Title: Bruises
Author: Granitite Stone, granitite@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: If they were mine, would I be writing fanfiction? There is no malicious intent in this story, I know nothing about these men's real lives.
Distribution: The H/D List Archive can have whatever it wants. Everyone else, ask and you can have it.
Summary: Draco and Harry have always been enemies. No matter what appears to pass between them, that hasn't changed. Or has it?
Pairing: H/D
Rating: Hard R

Draco was having a crisis of morality. It had certainly never happened to him before. After getting the letter, he'd gone back to the dorms, and sat in the dark until the Hogwarts Express brought his classmates home. When Crabbe came in without turning on the lights, and almost tripped over the other boy. "Draco, what the hell are you doing down there?"

"Thinking." He hadn't realized how late it was. Almost dinner time.

"Are you…" Crabbe sat down next to him. "Your father came to our house. He thinks You Know Who asked you to stay here and work on Potter over the break."

"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't." Draco looked at his crumpled paper in his fist. "Either way, it goes down tonight, Vince."

How long had it been since Draco had called him anything but Crabbe? Something was wrong. "So soon?"

"Have an alibi. Our Master has arranged one for me." That was the only consolation he had. His father would not live to see dawn.

"So it's over. Did you at least have a good break together?" Crabbe immediately regretted asking the question.

"He spent the entire time in another country! And to top it all off… I was introduced to his godfather, the psychotic prick." Draco got up off the floor, and started pacing. "Who the hell came up with this idea, anyway? I'm not supposed to feel attached after four months of crawling around in his head?"

"Draco…"

"Go away!" He flung himself back onto the bed. "I need to rationalize why it's a good idea to turn my boyfriend over to a dark wizard."

"Alright." Crabbe may have been a little thick, but neither he nor Goyle were complete idiots. They met in the halls on the way to the Great Hall. "Tonight."

"He's going through with it?" Goyle sounded surprised.

"Draco's good at figuring other people out, but he's a mystery to himself. It hasn't sunk in yet."

"Either way, we're gonna lose him." They had reached the door. "It's a shame he picked a cold-hearted bastard like Potter to fall in love with."
-----
He tried to sleep after dinner, but had nightmares. At ten PM, he gave up. 'You haven't had a decent night's sleep in almost two weeks. That's why you're thinking like this. You're a Deatheater, and a damn good one. You'll be Voldemort's new right hand man. More valuable than Wormtail, because you have a spine. You have to go through with this.'

That annoying little voice that had been hanging around lately spoke up. |Yes, and how long do you think you'll last? You can't even sleep alone anymore. You think someone else is going to put up with your nightmares, hold you, fuck you back to sleep? You let him die, you won't be far behind. Your own demons will do you in.|

"I don't need a conscience. I haven't had one for seventeen years, and it's not going to do me any good now." Draco stared at the canopy above his bed. "Do you hear me? I have ambition, I don't need you messing with my mind."

His roommates, not yet in bed, looked up from their game of exploding snap. "He's loosing his mind."

"I know, Greg, I know." Crabbe leaned back in his chair. "I'm sort of hoping he can't do it, you know."

"If he doesn't, at least the Headmaster could protect him." Goyle kept his expression blank, but they knew each other too well. "You were told the same thing I was, weren't you?"

"Of course. I'm the one they expect to do it." Crabbe put a knife on the table. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to make it quick. His damned ambition."

They stopped talking when the curtains flung open, and Draco strode out. "Don't wait up."
-----
Slow. Gentle. Two things sex almost never was between them. Draco was infinitely glad Harry seemed to be in the same kind of mood he was. He stared at closed eyelids, tousled hair. |You're never going to see those eyes again, you know. Or hear him whisper your name. He's never going to trace your scars with the lightest of touch or patch you back together after a bad weekend at home. He'll never-|

"Shut up, shut up, shut up." Draco whispered quietly, and detached himself from Harry's arms. Pulling on his clothes, the small package Harry had given him earlier fell out of his pockets. He unwrapped it, and bit into his bottom lip. Chocolate, from one of the finest shops in Paris. He'd only mentioned his weakness to Harry once, during a Hogmeads trip. As it melted under his tongue, Draco knew what he had to do. "Damn you, Harry Potter."

