Title: Evitar
Author: Sofie K Werkers
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings: None. Harry&Draco.
Rating: PG
Summary: Years later.
Status: New, finished.
Date: 13 September 2002 - 21 October 2002
Archive: Yes to Silverlake. All others, please ask.
Email: minerva@femgeeks.net
Feedback: If you like this story, please let me know. If you don't,
please let me know why not.
Web Page:
Disclaimer: JKR owns everything, quite possibly including my soul.
Profit? I see no profit here.
Dedication: This story could not have been written had my twelve-year
old self not have been fascinated with World War 2 books. So this is
for me, ten years later.
Thanks to unlit for help with the Spanish, and to Zarah and
GlitterWhore for beta and read-through. :)
Thank you also to everyone who's been encouraging this on LJ: Rose,
Kym, Dine, Kristine, Sarah, and of course Elfie, my partner in
Marcus/Lee, who admires my crafty Martha Stewart brain and who
understands the beauty of older!Draco. ^_^
Author's Notes: I'm not quite sure what possessed me of all people to
write gen, especially about Harry and Draco. Nevertheless, here it
is.
Cover can be found here:
Evitar
======
by Sofie K Werkers
(Cuba, 2011)
He made it to Cuba by May, and by then Harry's trail was only seven
years old. "I'm gaining on him," he thought, and spent the next three
weeks cursing Harry as he tracked him over dusty roads, from village
to even tinier village.
"¿Dónde puedo encontrar un lugar para dormir?" The reaction of the
old man didn't give Draco much hope that he'd be spending the night
anywhere but outside. Again.
He was startled by a voice coming from behind him. "I didn't know you
spoke Spanish."
He whirled around. "What the hell are you doing here?" Which, really,
was the stupidest thing he could've said.
"I live here. What are *you* doing here?" Looking disturbingly calm
for someone who'd vanished off the face of the earth over ten years
ago, and was now found again.
"I was ..." He pauses, and thinks. "Following you."
"Any particular reason?" And he was still showing no emotion aside
from a faint trace of amusement, and Draco really wanted to kick him
in the shins just to get a reaction out of him. 'Just like old
times,' he mused.
"Not really. Because I wanted to see if I could find you, I guess."
"And now you found me."
"So I have."
Harry was quiet for a moment, and then, amused, "I think my line is
'You realise I can never let you go back, now,' isn't it?"
Draco smiled despite himself. "I think that's the traditional way,
yes. Will you, though?"
"Will I what?"
"Let me go?"
Harry shrugged. "You're a free man, Draco."
"Yes, and you're a man who disappeared off the face of the earth for
well over ten years. One would expect you to not be thrilled about
your whereabouts being reported back to the civilised world."
"You of all people, Draco, should remember I rarely do what's
expected of me."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Hogwarts, 1997)
He expected the first thing out of Harry's mouth to be "Why?" Why are
you suddenly on our side? Why are *you* the one doing this, and not
Snape, or anyone else? Why you? Why me? Why?
Of course, Harry never did what was expected of him, and instead just
asked "How do you want to do this?"
"How on earth should *I* know, Potter? I've no experience in teaching
someone the Dark Arts."
"Really? I thought you'd be jumping at a chance to corrupt someone.
Especially me."
"I hate to burst your bubble, Potter, but 'Corrupting the Boy Who
Lived' is not on my list of life-long ambitions."
"I'm so disappointed. What is on your list, then?"
"None of your business," he snapped, and instantly regretted it,
because it really didn't do to show any kind of emotion, let alone in
front of Harry bloody Potter. "Let's just get on with it."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
"Are we there yet? Fuck, how far from civilisation can you get?
Please tell me you at least have a decent bathroom installed."
"It's right behind that hill. Very far. And I'm afraid you'll have to
settle for a bucket of water from the well."
Draco groaned. "I really fucking hate you, you know."
"Nobody forced you to come." Draco almost wished he could hear a
thread of bitterness in Harry's voice, something, *anything* other
than vague amusement. He no longer wanted to kick Harry; punching
sounded much more satisfying.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Maria?" Harry called, opening the front door to what looked to Draco
like the kind of house people would live in a century ago.
'Trust Harry to not give a damn about comfort,' he thought to
himself. "I bet this place doesn't even have proper beds."
A young girl appeared in the doorway. "Maria, ¿puedes preparar el
cuarto pequeño, por favor? Tenemos un invitado." The girl nodded and
disappeared into the next room again. He looked at Harry. Harry
looked back. "She's not, and I wouldn't try anything if I were you.
Her brothers are very protective. All four of them."
Draco snorted. "My days of seducing innocent maidens are over, I'm
afraid."
Harry looked at him silently for a while, until he couldn't take it
anymore and blurted out, "What?"
"You look old."
"I *am* old. We were eighteen, Harry. I'm thirty now." Harry didn't
answer.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(London, 1998)
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
"So you're going through with it, then?"
Harry sighed. "I have to. If I stay here much longer, I ..." He made
a vague gesture. "I don't know," sounding years older suddenly.
