A Place in the Shadows

A Place in the Shadows

Harry shook his head slightly, trying to clear it of cobwebs. He didn't open his eyes yet, for fear that once he did the pain would start. Defeating Voldemort wasn't enough, no, of course not. The whole dark arts community considered it a point of pride to threaten his life as often as possible. How had he fallen into their trap this time? Oh yes, the note...

He had received it that morning at breakfast. Just a few short lines, jotted down in a simple, neat handwriting; short and to the point. Please meet me in the large clearing on the edge of the forest after dinner tonight. There's something I need to tell you. I have to unburden my heart or I fear I will go insane. Thank you, you have no idea what this means to me.

And so, against his better judgment, he had gone. He had come to the rather unnerving conclusion that it was most likely a first or second year with an obsession with him. He'd just go there, tell her that he wasn't interested, and leave. Piece of cake.

But he still found himself nervous as he slowly walked beneath the thick canopy of trees, wondering if there was something he'd been missing. Out of embarrassment he had told no one, instead slipping away silently. He regretted that decision now, at night in the eerie forest. Something was wrong, he could feel it in his blood.

He soon reached the clearing and froze in astonishment. There, illuminated in a beam of silvery light, was none other than Draco Malfoy, his back to the Gryffindor. His pale hands were clasped behind his back, shaking with some unknown emotion and his light hair and black robes were rumpled.

"M-Malfoy?" Harry breathed.

The boy stiffened and turned slowly. And when his lifeless grey eyes fell on him Harry almost screamed. "I'm glad you came," the Slytherin said tonelessly. As the heavy weight descended and hit him on the back of the head, sending him deep into the darkness, the only thought that ran through his head was that Draco was under Imperius.

Harry shuddered slightly at the memory, letting his eyes slit open to view his surroundings. A dungeon, obviously, he realized. And he wasn't tied at all. Before this thought could fully sink in he caught sight of Draco. The pale Slytherin was unconscious. The only things keeping him in a sitting position were the heavy manacles that attached him to the wall.

"You can open your eyes, Potter," a cold voice proclaimed behind him, poking him the back with a booted foot. "We can't begin until my son wakes up."

Lucius Malfoy came into his field of view, black robes swirling imperiously around him as he strode over to his son. "Wake up, Draco," he hissed, kicking him in the stomach. "Potter is here to see you."

The boy moaned, his eyes blinking open; though the grey depths were still hazed over. "Whatever you want from me, you're not going to get it," Harry said valiantly, struggling into a sitting position.

"Shut up boy," Lucius spat at him. "This has nothing to do with you. And I will get what I want."

Draco peered up at him and suddenly everything came into focus. "You bastard," he hissed at his father. "I told you before, nothing you do will make me come over to your side."

"Oh, but you hadn't considered my little surprise," his father said sweetly.

Draco's eyes widened. "You didn't..." He looked around worriedly, his gaze falling on Harry. He gave a low cry and lunged forward at his father. "You did! You bastard! I can't believe you would sink this low."

"I warned you that there are ways of making you. If I have to kill him to get you to change your mind I will do so."

Draco looked up at his father in anguish. "Don't..." he whispered. Then rage seemed to take over. "If you so much as touch him I will never stop hunting you! I will make your life a living hell. Never! Do you hear me? Never! I will never go to you. Don't you dare hurt him. If you do, I will kill you."

Harry stared at his enemy in shock. Was he hearing what he thought me was? Lucius looked like a rather smug cat. "Is that so?" he purred. "What happened to the emphatic denial you gave me before?"

"You know I lied," the boy answered shortly, turning his face so Harry couldn't see it.

Lucius looked up and over at the other boy, a large smile on his face. "Really? Well then, you won't mind if I tell him that, then, would you?"

Draco's head shot up, a distant emotion flitting across his face. His eyes darted to Harry. Their eyes caught, Harry's wondering and dazed, Draco's hopeless and fearful. "Do what you want," he almost whispered.

