Author: Altricial (annabel@london.com)
Pairing: Guess. H/D? Try again.
Rating: Not recommended for readers above 3.
Category: Crap.
Archive: ff.net, Fiction Alley and my highly un-updated site.
Feedback: *cringe*
Disclaimer: Not mine. *long-suffering sigh*
Author's notes: This is actually a lost scene to "Dragons only exist in fairytales" but like, that fic sucks, I gave up, so this is a stand alone piece, yeah. Very nearly trashed this too, cos like, it's majorly OOC but I figured, what the hell.
Dedications: Especially for Krissy, and to OLG: Starkiller, Kissaki, missbreed and cellardoor for all the strutting good times.
//I want to be the girl with the most cake//
//He only loves those things because he loves to see them break//
//I fake it so real I am beyond fake//
//Someday you'll ache like I ache//
"You look like shit."
"Hello to you, too."
"You alright?"
"No."
"What's wrong?"
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Marry me."
~[ pause ]~
"That is not a question."
"Will you marry me?"
"What is the matter with you?"
"That is not an answer."
"Well, you didn't answer mine, did you?"
"What question?"
"What is wrong with you?!"
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing's right."
"Did you lose something?"
"Nothing that I haven't already lost."
"Alright, enough of your smart arse comments. You are sporting eye circles with eye bags bigger than Trelawney's and looking even paler than usual, which should be biologically impossible, and you are still telling me nothing is wrong?!"
"You noticed Trelawney's eyes? Should I be worried?"
"Stop avoiding my questions, dammit!"
"You are avoiding mine."
"Answer mine and I'll answer yours!"
"Nothing. Is. Wrong."
"Listen here, Mister, when I ask for an answer I expect the truth, nothing less, and I have a wand that I will not hesitate to use it if you-"
"I broke up with him."
"Oh."
"You wanted the truth."
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"Why did you?"
"Father."
"Lucius found out?!"
"Just like you said he would."
"I was just preparing you for the worst..."
"It's for the best."
"It is?"
"Yes."
"Potter didn't put up a fight?"
"He wouldn't be a Gryffindor if he didn't, would he?"
"And you wouldn't be a Malfoy if you didn't get your way."
"Naturally."
"What did you say to that poor boy?"
"I destroyed his parent's photo album."
"Go, you."
"Indeed. I would strut now if I didn't feel like crawling under a rock and staying there for rest of eternity."
"You are a fool."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, you are. You just single-handedly destroyed your fairytale of your one true love."
"Observant. Sympathetic, too. Lovely. Anything else you would like to add, in case there are some sore spots you missed?"
"Yes."
"Carry on."
"No."
"What?"
"No, I will not marry you."
"Why not? I am rich and ravishing."
"You know what they say about the one thing money can't buy."
"No I don't, but I do know what they say about people always wanting the one thing they can't have."
"Do you remember the first time we met?"
"When we were five?"
"Yeah."
"Vaguely, why?"
"Do you remember the first thing you said to me?"
"Probably something along the line of 'You are a cootie-girl, go away.'?"
"Hardly."
"Enlighten me."
"You whacked me across my shoulder, dragged me by the arm away from the sandcastle I took forever to build and very promptly proclaimed, 'Draco is bored, you must play with Draco.'"
"It was a very ugly sandcastle."
"And I said, 'If you want me to.'"
"Hmm."
"That initial interaction would pretty much sum up our relationship for the years that followed."
"Is this resentment I hear?"
"No."
"Right."
"I'm used to being second best."
"You are not second best, you are my best friend."
"As you are mine."
"So?"
"Draco honey, I hate to break it to you but best friends do not go around asking each other's hand in marriage on any random day."
"They don't?"
"No. Lovers do."
"Well, love is friendship set on fire, is it not?"
"Yes, but..."
"But?"
"You will always love him more than-"
"Look-"
"No, you listen. It's okay, you don't owe me any explanations. It took me a while but I've finally came to terms with that fact, it is just a truth I have learnt to stomach."
"Oh."
"Yes and I am not fishing for any pity here."
"I wasn't planning to give any. But, know that I do love you."
