Severus had left his three Gryffindor companions in the green houses, seeing no need for them to miss class. Plus, Potter would probably respond better if he wasn't ganged up on. That was if he ever he ever found the boy.

Severus knew that it wasn't so surprising that Potter might skip class. He'd skipped plenty after his own trauma. Class just doesn't seem worth it when your life has been destroyed. So, perhaps he shouldn't be as troubled as he was that Potter wasn't in class, but he was. Something just felt off. He needed to find the boy quickly.

Just as Severus made it to the entrance of the castle, he noticed two Gryffindors standing around there as if they had nothing better to do. "Why are the two of you not in class?"

"You canceled our class, Professor," one of the two boys told him.

Severus had forgotten that. He had the seventh years this period and had canceled the lesson to look for Potter. "Then perhaps you should be using this time to study or make sure your homework is complete instead of standing around like a couple of dungerheads!"

"Yes sir," they both said before heading for the Grand Staircase.

"Wait. Have either of you seen Harry Potter today?" Severus asked. As long as they were, he figured he might as well see if they could be any use.

"Potter? He should be in Herbology, I think."

Severus scowled. "I didn't ask you where he should be. I asked if you'd seen him."

"I saw him as I made it to breakfast. He was headed towards the dungeons," the other boy said.

"The dungeons," Severus repeated. Now that made no sense. Why in the bloody hell would Potter head to area where that disgusting old man was?

"Yeah, he was probably going to talk with Professor Slughorn. He seems to like him quite a bit," the boy said.

Without another word, Severus headed towards his former domain. Merlin help Slughorn if he encountered him while searching for Potter.

___________

Draco stood speechless for just a minute. What was meant as an insult seemed to be taken literally. Potter just told him that he was indeed trying to kill himself with whatever potion he was making. Was he serious? No, he couldn't be. Potter was the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One. Almost everyone loved him. He couldn't really mean to harm himself. No, Potter was just having him on. "That's hilarious, Potter. Too bad your just being a bastard. I know I'd like nothing more than to be rid of you."

Harry shrugged. "Well, you'll have your wish in a minute."

"Enough. Go be an idiot elsewhere. I need this room," Draco said.

Normally, Harry would question what Malfoy was up to. He was more than concerned with it on the train. Just like then, he new Malfoy was up to something sinister, but now he didn't give a damn. He didn't care about anything except for the pain that got worse every day. So Malfoy could do whatever he bloody wanted. "Fine, just as long as you don't mind my corpse laying around while you do whatever you're going to do."

Draco watched as Potter brought the potion to his lips and prepared to drink. Most of Draco was sure it was a sick joke, but the small part that wasn't reacted without his knowledge. "Stop! What...? What are you doing? What is that?"

"Well, the gist is that it's a potion version of the killing curse. At least, that's what I took from what I read about it in my book. It kills instantly after taking it. That's why I chose it. It's painless and there's no possibility of revival," Harry said.

Draco honestly wasn't sure if what Potter was saying was true. He couldn't tell what the potion was. It wasn't one he recognized, and he'd never heard of the potion Potter said he was about to drink, so he had no way of knowing what it looked like, or if it even existed.

Draco stood there, at a loss of what to do. He was torn on whether or not to even believe this was true. Most of him was inclined to believe Potter was messing with him, but the small part that wasn't feared he was about to watch a classmate die.

"Are we done now, Malfoy? Can you let me die in peace?" Harry asked.

"Why?" Draco asked. A part of him really wanted to know and the other part of him wanted to stall Potter from drinking that potion long enough to figure out what to do.

"What do you care? You were just saying you wished for this," Harry stated.

"I thought you were having me on! Why are you doing this? You're probably one of the most popular people in the world," Draco said, unable to understand why his school enemy would want to die.

"Except for with Voldemort and the death eaters. Well, actually, I suppose I'm popular with them too, just in a different way," Harry mused.

"Is that why you're doing it? Because of the Dark Lord. What, you want to kill yourself before he can?" Draco asked.

Harry laughed, but there was not a trace of amusement in his voice. "There are worse things in the world than Voldemort." Honestly, Voldemort had nothing on Slughorn and Dumbledore. They had destroyed him in a way Voldemort couldn't even hope to.

Draco found that hard to believe, but looking into Potter's eyes, he knew it was true. Whatever had driven him to this point was worse than the Dark Lord. And Draco was sure now that it was real. This wasn't a joke. Potter was going to kill himself if he didn't stop him. But how could he do that. How was he, someone Potter hated, going to convince him to stay alive? He wasn't even sure why he felt inclined to, but he did. "What's worse?"

"You don't want to know," Harry said in a slightly shaky voice as he thought back once more on what that man had done to him.

