Shattered Glass

AN: All right, here goes, the final day. Don't be too harsh on the poor little sick boys. They've been through a lot.

Shattered Glass

Day 10:

Draco woke with a start as the first rays of the sun fell on him. It was morning. He'd slept when he should have been finding something for Harry. He had wasted so much precious time. Maybe he was already too late!

This thought had him up and out of his chair, flying across the library, almost knocking over Madam Pince as he went. The few students up at that early hour stared at him as he flew by, wondering what had created that fear in his eyes, that hopelessness. He didn't stop to explain.

The door was wide open and he could see people, a lot of them, crowded around Harry's bed. He stopped suddenly in the doorway, holding onto the frame for dear life. Was he too late then? Was it all in vain?

Then he heard weak coughing as Harry moved his hand up to his face. Relief flooded through him as he sagged against the wall. Harry was still alive. But not for long if he didn't do anything. He pressed roughly through the group, paying no heed to the glares and confused looks. A large black dog growled at him threateningly but Hermione stopped it, placing her hand gently on his back. He didn't pause to wonder where it had come from. Nothing mattered but Harry.

He half collapsed next to Harry's bed, grabbing for his hands. Harry turned his eyes to him and they lit up with recognition. His angel had come to see him safely into death. Draco felt tears welling up inside of him as he saw how helpless this once vibrant, energetic boy had become.

"Is it you?" Harry whispered haltingly.

"Yes Harry, I'm here," Draco said soothingly. "I'm here for you."

"He's coming and he's going to take me away," Harry confided, holding onto Draco's arm.

"No he won't; I won't let him. You're going to live and get better, you'll see. You're going to be fine."

"But I can't. He's going to take me. I'm not strong enough. And nobody cares at all; nobody cares. Except you. But you're not real, you're an angel." He placed his hand on Draco's cheek, smiling at him.

"I'm not an angel," Draco said softly, moving over so he could sit next to Harry. "You're more of an angel than I am. Oh god Harry, you've got to fight this. You've got to live."

Harry looked up at him questioningly. "Why?"

"Because... because I love you, Harry." Harry's eyes widened, a faint glimmering appearing in their green depths as he stared up at Draco in wonder.

"You do? Really?" He sounded almost skeptical. Angels don't fall in love, do they?

Draco nodded. "Yes, I really do." There was silence as Harry fought with the poison induced depression. Draco watched him, not daring to think...maybe.

"Draco?" he said after a while. Draco filled with hope as he looked down at his dear face.

"Yes?"

"I-I love you too." Draco thought his heart would burst with happiness. Slowly he lowered his face down, his lips brushing softly against Harry's. Hermione elbowed Ron hard in the side, trying to stop him from pretending to throw up. Harry placed his hand on Draco's cheek, moving up towards him, his lips parting. The lethargy and depression that had slowly taken over his mind and body departed at Draco's light touch.

The onlookers gasped as green flames shot up around them, flowing out of Harry, and surrounding them in shimmering green light. As the two pulled apart the flames disappeared, going into Draco. Immediately Harry's health improved, color once again touching his cheeks. Draco, on the other hand, appeared to have regressed a few notches to when the poison was just taking affect on his body. Tears sparkled in his eyes as he looked down at Harry.

"Are you feeling better, love?" he asked softly. Harry nodded, still staring at him in wonder.

"Yes, much better. How did you do that?"

"Love and happiness," Draco murmured. He slid off the bed, falling in a heap on the floor. The last thing he heard before slipping completely into the darkness was Harry's worried, frantic cries.

* * * *

Draco came slowly back to consciousness, wondering what had happened. He couldn't allow himself to believe that that... dream was real. Seriously, though, Harry Potter? But that thought filled him with the same warmth and he knew it wasn't a dream. He had fallen in love.

'Oh god, I told him!' was the next thought that came to him, bringing with it a hollow pain. He had told him. There was no going back now. They could never be friends at all; he didn't have a chance.

'But he told you he loved you too.' But no, he had been delirious, had no idea what he was saying. He had thought Draco was an angel. No, there was no way he had really meant that, no way he could ever love him.

The dull pain throughout his body that he had thought he'd left behind was back, a sure sign that he was under the poison's influence once more. He had given his life for Harry's. Well, at least he'd done something good, done something that could earn Harry's respect, maybe. That was all he could hope for.

He opened his eyes, almost blinded by the bright sunlight streaming through the window. He turned his face away from it and saw... Harry. He was asleep, curled up in a chair next to his bed as if to watch over Draco while he slept. He appeared healthier already, though not quite back to normal. No longer did nightmares darken his face while he slept; he looked almost happy, normal. Draco's heart gave a painful twist seeing him there. Part of him kept saying it was only because he felt responsible, but it didn't matter. Harry cared, he had to. Why else would he be sitting there?

