Gilded Soul

Chapter 28 Kappa

It was agonizing. He felt as though he had been living in this hell for years, unable to right a tragic wrong in his hateful life.

It had actually been no more than a couple months. The middle of April found Draco worried; terrified that Harry would get on that train at the end of June and never come back. He had left all semblance of his original self behind the day that Harry saved his life. He didn’t want to go back to it now, and he had stopped trying after that day on the pitch.

He had lost the memory of Harry’s fingertips a long time ago, shortly before the feel of his lips pressed against his own. That loss was achingly destructive to Draco’s psyche.

He now took Harry’s place where the walking-dead criteria was concerned. Harry, now seemingly content in his fledgling relationship with the Ravenclaw, drove Draco slowly insane. He rarely slept, and often when he did, woke up soaked with sweat, his face streaked with tears. It seemed pointless to eat, to continue this Harry-less existence longer than necessary.

Their join potion project long ended, Draco was back to sitting alone, staring at the back of the Gryffindor’s head.

Always staring.

--

They had been walking in circles for ages now, since even before he broke up with Harry. Well, Harry was walking. Draco was floating nearby like a transparent specter watching over his beautiful Gryffindor.

The night seemed ordinary enough as Draco floated along ahead of Harry. It was then that he noticed that the maze was no longer the same, circling path as before. Several meters ahead of Harry and around the corner sat a murky pool of water and Draco panicked.

Harry approached the pool of water cautiously, but there was no way around it. Draco watched as the Gryffindor carefully waded into the water, the thick black water coming up to his waist. He had almost made it across when Draco spied a rippling in the water behind Harry, then Harry was gone, pulled under into the menacing depth.

Draco screamed, but no sound came out. He was stuck, floating in the air like steam when his Harry was dying. Why did he always have to do the wrong thing? He berated himself while floating lower, raking his eyes over the surface for any trace of his precious Gryffindor.

It was only seconds later that Harry burst free from the water, several small monkey-like creatures clinging to his back, their webbed hands clutching around his neck, strangling the boy. Harry finally made it out of the water on the other end, and the creatures leapt from him and back into the water, but Harry was unconscious and barely breathing.

Draco was thinking ‘wake up’ to both Harry and himself as Harry, splayed out on the dusty maze floor, barely fought for his life.

--

Draco woke with a start and bounded, still clad in only his pajama bottoms, out of bed and through the castle as quickly as his feet would take him, not stopping until he reached the Gryffindor tower.

It seemed to take hours, but really only minutes for him to persuade the Fat Lady into summoning Hermione. He watched as she left he own portrait and returned moments later with a frown. “She’ll be here shortly.”

Seconds later Hermione climbed through the portrait hole looking haggard and angry. “This had better be good, Malfoy,” she seethed.

“It’s Harry,” he blurted. “He’s hurt!” She looked confused. “The maze,” he shouted impatiently.

“Harry said you don’t go into the maze anymore,” she mentioned skeptically.

Draco sighed. “I’ll explain later, but I’m there, okay. Now will you please go check on Harry!”

“He doesn’t sleep here, Draco. He still sleeps in the Room of Requirement,” she replied.

Draco didn’t know what to think of this new bit of information as he took off in the direction of the room he used to share with the Gryffindor. Did Harry stay there to keep away from the other Gryffindor’s? Was it for sentimental reasons?

As he approached the empty expanse of wall and paced three times he froze when the door appeared. Did Anthony sleep here too? Was that what Draco would find when he stepped through the door?

He pushed the fears aside and stepped through the doorway, Harry was the most important thing right now. He had to save his Harry, even if Harry was no longer his.

--

To Draco’s great relief, Harry was the only person in bed. He slept nude, as he usually did when he slept next to Draco, and the Slytherin felt a twinge of lust deep in his gut at seeing Harry’s pale form splayed out in front of him.

Pale.

No that wasn’t right, Harry wasn’t pale, not like Draco, not like he was now. He ran over to the Gryffindor and listened carefully, but he heard no breathing. He tried to remember what the medi-witches would do in this situation, but he couldn’t think. He had to get Harry breathing again.

He blew into the boy’s mouth trying to will his own breath into Harry’s body and the boy jerked on the bed. Draco stepped back as Harry coughed lungful after lungful of water onto the floor beside the bed.

He fell back onto the bed looking delirious and shaken. Draco couldn’t blame him; he’d been nearly drowned to death. It wasn’t until Harry choked out Hermione’s name that he even noticed she was there. She rushed to Harry’s side, gripping his hand between her two tinier ones. “I’m here, Harry.”

“Make him leave, please,” he rasped.

She looked tentatively at Draco, then back to Harry. “Harry, he just saved your life, I saw him.”

Harry only nodded.” Please,” he whispered once again.

