Summary: She was the crack in the white marble tiles of his bathroom… She was the raindrop in a perfectly clear sunny day… She was the splinter in his otherwise clear vision… The imperfection in his perfect world… the only thing that made him question all he had ever been taught, without uttering a word.
But she has also been the candlelight in the pitch-black night… the lighthouse calling for a boat in the dark sea… A beacon in the distance, telling him that not all was lost…
And now her fire was out…
He couldn't deal with it!
But he got her back...Maybe this was the universe giving him a chance?
Disclaimer: I own nothing you can recognize!
Everything is silent…
like the sounds are muted…
Nothing moves…
like someone paused the world…
He stares at her… or what used to be her... The shell lying on the floor is no more her than the pictures in the paintings are his ancestors.
She has left the room… left the world… but he still doesn't believe it.
So, he stands silent with the world and waits for a sign of life…
a rise of her chest…or a blink of her eye…
anything to give away she's still here…
that there's still hope.
But the seconds tick…and she's still lying there… her hazel eyes closed, her wild hair partly on her face, marred with her own blood… the scar in her hand still dripping it… blood…crimson and pure…
Please… he whispers in his mind and finally briefly closes his eyes… Please bring her back.
Because he has no idea what he's supposed to do now.
She has been nothing but an enemy, to him all these years at school…he has never exchanged two civil words with her… and yet…no one ever knew what her mere presence was for him.
She was the crack in the white marble tiles of his bathroom… She was the raindrop in a perfectly clear sunny day… She was the splinter in his otherwise clear vision… The imperfection in his perfect world… the only thing that made him question all he had ever been taught, without uttering a word.
But she has also been the candlelight in the pitch-black night… the lighthouse calling for a boat in the dark sea… A beacon in the distance, telling him that not all was lost.
And now her fire was out.
He couldn't deal with it!
All these years… ever since the Dark Lord rise again… He had done everything that was asked of him… everything from the stupid small things, like stealing from the library to the horrible deeds that can never be undone… he had done them all because that was the only road he saw for himself… but somewhere in the corner of his mind, he had always hoped for them… the golden trio…and the order… to prove his master wrong.
And she had been the shining star presenting his hope.
Because she was against everything the Dark Lord taught his followers to believe in.
Potter might be the chosen one… but she was the evidence… the reason the world even needed Potter in the first place.
He'd known it from the first time he saw her… and he'd hated her for that… Hated her with passion… and yarned her all the same.
And now... looking at her broken body on the floor…
he felt like he was going to die too.
Suddenly an image of her in the pile of bodies flashes his mind… she shouldn't be burned like the other victims of the death eater rage… She was too pure…too important…to be disposed of like all others… she should be laid to rest somewhere with flowers in her hair and the people who loved her around.
There was nothing else he could ever have given her… but this he could give!
So, he raises his wand and casts a quick Stupefy to the only two persons in the room anymore: his parents.
And like in slow motion his feet carry him to her body… his hands pick her up, only to notice she was way too thin to be healthy.
She is in his arms…
she should have been there a long time ago…
maybe then he would have woken up…
maybe then he could have saved her…
Now, it was all too late.
He holds her petite form against his chest and apparates.
.
.
.
He lands to the yard of his mother's cottage.
Here he could possibly find a place to bury her facing the sunrise.
There is no way he'd be able to get her a proper burial… but at least she'd rest in a place…as beautiful as her.
But the moment his feet touch the ground, she inhales…
a breath of life rising her chest.
His heart misses a beat… and hope stirs in him once more.
Instead of burying her on the ground, he carries her inside and lays her down in the bed.
He'd never been much of a healer, but at least he could try to do his best.
Because if he did nothing, she was sure not to survive.
He still wasn't quite sure how she could be alive…
she had been dead… long gone…
He was sure of it… Bellatrix too had been sure of it as she left the room.
Thinking of Bellatrix makes him think of the other Death Eaters in his house… they would find his parents soon.
Shit… He needed to do something…and he needed to do it fast!
"Dipsy!"
With a faint, Pop, his house-elf appears in the middle of the room.
"Yes, master!"
"Dipsy! I need you to listen very carefully!"
The elf had been his personal servant for as long as he could remember. Most times, especially when he was younger, he had been cruel and horrible towards it… only recently had he started to try and treat the elf with some respect.
