Someone Else's Life

Six: A Little Room to Breath

I’ve never felt so alive,
I’ve never had to run and hide.
The things I want I cannot have,
The things I need are all so bad…
-Drowning Pool “I Am”

The walk back to the Burrow was not a very long one, and just as Harry and Draco had reached the path toward the kitchen door, a pair of cracks filled the air. The two boys turned their heads slightly and saw the twins Fred and George behind them, and the twins looked surprised by the closeness of the former enemies.

“Oy, George, lookie what we have here, and all down to their pants,” Fred said and began to circle the boys.

George nodded in agreement and began to circle the two boys as well. “And with their arms all wrapped around each other. Well, what a handsome pair of devils we have here. Wonder if Mum knows.”

Fred snorted. “Of course Mum knows. She knows everything what goes on in her house.”

“Everything except the things in our room. All those explosions and they never suspected our genius.”

Fred took the initiative to ask the question burning in both twins’ minds. “So Harry, does ickle Ronniekins know yet? Because we’ve heard no shouting.”

“The silence charm no doubt. Hermione is here now, you nit,” George said and thumped Fred behind the ear.

Draco rolled his eyes at the twins’ antics and said, “The Weasel knows. Can you step aside now so we can get inside? As much fun as the lake was today I think bathing in some fashion is a necessity at the moment, and perhaps something can finally be done about Harry’s hair, although, as I’ve mentioned earlier, the wild look makes a god of you Harry.”

Both twins were struck dumb as they looked at the young couple before them, Draco was nitpicking over Harry’s hair and Harry was looking pleadingly at them for help. Finally Molly Weasley ran out of the door and saw the scene before her. She rolled her eyes and began to wave one of her favorite wooden spoons around dangerously.

“Fred, George, you leave the poor dears alone. They’re probably freezing by now. Inside you two, shower and dress, dinner is in an hour,” she said to Harry and Draco, and then faced the twins. “Would either of you two know where your father is? I wanted him home on time tonight, instead of seconds before dinner. And check in on your brother, I think he’s looking for his trunk. He had it at the foot of your bed George and then suddenly it went missing, and he has to pack for tomorrow.”

Draco and Harry watched as the twins exchanged mischievous looks. “Aww, Mum, did he by chance look under the bed?”

Molly Weasley’s eyes widened. “Whatever happened to that trunk, I want it found now! If they miss the train to Hogwarts tomorrow I will hold the pair of you personally responsible, now march!”

Harry and Draco hurried into the house and up the stairs before the irate Molly Weasley could face them. They made their way to their room, formerly Ron’s, and began to gather up fresh clothes. Draco was the first to the doorway, and when he turned around to see if Harry was following he noticed Harry sitting on his bed.

Draco sighed. “Aren’t you coming?”

“What?” Harry asked, lifting his head in disbelief. “Into the bathroom with you?”

“We both need showers, and besides my back hasn’t had a decent scrub in ages. Now come on. If you feel that uncomfortable I can shower first and then you can, but you wouldn’t mind scrubbing my back for me would you?”

“I suppose not, but what would they think? You and me in the bathroom together…”

“They would probably think we were shagging each others’ brains out. At any rate we may be young, but we are of age. And who cares what they think? It’s just us,” Draco said with a smirk.

“Fine, let’s get on with it then,” Harry said.

“Get on with it?” Draco snorted. “With what exactly?”

Harry looked positively scandalized as realization nearly knocked him flat. “Not that. I just meant… Shower. Let’s shower and be done with the shower.”

Draco smirked as they crossed the hall and found the bathroom empty. They hurried into the room. Harry shut the door and it was Draco that put up wards and silencing charms around it. Harry noticed immediately what Draco had done.

“What are you doing?” he hissed.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, we wouldn’t want anyone barging in on us,” he said and then pulled off his boxers and tapped the showerhead before stepping into the warm spray of water.

Harry of course was stunned by the fact that Draco had so easily removed his boxers in front of him and stepped into the shower as though it were nothing. And he had also gotten quite an eye full of the blonde’s assets. Harry closed his eyes briefly, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. Of course he’d been with a girl before, but never had a girl had the effect on him that Draco had. He looked down and noticed the evidence of Draco’s effect immediately. His entire body flushed as he realized that the boy was completely nude under a spray of water just on the other side of the shower curtain.

There was a moment’s hesitation before Harry came to his decision. He took off his own boxers, tossing them in the corner where Draco’s were and pulled back the curtain. He got in as quietly as possible, and was facing Draco’s back. It was only a moment before the blond had turned around and they were facing each other.