Hermione chewed her bottom lip looking conflicted when her eyes met Draco’s. The Slytherin slumped in defeat. “I’ll go, just take him to the hospital wing, okay?” She nodded at him, looking like she might cry.

“Thanks, Draco,” she whispered as he walked left the room without a sound. What had he expected? Forgiveness? Hardly. Thanks? Unnecessary. All he really wanted was for Harry to be okay, anything outside that fact would have been bonus.

--

Harry’s throat hurt.

And so did his head.

In fact, if he were honest with himself, he would acknowledge that everything was painful right now. He heard someone clear their throat close to his head. “Draco?” he rasped, the word hurting his throat even more.

He opened his eyes to find a frowning Anthony looking down at him. “I just ran him out about twenty minutes ago. I swear Harry, your ex is hateful.”

Harry laughed at that, and it made his aching throat even worse. “I’m aware of that. Was he here long?”

Anthony grunted. “Only since the moment they let him in. He’s been sleeping in that bed next to you every night. He’s so belligerent.”

“How long have I been here?” Anthony’s other words were ignored.

He stopped to think, which made Harry roll his eyes. “Three days,” he replied at last. “You know, he told me to leave? Not once, but twice when I came to visit he booted me out.”

“Who?”

“Malfoy, of course.”

“You could have told him no,” Harry replied nonchalantly. Truth be told he felt a twinge of joy that Draco had been so possessive in his unconscious state.

“He told me to stay away from his Gryffindor. As if you belong to him, can you believe it?” Anthony seemed miffed, but Harry just smiled. He wondered what caused Draco’s change of heart. That kiss back in March has been amazing, but Harry wasn’t about to fall for the Slytherin’s tricks again.

Did Draco really save him? How had he known that he was hurt, dying? “Anthony, could you get Mione for me please?”

He nodded fervently and left. Anthony was a nice boy, treated Harry well, looked up to, no, adored him. That part got just a little bit creepy. Sometimes it felt like he was dating his number one fan.

Not too long after Anthony left, he returned with Hermione in tow. “Thanks Anthony.” Harry tried to instill in the boy that he wanted to speak with Hermione alone, but the Ravenclaw didn’t seem to grasp. “Can I talk to her alone please, Anthony?”

“Oh, right. Sure,” he replied before he left looking slightly dejected.

As soon as he was gone he turned to Hermione. “Okay, Mione. Tell me about Malfoy.”

She gave him an innocent look. “Well, he’s in Slytherin, blonde hair, good looking…”

He glared at her. “Come off it, Mione. I know the second you could get him alone you grilled him about what happened. I want to know.”

She looked affronted at first but then just started laughing. “Too hard to keep up the pretense,” she said giggling. She began to explain everything he had told her; from the sleep draught to the way he felt in the maze, to seeing him struggle with the Kappa, for that, she told him, was what they were. Everything up to and including the fact that Draco was still madly in love with Harry, though she admitted the love bit was purely speculation on her part, and that he had only broken it off with him in order to protect him from the outcome of the prophecy. She seemed especially angry that Harry hadn’t told her about the prophecy.

Harry took a minute to absorb everything and though the maze bit was interesting, all he could manage to focus on was that Draco still wanted him, and had never really stopped. “Could you bring him here?”

She nodded and all but ran out of the hospital wing.

--

It was almost dark out when Harry woke up again. He had been asleep when Draco arrived but he just waited, not about to leave when Harry had specifically asked for him. Unless this was a ploy of Hermione’s in order to get them talking again. Either way, he had waited.

“Draco,” Harry rasped groggily.

“I’m here,” Draco announced, leaping to his side and pulling Harry’s hand into his own, then dropping it immediately, unsure if it would anger the Gryffindor.

“You came,” he whispered, blinking up at him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Harry’s eyes were bright and crystalline in the faint light coming in through the windows. He was thrilled to see the dullness wiped away. H watched as Harry extended his hand out to him. “Friends.”

Draco paled and his throat went dry and scratchy. “If that’s what you want,” he responded, trying not to let his disappointment shadow his voice.

Harry nodded. “For now.”

He sighed and placed his hand into Harry’s. It was his left hand and he could feel the silken ridges of the scar on his palm. “I suppose Granger told you then?”

He nodded again. “Is it true? That you only broke up with me because of that stupid prophecy?”

“Stupid right? I’ve been telling myself so ever since.”

The Gryffindor smiled, and it was the slightly crooked smile that Draco loved dearly.

They didn’t speak for a while and Draco broke the silence first. “It doesn’t make a difference though does it?”

“What, your reasoning?” Draco nodded and Harry sighed. “A little, but not enough for me to take you back.” Draco sighed and leaned his forehead against their clasped hands. “We need to go back to working the maze together though, so we should be amicable. Okay?”

Draco nodded with his forehead still pressed against their hands, and hoped that Harry couldn’t feel the tears escaping his traitorous eyes at that moment.

--