Chapter Text
Everything was numb. No colours, no lights, no sounds. A jolt of throbbing pain in his head woke Harry from his slumber, causing his survival instincts to turn on immediately.
He made sure his movement wasn't restricted first, then he forced his eyes open, another limp body next to his on the floor catching his attention right away.
Harry only needed a glance to recognize the other boy, thanks to the unmistakeable white-blond strands. He quickly scooted closer, making sure the other was breathing, then he hurriedly pushed his glasses in place and took a look around the place.
He saw an unfamiliar circular room, its floor, walls and ceiling all made of marble. Across from the two of them was a huge, gold, double-winged door, with several strange oval dents on its surface shaping a circle. Around the wall, he saw at least another dozen doors, much simpler looking than the golden one. In the middle of the room, stood a marble platform probably tall enough to reach around Harry's waist.
The Gryffindor soon realized he won't find out more about his whereabouts by sitting in place, so he somewhat reluctantly shook the blond's shoulder. "Hey..." The boy only stirred, so Harry tried again. "Come on, Malfoy, time to wake up." He tried to be a bit louder this time.
"Harry?" The blond muttered, his eyes still closed shut.
The Gryffindor was surprised by the sudden use of his given name, but this wasn't the time to ponder on it, so he gave another shake to Draco's shoulder which finally woke the other up.
"Potter?" The Slytherin rubbed his eyes, pupils instantly widening. "What- Where are we?" He asked, looking around almost as if he couldn't quite decide wether he was truly awake or in a dream. He got on his feet right away, hastily scanning around the room as a slightly panicked expression settled on his face.
"No idea." Harry replied matter of factly, too tired and confused by their lack of interactions lately to let any emotion seep into his voice. "I just woke up a moment ago. Apparition doesn't work, and I'd bet none of those doors lead to the common room."
Draco forgot his gaze on him while the information sank in, then let his eyes wander around once more. At the lack of anything else, he walked up to the platform in the middle, then hesitantly took out his wand and muttered something under his breath.
A faint yellow glow painted the walls, then carved-in text appeared on the stone surface, making Harry realize the other used the Revealing Charm.
The Gryffindor took a glance at the engraved words, but couldn't understand much, other than a few that let him know the whole of it was written in Latin. A language he never bothered learning, except a handful of words and phrases he needed for certain spells.
"Bloody amazing..." The blond fumed under his breath, suddenly breaking the tense silence.
"What does it say?" The other boy wanted to know, eager to understand where he was exactly.
Draco lifted an eyebrow, his features and tone becoming more annoyed by every second he spent awake. "I'm not your translator, read it for yourself."
"Oh right, I never even thought of that, wonderful idea, Malfoy!" Harry rolled his eyes, voice thick with sarcasm, the other's behaviour convincing him to speak as if the war never happened, and they were back in fifth year. "Seriously, just tell me already." He tried again with a sigh, their situation too alarming to ignore and get lost in childish arguments.
Draco took a moment to reply, most likely contemplating wether he should counter with a bitter remark or just give in and share what he found out. It seemed he chose the latter, because he started talking after an overly dramatic sigh. "In short, it says you have to collect Gemstones to open that door on the other side." He walked over to the huge golden gate, trailing the design with his fingers. "I assume there are Twelve Crystals that need to be placed in these dents."
Harry just listened, trying to put together what the situation they were in was exactly, while Draco walked back to the stone table, squinting at the script.
"Judging by the wording, I'd say this is at least a couple centuries old..." The blond pondered out loud, as if he forgot he was talking to Harry for a minute. He then met the other's eyes with an unreadable expression. " 'Seems it's some sort of a..." He focused his eyes back on the words, his fingers gliding through one of them.
Harry leaned closer, wondering why the other stopped speaking, trying to will his foggy brain to pay attention instead of craving sleep. "Peri-cli-tatio?" He read, even if he was sure he completely butchered up the pronunciation, then lifted his gaze to the blond, waiting for an explanation.
"You really can't speak Latin..." Draco mused out loud instead, clearly finding the other's lack of language knowledge amusing.
Harry took a deep breath and rolled his eyes in return, not wanting to lash out at the blond before he had all the information at least. "I know some words, just not that one in particular!" He countered, losing his focus for a moment.
"Oh, do you?" The Slytherin replied immediately, with a smug smile on his lips, almost relieved to forget about their circumstances for that single second. "Feel free to share your knowledge then, oh mighty saviour."
"I know enough to use the Latin spells, all right?" Harry's tone turned defensive, his exhaustion and annoyance mixing. "I even know your name means dragon!" He added in a sudden moment of boldness, a pleased smirk on his lips.
The reference to his given name took Draco off guard, but he recovered quickly. "You know that only because of the school motto." He crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze cold as ice.