“It’s good to know that not even the innocent Gryffindors are above temptation. I thought you would join me, but I must admit that moment of hesitation almost made me doubt,” he said with grin, a grin that was both new and familiar to Harry.

“I…um,” Harry began and took a deep breath as his eyes wandered down for a moment. “I thought it would be faster if we both took showers. I mean it’s not as though…”

“Oh stop making excuses, Potter. You usually wouldn’t wear your glasses in the shower. You just wanted an excuse to gaze at my amazing figure. Yours isn’t half bad either. Very nice in fact. All those muscles in your arms and shoulders, and your back. Maybe I should thank those muggles for keeping you in shape with all of those chores…” Draco trailed as he took Harry’s glasses and set them on the counter just across from the tub, he then lathered up a washcloth and brought it to Harry’s chest, up and down his golden flesh, working in a good lather.

Harry moaned at the touch and then took a step closer to Draco, their arousals colliding as Harry wrapped his arms around Draco, effectively pinning the blonde’s arms between their bodies. The blonde’s grey eyes swirled into liquid mercury as he looked up into the burning green gaze of the dark haired boy that held him captive against him.

“This isn’t right. The things I want and I cannot have, and the things I need, you…you’re bad for me, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Why is it you that makes me feel alive? Why you?” Harry whispered as he moved his face closer, until their lips met, and he captured Draco’s mouth in a worshipful and thorough kiss.

When they drew apart Draco lifted his hand and gently caressed Harry’s cheek. “If I bring you to life then I can’t bad for you,” he replied and then said, “Now before things go any further would you mind washing my back?”

“All right,” Harry said, his hand trembling as much as his voice as he took the washcloth from Draco.

The blond turned around and Harry then washed his back, the fingers of his free hand trailing after the washcloth, lightly touching the fair skin of the blonde’s back. Draco moaned and Harry froze. The blond sighed and turned around.

“It’s all right Harry, I know you’re not ready, so it won’t go that far. Although I can’t promise I won’t try for a feel until you’re ready. I’ve waited too long to simply ruin our chances because of lust,” he said.

Harry nodded, grateful and surprised at how thoughtful his one time enemy was. “What happened to change you so much? You used to be so selfish. I know that you were tortured, but it’s strange how different you’ve become.”

“It’s living. We each change from moment to moment.”

“I gathered as much. And we have the scars to prove it, some more visible than others…” Harry began and then looked shyly at Draco, to which the blond raised a brow, as Harry blushed and then asked, “So… Can I see your scar?”

The blond snickered. “You are aware that it is located on my inner right thigh. Do you think you could contain yourself as you would be in close proximity with a very eager body part of mine?”

At Harry’s deep blush that overwhelmed his whole body, the blond burst out laughing. “A Gryffindor’s greatest fears, dirty talk and embarrassment. Oh, bloody hell Potter. Just bend down, take a peek, and breathe.”

“Fine,” Harry said and knelt down, careful to avoid certain parts. He looked at the fair skinned inner right thigh and gasped. The scar, it was familiar, something he saw every time he looked in the mirror. When he stood back up he looked at Draco, a stunned expression on his face.

A small smile tugged at the blond’s lips, not a playful smile, but one of irony. “He made the cut like that on purpose you know. He wanted me marked like you. The healing charm he used made it scar. He thought it would shame me to have a mark like yours. But I find it charming, a taste of your spirit. It’s just another thing to share with you. I know how you got your scar, and you know how I’ve gotten mine. Our brushes with death. It’s just that my scar will never be as famous as yours.”

“Well I should hope not,” Harry said with an air of possessiveness.

“So are you going to tell Granger and the weasel that you’ve seen it?” Draco asked.

“Why do you call him that? He has a name you know,” Harry said to avoid the question.

“Ronniekins, fine. See I know his name. Now quit avoiding the question.”

“I suppose so,” Harry answered.

Draco arched a silvery blond brow at him. “And what about the prophecy? You are going to tell them about that as well?”

“You did drop hints in front of Hermione. She won’t let it rest until she knows everything.”

“All right then,” the blond said. “Now let’s finish with this shower before we begin to prune, and no more foreplay or I will no longer be able to contain myself. Care for a back scrub?”

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Molly called up the stairs to announce dinner just as Arthur Weasley apparated to the front door. As he walked in he took off his cloak and hat, and headed straight for the kitchen. A few moments later, the twins, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were at the table, with Molly setting the dishes of food on the table. She looked around the room and noticed two were missing from her table. She turned first to Ron and Hermione and then to the twins.

