Moving on

Draco didn't want to think about which part he found worse. That he'd had to witness his own death and see his Mate howl into his lifeless body; the lovers Harry had taken and used or how Harry had turned in the worst possible way on his best friends and tortured them for the time turner. It was hellish. All of it. There just was not a word for it all! Yet, despite all his anger directed at his Godfather, witnessing how Severus had looked out for Harry, befriended him, and saved him! Draco found he couldn't possibly be angry with him anymore. How could he? Severus, in the end, had made the ultimate sacrifice for him. In the back of his mind, he could hear his Godfather's anguished screams... Draco shuddered, as it all swirled and faded away and he was back in their shattered room. No one said anything at first, but then Draco sighed. He scanned the debris that surrounded him and his Mate.

"How could this be happening?"

Harry didn't have a reply to that. The truth was he wasn't entirely sure himself. Those blissful months they had shared together before that Final Battle, were increasingly looking like one hell of a nice long dream.

"Love..."

Harry suddenly found himself answering, and tilted his head up, he looked into Draco's face.

"I love you, too much. I love you more than I love anything or anyone. I turned on them. I turned on the friends that have risked their lives for me for years! I tortured them as if they were nothing – because they were, nothing compared to you. I've always been alone; I've always needed to have someone and to then lose all that we had..."

Harry snorted bitterly, and tears streamed down his face.

"You think I have power over you, Mates are dominant that's what you told me."

Harry shook his head with a sad laugh.

"But it is not nearly so clean cut as that. You joined the Light for me, you would have turned on your own family if they'd tried to kill me, hurt me – The same goes for me, Draco."

Draco looked at him silently, and Harry slowly approached him.

"The difference is Draco, you never had to. If I had died, if for second you imagine that I had died and you had lived, can you tell me you wouldn't have done the same."

Draco stared into those emerald eyes, eyes that now looked haunted and he tried to imagine it. He tried to imagine a world wherein he didn't wake pressed up against Harry's side, or wrapped up in his arms, a world where he was completely alone from his Mate... He couldn't. Harry was everything to his life, he didn't have a life without Harry, he would always fight to keep Harry at his side.

"I can hear his screams..."

Harry whispered, and Draco knew he was talking about Severus. Christ he was having a hard time himself getting that horrible sound out of his own mind.

"I lie awake at night and I can hear him screaming, or her – Ron's dead because of me."

Harry's voice broke, and Draco, almost without realising it fiercely embraced him.

"This world has taken everything from you, you were brought into it eleven years old and you were told you had to save all these people. You've had the weight of the entire Wizarding World on your shoulders and you've held it Harry. You've carried it. You sacrificed everything to save it... There aren't many Veelas left because we're too dangerous Harry."

Draco's voice broke, and he rubbed the side of his face against Harry's.

"It's too dangerous to love the way we do, the way we make our Mates do. This is my fault, Harry."

Harry wrenched himself out of Draco's embrace in shock, his face contorted at once by pain and confusion.

"How can this be your fault? None of this is your fault."

Draco shook his head, and single tears streamed down his face.

"I wanted to understand Harry, what happened to you, what changed you from the Harry I knew! Thought I knew, and now I do. There's a reason Veelas are exempt from Wizarding Law when someone harms our Mates and we retaliate – we're not human, Harry."

The disbelief, the downright anger this provoked in Harry was extreme, and gripping his Veela punishingly, he slammed Draco into the nearest wall.

"Of course you're human! You're Draco Malfoy! You're a man – My man."

Draco shook his head, but his tears had dried now, and silver eyes looked at Harry resigned.

"I'm a man, and I'm definitely your man – but I'm not human. Our love isn't human – it's bigger than that. Dumbledore lied. It isn't our blood that had us hunted, it's our love. The way we love. It's always been about love, Harry. I thought if I died you would be mortal, but I was wrong, I still thought you were human, but you aren't. I've changed you. What you did, I was just kidding myself thinking that I didn't understand it when it's the only thing I do fucking understand."

Harry looked at Draco helplessly; he didn't understand where this was all coming from. Draco looked at him sadly.

"You asked me what I would do if you were dead and I was alive, and I didn't answer, I'm answering now, I would have killed the world Harry. I would have destroyed it and I wouldn't have been satisfied until I did."

Harry stared into Draco's silver eyes. When he spoke, his voice was a whisper.

"Where does that leave us?"

Draco smiled at him, it was both loving and sad and before either of them knew it, they were kissing. Smashing their lips together, wrapping their arms around eachother and refusing to let go – too scared to let go

"We run away..."

Draco whispered against Harry's lips, his voice an excited whisper.

"We run away Harry, and we don't look back..."

Harry pulled away slightly, to look into his Draco's eyes.

"What about your family? What about Severus?"

"My father and mother will be alive for at least another decade to come,- they're understand Harry. Severus, he can come with us or he can stay – we need to get away from here, Harry."

Draco pulled back and waved his arm sadly over the room.

"There's nothing here for us now, one day we can come back here. One day we're come back and we're see everyone again but for now we have to get away..."

Draco smirked at him then, the cold look in his eyes gone and replaced with their usual sparkle and with false arrogance offered Harry his hand.

"So, what do you say? Wanna come and run away with me?"

*FIN*

Thank you to everyone who has read this fic and reviewed, it took an awfully long time to finish it but I can honestly say I've enjoyed every minute of it. A big thank you to my wonderful beta Dracoismyredkryptonite of her continued efforts in correcting my grammar – the story wouldn't be the same without her. I hope you all like the ending and eagerly await your views.

Regards

Lisi the slayer