse originated. Each of them fell to their knees, crying in pain before they got shakily to their feet, nodded their apology and closed the circle again. “He is mine and mine alone!!”

“HE’S NOT!” Draco found himself screaming. Everyone fell silent and Harry stared up at him from the ground. His green eyes were wrought with confusion and anger. Draco blanched, realizing he had lost face.

Voldemort whipped his wand and pinned Harry in position, making it impossible for him to move or escape. The Dark Lord stared at Draco and stepped towards him, the cold empty eyes burning a hole into Draco’s chest. Malfoy did not back down. He stood as proud as was possible and let his anger take over him.

“What was that, Malfoy?” he asked silkily. Draco was clearly treading on thin ice.

“He’s not yours!!” he hollered, hatred staining his tone. “You can’t have him!!”

Voldemort looked slightly taken aback before a malevolent look hit him. He held his wand gracefully up to Draco’s neck and tilted his head. Draco had the impulse to spit but stayed his tongue and stared deep into Riddle’s eyes.

“Something you would like to share with the class, Draco?” he hissed, pressing the tip of his wand into Malfoy’s jugular.

“He’s mine!” he admitted. His eyes darted to Harry whose face was shining and wet. He didn’t know if Harry was crying of if it was just the sweat. “He’s mine and I won’t let you have him!”

“You just claimed that you hated him,” Voldemort recalled, pressing the wand harder against Draco’s neck. “He hates you and you hate him.”

“I LIED!” Draco was sweating now. He was quivering and sweating and adrenaline was rushing through him like poison, forcing him to continued hanging himself. “I love him!! I love him and you can’t have him! Keep your dirty hands off him, you bastard!”

Draco was sure that no one was expecting that. Voldemort’s lips curled into a snarl and he lifted his wand to Draco’s temple instead. Harry said nothing. Draco’s eyes were trained on the black-haired boy, trying to read what he was thinking through his eyes. He knew that it must have been hard for him to believe. He wouldn’t believe himself, in Harry’s situation.

“Should we take a look at just what it is you’ve been doing to gain young Harry’s trust?” Voldemort whispered. He touched the tip of his wand to Draco’s forehead and forcibly pulled the memory from his head. Malfoy screamed. He felt as though his brain was being ripped in half. His eyes were watering from the pain.

By the time he opened them again, there was a massive silver display in the centre of the clearing between Harry and Draco. Their two silver images were pressed together and kissing, naked in all their glory, to be taken in by every Death-Eater. Draco stood frozen, staring, not at the pictures, but at Harry. Potter’s face was flushed a dark red and he shut his eyes.

“STOP!” Draco ordered, his tone full of anger and hatred. Voldemort waved the images away.

“Lucius,” his voice called, his eyes trained on Draco. “You never mentioned that your son was…”

“My Lord, I assure you,” Lucius’ Malfoy’s voice interrupted before the Dark Lord could finish his sentence. “I had no idea!”

“Liar,” Draco spat quietly. Lucius stared at his son and Draco could feel the burning hole his father was attempting to make in his chest despite the mask.

“No matter,” Voldemort sneered. “I guess Mr. Malfoy will simply have to watch as I destroy his beloved. I daresay, though… Potter, do you feel the same way about Draco? Or are his feelings unrequited?”

The curse was released from Harry and he got quickly to his feet, training his wand on Voldemort. His face was set and sullen, but he seemed lost and confused. Draco mentally kicked himself for being such a fool.

“Malfoy might be a liar,” Harry spat. “But I’m not. I hate the bloody bastard.”

“Pity, Draco,” Voldemort mocked. “Suppose you’ll have to watch him die with a broken heart.”

*_*_*

Harry had fought for what felt like hours not to cry. He wanted to kill Draco. He wanted to do something terrible to him. He had no idea if what he was saying was true now, or if he was still lying. He could never tell. He would likely never be able to tell.

“Very well, then,” Voldemort brushed the topic away. “Where were we? Oh, yes… Crucio!”

