The Last Tear
By Lilyria Ali
Author's Notes: Thank you to my beta Jayne and Anjali! This is depressing…very very depressing. Dedicated to everyone who photographs Aurora Borealis. Dedicated to Jayne (hehe! My lovely beta! She’s written “Happy Birthday Draco”), V.V. (one of the best slashers ever! She wrote “Clear”. Much loff V.V.!! Cream puff flower soon to come!), BlancheMalfoy (another great slasher, she wrote “The Road Home” and “Take Me Home”), and all those who reviewed on my NASAS and Moon Petals review board, esp. to Skyler Trueflight, who read both fics, but also to mistykasumi, Sarahjane10784 (heh. You’re spoiling the angst of the fic, LOL!), Culavariel, ddz008, Melissa, ariesfire, Anastasia, Achylde (I do love your comments Achylde), Alohomora, Hermes Weasely, lelalee83, and finally…Maeve I also have matching poetry for this fic at my site ^^ Please review!
The Last Tear
By Lilyria Ali
Draco smiled as the tiny sapling blossomed into a velvety crimson flower right before him. But his smile was bitter and hard, like carved ice frozen for eternity.
It was so ironic, wasn’t it, that the main ingredient needed for the potion was the Crimson Rose, the very symbol of love, yet used to escape pain forever.
The petals were fine and thin, flawless and caressing, like a mother’s touch, or a lover’s touch. Harry’s touch. Draco exhaled deeply, bathing in the shower of tears raining down on him, all over him.
Heaven was crying for him.
But Draco did not cry. He couldn’t—not yet anyways.
The potion bubbled, shaking him from his thoughts. Draco gently plucked the innermost petal, the most lushly beautiful red petal of them all, shaped like a teardrop.
He smiled again, stroking the petal with the gentleness he reserved only for Harry. His Harry.
There was so many things left unsaid, so many thoughts never known, so many gestures left behind, so many words forgotten…so much love, all torn and crushed like the most plebian of the autumn leaves.
Draco settled the petal gently atop the now-still potion, watching as the mixture hissed and turned rapidly red.
Red, for love; red, for beauty; red, for hatred; red…for blood.
“I can’t help it Draco…I can’t make myself love you if my heart says no.”
That was the ending line. There was nothing more to be discussed… Draco had closed his eyes before saying his last line too.
“You know I will always love you Harry.”
“I’m sorry—you shouldn’t care if I don’t care. I’m so—”
Draco had opened his eyes and gently touched Harry’s face. Harry had flinched.
“Draco—I…”
“Be quiet Harry. I just want to remember how it was like to touch you.”
They had parted their separate ways, Harry relieved, but Draco…Draco had lost all sense of feeling.
That’s why he found the potion. Wanting Harry was like every throb of his heart, every moment of his life he lived only for Harry. And Harry didn’t want him back.
There was only one way to end it, obviously. Draco looked down at his calves, where there were so many scars, all self-inflicted. The less blood he had flowing, the less his heart throbbed; the less his heart throbbed, the less he wanted Harry.
A faint, ethereal light played lightly upon Draco’s face. His skin lit up with a kind of heavenly glow, as if the gods already knew they would be meeting him soon. Aurora Borealis watched Draco sadly from the inky blackness above; the lovers’ favorite nighttime activity together, watching the shimmering Northern Lights. But tonight there was only one…
And after tonight, that one would become none.
He was ready.
As if hearing his thoughts, the potion churned and frothed until it was completely black, matching the nighttime sky above. Draco swooped gently to his knees, his hands shaking as he dipped his goblet into the pot.
His hands remained dry, even after touching the mixture, but the potion was most definitely in the goblet. Draco shut his eyes, suppressing the emotions inside him, and the tears that came along with them.
His lashes touched the potion, blonde and feathery. “I love you Harry,” whispered Draco, his voice unsteady. “I’ll love you forever.”
One lone tear slipped from his closed eyelids. It glittered, sliding down Draco’s pale cheeks and marking a path of its own, just like Harry.
Harry had marked a path in his life…and tonight was the end of that path; the path Draco had chosen to walk on.
I love you.
The tear slipped soundlessly into the goblet, instantly turning the liquid clear once more.
I love you.
Draco lifted the goblet to his lips, the metal warm and inviting. “Drink,” it said.
I’ll love you forever.
He swallowed the glass in one swig, his eyes making out through his tears one last object before his soul left the world.
The Crimson Rose was still blooming, but its innermost petal, its heart, had been ripped out.
Just like Draco’s.
*A/N: I cried myself to sleep thinking about this. It was sudden inspiration. *sighs* I’m sorry if I made anyone unhappy. I love the Northern Lights, and this fic is dedicated to all those photographers of this beautiful phenomenon.