Lullaby

Author's notes: My thanks to Heather B. for wonderful beta work, as always

Lyrics and title come from Creed's Lullaby.

Lullaby

Draco saw him fall. For a moment, he hesitated as thoughts of punishment flew through his mind. But only for a moment. Damning the consequences, he ran through the smoke, tripping over unconscious bodies and fallen tree limbs in his haste.

Hush my love, now don't you cry

Everything will be alright

Harry's face was a mass of blood. It looked like someone had taken him down with a strong Diffindo. Draco kneeled beside him and cast a quick Aguamenti to wash the blood away. God...his face was torn to bits. On closer inspection, Draco saw that Harry's chest was covered with the familiar lines of Sectumsempra. Only three people on this battlefield knew that curse. One was lying in a steadily widening pool of his own blood, while another tried to staunch the flow. The third...

Draco hadn't seen Snape since the melee began, but he was clearly still fighting. Draco pushed aside his idle wonderings. It didn't matter now, not when Harry was losing so much blood, so quickly...

"Are you mad?" Harry's voice, however faint and rasping, startled Draco so badly that he toppled over.

He righted himself quickly. Ignoring Harry's question, he said, "I'm going to get you help."

"No, you're bloody not," Harry whispered. "You're going back to your side before someone sees you here."

"No, I'm not. I don't give a damn if they see me." Draco's face hardened. His eyes scanned uselessly for a Healer among the smoke, but it was too thick. He cried out for help, but his voice was lost among the shouting, screaming, and rumbling around them.

Draco wanted to scream his frustration and grief, but instead he turned back to Harry and continued cleaning his wounds.

"Draco, what did we talk about? What did we agree to? When the battle starts, we have no contact with each other. I told you a thousand times. Keep your cover, for God's sake!"

"When we talked about that, you were planning on not dying," Draco hissed. "Things are a bit different now.

"They're not..." Harry drew in a sharp breath as Draco gingerly tried to hold the worst of the gashes closed. "Nothing has changed. You stay on your side, I stay on mine, we don't talk to each other, and you don't get killed by your own side for helping me."

"What does that matter, if you don't survive? If you die before you meet him? It won't make a difference if I live or die because he will win and there won't be anyone left to - "

An explosion nearby drowned out the rest of his words as he threw himself over Harry's body to block the cloud of dirt and ash that covered them.

When the dust settled, Draco looked back into Harry's face. Tears traced lines in the soot that blackened his skin and settled into his cuts. Draco kneeled beside him again.

Harry reached out a hand and touched Draco's hair. "I'm dead already," he said softly. "You can't heal me, and I don't want you to try. I want you to go, and I want you to live."

"Fuck you," Draco spat. "After all I went through to help you, you don't get to tell me what to do. I might not be able to heal you, but I'll be damned if I'm going to go off and let you die alone like some fucking tortured hero."

Harry laughed weakly. "I can always count on you to keep me humble, can't I?"

Draco's anger dissipated and he smiled back. "Of course you can count on me." He cradled Harry's head in his lap and stroked his matted black hair.

Close your eyes and drift in dream

Rest in peaceful sleep

Harry felt his eyelids drifting down, lulled by a peaceful feeling, here on this ravaged field, surrounded by horror.

He was back at headquarters again, in the tiny room he occupied only when he could no longer make his eyes stay open. Only now, he wasn't sleeping. And he wasn't alone.

"Does anyone know I'm here?" Draco whispered.

"Lupin does. He knows you've been the one helping us," Harry mumbled into Draco's shoulder.

"No, I meant...here." He indicated the room, the bed.

"Who cares?" Harry growled.

"I care!" Draco snapped. He sat up, disentangling himself from the heavy blankets. "I don't want anyone to know about...to think that I'm...doing this to trick you, to make you lower your guard."

Harry raised his head. "Are you?"

"No!" Draco exploded.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry lifted his eyebrows as Draco began to pace the floor.

"Because I...when I decided to help you...oh, bugger it. I don't know." He kicked a pile of clothing that stood in his path. "I've always hated you. Always. And I didn't come over to your side because I suddenly liked you. I did it because I hate the Dark Lord more. But once I was here, and I saw how everyone looked at you, how you treated them, and...I wanted that. I wanted to be a part of it, somehow."

If there's one thing I hope

I showed you

Hope I showed you...

Just give love to all

Draco was beginning to panic when Harry finally opened his eyes again. He had been calling Harry's name and shaking him for what seemed like hours.

"I'm still here," Harry gasped at last. Draco's hands released their grip on his shoulders.

"Stay with me, okay?" Draco's voice was shaking and he couldn't control it.

"Draco, I'm tired." Under the dirt, his skin was pale and cold. Draco pulled him closer and wrapped his cloak around them both.

Oh my love in my arms tight

Every day you give me light

Draco screamed in his sleep. The sound jerked him away from his terrifying dreams and brought Harry to his side.

"He found me, he knows I've been coming here, he'll kill me," Draco blathered. Harry held his hands tight and whispered reassurances.

"There's no way he could know. We've been careful, really careful."

"No, you're wrong. He knows."

Harry came up with a plan, of course. It wasn't the best plan, but it fooled Draco's father. When Draco returned to Malfoy Manor, he announced his successful infiltration of the Order's headquarters and offered the only important bit of information he had been able to glean: the location of Harry Potter.

Of course, the Dark Lord dearly wanted to know where Harry was hiding. However, the location was of no use to him, since the house was protected by the Fidelius charm, and no one knew who the Secret-Keeper was. It gave Draco an excuse to go back.

As I drift off to your world

Rest in peaceful sleep

"Draco, it's cold," Harry declared softly. Draco twitched at the sudden interruption of his thoughts and pulled the cloak tighter. Harry's body was rigid, his clothes were sticky with blood, and his breathing was shallow. Alarmed, Draco peered down into Harry's eyes. They were glassy, dim...the color of the trees after a storm.

"Harry, don't go." Draco choked on his words as his throat closed up and tears fell for the first time.

"Neither can live while the other survives," Harry murmured. "He will have power the Dark Lord knows not." He smiled and reached up to stroke Draco's face. "Love," he breathed, for the last time.

Draco leaned down and kissed him, once more. His eyes blurred with hot tears.

I know there's one thing

That you showed me

That you showed me...

When he looked up, he wasn't alone. A crowd had gathered, encircling the pair that was sprawled on the hard ground. Draco raised his wand, ready for an attack. No one moved.

Draco blinked and their faces came into focus. These weren't Death Eaters. Their faces were also streaked with tears, and one woman's sobs broke the awful silence.

Hermione Granger. Ron Weasley and his sister. Remus Lupin with Nymphadora Tonks. Neville Longbottom and Colin Creevey. Rufus Scrimgeour. And dozens more that Draco couldn't name. They stood around him and wept for Harry.

And suddenly, Draco understood.

With one last brush of his fingers across Harry's face, he lowered the man he loved to the ground and got to his feet.

Just give love to all

Just give love to all

Let's give love to all

He faced the crowd. "Let's finish this. For him."