"Whatever." After long minutes of quiet, Harry's patience ran out and he broke the silence. "So? Will you tell me what the bloody text says or are we staying here forever?"
The blond's tired gaze met Green eyes, then after a sigh, he finally answered. "The word means trial, or something similar."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, expecting more resistance. "Trial? As in-"
"As in a challenge, yes." Draco exhaled sharply, his nervous expression gradually returning.
"Like... an exam?" The Gryffindor lifted an eyebrow.
Grey eyes met Green ones once more, both mirroring the same exhaustion, the realization resulting in a wordless truce. "Not quite, I don't think so." The blond started, his tone neutral. "There are far better words to refer to an educational exam by, and I doubt they wouldn't use them, if that was the case."
"Well..." Harry thought for a second, then after not getting anywhere with it, he voiced the question popping up in his mind. "And... how do we get out?" He looked around once more, a part of him hoping an exit would just appear out of thin air, which led to another question. "Are we even still at Hogwarts?"
Draco lifted his gaze from the marble centerpiece, his arms crossed at his chest. "Judging by the fact apparition doesn't work and that I last remember being in the library, I'd assume we're still on the grounds of the school, yes."
"Right..." Now Harry remembered what happened before he woke up here. Hermione, Ron and him stayed up studying in the library, but he had an essay to finish for the next day, so he convinced the other two to just go to bed instead of waiting for him.
Unfortunately for the assignment, he fell asleep and only awoke when he heard the door creak open. The same time as Malfoy entered and they locked eyes, an incredibly loud noise ripped through the silence, followed by a purplish-white light, which illuminated the whole library for a second. Everything went black and he woke up here, or at least that's how much he knew for sure.
"Do you reckon us getting here has anything to do with that storm?" Harry voiced his thoughts. "I remember the thunder and that strange lilac light..." He trailed off as he recalled as much as he could.
After a thick pause, Draco replied, his brows drawn in concentration. "That's... a possibility."
The Gryffindor was surprised by the other's uncharacteristically decent behaviour so far, but he wasn't one to trust people so fast. "Wait a moment, why were you even coming to the library so late at night in the first place?" He demanded with a fresh wave of rage. "I swear if this is your doing-" He reached for his wand, prepared to use it if the situation called for it.
"Come on Potter, why would I want to be trapped together with you of all people in a centuries-old hidden room?" The blond hissed, cutting him off, ignoring the way Harry's fingers wrapped around his wand as if he didn't care either way. "Sweet Merlin, think before you speak, will you." He finished with a roll of his eyes.
"How am I supposed to-" Harry took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm himself. "Fine, fighting won't get us anywhere." He said more to himself than to the Slytherin. "So, what did you say, how do we get out?" He attempted to get back to their previous topic.
Draco most likely agreed with avoiding arguments for now, so he didn't push it further either, and let his shoulders relax before opening his mouth. "Logically, we should wait until someone finds this place, and opens the door from the outside." His eyes jumped back to the table, contemplating if he should continue or not. "Alternatively, I suppose this... Trial or whatever you wish to call it, ends after completing it. But that's obviously not-"
"You mean that Golden Door is our way out?" Harry cut him off, immediately discarding the idea of waiting for someone to save them.
The blond let a troubled sigh leave his lips. "Based on the text here, yes. But hopefully, we won't need to go through the trouble of finding twelve bloody Crystals just to get out." He let his gaze roam around the room again.
"Then what, you just want to sit here for Merlin knows how long, and wait for someone to find us?" Harry didn't understand the other's thought process, brows drawn in confusion.
"That's the only logical solution." He replied on a low tone. Grey eyes met Emerald ones again, both boys trying to convince the other about their own idea, raising the tension further in the cool room.
"How are you so calm? If this is really some forgotten place of the Castle, what makes you so sure anyone will find us?" Harry snapped suddenly, irritation clear in his voice. "Besides, we disappeared in the middle of the night, it'll take hours until they even notice we're missing!"
Draco rolled his eyes at the other's outburst. "Come on Potter, I know you have some... strange map that shows you where people in the castle are. I suppose you don't currently have it, otherwise, you'd know where we are, but your dutiful little sidekicks will probably check it first thing in the morning. They find you, we get out, case solved." He lifted a hand to rub his tired eyes again, his wand still in his right hand.
Harry had no idea how Malfoy knew about the Marauder's Map, but right now that seemed to be a minor issue. "Perfect plan, really." He replied, tone mocking. "Except there are parts of the school it doesn't show! Just like the Room of Requirement, for example! If this place really is centuries old and haven't been opened until now like you said, there's a big chance it's not on the map!" Harry sneered, voice low but filled with frustration.
Panic glinted in Draco's grey eyes for a mere second before he turned away, making it quite obvious he didn't know as much about the map as he thought he did. After a minute tense silence, the blond finally replied. "Regardless, McGonagall and the others will surely find a way to track you soon enough." His voice carefully even, face blank.
