Change
by
Kelsey
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. None of the characters, etc.
Author's Note: In the midst of all the 'Draco has a change of heart' fics, I couldn't stand the sap anymore. Though I am a fan of H/D, sometimes people just can't change that much. This is what became of that half-thought.
Summary: A supposedly-reformed Draco ends Harry Potter's life.
Rating: PG
"Harry, please. Lucius will kill me..."
This is the end of sixth year. Draco Malfoy has come to him, to Harry Potter, asking for assistance in escaping the clutches of his father and the Dark Lord. Harry, being who he is, answers his plea without hesitation.
Hermione and Ron are harder sells, the latter particularly. But when Harry and Draco arrive at the Burrow in the end of the summer for Harry's yearly visit to the Weasley's, something has changed. Something almost imperceptible, but there. Just barely there. And it's almost enough to convince Harry's friends that Draco isn't playing him.
They still ask questions, keep a skeptical eye on the Boy Who Lived, but by and large, they give him and his new boyfriend a wide berth, more out a lack of desire to see them in an intimate position than anything else. In January, however, Lucius sends ten Death Eaters for Draco, and Harry, Ron and Hermione fight them back. Their suspicion wanes.
It's spring now, and the happy couple is sitting by the lake, not quite touching, but close enough together than no one could mistake their intimacy. They are peering over each other's papers and making little marks with quills where they have suggestions. Ron and Hermione sit a few feet away, correcting each other in the same manner, but with less quiet emotional closeness.
The sun is going down, but as it is a Sunday, and they still have work to do, they decide to skip dinner and enjoy the outdoors. Later, Hermione would realize that it was Draco who had pushed for this, but the day was so beautiful that no one thinks to complain or argue. She wishes every day now that she had.
An owl flutters down into Draco's lap and holds out its leg. Imperiously, as always, the teenager unties the slip of paper and read it, impassionately. Hermione can just make out what it says.
The time has come.
Something came over Draco in that moment. Sadness and a little sorrow flash on his face, and then he clams up. Slightly reluctantly, he stands, eyes shuttered from any emotions he might be feeling. All eyes are on him, but they have grown so lax in these past months that not even Ron reachea for his wand. "What is it?" Harry asks, and Hermione will forever remember the look of confusion his face bore.
Draco just shakes his head and brandishes his wand. "Accio wands!" He yells, and the three light pieces of wood rush into his hand. Shocked, Harry, Ron and Hermione clamber to their feet.
"What was that for?" Ron asks angrily, and Hermione just stares.
"Draco?" Harry asks.
Not a single feeling shows on his face as the blond teenager turns to Ron and Hermione and speaks clearly, but not loudly. "Bind." It works, though, and they fall to the ground, trussed in ropes that shoot from the end of Draco's wand.
Finally, his attention falls on the Boy Who Lived. Harry is silent now, the signs too clear, he knows what's going on. He still doesn't want to believe it, though, and denial competing with fear and betrayal flash rapidly over his open face.
Draco fixes him with clear eyes, stands firm, and utters two words that Hermione has always known would rip her world apart someday. But it's even more of a shock than she was expecting, because Draco has lulled her sense of protectiveness and slipped past her barriers to get this close to Harry's side.
Somehow, it hurts even more that there is nothing in his eyes as he speaks.
"Avada Kedavra."