The Boy who lived and The Boy who survived (Drarry)

Chapter 54: The Elder Wand

2 years ago. The Battle of Hogwarts. Hogwarts Castle.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as Draco fell towards the floor, the Elder Wand slowly falling from his hand and rolling away from him. Harry could not move, nor could he speak, it was as if ice had struck his heart whole, leaving no room for him to breathe. Ron, Hermione and Fred rushed forward to help him, as Hermione rested Draco's head on her thigh, waving her wand over him while she breathed quickly in panic and fear.

"There's a pulse! Harry! There's a pulse!"

Harry blinked back into consciousness and found himself moving quickly, no longer stiff and frozen towards the ground. He collapsed to the stone floor, ignoring how the concrete scraped his knees and how painful it felt - it was nothing compared to his heart. He placed his ear onto Draco's chest and listened closely.

A beat.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Hermione pulled out some dittany from her bag, slowly dropping it onto Draco's arm as it healed the flesh at contact, and Harry was amazed at how prepared for anything she was. He looked back up at Draco's pale face, the side of his head was bleeding, his normally immaculate platinum blonde hair was now falling astray from his forehead, almost like he was sleeping. Harry placed his hand over his heart again, trying to reassure himself while feeling the slow pulse of Draco's heart miraculously still beating.

"Indestructible as ever..." Harry placed a chaste kiss on his forehead before turning back to Hermione. They didn't have much time. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Yes. He just needs to rest. He's going to be just fine."

"Harry." The castle grounds seem to shake at Ron's words as Harry looked around, realising that time wasn't on their side. "Harry, I'm sorry, really, but we need to go now."

He looked back at Draco.

"We can't just leave him here!"

"I'll take him, you go ahead! He saved my life!" Fred suddenly appeared next to them, crouching down and picking Draco up, holding him close in a protective manner, as if Draco was his own brother. Percy stood next to his brother, alert with his wand pointed ready for attack. "Go, Harry ! I'll look after him, I promise!"

A loud crash sounded from beside them as more curses came soaring over Harry's head, so close he felt the force of them blow his hair. He knew there was no time left. He turned to look over at where Draco and Fred were to see them sprinting away in the opposite direction to where Harry hoped was safety. Seeing no reason to delay any longer, he turned to Ron and Hermione.

"Let's move, NOW!" Pushing Hermione ahead of him with Ron, they began to run.

Hermione, panting for breath but didn't stop, turned to Harry. "You need to find out where Voldemort is because he'll have the snake with him, won't he? We don't have time Harry, we need to destroy the last Horcrux! Do it, Harry—look inside him!"

Why was it so easy? Because his scar had been burning for hours, yearning to show him Voldemort's thoughts? He closed his eyes on her command, and at once, the screams and bangs and all the discordant sounds of the battle were drowned until they became distant, as though he stood far, far away from them. . . .

He was standing in the middle of a desolate but strangely familiar room, with peeling paper on the walls and all the windows boarded up except for one. The sounds of the assault on the castle were muffled and distant. The single unblocked window revealed distant bursts of light where the castle stood, but inside the room was dark except for a solitary oil lamp. He was rolling his wand between his fingers, watching it, his thoughts on the room in the castle, the secret room only he had ever found, the room, like the chamber, that you had to be clever and cunning and inquisitive to discover. . . He was confident that the boy would not find the diadem. . . although Dumbledore's puppet had come much farther than he ever expected. . . too far. . . .