Harry didn't miss the way the blond said they'd find him instead of them in plural, but he didn't think much of it. Instead, he tried to convince the other waiting here was a waste of time. "You can't seriously believe that!" He stepped in front of Draco putting them face to face, noting he was now at least a few inches taller than the other. "Did you happen to forget Umbridge was doing everything in her power to find out where the Room Of Requirement was, but only managed to after Edgecombe sold us out?" He looked at Draco's still emotionless face, getting more and more frustrated at the lack of a reaction.
The blond clicked his tongue and raised his voice as he answered. "Do you really think it's better to go headfirst into some ancient Trial? You don't even know what's behind that door, and there're twelve of them!" He lifted his right hand, gesturing towards one of the regular looking doors for emphasis.
"So you reckon it's better to sit here doing nothing and wait possibly months, judging by the previous case, just for the sole hope someone will find this place?" Harry was all but screaming now, trying to calm himself but not succeeding much. "Did you happen to see a door with a sign saying 'Ancient Crystal Challenge This Way' in the library? No? What a coincidence, me neither! So please, do share how in Merlin's name can you think anyone will have a clue what to look for when even we don't know how we got here!"
Draco lowered his gaze, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look Potter, I'm well aware of the situation, really. But you can't just barge in there on a whim! Can't you feel how strange the magic here is? It's terribly unstable! Besides neither of us know if it even works as described!" He tried to explain his thought process. "What if starting it will block any kind of interruption? Have you even considered that possibility? And that's only one of many." He exhaled loudly, his eyes closing for an extended moment. "Being an 'oh so brave Gryffindor doesn't mean you have to be so bloody reckless all the time."
"It's better than doing nothing and waiting for someone to find you." Harry muttered under his breath right away. He had to admit though, Malfoy was partially right, they had to find out as much as they could before starting to get the Crystals.
Even so, there was no way the Gryffindor would just sit here when he can go and do something about being trapped. He took a deep breath, deciding he'll try to work together with Malfoy, knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything by himself if all of the Trials' instructions were in Latin. Still, he had to somehow convince the blond to agree with him that starting the challenge was the better idea, which seemed to be a near-impossible task.
"All right, fine, you're right, we should get as much information about this place as we can before doing anything." Harry carefully glanced at Draco, checking for any sign of disagreement, when not finding any, he continued. "So as a start, will you please share everything that's written on there?" He finished, pointing at the platform, which already looked different than the previous time he looked at it.
Draco sighed after a terribly long moment, gave a curt nod, then walked closer to the middle again. "Each door will lead you to a previously described Gemstone. To unlock the... Golden Exit, you'll need all twelve pieces." He paused, his eyes going over the next paragraph. "The stones must be collected in the exact order of the doors, counterclockwise from the exit." Another short pause followed. "When ready, all participants should place a hand on the... platform to begin the Trial and unlock the first door." He frowned at the next line.
"What is it?" Harry noticed the other's puzzled expression, wanting to know the reason behind it, but decided he wouldn't try to read the words out loud this time.
"It's just..." Draco looked baffled and a bit frustrated. "these words here..." He traced them with his thin fingers. "They don't exactly make sense... at least in this context, I don't-"
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Harry interrupted nonchalantly, eager to start the Trial now he knew how to. When he got an unamused look in return, he continued. "I mean we basically know all we need to already, don't we? That last line is hardly anything important."
"But what if-" The Slytherin didn't let go of the topic, grey eyes still wearily staring at the strange sentence.
"No need to overthink all the time, Malfoy." Harry cut him off again "Besides, maybe we just have to walk in, take the stone from some table and bring it back. Don't always expect the worst possible outcome."
Draco looked defeated and terribly tired now that Harry took a closer look, but he himself was still high on adrenalin and he wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. "So, what do you say? Can we give it a try now?" He heard a long exhale, then the other finally spoke.
"You really won't give in, will you..." Draco's words were more of a rhetorical question, but Harry still nodded, already feeling the sweet taste of victory. The blond muttered a "Bloody Gryffindors..." under his breath. "Fine. Whatever."
Said Gryffindor was already grinning, reaching to place his hand on the stone to start, but slender fingers wrapped around his wrist, holding him back. "But only after we tried everything to get out first! Don't get ahead of yourself, Potter." He finished with a satisfied smirk.
Harry sighed after rolling his eyes. "Right. What do you want to try? Maybe an Alohomora on the exit gate? Already tried. Apparating? Blocked. Shouting in hopes of someone hearing it? I doubt these walls would let a single word through. What else could we possibly try?" He didn't even try to hide how impatient he was, voice filled with annoyance.
A mocking snort left Malfoy's lips. "How could you forget such an important spell of yours, Potter? I was obviously meaning you should try sending a message with your Patronus."