Draco reached out a hand, gently touching his soft (clean) black locks. At this light touch Harry seemed to jerk awake. Draco pulled back quickly but not before Harry's eyes fluttered open and he saw the small movement. He blinked and Draco blushed, feeling caught.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked neutrally, trying to stop turning red. But being around Harry played with his emotions in odd ways and ruined his control.

Harry blinked again. "Umm, better, I guess. But..." He shook his head, trying to clear it of the fog of sleep. "I don't understand. What did you do? And was I hallucinating horribly? Because I have the weirdest memories." He looked up at Draco as if begging him for something. Draco didn't know what he wanted to hear, if it was all in his head or if it really did happen. He opted for the truth, no matter how embarrassing. He wasn't going to lie to Harry, not now.

"You were, a little. But most of what you remember probably is true." Harry, for some reason, felt a blush staining his cheeks. "Is that what you wanted to hear? We can pretend I didn't say anything if you want." That just slipped out. He had not meant to say that. There was a trace of bitterness in his voice that Harry couldn't help but notice.

"I-I don't understand." Harry put his head in his hand as if it pained him. "What happened?"

"I took the poison into me, ridding you of the inconvenience; the poison will then rid you of me letting you get on with your life. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"What? No!" Harry's emerald eyes were so sincere, so shocked and full of concern... Draco shuddered and looked away. It was better for both of them if he just ignored this. A hand he now knew so well grasped his own. It was stronger now, not weak and trembling. He had returned that health to it, to him. A twisted pain filled him. He looked up, back to those eyes.

'Oh god,' he thought, feeling himself shake inside. When had Harry gotten the power to destroy his walls and leave him feeling helpless? When had he been able to make him feel like this inside with only a look?

"What happened, Draco? What did you do?" His clear voice was so full of worry. Draco closed his eyes, drinking in this moment just as Harry had done when he felt the poison taking over his mind. Harry cared, even if it was only a little.

"When filled with emerald fire's pain, know that happiness is its only bane. Life continues with only the purest thought, and another who to love you've taught. With his sacrifice of love and life, no more will you feel this poison's knife," Draco recited quietly, not daring to look at Harry. "I figured it out. And I used it. With his sacrifice of love and life..."

Harry had pulled away, shocked, as he began to understand what had happened. No one had told him. Madam Pomfrey hadn't said a word of explanation as she'd settled the unconscious Draco into his bed. The others had left without daring to look him in the eye, as if he might disappear... or see something in their eyes that they didn't want him to. Quick hugs had been given and a few tears before they were kicked out, but very few words and no explanations. They had known what had happened because of him. He was as good as a murderer.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said hollowly. Draco looked up in surprise. "You can't die for me."

"But I can and I'm going to. It's already done. I probably only have a few more days." He closed his eyes, trying to force his dreams of that sleep with no dreams, no nightmares, to return. They seemed hollow now, used, worn and faded. They were nothing compared to the emerald eyes that were so close, watching him, and yet further then the stars. He sat up angrily, resting his back against the backboard of the bed.

"Why did you do this?" Harry sounded frantic. "How could you just switch it like that without asking me? Without..." Draco felt anger coursing through him and he glared at the face he loved so much.

"Shut up, Harry. You don't know what you're talking about. I talked to you about this before. And you'd think that you'd be grateful for what I've done for you."

"Grateful? That you're dying?" He was almost hysterical, which Draco found oddly touching.

"Why would you care?" This stopped Harry dead in his tracks.

'He's hurt by what I said!' Draco realized as Harry closed his eyes and covered them with his hand.

"I do care, Draco," Harry said in a strained voice. "I do care." There was a long, heavy silence. "Did you mean what you said?" It was so sudden it caught Draco unaware. Then he realized what Harry meant. He turned away from those piercing eyes.

"Yes," he said almost defiantly. "It wouldn't have worked if I didn't." He fiddled with his thumbs for a moment, gathering all the courage in his body, trying to bring himself to ask that question from which there was no return. "Did you mean what you said?"

Harry sidled up next to Draco, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. "I think so," he said quietly, sounding vaguely unsure of himself. "I don't know."

Draco had nothing to say to this. He didn't care anymore if Harry was only doing this out of guilt or to make him happy until he died. He didn't care at all. Harry was holding him. That was all that mattered. His head came to rest gently on his shoulder and his arm snaked around his back.

"You have to understand," Draco said finally, not moving from his comfortable spot. "I couldn't let you die. I just couldn't. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself, there would have been nothing left, nothing at all." He sobbed gently into Harry's arm. The Gryffindor wrapped both arms around him, pulled him into an embrace, letting his head rest against his chest.

