Oh yeah, I have uploaded this one before. However, I have made SOME changes to this story, such as the title (because I cannot remember the original title)… And yes, this story is malexmale, so if you don't like don't read.
I use this story mostly as a fill-in story while I think of something new to write about, because this is mostly something I write for my own entertainment.
Personally I think there are so few Draco x Male OC fanfics out there, and my OC refused to leave my head, so yeah, why not make it a story?
I own none of the characters except for those who are mine (mostly my OC that is) the others are from the Harry Potter book series written by J.K. Rowling.
This story is meant to take place after book 7. I have tried to follow the story in the books (ignoring the epilogue though), but it has been quite a long while since I read them, thus do expect some mistakes.
Warning: I am not a native English speaker, so mistakes in language use might occur throughout the text.
A young man clutching a shovel tightly in his left hand stood close to the edge of the forbidden forest looking intently into its depths, what faced him there was a mass of trees and then complete darkness, even on a sunny day the sunbeams had no chance making it through the thick crowns of trees, and today was no sunny day. A cold breeze rustled the boy's ebony coloured hair and with one last glance into the forest he sighed and turned around to face away from whatever it was he had gazed upon earlier. Slowly he made his way towards Hagrid's little cottage, the boy didn't really feel like talking to anyone in particular at the moment, but he would still have to return the somewhat rusty square shovel to its rightful owner. When he had reached halfway to the cabin rain started to pour down from an ominous, dark sky.
The sound of rain pattering against the window pane made Hermione turn towards it, looking out over the greyish landscape around Hogwarts. It was getting quite late, but she did not regret her decision to leave her dorm in order to pay Hagrid a visit, because to be honest he didn't get so many of them these days as she, Harry and Ron were all quite busy at school. After the war she had not been sure of whether they would be able to finish school or not, and she had been pleasantly surprised when she had learned of the possibility to retake their seventh year, think of all the things she could have missed out on learning if this opportunity never had arisen. As she sat there gazing out of the window she smiled sadly to herself, thinking Hogwarts was not really what it used to be, still she was glad she could spend one more year here, a normal year. Her train of thought was abruptly broken when Hagrid placed an oversized cup of tea on the table in front of her, the cup was slightly chipped and quite miscoloured, however Hermione couldn't help but smile slightly at the fact that she would for once, in a long time, be able to enjoy a cup of tea with a friend without having to worry about if this moment would be her last or not. Hagrid, who had noticed Hermione staring out the window turned to gaze outside as well, and the sight made him sigh and tug at his black beard with the one of his hands not holding the big teacup, he looked just a tad worried. This fact didn't escape the keen eyes of Hermione, and she was just about to question whatever could be the matter, however the worried expression that had etched itself on her face turned into a one of puzzlement as Hagrid poured tea in yet another big cup and placed it upon the table.
"I am expecting another student as well, I hope you too will get along, he's a good lad he is" he mumbled as he saw the look on the brunettes face.
"Oh, I see" she replied silently contemplating over whom else than she and her friends would visit Hagrid, she sure had never seen anyone do that before.
The boy from the forest had hurried along as the rain started to fall, and soon he was at his professor's doorway, he had just lifted his hand up to knock when the door swung open and revealed the bearded half giant.
"Tea?" the smiling giant greeted him beckoning him to come in. The dark-haired boy hesitated for a moment, he did most certainly not feel like tea, but he didn't want to disappoint Hagrid either, and after all, a big cup of tea might be soothing to his tense nerves. Today had been particularly demanding. He nodded and handed the shovel back to Hagrid, mumbling a thanks as he stepped past the big man into his cosy little cabin. His dark brown eyes widened a bit when he saw Hagrid was not going to be his only companion for tea, Hermione was here, too. Now the boy had never spoken to her personally, but they took the same advanced potions class, and all things considered there was no one at Hogwarts, and probably the whole wizard world, that didn't know who Miss Granger was. Therefore he found it somewhat ironic when she stretched out her hand, introducing herself. Nevertheless he took it and shook it firmly.
