Send The Pain Below

Send The Pain Below

"I like having hurt"

Harry sat in the church, waiting, with everyone else, all of the people he'd known in school, his friends, his enemies, all the same to him. Ron and the rest of the Weasly family sat to his right, they were all there for a day that none of them had ever thought would come. The day Hermione, who was so dear to them all, married Draco Malfoy.

The day Hermione had told him Harry could not believe what she was saying, how could she want to marry Malfoy? How could the girl that he loved marry the one person he hated most in the world? Of course much had changed since they had been in Hogwarts, they had all grown up. Ron had become the head of the Games and Sports division of the Ministry, Fred and George had opened their own (legitimate) joke shop, Percy had worked his way up in the Ministry ranks, and Ginny was working for him. Even Draco'd gotten somewhere, he had started a company based on the experimental potion he'd made as his final exam for potions in their seventh year, and Hermione had gone to work for him. None of them would have thought that this would happen.

"So send the pain bellow where I need it"

Harry swallowed hard as Hermione walked through the double doors at the back of the church. A quick glance to his right revealed tears rolling down Ron's face. Harry himself could feel the tears forming in his eyes, he wished they could be tears of joy like Ron's were, but they couldn't.

At first Ron had taken it worse than Harry, he blew up several potted plants in only moments after it happened. He'd ranted on and on about it for days, until Hermione and Draco invited Ron and Harry to go out for dinner with them. They had both seen how happy Hermione was, they couldn't fathom why, but the fact that she was happy was apparently enough for Ron. A short while after Mr. And Mrs. Weasly had had everyone (Draco included) over for dinner, and seemed to accept Draco into their ever extending family. Of course, as Harry knew, the Weaslys were nice people, and the fact that Voldemort had killed Draco's father when he betrayed him probably, as Harry worded it in his head, scored him some sympathy points. Harry swallowed hard again, Hermione was blushing and near tears herself as she made her way slowly to the alter, he had to keep his emotions under control.

"You used to beg me to take care of things. And Smile at the thought of me failing."

Voldemort had been defeated shortly after he tortured Lucius with the Cruciatus Curse, and then murdered him, leaving a deep etching of the dark mark directly in the middle of his forehead. But, it had not really been Harry who defeated him; it was partially Harry, but mainly Draco. Dumbledore had developed a counter curse, but it took immense power to pull off, immense power and dire emotion. Voldemort had sent The Killing Curse at Harry, wishing to take his time and torture the other three, but no sooner had the word Avada escaped his lips than four voices yelled Abicio Malus and a blinding white light filled the room. Heard above the other three voices was the voice of Draco, full of rage and deep hatred, as Voldemort crumbled before them, Harry became quite aware that it had most definitely been Draco's casting of the spell that had saved his life.

Harry was nothing more than the boy who lived twice.

"But long before having hurt, I'd send the pain bellow"

All four of them had been awarded the Order Of Merlin First Class, only Harry had felt undeserving. He spent months after that kicking himself for not being stronger; he drove himself near mad, and away from his friends. He went and lived in the forests of the world with Sirius, but was not allowed to stay for long. Harry knew it was his fault that Sirius' name would not be cleared anytime in the near future, they had let Wormtail run away, seeing Voldemort as the problem at hand. Why hadn't he gone after Wormtail? Harry couldn't answer the question even to himself.

Hermione reached the Alter, looking more beautiful than Harry had ever seen her.

After casting the Counter spell, Harry had passed out. When he woke, he was greeted by the all too familiar faces of Ron and Hermione hovering above him. Hermione had leaned down and kissed him affectionately on the forehead like she had done so many times before in his life, she was his guardian angle who'd saved him so many times. Now the angel was marrying the person to whom Harry owed his life, and he should have been happy for her. Why aren't I happy for her? He wondered silently, knowing the answer. He wasn't happy for her because she was supposed to be happy with him. They'd dated for almost all of their seventh year at Hogwarts, nearly inseparable as always, but before Graduation they had broken it off, because Harry wanted to try out for the Appleby Arrows and travel the world for a while. He'd been such and idiot; he thought as the preacher began to speak, it would be him today if not for that. Harry could feel that his insides were green with envy, greener if possible than the emerald eyes from which tears were now falling.

