Chapter Ten - Lies and Honesty

Disclaimer; All rights belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter and all credit is completely hers.

"You have to tell him. " Pansy said, letting out a breath she seemed to be holding in.

"Tell him wha-" Draco went to say, but his eyes widened slightly, and he shook his head.

"Yes, Draco. That's why I did all this. I don't want to see Harry get hurt once he finds out-"

"Shush!" Draco snapped, cutting off Pansy's words.

"Tell me.. What?" Harry asked gently, looking from Pansy, then back over to Draco. This was all very confusing to him. He pushed his glasses closer to the bridge of his nose and continued to listen.

Draco's breath seemed to cut off as he stared over at Harry, his eyes full of worry.

"It's either that, or I'm telling. " Pansy said, crossing her arms loosely across her breasts.

A frown very slowly formed on Draco's face as he looked back over to Harry. He didn't know why Pansy was making him do this. Maybe he could just hide it for a little longer, or maybe Harry would never notice.. No, that's impossible.

"Fine," Draco said, eyeing Pansy again. "But I don't want you here. I want to be alone with Harry when I show him. " He murmured, his pastel grey eyes getting slightly glassy.

Pansy nodded, very slowly backing out and walking out of sight. Draco took Harry's hand and pulled him into the closet broom cupboard, pulling out his wand and whispering 'Lumos.'

The room lit up, and Draco looked over at Harry one last time. "Harry.. If I show you this, you have to promise you won't judge me for who I am, or what I am. And you can't tell anyone." Draco said, taking in a sharp breath.

"Judge you..? Why would I do-"

"This is a very.. Different type of .. Well.. Okay, just.. It's okay if you don't want to see me anymore. Just please, don't be afraid.. " Draco said, taking in one last deep breath.

Draco reached down, and unraveled his sleeve. There lay the most dastardly, darkest, and ugliest mark any wizard, witch, or muggle ever could have implanted on their body ; the Dark Mark.

Harry's heart sped up as he stared down at Draco's arm, eyes widening slightly. He backed up about an inch or two, though they really didn't have a lot of room.

"Y-you..? You're a-"

"I know, Harry," Draco cut him off, " A death eater. My father-"

"Your father? You listened to your father?" Harry blurted out, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Ah, forget it. I knew you wouldn't bloody understand. " Draco spat and gave Harry a shove, making his way out of the broom cupboard.

Of course, Harry followed shortly after him, trying his best to catch up with the blonde.

"Draco, can't we just bloody talk about this?" Harry asked with a gentle frown.

"Nothing to talk about," Draco snapped, continuing his way down the hall.

"Draco," Harry said and placed a hand on his shoulder. Draco shoved him again, this time accidentally elbowing Harry in the nose, causing it to bleed slightly.

"Get off me! I can't believe Pansy made me do that. And I knew you wouldn't understand either. " Draco said and swung around to Harry. "Go ahead, tell the school, Dumbledore-- go ahead and tell the world! Do I give a damn?" Draco said in a cracked voice, gripping his wand tightly. He turned around again, and as quickly as e could went to find Pansy.

-

"You did this to me!" Draco shouted at Pansy. He had found her in the Slytherin common room.

"No! Draco, I was preventing Harry from getting hurt or in danger! You can't blame me-" Pansy went to say, but was easily cut off.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses. Harry was probably the best thing that had happened to me, and you ruined it!" Draco said, his chest rising up and down quickly, almost as if he was having a panic attack.

"Draco, stop! You're getting overwhelmed, calm down-" Pansy said and got up, grabbing Draco's wrists and looking him in the eye. "Calm. Down." She said sternly.

Draco pulled away one of his hands and smacked Pansy's forearm. She gasped slightly and backed up, looking at the red mark on her arm.

"Draco, what are you.. why did you..?" She whispered, her eyes slightly glassy.

Draco backed up a bit, his blonde hair out of place and he shook his head. He shoved passed her again, making his way out of the Slytherin common room and straight to the boy's bathroom.

