Shattered Castle

2

honk if you love geese

"Harry!" Harry hears Ron's voice call out, and his arm is thrown around Harry's shoulders. Harry flinches away from him, unable to stop the automatic reaction after learning what Ron did to him. Ron's arm falls away.

"Ron!" Hermione shrieks, rushing up to him. "I'm sorry, Harry, he forgets that you don't remember us." She glares at Ron.

"Do you even try to remember us?" Ron asks irritably. "I'm sure if you just tried-"

"I don't know you," Harry replies coldly, unable to remove the venom from his voice. He stalks away.

He almost instantly feels bad, because despite meaning what he said to Ron (he doesn't know him, not anymore), by extension his words must have sounded like he was talking to Hermione too, and Hermione doesn't deserve that.

He keeps walking though, because if he turns back around he'll have to face Ron, and he can't do that, not now. If he faces Ron right now nothing will stop him from screaming at him, and inevitably the truth will come out.

The necklace warms, almost uncomfortably so, and Harry sticks his hands in his sweatshirt pocket, brought back to Earth a bit from the heat of it, and grateful for Draco.

He turns down a corridor, going up the stairs and rushing into the abandoned fourth-floor classroom he and Draco had discovered weeks ago.

"Harry," Draco breathes, and Harry hugs him tightly without saying anything. "What happened? Christ, your necklace almost froze my throat, I had to take it off!"

Harry notices Draco's necklace sitting on the chair. Sure enough, frost has gathered around the silver chain, covering the H on the pendant.

Draco pulls away, hands coming to rest on Harry's shoulders. "Love, are you alright?"

"I don't know if I can keep doing this," Harry replies hoarsely. His hands are shaking and he doesn't think he can stop them. "I want to strangle Ron, but I have to pretend I don't know him and I miss Hermione and I want to tell her everything and I can't, and Dean already knows I'm gay and God knows if he told Seamus and then that's three people who already know and how much fucking longer do I have to pretend to not know you, because it's killing me to see you around and not be able to talk to you because I don't know you! At least when I had my fucking memory I could argue with you! Pretending you don't exist is a million times worse."

"Harry," Draco says softly, pulling Harry in for another hug. "I'm sorry, love."

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted."

"You're right, people are going to find out eventually, but we had an agreement when we started this relationship. We would get a year to ourselves, a year for our relationship to just be for us and no one else. One year we get to have each other without homophobic taunts in the Prophet and the hallways and the streets and everywhere around us."

"I know," Harry whispers. "It's just so hard, pretending I don't remember anything. I wish I could tell Hermione I remember her, but I can't tell anyone yet."

"But she'll tell Weasley, and Weasley will tell... everyone." Draco's face is paler than usual. "Fuck, Harry, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't started that argument, Weasley would have never found us and I could have used any spell other than Obliviate, Merlin, I ruined this for us."

"It's not your fault, Draco. You couldn't have known. It's his fault this is happening. Don't blame yourself."

"How can I not, when you're so upset?" Draco replies softly. "I never meant to hurt you."

Harry hugs him again, unable to respond. 

He only hopes there is a light at the end of this tunnel.