wook77 | Voice in the Dark

As promised - here is the updated for Voice in the Dark.

Title: Voices in Conversation (Voice in the Dark Part 5)
Author:

wook77
Rating: This part - PG-13. Overall - NC-17
Pairing: H/D
Warnings: blind!harry
Summary: Harry learns that words have power and can wound as surely as a hex.
A/N: Many thanks to my betas

luciology and

yodels. They're lifesavers! Also - thanks to the readers for bearing with me while I worked this out.

All parts can be found HERE

The rapid clip of footsteps followed by the firm shutting of the door reinforced Draco's proclamation. Harry knew that he had said or done something wrong. He just didn't know what. His gaze stayed focused on the door as Mrs. Weasley spoke in the background. To him, though, it sounded like a buzz as he wondered where Draco had gone. The increasingly frantic feeling of abandonment must have shown on his face. A light touch on his shoulder made him jump.

"Harry, dear, it was more than 'not anything', wasn't it?" Mrs. Weasley's voice was concerned and motherly and, for a moment, Harry really wanted his own mother.

"I... don't know. Why did he leave? Did you see something? Do you know where he went?" Harry cringed when he heard how needy he sounded.

"I don't know, love. He didn't seem any different than his normal. Is there anything you want to discuss with me? Believe it or not, I was young once." Harry turned his head from the door to Mrs. Weasley, back and forth as he tried to determine how much to tell her. He didn't even know what to tell her with his conflicted feelings.

"I, well, no." After realizing how abrupt he sounded he added, "Thanks. May I go now?"

"Harry, dear, just be careful. Go on, then." Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley stand up from the table and fiddle around with something near the stove.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." Harry stood up and started in the direction he thought the door might be in.

"Harry, that's the pantry. The door is towards your left. There you go." Harry mumbled an embarrassed thank you and slowly made his way towards the left.

Just as he started to push his way through the door, it swung inwards, knocking him on his tailbone. The pain radiated up his spine.

"Harry, just the person I was looking for! I found something that might help! Come to the library with me." Hermione's excited voice accompanied her arm as she reached down to help Harry to his feet.

"Help with what?" Harry's question went unanswered as he was tugged up the stairs, barely getting a good foot placement before being pulled harder.

With a quick thank you sent to the heavens for making it safely up the stairs, Harry pulled his hand out of Hermione's grasp.

"Come on, Harry. I found something that could help you with the blindness!" Crossing his arms, Harry stayed where he was.

"Hermione, did you ever stop to think that I can't see the stairs that you just hauled me up? I could've fallen." Hermione's gasp confirmed that she hadn't thought about it. "Have you seen Draco?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. I forgot. Well, I didn't forget really, but I did." It spoke volumes of their friendship that Harry completely understood what she'd meant.

"Just be more careful with the stairs and stuff, yeah? I don't really feel like falling. Have you seen Draco?"

There was a long pause before Hermione gave a nervous laugh.

"He went towards the garden." Harry nodded before feeling along the wall, trying to find the opening leading to the back hall. "Over here, Harry."

Hermione directed him along the back hallway. When the knob finally was in his hands, Harry thanked her and pushed the door open. The sunlight on his face felt wonderfully warm as Grimmauld Place was always a bit chilly to Harry.

His footsteps were tentative as he slowly walked across the porch. "Draco? Are you out here?" There was no answer to his inquiry as he stumbled into a steamer chair. "Bleeding buggering hell that hurt!"

Harry grabbed his foot and hopped about. "Draco, if you're out here, this isn't funny! That hurt!" Sounding pained instead of angry, Harry cut himself off. "Think it's funny to watch me stumble around up here looking for you like we're playing Hide-N-Seek or something, okay! I'm going back in, prat."

Harry turned around and started to stomp his way back the way he'd come only to bump into something in front of him. Hands reached out and grabbed him before he could topple over.

"Thanks but you're still a prat." When there wasn't a response other than the continuing presence of those hands, Harry tried to shake out of the grasp.

"We're all here to cater to the great sodding hero, Potter. It wasn't anything." The words were so vitriolic that Harry flinched. The steadying hands disappeared and Harry felt disoriented.

"What's got in to you?" Footsteps pounded across the porch. "Malfoy! Draco! Wait for a minute, I came out here looking for you!"

