Chapter Text
In 1998, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy returned to Hogwarts for their eighth year and managed to put aside their old enmity and establish a friendship. And that friendship grew stronger and closer over time until, on July 31, 2000, Harry's birthday, he confessed to Draco and the two began dating.
It was strange how normal everything in their relationship progressed. Harry and Draco didn't decide to live together, but from that day on, all of Harry's belongings and clothes were at Draco's house and he would return there every night after work. The funny thing is, neither of them noticed until Hermione pointed it out because it just seemed so right... waking up together every morning and going to bed together every night seemed so right and natural that it made everything else seem wrong.
The two even got a cat! It was June 12, 2003, when Draco found the cat. He was out walking when something heavy hit his foot. Draco thought it was a dog at first, but then he realized it was actually a cat. A Maine Coon with gray and white fur and olive green eyes named Morgana. Apparently, the cat had been in an animal shelter and had run away from her intended new owner. Draco ended up buying Morgana because the gray cat refused to go with her new owner. Of course, Draco liked the cat. Morgana was big, soft, and cuddly, and most of all, she liked Draco. The cat was almost constantly rubbing against Draco and sitting in his arms.
When Harry came home that night, he was surprised but not too angry to see a large cat, almost the size of a dog. It seemed impossible not to like the giant, kind, and good-natured cat.
Everyone thought the Slytherin-Gryffindor couple would soon fall out. But despite all their fighting and arguments, they stayed together. Even Ron thought Harry couldn't stay with Malfoy for long, but as time went on, he realized that something was different about their relationship... It was as if Harry had finally found his family and home. Yet their fighting didn't stop. They still shouted at each other over the smallest of problems and said horrible things to each other because this was their relationship. Draco would grin and say a short sentence that would make Harry go crazy, Harry would scream with a rage that would shake his body, Draco would scream back, and they would continue their argument until their throats ached and their spirits were exhausted, or until one party (usually Draco) got so upset that he would abandon the argument and go to their room so he wouldn't have to see the other person's face.
One of their worst arguments was when Harry got so angry and furious that he shouted that maybe if he was that unhappy with being with Harry, then he could just leave. And Draco left. Harry didn't understand what he was talking about when he used the verb "to leave," but the moment Draco left the house, Harry regretted it. Everything in the house without the blond boy seemed meaningless, wrong, and empty... so wrong that Harry felt sick to his stomach when he looked at the green and red sofa they had bought after hours of arguing. Harry spent the whole day looking for the blond boy until he found him in the strangest possible place: Hermione and Ron's house.
The moment Harry saw Draco on his friends' old, comfortable couch, he didn't say anything. He just went over, hugged him, and tried to suppress the panic that had built up inside him from Draco's absence for hours. Neither of them said anything because there was no need to. Draco could feel Harry's tremor. He knew that the stupid Gryffindor didn't mean it because Harry couldn't stand Draco's absence. Every time Draco was late or didn't see Harry for a long time, the Gryffindor became a ball of anxiety and worry. He kept going back and forth across the room until Draco got home.
Harry couldn't bear Draco's absence and Draco was worried that it would become another nightmare in his nights because he, Draco Lucius Malfoy, was dying.
As he lay on the kitchen floor and blood flowed from his wounds and mouth, a thought haunted Draco's mind: "Damn... I can't do this... I haven't made up with Harry yet."
It may sound ridiculous, but Draco's last thoughts as he died were that he hadn't had the chance to make up with Harry, the love of his life.
His body, covered in wounds from the Cruciatus Curse and multiple stab wounds, couldn't even move and could only wait to die. His attacker could have easily finished him off with an "Avada Kedavra", but instead he let him die a slow and painful death. It was actually a clever attack. The killer surprised him in his own home and they exchanged several attack and defense spells until the opponent managed to throw a "Crucio" at Draco, before Draco could defend himself, he threw several knives and sharp objects at him with "WaddiWasi", then approached him and stabbed Draco eighteen times with one knife.
In the midst of their fight, Morgana was also injured. As the unknown attacker was throwing various spells at Draco, the giant cat arrived and tried to pull the attacker away from his owner with its teeth, and the woman threw him against the wall with a spell, knocking him unconscious.
One of Draco's eyes, which had been injured by the corner of the table as he fell, had impaired his ability to see and prevented him from seeing his attacker's face as he died, but it didn't matter because he had seen her before, a middle-aged, blonde woman with a rather pretty face that was almost familiar to Draco. Draco didn't remember seeing the woman in one of Harry's files at that moment. Through the storm of pain that engulfed his body, he heard his killer's voice before he left: "I wish I could have stayed and seen the look on Harry Potter's face when you were dying in his arms! It must have been quite a sight!" And then Draco was alone in the house. The house was in disarray as if a storm had struck. The comfortable green sofa that he had fought Harry for an hour to buy was turned upside down and blood stains were faintly visible on it, but the blood that had spilled on their soft, white carpet was more noticeable. The scene was horrific, but Draco couldn't see it... the image was for Harry.
It was at that moment that Draco understood why this had happened. The woman wanted revenge on Harry! She had killed one of his loved ones to hurt him... Draco would do anything to prevent Harry from seeing this. Harry had seen enough of his loved ones die, and if he had understood why this had happened, he would have been destroyed. Draco hated even the thought of Harry blaming himself for his death. Draco really didn't want to become another dead person in Harry's nightmares.
The Slytherin boy lay motionless on the ground, unable to do anything when his cat came to and ran towards him.
Draco's consciousness was growing weaker and weaker with every drop of blood he lost. He could barely hear Morgana's voice anymore. His ears were ringing and his limbs were completely numb when he heard the sound of the door slowly opening and then Harry's voice, who began to speak as soon as he entered. Harry himself had once told him that sometimes talking to Draco was harder than facing Voldemort, and that was why he preferred to speak before he had a chance to think. "Draco! This is ridiculous! We can't fight over something like this..." He paused, looking at their once warm and beautiful living room and fear washed over him, his voice taking on a tone of concern and panic. "Draco? Draco!? Where are you!?"
Draco heard the echo of quick footsteps and Harry's panicked voice in a jagged manner. The moment Harry knelt beside him, Draco saw a blurry image of Harry's green eyes. Draco loved those eyes, but now those two adorable eyes were covered with tears and fear and terror settled in them... Draco didn't like that look. Harry had seen many people die, but that didn't stop him from being scared when he saw Draco's wounded and bloody body (his Draco!). Harry was scared, he was scared of a life without Draco.
Draco opened his mouth with the last shreds of strength he had left and a weak, broken whisper came out of it: "Calm down... stup... Stupid Gryffindor... It's ok." He could feel Harry's hands holding him tightly and Morgana's fur caressing his bloody body.
Draco closed his eyes as Harry screamed. Harry's scream was heartbreaking and heartbreaking. His eyes blurred and he didn't know when he started to cry.
In the last moment, Draco had only one regret and one small wish. He wished he could have done something to make Harry's life better and easier. He wished he could have made Harry's nightmares go away and given him a life that was a little easier and happier. He wished he could have been there for him during those years when Harry was suffering.
Neither Draco nor Harry saw the glow of the simple black ring on Draco's index finger. Draco was dying and Harry was going crazy.
As time passed, only the sound of a cat and Harry's pained moans remained in the house. Draco's body went cold and his heart stopped beating completely. Only the sound of a cat, the moan of a lover, the corpse of a lover and the glow of an ancient ring remained in that house and then... everything went back.