"Draco," he said softly, realizing what he really felt. "I love you." Draco just let out another sob, this one half happy, as he clutched at the boy's back.

"I love you, Harry. I love you so much," he sobbed. "And when I die my last thought will be of you, my last word will be your name." Harry felt tears forming in his eyes and he held the boy all the tighter, not wanting to ever let him go again.

"Don't talk like that," he said, trying to sooth him. But his voice came out hoarse and filled with unshed tears. "You'll get better. You have to get better." But Draco didn't hear these words; all he heard was the pain and the tears. And he knew Harry loved him. And that made everything better.

"Forgive me for what I've done to you," he begged. "Everything I did. I was so foolish, so blind and thoughtless. I never thought. I was so horrible to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

"You're already forgiven." Harry gently placed a kiss on the top of his head, pressing down his pale hair. There was comfortable silence as they just reveled in the feeling of being with each other.

Then Draco began to whisper softly, as if to himself, sounding like he was quoting from something. "If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you, in the brightest day and the darkest night, always, always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek it shall be my breath or the cool air at your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by."

"What was that?" Harry asked, an unnamable dread taking hold of his heart. Draco had given up on surviving.

"Something I read a while ago in some book. I thought it was nonsense at the time but... I don't know, it just sort of stuck with me. It seemed appropriate."

"You can't die on me, you can't," Harry said angrily, almost shaking him. "You aren't going to do this to me."

"It's all right, Harry. You'll live, you'll go on with your life," Draco said calmly, placing his hand on his cheek. "You'll do just fine without me."

"That's easy for you to say. You're going to be the one that won't have to live like this, all alone." Draco silenced him with a gentle kiss.

"Don't worry, love," he said softly, his lips barely an inch from Harry's. "You're strong enough."

"You coward." But his voice had lost its bitterness. He couldn't waste this time, these few precious days that they had left.

Draco smiled. "You know I am. I'd rather run from danger then fight it. I'll leave the fighting to you."

"But I don't want to fight, not anymore, not over this."

"It's what you do best. I just ruin things. All those hopes and dreams of...us, all burned to ashes around me. Everything, gone." He waved his hand vaguely. "All that's left is these few moments, and memories."

"Oh god, Draco, stop it. Stop talking like that. I can't stand it."

"Shush, love, it's all right." He held Harry tightly to him. "You're getting better. You have friends who love you, so many people who care about you. Life will go on... without me."

"That's the horrible part."

"I know, I know." And they sat there for a very long time, holding each other, fighting against time, tears and pain. But none of these could be refused for long. The seconds wore away, one after another, and they knew their time was running out.

* * * *

Harry had fallen asleep in Draco's bed, still clutching to him. There were tear marks on his face, ones that he'd tried valiantly to hide. But Draco saw them and watched him sleep, almost happy, more so than he ever remembered being. It didn't matter that the shadow of death hung over him, all that mattered was Harry.

Madam Pomfrey came in, saw them and discreetly left without a comment. She couldn't bring herself to bother them. She knew how horrible this must be for them. To find your love and then lose him the same day. She sighed to herself, going about her business.

Draco could hear people coming into the room, talking in low voices, and he closed his eyes, hoping they would just go away. He could make out the voices of Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore. He could sense the moment they saw the two on the bed, when they suddenly stopped, no sound of voices or footsteps coming from them. He could have sworn he heard a muffled curse.

"Draco," Dumbledore said, placing his hand on his shoulder. "It would be best if you got up."

'Damn,' Draco cursed to himself. 'Not even a moment alone. Why can't they leave us be?' With a sigh he gently unwrapped himself from Harry (a very slow and delicate process) and sat up. A small crowd of people were staring at him. He held his head, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

"What?" he asked sharply, angry at being bothered. Then he saw somebody in that group whose face was familiar but at the same time not. He'd seen that face somewhere before... "Sirius Black!"

The man in question was looking at him grimly and even though he knew from his father that this man was no murderer he could see why some people could believe he was. There was steel in those eyes. He acknowledged his name with a small bow of the head, not taking his eyes from the pale Slytherin. Hermione gave the convict a nervous glance, but not, Draco noticed, for a fear of him; she was scared about what Draco's reaction was going to be and what would come of it. So she knew the truth, then. It figured.

"Last time I checked you were still an escaped convict. Did this status change when I wasn't aware of it?" Draco asked snidely, the interruption bringing the worst out in him. Sirius's expression only darkened.

"Sirius Black is innocent of all charges. Whether this has been proven or not is of no consequence. He's here to see his godson," Dumbledore said calmly. Draco's expression changed at this mention of Harry and he looked down at the boy.

"Well here he is. Have fun." He stood up as if to leave but his legs gave out from under him and he went toppling to the floor. "Damn it," he said harshly, hitting against the floor. The loud cry woke Harry and he sat up, looking around wildly.