The steps stopped and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Like I said, Potter, it wasn't anything, was it?" Harry knew the subject had changed but he didn't know where or when or how it had.

"What are we actually talking about, Draco?" A huff answered him as Harry slowly started to walk towards where he thought Draco might be.

"What do you think we're discussing, Potter?"

"I don't know. One minute, we were talking to Molly, then you left me alone…" Harry hated how small and lost he sounded as he said that and hastened to continue, "then Hermione was dragging me up the stairs, I'm tripping here and then you, well, you catch me and then walk off. I have no idea what we're discussing but I know that we're not discussing your brilliant save." Breathless at the last bit, Harry waited.

"Your observation skills are astounding, Potter. I'm amazed, truly amazed."

Draco didn't continue, didn't clarify and Harry was left gaping.

"Would you shut your trap, you look like a git standing there like that." Draco still sounded pissed off but not quite as upset as he had been.

Harry shut his mouth with a snap. Draco's hand gripped his upper arm and guided him until they sat on the steps. The silence continued as Harry heard gravel dragging across the pavement and then the "ping" of them falling. He assumed that Draco was picking up a pebble and tossing it.

"There are flowers off to your right, not sure what they are. There's a horribly ratty gazebo in front of you and slightly to the right. I'm sure the shabby look makes all the Weasels feel at home." The swish and ping continued and Harry pictured Draco bending down, scooping up a pebble and then the graceful arc of his arm as he tossed it.

"They're not Weasels, you know." He didn't chastise or lecture Draco as he spoke.

"Habit. There's an ant hill in the middle of the pavement where it's broken." The light conversational tone confused Harry even more than he was already.

"Are we discussing something else now or is this your way of telling me that you're just catering to the hero?"

"It isn't anything." The words didn't have the bite from before but Harry knew there was something important in there. He finally remembered where he'd heard it before being out here.

"You know that I didn't think it was nothing, right? Is that what we're discussing?" Slow and sarcastic-sounding clapping filled the void after his question.

"Of course it was nothing, Potter. We were just getting off together and seeming to enjoy it. Of course that's no big deal. It's only the first time I've ever…never mind." The swish and ping increased in tempo.

"It was my first time getting off with someone else, too, you know." Harry turned towards Draco. His hand slowly felt around until he could touch Draco's cheek. As he ran his hand across Draco's face, he could feel the tension radiating out from under the skin.

"Who said it was my first time, Potter?" When Draco started to toss another pebble, Harry grabbed his arm then slid down to unclench the fist. Harry dumped the gravel and laced his fingers with Draco's.

"Of course it wasn't your first time then. But it was mine, you know. I, just, everything is going so fast and I, well, I didn't know what to say or what you thought and Mrs. Weasley was pretty upset."

"So you said it wasn't anything and I was supposed to just assume that you were lying and that it was something? Bollocks, Potter, complete and utter bollocks. What do you want from me?" Draco sounded hurt and Harry was mildly surprised to feel his heart give a twinge at the thought that he was the cause of it.

"I just want, well, I don't know what I want, really." There was that tug of hands again but Harry held on. "I'm pants at this whole feelings thing, I guess. I want something but I don't know what it is, how to say what it is. What do you want from me?"

"Did you think that because I'm obviously a liar and can't be trusted or something?" There was the hurt again and Harry moved his free hand to lie over their entwined hands.

"No, Draco. I'm not saying that at all. Look, as far as I'm concerned, a couple of days ago, we were enemies, you tried to kill Dumbledore and then ran off with Snape. You cast at me, stop trying to pull away, I know now you didn't cast at me. Anyway, you cast at me or so I thought and then I woke up and we were actually having an enjoyable conversation and then I just had to open up my mouth. I don't know what we are or where we are or anything. So, yeah, I told Mrs. Weasley it wasn't anything because I didn't know if you felt it was something. Now, if you want to run off, feel free." Harry pulled his hands away from Draco's and turned to face where Draco had pointed out the flowers. If he breathed deep enough, he could smell peonies in the air. They'd always been a favorite scent of his.

"Do you think I just cut and run whenever the going gets tough?" Draco sounded wounded at the implication.

"Lately? Yeah, you do." Harry heard Draco scrambling on the rickety wood of the steps. "Just like right now." The scrambling stopped for an instant. "When I remembered that you'd cast at me and said something, you walked out. When I said that, that, thing to Mrs. Weasley, you walked out. You ran off with Snape. You're walking away from me now. I'm not perfect, you know, even if you do call me Perfect Potty."

