Not the Fighting Kind
Word count: 598
Summary: In a better time you could be my friend. In a better time, I could love you.
A/N: Written for shadows and sunshine at the Drabble Request Thread. The prompt was Draco Malfoy and the Keane song, A Bad Dream, both of which I adore. I don't really like what I've written, because it's disjointed and kind of weird, but I've tried writing this so many times and this is the only way it stuck. Basically, it's Draco slipping in and out of nightmares and memories after the war. I hope you like it; feedback is appreciated.
Where will I meet my fate?
Baby I'm a man, I was born to hate.
And when will I meet my end?
In a better time you could be my friend.
"You're not a bad person, Draco."
"Thank you for your assessment. I disagree."
"Why won't you let me in?"
"I'll ruin you, like I did myself."
"I don't care."
He leaves because he's tired of fighting. He's already accustomed to losing.
&
I wake up, it's a bad dream,
No one on my side,
I was fighting
But I just feel too tired
to be fighting,
guess I'm not the fighting kind.
Days and nights blend until it all becomes a nightmare. It's easier to shut her out but harder to escape. He's on his own now, wand out, aiming at anyone or anything because everyone is his enemy. His feet drag and his eyelids are heavy. He isn't used to this. He doesn't know how to kill, despite the training. He doesn't want to do this.
Eventually he's even tired out in his dream and everything fades to black.
&
Wouldn't mind it
if you were by my side
But you're long gone,
yeah you're long gone now.
Sometimes she dances in the flames beside him, feet skittering across the floor as if there are hot coals beneath her. He tries to catch up so that she isn't in the firing line- he can't kill her accidentally if she's by his side, but she's too fast. She shouldn't even be in the castle. She's too young and she's too beautiful.
Jets of fiery light illuminate her. "Astoria!"
&
Where do we go?
I don't even know.
He wonders if he's in Hell. His bedroom in the Manor resembles it perfectly. But then she dances in with cheerful smiles so it must be Heaven.
"Draco, please wake up." Her hands are soft to the touch as she holds his hand.
&
My strange old face,
He doesn't know how much time has passed but in his dreams he feels old, like his father. She still looks as young as ever and it's now even harder to keep up with her. At one point he stumbles and he loses sight of her forever.
&
And I'm thinking about those days,
"Okay, fine. I do want you."
"I knew it! Then let's go. I don't mind leaving. I want to go."
"I can't. I can't love you, I can't love anyone."
"Don't be afraid of love, Draco. That's the only thing we have to hope for."
&
And I'm thinking about those days.
A flash of light leaves his wand. He watches it, follows it as it whips through the air and lands, square in her back. She stops dancing and falls, gracefully, to the floor. He stands very still and watches in case she gets back up. She doesn't.
"I hate you," he whispers. He means the opposite.