Harry mentally scolded himself for not thinking about that first, but he blamed it on getting only two hours of sleep before getting here. "Fine." He agreed easily, but then a smirk mirroring Malfoy's appeared on his face. "Go on then, it was your idea, so the honour is yours!" He motioned with his hands, gesturing towards the empty space beside them. He never saw Malfoy's Patronus before, and he at least wanted to know what it was now that the boy brought it up.
The Slytherin didn't use his wand though, and the smirk disappeared from his face in the blink of an eye, replaced by his usual neutral expression with a glint of something close to distress in his eyes. "No. You do it." He retorted stiffly, trying to appear impatient.
Harry wasn't going to give in so easily though. "Why? Scared I'll make fun of it?" Smirk still wide on his face. He expected the blond to match his words with an equal follow-up, but the other's expression didn't change, rather the discomfort became clearer on his face.
"Just get on with it, would you." The blond's voice was a bit lower this time, so Harry decided he wouldn't push it any further. It'd just mean wasting more precious time without doing anything useful.
He grabbed his wand from the pocket of his robes and cast the spell, pleased when the familiar silver light took the form of a stag. Harry quickly gave it a short message explaining what they knew about their whereabouts, then asked it to deliver it to the Headmistress.
Neither of them truly expected it to work, it'd have been too easy, so when the stag came back shaking its head signalling it can't get out of the room either, they just looked at each other and sighed in unison.
"Satisfied?" Harry asked in a mocking tone.
"Rather the opposite, really." The blond retorted, voice sounding as bored as possible.
"So? Can we finally start now?" Harry questioned impatiently, already leaning towards the stone table.
"If you insist." Draco exhaled, seemingly already given up on trying to oppose.
Harry stepped back to the marble platform, seeing two hand-shaped dents appear before his eyes. He looked at the other questioningly, but the boy just shrugged. The two palm shapes formed on opposite sides of the table, connected by a circular spiral that now covered the whole surface, connecting in the middle, where a small, pool-like dent took place.
"Er-" Harry started "Do we just...?" He turned his gaze to the Slytherin again, waiting for him to share what they were supposed to do.
Draco rolled his eyes. "It was your idea Potter, don't look at me as if I created this place!" He snapped, then put his right hand above the dent on his side, looking at Harry waiting for him to do the same.
Sure enough, the other shortly did, and with a silent nod, they both placed their palms on the cold marble.
Harry heard Draco hiss in pain before pulling his hand back and wondered why for a split second, before he felt it too. It was as if a thousand tiny needles ripped through his skin, making him pull back as well.
They both watched as their crimson blood started to flow towards each other through the spiral of the light-coloured marble, before Harry's own blood caught on fire and Draco's mixed with a clear solution, therefore making it lighter in colour. They both gasped, the blond even taking a step back, but their eyes were still focusing on what was happening on the table. The two solutions reached the middle, where they extinguished each other at last, disappearing without a single trace left behind.
Harry blinked up to see understanding glint in the Slytherin's eyes, making him curious. "Er- What just happened?" He blurted out, sounding a bit more confused than he'd have liked.
Draco finally looked him in the eye "Blood magic, probably. It was quite popular around the time this place must've been built." He explained nonchalantly, then as if he suddenly remembered, he looked at his right hand and immediately lifted his wand with the other to heal the pierced skin.
The action made Harry curious, so he took a look at his own palm, and there were indeed numerous tiny pin-pricks. They looked like the ones that heal fast on their own, so he didn't bother healing them, not understanding the blond's overreaction. Instead, he questioned further. "Right. And the fire? Is that normal in blood magic?"
The Slytherin didn't look at him this time, still examining the small injuries which were all healed by now. "I wouldn't call it normal exactly, but it isn't that unusual either." He slowly turned his gaze back to the table. "I assume now it symbolized the house we belong to."
"Er- What?" Harry was completely confused by all the information.
"Merlin, Potter, is there anything you know?" He snapped, clearly irritated by Harry's numerous questions. After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and explained further. "The four houses. They're all associated with one of the 4 elements. Slytherin's is water, Gryffindor's is fire. Get it now?"
"Oh, right." Was all Harry replied with, grateful for the explanation but refusing to voice it to Malfoy. He did remember something about the house-element pairings, but his mind didn't think it was important-enough information, therefore he didn't make the connection right away.
A soft noise from the table drew their attention from their thoughts, two pairs of eyes looking for the source of the sound. Harry acted first, reaching for one of the two small objects that appeared in the middle dent of the table.
It was a small grey-white gemstone, fitting comfortably in his palm. The crystal was polished smooth as Harry ran his thumb over the surface. He was about to look at the other piece when he tilted the white stone and it turned to several shades of blue. Maybe turned wasn't the right word, Harry thought, as he examined it further. He kept turning it around, mesmerized by how the colours shifted from blues to purples to almost silver. "Woah..." He breathed, eyes still on the precious stone.
