A/N: Thanks to RF for being the wonderful beta on this.

Chapter Twenty-One

Beneath My Wings

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When they arrived at the fifth Cineplex, the three boys immediately felt a shift in the air around them. The location felt different than the others. Draco wished they could just perform the spell and Apparate away as quickly as possible, but he had spotted the Muggle guard and he knew there was no way Harry was going to let anyone innocent die at their hands.

As they carefully walked around the parameter of the building, they discovered that the Muggle guard was not alone. What had to be the entire London police department was hiding only one block from the Cineplex and the three wizards were easily able to detect the lights. Their presence surprised Ron and Draco greatly, but Harry, after a momentary shock, explained that the first three fires must have been on the Muggle news. The police would be working to prevent further arson and would be monitoring the Cineplexes.

They quickly decided on the best concealment spells. Draco cast Disillusionment Charms on Harry and Ron. While Harry unlocked a side door and crept silently into the theater, Ron returned the favor. Draco went in after Harry and Ron took one quick look around before following. Once inside, Draco was grabbed around the waist and a hand covered his mouth.

"Shh..." Harry whispered and Draco relaxed for a second. He squinted in the dark to see that hundreds of hooded figures were gathered in the main concession area. The quick relief that had spread through his veins at the sound of Harry's voice dissipated and terror returned. They were three against many.

Draco had the presence of mind to cast a Silencing Charm around them as Ron came into the room and spotted the group of Death Eaters.

"Holy fuck!" he exclaimed. Harry quickly shushed him. Ron swallowed thickly and whispered, "What are we going to do?"

Harry shrugged in the darkness. The only source of light in the theatre was coming from the Death Eaters. It was impossible to know how far they could get before they would be detected.

"We should go back... we can do this some other day." It had to be the most brilliant idea Draco ever heard come from Ron's mouth. Unfortunately, Harry could not be persuaded.

"What difference would it make if we came back tomorrow or the next day? We wouldn't be any more prepared, and Voldemort will have had time to call in more reinforcements!" Harry hissed back. Ron swallowed and said no more.

Absently, Draco noticed that he was perspiring at an alarming rate, and his heart was pounding wildly. Looking out at the sea of Death Eaters that awaited him was nearly enough to upset his stomach, as well.

Harry grabbed his hand and together, they stepped into the room. Ron was close behind; in fact, Draco could feel his hot breath on the back of his ear. The ragged breaths were not at all attractive. Draco realized, belatedly, that before stepping into the room, they should have come up with some sort of plan because it only took about five paces before the Death Eaters became aware of their presence.

"IT'S HARRY POTTER!" A nearby female Death Eater shouted, and soon, the entire crowd had turned towards them.

"We're going to die!" Ron sobbed into Draco's ear. He, himself, had been thinking the same thing, but judging by the look of defiance on Harry's face, he thought it best not to voice his agreement.

Harry walked into the lit area with his wand held high, a natural soldier. Draco also had his wand held high; he only wished he looked half as confident as his partner.

The crowd parted and Harry's hand tightened its hold as they realized that it was Lord Voldemort making his way towards them.

"What do you want to do?" Draco asked Harry under his breath.

Harry kept his eyes on the crowd as he answered. "Everyone seems to be gathered here. When I give the signal, you and Ron should Apparate up to the balcony." Draco looked past the Death Eaters and saw the stairs leading up to the balcony entrances, all of which looked entirely empty. "Barricade the stairs," Harry continued, "and do what you can from there. Use any means necessary. If you see an opportunity to destroy the building, you should take it."

Voldemort was within firing range; Harry cast a Shielding Charm and shouted, "Go!"

Sparing no time, Ron and Draco Apparated to the top floor of the Cineplex and blocked off the stairs with a series of spells. Draco attempted a simple burning charm on the walls, but once again, it was entirely unsuccessful.

He turned to Ron. "Fight off the Death Eaters, use every spell you know. I'm going to work on burning this place down."

Ron nodded, going to the rails overlooking the scene below, and began blasting away at the Death Eaters gathered around Harry and Voldemort. By sheer luck, Ron's first spell set fire to Voldemort's robes.

"KILL THEM!" he shouted to his minions.

Draco dodged spells that were being sent their way as he ran from theater to theater, making sure they were in the clear. He would never hear the end of it if they happened to kill a Muggle. Once he was sure the area was clear, he found a spot furthest from where the Death Eaters were and closed his eyes.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" he yelled, making sure to keep his wand arm steady as he made the zigzagging motion with his wrist. He opened his eyes to see that the wall where the spell had hit was crumbling and all around it, wood and stone were disintegrating. He let out a whoop of joy and went back to Ron.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, ducking to avoid a jet of green light.

