On instinct, Harry seized the blade from out of his foot first, slapped the offending bear away with his other hand second, then looked up with an anguished cry third to see Draco's still form sprawled on the grassy concrete twenty feet in front of him. "DRACO!" he screamed, unable to believe what he was seeing. He didn't care if he was too far away, he shot several healing spells in his direction as he tried to limp over to him, before the bears tailing him from the tunnel swarmed him and shoved him to the ground.

"You're my best friend, ya-huk!" they exclaimed as they jumped all over him, pinning his wand hand down. "Let's play a game, ya-huk!"

"You're gonna die slowly, ya-huk!"

"YOU!" Harry thundered, flinging off as many bears as he was able, clawing his way free and electrifying as many toys as he could now his wand hand was mobile again, determined to get to the Alpha hopping around just out of his reach. But the lightning charm just made the bears woozy, he needed another way to amplify it like they had at the bumper car ring if he was going to stop them for good.

There weren't many teddies still left of the scaffolding, but that seemed like a good place to start, at least if only to disable a few more of the bastards. "Fulgurutus!" he bellowed, lighting up the metal poles in a stunning criss-cross of blinding light. The couple of dozen bears vibrated with the force of the assault, then dropped to the ground with soft thumps, their fur singed and smoking. Harry though was already too busy fighting his way free of the bears on the ground, aiming for the other end of the courtyard.

There was no sense in going backwards, there would only be more bears coming from the tunnel. He had to go forwards, to the other identical building that made up one of London's most famous landmarks.

What he really wanted to do though was race over to Draco, to check he was okay and reassure his breaking heart and shredded nerves. But there wasn't time for that, he had to stop the bears before they got even further out into the world and endangered any more people.

"You won't escape us, ya-huk!" the Alpha cried in his voice just as goofy as the rest. Even without the knife now, Harry felt he could recognise him; there was something sinister in his face that the other bumbling bears didn't have.

He managed to kick and shake his way free of most of the teddies, then fired an Episkey healing spell at his foot. It was only able to patch up the sliced skin and muscle though, and even then not all that well. If he ever made it out of this, he vowed he was going to invest in some serious first aid training.

It was obvious there were a few broken bones grating together in his foot as he tried his hardest to outrun the smaller, faster bears behind him. He was gasping and panting in terrible pain, but he needed to get some distance between him and the bears if he was going to lure the Alpha into any kind of trap.

There was a severe lack of dodgem rings to hand though, and he just had to hope he could find another lot of scaffolding to trick the Alpha on to. But, would it have learned already from Harry taking out the ones in the courtyard? He swore as the entrance to the opposite part of the power station loomed, symmetrical to the side he had fought his way through a few moments ago. He didn't have time to cut through the chicken wire though, and he was still in the apparition field, so he was just going to have to risk something clumsy if he had any hope of keeping moving.

"Mobilicorpus!"

Human levitation on yourself was never a wise idea, especially when doing it in increasingly strong winds to jump over barbed wire fences with killer teddy bears hot on your heels. But Harry felt himself fly up into the air with a determined grunt, and he grit his teeth in concentration to keep himself there until he cleared all three of the gates.

Unfortunately, his attention slipped once he was in front of the other lobby, and he dropped like a stone with only a few tufts of grass to brake his fall onto the cracked concrete slabs. He tried to keep his weight off his injured right foot, but he was still accosted with another hideous snapping sensation as another bone or two broke, and the impact slammed through the rest of his body as he landed side on, his glasses bouncing from his face and his wand rolling from his hand.

He allowed himself about twenty seconds to keen in agony, before forcibly remembering that Draco had fallen from even higher than that. He panted once or twice more, retrieved his wand and glasses, then dragged himself back up to stumble inside the building. The wind whistled and howled as he got his bearings, glancing back to see how the bears were doing scaling the chain link fences after him.

Some of the smaller ones were almost at the second barrier, and Harry could make out the now distinctive shape of the Alpha leisurely following them up, knife back in hand. "We're gonna get you, ya-huk!"

"Oh sod off," Harry growled, and hurriedly limped his way to the left, thinking it was as good a way as any.

His hunch paid off, as he soon found a sign pointing upwards towards the boiler room – could that be a good place to stage an ambush? He didn't have any other ideas, and the quicker bears would no doubt be almost at the top of the middle fence by now, so boiler room it was.

