Paper Cranes ||Drarry||

Paper Cranes

Draco felt like he was floating. His mind drifted from thought to thought, hesitant to linger on any one thing for too long.

It was peaceful, and he was unbothered by anything. Sometimes, he felt a ghost of a presence somewhere outside the fog of his head, but he felt no need to acknowledge it.

It was nice, here in his floaty world.

He sank deeper...

~*~

A new presence was outside his walls. It was brighter than the others, and more invasive.

It seemed to encompass Draco in a warmth, and yet, Draco felt annoyed with it. It constantly pulsed in front of his eyes, demanding attention.

But Draco didn't want to pay attention to it. He wanted to sink ever further into the fuzz in his mind.

But that presence was persistent.

~*~

Sometimes, that golden presence leaves Draco to fade away. At first it was relieving, but now whenever it left, Draco's world of fluff felt cold and sharp and prickly.

Uncomfortable.

Draco wanted his light to stay. To pulse in that annoying way, as if it were speaking.

And one day, that want came true. The presence had seemed apprehensive when it came back, earlier than usual mind you. Its pulses were sporadic instead of rhythmic. That is, until he felt something press into his hands. He looked down, but saw nothing.

Nothing but whisps of grey from the clouds.

But then he heard a murmur; distant and muffled.

"....paper crane... Draco.... help?"

A paper crane, huh? He squinted at the most in his hands and smiled. Silly light. What an active imagination.

~*~

Every time the presence appeared from then on, another wisp of cloud was added to Draco's person.

He liked it, because sometimes the clouds pulsed with warmth, like his light, even when the presence went away.

And sometimes, Draco even caught snippets of dialogue from the presence, who Draco had finally dubbed Harry (it just seemed fitting), like things about Quidditch, and other daily happenings.

Draco was... content.

~*~

There was a bad taste in Draco's mouth as his eyes blinked open. Kind of like a mix of ash and piss, and he swallowed a few times to get rid of it.

Next, there was the light, which bled through paper thin curtains and directly onto Draco's face. He wrinkled his nose and turned his head the other way with great effort.

Everything felt sluggish and slow, and his body felt zapped of all energy.

He heard noise somewhere in the distance. Shouting, maybe, and a door opening and closing, but before he could investigate, he slipped back under the waves of sleep.

The next time he woke, things made a lot more sense.

He was in a hospital- most likely St. Mungos- and he was absolutely surrounded by dozens of origami cranes.

With a shaking, pale hand, he reached out and grabbed the nearest one. A traditional white one, but with a dopey face drawn on it. It felt warm. He felt his lips curl into a smile, barely registering the raised voices outside his room until the door was opening.

He turned, feeling the golden pull of his light, truly seeing it for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

Tangled raven hair, round glasses, glowing green eyes, and a gawping expression.

His name was on Draco's lips without a thought.

"Harry."

//unedited//
//word count: 560//