Lucius stepped over to Harry, dragging him up by the back of his robes. "Do you love my son?" he hissed in his ear.

Harry stared at him in mute astonishment. "Wha-? I- ah- that is- ah- I..."

The older man let him fall to the ground in disgust. "Why you fell in love with this trash, I'll never know. You could have had anybody. Why ruin your life for him? He only thinks of you as worthless crap," he asked his son.

The Gryffindor looked up at see Draco watching him with worry bright in his eyes. "Because, father," he whispered, never letting his eyes leave Harry. "I didn't want anyone else. My life is nothing, compared with him. He does more good in a second, just by living and breathing, then I have done in my entire life. His loathing and disgust is worth more to me than any praise or adoration from any other person."

"And if I should kill him?"

"You wouldn't, because then you'd lose your bargaining tool," Draco answered wearily, pulling his gaze away from the other boy.

"But torture isn't out of the question." Lucius gave him a triumphant grin. "You will give in or your defiance will only cause him pain. Crucio!"

The world exploded as fiery daggers ran through his body and bursts of light exploded behind his eyes. He screamed but was only distantly aware of it. Draco's cries seemed more real.

The pain retreated and Harry opened his dazed eyes. "Harry, oh god, Harry, are you all right?" Draco was crying, straining against his bonds to get to him.

Harry tried to speak but all that came out was a low moan. "Maybe," Lucius mulled to himself, "I should put you under imperio and get you to hurt him instead. Would that be more effective, do you think?"

"Fine, father, you win," Draco whispered, defeated. He sagged against his bonds, peering up at Harry through his silvery blonde hair. "I'll do what you ask of me. Just let him go."

Lucius gazed down at his son with something resembling pity in his eyes. "You will dedicate your life to our cause?"

"If you promise to leave him alone."

"No, Draco!" Harry exclaimed, trying to struggle upright through the veil of pain. "You can't do that, not for me."

"I'm sorry, Harry," he said quietly. "There's nothing I can do."

Harry struggled to stand up, but fell back to the floor. Lucius watched them impassively. "You may go to him," he said calmly. "I will be back with a portkey for you."

He paused for a moment, watching Harry scuttle across the floor to his son, before turning on his heel and striding out of the small, dark room. Harry basically collapsed next to Draco, putting his hand on the boy's cheek to lift his gaze up to his own.

"You shouldn't have done that," he whispered, his face very close to Draco's.

The Slytherin blinked, reveling at the closeness. "I had to, Harry. I love you. And when you go out into that world again, when you go back to your friends and your happy life, when you fall in love and get married and have your children running around your feet, remember me, and know that somewhere in the world there is someone who loves you and has given their life for yours. Will you do that for me, Harry?"

He nodded, blinded by tears. "I'll remember," he swore. "I'll never forget you."

Draco smiled at him. "Thank you, that's all I could ever ask for."

Harry kissed him lightly and gently, their lips barely touching. "What about this? Do you want this?"

He snuggled against him as Harry took off his manacles, letting them fall to the floor. "Dreaming is different then asking."

"And in your dreams, what do you want?"

"This, forever and ever."

"I would give you that if I could. Draco, I..."

But just then the door opened and Lucius came back in a box held tightly in his hands. "One last condition," he said through clenched teeth as he looked at the two boys. "You will never see each other again. Your life is mine now, Draco, completely. If you go behind my back then I have no qualms about killing him. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Draco murmured, gently extricating himself from Harry's arms. "You'd better go."

"But..."

"Shh." He placed his finger gently against his lips. "Go out there and live; make my sacrifice worth it. Live each moment for all it's worth so I'll know it wasn't for nothing."

Lucius dragged Harry up off the floor, pressing the box into his hands. "Go now, Potter. You may not have a second chance."

Harry held it for a moment, his eyes locked with Draco's. "I love you," he whispered, before letting his hand grasp the dragon figurine in the box. The last thing he saw of the room before the hook latched into his stomach and dragged him away was Draco, his eyes bright with tears.

