Boys on the Radio

Chapter Eleven

In your endless summer night,

I'll be on the other side.

When the water is too deep,

I will ease your suffering.

Harry awoke with a start the next morning and found Hermione right next to him. He wondered how long he had slept. For a moment he forgot where he was or how he had gotten there. As he left the world of sleep he opened his eyes and found his glasses. He secured them on and looked around. Everyone was asleep. Harry looked at his watch. It was a couple hours past dawn.

The reality of the situation once again dawned upon him. No one had found them. And Harry felt very hungry. He was more scared now than he had been since the start of the incident. Why had no one found them? Would they be left here to starve to death? Harry couldn't bear the thought.

Harry tried to return to sleep but he couldn't. He looked around. Most everyone was asleep on the floor or on the tables or even sitting on the chairs. Harry got up and went to the sink in the bathroom. He tried getting water but nothing was released. Harry obsessively pressed the taps but nothing happened. Another rush of panic went through him. Surely a rescue would be here soon ...

"Harry," said a small voice. "We're going to be okay."

Harry turned around a bit shaken as when he had checked everyone had been asleep. It was Draco. It was nice hearing Draco speak to him again. Harry tried to suppress a smile but he could not. Somehow, he felt angry.

"How do you know?" said Harry in an angry voice. "None of us do."

Harry felt so hopeless. At the moment, there was no one else to take his anger out on. Somehow, Draco still looked calm. His composure had not changed at all. He had most likely expected Harry to be upset and panicked. It was Draco who could hide his feelings, not Harry.

"I'm to become a Death Eater, Harry," Draco said calmly. "How quick you are to forget."

And Draco gave Harry a terrible smile that reminded Harry of the Draco he had known before. Harry thought he understood it though. Draco was bitter. Draco didn't have all the answers. It was Draco's job to pretend he did.

"You're not going to be a Death Eater, Draco," responded Harry slowly after some time.

"Why do you say that?" Draco asked, as though expecting a certain answer from Harry.

"Because I love you," Harry said firmly, looking Draco dead on. "And if we die in here I want you to know."

There was a silence.

"But I am afraid love may just tear us apart," Draco whispered.

After Draco's brief chat with Harry, Draco had returned to sleep. When he awoke, everyone was awake. There wasn't a lot of chaos, which is what Draco had expected. There was silence. No one spoke much. It seemed much time had past since anyone had tried to inflict any spoken hope into anyone else.

Everyone was simply waiting. Speaking to each other was much too painful. Instead there was a agonizing silence that said more than anyone's spoken words could possibly say. Weasley and Granger were actually holding together in a corner. Draco had never seen them show such affection to each other openly. Perhaps they felt at this point it did not matter much.

"I'm so thirsty," said Blaze. Blaze was one of the hardest things to watch. No one in the room was in much pain as her. It had been a horrible sight around noon on the second day. No one had known this about Blaze. She suffered from an incurable wizarding disease. She had never told anyone at school ... Not even Pansy.

And so it was near noon. No had really eaten anything except perhaps snacks they had had with them. Blaze had seemed tired the first night, but nothing more. But at noon the next day she was sweating terribly and looked as though she was in a lot of pain. She lied there motionless looking as though every moment was a fight for breath.

"Blaze, what's the matter with you?" asked Pansy. She sounded irritated, but it was how she acted when she was worried. Blaze did not respond. She had put her hand on her forehead faintly and had passed out. Moments later, several people, Pansy in front, rushed over to her. "Blaze, wake up!"

It was a few minutes before she awoke in a lot of pain. No one knew what had happened or why she was in so much pain. She did not speak at all at first as she looked around and realized what had happened to her. Pansy felt her and yelled that Blaze was burning up with fever. Someone had run to the cabinets, looking for aspirin. None of them could use magic, and they could only pray there was some king of muggle remedies available for the symptoms she was showing. Still, she did not speak.

Finally, she mumbled a single word. "Water ... Please."

The one thing they could not have given her. Tears dripped down Blaze's eyes. It was clear how much pain she was in. It was very obvious her unsuccessful attempt to hide her pain, to make it seem as though she was going to be okay. Even Pansy saw right through it. Blaze needed help .... Real help, nothing they could give her. Draco silently hoped a rescue would come soon, because Blaze's fever was very high. He felt her forehead. She was burning up.

Draco and Pansy carried Blaze onto one of the tables and gave her one of their bags and cushioned it as much as possible, giving it to her as a pillow. Draco actually didn't want her to sleep. He had a fear if she was to sleep she would never awake again. He told her to try to stay awake and alert. This made her cry even more. Draco almost had an urge to force her to drink her own tears.

