Making a New World - Moment by Moment Book #7 (Harry Potter, Drarry)

The Whims of Victory

It took Draco only a few minutes to gather up the things he wanted, mostly personal items like books and pictures. During the gathering process, Draco had put Ron in charge of keeping Harry out of trouble, which was mortifying, but Harry had submitted to the worry in his lover and hoped to get out of the dungeon quickly. Even after they headed up the stairs, Harry found himself flanked first front and back and then when they came up into the entrance hall, right and left by his companions. From there, the trio headed to the Great Hall, from where they assumed the coordination was being done.

Ron and Draco hadn't stopped muttering about inept Aurors all the way, but Harry was staying out of it, keeping silent and going over the closeness he had felt with him magic. He was still running it through his mind when he walked into the Great Hall, and a tug of those instincts made him look up and to his right. He came to a smart halt, thus forcing his protective companions to also stop, and he let his jaw drop in shock as he saw a large plaque on the wall that had definitely not been there the last time he had been present.

The stone carving was about twelve feet wide by eight or so feet high with scrolled edges. However, it was the contents that made Harry stride over to it for a better view, rubbing his eyes like he would have done his glasses if he'd still been wearing them. The thing that had caught his attention was a picture carved in relief on the right of the panel: it was unmistakably he and Draco caught in a moment that had only been witnessed by them. Harry was lying limp in his lover's arms, naked, dead, the hole in his chest from the stab wound clearly visible. Draco was kneeling, cradling him, his back to viewer, but his face in profile and the anguish in his features was undeniable. The image sent a chill right through Harry with its stark honesty, but defences against the difficult scene made him angry and he glanced at Draco, who looked back at him, a similar emotion on his face.

"I forgot you two hadn't seen this," Ron informed them casually, the fact that he was still looking up at it in a captivated kind of way making him oblivious to his companion's reaction to the carving. "It just appeared after all that poem in the sky stuff."

At that point, Harry found his eyes being drawn back to the plaque, and he noted that words to the left of the image were indeed that same poem, but his anger dragged him away once more and he accused of Ron, "I'm dead. And naked. On the wall!"

Ron did not seem to understand his anger, and he just shrugged as Harry fumed and observed, "But you can't see anything embarrassing, Draco's in the way."

"Crying," Draco added, pointing repeatedly and sounding just as annoyed as Harry.

"It's poignant," Ron returned with another shrug, sounding like he was quoting his wife.

Harry looked back at Draco, despairing of the fact that his best friend had suddenly discovered art, and, once again, his feelings were mirrored. In union, the pair turned back to the plaque. Draco waved his wand and cast, "Manifesto!"

A pair of plush velvet curtains appeared either side of the carving and with a wave of hand, Harry closed them. The feelings of privacy invasion and anger dimmed immediately. However, they lasted as long as it took the curtains to spontaneously combust. Harry and Draco took rapid steps back, and there were shrieks from around the room as the cloth burst into flame. With a depressing feeling of inevitability, Harry watched the curtains burn and disappear in front of his eyes.

"I do believe," a familiar voice made all three young men turn, and Albus was stood in front of the gathered company of their friends, smiling serenely as he finished, "that Hogwarts wishes that plaque to be seen, and I have found in my dealings with this building, that there is no manner of magic that may combat such a wish."

Harry hrmphed, but didn't say anything, knowing deep down that his mentor was correct.

"Is that any face to greet us with?" Molly pushed through the group and immediately went to her boys.