He collapsed outside of Hogwarts, alone except for the statuette, the only reminder of a lost love. Well, that and the constant ache inside. His last year passed oh so slowly. Without Draco, who had been pulled out of school under highly suspicious circumstances, nothing seemed the same. He never told anyone what had happened.

After graduation he went to play Quidditch for England. But without Draco there the thrill of flying was gone. He had been there from the first time he'd gotten on a broom to his first game (booing him in the stands, of course) to the first time he won the Quidditch Cup at school. No more did soaring high in the air fill him with contentment. Instead each time the cold ache inside grew. So within a year he quit.

There were no special girls, either, or guys for that matter. A few dates, a kiss or two, that was all, because none of them were Draco and each one reminded him of what he had found just as it slipped from his grasp. None of them made him feel anything except empty.

Draco became famous as a dark arts practitioner. Number two most wanted, actually, after Sirius Black. The top two most wanted men in the country both held a special place in the heart of the Boy Who Lived. Ironic, isn't it? Rumors spread, suspicions that Malfoy was under Imperius the whole time, due to his rigidity of movement in the surveillance taps the Ministry had finally managed to perfect and his complete lack of enthusiasm for what filled his partners with perverse joy. But Harry knew that it wasn't Imperius controlling Draco, but something much stronger.

The years rolled by and whispers spread through the wizarding world about Harry. What was wrong with him? He had turned down a perfect life and now lived in absolute misery. He hadn't been seen to smile since Hogwarts. He tried to live for Draco, tried to make his sacrifice worth it, but there was no getting over the fact that his life was making another miserable, and that person was the one he loved.

And then one day it all changed.

* * * *

Harry was strolling down Diagon Alley one day, almost ten years after graduation. There were only a few puffs of clouds floating across the brilliant blue sky. Clutched tightly in his hand was a crinkled newspaper. The front page declared in large, bold print, Death Eater Caught, Kiss Preformed and below that was a picture of Lucius Malfoy.

'Draco...' the thought whispered through his head, leading him blindly through the crowd. They could be together again.

A sign in front of him declared that he was heading towards Knockturn Alley. He paused, staring at it, wondering if this was a good idea. But before he could head into the shadows of the dark alley his eyes caught movement slightly to one side. His head turned and he froze, his eyes widening and his heart thudding to a stop. Draco was standing there, just on the other side of the line separating the two sections. He looked the same as in the pictures Harry carefully hoarded from the newspaper, his hair only slightly longer... and more beautiful then any picture could capture.

"Hello Harry," he whispered.

Harry, a sob in his throat, took a step towards him but Draco raised a hand to stop him. "Draco..." he breathed.

"No, don't," the pale man almost pleaded. "Don't come any closer."

"But he's dead. You don't have to do this anymore," Harry exclaimed.

"The agreement was for my entire life." He glanced behind Harry, where passer-bys were pausing and staring at him, whispering behind their hands. He knew he didn't have much time. "I'll never be excepted back into society. He made sure of that."

"I don't care what everybody else thinks! I love you..." He raised a hand out to Draco. He tentatively reached out his own and they clasped together, touching for the first time in so many years.

"No you don't. There's nothing about me that deserves love. You just feel guilty."

"No." He pulled gently at his hand, dragging him towards the sunlight. "I love you. Nothing can change that. Society can go to hell. Now that we can, I just want to be with you."

There were tears in Draco's grey eyes as he shook his head. "I want to, you have no idea how much. But they'll kill me if I go back. This is my life now, Harry. There's nothing else to it."

"I can't except that!" There was quite a crowd staring at them now but neither one noticed.

"You're going to have to," he answered. He pulled back slightly. "The news I've been getting of you hasn't been very good. What happened to our agreement? You've destroyed your life. You should be settling down with someone..."

"How can you say that to me?" Harry interrupted. "I could never be with anyone else. Whenever I was all I could think about was that somewhere there was someone who loved me and gave their life for that love... and I loved him too."