"Hibiki" he said and proceeded to sit down on one of the empty seats at the table. Suddenly Hibiki could feel the weight of Hagrid's palm on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly.
"Hermione, this is Hibiki, he might be a Slytherin but he is a great lad and he has a great hand with beast, top of my class" Hagrid stated beamingly and patted him on the shoulder. Hibiki smiled slightly, Slytherin or not, Hagrid had immediately taken a liking to him after he found out that Hibiki held a similar passion for beast as he eyed the Slytherin carefully, before deciding to trust Hagrid's judgement of the boy. If he seemed to think the Slytherin was fine, why shouldn't he be, she thought to herself trying not to be too told the two he would go out for a minute, he wanted to return the shovel to its right place. As soon as he stepped out the door the two students felt an awkward silence settle in the room, only the snores of a sleeping Fang interrupted the stifling atmosphere. Neither of the two knew what to talk about. A moment passed, and then Hermione's curiosity couldn't take it anymore, she asked what he had used the shovel for.
"A burial" stated the boy and the brunettes eyes shot up wide, oblivious to the change in her expression the Slytherin continued drinking his tea. Carefully, afraid to seem too nosey, the girl questioned about what had happened. Calmly he explained he was just taking a last farewell of a friend he had known and cared for during many years, his trustworthy owl, Shiraha.
"I'm sorry for your loss" said Hermione looking down into her tea mug, thinking of all she had lost during the war too.
"I knew it was coming, he had been sick for quite a long time… It might seem as an insignificant death to you, considering the war and all, but…" he was interrupted by Hermione who grunted in a displeased manner, telling him that she was quite honest when she had given her condolences, no death was easy. The dark haired boy looked a little surprised, eyes resting upon the brunette.
"I misjudged you and I'm sorry for that. Thank you" Hibiki then said in a calm voice, looking down on his hands that he was warming on the hot cup. Noticing the peculiar look the Gryffindor sent him he continued explaining.
"I just expected you to be more…well I don't really know what I expected, nothing very positive though…" he laughed looking away in something akin to shame.
"Why? Because I'm a Gryffindor?" Hermione snapped back at him, scolding herself over her temporary loss over her temper. The boy did not look upset though, he just calmly shook his head.
"I'd be lying if I told you it had nothing to do with that fact, but mostly I thought people would generally not care for such a small loss when it is put into comparison with the war that took place only recently." The boy looked Hermione in the eye.
"I find the house-system very insufficient and dissatisfactory to be honest, it just creates more conflicts than needed. Then again, maybe you shouldn't believe me, for all you know I could be lying just to get you on my side, I am a Slytherin after all" the boy smiled a bit sinisterly and brought the cup up to his mouth, the brunette silently contemplated what had been said.
Cold autumn air floated in to the room through the door as Hagrid walked back inside. He poured himself a cup of tea and joined the two others at the table. They talked briefly about school and homework, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the evening, the constant pattering of the rain providing an atmospheric ambience. After an hour or so the boy thanked for the tea, excused himself and rose from the table. His dark brown eyes reflected the exhaustion his body currently felt and this did not go past unnoticed by the ever observant brunette who offered to company him to the castle. The boy turned down her offer, smiling apologetically, he needed a moment alone. With a knowing, friendly smile on her face she nodded.
As soon as Hibiki had left Hagrid beamingly turned towards Hermione.
"He's a nice kid, no?"
"Yes, it had never occurred to me before though. There are quite few opportunities for Gryffindors to talk to Slytherins" she said thoughtfully, adding to herself that this might be due to the fact that they never tried.
"Better late than never, eh?" the big man hummed as he cleared the cups away from the table. "He is a good boy, I am sure you two would get on well together. You would have lots to talk about, since he is almost as clever as a certain young witch I know" Hagrid said cheerfully as he opened the door to his cabin, it was growing dark outside. Getting the cue Hermione made her way towards the doorway, thinking about what the big man had said and added that the boy probably also shared Hagrid's unhealthy obsession of beasts. This comment earned her a scoff, but a friendly smile still spread itself over Hagrid's face.