Dumbledore was still awake, despite the late hour. "Draco, can I do something for you?"

He dropped the black parchment on the desk. "They're coming for him. In about three hours. You might want to have someone there to stop them."

Now, STOP. I have repeatedly warned you that this story will not have a happy ending. If you believe in love, you can stop reading here. I've written this in a way that there are only a few unanswered questions. So, if you really, really want Harry and Draco to have a happy ending, I recommend stopping here, and not read any of my other stories.

You have been warned.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Draco walked back to the Gryffindor dorms, light hearted, but exhausted. Maybe now that Harry was back, he could get a decent night's sleep. He was surprised to find Harry up, and getting dressed. Harry seemed equally surprised to see Draco. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to go see the Headmaster, and now I want to sleep." Draco gave him an appraising look. "You should join me, Harry. You don't look so good."

He couldn’t read Harry's expression as he said, "You went to see Dumbledore?"

"Yeah." Draco crawled into bed, wondering if he could stay awake long enough to finish the conversation. "Might want to keep it down, Harry. You'll wake up your roommates, and wouldn't that be fun to explain."

Harry whispered the words to active his wards, a panic spreading across his face Draco didn't see. "Why?"

"Had to stop a plot on your life." Draco said it lightly, burrowing into the pillows. He didn't see Harry freeze for a moment, then pick up the empty box of chocolate from the floor. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm exhausted."

It took Harry a moment to gather his wits enough to speak. "Draco… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I thought you would go through with it. I'm sorry, you have to forgive me. Please." He came towards the bed, and took Draco's hands.

"Forgive what?" He couldn't make his eyes open. "Never mind. Whatever you think you did, Harry, it can't be that bad. I just wanna sleep now."

"Alright, you go to sleep Draco." Harry didn't let go of Draco's hands as he drifted off. Then, he reached into his dresser and pulled out a thin glass vial. In anger, he shattered it on the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"How could I think you would go through with it? How could I not know, when you were so gentle with me tonight?" Harry let go of Draco's hands. The pulse he'd been reading had finally stopped. He folded Draco's arms across his chest, in the classic position. "I hope you can forgive me, Draco. I'll make it right, I promise you." He grabbed his wand from the nightstand, and almost as an afterthought, took Draco's and slipped out of bed.

When he came to the entrance to the Hogsmead tunnel, he found Dumbledore, Hagrid, and McGonnagal waiting. "Harry." The Headmaster looked surprised to see him. "Draco told you what was going on?"

"Something like that. I need to be here, Professor. Lucius Malfoy and I have a score to settle." Draco's scars had been real. What kind of man could inflict that kind of pain on his own child?

"Of course." Dumbledore gave him an odd look, but said nothing else until the statue began to move. "Draw your wands."

It was Wormtail leading them, who came through first. When he saw what awaited them, before he could even scream, Dumbledore struck him down. Harry didn't recognize anyone else but Lucius, left only restrained at Harry's request. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I'd like to have a talk with you."

He fought against Hagrid's monstrous strength. "That little fag! Couldn’t even keep his mouth shut for one day. You think you can hide him from us? There are other agents of the Dark Lord here at Hogwarts."

"You son is dead." Harry let his words sink in. "Where is Voldemort?"

"You think you can take him on just because you put down a seventeen year old spy?" Lucius gave him a sickly smile. "I hope I'm still alive for your funeral, Potter."

"Tell me." Harry pressed his wand to Lucius' forehead. "You son taught me a lot. Wanna see?"

"You wouldn't dare." Lucius looked at Harry's eyes. "You would." He looked at the assembled staff. "And you would let him." Lucius was nothing if not a self preservationist. "We set up camp on the other side of the lake."