“Well, where are Harry and Draco?” she asked.

The twins shrugged and Ron and Hermione exchanged looks, remembering some of the things they’d seen at the lake before Ron had barged onto the shore and interrupted. Ron began to reach for the potatoes, but his mother rapt his hand with her ever trusty spoon, and sent a glare his way.

“Is this about this afternoon? Ronald Weasley! I don’t know what went on, but when they got back they seemed fine. Did you say something to them afterward?” she demanded, and at this Ginny began to squirm, and this fact was not lost on her mother as Molly Weasley turned to face her daughter. “Ginny? Do you know something?”

Ginny swallowed thickly and looked in Ron and Hermione’s direction for help. By then Arthur Weasley’s interest was piqued as well. He looked from his children to his wife and asked, “What’s this about then? That Malfoy causing trouble?”

At this Molly was suitably distracted from Ginny as she turned on her husband. “How dare you even suggest such a thing? That poor dear has been through unknown amounts of torture at the hands of his father, and he has forsaken that name. A son is not held accountable for his father’s sins, and he’s taken his mother’s name. Now there will be no more mention of that name in this house!”

What was even more shocking was when Ron took up where his mother had left off, “Just leave off on him Dad. He’s really not so bad for a ferret face. And besides, Harry needs him.”

“What?” Arthur Weasley asked, and was stunned into silence as he thought of what his youngest son was implying.

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“Will you stop trying to tame my hair? I think it’s been well over an hour and I’m starving. Bloody hell! What happened to me being wild like Herne?” Harry snapped impatiently as Draco continued to fiddle with his hair.

“It’s not too much to ask for some sort of order in the madness, is it?” the blond countered.

“Argh!” Harry growled, and stood up. He grabbed the blond’s ebony wand and snarled, “Finite Incantatum.”

The blond looked from his wand in Harry’s hand to Harry in shock, as Harry pulled open the door.

“What?” Harry asked, curious about the look he was receiving from Draco.

“My wand, it’s very temperamental. Ronniekins tried to pick it up and it burned his hand, not to mention scorched his hair,” Draco said and then his eyes widened. “I only meant it as a joke earlier, but it must be true. We really are soul bound, Potter.”

“WHAT?!” Harry yelled, and that single yelled word of question and exclamation reverberated throughout the Burrow, and brought the Weasleys and Hermione running up the stairs to see a very angry Harry standing in the doorway of the bathroom with his hand on the door knob, prepared to take a step out of the room, but turned to face someone inside the room.

“And Severus accuses me of being melodramatic,” came a snappy reply from inside of the bathroom. “I was joking all the way home you prat, that’s why I was being poetic. I wasn’t joking about the feelings of course, but about being soul bound. Well I wasn’t serious, but there is no other way to explain you being able to use my wand! Don’t you know the theory behind a wand with the core of a vampire’s blood?”

“No!” Harry growled. “I didn’t have a whole library of the dark history of magic to browse through for the entirety of my life!”

“Take that back, Potter!”

“Can’t face the truth, Malfoy…” Harry trailed, a horrified expression on his face as he realized all too late what he’d said, and Draco was running for him. The blond tackled him, taking him by surprise and knocking the wind out of him as they both fell into the corridor. Draco was about to throw a punch when he was hauled off of Harry by the twins.

Harry just closed his eyes, ashamed at what he’d said. Slowly he opened his eyes. He turned away from the hand up offered to him by Ron, and got to his feet by himself. He slowly approached Draco, who was still being held by the twins, although he was no longer struggling. The Weasleys and Hermione watched the pair, unsure of what to do as Harry looked down at the floor and then slowly lifted his head to meet Draco’s angry and hurt grey gaze.

“I’m sorry, Draco. I didn’t mean it,” he spoke softly, his voice laced with shame and guilt.

“It doesn’t matter,” the blond snapped, and the twins finally let his arms go. “That’s what I’ll always be to you. I’ll always be the filthy, tainted son of a Death Eater. Go, be with your family, Potter, they care about you. Don’t worry about me. I’m just a ward until tomorrow, and once we return to school all of this is just a memory, something to be forgotten. You were wrong though. I wasn’t bad for you, it was you who was bad for me.”

“No,” Harry whispered. “It can’t end like this.”

