Landslide

Landslide




By Evan Malfoy



Harry Potter ran through the forest, ducking under cobwebs and leaping over logs. His long legs allowed him to run fast, covering the distance faster than the average man. The stench of battle and smoke wafted over to him. Wincing as a small branch struck his cheek, he began to run faster. He glanced to his right at the blond next to him.

He gasped for breath, his lungs burning. He heard rather than saw the Death Eaters as they followed him. A stick cracked nearby and he started. Damn, they are catching up. He fainted to the right, dodging another branch that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

His eyes narrowed, sensing danger. He froze, turning quickly on his heels and running off in another direction, narrowly missing a Death Eater that had looped around and Apparated in front of them. Panting, he looked around, his eyes wide and skittish. He understood exactly what it was like to be a deer now, or any animal of prey.

Intent on drawing some of the many Death Eaters away from the other Aurors and members of the Order, he had run off from the battle. It was against Dumbledore\'s advice, but he was known for his total lack of regard for rules. Unfortunately he had to drag his partner, Malfoy with him.

He leapt over another fallen log, careful to keep his footing, as any slip could mean his death. He noticed the trees weren\'t so thick as he flew past. Mentally sighing in relief, he came to be able to see the daylight again, as the forests\' edge was near. Checking to see if the Slytherin was with him, he ran towards the clearing.

He smiled as he crossed over into the blinding sun. He leapt into the air, hearing a curse cast his way. Frowning as his feet had misjudged the distance to the ground, he glanced down. Below him there was a gaping hole, and his eyes widened as his body suddenly fell. Light again ceased as he hit the bottom of the hole, immediately losing consciousness.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Darkness. Voices. Harry\'s eyes slowly fluttered open his vision blurry even though he could still feel his glasses against his nose. He attempted to sit up, only to grimace in pain and sink back down to the cold, damp floor. Hearing a door fling open, he laid there, not moving. Keeping his green eyes tightly closed, he listened as two men began to speak.

\"You just do as you are told, Mister Malfoy,\" A harsh voice scolded.

\"Don\'t question me or else you will go right back up there and be punished again!\"

Malfoy is here, too? Damn.


\"Yes, sir.\" A soft voice replied, though it held a bit of pride in its drawl.

\"Hmph. You would do well to remember your place.\" The rough voice ordered, before a cell door was closed and locked.

Footsteps receded and another door closed. Harry opened his eyes and blinked a few times, his vision clearing. He slowly began to sit up and winced, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his shoulder.

\"Potter, you bloody fool, why are you sitting up?\" Malfoy asked incredulously, a manicured eyebrow lifting elegantly.

Snorting, the Gryffindor looked over at Malfoy, \"Because I can, Malfoy, because I fucking can!\"

The pain in his shoulder suddenly began to pulse and he gasped, feeling faint as he squeezed his eyes shut. He opened his eyes; startled when two arms lowered him to the ground. Looking up, he saw the blond frowning, his lip pursed. Mumbling something about Slytherins and bastards, Harry closed his eyes again.

Awakening a few hours later, Harry realized he had fallen asleep. He was smart enough not sit up again, he glanced around, his gaze falling on the Slytherin curled up in the corner. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the sleeping boy.

Sighing, he dug at the cement floor of the dungeon. Well, he thought it was a dungeon anyway. He wondered where he was and if the battle was over yet. He hoped Hermione and Ron were okay, and that the Order and the Aurors had won the battle.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw some motion. Looking at the blond in confusion, he watched Malfoy yawn and stretch slowly. He almost looks human right now. Sensing the Gryffindor\'s eyes, Malfoy looked down at Harry, his eyes narrowing.

\"What are you looking at, Potter?\" He asked, sneering.

Smirking, Harry shrugged, ignoring the pain, \"Nobody of importance, that\'s for sure.\"

\"Potter, shut up, you are in no position to speak down to me! Don\'t you realize that you are a captive, now? You-Know-Who could come down here at any moment and kill you!\" Malfoy scolded, glaring at the emerald-eyed boy.