"Take him away, Hagrid." Dumbledore watched Lucius be dragged of in great satisfaction. "Minerva, if you would help me with the other three?"

"Harry," Professor McGonnagal touched Harry's shoulder. "That was very convincing. Did Draco put you up to it?" He pulled away from her, and started walking down the still open tunnel. "Harry? Harry? Harry!"
-----
For once, the man known as Lord Voldemort was in a good mood. Soon, all three of his problems would be gone. Lucius would kill Harry, Draco would kill Lucius, and in the days to come, Vincent Crabbe would do away with Draco. Who needed a potential future adversary like the intelligent young Malfoy around? The door opened. "Is it finished?"

"Oh yes."

He spun around. "Harry?"

"Hello, Tom." Harry smiled a smile that would have made a lesser man's blood run cold. "It's time to finish this, don't you think?"

"We can't directly kill each other, and you know it." Voldemort felt fear. He didn't like it. Something was very wrong with Harry. Something he hadn't seen three years ago when they'd last met face to face.

Harry drew his wand, and looked at it. "Not with this." He snapped it in half.

"Are you mad?"

"Probably. It's your fault if I am." Harry seemed amused. "I killed him, you know. Draco. I actually thought he was stupid enough to go through with a plan of yours. Rest assured that I'll be rectifying my mistake with your life."

"You think you can kill me? Without a wand?" Voldemort laughed. Perhaps Harry wasn't as smart as he'd expected.

Harry drew Draco's wand from his sleeve. "The interesting thing about practicing dark magic is… It doesn't matter if you use your own wand, since the power is atheist to the purity of the core. And by breaking my own wand, it should work better than when we tested it."

"I really have driven you mad." Voldemort came to the realization a moment to late. Harry had already spoken his first spell.

"Crucio." It was spoken as calmly as if Harry had said hello.

They had taught Draco the Unforgivable Curses. He'd never expected him to teach them to Harry. Or that Harry would be able to use as effectively as Voldemort himself. Harry loomed over him, and spoke. "We're too alike, you and I. But you made me this way, created what would destroy you. Killed my parents. Sent me Draco."

"So you're going to kill me?" Voldemort grinned. "Become me? You will, you know. That dark power, it won't go away. That's why no one uses the Curses."

"I'm not going to risk that. The Muggles call it mutual assured destruction. That's why we've never gone all out before. Tonight, I'm ready to die." Harry pressed his wand to Voldemort's forehead. "Imperio."

"You can't control me." He fought with all his power. It had been decades since anyone had dared used these powers on him. Too long. Especially since Draco thought it was amusing to try making Harry do things in class.

"You gave me the gift. The gift of black magic. What did you think I would do with it?" He had Voldemort immobilized by his own brain, but what was to come next was more complicated. He sent the command. "Say it with me, Tom."

"No!" It was a ragged gasp.

"Say it, Tom."

He couldn't stop it. His wand arm lifted until it pressed against Harry's scar. "You are quite mad, Harry Potter. You should have joined me. We could have been a wonderful team. True power."

"We could have. But I'm a Gryffindor, and you're a Slytherin. I'll tell you the same thing I told Justin, Kyle, and Joey. There's no such thing as a happy ending. You shouldn't have used love against me. You tried before." Harry smiled. "I'd like to see my parents again."

"Quite mad." The command came again.

"Yes. Now let's say it together, and end this dance." Harry was still smiling as together they spoke the words that would end a battle almost two decades old.

"Avada Kedavra."

Don't Kill Me!

~ When I look into the mirror, and see a face I don't recognize, I am no longer surprised.
Choose Your Poison at www.angelfire.com/weird/cobalite/index.html
Or, visit my livejournal at www.livejournal.com/users/granitite/

Author's Note: Conversation in // are Draco remember a past conversation with Lord Voldemort. Also, I am a Slytherine with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as her top match. Be warned.