"Voldemort's circling Harry, but so far he hasn't been able to land any curses. Harry's looking pretty good at the moment." He stopped to stun a Death Eater that was attempting to fly towards them. The fellow froze in mid air and dropped, like a heavy stone, onto a pair of Death Eaters below. "Oh, the snake's here. It's circling the doors, do you see it? It's over there." Ron pointed towards the doors that they had come in through and Draco spotted the scaly tail as it slithered by.

He grimaced. "The spell worked, I think we've got a few minutes before we have to evacuate. Think we can take her?"

Ron was hitting every Death Eater that looked their way with Sectumsempra; "Sure," he said, jumping to avoid a nasty looking yellow spell. As he straightened, Draco noticed the large gash on the side of his face, and that he was carrying his wand in his left hand, while the right hung limp.

"You sure you're all right? You can Apparate out, we'll save the snake for next time."

Ron shook his head. "I've seen worse days. We should move anyway, I don't know how long these boneheads can go on before one of them realizes that they can Apparate up here."

Draco laughed and with a nod, they Apparated. They ended up just out of view of the concession area, and right beside the snake. From there, they could hear the battle between Voldemort and Harry. Neither seemed ready to back down. In fact, from the anger and frustration in Voldemort's shouts, it was almost possible to imagine that he was surprised at how well Harry was doing.

Then the snake spotted them, and neither gave any more thought to Harry or Voldemort.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Draco shouted, and waited for the snake to fall lifeless. She never did; instead she rose higher, angry, and attacked. She missed them by inches. Draco had fallen, and he could feel shooting pain down his right leg. He tried to stand, only to cry out in distress.

"At least we tried," Ron said, helping him up. The room was covered in smoke, the top floor was falling in. They needed to find Harry and leave.

Ron, the stronger of the two, helped Draco nearer to the door. The smoke had also forced Nagini always from the doors, so their passage was clear. They saw Harry; he had taken a fall, but he spotted them and nodded. He looked injured, but better off than the pair of them. He made towards them, with Voldemort hot on his tail. "Apparate!" he shouted.

Ron and Draco left just as the roof began to collapse above them. And when they arrived on the steps of Grimmauld Place, Harry was not in sight.

Tears immediately flowed down Draco's face. In fact, he was so panicked that he did not at once realize that he had lived. For a second, he waited for a white light and pearly gates. He shook his head. Once he was in control of himself, he grabbed Ron. "Harry! We must go back!"

Ron nodded. They arrived right outside the front doors, where the Muggle police were stationed. The building had collapsed and the rubble had turned to dust. Most of the Death Eaters had Apparated in time, but they still saw bodies lined in the rubble. And no sign of Harry.

They walked towards the area where Voldemort and he had been dueling.

"HARRY!" Draco yelled, spotting the raven-haired savior squatted in front of a giant dead snake.

"Sorry," he said as Draco limped over. "I didn't have energy left to Apparate."

Draco dragged his leg over a large rock and winced. Harry noticed and quickly stood to help. As soon as he was near enough, Draco grabbed him and kissed him fiercely. "You can't leave me, understand? I won't let you go that easy."

Harry smiled and laughed lightly. "The Muggles are watching us, we better go before they start questioning us. Ron, how you holding up?" he asked, as they walked away from the destruction.

Ron smiled brightly through the dried blood on his face. "Alright! Could use a shower, but I'm not complaining."

"Anyone bring a Portkey?" Harry asked, noticing that the Muggles were approaching.

Ron dug into his pocket. "I have one to headquarters." He tapped a tapped a small plastic polar bear with his wand and they each grabbed hold.

Draco felt the pull of the Portkey and the warmth of Harry's body as they sped towards Headquarters and he let the relief sink in. They had destroyed the only thing remaining between them and Voldemort's destruction.

At Headquarters, Tonks was waiting for them with her arms crossed. "We got a report that another Cineplex was destroyed in London. Fifteen minutes later, a report came back that Harry Potter was dueling with Lord Voldemort..."

Harry cut her off; he was having trouble catching his breath after the Portkey. "I don't think I can handle this right now." Draco nodded. He looked to Ron, who nodded in understanding.

Tonks, now noticing the state of all three, immediately came to their aid. She and Ron helped Harry inside, while Draco tried desperately not to collapse from the pain in his leg as he followed. They made it to the drawing room, where they both collapsed onto the couch. Ron and Tonks left to find medical help. Harry immediately fell asleep against Draco's side. The blond did his best not to move. He didn't want to disturb Harry, but he also had to deal with tremendous pain in his left leg.

He extended the leg as far as he could handle and pointed his wand. He closed his eyes just in case his healing spells hadn't improved with the bonding.