"Don't you want someone to know? Don't you want them to know why you did this?" Draco asked. He was trying to stall as much as he could with hope that someone would figure out they were missing and come find them. They were both missing from class, right? Someone had to notice.

"No, but they will. My friends know something and they're going to tell Snape what they know. He'll figure it out. Everyone will know why soon," Harry said with a shudder.

"So it can't hurt to tell me then, right?" Draco reasoned.

Harry shook his head. "No. I'm not going to tell anyone, let alone you. I won't put myself through that. That's the whole point of all this. So, see you later, Malfoy. Or not," Harry said before bring the potion back to his lips.

___________

Severus was searching the dungeons. He'd searched Slughorn's office to make sure the boy wasn't in there and had even stopped by the Slytherin common room to see if anyone had seen him. He was about to interrupt Slughorn's class to force the bastard to tell him when he might have seen the boy when he noticed the potion's storeroom was open. That door was kept looked most of the time, though it wouldn't be the first time someone broke in.

Severus walked into the room and surveyed the potion ingredients. Of course, it wasn't easy for him to tell what was missing since he no longer had a tally of them all, as he was no longer the Potion's master. There was no way to know what Potter had taken, if anything."

"Severus?"

Severus nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. He quickly turned to see the Bloody Baron. "Bloody hell! Don't do that!"

"My apologies. What are you doing down here? I would think you'd avoid it these days," the Baron said.

"Nothing would make me happier, but the Potter boy was spotted coming this way," Severus said.

"Harry? He wouldn't," the Baron said immediately.

Severus narrowed his eyes at the ghost. The Bloody Baron wasn't on a first name basis with anyone but Slytherins, and even then it was rare. There was only one reason he could think of for it now. "You know. Why the bloody hell didn't you say anything?!"

"For the same reason I never said anything about you. It was for him and him alone to tell. I could make suggestions, but I couldn't make the decision for him," he explained.

"When did you find out?"

"The night it happened to him. I aided him in calming down and getting to a safe place. Why would he come down here? He's wanted nothing to do with Slughorn," the Baron said.

"I believe he's making a potion, but I don't know what or where he'd go to make it," Severus said.

"The Room of Requirement is a possibility. He wouldn't be disturbed there, plus he spends a good amount of his time there," he said.

Severus could've kicked himself for not thinking of that. It was obvious. It was the one place in the castle the boy could go to to be alone. Most did not venture into that room without a purpose, and most didn't have one. It was unlikely he'd be disturbed.

Severus immediately took off to find the boy.

___________

"Potter, don't!" Draco yelled.

Harry huffed in frustration. "What do you want now, Malfoy? Can't you just let me be for once?"

"No! Not if it means you're going to this!" Draco exclaimed.

"Why do you care if I do this? What is it Malfoy? You don't want me to kill myself before your new master can?" Harry sneered.

Draco self- consciously glanced down his arm with the dark mark on it.

"Yeah, I know you have it. I've seen the way you touch that arm," Harry said.

Draco looked at him for a second before making a split second decision. He removed his Hogwarts robe and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the tattoo. He wasn't sure why he did it. Maybe because he didn't imagine the situation could get much worse. Maybe because he thought if he revealed his secret, Potter would reveal his. Maybe it was just another moment that kept Potter alive. "You're right. I got it this summer. I didn't want to, but I didn't have a choice."

"I don't really care anymore, Malfoy," Harry said with a shrug.

"Don't you want to at least know what I'm supposed to do. The Dark Lord has a mission for me," Draco said. He figured he might as well go all the way now that he'd revealed the dark mark. If Potter was listening to him, he wasn't drinking that potion. Hell, maybe it would give him a reason not to do this at all.

"Not really, but I'll humor you for a second, I suppose," Harry said.

"He wants me to kill Dumbledore," Draco told him.

Harry laughed. "He's sending you on a bloody suicide mission. Like you could kill Dumbledore. On the off chance you do though, give him a message for me before you do it. Tell him to rot in hell!"

Now that caught Draco off guard. He wasn't expecting so much a remark. He thought Potter liked Dumbledore. He always seemed to look up to him, seeing him as some sort of mentor. Was it Dumbledore that did it? Was he responsible for whatever drove Potter to this point.

"Now if there's nothing else, I have an afterlife to get to, assuming there is one," Harry said. However, he was interrupted yet again, this time by the door bursting open and Professor Snape rushing in.

Severus took a look at the scene in horror. Potter and Draco Malfoy were standing a few feet away from each other. The part that really horrified the man, however, was the potion in the Potter boy's hand. He knew what it was just by looking at because he'd made it before. More than that, he'd created it, and for one specific purpose, the same one he was sure Potter had for it now. Suicide.