The blond looked up, his eyes a mix of liquid mercury and fury. “I told you not to play with me. I was done with being a pawn. Not even a day, Potter. Aren’t you proud? I heard it lasted longer with that little Ravenclaw in fifth year, but she only turned to you out of grief and pity, a need to know what happened that night.”

Harry’s temper flared at that. “What gives you the right to bring that up?!”

“You do!” the blond ranted. “You and your holier than thou determination to keep yourself from feeling! You won’t allow yourself to live, because you’re afraid! You won’t even tell the people closest to you about the prophecy! Only you and Dumbledore, that dunderhead in the Divination Tower, and I know about it! Why don’t you tell them the truth instead of trying to push them away? What are you hiding from? They care, you stupid prat! I care!”

“Harry? What is he saying?” Ron asked, and everyone turned curious eyes to Harry, Molly and Arthur, deciding to stay quiet and let things run their course.

“Nothing,” Harry said, his voice thick with fear.

“It has to be something, if you are acting like this Harry,” Hermione snapped. “Look at you. You’ve been distant ever since… This has something to do with the night Sirius died. It was all about a prophecy! But it was destroyed.”

“Whether it’s destroyed or not doesn’t matter. It’s still true,” Harry said in a weak and defeated tone.

“What is dear?” Molly asked, her instinct to mother kicking in as she approached Harry to comfort him, but instead he turned to Draco just as his knees began to buckle. Draco caught and steadied him before he hit the floor and Harry leaned against the blond.

“Tell them,” Draco whispered in Harry’s ear. “Tell them, and allow yourself to live.”

Harry nodded, squeezed his eyes shut, and then turned to face the Weasleys and Hermione, his family. He took a deep breath, and Draco took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Harry looked at them all, his gaze lingering the most on Ron and Hermione, as he finally spoke, “And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…”

Molly brought her hand to her mouth in horror as she turned to her husband. His eyes were wide as they both turned to stare at Harry. Silence hung heavy in the air. Hermione’s legs failed her and she slipped to the floor landing on her knees. Ron knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her. Ginny had grown pale, and even the twins looked shaken by the words.

Finally Harry broke the silence. “I’m just seventeen years old. How can I defeat him? He’s one of the most powerful wizards in the world, and he’s regained his power, he’s just biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. I’ve been lucky so far, but luck won’t hold out forever. I know that I will have to face him, there is no questioning that, but if I fail, it’s not just my life that’s over. The world is at stake. I know that the light will continue to fight, but if the prophecy is correct, and should I fail, the dark will win.”

Hermione swatted Ron away and got to her feet and looked up at Harry. “That’s what this is all about! You don’t think you will survive the final battle. Well, granted, it is a war and people are going to die, but what matters is living, Harry. You have to live while you have life! As strange as this sounds, Draco is right! You need to snap out of it and live, and be thankful for every moment that you have, for every breath you take. In spite of everything, the history and all the stupid things he’s said to us and the mean tricks he’s done to us, he is good for you Harry, and he is what you need.” She then sidestepped to look up at Draco. “And you, be patient with him. He’s more than a bit thick when it comes to relationships and emotions. Now after dinner we are going to have a little discussion about this soul bond you claim to have with Harry. Until then, I’m sure we’re all hungry. So shall we?”

Molly Weasley looked proudly at the girl she hoped to someday call daughter-in-law. “Well spoken Hermione. Oh and Harry, Draco, I’ll allow this one time to pass on a lecture about communal showers for now, but after dinner, we need to have a talk as well. Don’t worry, it won’t be too long, you do have a train to catch tomorrow after all,” she said and then looked at her husband. “Arthur dear, close your mouth. We’ve accepted Charlie, and I’m more than certain that we can accept Harry and Draco, that is if they can accept each other without killing themselves in the process. Now downstairs. I will hear no complaints if the food is cold.”

The twins looked at each other and then looked at Ron. George spoke up first. “Well, that went better than expected, although I thought Ron would jump into the fight.”

“I think our little Ronniekins has grown up, what with accepting his best friend’s life decisions. Did you ever see this coming?” Fred asked.

“No. Not a clue. I always thought Harry and Ginny would get hitched and he’d be our favorite brother-in-law,” George said.

“Well, we’ve always got ‘Mione to look forward to officially welcoming into the family…” Fred said with a devious smile.

“My, my, should we begin planning for the reception already?”

“I think a healthy supply of canary cremes are in order,” Fred said.

“Well I have to check inventory, but I think we have plenty in stock,” George said as he clapped his brother on the back and they followed the others downstairs to the kitchen, where dinner awaited them.

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