Malfoy walked up behind him, taking a look at the stone, and a soft, lopsided smile appeared on his face. "Opalescence." He shared in a low voice, and Harry hoped he'd explain further. "Rainbow Moonstone shifts colours depending on how light hits its surface."
"So it's... not magic?" Harry wondered out loud.
The blond let a barely audible snort leave his lips. "No, this stone naturally has this trait. Although, Crystals do have magical potential if you know how to use them."
Harry only nodded, still bewitched by the beauty of the gem and the fact it wasn't because of magic, too distracted to notice the fond look in the usually cold grey eyes.
"This one should be yours." Draco spoke again, holding another similar-sized Crystal in his hand. Harry first looked at him, then back to the red stone. It was a Ruby, he knew this one, and it looked more like how one would expect a gemstone to. It wasn't polished smooth but properly cut into an oval shape, flat and sparkly in all the right places, giving it a majestic look. It wasn't uncomfortable to hold either, but Harry still prefered the previous one.
"I like that one better though!" Harry complained, seeing the rainbow stone in the blond's hands.
"Too bad, it's mine." Draco smirked, the other's behaviour taking him off guard.
"Why can you decide which is yours?" The Gryffindor demanded, a bit more seriously than what could be considered normal in such a situation.
The blond rolled his eyes, then decided to explain. "It wasn't me who decided it. Don't you think it's a weird pair of Crystals to get together?" He continued after a short pause. "They're our birthstones."
The Gryffindor only lifted an eyebrow, urging Malfoy to continue once more. "I was born in June, meaning the Moonstone belongs to me. You were born in July, so the Ruby goes to you. Quite simple, really."
"Wait, you know my birthday?" Harry blurted out, surprised by the information.
Draco's eyes went wide in shock for a mere second before his features turned carefully neutral. "Who doesn't?"
Confused by the situation, the Gryffindor changed topics, back to the original matter at hand. "Right, so er-" He swallowed, suddenly aware of how dry his mouth felt after talking so much, also realizing this was probably the longest he talked with Malfoy, especially without getting into a fight. But that was hardly the strangest thing to happen today, so he continued. "So do we put these stones into the door?"
The blond finally moved, probably grateful Harry didn't push the previous question. "I don't think so, since there are twelve doors and we only need twelve Crystals."
"Then why-" Harry started, still puzzled.
"I don't know. Perhaps they'll be needed for the Trials." The Slytherin cut him off.
"Are you sure? Maybe we can just exchange two doors for these." Green eyes jumped to the Gold door on the opposite side.
Draco rolled his eyes with a sigh once again. "Try it then."
Harry walked up to the huge door and tried placing his Ruby in one of the dents. It immediately slipped out, he could only thank his Seeker reflexes for catching it before it fell on the marble floor. "Right. I suppose we can start then?"
Draco exhaled sharply like he didn't believe he agreed to this, but then stepped towards the sturdy wooden door on the gold gate's left side. He lifted his wand and touched it to the door, then when nothing happened, to the marble wall beside it, where it finally revealed something after the golden glow.
Harry stepped next to him, eyeing the text that appeared, not pleased when discovering it was in Latin once again. After a short while he thought was enough to read it, he broke the silence. "What does it say?"
"The first one will be an Aquamarine." Came the reply in a surprisingly neutral tone.
"Right, and?" Harry hoped there would be more information to go on.
"As its name suggests, it's mostly associated with water." Draco stated, his gaze shifting to the door's handle for a second.
"Meaning? The Trial will be underwater or something?" Harry was getting impatient with how he had to practically force everything out of the Slytherin.
"It doesn't say. Only that it's related to water." Draco replied, the hint of tension in his tone betraying his nervousness.
"That's all?" The Gryffindor didn't let the topic go, finding it hard to believe they could get anywhere with so little information.
"Maybe learn Latin and read it yourself if you don't believe me." The blond crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as he spoke, the other's never-ending stream of questions only making him more stressed.
"Why do I have to be stuck with such an annoying git like you?" Harry exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose again as he complained under his breath.
"Don't worry Potter, the feeling is mutual." Malfoy bit back, turning his gaze back to the door, then started speaking again a minute later. "Are you sure you want start this?" He asked in a lower voice, pressuring the third word.
Instead of replying, Harry wasted no more time and opened the first door without any further warning.
They found themselves in a cave, a narrow path leading forward, then taking a sharp right turn in the distance. There were no torches, but the whole passage was lit by a faint blue light, coming from the water streams framing the path.
Harry looked around in awe. Even if he didn't want to be here, he had to admit the place looked beautiful. He felt movement behind him, seeing the blond following him inside. The moment he stepped into the tunnel, the door behind them vanished, replaced by a rock wall, identical to the ones on the sides.