Maybe it was because of Her too…
But the elves were loyal…and tonight he was going to put Dipsy's loyalty to the ultimate test.
"I'm going to give you clothes." He starts and realizes it was a mistake as the elf begins to cry,
"NONONONONONO, Master, please! Dipsy's been a good elf! Dipsy never failed master! Dipsy always did his bidding! What has poor Dipsy done to deserve clothes?"
"Shut up Dipsy!" He snaps, and the elf immediately shuts her mouth, but her big eyes are still filled with tears.
"I asked you to listen carefully! Don't interrupt me before I've stopped talking!" Maybe he was being overly cruel, but it was an emergency situation after all. "I'm going to give you clothes, but I hope you'll continue to serve me. I'm asking, not forcing you to. It's not because you haven't done your job, it's because I can't risk other people calling you! I'm an outlaw now Dipsy… they are going to come after me… and she…" He glances at the girl in the bed, "She is going to be in danger until the war is done… maybe even after that… And she is in no condition to run… I… We, me and you Dipsy, we need to heal her… we need to make sure she doesn't die…"
Because I need her… He thinks, but won't say out loud.
"Of course Dipsy will serve young master even as a free elf! Dipsy will be the best free elf! Dipsy promises…"
"Yes, I believe so." There's no time for babbling, he throws a sock at the elf and the tiny thing beams at him.
"What does master want Dipsy to do?"
"I want you to go to the manor and fetch me my things. Bring my school trunk, some clothes, whatever you can grab… Also, if you can get some healing gear with you, that would be great. But don't let anyone see you! Then get Dobby to save the people from the dungeon…tell him Harry Potter needs help, that should do it."
Dipsy only nods and then she's gone.
He turns back to the girl, lying in the white sheets… she's pale and the blood in her hair has dried, but the faint rise and fall of her chest tells him she's still breathing.
Even if he doesn't quite understand how that's possible.
She was dead… he was sure of it…
She was already gone… and then she came back.
how was it possible?
.
.
.
He heals what he can, hoping it's enough.
The small cuts and bruises are easy… but the scar in her hand, screaming: MUDBLOOD, to his face… doesn't fade even a bit.
It makes him sick… staring at the word carved to her skin.
He'd called her that… more times than one…
Because it was what was expected of him.
He makes himself sick.
To get away from the accusation of her scar he gets up and wards the house.
No one really goes here anymore… they have more luxurious estates to spend their time in… even though no one goes there either.
No one escapes the war…
They used to come here in the summers when he was a child… him and his mother, when Lucius was on a business trip.
He doesn't recall his father ever being here with them…
But he does remember who was: Andromeda… His mother's sister, who no one spoke of.
"This is our little secret Draco. You are never to talk about our visits here to anyone!" Mother had said.
And he had believed… pushed the memory of this place and of two sisters laughing together, in the back of his mind until it felt as if he'd dreamed it all along.
No one was going to look for him here… But he wanted to make sure…
just in case…
He was not going to let her die again!
Dipsy is back with his stuff… He takes the potion gear out, hoping his godfather could be here to tell him what would work the best.
But Severus too is too deep in the darkness.
Almost like Voldemort had killed his uncle Sev and replaced him with a puppet that only remotely looks like him… like his parents… like himself…
But he knows potions better than he knows healing charms… he trusts them more.
.
.
.
He doesn't dare to leave the room… so he sits on the small couch keeping an eye on her… making sure she keeps breathing.
Once or twice he doses of and wakes up in panic, only to see she's still sleeping…and breathing.
Finally, he calls Dipsy to look after the Girl and sleeps for a couple hours of uneasy sleep.
Rest of the night he sits next to her…wondering if there's something more he could do for her.
In the early hours of the morning she opens her eyes.
He has no idea what he should say… But before he gets to think of anything even remotely clever, her confused face distracts him.
"You're safe!" He blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind, "Don't try to move! I'm not sure how badly you're hurt!"
She looks at him and he has no idea what to make of the expression on her face.
She sits up in her bed and before he knows what he's doing he's standing beside her, to make sure she won't get up before he's sure she's okay.
But she doesn't even try to get up… instead, she puts her arms around him and buries her face into his abdominal.
"God, I'm so glad you're here!" She mumbles against him.
And even though he has no idea what's going on… he soothes her messy hair and whispers: "It's ok, you're safe now…"