"Now hurry or it will get pitch black outside, I don't want you falling and hurting yourself" the half giant said. The brunette nodded, saying she would be careful. She thanked him for the tea and started jogging towards the school, waving goodbye to Hagrid at the same time. It sure had been an interesting evening.
The dungeons were always cold, no matter what the season, and Hibiki found them particularly unpleasant in the mornings. He walked through the corridors at a high speed, and after a short stop at the dining hall, he was off to the potions class. One of the classes he shared with Hermione. Approximately half of the class was there, not surprisingly Harry wasn't, and he would probably not be here until Hermione came, but some other people from all respective houses were present. To tell the truth the Asian boy hated the housing system, he didn't see the point with it, it only created unbridgeable gulfs between people, especially Gryffindors and Slytherins, not all of them, but most. He tried to stay clear of it, but even for him it was at times close to impossible. Grimacing slightly he slid into his normal seat and sat there, silently waiting for the lesson to begin. He wasn't really over yesterdays ordeal yet, he had known his owl was old and he had been sick for quite some time, but no matter how many times it would happen Hibiki was sure he never could get used to the sight of seeing and old friend alive one moment and gone the next. No matter how much he wanted they would never be able to meet again, death equalled emptiness.
He was glad he had been able to get the burial out of the way soon though, because his mother had always told him that it was better to bury the dead as soon as possible, in order to grant their soul release. Creatures of the earth should be burned, their ash spread into the wind so their spirit would be able to roam the sky, while flying beings should be returned to the earth so they once again could walk upon it. But creatures of the sea, or those who lost their life in water, should always be returned there, if not the water might come back to claim their soul, and thus they would never be granted eternal peace. At least if he was to believe his mother, she had always been close to nature, and nature close to her, so Hibiki was sure she knew what she was talking about.
Before he knew it the door to the dungeon classroom swung open and the new potions teacher, Mrs. Gregoriana walked in through the door, distracting Hibiki from his thoughts, drawing his attention back to the present. A slightly surprised boy looked around for the earlier empty seats in the classroom, but they had all been filled, without him even noticing the missing students coming into the room. But then again, who could blame him, he had had other, for him more important things to think about.
A rather happy looking Mrs. Gregoriana took a quick look in her notes and started talking to the class about today's assignment.
"Today" she started in a chirpy uplifting tone "we are going to start handling unusual potions, and as our stock of ingredients is not as big as it used to be I want you all to work in pairs for some time forth, you might even get to do an assignment together. Now split up, 10 seconds, I want all paired up by then without any complaints!" she finished of her statement gesticulating with her hands and urging everyone to get up and find a partner.
Hibiki had been taken by surprise, not really expecting a pair assignment he didn't know whom to pair up with. Well, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were all most likely out of the question, they wouldn't want to work with a Slytherin. Among the Slytherins most already had someone to pair up with, but there was one boy who struck him as seemingly pair less, Draco Malfoy. Not only was he seemingly pair less, he was also good at Potions, and since Hibiki thought Potions to be an extremely important subject for his future plans, and considered himself quite talented, he didn't want to pair up with someone who didn't know what they were doing, which in his opinion was most of the class. Thus he headed for the guy with the platinum blond hair. He didn't bother asking for permission to sit down next to him, he just did, as no one else really seemed all too interested in working with this person he saw no problems with it. Only some years ago Hibiki was sure things would have been different, but the war had changed a lot, he supposed. Draco in his turn didn't say anything when the other boy sat down next to him either. Sure, Draco probably didn't want to work with him and he most likely held no particular interest in getting to know him, but the blond must have realized complaining would be futile. They had been assigned to work in pairs, and thus a hateful glance at the other Slytherin was the only sign of displeasure the infamous Slytherin let show. The dark haired boy did notice the blond didn't necessarily want him around, but as long as he didn't protest loudly to his presence he figured he could work together with the Malfoy boy, somehow.