-

Harry had been just there. He went straight to the bathroom to clean up the blood, for he'd rather not show up at the hospital wing in the middle of the night with a bloody nose.

He looked in the mirror. It wasn't as bad as he thought, but there was quite a bit of blood that was coming out. He first washed his face, and then pressed a wet paper towel until it would stop bleeding.

Just as Harry turned around, he collided with Draco.

"Draco-," Harry went to say, but trailed off. Draco's eyes were red and puffy, and his face wasn't happy; it was dim, and creasing.

"Don't talk to me," Draco spat, shoving Harry. Harry shoved him back, and in a minute, Draco flew out his wand. "Watch it, Potter," he snapped, and Harry backed up.

"Draco, what's happened to yo-"

Before Harry could say anything else, a flash of red light flew past his ear. Immediately, Harry grabbed his own wand and swung behind one of the old stalls. "Crap," Harry whispered softly, his chest heaving. Harry peered out, but immediately went back behind the stall when another spell came flying at him.

Draco eyed the stall, looking underneath. Next, Harry looked underneath and his glasses nearly blew off when he pulled his head back up as quick as he could.

Water began to spew everywhere when Draco missed and hit a sink. Harry clutched his wand tightly, and finally gaining enough courage, dragged himself out from the stall and pointing his wand at Draco.

Harry was going to shout a spell, Sectum Sempra, which was a spell he learned from his potions book. But something stopped him. And that something was simple; love. He would never hurt a loved one, never.

Draco through his wand up at Harry and was about to shout 'Crucio', his heart pounding. But something stopped him, too. The blonde felt like he was losing his mind.

"Draco," Harry whispered, lowering his wand, "I'm not here to hurt you," he said gently again, swallowing a bit of saliva from his dry throat.

After a minute, Draco collapsed onto his knees, almost as if he gave up. Harry immediately dropped his wand and ran over to him, wrapping his arms around the blonde.

At first, Draco refused to hug, but soon enough squeezed Harry until he had probably felt lightheaded.

"Draco, it's okay, everything will be okay," Harry said calmly, but Draco shook his head and sniffled slightly.

"It's not," Draco choked out, " You don't understand what I have to do for V-Voldemort. And I can't even tell you," Draco said, his bottom lip trembling uncontrollably as he let out several sobs, "I can't," Draco said, wheezing, "I, I can't breathe.." He said.

Harry laced his fingers with Draco's and gave his hand a squeeze. He rubbed Draco's back, kissed his cheek, and pulled him into another hug. "Relax.. Draco, it's okay.. I'm here, just relax.." Harry said, trying his best to calm his boyfriend.

Draco, after a while of sharp sobs, closed his watery eyes and let the tears pour out. The bathroom was now quiet except for the soft trickling of cold sink water, and the occasional creaks of the stalls.

"I almost sent the cruciatus curse, Harry, I almost sent it at you-.. I-I-I'm not myself anymore," Draco whined, shutting his eyes even tighter.

But Harry shook his head, "That's okay.  The only thing that matters is if you're okay." Harry said calmly, ignoring the fact that Draco said that.

"I'm sorry for not letting you explain. I'm sorry for being an arse and I'm sorry for being stupid and I'm sorry I even let you - " Draco said, but Harry shook his head.

"Draco, Draco, ah, it's fine, okay? I'm okay! You're okay. You're going to be okay. Whatever it is you have to do, I won't judge you for it. At all. " Harry said.

"But that's the problem! I have to do something completely.. Barbaric.. " Draco mumbled, his heart beating out of his chest.

Harry just shook his head again and sighed, hugging Draco tightly. "You need rest. Go to your dorm, and sleep. It's been a long night. Okay? I'll see you tomorrow. You need your rest. " Harry said gently, his emerald green eyes landing on the blonde.

Draco looked to Harry's eyes, placed a soft kiss on his lips, and whispered 'Thank you.'

Harry simply nodded and stood up, helping him up, and walking out with Draco.

And so the boys departed back to their dorms for the night.