Rolling his eyes, Harry smiled wryly, \"Nothing I haven\'t been through before, I assure you.\"

Standing up, Malfoy walked over to Harry, grabbing him by the collar.
The Gryffindor\'s eyes widened, looking up at the angry Malfoy. Cold grey eyes glared into his own, boring into him silently. The hand on his shirt finally relaxed.

\"You seem to forget, Potter, that you are a savior. The damn
Boy-Who-Lived. Now stop joking around and live up to the standards that are expected of you.\"

Green eyes narrowed, and in a hard voice, Harry replied, \"Like you have, Malfoy?\"

Harry\'s anger immediately dissipated at the deep sigh that escaped the blond\'s lips. Long, slender fingers ran through hair. Malfoy\'s blond strands were no longer slicked back, but now hanging in his face.

\"I heard about what happened, Malfoy, and I\'m sorry about it, but why do you have to be so damn serious and cold all the time. Relax, okay?\"
Harry said softly.

Grasping a bit of hair, Malfoy looked away, grimacing, \"I betrayed my family, Potter, my whole damn family. You never had one, so you don\'t know what it\'s like!\"

Cringing at the bitter voice, the brunet replied, \"No, I don\'t have a family, but that doesn\'t mean I don\'t understand what you are going through! Besides, you aren\'t the only Slytherin in the Order!\"

\"I know, I know! Merlin, it\'s just, I never expected things would turn out like this.\" The Slytherin stood up and began to pace the slightly cramped cell.

\"Stop pacing, you are making me nervous. Just sit down and wait. You know that we are going to die here, so we might as well just accept it.\" The Gryffindor replied.

A corner of Malfoy\'s lip lifted and his eyes flitted over at Harry for a moment. \"I have expected it. I will die here, with you, bloody
Prince Potter.\" He snorted, \"What a fun way to die, don\'t you think?\"

\"I must admit it\'s not the first thing that came to mind. At least I have company, no matter how annoying it is.\" He answered lightly, smiling at Malfoy to make sure he knew that he was only joking.

The conversation came to a lull, and Harry sighed deeply. He thought back to when he found out that Malfoy was joining the Order. At first, he was very upset. Well, in all reality that was an understatement. He didn\'t like the Slytherin boy, but he began to tolerate him, and soon their fierce rivalry became almost friendly bantering.

Hermione and Malfoy had become pretty close in their work for the Order since school got out. After apologizing to Hermione tensely, she pretty much adopted him into her circle of friends. Ron still looked at him warily ever once in a while, but nobody but Malfoy could play a truly good game of Wizards\' Chess with him. The boy had actually beaten Ron a few times.

Harry had started thinking of the Slytherin as a friend, though they still had their share of arguments about random topics. Debates over such things like Quidditch and Bertie Bott\'s Every Flavour Beans kept them from feeling too close. Even though he could now trust Malfoy, they weren\'t able to be as casual with each other as Draco could with Ron and Hermione.

Something always drove them apart, like an invisible barrier was erected between them. It was as if they couldn\'t cross a boundary, or they were just too scared to take that step. There was too much emotion between the two for them to be close friends. They either had to be rivals or… or something that Harry would rather not think about.

\"I just wish I could have said \'goodbye\', though.\" The blond said softly, his eyes filled with what Harry supposed as fond memories.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looked at Malfoy. Harry winced, but still sat up, struggling to move over to the other boy. The other boy watched him for a moment, before moving over to help him.

\"Malfoy, I know that you and I aren\'t exactly friends, but I\'m sort of glad it\'s you here, and not Hermione or Ron.\" He replied in a small voice, well aware that his face was flushing.

Grey eyes widened, and Malfoy swallowed, looking down at the Gryffindor. \"But they are your best friends. Why wouldn\'t you want to be with them now?\"

\"Well, I mean, you are different.\" Gulping, Harry looked down at his lap, his palms sweating as he spoke.

\"Uh, how am I so different? I\'m just your rival.\" Malfoy replied, confusion obvious in his eyes.

Looking up at Malfoy, he realized how close they were, his face mere inches away from the blond\'s own face. His heart began to pound and he wrung his hands from nervousness, before replying.