The floor had once been polished marble but was now littered with the natural debris a building faced when not used for a couple of decades. It was hell on Harry's foot, but as soon as he reached the spiral staircase he was able to haul himself along using the banister. The tight spiral would offer him some cover he realised, so maybe if he could find the boiler room and work out how he could use it like the console at the bumper car rink, he could come back and perhaps lead the bears upwards without them being able to attack him so easily. The rink had been connected with the electrical antennas on the cars though, would he be able to get the boiler working and transfer the electricity? What kind of power station was it anyway, could he...?

His train of thought petered off as he stopped his ascension of the staircase, and stared down at the banister he was clinging to.

The wrought iron banister.

Harry stepped back on his good foot, and looked down. The whole staircase was solid metal.

Surely that would work? his overtired brain demanded. He was certain it would (mentally he thanked Hermione again for her insisting they all know basic Muggle science). But that was only half his problem. How was he going to get the bears and the Alpha onto the steps without he himself getting attacked or electrocuted?

By playing the bears at their own game, he realised, his head snapping back to look out the window into the dark night where he'd watched Draco get attacked. Not knowing what on Earth he was doing, he pointed his wand, and cast.

"Accio Harry!" he snarled, throwing everything he had into the summoning charm. He wasn't sure it was even possible to summon an echo, but if he was going to manage it, by Merlin it was going to be there and then.

As it turned out, is was possible to do just that. Actually, it had the added bonus that by summoning something incorporeal, it could just fly right through brick and glass, and land by Harry's side in next to no time, which was lucky, as he could already hear the faint cries of the teddy bears as they got closer, probably almost over the final fence by now.

"Hello," Harry's echo said blandly to him. Draco really had done a magnificent job, they looked absolutely identical, expect Harry had got a few more cuts and scrapes since they'd created his doppelganger in the hall of mirrors.

"Um, hi," Harry said awkwardly, before remembering he was talking to a mere reflection of himself, certainly nothing alive. "Right," he carried on in a more professional and urgent manner. "I need you to run down these steps and get the attention of the bears coming through the door. Once they've seen you, walk back up here and wait at the top." He pointed to where the stairs finished a few more turns above their heads. "Um, please, thank you," he tacked on the end, feeling foolish but unable to stop himself.

The doppelganger nodded once. "Of course Harry," it said amiably. Without another word it turned and jogged down until it was out of sight, leaving Harry to limp his way painfully up to the top where the walkway became concrete again, and he would be safe from the lightning charm. He felt irrationally guilty about sending the echo to face the bears, before he remembered Draco, lying cold, hurt and possibly even dead outside, and didn't have room to worry about much else.

"I want to play, ya-huk!" the familiar chorus became audible from down below. "What's your favourite colour, ya-huk!"

Harry didn't care about any of those though, he was straining his ears waiting for the distinctive sound of the Alpha's ghoulish threats.

Through the holes between the dark iron steps, Harry began to see some movement in the moonlit shadows. It was hard to say for sure, but he guessed it was the nimbler bears pulling their little bodies up the first few steps and along the bars and the banisters. "Come on, come on," he mumbled, just like when he was helplessly watching the mega-bear lumber its way onto the bumper car rink. At least then Draco had only been in danger, he had definitely still been alive. Harry's guts twisted and his gritted his teeth against the grief that threatened to envelop him.

Draco could still be okay, they'd been through worse together, he couldn't jump to conclusions, certainly not when he still had a job to do.

"You're my best friend, ya-huk!"

"I love hugs, ya-huk!"

"Come and play with me, ya-huk!"

If Harry never heard that bloody laugh again for as long as he lived, it would be too soon.

Saying that though, he probably wasn't going to live that much longer at this rate anyway. More and more bears were pilling onto the staircase, but there was still no sign of the Alpha. The other Harry was calmly walking up the steps slowly, letting the bears bounce around his feet and harmlessly pass through him when they launched upwards and tried to get him to 'play'.

"You're no fun, ya-huk!"

Harry snapped to attention, but he couldn't see if the Alpha was actually on the stairs or not yet. Unfortunately, by poking his head over the edge of the walkway to look, the bears nearest the top spotted him and became even more excitable.

"Let's play a game, ya-huk!" they chirped, scrambling eagerly to try and get to the real, corporeal Harry. Luckily, the faster ones were the smaller ones, so although Harry knew they could still do some damage, as they were lacking in sharp weapons he was confident he could hold them off for long enough.

That was if the Alpha bear hadn't worked out his plan, and refused to step onto the metal stairs.

He just had to hope that wasn't going to happen, and stick to the plan as it was.