"Splendid." Draco exhaled sharply, clearly not pleased by the disappearance of their only way out. He turned his head back forward, waiting for Harry to move, then when said boy kept standing still, he simply passed him and they began following the path in silence.
They walked at a fast pace, adrenalin still pumping in their veins, but the calming sound of the water streams let Harry get lost in his thoughts.
The first thing that came to his mind was how typical it was for him to get in trouble already before the second week of his eighth year could even finish. Apparently, there was no need for a Dark Wizard to get into such situations.
As unfortunate as it was, he had to admit, he appreciated the silence now. Ever since the war ended, people kept expressing their gratitude in one way or another, and while Harry appreciated their support, it was getting far too overwhelming.
Everyone saw him as a flawless, gifted hero who saved everyone, but truth to be told all he wanted was to be seen as Harry. Just Harry. Not the boy who lived, or some saint saviour.
The only ones who made him feel comfortable enough to be just himself were Hermione and Ron, and he wasn't expecting that short list to get longer any time soon.
It was true the Weasley family treated him as their own, but other than Ron, they still saw him a bit differently. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was still there in their eyes whenever they looked at him, and Harry couldn't ignore it any longer.
The war made tiny details like this impossible to notice, the constant fear of losing everything in a second blinding all reason when it came to feelings. Maybe that was part of the reason why Harry felt like what he had with Ginny was a mistake after the war. She was family, yes, and she admired Harry, but it didn't feel right. It didn't feel real, much like most of the things after the Battle.
Bumping into something solid put an end to Harry's thoughts. "Watch your step, will you." Malfoy hissed, standing in front of him, looking at the cave wall.
Harry turned his head too, noticing the carved in letters on the solid rock. "Anything helpful?" He inquired, wanting to continue walking as soon as possible.
"Not much..." The blond sighed. "Says something about how water's strength lies in it being able to change shape easily. It can keep you alive but also take your life." He finished. "It must've been a phrase back then."
"Kind of obnoxious, don't you think?" Harry pondered out loud.
"This whole place is obnoxious..." Draco rolled his eyes, then began walking again, Harry following after a second.
They must've been walking for at least an hour and a half when Draco held his arm out in front of Harry to stop him. The Gryffindor began to open his mouth to ask why, but Malfoy preceded him. "Shh!" He whispered. "Can you hear that?"
Harry looked at him dumbfoundedly, but then heard sounds similar to water is crashing down. "A waterfall?" He offered, slightly louder now that they both heard the noise. Draco only nodded, then they continued their way towards the sound.
After a few minutes, the passage started to widen, until it ended in a circular hall, its inner height growing at least five times taller than the passageway's. Sure enough, they were facing a waterfall on the opposite side, coming from the very top of the ceiling. The two streams that lit their way before connecting to it at the bottom, completely surrounding them with water.
"Er... Now what?" Harry began, not knowing where they were supposed to get the Crystal from. The moment Draco opened his mouth to reply, a deafening roar cut through the air, making them turn their heads in the direction of the outpouring.
Both of their wands were already aimed at the water, which seemed to move in ways gravity shouldn't have allowed it to. While it was in the middle of changing shape, Harry tried to shout over its sound. "What the hell is that?"
Malfoy took his eyes off of the water to look at him. "Cursed water, probably." He shared wearily. "It can't be controlled as normal water would, in case you didn't-" He yelled over, getting cut off by the noise.
The water creature that seemed to take the shape of some kind of gigantic three headed snake, was pushing one of its heads towards them at a dangerous speed.
Harry immediately yelled, "Everte Statum" throwing them both backwards in opposite directions, the snake's head missing them by mere centimetres. As it collided with the ground, the water soaked part of Harry's robes, but nothing too drastic.
Draco did not get this lucky however, sitting a few meters away from him, completely soaked from head to toe. They did not have much time to examine themselves any further though, as the water flowed back towards the monster, all three heads getting ready to attack.
Harry was running through spells in his mind, when he heard the blond's voice over the rumbling. "The Crystal! It's the eye of the middle one!" Harry looked, and there it was, a sharp sparkle that couldn't have been the water. He didn't exactly see the Crystal itself, but assuming it was blue coloured, he chose to believe Malfoy's words.
"How do we get it?" He screamed back, but they didn't have time for an answer. The creature struck again, its two heads on the side closing them into a circle. A stream of water shot towards them, causing both boys to fall backwards to avoid it. Malfoy stood back up right away, hair and robes all soaking wet. He took a quick glance at Harry with an unreadable expression on his face, then the middle head started moving towards him at an alarming speed.
Harry started to panic when the blond didn't move, already lifting his wand to push him out of the water snake's reach, but he knew it was too late. The creature's head was already only a meter away from Malfoy's outstretched arm, and Harry prepared himself for something terrible to happen.