"Don't you ever want to just leave all of it behind for a while?"
Draco shrugged. "Sure. But I can't. Granger said the trails are
starting next week, and I haven't gotten anywhere yet with father's
plans."
Harry was silent for a moment. "It just never ends, does it? Even now
Voldemort's dead, we still have things to do."
"*We* have things to do. Granger and Weasley will handle the trails,
and I'll be Crown Witness for the Prosecution." He couldn't stop the
bitterness in his voice, hoping as soon as he said it that Harry
hadn't noticed. "And then we'll start dismantling the Death Eater
strongholds. But it's over for you. You killed him, you did your
part, your work is done."
"Is it?" Harry's voice was completely void of emotion, and Draco
looked at him, feeling as if he saw the other for the first time.
Harry continued, "People keep looking at me like they're expecting
something from me. I just don't know what they want me to do."
"They want you to be a hero. They want you to be the Boy Who Lived To
Defeat Voldemort, they want a myth, not a real live person. And most
of all, they want to get on with their lives, without a living,
breathing reminder of the past." He paused for a moment. "It'll
happen to us as well, I suppose. But Granger and Weasley will get
married, have children, and live a quiet life somewhere in the
country, I'll go back to the Manor, try and restore it, but you ..."
"... have nowhere to go and nothing to do." There was no bitterness
in Harry's voice, no anger. Then, after a pause, "It's not just that,
though. You of all people should know that."
"Me? Know what? Why?"
"Because we're two of the only ones outside of Azkaban who are
trained in the Dark Arts."
"Ah. Right." He fell silent. He did know, of course. People crossed
the street to avoid him, contempt and distrust clear in their eyes.
Seven days away from helping to sentence his parents, his friends,
his family to life in Azkaban, and people still expected him to turn
around and kill them all. Paranoia still lingered in the wizarding
world, and apparently even their Golden Boy wasn't safe from it.
"You don't seem surprised."
"I wasn't expecting people to suddenly love me, no. I'm the son of a
Death Eater, Harry." He shrugged. "I don't blame them, really." Harry
stayed silent. "Do you really think this vacation of yours is going
to help?"
"Something has to. And it's the best I can think of."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
Two hours later, bathed (of course there'd been a shower, and a bath,
and he'd taken advantage of both), clothed and fed, Draco leaned back
in his chair and looked at Harry. He wasn't the only one who looked
older than his years, he realised.
"Were you ever going to come back?"
"Hm?" Harry looked up from contemplating his Calvados. "Come back?"
He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, could you just pay attention to me for
a few bloody minutes?"
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." Harry set his glass down and made a big
production of placing his elbows on the table, chin resting on
entwined hands. "There, you have my undivided attention now. Better?"
He rolled his eyes. "As I was saying. When you left, did you actually
believe it was just going to be a vacation? Did you really intend to
come back?"
Harry considered the question. "I did. Still do, I guess." He leaned
back in his chair, taking the glass again.
"Thirteen years is a damn long time for a vacation, Harry."
"Mm-hm," Harry hummed non-comittedly around a convenient mouthful of
liquid.
"Prat."
Harry looked at him quizzically. "What? I didn't do anything."
"Exactly. You disappear for more than a bloody *decade* and you don't
even have the decency to ask me what's been going on back home."
"Would you believe me if I said I simply didn't know where to start
asking?"
Bluntly, "No."
"Damn." A pause. "All right, then, here's a question. Why did you
join our side?"
'Bastard.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Azkaban, 1999)
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ron, fretting, and if you'd have
told either of them three years before that Ron Weasley was going to
stand outside Azkaban worrying about Draco Malfoy going in to visit
his parents, both of them would have agreed wholeheartedly that you
were crazy.
"I'm quite sure I *don't* want to do this, actually. But he *is* my
father, and if I don't go now, I never will."
"All right. Just ... be careful. I'll wait for you out here."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There were no Dementors in this part of Azkaban, and the cells didn't
have walls, just bars, so the guards could monitor the prisoners and
abort any suicide attempts. No Death Eater was going to escape their
just desserts.
"Traitor!" The word echoed off the walls like a whiplash, and he
clenched his jaw. It took him a few seconds to identify the voice,
even though he'd heard it countless times in the common room and on
the Quidditch field. Flint.
"Traitor!" Higgs, just that little bit more vicious than Flint,
because of course Flint hadn't been thrown off the house team because
Draco's father had the money to buy seven state-of-the-art brooms.
"Traitor!" Bole, who'd broken Draco's arm once, calmly and
deliberately, for no other reason than that Draco had missed the
snitch, again.
"Traitor!" Crabbe Senior, who blamed him for the death of his son,
even though Vince had died at the hands of an Auror, and Draco hadn't
even heard of it until two weeks after the facts.
His father said nothing, just stood, looking him in the eyes.
"Draco."
"Father. You wanted to talk to me?"
"I did. I would ask you to sit down, but ..."
Part of him felt as if he were twelve again. Just a boy, believing
every word his father said, infinite trust, unshakeable faith that
Lucius Malfoy was, or soon would be, the most powerful man in the
world.