"I'd send the pain below. Much like suffocating"

Harry tried to calm him self, and listen to the words that were being spoken. He tried to tell himself that Draco was not a bad person, he couldn't be, he'd saved Harry's life after all. Harry knew that Draco hadn't saved his life just to save his life, the passion that was in his counter curse was that which could only come from the loss of a parent, regardless of how that parent had treated you. Harry knew Draco struggled with his fathers being a Death Eater, and also knew that Draco probably blamed his fathers murder on himself, since Lucius had, in a moment of revelation, realized that Draco and Narcissia had been right, that his evil ways would not avail him.

Harry sucked in his breath hard, the preacher had reached the part where they say "Speak now or forever hold your peace" Harry felt his muscles contract, he wanted desperately to stand up and speak. He didn't know what he would say, his lungs tightened, and he knew it was all for the best that the moment passed. He cursed himself inwardly, when did he get so weak?

"You used to run me away all the while laughing then cry about that fact, till I returned"

Harry wondered if Draco ever felt weak, was that what Draco had over him? Was Hermione afraid that Harry wouldn't be able to take care of him?

In the weeks, months, years even, since the defeat of Voldemort Harry had been a shell of himself. He had put all of the power and emotion he had into the counter curse and for a good amount of time, he was literally emotionally hallowed. Casting the spell had not had that effect on the others, they were able to fight it with little more than some chocolate, Harry had been told that Ron and Hermione were revived only hours later, and Draco with in two days. It had taken nearly a week for Harry to be allowed out of the hospital, and when he was, he got thrown into a constant string of parties, which lasted for nearly a month. He celebrated day after day, celebrated a victory that wasn't even his. Shortly after the parties stopped, Harry be came something of a recluse, he lived in a flat with Ron, but rarely left the house. He passed his days in his dark room, with the curtains drawn shut, thinking. Hermione drew ever more distant, and all Harry ever heard was that the public wanted him, wanted to thank him but he would never let them.

He spent the next few months rarely seeing another person, save for Ron, and concentrating on what had happened, until one day Ron forced him to leave his room and go to dinner at the Weasly's. While there he felt normal, as normal as he ever felt any way, he didn't feel like they expected him to be the great Harry Potter, he felt that they were all right with just Harry. Harry came out of his seclusion, and started to work himself back into general society but the pain never went away.

Harry could feel the tears still in his eyes, the hurt as fresh as the day Hermione had told him she was marrying Draco.

"But long before having hurt, I'd send the pain bellow, much like suffocating"

"I can't feel my chest, need more, drop down"

The preacher again spoke.

"I now pronounce you man and wife" He said.

Harry felt his own breath go ragged as Draco leaned in to kiss Hermione. He wanted to scream, he wanted to die, he wanted to say something but his voice would not come. Ron placed his and on Harry's shoulder as they stood up.

"We have to be happy for her" He said. "No matter how much we dislike Draco, we have to be happy for her. Sometimes in life you just have to move on Harry" Ron patted him on the back and then walked over to where Hermione was standing with Draco. Harry watched as Ron hugged Hermione and gave Draco a firm handshake. Seeing that he knew that Ron was right, he had to move on in his life.

"Closing in"

Harry walked towards the happy couple, unsure of what he'd say. He still didn't know when he reached them. Before he could speak, Hermione pulled him into an immense hug.

"You have no idea how much it means to me to have you and Ron here, you two may as well be my brothers and you mean a lot to me" she released him.

"We're just happy that you're happy Hermione" he said.

"Send the pain below"

Harry turned to face Draco. In an instant he remembered their entire history, from the day they first met to the day Draco had inadvertently saved his life. It dawned on him in that instant what a milestone this day was, and how much it meant not only to himself Hermione and Ron, but how much it meant to the world. He realized also how happy Hermione seemed, how happy Draco must make her.

Harry reached out and shook Draco's hand.

"Welcome to the family" He said. Draco smiled and pulled Harry into a hug.

Arch rivals, bitter enemies of childhood. One the supposed the epitome of evil, the other the supposed epitome of good. Gryffindor and Slytherin. Together.

Je suis finir