"All right there, Malfoy?" Tonks asked, coming into the room with tea.

"Are you good with healing charms?" He pointed to his broken ankle.

She nodded confidently. "Sure! No problem! Just take a jiffy..." Draco closed his eyes as she waved her wand. He tried to move his leg.

"You have got to be kidding me!" He opened his eyes and yes, everything was just as he expected. "Professor Lockhart, is that you? Have they released you from St. Mungo's already?"

Even Tonk's hair turned red. "I'll find some Skele-Gro." She hurried off. Draco closed his eyes and tried to be grateful that the pain was gone, even if his leg no longer had bones.

To his right, Harry nuzzled against his neck. The nuzzling was shortly followed by a chaste kiss and a pronounced yawn. "We need to get home. I don't want people fussing in the morning."

"Can you handle another Portkey?" Draco asked, tangling his fingers in Harry hair. "I wouldn't want you to fall out and land on a highway somewhere."

Harry laughed weakly. "I think in this situation, it's you who probably shouldn't be using magical transportation. What do you think about a cab?"

Draco was silent. "Well," he said carefully. "I don't really think about cabs."

Harry laughed, this time stronger than before. "Being near you makes me feel better... I bet if you kissed me, I'd be ready to kill a thousand Death Eaters."

Damn his emotions! Draco couldn't help but feel a tug at his heartstrings, and a new wetness in his eyes. He didn't respond.

Harry placed a follow up kiss on his neck. "Don't be ashamed to cry, Draco." At this remark, Draco turned his head and looked into Harry's bright green eyes.

"First of all, a Malfoy is not ashamed of anything. And secondly, I was not going to cry. If perhaps there are tears in my eyes, they are there because what I have been through has been stressful and traumatic. Not, I assure you, because you put your bony arse at risk, once again. Put me at risk, at that!" The tears were flowing quite freely at this point, and Draco's voice was more weak and wavering than steady and clear.

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco and pulled him to his chest. As Draco cried, Harry was unsure of how to best comfort him. He remembered a song he used to hear on the radio when he was a child. In his cupboard, he would sing it at night, imagining his mother there with him. It had always made him feel better. That said, he only remembered bits and pieces of the words. He hadn't thought of the song in years.

"Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be. I could fly higher than an eagle... if you are the wind beneath my wings," he hummed as quietly as possible, lest Sirius' mother heard him and began to wail. "It might appear to go... unnoticed, but I've got it here in my heart. I want you to know the truth... I would be nothing without you."

Sometime in the middle of his atrocious singing, Draco had stopped crying. When he finished, he felt Draco chuckle into his shirt.

Harry sighed. "I couldn't think of what to do, and I used to sing that song when I... but never mind, I should just be glad it made you laugh."

Draco shifted, and looked up at him. He smiled and placed a quick peck to Harry's dry lips. Harry automatically closed his eyes in anticipation. Draco waited a moment, staring at Harry's open expression, thinking it was impossible to love anything so much.

He gave Harry his kiss and more. When Tonks walked in with a large bottle of Skele-Gro, she had to clear her throat three times before they stopped.

"Uh..." she started, her hair still red, "Ron said you two might want to head home, so I brought a Portkey... but I think it's good if you two wait for Madam Pomfrey... we sent word to Hogwarts for her, since we can't take you to St. Mungo's..."

Harry shook his head fervently, already getting to his feet, and hauling Draco up with him. "We're fine, Tonks, Draco will take the Skele-Gro and we'll see Madam Pomfrey in the morning... she can patch up any other cuts and bruises that we can't heal ourselves. Right now, however, we are going home."

Tonks did not stand in their way. She handed over the Portkey and said she'd be by in the afternoon with the medi-witch.

Draco, unable to balance himself, was more than happy to let Harry scoop him into his masculine arms as the Portkey was activated and they traveled through space and time toward home.

They arrived, most gratefully, in their bedroom, where Harry laid Draco in his bed and gave him the Skele-Gro to drink. "This is probably the most disgusting potion on the market... try not to spit it out, all right?" Draco nodded and drank. It burnt his throat and the immediate pain it cause was almost unbearable, but he managed to keep drinking it down. Before he took the sleeping draught that Harry brought him from the medicine drawer, he had a final request. He tugged on Harry's arm until the other boy sat on the bed.

"Don't try to leave me, Potter. I want you near, so I can strangle you in the morning for nearly dying."

Harry laughed and went about undressing them both for the night.

A/N: First, I'm sorry it's taken over a year for this. I'm not going to going to lie and make promises about chapter 22, I'm just going to say that I miss the boys and I want to see a resolution to this.