𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭

Below the school, two people dropped in an abandoned chamber with a thud. Opening their eyes the first sight they saw was the enormous corpse of a huge snake. The body was laying there, rotting and smelly, possibly dead for years.

It was the chamber of secrets, Draco realised with a jolt.

The shock was evident in Draco's eyes as he looked around. He didn't know this place nor did he have even the slightest tinkling of where it might be. It was the snake corpse which gave him the actual clue.

Looking around, he noticed the unmoving body of The Headmaster. Fearing for the elder's life, he got up and moved towards it.

The headmaster was still unconscious but the breath was weak. His condition was getting worse by the uneven beat of his pulse. With this, he also noticed the blackened corner of his lips and unnaturally greying skin.

Such effects are rarely caused due to spells and curses and are mostly due to poisons and potions as well as diseases.

How did he get those? Who poisoned him? Draco urgently needed to examine what kind of poison it was to make an antidote .

Draco slowly opened the headmaster's mouth to look at what he consumed to affect his health. Dipping the tip of his index finger inside, he collected the residue of a black-tinted transparent liquid.

He skeptically judged the liquid and tried to remember from his memory a similar potion.

The liquid, Draco noticed, had a peculiar smell, like burning and rotting flesh. Shockingly, he realised that it smelled the same as the draught of living death ! It was just that it seems to have stronger and more harmful effects than the draught of living death.

Without delay, Draco got the dried herbs and animal ingredients he had out of his ring. Gathering the ingredients together, Draco willed his magic to lift up the materials in air and finely crush them together. The plant and animal parts slowly mushed together forming a dough. Satisfied with the mixture, Draco then willed his magic to identify the useless particles and impurities in the mixture to seperate them. With a flick of Draco's wand, some red and black substances gradually started evaporating and coming out before dispersing in the air. These were the impurities. Now that the small mixture was clean and clear of side-effects, it was ready for consumption.

The round dough that now remained as small as a candy. Lifting it to the headmaster's mouth, he stuffed it inside before forcefully closing the jaw to make the headmaster swallow.

Sometime passed as Draco waited patiently for the pill to take effect. After some moments, The headmaster started coughing violently as a black slurry oozed from his nostrils. This was the poison that infected the headmaster that was forced out because of the healing effects of Draco's pill.

The coughs didn't stop for a while. Draco repeatedly patted the headmaster's with a hand as he was supporting him with the other. When the coughs receded, the headmaster fell unconscious again.

Draco huffed a long breath of relief. The headmaster's condition was stabilized for now but the hope that it would stay so for a while was dim. His hand was still in an infected condition. If it was not remedied soon then it can endanger his life.

For the time being, Draco sat down and surveyed his surroundings. How did he get here? He remembered clearly that he was pushed down the tower together with the headmaster. He had not even realised what had happened when he was suddenly flung forwards and was rapidly falling down. Just before they were about to hit the ground, they somehow aparated here. Did the headmaster do it ? Or was it someone else helping them ?

Was it….him?

It must be. Otherwise, who else knew about this other than him ? Even the headmaster himself didn't know. An intense jolt of happiness ran down Draco's body. A small smile lighted his face as his silver-blue eyes shone gratefulness and relief.

'He did not abandon me. He kept his word. I was right to trust him.'

Even if he hoped for it , he still wasn't sure if that was the case. He needed a last conformation before he could let go of this dread in his heart.

People will always think that an oasis in the middle of a desert is an illusion of the eyes and not reality. Only when they taste the sweet water will they believe that it's real. And in this condition, Draco was no different than a parched man lost in never-ending sand. To him Harry was like an oasis. When it came to him , reality, illusion and dreams became hard to distinguish.

In his thoughts some time passed. Draco did not move or walk around . He stayed in the same place and made minimum moments. This place was unknown to him. Who knows what it might hold. If the giant snake corpse at some distance from him was any indication then it was the best choice to stay still and not accidentally provoke danger.

Draco did not know if it was still day or if the night had already fallen. A long time had passed when the silhouette of a man appeared far ahead . Draco was cautious yet anticipating. He desperately wanted the final confirmation that it was Potter who saved them.