"Don't Harry, this'll cause nothing but pain," Draco whispered.

"Pain? What could be worse then what I've gone through inside, knowing what's happening to you because of me?"

"Living that life," Draco said shortly. "Throwing it all away for a spoiled child who has no idea what he's talking about. I loved you Harry, and I gave up everything for that love! And you know what, not for a moment did I regret it because I knew that it was for a reason, that for the first time in my life I was doing something good, something worthwhile. But now, now I'm not so sure. My god, Harry, what are you doing? I gave you your life and you threw it away! You go around sulking because I gave you a gift that you could never repay."

Harry pulled him out of the shadows and into the blinding sunlight. He kissed him firmly, silencing further protests. "Live is worthless without you," he whispered against his lips. And Draco melted.

"Harry..." he whispered, wrapping his arms around him.

"I love you Draco. We'll find a way, you'll see."

"Stop right there!" a stern voice called out behind them. "Step away from Mr. Potter."

They turned to see at least five Aurors pointing their wands at them. Somebody had recognized Draco. "No," Harry breathed, stepping in front of him. Then, raising his voice, he continued. "What do you think you're doing?"

The man's face was very red as he responded. "He's a wanted criminal, Mr. Potter. Please step aside so we can take him in."

"It's all right, Harry," Draco murmured, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"Don't touch him!" the Auror exclaimed, but was silenced by a glare from Harry.

"He's not going anywhere," he told the Aurors firmly. He pulled his own wand out, pointing it at the group in general. "Don't make me do anything drastic."

The Auror backed away, obviously intimidated by the famous Harry Potter. "Please, sir, you don't know what you're doing."

"Yes I do, and if you know what's good for you you'll stay away until I'm done."

With a meek nod he backed away, gesturing to his partners to do the same. Harry turned back to Draco. "See?" the wanted man said. "There's no place for me here."

"Then I'll come with you."

"The great Harry Potter, the symbol of all that's good and pure, living in the Dark community? I think not. That's not your place. You belong here."

"I can't live without you."

"You can and you will. I'm nothing, Harry. Go play Quidditch again. I'll come and see you and I'll cheer for you from the stands." He pressed his hand against his lips. "And whoever you marry, I'll go to your wedding. I won't cheer, but what do you expect? And when I die, will you come to my funeral?"

"When you die, so will I," Harry said through his tears, pulling him into his arms. The crowd seemed to be mesmerized by this drama.

"I love you Harry," he whispered, pulling out of his arms. A tear slid down his pale cheek. "I don't think there's anything more to say. I've kept you safe all these years and now I have to go back and keep on doing so."

"Draco..." He stretched his hands toward his love, but he had already retreated back into the shadows.

"Goodbye Harry, I'll always love you."

"Goodbye. I'll never forget that somewhere the person I love..."

"Is living for you, and only you. Will you come to my funeral?"

"Why do you keep saying that?"

Draco's eyes glinted slightly. "I just want to make sure."

"On the day you die I will go to your funeral just to look at you one last time before I follow you to your grave. I'll have them bury us together, so that throughout eternity you will always be beside me. And only then will I be happy, with you forever."

"Don't do that, Harry. If I die then it only means that you're truly safe. As long as you need me to keep your place in the shadows I will do so. Somebody has to be here, Harry. Don't make it both of us."

Harry nodded. "I'll see you when death brings us together once more."

"Goodbye." And with that one last whisper he disappeared into the shadows.

The Auror gave a small cry and took a few steps after him, but immediately gave up. Harry stared after him for a moment and then with a defeated sob collapsed onto the ground. His head nestled in his arms, he cried bitterly, unaware of all the people staring at him. He didn't care. His love and light had been engulfed once more by the dark shadows.

And he never saw him again. Except at his funeral, that is. And there he was the last person he ever saw. But they were able to be together for all time, in death. And that perfect love survived in the gentle mingling of hands beneath the layers of soil, lasting them for an eternity.