The wood shifted under Harry as Draco dropped back down. "I'm not a coward."

"I know that. You have some interesting ways of fighting your battles but you're not a coward. A coward would've killed an old defenseless man, instead, you showed mercy. A coward wouldn't have." It was Harry's turn to stoop and pick up a pebble before tossing it.

"How did you know that?" Harry groaned. He hadn't meant to give away that information.

"I was there, I saw you lower your wand. I saw Snape kill Dumbledore. I saw it all and I don't want to talk about it anymore." Harry threw the pebble with more force than he'd wanted and he heard it ricochet off a few items in the garden.

It was Draco's turn to grab his hand and empty it of gravel. It was Draco's turn to lace their fingers together.

"So you saw me at my worst. I should've known that you are always where you aren't supposed to be. I assume you were under your Invisibility Cloak?"

"I guess I've seen you at your worst but it wasn't when you thought. When you busted my nose and left me on the train was your worst. Saving Dumbledore was your best. Well, your best until this morning."

Harry squeezed Draco's hand and felt better when a squeeze answered him back.

"You should've seen your face when I stomped on you. That was fairly entertaining at the time." Draco bumped his shoulder against Harry's and took the edge out of his amusement.

"Prat." Harry leaned so that it was his turn to bump Draco.

"Git." bump

"Ferret." bump

"Speccy bastard." bump

"Arrogant sod." bump

"Golden Boy." bump

This time, in response, Harry turned towards Draco's voice and aimed a kiss. The kiss landed on the tip of Draco's nose.

"You can't even aim a kiss right. What good are you?" The hand brushing his cheek told Harry that Draco was teasing. No one could be that gentle, that seductive in their touch and still be angry.

"I'll have to try again, then." Keeping his lips on Draco's skin, Harry dragged his lips until they were kissing again. A moan bubbled up as he realized that that sense of completion, of rightness, hadn't just been a one-time occurrence. It was more than that, much more than that.

The outside world receded for Harry. The buzzing sounds and flowery smells all faded until all Harry could hear was Draco's irregular heartbeat and stuttering breath and all he could smell was the unique aroma of Draco.

When they separated, Harry pressed forward once more but Draco placed a hand against his chest.

"We shouldn't. Like you said, we don't know where we are or what we are. Maybe we should talk about that."

"Yeah, ok. You first."

Draco laughed, probably harder than the moment called for, in response.

"Nope, Scarhead, you first."

Harry grinned as he looked to where he hoped Draco's face was. "Fine. I enjoyed this morning, even if I'm going to have to hear about it from Ron. I wish I could've seen his face when you yelled at him about being hungry."

"It was priceless. He looked like a gaping fish with his mouth opening and shutting. I was waiting for a fly to land." Harry couldn't help it, he giggled. His hand flew up to cover his mouth as the giggles continued.

"Wanker, that's not nice." Harry, repeating their actions from before, bumped Draco's shoulder.

"Sometimes the truth hurts. What else, if it could come true, would you wish for, Harry?" The tone was soft. Harry stopped laughing to think.

There were so many things he'd wish for. He'd wish his parents were alive. He'd wish that he wasn't blind. He'd wish that the Weasleys were more than comfortably situated. He'd wish that he'd taken Draco's hand back in First Year. He'd wish that Nagini was dead. He'd wish that Voldemort was dead. But none of those things were achievable right now, Harry held them in.

"I wish I could fly again." He whispered the words. He hadn't even been aware that that was one of his wishes. "I love flying. It's freeing, the wind in your hair and the thrill of being in the air. It's the one time that I'm not given any allowances for being Harry Potter. Instead, it's a competition, me against gravity. Gravity doesn't give a shite that I'm Harry Potter." Draco squeezed his hand in response.

"Don't give up yet, Harry." Just then, Harry's stomach grumbled as they hadn't had breakfast. "Come on, let's get you fed. No one likes a cranky Potter."

Harry smiled and let Draco lead him back into the house.

Cross-posted to Skyehawke and The Hex Files. Please note that this is the only story that will continue to be updated/uploaded at The Hex Files.

As always - I'd love to hear what you think. Concrit welcomed with open arms.