1,000 Days

Chapter 5

Draco

Draco swallowed his finished potion Wednesday night. Please, God, if you're really out there, make this one work...

Fifteen minutes later, he put a drop of another potion on the back of his left hand. It sizzled and turned green.

"DAMNIT!" he shouted. He threw the vile with the rest of the potion against the dungeon wall and dropped to his knees sobbing. He had only 420 days left. he was beginning to loose faith, but he would not stop trying.

There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" he croaked.

"Harry."

"Come in."

Harry walked in and shut the door behind him. He looked around the room. "It didn't work."

It wasn't a question, but Draco answered anyway, saying, "No, it didn't bloody work."

An awkward moment passed between them as awkward moments do when two people with a past are together again after quite some time apart.

"You look like you could use a drink," Harry said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I could," Draco nodded in agreement. "But I've got other stuff to do."

"Oh," Harry replied sounding disappointed. "Alright then."

"What did you come here for?" Draco asked. "You don't have any part in this any more."

"Your potion was due to be done today. I thought I'd come by and see if you wanted to celebrate, or drown your sorrows at the Three Broomsticks with me."

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Draco asked. "Isn't that where we..." got together.

"Yes, but I could use a drink. I thought I'd invite you to come along."

"Why do you need a drink?" Draco asked skeptically. "You don't drink."

"Ayden's my kid," Harry revealed softly. "I'll be meeting him this weekend. I don't quite know what to do."

"So you thought you'd go to the Three Broomsticks, get drunk off your arse, and then what? You'd still be meeting him this weekend. Have you suddenly lost all the brains you used to have?" he asked suddenly. "What happened to the Harry who always had an answer for everything? The Harry who knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it in every aspect of life?"

"His fiancé was cursed and then dumped him. He's been rather lost since then. Not to mention he just found out that his best friend had his child and is bringing him to Hogwarts to meet him on Saturday. Also, he is working side-by-side with both of those people. They're the only two he loves most in this world."

"We can't keep doing this, Harry," Draco said sadly.

"We can't keep pretending it didn't happen either," Harry replied. "We have a choice to make, and the only options I see are to stay the hell away from eachother, or become what we used to be."

"Can't we just be friends?"

"I can't be your friend, Draco. Either I'm with you, or I don't know you anymore. There is no in-between for us anymore. Not after what happened between us before. And since there's no going back..."

"I can't loose you like that, Harry," Draco said softly. "But you're right, there is no going back. Friends, please?"

"I can't."

"So it's all or nothing, then?" Draco replied bitterly. "Great, just what I always wanted. An ultimatum from the one person I've ever loved. Then how about nothing? You've got yourself a family now, Potter. Why don't you go and be with them?"

"Fine," Harry said, tears thickening his voice. "Fine," he said again, turning away. He strode to the door and opened it. Before leaving, he turned back. "Here," he said pulling something out of his pocket. "There's something in there I thought may be able to help with your cure."

He set the small box on a bookshelf next to the door and walked out, slamming it.

The ringing of the slam echoed in the still air after Harry's departure. Slowly, thinking he recognized the box, Draco stood to investigate Harry's parting gift.

Slowly, he opened the box that had been in Harry's room holding their engagement rings. He opened the box and looked inside, finally seeing what was in the small container.

Two gold rings with a date engraved on the inside and a small black stone--obsidian, Draco noticed, gently taking it out. It was the stone Harry found at his parents house.

Draco felt his jaw slack in the realization. That stone had meant more to Harry than most anything else after he found it. No way could Harry be giving this to him. No way would Harry part with this stone.

He opened his door and ran, hoping that he was following Harry's footsteps. When he finally found him, he turned him sharply and held up the stone in his hand. "What the hell is this?" he demanded. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"I thought it might help you. Now get the hell away from me."

Harry shrugged Draco off and continued on his way. Draco stared, stunned, as Harry walked even further out of his life.

Draco cursed himself silently. Why the hell did he have to have it all or nothing at all? He wasn't ready to loose Harry, and he never would be.

He turned around and walked back to his room where the rest of the potion sat in the cauldron. Draco carelessly waved his wand at it and the potion disappeared. He sat down on his bed and looked over at the box, still sitting where he'd left it when he ran out. He looked at his hand where the band used to sit, still seeing it there in his mind's eye.

"Damnit," he whispered. He looked up, tears clouding his vision and stared unseeing at the blank stonewall where pieces of glass still stuck. The potion had stained the bricks red, like blood. That was his life, running down the wall. With each potion that failed, he grew closer to death.

