Friends on the Other Side
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Walking into the cave, leaving Harry behind, Draco didn't know silent tears were falling fast. He wanted adventure and escape, but he didn't want this type of adventure. The type of adventure that got Severus Snape killed, the type of adventure where he could die. Where he wasn't the purest of hearts.
Nobody knew. Nobody but him, Mother and Father knew. It was the reason his first instinct was to punch Harry in the face when he was woken in the middle of the night. Something happened one night the first time Mother and Father left him for a business trip, unwilling to leave their Dragon alone until he told them he'd be alright. To this day, Draco still remembers the look on the man's face, the final signs of life disappearing as Draco struggled to breathe, flooded by shock.
The further Draco got, the less floor there was to stand on. Water, filled with floating skulls and skeletons filled the space around him. It was daunting, not being able to see walls. Maybe the darkness were the walls. At the end of the pathway was a circular platform, carvings in the floor and a pedestal with two handprints carved from the rock. One left and one right, one thinner and longer than the other, that one being thicker and shorter.
This couldn't just be it. There had to be some sort of puzzle, some riddle only he could figure out. Although, on his journey there was no traps or trickery. Just a straight line closing out the outside world to consume him into the darkness.
When Draco walked into the cave, Harry paced. Beneath him, grass had withered away over time, being so close to the death of all magic. Being here, Harry couldn't fly. Any magic he possessed was quickly being stripped away so just his cutlass and fighting skills remained to protect him and Draco.
With the tide came a ship. One Harry knew all too well. With its skull and snake sail, a captain and right-hand woman at the forefront, pirates thirsty for his blood. With nowhere to run, Harry held his cutlass in a tight grip, strengthening his stance to face Tom Riddle. "Land Ho!" shouted Greyback from his tower, a grin so yellow Harry may have mistaken it for sweetcorn.
Setting out their bridge to cross over, Tom commanded everyone else to stay back as he strode off the ship. "Harry Potter. Why, this certainly wasn't the setting I expected to meet you in, but then again you will die at my hands either way."
"Tom." Harry greeted, loving the way Tom's smirk was wiped clean off his face. "Fancy seeing you here!" Harry bowed like he was ready for a duel, taunting him. "Ready to end this?"
Smiling, Voldemort nodded. "I've been ready since I killed your parents, boy." Harry lunged for him, swinging with all his might only to be blocked, their swords pressing together and making a sound like they were being constructed at a Blacksmith's.
They carried on, back and forth. Swinging at each other, Harry managing to cut the front of Tom's hat, so close to his nose. At one point their swords were together in a cross, Harry pushing and the anger through all those years matching him to Tom's strength. But Harry knew Tom could fight better than this, so he was stalling for something. For what, though, Harry wanted to find out. "Why? What did my parents ever do to you, Tom?"
"Oh, I do believe that information is too much to share." Voldemort laughed, circling with Harry until they were back to their starting positions. "But just know, that your parents fought hard. Your father blocking the way without a weapon, your mother shielding you like her body would do any good." Losing focus, Harry staggered back, and Voldemort saw the opportunity, gabbing at Harry until the boy lost his sword, on the ground trying to push away the sword coming right for his neck.
Leaning down, Tom whispered, "If you really want to know why you were so important, I suppose I could tell you, let you die with the worst feeling in your stomach." Right by Harrys' ear, Tom hissed, "Did you ever wonder why Draco can see Thestrals? You're the person in the prophecy."
"GET AWAY FROM MY BEST MATE!" Ron yelled, jumping Voldemort and tackling him like they were in a rugby game. Right by his side, their swords ready to go, were Fred and George. Then, there was Dean and Seamus dealing with the Carrows, Pansy and Blaise with Bellatrix, a wall of fairies firing spell after spell to the ship and the rest of its occupants.
Wherever Harry turned he saw swords swinging and banging, people dodging, ducking or hitting. They were all here. "Luna!" Harry shouted as she approached, helping him up. "You and the rest of the fairies need to leave before your magic is drained. Please, go! Go back to Pixie Hollow!"