The other Harry was still casually walking up the stairs, which by now were swarming with bears of all sizes, and Harry had to start fending off the first wave of teddies that had reached the top. He daren't use the lightning in case he snagged the iron and fried the ones on there too soon, before the Alpha was definitely there. So he stuck mostly with blasting them back with a succession of Stupefys.

He cried out as he stumbled and his foot flared with unbelievable pain – more and more bears reaching the walkway and joining in with the assault. "Come ON!" he shouted in frustration.

The doppelganger was almost at the top now, and the din of so many bears all crying out in the same voice made it practically impossible for Harry to listen out for the sound of the Alpha getting closer. He fired spell after spell with one hand and grabbed desperately at the railing of the walkway with the other, trying to keep looking down to spot his prey despite the dozens of bears now fiercely trying their best to drag him away and play their game of "Stomp The Boy Who Lived To Death."

The Harry echo now stood at the top of the steps next to Harry, just like he'd been told, watching Harry passively as he bellowed and fought against the hoard. "Oi, you! Um, Harry!" he cried out in desperation. "Can you see a bear about a foot tall that's holding a knife – is it on the stairs!"

The other Harry blinked, then walked a few steps downwards, ignorant as Harry thrashed and smacked against the bears, tears slipping unbidden down his face from pain and desperation.

"Yes," the echo said helpfully from just out of sight. "I can see that bear Harry."

He didn't have time to question if he was definitely on the metal, or verify it was definitely the same bear and not another one that had decided to pick up the Alpha's knife, he just had to go for it.

"FULGURUTUS!" he howled with all his might, lighting up the spiral staircase with Godric knows who many volts of electricity that blinded him with its ferocity.

Much like with the bumper car ring, the sound of the bears screaming was almost too much to stand, but Harry was more concerned with flinging off the teddies still clinging to him, and covering his eyes with his arm to protect him from the light.

As soon as it had started, the spell abruptly stopped, leaving Harry alone with the hiss and hum of magic and electricity, the odd spark flaring along the banister below him. Cautiously, panting and dripping with sweat, he limped forward to chance a look down the stairs to see what had become of the legion of teddy bears.

They were all charred and lifeless, and with a thrill Harry turned to confirm that the bears who had been trying to pull him down the walkway were equally now flopped on the floor, no more alive that Harry's blood soaked shoe. These ones weren't charred like the ones he'd actually struck with lightning, and he prodded the nearest one with his wand tip to check it was definitely not going to get back up again.

Nothing.

He let out a noise of relief that he wasn't sure was a laugh or a sob, but whichever it was it was certainly raw and exhausted. It was over.

Now all he cared about was getting back to Draco.

Without further delay he began limping down the steps, swiping and kicking the crunchy bears out of his way as they littered almost every step back down. Halfway back to the ground he came across his doppelganger standing over a bear with a large kitchen knife discarded beside it.

The bear twitched.

Without pause Harry seized the bear and flung it into the air. "Fulgurutus!" Harry cried, not willing to take any chances and zapping the bear an extra time, just to be sure he was really nothing more than fluff and cotton again. The lightning finished, and the teddy dropped to the ground below where Harry stood for a good few minutes watching to make sure it wasn't going to move again.

Eventually satisfied, he turned to the other Harry, who was now looking considerably better than himself. "Thank you," he breathed, knowing full well he was thanking a trick of light, but he did it anyway. The echo nodded once, and Harry ended the spell, watching himself vanish into thin air.

He got a great deal of satisfaction stomping on and shoving away the remaining bears scattered all along his route back, even though his foot screamed at him every time he did. Once back out into the night, he let the wind buffer him as he tackled the chain-link fences, cooling his damp body and clothes and making him shiver. All he could think of was Draco though, and as soon as the last fence yielded to him, he limped as fast as he could across the courtyard, Draco's form growing as he got closer and closer.

"Please," Harry prayed under his breath. "Please, please, please."

As he drew near he collapsed beside Draco, immediately assessing him for damage and casting a Rennervate. His heart almost stopped with joy as Draco's eyes flew open and he gasped in a panicked lungful of air, grabbing at Harry who was hovering above him.

"Draco!" Harry cried, seizing him into hug, before quickly drawing back and racking his eyes over him. "Are you okay, tell me what hurts?"

Draco winced and tried to slow his breathing down. "My head," he admitted, rubbing it. "I must have hit it."

"You hit everything," Harry argued, running his hands over Draco's clothes, trying to assess how badly he was hurt. "I thought you were dead."