There was another knock on his door, just before it opened. Dumbledore walked in, looking solemn. "Well?" he asked.

"No," Draco sighed. "As of course you can see by looking at the bloody wall," he said irritably, lying back.

Dumbledore's eyes ticked over to the stain, and he looked like he wanted to clean it up. He didn't, however, and looked back over at Draco. "Perhaps you should look for answers outside of yourself," he suggested cryptically.

"All due respect, sir, I don't much feel like solving a riddle."

"Talk to someone you haven't spoken to yet," he said. "Perhaps Neville?"

"Neville?" Draco asked sitting. "Yeah, right."

"If you want to find your cure, Draco, then perhaps you should take a chance."

"This is my life, sir."

"What have you got to loose?"

"Everything."

"What have you got to gain?"

"Don't know."

"I can see that you do not wish to talk right now," Dumbledore said, turning to leave. "I'll leave you to make the decision on your own."

Good riddance, Draco thought as the old man walked out and softly shut the door. The sound was such a contrast to Harry's exit that Draco almost hoped, that perhaps, that was Harry. He knew otherwise, however, and would not allow himself to daydream anymore.

Saturday came and with it, Draco knew Harry's son would be here. He had never honestly believed that Hermione had had a child, so finding out that not only did she have one, but also that it was Harry's, was a low blow in Draco's heart. He knew Harry had been hurt by Hermione's lack of communication, but he had been hurt by the lack of a physical connection to Harry. He'd always wanted a son...and he'd wanted one with Harry, be it through adoption or even magic.

Draco stood and walked over to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a photo album. Harry had hated having to have his picture taken, but Draco had convinced him to do it enough times that he had the whole album full of their pictures. Five years. Five whole years were captured in this one little book. Draco felt the tears come and he threw the book into the fire. If Harry didn't want him, he didn't want Harry. He didn't want anything to do with Harry.

Ginny walked in and looked around. "It didn't work, did it?" she asked softly.

Draco looked up from the flames as they consumed the best years of his life. "No," he said looking back at them. "It didn't work."

"You will be cured, Draco," she said giving him a hug. "I promise you this."

"I'm no closer now than the day I started," he said with a frustrated sigh.

"What about Dumbledore?" she asked. "Or Neville?"

"Neville?" Draco nearly choked.

"Maybe a plant--"

"Don't I know plants?" Draco interrupted.

"It's not the same, hon. You know plants for potions. Neville knows nothing but plants. Maybe you should ask him."

"I'll think about it," he said grudgingly.

Ginny walked away then, and again, Draco felt as though another person was walking out of his life.

He decided to leave his room and go outside for fresh air, thinking it may clear up his foggy head.

Outside, as he wondered around, he saw what he never wanted to see. Harry and Hermione were sitting together, and a little boy, eight or nine years old, sat in between them, laughing and smiling and playing with a snitch.

Draco sat down and watched them for a while, noting that Harry was a great father, even if he hadn't known about the kid before. Too bad that Hermione was with him, not Draco.

Unable to watch anymore, he turned and saw Ginny standing behind him, looking at the same three people he had been.

"Maybe it's time to tell the Weasleys," he said. "Time to tell them that we're no longer together."

"Now that he knows, do you think they'll get married?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Draco sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't doubt it."

"Why?"

"Harry's too noble to leave Hermione to raise his son without him. He cares too much about her to stand by and not be with her. And besides, he loves her. He always has."

"Not nearly as much as he loves you."

"You think so?" Draco asked, hopeful.

"I know so," Ginny answered. "Harry looks at you differently than he does Hermione. There's still love in his eyes, but it's a different kind. And there's longing, at least for you. No matter what, he'll always love you."

"Things change in time," Draco said. Those were Harry's words. They were always Harry's words when something came up that he didn't do or would never do, or even if it was a bad habit that he had. He would always say 'Things change in time' and that would be all. He wouldn't say anymore about the subject.

Ginny chuckled. "That's Harry's phrase," she said softly.

Draco nodded. "It suits him. After all, look at how much he's changed. Both from the time he started school, and the time after Voldemort's defeat."

"Things change in time," she agreed, nudging him slightly.

Draco looked over at her, wondering why she was still around. He decided he needed to move on and really get over Harry. "How about another chance," he asked. "Want to try again?"

Ginny looked at him and smiled. "Sure," she said.

Draco looked back at Harry. Sorry, love, he thought. But as you always say, things change in time.

They walked back to the castle, hand in hand.