Don't Speak
Content Notes: Reference to canon character death.
Disclaimer: The words are mine, but the Harry Potter universe and its characters are the property of J.K. Rowling, et al.
Mum describes Draco's skin like curdled milk. His expression is sour, she says, and he's got something rotten in his soul. I want to tell her it's a wound the war left, I want to tell her it's festering under her gaze, I want to tell her it's not as ugly as the one she carries for all the world to see, but she lost a son. And I was supposed to bring home another. I brought Draco home instead. Mum can't like him, will never love him. I don't ask her to; I didn't ask any of them to.
(I'm still not sure why Harry does and I've never understood George as well as I understood Fred. George isn't the same without Fred; I guess none of us are. I never thought I'd let more than half my family slander my lover. I wonder sometimes if I could've loved him without the war and I'm afraid of the answer, though there is no one to offer one except myself.)
Draco understands my silence. His parents never say a word when I'm at the dinner table with them. It's more of a concession than I expected: I know people like me died there, though of course, the linen tablecloth has no bloodstains and the china is pristine. Lucius Malfoy doesn't leave evidence (anymore). Perhaps I'd be more frightened if he hadn't tried and failed to kill me once or twice already. Draco would take a less balanced view if he had any idea. Sometimes, I'm glad we don't speak.
Draco and I don't need to speak. We love. When the silence is too much and not enough, I exchange his skin and his breath and his blood for mine. I let him spread his rot, his wound; let him lay waste; let him live inside me and he lets me betray him. He lets me fall, lets me live, lets me go. We let each other love like we've never been loved and never will be loved again.
Every day, we love like we're dying.
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading. I haven't posted for sometime, though I completed "Don't Speak" in April 2014 and I have a tonne more fic on the backburner, at least one of which takes its name from a song. In this case, No Doubt's "Don't Speak," though Alex Preston's American Idol cover probably accounts more for the mood. I'd appreciate any feedback because I realize "Don't Speak" is, perhaps, a little strange and I could definitely benefit from constructive criticism as I try to finish a few more stories. Anyways, enough rambling! I hope you enjoyed the story and I'd love to hear from you :).