The ever familiar voice called out to Draco, "Malfoy ?"

Draco's tense shoulders finally sagged as he stood up and ran . Roughly colliding with the taller figure, he threw both of them falling back. Domineeringly sitting on the stomach of the infuriating liar, Draco's eyes shone hard and cold.

THWACK ! -- A strong punch landed on Harry's handsome face.

The sight of Harry's face had Draco utterly broken. It was as if a cool touch of ice was spreading through his veins , mixing with the tense muscles in his body. But then why did it feel like he had a piece of burning coal stuck in his chest ? It was burning , blazing , flaming right there at the center of his chest. It hurt …. It hurt but it felt good as well. It was so confusing, so utterly unlike Draco . It overwhelmed him like a dark cloud filled with grief , with dread , with despair that he had felt standing at the brink of murdering someone.

Hard punches were raining down on Harry as he caught the pale wrists in a tight grip. Still, the person atop him didn't stop and continued thrashing around, desperately trying to get free.

The emotions Draco had kept choked, the unsaid fear he had for this day , had finally escaped the empty vase Draco had made out of himself . It escaped erratically, frantically, in the form of rage, in the form of tears, in the form of biting words. They all fell like heavy drops of rain from a black cloud , travelling with the storm and laughing with the thunder.

Amidst the flailing arms, Harry caught the sight of hot tears falling down burning angry eyes like the flashs of thunder. Silent tears fell down Draco's blazing and glassy red eyes as a sneer was forming on his lips.

A broken hiss escaped Draco's throat, furious and unforgiving , " I hate you ! I fucking hate you ! I swear, Potter, I am going to skin you and feed you to dogs ! I hate you! Get lost ! You mutt ! You-you ….!"

It was then that Harry realized what this was and he wordlessly wrapped his arms around the struggling boy . And said with a calm tone , " shhh.... I know..I know "

Draco's hand did not stop, did not rest. Two tight fists were still hitting Harry's back. A tired sound spilled from Draco's mouth, " Let me go ! I am going to beat you into a pulp ! Ugh ! Let me go !!"

Harry did not relent and kept his gentle but unmoving hold . He didn't say anything anymore, trusting to let the storm pass rather than trying to stop it. After some time the flailing weakened and ceased to exist.

Harry and Draco still sat in the same position, in each other's embrace. Draco's arms numbly hanging at his side. His anger in his eyes now finally fading to unwilling fatigue.

Harry's deep voice uttered softly, " I am sorry "

As Draco heard this, the last of his anger dissolved and he tightly gripped the robes on Harry.

Harry slowly drew back but kept his hands unmoving on Draco's waist . When he saw the glassy tears in Draco's eyes, an erratic jolt ran through his body. With the apology on the tip of his tongue, Harry also felt a sense of intense possessiveness.

' So beautiful. He looks so beautiful like this '

In Harry's eyes, Draco looked like a blooming flower in the midst of cold morning fog. The tears on his cheeks were as if the nectared dew drops on pink petals.

Harry didn't even realise when his eyes took on the gloomy green of a deep sea. The obsession in his eyes was scary but well hidden behind the clarity. His eyes only held Draco, they only reflected Harry's love , his infatuation and his lust for his beloved.

' These tears....they are mine. They will only flow for me. In pain or in pleasure, only mine. Anyone else isn't even worth of their sight

And so was the fact. Draco did only ever cry in front of his Harry. The presence of Harry somehow made his mind and body subconsciously let out their weakness, their pettiness , their immaturity.

With this extremely pleasant thought, the sharp edge in Harry's eyes disappeared like a cloud in clear blue sky.

Draco didn't even notice the deadly gleam in those eyes. At that moment , Harry's eyes looked similar to a snake eyeing its prey. Just like a snake lying in ambush , poison ready in it's fangs as it waited for an opportunity to attack. Waiting for a chance to capture in first strike and swallow the delicacy alive and whole as it withered and shivered.

Draco rubbed his eyes furiously wishing to destroy all the traces of the weakness he exhibited moments ago.

