wook77 | Fic with no title at this point

Here's the beginnings of a fic that has been bumbling around in my head for part of the weekend. Read and let me know if it's worth continuing... I have no title as of this point so any suggestions for that also would be nice.

Title: Voice in the Dark

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Rating: Right now? G

Warnings: none right now

Summary: Harry Potter is hit with the killing curse. A voice keeps him company afterwards. Anything more and I’ll prolly ruin the twist.

The last sight Harry Potter ever saw was Draco Malfoy casting the killing curse. As a killing curse hit him, pain caused his knees to buckle. For Harry, as time slowed, the pain subsided as his knees hit the ground. A screamed “no” echoed in his head as he crumpled towards the ground. In that time out of time way, the voice was unrecognizable but Harry could hear the pain within it. He wanted to say something to reassure the voice but found that he couldn’t make any part of his body work. Harry didn’t feel his chest hit the ground, didn’t see the earth rushing up to cushion his fall. In the end, Harry didn’t see anything after the curse.

There was a voice reading in the darkness that surrounded Harry. The voice kept a calm tone of voice as it droned on. He couldn’t quite make out any of the words but the voice centered him as he drifted along. With a soft sigh, Harry drifted back into his own world.

The next time Harry heard the voice, there was another with it. The voices were raised and Harry shifted restlessly. He’d much rather hear the voice in its soft comforting tones. The room quieted abruptly. As Harry shifted back to his relaxed position, the voice started speaking to him again. A small smile drifted across his lips.

The droning tone was gone from the voice that anchored Harry. Instead, it was almost plaintive. A few words were distinguishable. Harry heard his name followed by ‘up’. The sounds in between were hard to understand.

Harry woke a little once more. This time, there was no voice to keep him and he shifted in agitation. He croaked out, “voice”. Encompassed within that one word was a plea for the voice to come back. In response to his request, Harry heard someone moving across the room. A different voice answered him with his name. Harry only sighed “voice” again and then drifted off when his voice didn’t answer him.

With no idea how long it lasted, Harry continued to wake and drift back off. He only ever said one word, “voice”. When the wanted voice was there, it was spoken in happiness. When the voice was missing, it was a plea.

Eventually, Harry woke fully. The voice droned beside him. When Harry opened his eyes, he was met with darkness. The voice beside him stuttered in the middle of its passage.

“Harry? Are you awake?” The voice was male but Harry couldn’t place who possessed his cherished voice.

“Voice?”

“Yes, Harry, I’m here. I’ve always been here. Please tell me you’re awake, please.” The voice sounded sad.

“Awake, Voice, where light?”

“The light’s coming from the windows. We’ve finally got them all clean.” The voice sounded patient and extremely familiar. Harry knew he should recognize it but simply couldn’t.

“No, Voice, where’s the light? It’s dark.” Harry started shifting from side to side as he tried to realize what was going on.

“Harry, it’s the middle of the day. The room is lit with sunshine.”

“No, it’s dark. It’s black as pitch.” Harry could hear Voice moving further away from him and then yelling in the hallway for someone. Feeling more and more scared, Harry started to sit back before the dizziness hit him. The weakness in his arms dropped him back onto the bed. He kept trying and trying to get up to get to Voice.

“Mr. Potter? What in the world do you think you’re doing, young man? Get back into that bed.” A sharp woman’s voice pierced the darkness around him.

“Voice? Where are you?” Harry reached out his hand in the darkness and it flailed around until he finally felt Voice’s hands cup his. A sense of peace flooded Harry and he knew he could cope with whatever was happening as long as his Voice was there.

“I’m here, Harry. I won’t leave you until you tell me to go.” A sigh and a smile answered Voice’s promise.

“Mr. Potter, Dra…err, Voice tells me that you see complete darkness in the room, is this true?” Harry nodded. Why had the woman stuttered over the name? Harry couldn’t think and wasn’t sure that he wanted to, anyway.

“Madame Pomfrey?” A hesitation and then a small chuckle answered Harry.

“Yes, Mr. Potter. Tell me, can you see this?” Nothing shifted or moved in Harry’s vision.

“Nothing, Madame Pomfrey. Am I…am I…that is…am I blind?” Harry’s voice was small and fearful. Voice’s hand gripped Harry’s in comfort. A crushing and frantic grip from Harry answered Voice’s comfort.

“Mr. Potter, there is no need to panic at this point. I’ll need to do some tests. Until then, we’ll put you on some different potions. Dra…err… Voice will stay with you.” Another comforting squeeze seconded the last statement. A staccato beat of footsteps could be heard and then the sound of the door opening and shutting.

“Voice, how long have I been here? Where is here? Why can’t I see? Who are you?” Harry’s voice rose as each question was asked.

“Shhh, Harry, calm down. You’re at 12 Grimmauld Place. You’ve been here for about two weeks. I know less than Pomfrey why you can’t see.” The soothing tone never left Voice’s voice.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I answered all the ones I could.” Voice’s tone started to shift to one with a bit of trepidation. The comforting hands disappeared from Harry’s.

“Who are you? Why won’t Madame Pomfrey say your name?” Harry’s brain finally started putting things together. Madame Pomfrey stopped the name after “Dra”, who did Harry know that had a name that started with ‘Dra’? “Draco Malfoy? Voice, are you Malfoy?”

“Yes.” The word was softly spoken but Harry could hear it clearly.

“Oh.” Harry’s response was just as quietly spoken.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No!” The answer came almost on top of Draco’s question. “Please, don’t leave me alone. It’s dark and I don’t want to be alone.” Harry shot his hand out and moved it around until he encountered fabric. A firm grip and a slight tug pulled Draco closer. “Please.”

“I wasn’t sure if you would want me here. We were enemies, Harry.”

“I…that is… I wouldn’t say… please, just don’t leave. Keep talking to me, Voice.”

Hours passed as Draco read tirelessly to Harry. At times, they discussed childhood pranks against one another, without the edge that used to accompany the recitation of grievances. Harry’s frequent requests for the time interrupted the conversation which then picked back up where it had stopped. As Madame Pomfrey came back and performed her tests, Draco continued to speak soothingly to Harry.

“Mr. Potter, I’m not sure if your blindness is temporary or permanent. You withstood another killing curse. This may just be a temporary side effect from that.” As Madame Pomfrey mentioned the killing curse, Harry remembered his last sight. Harry ripped his hand from Draco’s.

“You, you cast a killing curse at me.”

“I didn’t, Harry.”

“You’re lying, I saw it. I saw you casting at me.”

“It’s not like it looked. Look, I don’t have to explain myself to you. Believe me or don’t. I didn’t cast at you.” Harry heard footsteps marching away from him. The door opened and then shut and Harry was left alone.

Like I said, let me know what you think and if it's worth continuing. This idea's been rattling around and ruining my George Weasley/Lee Jordan fic. I also can't get back into the Taxi series (thanks to kestral for the idea of the name of the series) with this little idea running rampant.

On to PART 2

ETA: I have continued this fic. Please look in Memories under Voice in the Dark for all parts. I appreciate all the encouragement and suggestions!

Current Mood: unsure
Current Music: Angsty custom mix