Suddenly, a blinding blue light filled the room, making him cover his eyes as a reflex. He heard Draco shout a spell, but he only caught the 'Maxima' at the end. His eyes were still squeezed shut from the light blue brightness when everything went deathly quiet, only his breaths echoing in the huge hall.
The violent rumbling of the water stopped, Harry's ears slowly adjusting back to regular sensitivity when he forced his eyes open, spotting the blond standing exactly where he was before. He let out a relieved sigh now he knew both of them were alive, when he noticed the violent shaking of the other's legs before the boy fell to his knees with an echoing thud. Harry immediately sprinted over, his whole body tensing from the sight.
He reached a hand out to touch Draco's shaking shoulder, but he immediately pulled it back, grabbing his fingers with his other hand to get some warmth back. "Bloody hell, you're freezing cold!" He yelped in surprise, and it finally all connected. He looked up at the creature which was trying to kill them a few minutes ago, now frozen in place, its middle head mere inches away from where the Slytherin must've stood before his knees gave out.
The shallow and uneven breathing of the other won his attention back in the next moment. The temperature did drop a few degrees, but it wasn't enough for Harry to feel cold, so it was clearly the spell making Malfoy's breath a thick white mist. Harry quickly cast a Warming Charm, immediately feeling its effect, but the blond's shivering only got worse.
"S- spells won't work." Malfoy mumbled quietly, his words slurred. Harry prepared himself this time so he wouldn't need to pull away when he reached to touch the other's shoulder. It was still unbelievably cold, much colder than any living being should be, and the panic spreading in his mind only got worse. He forced one of Draco's arms off of his chest, his fingers wrapping around the thin wrist, looking for the pulse. He had to concentrate to feel it which wasn't a good sign, and the visible shaking of the owner wasn't reassuring either.
When he saw pale eyelids blinking slower and slower, he finally opened his mouth. "Malfoy, hey, listen to me! You probably have Hypothermia! You can't fall asleep!" Said boy lazily turned his gaze on him, his grey eyes dull and powerless. Harry started taking off Draco's still wet robes, trying to remember what one was supposed to do to prevent any more symptoms.
When it was finally off, Harry reached for the first button of the other's black longsleeves, but slender, icy fingers on his wrist stopped him. They held surprisingly firmly considering how weak their owner looked right now.
"Come on, we have to get rid of all your wet clothes! I'm not letting you freeze to death just because of your bloody pride!" He peeled the cold fingers off his arm and reached for the button again, but Draco pushed him away with both hands this time.
"I s- said n- no!" He slurred, teeth chattering.
"It's really not the time to argue, just let me get it off!" Harry raised his voice. Draco only wrapped his arms around himself tighter, pulling his knees up with all the strength he had left. Harry sighed loudly, not knowing how to convince the other, then he heard Malfoy mutter something under his breath. "What did you say?"
He motioned towards Harry's wand hand with his head. "D- drying C-harm." He mumbled, making it obvious it took way too much energy for him to speak. But it was enough for Harry, and hot air already made the water steam from the black button-up.
After he carefully dried all of Draco's clothes, he put his wand away, reaching to check the other's body temperature. He knew spells wouldn't warm him up even if they dried his clothes, but he didn't expect the pale skin to feel even colder than before under his touch.
"This won't be enough, we have to warm you up somehow." He could only hope the blond wouldn't start refusing his help again but judging by his current state, that wouldn't be a problem. He walked behind him, preparing to sit down when Draco interrupted him.
"Wait-"
Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. "We have no other options here, so just shut up for once, will you?" Grey eyes looked at him with confusion for a second, then his eyelids slid down in a lazy blink.
"N- no," He managed through chattering teeth, but Harry didn't catch the second half.
"What?" He asked carefully, trying to suppress his impatience.
The blond rolled his eyes, almost making Harry laugh how he used whatever little energy he had left on such things, but then he heard a shaky inhale and Draco's voice was a tiny bit louder than before. "T-take the Crystal." Of course, the reason why they were here, Harry finally remembered.
The Gryffindor turned his back to Draco, approached the still frozen snake head and there it was, a gorgeous light blue gemstone standing out of the pale ice around it. He reached for it carefully, not wanting to accidentally melt the creature back to life somehow, in case it was possible.
Harry pressed down one side of the stone, popping it out of its ice prison. He held it in his palm, taking out his Ruby and comparing them. The Aquamarine was slightly lighter, but cut just as nicely, its colour reminding Harry of the sea. After he finished examining it, he placed both stones in his pocket and turned back to see Malfoy, still shaking but with his eyes closed. He immediately cursed under his breath and crouched back down, sitting behind the shivering boy to warm him up, hoping it wasn't too late yet.
He positioned Malfoy to sit in his lap sideways, and cast a quick extension charm on his sweater so they both fit inside it, then covered Draco's body with his own robes to prevent as much heat from escaping as possible.
