Third Place - Drama

The sound of the door clicking closed brought me closer to reality. I dazedly stared out the window hoping to see which way he would go...and I saw nothing. It was as if he had Apparated away, but I knew he couldn�t have. Without the immediate gratification of Harry�s presence, I looked around the room and was astounded by the chaos. Tables and chairs were upended; some were cracked into irreparable pieces and some were still smoldering from the varied hexes that had hit them. Dust lay heavy in the air, air that smelled of scorched wood...scorched flesh. People lay moaning in pain, sobbing in fear.

The Aurors had reacted quickly once the wards went down and they had a hold of their wands again. The bulk of them had Apparated out directly after the Death Eaters. The only two left, an older man with a goatee and some woman with odd bubblegum pink hair, were trying to calm the mass hysteria. The older man had taken over the Floo and was sending injured through to St. Mungo�s as quickly as his partner could locate them.

I shook off the remaining daze and searched for my mother. I found her huddled over the charred remains of her sister, weeping softly. I couldn�t decide if that pissed me off or not. Granted, the woman was mum�s sister, but the bitch had tried to kill us! With a sigh, I knelt at her side and placed a hand on her back. "Mum? Are you hurt?" I asked reluctantly.

No response.

"Mum!" I snapped. She jerked her head up and stared at me with huge, wet crystal blue eyes. "Are you hurt?" I reiterated. She shook her head slowly. Just as I was about to stand, she threw herself against me. Her arms wrapped around my chest and she buried her face in my neck. I was eerily reminded of Harry. Angrily, I remembered that this woman was the reason we were down here. This woman was the reason Harry had undergone yet another Cruciatus spell cast by one of my family members.

But...

This woman had been used as a mouthpiece for evil itself. She had been cheated on, lied to and betrayed as well. Her own sister had plans to kill her. She was, at the bitter end, simply a frightened, crying woman. Just like every other frightened, crying survivor in the room. With one exception: this woman was my mother. I sighed and wrapped not-so-reluctant-anymore arms around her. She collapsed into my embrace and I could feel the sobs shaking her slender body.

"It�ll be all right, Mum," I whispered, patting her golden hair. "It will be all right now. I�ll take care of you." I felt the hysteria welling up again. How many times had I said that same thing to Harry this week? And look what happened just today. Nearly captured. Unforgivables cast on him. Forced to kill another person. Merlin, what the fuck was Dumbledore thinking when he put Harry in my care?

"Where the hell is Harry?" I looked up to see Ginny nearly twirling in a circle, searching the injured for the body of her friend.

Oh. And I lost him to boot.

"He left," I raised my voice slightly to get her attention. She spotted me and barreled across the floor, leaping over rubble and cursing as she turned her ankle.

"Are you okay, Draco?" she demanded, looking me up and down. I could tell that it was only the presence of the woman in my arms that kept me from being patted down for verification. "And what do you mean, �Harry left�?"

"I�m fine," I shook my head. "Harry...Harry ran out the front door when the wards went down." Ginny�s eyes shot to the window and I knew that she was seeing exactly what I�d seen...fucking nothing.

"We have to find him!" Granger joined us, wobbling unsteadily on what looked to be a broken ankle. Neville supported her, standing tall though he was covered in dust and grime and had a nasty looking goose egg growing on his forehead. "He�s probably terrified!" Granger continued. "He�s�"

"He�s back," I cut her off, dropping my eyes back down to my mother�s golden head.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Granger�s voice bordered between scared and hopeful.

I shifted Mum a bit, easing up on a cramping muscle in my back. I wondered how Harry�s muscles must feel, having undergone Cruciatus...again. "I mean, Granger, that I think Harry is back. He cast Incendio on..." I waved vaguely at the scorch marks at our feet, trying not to say Aunt Bella�s name for fear that Mum would begin wailing again. "He couldn�t have done that as a child."

"Maybe it�s a flash forward again?" Neville played Devil�s Advocate.

I shrugged. "Maybe. But why would he run afterward?" I looked up. "He�s always run to me. Why would he run away?"

It was Neville's turn to shrug. "Is your mum all right?" he asked instead.

I smiled wanly. "I don�t know. She says she is, but..." I gestured with my chin to her burrowed form.

Neville eased Granger down to a sitting position and bundled up his cloak to cushion her ankle. Once he had her settled, crouched down next to me and held his arms out. I frowned in confusion.

"Let me have her," he said gently. "You need to go after him, Draco. Even if he is back, he�ll still be scared. He might not remember these last weeks. And if he does, it might be even worse."

