The Reason

Chapter 23

'Fumbling his confidence and wondering why the world has passed him by, hoping that he's meant for more than arguments and failed attempts to fly. We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves? Somewhere we live inside. Dreaming about Providence, and whether mice or men have second tries. Maybe we've been livin with our eyes half open, maybe we're bent and broken. We want more than this world's got to offer. We want more than the wars of our fathers, and everything inside screams for second life. We were meant to live for so much more. Have we lost ourselves? Somewhere we live inside.' "Meant to Live" ~ Switchfoot

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"What's the prophecy?" Draco asked as they walked slowly through the Honeydukes tunnel.

"When I was born, a prophecy was made about me and Voldemort," Harry said tiredly.

"Yes, obviously. I meant what did it say?"

"Why should I tell you, Draco? You don't tell me anything. Like the fact that you can still hear my thoughts, but you saw fit to block me out of your head! What's up, Draco? Why do you hate me all of a sudden? I thought it was just an act. Or was that just to clear your conscience?"

Draco walked on in silence.

"Fine," Harry said and sighed. "What's going to happen to you? Where are you going to live?"

"At home," Draco said irritably.

"Is that really safe?"

"There are 20 different anti-entrance spells that not even Voldemort could break. I think I'm safe."

"What about your mother?"

"You mean is she evil? Do I have to kill her, too? No, she's just as happy that I am that he's dead. She works for Dumbledore, too."

"Oh."

"Listen, Harry, don't worry about me. I've lived just fine without you for 17 years, and I'll keep going the same way, so let's just end this now. I saved your life and now you've saved mine. We're even, and we're done, and the whole telepathy thing will be gone tonight - I have a counter charm. Then we can go back to normal."

"What is normal, Draco? You being evil, you helping me, what? I'm confused. Didn't everything that happened between us mean anything to you? Don't you care?"

"Look, Harry, you're not a vampire anymore, you won your Quidditch game, we're both safe and that's enough." He climbed quickly out of the statue of the one-eyed witch, and by the time Harry was out of the tunnel, Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"What if I don't want enough? What if I want more?" Harry whispered to no one.

Chapter 24

'I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears, and if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave, 'Cause your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone. These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real, there's just too much that time cannot erase. When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears, when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears, I'd hold your hand through all of these years, but you still have all of me. You used to captivate me by your resonating light, now I'm bound by the life you left behind. Your face it haunts, my once pleasant dreams, your voice it chased away all the sanity in me. These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real. There's just too much that time cannot erase. I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone, and though your still with me, I've been alone all along. When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears, when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears, I'd hold your hand through all of these years, but you still have all of me.' "My Immortal" ~ Evanescence

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Harry spent the next week talking and laughing with Hermione and Ron and ignoring Draco and everything that had happened. The school was still buzzing about the kidnapping of Harry, but Harry had finally learned how to just ignore everyone.

Draco, however, was completely new to being in the center of attention, at least in this way and he was so fed up with it that he had taken to hiding in the library every free moment he had, and more often than not, during his classes.

Harry, however, hadn't been in the library since his first night of vampire research So, on a blistering hot Tuesday when he had to go look up information on shape-shifting potions (Snape had assigned the class an enormous essay, which Harry was convinced was his punishment for still being alive), he wasn't at all worried about seeing Draco. In fact, it was the one place that he thought was sure to be a Draco-free zone.

He walked straight past Draco without even seeing him; he was intent on his homework quest. Since the Draco incident, Harry had thrown himself back into his life with a vengeance. He flew harder, studied harder, played harder, and laughed harder. His marks were incredible, he was even better at Quidditch, and he was more popular than ever. Everyone attributed it to the fact that he was glad to be alive after the close call with the kidnapping, everyone except Ron and Hermione, that is. They alone saw him each night by the fire, exhausted and heartbroken. They knew that this newfound enthusiasm was his way of pushing Draco out of his mind, but it obviously wasn't working very well. But during the day, to everyone else's eyes, Harry couldn't have been doing better. When he walked back out of the aisle ten minutes later, three books under his arm, and one already open in his hand, Draco couldn't resist.

"Harry," he said softly.

Harry looked up and for a second, his eyes filled with anguish, despair, and intense longing, but it was instantly replaced by a smile.

"Draco. I haven't seen you in a while. Good luck with exams next week," Harry said with a cheerful smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He turned to leave.

"Harry, wait," Draco said, despair creeping into his voice.

Harry turned slowly and sat down across from Draco.

"What's wrong, Draco?"

"How do you do it? Every time I walk into a room, everyone goes silent, and then they all start looking at me and whispering. The Slytherins all hate me and think I'm a traitor, and everyone else thinks I killed my father and Dumbledore is just covering for me."

"No, they don't," Harry started to protest, but Draco cut him off.

"Harry, I'm not an idiot. I've heard people saying -- I've had people tell me that to my face, Harry!"

"And I've had people tell me that I murdered Cedric, that I'm in league with Voldemort, that I shouldn't be allowed to go to Hogwarts because I'm a Parseltongue and that I'm a freak. Oh yeah, and that I'll become a dark wizard who's even more powerful than Voldemort," Harry said evenly. "You learn to deal with it." His voice softened as he looked at Draco. "Listen, I know it sucks right now, but it's not going to go away if you keep hiding from it. You have to go out and face it - show everyone that it doesn't bother you. You'll get used to it, and they'll get tired of it."

"Harry? I'm sorry. I didn't realize how horrible it must have been for you all these years."

"Don't worry about it. We should go; it's almost time for Care of Magical Creatures."

Draco grabbed his books, and he and Harry walked to class together in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

The entire way there, no one said a thing to either of them, and Draco realized that it was the first time in a week that he had been able to walk through the halls without being followed by whispers and insinuations.