\"No. You aren\'t my rival, but, but you aren\'t my friend either. I mean we could never really be like Hermione and Ron. There is too much between us, I mean-\"

His trembling voice was cut off as a pair of soft lips pressed against his own. Harry\'s eyes widened as he realized that Malfoy had kissed him. Freezing, Harry gasped in shock as the blond hungrily kissed him. Oh, my God!

He soon realized that this might be the only time he was ever able to kiss Malfoy. At this thought, he began to move his lips against the other boy\'s mouth eagerly, trying to memorize the feel of them Malfoy\'s lips. Arms came around his neck and Malfoy was trembling. Pulling back, the Gryffindor looked down at the blond and smiled softly, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

\"H-Harry, I don\'t want to be your rival or your friend. I mean I know what you were trying to say.\" Malfoy trailed off, looking at the ground, his arms slipping off the brunet\'s shoulders.

He said my name!

Swallowing, Harry wrapped an arm tightly around Malfoy\'s neck, \"Then, we are fools, Ma-Draco. We realize just how much we mean to one another at the end.\" He smiled sadly, his eyes misting over.

\"Don\'t say that, Harry!\" Draco cried, looking up at the Gryffindor.

\"There may still be time.\"

\"You were the one who said we wouldn\'t make it out of here.\" Harry sighed.

Resting his head on the blond\'s shoulder, Harry closed his eyes.
Fingers began to run through his hair gently, tugging through his messy locks. Sighing, he allowed himself to relax. Draco suddenly stiffened in his arms as the sounds of battle could be heard above them.

What they later guessed was a few hours later, footsteps resounded from behind the wooden door leading to the dungeon. Harry pushed Draco behind him, wincing at the pain in his arm, but he never let go of the Slytherin\'s hand.

\"Draco, I-I love you.\" He whispered, looking back at the other boy.

The blond\'s grey eyes widened and he was about to respond when the door flung open. They looked up in horror, seeing the figure in the dark doorway.

Suddenly, the person gave a cry, and ran over to the edge of the cell, \"Harry! Draco! You are actually alive!\"

It was Remus Lupin. Their apprehension soon turned to joy. When they were finally over the shock, they breathed a sigh of relief. Draco stood up and helped the other boy off the floor. Harry collapsed against Draco, his chest burning.

\"D-Draco... I can\'t...\" Harry murmured, before he once again passed out.
~~~~

Turning over and curling up in the thick comforter, Harry sighed.
Opening his weary eyes, he sat up, only to be knocked over as a person jumped on him. Looking up, even though his vision was blurry, he could tell it was Draco. With a smile, the Gryffindor embraced the boy.

\"Oh, Harry, you are okay! I was so worried.\" The Slytherin said excitedly, \"Oh, and here are your glasses.\"

Putting on his glasses, Harry looked up at the angelic looking boy in his lap and smiled. Pulling the boy close, he realized that there were more people in the room. Wrapping Draco up with the soft blanket, he snuggled closer to the blond.

\"Um, Harry, are you and him, well, you know, together?\" Ron asked in his deep voice.

\"Well, I\'d like to think so, Ron.\" He replied. He smiled gently down t the Slytherin boy he was cradling in his arms.

The blond smiled and reached up to cup Harry\'s cheek, \"We are together
Harry, and I love you dearly.\"

Hermione let out a sigh of relief. She had been waiting for them to become a couple for years. Though she didn\'t like the circumstances about how they got together, she was very happy. Squeezing Ron\'s hand, she led him out of the room, giving Harry and Draco some privacy. The others in the room, Remus and Dumbledore, soon departed as well. Snape lingered behind though, glaring at Harry with his dark eyes, before he turned to Draco.

“Are you sure about this, Draco?” He asked softly.

“Yes, Professor Snape, I am completely sure.” Draco replied, smiling at the older man.

Sighing deeply, in obvious disapproval, he looked at Potter, “Take care of him.” With a swirl of his black robes, he disappeared out the door.

Smiling, he leaned down and pressed a small kiss to Draco\'s forehead. He knew that it would take a while to really get used to this development, but he was willing to take the time, Draco was worth it. Closing his eyes, still very tired, he fell asleep. Draco smiled softly and cupped his cheek, placing a small kiss on Harry\'s scar before joining him in slumber.