My first story for 'The Matchmaker Game Challenge' - Percy/Draco
Percy Weasley had been through a lot these past few years- finally, life was looking to turn a little bit less interesting. He could admit he wished it had come a bit sooner.
The battle was over after the horrendous debacle with Harry Potter being dead and then alive again, and now he was escaping from the suspicious glares of the light side who were mourning the dead in the Great Hall.
Everyone was aware he hadn't switched until the very last minute, despite being a Weasley. Being a Weasley in this minute- or more specifically, being the only Weasley who had ever joined the wrong side seemed to be a curse placed upon him. His family wasn't happy with him.
He was just trying to do the right thing.
And now Fred was dead. A light wail escaped from him as he leaned against the wall in the corridor he had been escaping through. He slid down it slowly and buried his head in his hands. How could Fred be gone? The last few years had been rough- first he had been delusional about Harry Potter thanks to the Ministry, and then he had been estranged from his family due trying to keep Penny safe, then Penny had left him. He shuddered. Now Fred was dead.
He cried for a long time, curled up against the wall in a corridor.
Draco Malfoy wasn't sure how it had all turned out like this.
He had been certain as a young wizard that his father had been right- that Voldemort would rise and then the Malfoy's would be given their proper place in society at the top of the food chain.
He hadn't known it would turn out like this. When Voldemort had first risen he had been all but bouncing in his seat, and then he had met him.
After his father had been captured at the Ministry he had been called, and he had been tortured, and he had been given that awful, terrible task.
Kill Dumbledore, or his family would die.
He was almost certain his father had been wrong all along. He was stuck in Hogwarts now, in the aftermath of the fight where he had been sure he was going to die trying to escape from everyone- light who thought he was dark, dark who thought he had joined the light. He just wanted to keep his family alive. Was that such a bad thing?
And now he was trying to escape from the glares of the Great Hall, hurrying down corridors at random as long as he away from the accusations, away from his snivelling mother, away from his terribly mislead father.
In his hurry, he almost missed the ball which was a crying person along one of the corridors. He paused. The outrageous red hair clearly said that this was a Weasley he was dealing with- should he tease him mercilessly? Or should he comfort him.
The decision warred in him briefly between his upbringing and his resolve for things to be different now.
Finally, he approached the shaking figure and placed a hesitant hand on their back.
"Weasley? You alive in there?" A sob sounded as the ginger head lifted. Watery blue eyes found his semi-concerned ones and flinched as they recognised him.
"Come to mock me, Malfoy? Outcast from my family, not welcome in the light, not welcome in the dark." A hollow laugh echoed out before the ginger buried his head in his arms, turning away to the wall. "Leave me alone."
Draco looked longingly down the corridor at his escape, before looking back at the person he knew was Percy Weasley. He was Draco Malfoy; Malfoy's never helped someone else unless there was something in it for them. But he was trying to be a different person now, and people who weren't Malfoy's would probably help out in this situation.
He sighed inaudibly, then grimaced as he sat down on the grimy floor next to the trembling Weasley. He robes were ruined anyway.
"I can hardly mock you for that- it seems like you and me are in the same boat, Weasley." He sighed and closed his grey eyes as he leant his head back to rest on the wall. He was so exhausted.
When he opened his eyes slightly to glance at the Gryffindor beside him minutes later, he saw blue eyes staring in doubt at him. He averted his eyes.
"I was just trying to keep my family safe." To his shame, Draco found his throat getting tight and tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. He closed his eyes and fought against the overwhelming urge to cry- he nearly hadn't even succeeded at keeping his family safe. His father locked in Azkaban, slowly going mad. His mother on lockdown in their manor where his Aunt could and would torture her for any reason.
He pushed down the tears with sheer stubbornness. He refused to cry here, in front of a Weasley no less.
He felt a hand brush back the hair which had been a mess for months so that it didn't cover his face. A finger trailed down his cheek.
"But- they're alive aren't they? So you succeeded?" The quiet whisper came out hesitantly.
"Yes, barely. And that is something I am grateful for, despite it costing nearly everyone I knew and everything I believed in." He realised he was grateful for that, if nothing else. "Though I don't think I can ever forgive my father for putting me and mother through this. This is all his fault."
"I went against my family because I was trying to do the right thing. And then I stopped talking to them and now Fred is dead and there's nothing I can do because they don't want me there-" Percy stopped talking as sobs took over again.
"Ah, shit- come on, Weasley, don't cry." Realising that his talking was doing nothing but making the Weasley more upset, Draco sniffed in disdain and double checked that no one else was in the corridor before leaning forward and wrapping an arm around the ginger.
"Come on Weasley, it can't be all that bad." Despite the fact Percy was possibly the least hideous of all his relatives, Draco hoped he was getting major amounts of positive Karma from this. Malfoy's did not comfort Weasley's.
A while later the sobs abated and Percy's breathing evened out. Draco glanced down at the ginger head which had long since started crying into his collar.
"Percy?" No response came from the sleeping boy, and Draco scowled at him. He sighed. Nice, normal plebeians don't leave grieving asleep Gryffindor's in corridors. Shifting, he grabbed his wand and cast a feather weight charm on the sleeping figure before grabbing him under his knees and back.
As he stood he realised he had no idea where the Weasley's were staying. Probably the Gryffindor tower- and he had no doubt what would happen to him if he stepped foot on that hallowed ground. Instead he turned down the opposite corridor to head towards the dungeons.
Slytherin dormitories were also out of the question; he was just as likely to get hexed there as he was in Gryffindor tower, but he knew of a classroom with a fireplace where he could transfigure a bed for himself and Weasley.
Hours later Percy awoke in a fire-lit room in a comfy bed. Disorientated and grieving he didn't bother to get up, but turned over to bury himself into further into the warmth.
He didn't expect to turn towards the sleeping figure of Draco Malfoy.
His last moments awake came back to him and he grimaced in embarrassment. Instead of dwelling on the breakdown he had shortly before, he studied the Slytherin.
He found that whilst Draco Malfoy was asleep he was much more entrancing to look at. Pale skin which turned golden in the firelight, silky blond locks and a aristocratic face which looked much softer when not forced into the sneer he wore.
Percy didn't deny himself; Malfoy was beautiful like this. A thin, freckle covered finger traced down the smooth cheek again as it had earlier that day when they grieved together. He closed his eyes briefly at the thought of Fred, before opening and focusing on the pureblood before him.
Half asleep grey eyes peered at him from beneath long eyelashes.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
The blond head moved in a slight nod, before grey eyes closed to go back to sleep.
Percy bit his lip. Glancing down at the thin lips, he couldn't help himself as he pressed a quick kiss to the ethereal boy before closing his eyes to go to sleep himself.
Draco looked incredulously at the ginger haired Weasley before him for many minutes before decided that sleeping was more important then getting rid of the presumptuous nuisance.