The spell flew at Harry, but this time he didn’t dodge it. Without a moment’s thought, he picked out one of the objects Moody gave him and threw it forwards. It erupted into a golden wall and the spell rebounded off it to hit some unsuspecting Death-Eater to Voldemort’s right. As soon as the spell hit, the wall vanished, however, and Harry was vulnerable again.

“Expelliarmus!!” Harry screamed, refusing to use the curses he knew he had to. Voldemort brushed the charm away and stepped forwards shaking his head.

“You’ll get nowhere like that!” He raised his wand again and Harry dodged. He began to run again and threw out all sorts of items that Moody had given him. He knew he was supposed to use them sparingly but he didn’t have time to think now.

Every so often there was a scream of pain or a reflection of light. The circle broke apart and Harry pass through one of the holes to try and gain some distance. He jumped behind a tree. The tree took the hit and died instantly. Harry gasped, heaving for breath. He tossed out another item and shrieking screams erupted, deafening his opponents.

He heard a multitude of voices, human voices, screaming curses and new jets of light were streaking the night air. Harry sprinted out from his hiding spot and cried a number of curses in the direction of the Death-Eaters. He chucked out the last of his magical items and some of the Death-Eaters instantly fell to the ground, paralyzed or petrified in some way.

Harry was running out of breath and energy and was desperately wondering why Moody and the rest of the Order had not yet arrived to help him out. He jumped and dodged more curses when he realized that all the Death-Eaters were attacking back and forth now. He was fighting one against twenty and there was no way he was going to win this one.

More and more shadowy figures seemed to start spilling out from the trees. Harry screamed, hit again and again by the Cruciatus curse. He was also hit by the Imperius curse once or twice and had to fight for a moment or two to break it before he could act on anything else. He didn’t know where Voldemort was at this point. He didn’t know who he was cursing or what was going on.

He weaved his way in and out of the masses of black-cloaked people and tried to find his initial target again. Then it hit him hard. He fell to the ground screaming in pain as he felt white hot agony spread over his bones and roast his organs and muscles. He twitched and shuddered on the ground, his scar burning and threatening to crack open his skull.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying face to face with a dead man. Wormtail’s cowardly eyes stared at him, devoid of life or warmth. He gasped and struggled to push himself away from the fallen traitor.

“Trying to get away from me, Harry?” Voldemort’s snake-like voice called from behind him.

Harry didn’t have time to answer; he was forced to roll over to avoid being hit by a falling wizard who took a spell that was clearly not meant for him. He looked at the man on his other side. McNair was dead now too. Who else had been killed and who was doing the killing?

Potter glanced around quickly, getting to his feet and holding his wand out in front of him. He searched in the tumultuous crowd for Draco but couldn’t spot him. He couldn’t see Voldemort either. Panic rose up in his chest as he stared into the chaos.

“Avada Kedavra!!” The words rang out from behind Harry. He spun around fast enough to see something surreal unfold before him.

As if in slow motion, Harry watched a shadowy figure move in front of him and take the curse straight in the chest. The green light hit the man’s body and then refracted in much smaller jets of light, hitting nearby trees and people. Harry felt his mouth move and his voice formulate some word but he couldn’t hear himself. His eyes were stuck on the vision of silver-blonde hair that he could see just splayed out over the grass past the shoulder of the fallen Death-Eater.

Everything stopped. No one moved but Harry now. He didn’t know if he was breathing. He couldn’t feel air enter or leave his lungs, anyway. He didn’t even know if his heart was really beating but he heard a deafening sound in his ears that reminded him of a heartbeat. He fell to his knees and, as though it would dispel his fears, he turned the body over.

Draco Malfoy’s face was pale and empty. His eyes were closed and his body was motionless. His clothes were torn and tattered over his chest, revealing a massive wound. Blood spread and stained his shirt and cloak. Despite that this made little sense, Harry couldn’t bring himself to look away. He couldn’t bring himself to move.

He looked up very slowly and raised his wand to Voldemort, who was standing just above him in the same position. Harry’s lips parted softly.

“Avada Kedavra!!”


A/N: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. THERE ARE MORE COMING. Just needed to make sure that was clear. Now PLEASE don't kill me! *runs away from thrown tomatoes* I will post again as soon as I can!! Tomorrow hopefully! *hides*