It was so painful watching her cry. Draco had always been taught to never cry. He was supposed to be a man, not weak to such emotions. But at that very moment, he felt nothing other than the need to break down and cry. He wished he could run and hold Harry but of course he couldn't. It was a terrible emptiness inside of him that he found unbearable and unattainable. It was a terrible void inside of him. Draco did not feel too hungry or even too thirsty, but somehow, he felt as though he was already dying. How much longer would they endure the suffering?

So it was a few hours later that Blaze lied there still, motionless, barely awake. Draco kept stealing her glances, making sure she had not fallen asleep. In the end he had nothing else to really do. He was hearing people weep ever so often and this was more painful to him. At random points in the day, some people began going crazy throwing things against the doors, ceasing at all costs to find a way out. People had breakdowns - minor to not so minor. Draco simply watched it all. The more people broke down the more he felt he was reaching the point where he to would eventually have his own.

"Pansy, Draco ... come here," said Blaze softly and faintly, lifting her head a little. Draco and Pansy walked over to her quickly. She sighed and took a deep breath. "There is something I need to tell you."

She dropped herself again. She closed her eyes briefly and then slowly turned to her side, not looking at them anymore. She looked as though she was adjusting herself on her side. She was sweating frantically now. Before she could speak at all, she began crying softly. Neither Draco nor Pansy said anything.

"There is nothing you can do for me," she said very softly, but Draco had heard her very clearly. "There are things I never told you. Things only a few know. Things I never told any of my friends. I should of, but I didn't want you to feel sorry for me. I thought I'd be okay. But now this ..." she trailed off.

"What are you talking about?" Draco had asked sharply, demanding Blaze to explain herself.

"I have a very rare wizarding disease, since I was two. There isn't a cure, I'm afraid. I have stayed on treatment my entire life that has kept it from getting out of control but I have to take it three times a day ... And if I don't, well you're seeing the effects," said Blaze, and she laughed a mirthless laughter that was disturbing.

"Hang in there, please," Pansy said softly, she was crying, hiding it terribly. Blaze laughed again mirthlessly as though Pansy had said something terribly childish. "Blaze, please."

Everyone surrounded around Blaze, and Harry stood stubbornly by Draco. No one cared to notice this though, as they were watching someone who was in limbo between life and death. It was the evening, and Blaze had fallen into a deep unconsciousness. Her breathing was quite irregular. Everyone knew she had little time left. Everyone was quite depressed, not just over her, but on the overall situation.

A lot of people were completely panicking over the fact that the first person was dying before them. As the hours passed by, it scared them more and more one of them would be next. None of them were getting any stronger. They were all hungry and very, very thirsty. The idea of being in a room where people were dying scared the hell out of most of them.

Harry was so angry. He felt like he wanted to just kill someone as he had so much rage. He was locked in a classroom and had no way of getting out. And Harry felt a bit of the old him, pre-Draco returning to him. If he could be the hero right now, he would be. He couldn't stand watching his friends and others suffer like this. He didn't want to die like this. But where were Dumbledore and the other teachers? Why hadn't they come for them? Harry could only imagine. Had they been captured, too, perhaps abolished? Were they trying to fight the dark magic and break through the classroom? The possibilities were endless and it was terrible to think about it. But if Harry wanted to stay semi-sane, he had to try to rationalize things.

"Who can do CPR? Please, save her!" screamed the voice of Pansy. She was jumping up and down having a panic attack. It seemed Blaze had stopped breathing ...

And Dean Thomas was performing CPR on Blaze while everyone watched very closely. Harry could not remember watching anything so clearly. She couldn't die, not like this. She had to live. Please let Dean save her, Harry begged.

Harry watched frantically. It was true he had never even really talked to Blaze. Draco, however, knew her well regardless of how much she annoyed him. He cared whether she lived. Therefore, Harry also cared a lot. Either way she was a human, deserving of a life. It was so terrible, Harry couldn't bare it. He looked at Draco. He was so pale ...

"Blaze, can you hear me?" Dean said.

There was no response.

"She's breathing, but barely, and she still isn't conscious," Dean said. "I don't know if she has much time left."

"Don't you bloody say that!" Pansy yelled.

Dean did not respond. He obviously understood that she was in denial. Blaze was her best friend. Draco did not speak at all. He looked miserable. Harry longed to hold him, but of course he couldn't. Harry looked at him sympathetically for a moment but Draco may not have seen it.

And then there was the explosion.

Draco didn't remember exactly what happened. All the walls around them just exploded and broke down. And then came in Ministry workers led by Dumbledore and McGonagall. It all happened so absurdly fast Draco thought he must have been hallucinating. But he wasn't. They were being rescued!