Just as expected the making of the potion proceeded relatively smoothly, the pair hardly needed to talk, they simply observed what the other was doing and concentrated on the next step. The few times they actually did communicate it was with nothing but short words and phrases, only the uttermost necessities.
Draco, who had been rather pleased with his partners knowledge in Potions, had so far had little to complain about, that was until he noticed that the other Slytherin was missing two fingers on his left hand. The blond had cringed visibly upon the sight, taking a step backwards in disgust. Draco was sure the boy next to him had noticed, which was perfectly fine, it spared him the trouble of dropping a nasty comment about it. It wasn't as if Draco hadn't seen the other boy before, they did share the same dormitory, but he had never paid him enough attention to notice this deformity. He shuddered every time he lay eyes upon it, which was every so often since the boy always used both hands when cutting ingredients. Disgusting! Draco almost, just almost, felt the need to throw up at the sight. The black haired young man couldn't help but notice the Malfoy boy's all but normal behaviour, and he had no doubts of what caused it, but he simply tried to ignore it best he could. The lack of his fingers was something he had come to terms with years ago, he still didn't like the fact and doubted he ever would, but he simply had realized he couldn't spend all his time brooding over it. However, it was people like the blond next to him who made this so much harder, he knew the fingers weren't there, so why couldn't these people realize he didn't need to be constantly reminded of this fact. He wanted to say something about this to the pale Slytherin, but he knew better than to do so, and simply continued working, his mind raging under the calm surface. He wouldn't normally be this emotional, but due to current circumstances… The death of his faithful owl had already thrown him off balance, his inner harmony was destroyed.
Never had Hibiki been so glad to hear one of the teachers announce that the class was almost at its end, and he was relieved he still had manage to brew an acceptable potion despite the chaos raging wildly inside his head.
"In this room there are good pairs, and less good pairs, and pairs that are barely passable. Some have clearly been thinking of their grades and chosen pairs using their brains while others followed the heart" Mrs. Gregoriana's lively blue eyes swept over the horde of students as she talked. Clearing her throat she continued.
"However, remember this, no matter how disappointed in your pair you might be the choice of partner was yours, and yours alone, and you will have to live with that decision until we have established a means of getting more ingredients to the school" She also reminded them of that she would grade them partially for individual achievements but mainly for their pair work, as this would be a big part of their potions classes to come.
Hibiki, while not exactly displeased with the situation, agreed on the point that he could have chosen a better partner. He did know about the Malfoy boys past, and had heard (and seen) what a git he could be, but somehow he had figured that being a Slytherin himself would spare him from these antics, a fact which had been proven wrong during one single lecture. So while he didn't really worry about the fact that they would be graded as a pair, he did mentally have to take a moment to steel himself in order to be able to work with this blond, bitter, extremely irritating boy. At least he could comfort himself with that Malfoy probably though the situation to be even worse than he did, a conclusion he had drawn based upon the fact that the boy had stormed out of the classroom seemingly fuming, muttering something about discussing this through with their professor. But even though Malfoy might be one of the Professors favourite students Hibiki doubted things would change, Draco's chances would be higher with him as a partner than most others, so if Professor Gregoriana wished him to get a good grade she wouldn't make any changes to the current situation. Hibiki was quite sure about that. After sitting in the same position for yet another couple of minutes Hibiki realized that if he didn't hurry he would be late for his next class, he was really not himself today.
Around lunchtime, even though the lectures up until then had been relatively problem-free, Hibiki felt he needed a break, and instead of having lunch he chose to go outside. He did not feel in the least bit hungry so he did not feel like eating, even though food would probably have been a great benefactor for his body that still screamed of tiredness. At some point he was actually thinking about taking the rest of the day off, because he felt like he didn't even have strength enough to finish one single more lecture.
