Title: Falling Down
Author: sdk
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Teddy
Rating: R
Length/Word Count: Ficlet, 662 words
Warnings/Content: zombies, implied character death, angst
Summary: He should have killed them all.
Notes: Written for roozetter who won my services as part of fandomaid. Special thanks to torino10154 and train_tracks for the feedback and beta! <3 Title taken from the Muse song of the same name.
Disclaimer: The following is based on fictional characters I don't own doing fictional things in a fictional world I did not create. No copyright infringement intended.


Falling Down

"You're all right," Harry says as he lays Teddy down inside the rotting shed, over the scars that mar the floors, deep gouges of black criss-crossing haphazardly in the wood. The spells come to him instinctually: reinforce the walls and the doors, soften the floor for Teddy, transfigure an old moth-eaten sweater into a blanket—which Teddy immediately pushes off as he closes his eyes, muttering "Too hot"—and a spare glove into a pillow, all without thought.

There is no spell for what Harry really needs.

Teddy's eyes slit open; Harry can barely see the steel grey peeking out. "Did you check me?"

"Just a scratch," Harry lies. "It didn't get you."

Relief paints Teddy's face and Harry's lungs go so tight he can't breathe.

"I thought that was it." Teddy lets out a slow, shuddering breath. "Would've been all right, except who would look after you, then?" He cracks a smile. Harry can't look.

"Get some rest," he says. Then he stands and triple-checks his spell work until he hears Teddy's breath even out, slow and shallow.

~

They were stupid. Harry was stupid. Lulled into safety by the cold and the ice.

The dead weren't much of a threat once fall turned into winter and rain turned into icy sleet and snow. They moved slower, if at all, frozen bones stiff, their usual snapping jaws barely creaking open to bite. It was ridiculously simple to dispatch them, even if they accidentally came across a horde. Easy pickings.

They'd come across a loner, its feet trapped in a frozen pond. Harry raised his wand to strike, but Teddy placed a quelling hand on his arm and said, "No."

Harry blinked at him.

"What if there's a cure? What if we find one?" He shook his head, snow falling free from his bright turquoise hair. "We shouldn't unless we have to."

Teddy was so innocent, unwilling to give up hope even after months of being trapped in this world, just he and Harry, months of only meeting the dead. Harry couldn't take that away from him. He lowered his wand.

He should have killed them all.

~

Harry's sitting at Teddy's side when he wakes, his cheeks still full of color, his skin hot to the touch. Teddy opens his eyes and whispers, "Kiss me."

It took the end of the world to bring about their first kiss. But Teddy's lips are soft and familiar now, warm and pliant. Harry closes his eyes and falls into them, remembering the first time Teddy lured him into bed. They were safe at Grimmauld Place but running out of food no matter how little they rationed. He wishes they'd stayed there just the same, with Teddy beckoning him into Sirius' old room where he slept.

"It's the end of the world, Harry," he said. "If we can't now..." Teddy pulled off his t-shirt and walked through the doorway, Harry's eyes following the curve of his spine the whole way.

"Coming?" he threw over his shoulder with just a hint of a smile. Harry would have done anything to kiss that smile, even if the world hadn't been falling down around them.

Teddy pushes off Harry's cloak now, his fingers fumbling with the buttons of Harry's flannel shirt soon after. His kiss turns demanding, needy, and Harry barely has the presence of mind to break away.

"You should be resting, Teddy," Harry says, his breath fogging the air between them. Teddy's hands are so hot; they coast over his chest, pausing to finger the locket-shaped scar below his neck. His eyes are nearly black.

"I need this," Teddy whispers. Harry can't say no.

Teddy lifts up long enough for Harry to carefully peel his jumper and shirt free. Harry's fingers skirt around his shoulder, around the deep mouth-shaped scar, a dark angry red marring Teddy's perfect skin.

Lips graze over Harry's neck. Harry closes his eyes and feels Teddy's slowing ragged breaths.

And he waits.





-Fin-







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