It was finally over! And Blaze ... she would be fine ... Hopefully. Draco was anxious to be told what had taken them so long. Whatever it was, Draco expected a very good reason. He had seriously thought he was going to die at points. And Harry ... They could see each other again. But what had happened?

"Everything is all right! Please do not panic!" bellowed Professor McGonagall. She herself ran over to Blaze and gasped. "Madam Pomfrey!"

The whole story had been explained over dinner ironically. Snape had been a double agent, and not in their benefit. He had been working on some of the ancient magic in the school and had let the Death Eaters in. Apparently they had been trying to siege Hogwarts. Dumbledore and the others had won out with the help of the Ministry. Finally, everyone believed Voldemort was back.

The purpose of locking them in was to keep Harry in particular out of the way. The spell was intense dark magic and the room had been blocked off. The entire dungeons had been sealed with dark magic that had taken much to breakthrough. Dumbledore was however, certain that they had not intended to even keep them there very long, just until they had Hogwarts under siege.

As for the wands, it was simple magic one of the Death Eaters had performed. Dumbledore returned the wands to them himself. Harry wanted to run away now that he had his protection returned. He already planned to meet Draco tonight. This time, however, he did not want to leave Draco. This time, maybe he couldn't.

The current state of Blaze was unknown. Apparently, the lack of medicine she hadn't taken during the period of time they had been trapped had done some possibly irreparable damage. She had been transferred to St. Mungo's where they would do all they can. The next day they would be allowed to go see her ... At least the ones who had been trapped with her. Now that Harry knew everything was being done for her, hated to admit it but his lack of caring was gone. It was though he no longer had to.

The one person on his mind was Draco. He wanted to be with him. He needed him to take him somewhere away. He didn't want to think about any of it. He wanted Draco Malfoy. He wanted to fly away and never come back, never return to any of it.

Draco waited at the top of the Astronomy Tower as usual for Harry. Harry came right on queue as he always did. Harry looked very pale and quite miserable but at the moment he saw Draco the color seemed to return to his face. He rushed over and hugged Draco. Draco felt such warmth he hadn't felt since before the "siege". Finally, the emotions he had cherished before were returning.

"I was so scared, Draco," Harry whispered, still in his grasp. "Scared we were going to die in there."

"Harry, it's all over. Everything is just fine," Draco said calmly patting Harry on the back. "I missed you. You were there of course, but I missed being with you like this."

Harry kissed him. Draco expected a rare sort of gentleness but that was not what he received. It was a rather fierce kiss against Draco ... It almost hurt. It was though Harry was still convincing himself he was with Draco.

"I love you," Harry said.

"I know," said Draco cynically. "I am quite irresistible. But I have the power to resist."

Draco's twisted form of morbid humor was something only he himself could most likely understand in such circumstances.

"You can't resist me," Harry said, smiling a bit.

"Is that what you think, Potter? You were always so arrogant," Draco said sarcastically and timidly.

"No, Malfoy, that's what I know," Harry said smiling wryly.

Harry took him in another kiss and Draco falling on top of him, forced them both onto the ground. Cuddling rather violently like animals, Draco took Harry in several gentle kisses up Harry's forearm. Breathing deeply, Harry rolled onto his side and Draco threw his hand all over Harry's back, looking for nothing but Harry's skin, the warmth it provided him. He had been so cold before.

Draco began whispering to Harry. "Harry ... My Love ... Cometh to me ... In you I taste God ... We shall never be apart."

Draco leapt off of Harry. He didn't want to go any further, at least not now. He wanted to go somewhere with Harry. He wanted to go somewhere very far away. He knew the time would be soon where the horrible unfair destiny he would face would dawn on him and he never wanted to face it. He wanted to go somewhere, anywhere. It didn't matter as long as Voldemort or even Dumbledore could never find him. He just needed to be with Harry. He was willing to leave all of it behind, he realize how much it really didn't matter.

"You were right before Harry," said Draco, remembering when Harry had wanted to just leave before. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Harry looked at him in an abstruse way. He looked genuinely stupefied. He had not expected this obviously. Harry smiled. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes, we can't stay here. Love will tear us apart," Draco said in a shockingly shaken tone. "Let's fly away."

It was odd that Draco literally meant that.

"The countryside ... London, I know you liked muggle London," Harry said smiling at him.

"Yes, but they'll find us there. Let's go to the countryside," Draco said. "But I've been thinking."

"What have you been thinking about?" asked Harry in a melancholy way.

"I want to take you somewhere you should have gone a long time ago," Draco said looking a way for a moment. "Godric's Hollow, where your parents lived, you'll like that."