Harry looked at the cheeks reddened ripe , before because of the tears and now further because of the rubbing. Right now Harry felt like he was literally drowned in a huge pot of sweetness. Seeing Draco like this , so close, felt like lying on a bed of nails and rolling around in white clouds at the same time. It felt like drinking liquid crucio flavoured with honey.

Looking up Draco softly asked out of curiosity, " How did you do it ?"

With a smile, Harry took the question as accepting his apology and replied, " I made the killing curse hit an invisible creature instead of Dumbledore and simultaneously pushed both of you down "

" But then how did we get here ? "

" Indirect apartion "

" Indirect apartion ? How-? You can't possibly be joking right ?"

Draco's eyes were wide in disbelief. Indirect apartion , as the name suggested, was a form of spell-less and wordless magic which aparated someone without direct contact but with sheer magical force. It was something that even powerful wizards like Dumbledore found hard to achieve. The only one Draco knew who could successfully do it was the dark lord.

'Exactly how powerful is Potter to do that?'

Harry , in response to Draco's disbelief, shrugged nonchalantly. By his behaviour, it was evident that it didn't hold any importance in his eyes. Draco decided to just behave like he never knew. Afterall who would like to admit that someone else was stronger than themselves ?

" What about everyone else ? Won't they find it suspicious if there were no bodies ?"

" Well… who said there were no bodies ?" Harry said , his eyes flashing mischievously because he knew Draco would understand his implications.

" Then there were bodies ? But- how ? Wait don't tell me-"

No . It can't be that right ? For the golden boy to use a dark spell …. It definitely can't be true . But still…

" You used the cloning spell ??" He whispered , scandalized.

The cloning spell was an illegal dark spell used to grow a true lifeless body of a person. The body formed will be of true flesh and blood , retaining the human physiology to absolute perfection but without life. It was made illegal as to perform this spell the human body parts such as fingernails, blood or hair was needed from the person to be replicated.

A single eyebrow raised as a smirk took on Harry's face. Draco's mouth fell open.

' Truly -- how -? Ahhh... seriously. Everytime I think that I have caught up to him, he jumps even higher . Just how weak am I ? Or more like - how strong is he?'

At this second, Draco's three world views were collapsing.

Did the sun rise from the west ? Or was it the east ? Is Blue of Sea it's own color or was it a reflection of the sky above ? Draco's head was in a tangle . It was so tangled that it could be called a messy ball of wool rather than a brain.

' So what if he is stronger now ?!?! Soon I will be as strong as -- no , even stronger than him !!! HUMPH !!! If he had fortune on his side then I ,Draco Malfoy, have myself !! Isn't that a blessing enough ?! And I bet ,with this brain of mine , it won't take long to trample that egoistic face of his !!! Get ready to taste dirt , Potter , Because I am coming for you !!!! '

Again, Draco , ultimately choosing to retain his sanity , acted like he did not hear , much to Harry's utter amusement.

Having had his fun , Harry softly reminded, "We have to leave . We can't stay here anymore "

With start ,Draco , now with dry and clear eyes, asked as well, "Is everyone alright ? Are all my snakes alright ?"

His voice was filled with worry. Death eaters were no wizards , they were demons . They won't see if it's a Slytherin or a Gryffindor , if it's a child or an adult. If they want to kill then they will kill.

" All of them are fine . Other than property destruction, few people were actually injured "

A deep breath blew Draco's worry out , "That's a relief "

Remembering what he was here for, Harry questioned, " Dumbledore ?"

Getting up, Draco led Harry towards the unconscious body . Saying as they neared it , " He had already fainted when we fell. I checked and found that it was because of a poison , an advanced draught of living death . "

" Hmm…. How is his health now ?"

" I have already given him an antidote but it's effects are temporary because of the condition of his hand . Unfortunately, The complete antidote needs herbs which I did not have"

" How much time do we have till the effects wear off ?"

" At the most 2 months "

" What about the herbs ? Where can we get them ?"

" That's the real difficulty. Most of them are found in the magical grassland of England and are widely sold but one particular herb is found in the snow forests of Scottish Taiga. It's very hard to find and not sold due to the dangerous nature of the forest. "

" Can you identify it ?"

A nod answered Harry's question .

