The Dark Legacy (a drarry story)

Chapter XXXVII

Sorry there was a mixup with the chapter orders:/

"What is it, Harry?" Draco looked up innocently from his bed, the majority of the dirt and grime magically washed off, revealing a small, broken boy. Harry began shaking, and tears formed in his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling and tried not to cry.

"Don't cry, love," Draco looked at him painstakingly, reaching up to brush Harry's raven locks of hair away from his head wound. The blood was hardened, staining his skin a dark red. "Why are you so upset, Harry? We're home," Draco smiled at him sweetly, looking at him with saddened eyes.

"Draco," Harry calmed, saying his name very quietly. Right then, Draco knew something was wrong. He could feel Harry's heart sink and eyes drop as he breathed deeply and heavily. He could almost hear Harry's heart beating out of his chest, and as Harry tried to speak, he choked on his tongue. He finally stammered it out.

"The Death Eater you protected me from is... dead."

Draco's eyes hardened as mania filled his eyes. "I've- I've killed another person?" He whimpered in guilt and fear.

"It-it's not like you meant to, Draco. After you stupefied him, he slammed back into a wall and hit his head..."

Draco tried to say something but only a croak came out. "Who was it?" He asked again, his voice hoarse.

"Draco," Harry began to cry, tears falling down his dirt encrusted cheeks.

Draco sat up. "Who was it?" He yelled, panicked, and Harry slouched down automatically in shame and fear. He paused as he felt Draco's terror and then he looked into Draco's stormy grey, destructive eyes, his own green eyes watery from crying, refracting the sunlight from the large open windows.

"It was your father." Harry looked down, and his eyes dulled to a dark green with no glow, and no bright reflection.

Draco's eyes glazed over like instant ice.

***

"I killed my own father," Draco repeated for what seemed like the tenth time. He was shaking vividly, eyes red and puffy from tears. Harry clasped onto his hand to try and prevent it from shaking, but it did nothing to stop it.

"It was an accident, Draco," Harry reassured, his own eyes red as well.

"Merlin, I'm a killer," Draco heaved. "First the muggleborn, and now my own father," Draco paused, his hands pushing against his temples in distress. He suddenly began thinking of the muggleborn woman he ruthlessly murdered to save himself and Harry. "I didn't even know her name... she had a family, and people who loved her, and I stole it all away just like that. In the blink of an eye. And then, well, I know he was horrible, but I killed my own father."

Draco sobbed as he spun uncontrollably, and all Harry could do was sit and be there for him. He felt helpless and shameful that he couldn't fix Draco's problems for him, because all he could do was sit there.

"Dray..." Harry murmured somberly after a long silence of nothing but grieved sobbing and sniffling.

"I'm no better than he was," Draco exclaimed hastily, cutting Harry off. "I'm no better than my Death Eater father."

"Draco that's not true," Harry cried, and Draco looked at him with his silver tear-stained eyes, and he could see inside of him all of the pain- the loss of who he was as a person, his identity lost- stolen to the act of murder. Perhaps it didn't register the first time it happened- and it was hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"I killed Lucius Malfoy," Draco repeated. "I killed Lucius Malfoy. I should be in Askaban," he sobbed.

The world started to appear blurry and Harry's pleading cries didn't reach his self-loathing mind. The sound of his heartbeat was all he heard, echoing like drums, rattling his brain. Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu-thump, faster and faster. His hands started to tingle. The tingle spread like disease up his arms, spreading throughout his body like poison that acted as fast as drugs injected into his veins. And Draco realised that no matter how much he breathed, there wasn't enough oxygen in the air anymore to fill his gasping lungs.

***

Harry had screamed for Madam Pomfrey to come quickly when he viewed in terror the things happening to Draco.

After Madam Pomfrey calmed him, she told Harry that Draco was going to be fine. Draco laid asleep next to him in his infirmary bed, instantly exhausted after the episode. Pomfrey said sometimes what happened to Draco happen to people when they get too upset.

A panic attack, she claimed it was called, is the "sudden feeling of acute and disabling anxiety, affecting the ability of some victims to think rationally."

Then Madame Pomfrey told Harry he needed rest and forced him to let go of Draco's clammy, unconscious hand, so he could take care of himself for once. So Harry got up and laid down in his own bed in the infirmary, where he would proceed to longfully gaze at Draco in pain and sympathetic heartbreak.

***

Harry woke up groggily to see a blurry Madam Pomfrey standing over him. "Take this medicine," she said. "It'll fix your headache."

"I don't have a headache," Harry questioned as he looked blankly into the sunny room.

"That's from a numbing charm that I placed on you," She set the vial of medicine onto the nightstand. "It's bound to wear off pretty soon. I suggest you take this."

Her shoes clicked on the stone floor as she walked away. There was a creak of a door opening, and then the click of the door shutting, and then silence. Harry opened the medicine vial, and it smelled, well, vile, but he took a deep breath and gulped it down as fast as he could. He set the empty vial down on the nightstand and sighed.

"Harry?" A small voice whimpered, and Harry looked over to see Draco turn his head slightly so he could see him.

"Hey," Harry cooed, scooting closer to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty," Draco admitted. "But better," he looked at Harry with sad, but not devastated eyes.

"My father was quite possibly the worst parent there ever could be. I'm not upset about him being dead," he paused as he sat up carefully to take a drink of water, wincing at the slight metallic taste. The sun from the infirmary windows shined on his pale, dirt-stained skin. "I'm upset at myself. For not being upset about killing that muggleborn woman before."

Harry opened up his mouth to speak, but Draco set a hand on his shoulder to silence him, signalling him to wait. "And I know, Voldemort would have killed her and then us, but I can't stop thinking about the possibility of another outcome, and how it could have been prevented."

"It's the only plan we could come up with, Draco," Harry reassured. "You did it to build Voldemort's trust so we could escape, and we didn't have time to think of the consequences, and I know it's horrible, but-"

"That's right," Draco cut him off, holding the glass upright in his right hand as he stared into the glimmering sunlight, unblinking. "It is horrible. There's no excuse for it."

"Well it's for the greater good....even though it's unforgivable."

"What?" Draco turned quickly to see a bright glint of light refracting from Harry's emerald eyes.

Harry stammered. "I- I didn't mean to say that, it just slipped out."

Draco sighed, defeat washing over him. "It's not your fault, Harry."

"Don't worry, we'll try to figure out a way to fix this," Harry noted hopefully, and Draco hugged his water glass next to his lip.

"I certainly hope so," Draco murmured as Harry watched him drink his metallic water, staring into the burning bright sunlight of the outside world until he finally closed his eyes in a peaceful, yet worried mindset.

***

Author's Update: 3/21/17
Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Life is being crazy and my family's going through a lot, and I also have all my standardised tests to study for and college credit exams to take. So, yeah. Not much extra time to write. I promise it's coming though! Thank you for your support.