"Draco!" he cried, suddenly panicked.

"Down here," Draco grumbled, trying to pull himself back up onto the bed. Harry moved over and looked down at him with a relieved smile.

"Having fun down there?"

"Oh yes, of course. It's a blast," Draco said sarcastically, reaching his hand up for help. Harry pulled him up, helping him sit back down on the bed. When this was done he seemed to realize the others for the first time. He smiled widely, then remembered how he'd treated them all over the last few days.

"Hi," he said weakly, curling his legs under him as he rested his head on Draco's shoulder. He seemed so comfortable with this already as if they'd been together for ages. Draco just smiled at him. The group was touched by this show of emotion, all except Ron, of course.

"How are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked, the first to have his ability to speak return.

"Better, thank you." He looked over at the others. "How have you been, Sirius?"

"Fine," he answered, his brows still tight together making him look sinister. He looked at the two on the bed, really saw them and understood. If this was what Harry wanted then there was no way he was going to stand in his way. He owed him at least that much. He smiled at them suddenly, the simple act lighting up his whole face. "We have some happy news for you."

"What is it?" Harry asked eagerly. Dumbledore stopped Sirius with a short gesture, bringing the boys' attention to him.

"Do you remember what I told you, Draco?" Draco didn't respond. "You have a natural immunity to this poison. If it isn't made for you, you can survive it. But you forgot this so easily in your haste to heal Harry."

"You mean...?"

"You're going to be fine."

Oh, how sweet the sound. Harry gave a happy cry, almost crushing Draco as he hugged him fiercely. Draco felt frozen with joy. His prayers had been answered. They were going to be okay.

"Did you hear that, Harry?" he whispered, awed. "You won't have to watch me die at all." Harry's answer was a quick kiss. Draco decided that he must figure out how to prolong those. But not now, with everyone staring at them. In fact, Ron looked faintly green.

"Do you have a problem, Weasley?" Draco asked, though with more humor and amusement then actual meanness.

"Don't," Harry said, placing his hand on his arm. He looked up at his best friend who was staring at them with his mouth open. "We'll talk later." Ron nodded, though it didn't look like he was looking forward to this encounter.

"Well, I guess we'll leave you two lovebirds alone with this happy news," Dumbledore said, ushering the others away. Ron almost choked at that word, but Hermione grabbed him by his arm, dragging him away.

As soon as they all left Harry and Draco turned to each other, their love shining in their eyes. But a peaceful, happy moment was not to be. A high-pitched voice interrupted them from a spot just over the floor.

"Harry Potter is going to be getting better!" The two looked down to see a house elf, Dobby, regarding them, his bright clothes offending the eyes. "Harry Potter has Master Draco now." He bobbed his head at his former master. "I knews he could saves him. That's why I puts the book where Master Draco could find it."

"You what!" Draco remembered what the headmaster had said about not recognizing the book that had helped him save Harry's life.

"Yes master. I'm very much ashamed to say I stoles it from your father's library. He wasn't going to be noticing it. I puts it back right away, as soon as I told Headmaster Dumbledore about it." His large round eyes filled with reverence at the mention of the professor.

"Thank you Dobby. I'm going to have to get you more socks for this. You keep saving my life."

"You're too kind and good. Dobby didn't save Harry Potter, Master Draco did, sir. He... he loves Harry Potter, sir. So he must be all right." The little elf actually blushed at these words.

"Thank you for your approval, Dobby," Draco said, a sardonic grin on his face. Imagine, a Malfoy thanking a servant.

"Dobby must be getting back to the kitchens, sirs. Dinner is ending now. We have a lot of work to do."

"Goodbye," they chorused as the house elf bounded away. They turned back to each other; ready to make the most of what little time they had before the nurse pried them apart. But their lips had barely brushed together when Madam Pomfrey appeared, scolding angrily as she brandished what appeared to be a feather duster in their faces.

"Separate beds, now, both of you. You're going to live. You'll have plenty more moments together outside of this room where I will not be responsible for your actions. Both of you are recovering from near fatal poisonings. Move. Now." Grumbling, Harry pecked Draco lightly before moving off his bed. The nurse forced them to drink large doses of sleeping potion, insuring that nothing would happen when she wasn't looking.

"Good night, Harry," Draco muttered sleepily as the potion started to take effect.

"Good night Draco. Sweet dreams."

AN: There, I didn't kill them. That thing that Draco was quoting from (and other random things from that scene) was from a letter written from some guy to his wife during the American Civil War. I really love it and it always makes me cry, so I stole shamelessly from it. So what do you think? Review and tell me if it's too sappy or not. But there's one more chapter. And it doesn't tie things up, far from it...