I was torn. The love of my life? Or my mother? Thank all that�s holy, my mother decided for me. She sniffled once more into my shirt and lifted her head. Her eyes were swollen and her face blotchy with tears, but she smiled at me; a thin wavering smile that tried to reassure me.

"It�s all right, my precious," she choked out of a throat swollen with tears. "Your friend is right. You go. Find your Harry. I�ll be fine."

"Mum, I�"

"No, Draco," she pulled herself out of my arms. "Bella may have been forcing me to write that note, but the feeling behind it was indeed mine. I love you, my baby." She reached up and brushed an unadorned hand over my cheek, her countenance softening with a smile. "I love you and you have saved me. From the Dark, from my husband, from my sister. I have nothing left to fear. But that boy...your Harry...he needs you. He needs you to be strong for him. Not just now, but in the battle with the Dark Lord. He needs you by his side, Draco. Go. Find him."

I could hardly believe this was my mother sitting before me. My mother was elegant and aloof. She was a proper Death Eater�s wife. She took what she wanted and damn the consequences, as befits a true Malfoy. She certainly did not sit in the cinder pile of her dead sister and tell her heir and only son to defy the Dark Lord. To go save the Boy Who Lived.

I watched in amazement as Neville held his hand out to my mother. She took it with all the aplomb of the courtly lady she was and allowed him to bring her to her feet. They stood, side by side, watching me gape at them.

"Go, Draco," she repeated. "Find your Harry."

And looking in Neville's eyes, in Ginny�s and even in Granger�s, I could only see the sentiment repeated.

Honestly, what else could I do?

I figured Harry had gone back to the school. Really, where else could he go? All right, that was a stupid question. Technically, he could be anywhere. But I was crossing my fingers that he would run for familiarity. But which familiarity? Would it be the places that comforted him at 17 or at four? I decided to start with the 17 year old. My first destination would be the Quidditch pitch. Perhaps, I�d check Hagrid�s hut on the way.

I never knew how long a walk the way from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts could be. I had time to think. Okay, so I had time to dwell. What the hell would I do if Harry were 17 again? What the hell would I do if he weren�t? Would he need me? Would he want me? Would he be able to stand seeing me? How could I explain the last week? How could I tell him that I knew his feelings for me? How could I tell him of my feelings for him?

How could I apologize for my father�s beatings, rape and torture? Or my aunt�s spells? Or the fact that Harry was forced to kill to protect me? How could I face him knowing that I�d allowed him to be molested? That I, myself, had gotten off from one of his unconscious flashes of normalcy? I was really no better than Brown.

Would he remember? Would he remember my father? Would he remember Brown? Would he remember the bath? The frotting? Would he remember telling me he loved me in front of his friends? Would he remember he told me he loved me at all?

Fuck. Did I want him to?

Was he really safe loving me? Being with me? Was my mother right? Did he need me? Or did he need me to leave him alone?

Somewhere in the midst of my angst, I made it to the gates of Hogwarts. When a quick check of the pitch and Hagrid�s didn�t turn him up, I headed into the castle. I knew he�d want privacy. No one wants people to watch them cry, Harry especially. So, where could he have gone that would afford him the lack of prying eyes? Not the common room, surely. Too many people. Not to mention, he would have no way of knowing the Gryffindor password. The Slytherin common room? Probably not, but it was worth a shot.

I didn�t find him there either, but as I was searching the dorm, my eyes were drawn to the dog I�d made him the first night. It was sitting on his bed, perched on a pillow. I could no more leave the damn dog there than I could stop searching for Harry. And so, I continued my search of Hogwart�s halls with dog in arm. My next idea was the Owlery.

No Harry. But Hedwig hooted at me in welcome. Oddly enough, that raised my spirits...that Harry�s owl would greet me. Calling myself a dozen kinds of sap, I headed to the Astronomy Tower. I had little hope of finding him here, either, but perhaps I could see him from so high up. As I was halfway up the tower, shouts echoed down the stairwell.

"Damn you to Hell, Tom Riddle!!! This is your fault. It�s all your fault. First you make me spend years trying to stay alive and now all I want to do is die and I can�t because of you!!!"

A slow smile spread over my face. It was Harry. I�d found him. And he was obviously returned to 17 as well, because I know for a fact that I never taught him that kind of language. My heart buoyed, I headed up the stairs two at a time.

"Harry?" I called as I drew closer to the wooden door at the top. "Harry are you up here?" I reached the top, panting slightly, and grabbed the door handle. With a smile I couldn�t contain, I opened the door.

Retreat - Chapter 16

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