Draco though, grinned. "I managed a cushion charm just as I fell," he said, and relief swelled through Harry like a balloon. "It wasn't complete, but I think it caught most of me."

Harry picked Draco's wand up from where it had landed, and held it out for him to take. "You are extremely lucky," he said.

"Nah," said Draco, taking it and shaking his head with a chuckle. "I told you, I don't need luck."

Harry felt utterly drained, unable to move or even tear his eyes from where they were locked with Draco's, both of them smiling faintly. Until Draco snapped back to his senses.

"The bears!"

"Gone," Harry assured him, resting his hand on his shoulder before he could try and get up. "The knife bear was the Alpha, and Dung was right. I scorched it and the others on a metal staircase with your lightning charm, and now they're all just teddies again."

Draco sagged in relief, and he laughed, much like Harry had done before with a hint of a sob. "Oh Potter, what would I do without you, you magnificent prat?"

Harry wasn't sure how to answer that, so he just smiled warmly, still basking in the knowledge that Draco was alive, and actually probably in better shape than he was.

He was about to suggest they get up and out of the wards, so they could apparate to St Mungo's hospital, when something caught his eye. "Draco," he said, too tired to figure out if this was a bad idea or not. "Um, what are you wearing?"

He pointed to where Draco's shirt had been yanked up from the fall, and his boxer shorts had ridden up from under his jeans. His boxers that apparently had little love hearts all over them.

"Oh," Draco said, turning a magnificent shade of pink, even in the weak light being cast by the moon and Harry's wand. "Um, that."

Harry burst out laughing, he couldn't help it. "Draco Malfoy!" he admonished in delight. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be caught wearing novelty underwear!"

"Oh shut up," grumbled Draco, but there wasn't any real rancour to it. "It is Valentine's Day after all."

That sobered Harry up, and he stopped laughing with a cough to clear his throat. "Right," he said awkwardly. "So, um, who were you hoping would see them?"

He had no idea why he asked, he didn't want to know. In fact, he was pretty sure the answer was going to kill him where the bears had failed, but he managed to school his face into something reasonably neutral as he waited for Draco to respond.

But he didn't reply right away. Instead, he chewed his lip and stared at Harry for what must have been a full minute, until Harry started to get really worried. "Well, I wasn't actually sure they'd get seen," he said eventually. "They were more for luck. I didn't know if the person would even want to go out with me."

Harry blinked, hurt by the idea of Draco getting rejected, even if that meant breaking Harry's heart. "Why not," he blurted out. "You're great, taste in holiday underwear aside, you're, well...great."

They sat there for another moment, looking at each other, the wind ruffling their hair as Harry felt maybe he'd really put his foot in it. Until Draco took a long, slow breath, and placed his hand on Harry's knee. "Because it's you. I wanted to ask you out."

It was Harry's turn to stare for a full minute as his brain tried to process what Draco had just said. "You...wanted me to be your Valentine?" he rasped, his voice barely able to escape his throat it was so choked.

Draco nodded.

Harry burst into his second fit of laughter.

"It's not that funny Potter," Draco said, his voice small, but Harry couldn't quite regain control of his senses quick enough, so he flung his arms around Draco in a bone crunching hug.

"No, you arse!" he cried, trying to catch his breath. "It's funny because I've been trying to ask you out for the better part of the year! I wanted you to be my Valentine!"

Draco snapped his body back and stared at Harry with incredulity. "You're serious?"

"Deadly serious," Harry told him weakly, his hysteria tapering down to the odd chuckle as he wiped his eyes under his glasses. "Draco I think you're brilliant, please let me take you and your ridiculous boxers out for a drink."

Draco grinned in an unguarded way that Harry had only glimpsed a few times in his life. "You're an idiot," he said fondly, cupping Harry's face gently with the palm of his hand. "And I'm pretty sure your foot is broken."

"Oh so broken," Harry agreed.

Draco sighed happily, and Harry leaned into his hand, his own fingers stroking softly against the denim fabric on Draco's thigh. "We probably need to pop to St Mungo's then, and let Robards know you stopped the bears."

Harry was disappointed, but he knew Draco was right. "Yeah, I suppose," he agreed.

"But then," Draco said. "You could tell me all about how you did it?" He bit his lip coyly. "Over dinner?"

This had certainly not been how Harry had envisioned this day going. He would never in a million years have thought that a last minute assignment, killer teddy bears and a near death experience would have lead to one of the best days of his life, but it turned out it did. "It's a date," he murmured, leaning in to finally kiss Draco on the lips.

Best. Valentine's. Ever.

The End

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