"No, Harry. This is our home, too, and we're here to defend it, to defend you." She smiled. How can someone be smiling at a time like this?" But there is something I need to tell you. Harry, Draco isn't the only person in the prophecy. The Pirates, they knew. Bellatrix and her animal form have been stalking you and Draco since you arrived, that's why they knew you were here. That's how they know Draco can't save us.
"Harry... he has a tainted heart. I don't know why, but his auror isn't pure." She took his hand, "Yours is."
"No. No, Luna, no." He shook his head. Tom was just playing tricks with them. Bellatrix's magic was somehow stronger, these were all apparitions.
"It's the both of you, Harry. You two are what brings the two world together. To save this world you need belief, and he has that. You have what keeps this land running, you have the pure heart."
Above all the noise, Harry heard a loud, soul-ripping, "HARRY!" From inside the cave. Driven by Luna's encouraging nod, Harry bolted away, ignoring the screams he heard from behind and focusing on the one in front.
Frantic, it felt like it took forever to reach the end of that blasted tunnel. But when he got there, he saw Draco about to meet the same fate as Regulus Black. "Harry!" He called once more, gasping for breath as bony, spirit-like hands dragged his head under.
"Draco!" Without thinking, Harry dived in after him, curling his body around Draco's and kicking his way to the surface. But another gulp of breath later, they were being dragged down again. Opening his eyes, Harry saw something. Eyes. These things had eyes. Focusing on them, body still wrapped tightly around Draco, Harry allowed himself to be dragged down, replacing fear with numb curiosity as he brought his hand to touch its face. The skeletal creature closed its pale, skinny eyes, leaning into his touch. Around them, the sea of sleeping souls calmed.
Looking into the creatures eyes, Harry nodded, like a thank you. Those things weren't monsters. They were trapped, lost souls. Harry knew what it was like to be a trapped, lost soul. Nobody deserved that, and Harry wasn't about to start allowing it. Catching his breath, Harry didn't notice Draco not doing the same thing. Limply, the blonde boy lay with his eyes closed and wet hair covering his eyes.
"Draco?" Panicked Harry, rushing to his side and grabbing him tight. "Come on. Breathe. Wake up. You can't- come on Draco!" Harry screamed, hitting the boy's chest. When he saw the pedestal, Harry had an idea. He hoped it worked. If it didn't work he didn't know what he'd do.
Looking at the hands, Harry lifted Draco's arm up from the ground, grateful when he felt a faint pulse, and placed it in the left. Quickly, he took his own and threw it down on the right.
Illuminating in blue, the cave shone brighter than the Northern Lights. Harry didn't believe in fantasy, because what he used to be leave was fake turned out to be real. But this moment made him believe there were things so surreal about the world that they had to be fake. Like the glowing blue of all the lost souls floating away. Like the grass quickly growing in the cave. Like the flowers blooming and the magic coming back to him. Almost. Harry almost felt completely like himself again.
Falling to his knees, Harry held Draco's body close to his. Faintly, there were footsteps. A whole stampede of them making their way to him. "What happened?" Pansy panicked, sinking to her knees and testing Draco for a pulse. It was faint, but still there.
"CPR." She mumbled.
"What?"
"CPR. Blaise! Blaise, CPR. Come on we did it at home!"
As Blaise performed whatever CPR was, Harry let Ron and Hermione wrap him in their joint arms – Hermione with a gash on her face and Ron with a litter of them on his arms that were bound to scar.
Suddenly, Draco coughed, water from his mouth coming out.
"Hey, hey Draco love, hey," Harry whispered, breathing heavy. "Shh, shh, it's OK. We did it, we did it."
"You're still here." Draco croaked out.
Laughing, Harry quietly said, "That should be my line." Before he grabbed Draco's arms and opened them, flinging himself in for a hug. He looked around at everyone, all the gashes and blood, and he didn't see Colin among the fairies, so he stopped looking and buried his face in Draco's shoulder.