"I know. And, ditto."
~[ Smiles. ]~
"Did I ever tell you what my first impression of you was?"
"Getting nostalgic, are we?"
"A little, maybe."
"You looked like a baby pug."
"Yes. I know. As you have taken it upon yourself to remind me every so often that I resembled a Yeti hybrid as a child."
"I try not to lie."
~[ Laughter. ]~
"Been a while since I heard you laugh."
"Yeah well, life isn't very funny, is it?"
"You used to laugh with me all the time."
"I also used to have a Potter to fuck every night."
"You ended it."
"Yes I did."
"Now you are angsting like a sad bastard, proposing to your best friend, instead of crawling to the Gryffindor Tower and saying you are wrong and very sorry like a sad bastard."
"What's your point?"
"That's it is not too late, but someday it will be."
"It already is."
"If you say so."
"I don't want to talk about this."
"I thought you looked like a Golden Snitch."
"Pardon?"
"That was my first impression of you."
"That I looked like a Snitch?"
"That is right."
"..."
"I remembered thinking you had a funny smell. Kind of like baby powder with a tinge of rum. Vanilla ice-cream with Butter Beer. Innocent yet not. You looked funny too. Pale translucent flawless skin and a head of unicorn silver hair which literally glittered gold in the sun. And the way you fleet around the adults, flashing them your charming smiles but never lingering long enough for them to hold you, just like a snitch."
"You thought of all that as a five year old?"
"Want to know what else I thought?"
"Not really, but do go on."
"I wondered who would be the Seeker to finally capture your heart."
"You think too much."
"I wanted it to be me, you know? But who am I to compete with the great Harry Potter?"
"You are barking mad."
"Am I?"
"Yes, but you're still my favourite playmate."
"Uh huh."
"I really do care for you, you know?"
"I know."
"I promise not to hog the blankets."
"I know."
"Is that a yes?"
"To what?"
"Proposal."
"Oh."
"Why are you making this so difficult?"
"Do you honestly see nothing wrong with me agreeing to marry a guy who will always love someone else more?"
"I don't see him in my future, I see you."
"That does not make it any better, nor does it make it anymore right."
"Can't you just pretend it does?"
"Why should I?"
"Because there are worse things in life than pretending."
"Such as?"
"Not having anyone to pretend for."
"You are hurting bad, aren't you?"
"I'll live."
"Yes, you will. In denial."
"This is not denial. I am dealing with it the best I can."
"By settling for me?"
"I'm not settling. Stop being paranoid."
"Everyone should walk down the aisle with their one true love."
"What are you? Three?"
"What is that supposed to mean? Just because you gave up on your chance at a happy-ever-after doesn't mean I should be deprived of mine. Keep your cynicism to yourself."
"I am not trying to deprive you of anything or being cynical. I am simply giving you a glimpse of the real world. And when you are ready, you might want take off your rose-tinted glasses and join us."
"I have the right to believe in fairytales."
"Yes, you do. Now, name me one fairytale couple who are still alive and in love."
"Your parents."
"Try again."
"Why? Your parents have the perfect marriage."
"Perfect, yes. And arranged."
"What?! You liar! They so did not have an arranged marriage, you are just trying to jade my views on love because you are bitter!"
"I am not bitter enough to lie to you."
"But they are so in love!"
"I did not say they aren't."
"What are you saying then?"
"That life is not all rainbows and bunnies. That love can be cultivated through time. That not many get to spend the rest of their lives with their one true love. That people who get to marry their best friends should count themselves fortunate."
"Are they happy?"
"Yes, they are, very much so. Father had a childhood sweetheart but it couldn't work out because of social status differences and so, it was arranged for him to marry Mother."
"You know..."
"Yes?"
"I've always wished that one day I will grow up to be just like your mother."
"Well, guess what?"
"Wishes do come true?"
"Yes. Be careful what you bitch for, Pansy Parkinson."
"Malfoy."
"Hmm?"
"Pansy Malfoy."
//I put on my best Sunday dress//
//And walk straight into this mess of mine//
//And watching you burn//
//Just watching you burn//