" Well..…. Looks like we need to hurry even more " , Harry said , gears already wheeling in his head.

Soon, Draco and Harry were standing in an abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere. This mansion was originally a part of the Potter Cynn*. But was later forgotten due to its isolated location. Fortunately, this is the place they urgently needed in this situation.

[ Cynn* - Family, Clan, Household,etc ]

Headmaster was situated in the guest room as soon as they came here. A group of house elves were stationed here as well, tasked with looking after the house and the headmaster.

Harry stood aside as Draco carefully instructed the house elves about how to care for the headmaster and what medicines to give him. As he finished, Draco made his way towards Harry.

" Finished ?" Harry asked , turning towards him.

" Hmm " came the curt and sharp reply .

Extending his hand towards Draco , Harry indicates him to get a steady hold . As soon as Draco intertwined his pale fingers with another's darker and larger ones , a shock ransacked his body . Before he even realised what was happening , he was already standing on the familiar place, the astronomy tower.

It was already midnight and the silver moonlight was flooding this place. A dark figure came out as soon as Harry and Draco . Theo revealed himself first as after him Hermoine and others came out of their hiding as well.

The atmosphere was solemn . Everyone was glad and worried in their own head . Draco scanned all the six faces. These faces were young , they were still children. But then again, so was he .

Breaking the silence, Draco said , " I am glad that all of you have your arms and legs and are not overly furry ."

Draco's words bought a much needed relaxation as everyone calmed down from their tensed and overly vigilant state they were in. Small and grateful smiles were sent his way as Draco reassuringly smiled back, answering their unsaid query that he was well and alright.

After letting Draco reassure and calm their nerves , Harry said , " The time is short. Tell us what happened "

Hermione was first to speak, " Everything happened as planned . Now, a atmosphere of fear and terror is in the school as well as everyone positively believes that Draco and Headmaster are dead "

Pansy added , " after you disappeared, the headmaster's funeral was held and Draco's body was taken by the death eaters . They, as I saw, did not seem to doubt anything "

With a complicated expression, Harry said, "Good , good . The students must have already started departing for home , haven't they ?"

" Yes , some parents have already collected their children . As for the others, they are leaving as soon as possible" Ron said.

Harry and Draco shared a silent tacit look as Draco said , " We need to find the horcruxes as soon as possible and that is what we will be doing . "

A look of agreement flashed in six pairs of eyes as they silently looked for the orders with determined eyes.

Draco continued ," First we need a pair of you to stay in the school as our intelligence. As for the others will the ones finding the horcruxes "

Harry followed immediately saying, " Blaise and Neville will be the ones staying behind "

As he said this, the ones who will be out going on a journey are obvious. Draco, sensing the troubled emotions on their faces , said , " If you have any doubt , any fear , then leave now . Do not step ahead if you're not ready to sacrifice a limb or an eye " His eyes were absolutely serious and solemn.

Silence prevailed and no one said anything . There was no agreement or disagreement.

When Hermione , with a pleading voice, said , " Before that , Can I visit my parents for the last time ?"

Everyone understood her peril . She ,as a muggle, was in as much danger as Harry himself. She deserved some moments of calm and happiness before the storm , all of them did.

Draco didn't say anything but the look in his eyes gave Hermione and everyone else the feeling of being soothed and enveloped in a warm blanket . This was the feeling of being Draco Malfoy's person, they understood . This was the feeling of being under the wings of the famed notorious and heartless Slytherin price, so absurdly warm.

At the same time , Harry said with a steady strong command , " Well, we will meet after exactly one month . The contact will be maintained through letters , so keep your eyes and ears open at all times. And remember, we are all in this together and every one of you needs every other . So cherish each other , from here on you are no different than a single body , a single life."

Every young face in the enclosed space held a determination , a hope . They were all aware that this might not turn out as they wished but what did they have to lose? Let it be the orphaned Harry, or the abused Draco , the muggle Hermione or pansy who was disdained by her own family , in one way or another , all of them were alone . The only people they had that remained truly faithful were the ones with them right.

What did they have to lose ? They only have each other left . If they are going to die, then let's do it together. If they are going to live, then let's do it together as well.