Perchance to Dream

The deafening sounds of fighting were all around them, but Harry didn't notice anything. His world had condensed into the broken body he was cradling in his arms, into Draco's face that already showed the bluish pallor of death, fair hair sticking to it with dried blood.

He had lost him - for the second time. This time, however, Draco could no longer change his mind about the choices he'd made and come back to Harry as he had done a mere night ago, at the eve of the final battle. He was gone, and there was nothing left for Harry, nothing but broken dreams and a future that was no longer worth fighting for...

***

Harry wakes drenched in cold sweat. He is used to the nightmares by now, but still, a mere second after waking up from the memories they torture him with, he always feels as if it had all just happened yesterday, as if the two years that separate him from the horrors in his past had never passed at all, and it takes him a while to stop shaking.

He listens to the soft breathing beside him, relieved that he didn't wake her up this time. He hates to see the look in Ginny's eyes when she realizes what he as been dreaming about. It makes him feel guilty for not being able to return her quiet, undemanding love the way she would deserve it, for letting her stay with him even though they both know she'll never be more to him than a crutch that allows him to keep going. She accepts it because she loves him, and Harry is painfully aware of how pathetic it is that he is actually grateful for that.

***

When Harry wakes again, it's 7:30 in the morning, and the other side of the bed is empty. He is surprised for a moment; Ginny has to leave for work at seven, but she usually wakes him to say goodbye. Then he hears the sound of the shower in the bathroom next door and guesses that she must have overslept today.

She doesn't hear him knock, so he opens the door to the bathroom and is just about to bid her good morning when his heart stops.

The person stepping out of the shower is not Ginny.

Wet, silver-blond hair is plastered to a pale, pointed face; Harry catches a glimpse of equally pale, lean limbs before they disappear under a huge green bath towel. Then the apparition turns around, and Harry is looking into the stormy grey eyes he has closed himself two years ago.

Draco seems puzzled for a moment when he sees Harry standing in the open door; then his expression changes into concern. "Harry, what's the matter? You look as if you'd seen a ghost!"

After a few seconds of silence, understanding dawns in his eyes. "You've been dreaming again, haven't you?"

Before he can say anything, Harry finds himself in a warm, rather damp embrace. He feels soft skin and wet hair against his face as Draco holds him and whispers into his ear: "Forget about it, love. Whatever it was, however bad it was, it was just another nightmare."

Harry leans against Draco; he's trembling, and all he can do is repeat, over and over: "Don't go away... don't leave me again, please..."

He has closed his eyes, but he feels Draco shake his head as he answers: "I'm right here with you, Harry, and I'm not going anywhere."

FIN