The Domino Effect [DRARRY]

16.

Well I don't think you like me. Well I hate you as well. No one seems to like you, wish I couldn't tell. Come on, abuse me more, I like it. Come on, keep talking cause it's true - Silverchair

It was after dinner and while the rest of the school was off doing whatever it was they did after dinner, Harry was down in the dungeons with Snape. Training. Which was really little more than torture practice when it all boiled down. Snape would sling curses and Harry would dodge them, counter them or simply stand still and let them hit him. It all depended on Snape's instruction.

And his mood.

Which tonight, was definitely foul and needless to say, Harry found himself on the floor writhing under the Cruciatus curse, far sooner than he had expected. He wondered, while in the throes of agony, what exactly Snape was going to do to curb his anger once Voldemort was truly gone and Harry was no longer at Hogwarts. He pitied the students left behind.

He was ten minutes into the curse now and the capillaries in his eyes had burst, he had bitten almost clear through his tongue to keep from screaming, he had pulled his hair out in clumps, and was pretty sure he'd cracked his elbow on his way down the first time. All in all, he was holding up fairly well.

Snape wouldn't let it go on for more than fifteen minutes, and he knew without a doubt that the last five were the easiest. By this time he could still feel the pain but his body had accepted it. When he stopped fighting it, it became easier. It was as if he had always lived with this pain and he welcomed it; embraced it even. He'd been told by the only two people who had seen him endure this - Dumbledore and Snape - that he got creepy during the last five minutes, that he laughed, smiled, and sometimes even sighed as if he was enjoying it. It never failed to freak Snape out, which was the main reason Harry still allowed him to do this.

Ah, yes, and there it was, the beginnings of madness had set in. His lips curved upwards, his mouth opened, and a maniacal sounding laugh erupted from his throat. He opened his eyes and locked them on Snape; saw the revulsion on his face. He laughed harder.

~!~

Following Harry down into the lower dungeons wasn't what Draco had planned to do after dinner, but somehow he knew it was what Harry wanted. Why else would he have made a point of giving him his cloak before dinner and winking at him?

Now that he was here however, he wasn't sure if he should be fascinated by what he was seeing or horrified. It had been all right at first. Snape and Harry had faced off with wands drawn; Snape had thrown some very nasty and somewhat dangerous curses at Harry who either ducked out of the way of them or reflected them. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. The way Harry had moved, the confidence he showed, the nasty grin on his face when he reflected one of the curses back on Snape and the other man wasn't quick enough to get out of the way.

It was sweet, but oh how Harry was paying for it now.

Draco was familiar with the Cruciatus. He had cast it himself during his Dark Arts training and had been the unfortunate recipient of the curse one time. Only one time, thank Merlin, and he never wanted to feel it again. But watching Harry writhing on the floor, blood pooling from between his lips, fingers tangling and then pulling free from his hair leaving clumps of fine ebony silk falling away from his head was almost too much to bear.

He had almost thrown up when Harry's eyes snapped open and he could see they were full of blood. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew Harry wanted him to see this, wanted him to remain hidden, he would have stunned Severus Snape and kicked the man in the bollocks for what he was doing.