After painfully long minutes of shaking and calling out to him, a pair of faint grey eyes slowly opened, looking around then filling with confusion and panic. "What are you-"
"Calm down Malfoy!" Harry cut him off immediately. The Slytherin was still cold to the touch, but wasn't shaking as violently as before. "I didn't exactly have many options, and body heat is the fastest way to warm you up." The blond stilled in his arms, and let his head fall back to Harry's shoulder, although with great reluctance.
After a few more minutes, Malfoy started moving again, clearly trying to get out of the layers he was trapped under. "Hey, what are you doing?" Harry demanded.
"We should get going." Came the weak reply, finally not slurred.
"You were freezing to death a few minutes ago, give yourself some time to warm up properly, will you?" Harry countered, although he couldn't completely hide the relief from his voice.
"I'm well enough to walk, and I don't know about you, but I'd prefer not to wait until the spell wears off." He finished, voice still weaker than Harry was used to. He did have a point though, so he helped him out of the sweater and from under the robes. They both stood up, Draco immediately dusting off his pure black outfit, then reached for his robes, walking quite a few steps away from the other.
While Harry was putting his own clothes back on, he caught a glance of Malfoy pointing his wand at his white-blond locks, right as they organized themselves back to how they were before getting drenched.
"Did you just fix up your hair with magic?" He snorted, his eyes refusing to look away.
Draco froze for a second, a touch of pink spreading over his cheeks, which also meant his blood circulation was getting back to normal. "Maybe you should also try it sometime." He countered defensively right away.
Harry rolled his eyes in return, simply relieved nothing too serious happened in the end. They took a last glance at the three frozen snake heads, then started their way back towards where they came from after making sure there were no other options.
As they were walking, they noticed the water streams on the sides were both also frozen, which made Harry wonder just how much energy did the other really use when casting the spell. Although quite impressed, he was also suddenly annoyed how the blond did it without discussing it first. "You know, you could've at least told me you were about to turn the place into an ice chamber." He cut the silence.
Draco glanced back at him over his shoulder. "I didn't exactly have the time to discuss ideas, if you somehow failed to notice." He retorted right away.
"Still, you should've said something!" Harry raised his voice.
"Listen, I remembered the spell, and a second later it was coming towards me. I had to act before it did something worse!" He snapped, rolling his tired grey eyes. "Besides, you should rather thank me, really. If I didn't freeze it, who knows what might've happened."
Harry exhaled, not wanting to deal with pointless arguments right now, besides, he couldn't really fight with the other's logic further.
"That reminds me," Draco started after a couple of silent minutes. "Where is the Aquamarine?"
Harry lifted an eyebrow, but reached into his pocket and fished the stone out, dropping it into Malfoy's hand.
The blond turned the Crystal over a few times, his usually cold, sharp features softening as he examined the blue piece. "Beautiful." He remarked under his breath, then after taking a last glance, he gently passed it back to Harry.
The Gryffindor was speechless, not knowing what to make of the unusual situation, so they spent the rest of the way in complete silence.
Harry was startled to hear Draco speak so suddenly after an hour of nothing. "Thank Merlin!" The blond sighed.
"What is it?" The Gryffindor questioned with a raised brow.
"The door." The blond explained, voice filled with relief, a finger pointing forward. "It appeared again."
"You thought it wouldn't?" Harry asked genuinely.
"I couldn't have been sure, could I?" The Slytherin's tone turned slightly defensive. "As I said, the magic here is... rather strange."
Harry hummed in response, and they finally reached the door, finding themselves back in the circular marble room.
"What was that, about 4 hours?" Harry thought out loud as he stepped out behind Malfoy.
"Roughly, I guess." Came the reply shortly.
"When I woke up in the library, it must've been around... 2 o'clock." Harry continued, letting the other catch on with his thought process.
"Meaning they'll be waking up soon, and realize you're missing." Draco surprisingly finished his sentence, although without too much interest.
"Right... Reckon we'll get lucky and someone discovers where we are immediately?" The Gryffindor asked, without actually considering a positive reply.
"Unlikely-" The blond started.
"Yeah, that's what I thought" Harry interrupted, then walked up to the Golden door, reaching for the blue Crystal in his pocket.
"-but you never know..." Draco finished quietly, stepping beside Harry with a sigh.
"Put it in this one" The Slytherin spoke again, pointing at the first dent on the left side of the door.
"Are you sure?" Harry wanted to be certain, and after the other nodded, he pressed the Aquamarine into its place. It didn't fall out like his Ruby before, and a faint, golden glow surrounded it for a brief second, telling them the first task was completed.
"11 more to go." Harry exhaled, with a hint of pride.
"Hopefully they won't all be similar to the first one." Draco sighed again, taking out the Moonstone from his inner pocket, watching how freely the different shades of blue danced on its surface.