We can't all be heroes
Summary: "We can't all be like you, Potter. We can't all be heroes."…"you could have been mine." HPDM, post-war
Warning: slash
The halls of Hogwarts, weeks earlier filled with students, running to get to classes, hanging out in the halls, laughing, joking, excited for the summer holidays, were completely deserted. Deserted that is for me and the raven haired boy who was walking dejectedly about a hundred feet in front of me, while I tried to work up the nerve to do what I had to do. I didn't know how it was going to work out, or even why I had to do it. All I knew was that I had to find a way to fix things, things that could never be fixed, a hate that was stronger than any other emotion left over from the War. But that was only half true. The whole truth, on the days I felt like admitting it to myself was that I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. No matter how much he hated me.
"Hey Potter! POTTER! Wait up!"
He turned around. "What the fuck do you want Malfoy?" he said, his voice the same dull tone he'd been using for the last three months.
"I just wanted…" Shit. I can't believe I'm doing this. "just you know…just wanted to say…ask…if you're…okay." My brain watched in horror as my mouth came up with those words. Nice going, Draco.
Before I knew it, his fist was colliding with my jaw, hard enough to knock me off my feet. My wand flew out of my pocket, and before I could reach for him, his foot was coming down on it, snapping it in half. Not that I would have used it against him anyway…I think at that moment if he had wanted to kill me I would have let him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He was almost shouting. "Do you fucking enjoy rubbing it in my face? I lost my best friends, the closest thing I had to a family, and my fucking girlfriend, and half of those were on account of you so how dare you even show your face in the same fucking room as me?"
My mouth took over again before my brain could react. "I wasn't rubbing it in your face." It said icily. "I just thought that since we're going to be living together for the next god-knows-how-long I just thought we might as well learn to be civil to one another, Potter."
"Well Malfoy, I don't see any reason at all to be civil to Death Eater scum like you."
"I'm not a Death Eater. I came over to your side."
"Yeah, you did, didn't you? Because you were scared. You knew that Voldemort-" he saw me noticeably flinch at hearing the name, "-that Voldemort had no more use for you, and of course he has no reason to keep his supporters around when he has no use for them, does he? So you came over to the good side, because you knew we'd protect you. Even though you don't deserve it. Because that's what being the good guy is all about, isn't it? It had nothing to do with being strong or brave or wanting to do the right thing. It all worked out pretty conveniently though, didn't it? Since you just happened to be on the right side at the right time, you didn't pay for anything you did. You make me sick, Malfoy."
"I deserved that," I admitted, "and it's true. But we can't all be like you Potter. We can't all be heroes."
"You could have been mine."
I gaped at him.