never let me go

the fall

Note: This bonus chapter is a rewrite of chapter 29: plummet. All events and dialogue are the same but it is from Draco's perspective instead of Harry's.

TW: PTSD, panic attacks, self harm (mentioned).

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James Arthur – Train Wreck

"I'm not ready to die, not yet

Pull me out, pull me out."

Draco drifted in and out of consciousness; for how long, he wasn't sure. When he was somewhat lucid, he tried to stand, to take the weight off his wrists, but he was too weak to hold the position for long. The rope cut into his skin, rubbing it raw, reopening the wounds each time he shifted so that blood dripped down and mingled with the crusted over cuts on his forearms. In his wakefulness, he knew that Lucius was no longer there, dragging the tip of his wand over his cuts, mocking what Draco had done to himself. But in the fits of sleep in between those moments of clarity, he felt like his father was still there, tormenting him.

Draco felt he was losing track of what was real.

"Draco?"

The voice came from the other side of the room. Draco struggled to open his eyes and lift his head, seeking out the owner of the voice.

It was Harry. Draco could make out his blurry form though his eyelashes, on the floor across from him. Draco blinked, trying to bring him into focus, to rouse himself enough to respond. The effort almost caused him to fall back into unconsciousness – he needed Harry.

He heard Harry's breathing quicken and become uneven. He recognised the beginning of a panic attack. He didn't just need Harry, Draco realised, Harry needed him. He needed to pull Harry out, before the memories overwhelmed him.

He tried to say Harry's name, but all that came out was a rasp. He took a deep breath and tried again. "Harry..."

After several tense moments where Draco wasn't sure if Harry had heard him, Draco heard his breathing even out and the shuffling of his feet as he got up. He heard footsteps coming towards him, and then a sharp intake of breath.

"Draco..." Harry pressed his forehead against Draco's, and Draco felt the relief that Harry was here course through him.

"They weren't too happy..." Draco said, knowing that Harry's gasp would've been at the sight of his arms. "When they saw the cuts."

Draco felt Harry tense up in anger. "I'm getting you out of here." Draco certainly had no objections to that. He watched Harry make his way around the room, find a sharp object and cut himself free of his bounds. Draco's head was pounding, and the edges of his vision were still slightly blurry, but he held on for Harry. When Harry made his way over to cut Draco free, it was with extreme care not to hurt his wrists anymore. Draco was in so much pain already, however, that he barely felt the cutting of the ropes.

Draco hadn't realised how much the ropes were supporting him until his wrists were free, and he fell into Harry's arms. "Are you okay? I'm here."

Draco was most definitely not okay, but he nodded. "I'll be fine." He remembered what one of the Slytherin seventh years had told him when they had first arrived at the castle: "We can only disapparate from outside the building."

"Okay. We'll find a way out." With his arm around Draco's waist, Harry lifted him and they made their way to the door, which Harry opened with ease. Draco wondered why it hadn't been locked, a feeling of dread growing in the pit of his stomach.

The door led out into the room where Draco had stood at the railing with Lucius, having just learned that his father had escaped Azkaban and was planning to release more Death Eaters from the prison. The railing looked out over the North Sea; it was too dark to see much, but he could hear the crashing of waves.

Harry was pulling them across to the other side of the room, when a voice shouted, "Stupify!" Draco felt himself being flung from Harry, and he skidded across the ground to the edge with the railing, the jagged cliffs below reaching up for him. A bolt of fear seized him, and he grabbed for the railing to pull himself up.

Turning away from the roiling sea, he saw his father, flanked on either side by the Death Eaters he had seen earlier. Draco scowled as Lucius tapped his cane and cocked his head, looking from Draco to Harry. Draco followed his gaze to see Harry against the wall, nursing his head.

"It seems there's really no disciplining you is there?" Lucius drawled. "Such a shame." Draco knew that Lucius had never had any plans to discipline to him, only to punish.

"Father," he began.

"You're no son of mine." In spite of himself, Draco flinched.

Harry was getting to his feet, leaning heavily on the wall. "Then let us go. If you have no use for us the what's the point in keeping us here?"

Draco's heart clenched in fear – he knew how ruthless his father could be, and Harry provoking him was walking a dangerous line.

"I think a better question would be why am I keeping you alive? And frankly, I think I've run out of reasons." Lucius pointed his wand at Harry, and Draco felt the fear in his heart and the pit of his stomach electrify, setting his every nerve on end.

"No!" he shouted, and Lucius turned his wand on Draco. Draco knew he should be feeling the adrenaline of fight or flight kicking in, but all he could feel in that moment was relief that Lucius was now focusing on him instead of Harry.

"You first then, Draco?"

Draco's mind raced; he needed to help Harry, and he had no way of doing that if he was dead. But how to stop Lucius? And would his own father really kill him? He looked into the depths of his eyes, and he only saw a feral hatred, a madness. He was really going to do it.

Tearing his eyes away, he locked his gaze with Harry's, who was being blocked by a Death Eater. Draco knew that Harry would do anything to get to him, but he couldn't see a way for them both to get out of this alive.

"Harry..." he heard the resignation in his voice, and saw the desperation on Harry's face.

"Please, please no," he begged.

Draco knew this was the end, and there was only one thing he could think of to say. "I love –"

"Avada Kadavra!"

"NO!"

Several things happened at once. Draco saw the flash of deadly green light from Lucius's wand arching toward him; he saw behind it the maniacal expression on his father's face; he heard Harry's anguished scream; and he felt a power reaching out for him, strange and at the same time, utterly familiar. It wrapped around him in a bubble of protection, and when it was hit by the killing curse, it exploded outwards in all directions. Draco felt the force of it like a tsunami, throwing him backwards, and then there was only open air.

He fell.

For several terrifying moments, Draco plummeted. He couldn't take in a breath, the air ripped from his lungs as the waves and the rocky cliffs rose up towards him. He could see his death hurling at him more surely than it had when the killing curse was fired at him.

He squeezed his eyes shut and reached for his magic, summoning the last of his strength, and apparated just before he hit the water.

He hit sand instead, rolling down a dune, the impact jarring his bones but saving him from an unsavoury death against the rocks below the cliff. When he slid to a stop at the bottom of the sand dune, he stumbled upright, and in a moment of delirium, found himself grinning. He had escaped death.

He spotted the castle in the distance up the beach. Harry. He needed to get to him. He took a step forward, swaying with a wave of dizziness. Blackness creeped in at the corners of his vision.

He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

//

This is all that I plan on writing for this story, so this is the end! Thank you all again so much for reading and for your votes and comments. While there won't be any more added onto this story (probably lol), I am working on some other things so keep an eye out for them! Love you all x