Sitting outside on the ground, pondering upon whether to go or not to go to the next of his lectures, the playful autumn wind started tugging slightly at his black hair, providing some refreshment. Hibiki wished the wind would take all of his sorrow with it and blow it away to some distant place, unheard of by humans. But of course that was not the case, and that might even be for the better, because misery and sorrow was something he as a human had to pull through by himself, otherwise life would be too simple. This was at least what Hibiki figured when he sighing pushed himself up from the ground, groaning when he realized how stiff his legs had gotten from sitting for too long a time on cold and slightly damp grass. It was not without considerable effort that he managed to make his way towards the greenhouses.
All day the dark haired boy had been besieged by feelings of hopelessness and the wish to not be surrounded by people, and these feelings followed him throughout the day. It was because of this very reason Hibiki didn't go back to the Slytherin common rooms until late in the evening, long after dinner, when he reluctantly shuffled over there. Already before stepping in through the portrait he could hear the vivacity on the other side. He decided then and there to directly go to the dormitories. Not even bothering to return some of the greetings he received upon stepping into the common room, he literally rushed through it, unable to relax before he was away from the big, loud crowd.
Exhausted from his sort, but fast, sprint the boy pushed the heavy, wooden door open. At last, his sanctuary, or so Hibiki thought at least not knowing how wrong things could go.
"Oh well, look what the cat dragged in" Draco drawlingly greeted him from the other side of the dorm, his words immediately catching the other boy's attention. Hibiki snapped his head upwards and found himself staring right into the steel gray eyes of the blond boy. Attacked by an angry blond before even having been able to get into the dormitory properly, Hibiki cursed his luck. Adding to this the blond was looking possibly even more pissed than he had had at the end of the Potions class.
"Do you actually want something, or is your sole purpose insulting me?" Hibiki asked, trying to keep his calm. He was tired, both mentally and physically, he didn't feel like arguing, but if the cheeky boy wouldn't let him go to sleep in peace he didn't know what other options he had. The blond snorted, starting to go on about Hibiki's actions in today's Potions class, how he was to blame for them ending up as a pair, and a lot of other things the dark haired boy didn't even bother to listen to, there just seemed to be no end to it. Hibiki finally grew tired of learning the art of sleeping standing upright, and gently interrupted the boy.
"I understand what you are trying to say, but I really don't care… if you can find another person willing to work with you, you have my permission to change partner or whatever it is you want. However, as you will most likely continue whining about this very same thing tomorrow I'd rather listen to it then, I am just too tired now. Goodnight" Hibiki took a deep breath and headed straight for his bed, determined not to listen to another thing that left the blonds lips. He wanted to sleep, and not even an extremely annoying Malfoy could keep him from that pleasure, which didn't mean he did not try though. Even so, Hibiki had soon enough fallen asleep, still fully clothed and on the top of his covers, but at least he was asleep.
Draco simply couldn't believe it, he was furious with the other boy, how could he be so blunt towards him? He was also angry with Professor Gregoriana for not letting him change partners. The damned woman had said his reasons hadn't been sufficient enough, like that old hag knew anything about sufficient reasons. It was in moments like these he missed Snape. At the thought of his old professor the blond could feel a blunt, but ever so persistent, pain inside him flare up again. It was the pain originating from an emotional wound, caused by the war, which had yet to heal properly. He could feel his levels of anger stabilize. Actually, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, Draco was well aware of that he would most likely not be able to find anyone else to pair up with even if he got the permission to change partners. Houses that weren't Slytherin were out of the question and the other students were already in pairs, there was no other choice but the stupid, fingerless boy. Thus, he decided, he would make this a living hell for the boy; only because he had come to sit next to Draco, because it had been he who had kept others from pairing up with Draco.
In reality, no one probably would have paired up with Draco even if they would have had the opportunity to do so, but this was something Draco was too proud to admit, even to himself.
Thank you for reading, and please leave a comment if you feel like it, they are of great value to me.
I don't know if there are other fans of Draco x Male OC out there, but if I even manage to make one single person happy by writing this fic, I would be absolutely delighted!
So, this is the end of chapter one. I do have chapter two almost ready and might upload it soon if someone is interested (if not I will upload it anyway, it will probably only take one million years before I get around doing so)…