Time limit - Draco Malfoy x male oc

Chapter 14

Miku stumbled away from Ron after rapidly signing for the red head to stay put. Although his body was in no condition to be helping the rag-tag group of heroes, after a few minutes of standing, he had started feeling slightly guilty for the predicament that the golden trio had gotten themselves into. One petrified, one a baby sitter for a useless teacher, the other probably dashing towards his death to save Ginny. So he had conceded and decided to help. Properly this time.

(Since it was his fault they were in this situation in the first place.)

Maybe it was him who had accidentally dropped the heavy book on her foot, coincidentally open to the page describing the basilisk before running away, without apologising. He winced, recalling her pained expression before he had made his mad dash back to the Slytherin dormitory.

Well, he had left a 'Merry Christmas' note on it, so it should be fine. Maybe. 

Miku shook his head, dragging himself through a variety of tunnels, somehow navigating his way through the mess of hidden passages.

Thank god he had explored every single nook and cranny of Hogwarts in his first year. Without that prior knowledge, he wouldn't have been able to slip through an alternate entrance to the chamber - that he may or may not have literally fallen into halfway through his first year - and sink unnoticed to the ground, resting against the rusted bars with the peculiar certainty that if he remained still, Harry would come to him.

True to his speculation, the panicked pattering of feet and heavy breathing alerted Miku of the other boy's presence and he shot to his feet, stretched one hand out and snatched at Harry's clothing, dragging him into the dead end. A startled noise escaped the younger boy as he tried to speak, but Miku muffled the attempts by clasping his hand over his mouth. The hissing of the basilisk silence Harry's struggles, Miku sagging heavily onto the rough wall as it slithered toward them.

Miku backed them up, pressing them both down against the bars. The basilisk grew closer, jaws stretching wide, revealing pointy teeth, blasting them in hot air.

Ew, stinky breath.

Miku recoiled from the smell with distaste while Harry bent, grabbed a stone and threw it. Immediately, the snake's head turned towards the sound, the gruesome sight of its gauged eyes disappearing as it withdrew and chased after the decoy. 

When it's huge body had slithered out of sight, Harry turned to Miku, the questions - How? What? Why? - clear on his face, but one look at the overly pale boy had him downing those inquiries and rushing forward to support him. The sheer effort of standing made beads of sweat dribble down Miku's face, a sickly sheen wrapping itself around him as Harry (mostly) dragged him into the large cavernous area where Tom Riddle and Ginny awaited them.

Harry dropped Miku, leaving him to sink to the ground in a puddle of water as he ran to Ginny's side.

I save you and you leave me for a girl?

The thought was hazy and his brain couldn't process Tom's words as he spoke, only catching the last bit of his sentence.

"... in a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead." 

Well then, I guess it's a battle between who will live longer. Me or-

Miku hunched over, hands slapping rapidly over his chapped lips, the warm liquid that flowed from them drenching his hands as Tom Riddle spared him an uncharacteristically sympathetic glance.

"Your friend over there will be joining her too, so do not fret, she will not be lonely." At the sardonic words, Harry's head whipped around, noticing the crimson liquid dripping through Miku's hands with a concerned exclamation.

The Basilisk burst from the water with an earsplitting scream.

A sound that could rival the Mandrake's.  

Miku, despite his original purpose to help Harry, was now clutching his chest, his body curling into itself as Harry seized a sword, brandishing the weapon at the snake momentarily before running to the huge stone structure, climbing up it haphazardly. He swung the sword at the basilisk, struggling for a few seconds before clambering up the rest of the carving. Facing off with the monster, his feud useless in its face.

Miku shoved aside his pain, pushing himself back to his feet yet again. The basilisk advanced on Harry, his sword cast out of reach, leaving the hero defenseless. Stumbling forward, Miku threw himself - quite literally - onto the body of the overgrown reptile, distracting it. In the few seconds that it took for the basilisk to displace Miku with a swing of it's massive tail -  making Miku bounce painfully over the ground, recently bandaged wounds tearing open,  revealing the damage done to his delicate body - Harry was able to seize the sword and when the snake turned back, he stabbed it through the mouth.

With a scream of pain, (that Miku could unfortunately relate to.), the basilisk flailed, before falling to the ground, head narrowly missing Miku as it died. Even in his current state, Miku could feel Tom Riddle's anger. As his consciousness faded and Harry fell to the floor next to Ginny's body, he vaguely considered whether or not the missing tooth in the basilisks mouth was in Harry's possession, and even went so far as to grumble over the fact that poisoning wasn't the nicest way to die. But as his thoughts fell away, a small clink stole the remaining bit of Miku's consciousness.

With a whimper, he looked down, golden eyes widening at the hourglass pendant that had cracked on the stone.

No.

Tears, salty on his bloody lips, burnt a trail through the dirt that had covered his stricken features. The grains of sand in the hourglass were slowing, each one falling slower than the one before.

Thud.

A grain fell, Miku's fingers that had grabbed desperately at his clothing slackened.

Thud.

Another grain. The gap between Miku's breath's were longer. Longer, longer, until his shallow gasps were barely visible.

Thud.

The final grain fell. Miku's heart stuttered painfully in his chest.

Tom Riddle's spirit dissipated, Harry triumphing over the evil, his full attention on Ginny as she sat up. Neither of them noticed Miku's body go painfully still. 

'Time Limit'

'noun'

'a limit of time within which something must be done.'