"You're still calling yourself Malfoy, I hear?"
"It *is* my name."
"It *was* your name. I raised you to be worthy of it. Why, Draco? You
could have been the most powerful Death Eater--"
"And I still would have had to kneel and grovel before Lord
Voldemort. I wasn't raised to kneel."
"And yet you kneel for that Potter boy."
"*He* never demanded I kneel for him, father."
There was no answer.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
The next morning, during breakfast, Draco looked around the small,
almost Spartan house, and asked, "What do you *do* around here all
day?"
Harry shrugged. "Fixing things, working the field, reading if I have
time."
"Not writing your memoirs?"
Harry quirked a small grin. "Do you think people would be interested
in my memoirs? 'Harry Potter: The Man Behind the Legend'?"
"Why not?"
"A very wise man once told me that people don't want a real live
person; they want a myth."
Draco didn't have anything to say about that, so he didn't, just
thought, 'I should owl Ron and Hermione' before realising there
probably weren't any owleries close by. "Is there a post office in
the town? Or anywhere nearby?"
Harry blinked a little at the sudden subject change, and Draco
suppressed a grin. "There is, but I don't know how reliable it is.
Since when do you use Muggle mail?"
"Since I ended up in the middle of nowhere, with no owlery nearby."
He paused. "I have to let them know I'm alive." Draco said. "I don't
have to tell them about you."
"Can you wait? For now? I don't think I'm ready yet."
Draco nodded, understanding, but wondering if Harry would ever be
ready.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He wrote the letter that evening, and it took him three hours to
compose three paragraphs.
~
Ron, Hermione,
I'm in Cuba. I'm fine, if sunburnt like hell. I really miss English
weather, believe it or not.
I'll be staying here for a while, so you can send a reply to the post
office, and I'll get it. Hopefully, anyway -- Cuban post isn't all
that reliable.
Give Gwennie my love, and tell her I'll be back to see her off to
Hogwarts.
Draco
~
"Gwennie?" Harry asked when Draco let him read the letter.
"Their daughter. My goddaughter."
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment, and Draco thought he could see
a trace of hurt and regret. "Never thought I'd see the day."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The Burrow, 2000)
"So what I want to know," Ron said, looking at Draco over a stack of
Lucius Malfoy's maps, "Is whether you knew."
"Knew what?" Slightly distracted, because fuck, his father had the
worst handwriting in history.
"That he wasn't going to come back."
"Hm? Oh, Harry?" Draco looked up.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Yes, Harry. Who else?"
"I didn't know, as such, no. I don't think he knew himself, when he
left. But I suspected it, yes."
"Why?"
"Because if I'd have had the chance, I'd have done exactly the same
thing."
Ron nodded. You were closer to him than we were, after the war. I
used to hate you for that."
He snorted. "You mean all the effort I put into annoying you was just
a waste of time?"
Ron grinned. "Very funny." Then, after a pause, "Hermione's
pregnant."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
The response came late June, just a few short paragraphs in
Hermione's neat handwriting, and a P.S. from Gwennie telling him to
get back before September, or else.
He folded the letter and went outside, where Harry was fixing the
roof. "Are there actually any other wizards in this country?"
"I think so. There's a wizard community in Havana, I believe."
"How long would it take me to get there?"
"Best case scenario, two weeks. Three weeks if you're out of luck.
Why?"
"Would I be able to get a Portkey there?"
"Probably."
"But you don't know for sure?"
"I don't really like being around a lot of wizards anymore, I'm
afraid."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(London, 1998)
"We have to tell him."
Ron glared at him. "He's in the fucking hospital, Malfoy. He's just
woke up, he's only barely survived killing You-Know-Who."
"I *know*. Look, I know you don't believe me, but I do care for him.
I'm simply not too blind to see that this has to be done. He has to
know, and he has to go out there and talk to them."
"Do you really think they're going to listen to him? You've *seen*
what they're doing; they're not going to stop because he asks them
to!"
"They might. And this isn't about them, this is about him."
"Malfoy--" Ron started, but Hermione interrupted him.
"Ron. He's right."
"You're on *his* side, now?"
"I'm on *Harry's* side. And Harry's going to find out about this
sooner rather than later, and when he does, he'll be more upset if he
finds out we didn't give him a chance to do something."
Ron clenched his jaw.
"I'll tell him," Draco said, giving Hermione a look that stopped an
protests she might have had.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you well enough to make a speech?"
Harry looked at him. "I take it this wouldn't exactly be a victory
speech, right?"
"Not quite." He paused. "People are ... rioting isn't the right word,
really. Going mad. They're going after everyone suspected of having
Death Eaters sympathies, any girl suspected of having slept with a
Death Eater. There haven't been any deaths yet, but it's a matter of
time, I'm afraid. Nobody's been able to calm them down. Maybe you
can."
Harry nodded. "I'll try."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
"So you're leaving, then?"
"Not yet. In a month or so. Can you tell me how to get to Havana?"
Harry didn't say anything, seemed to be thinking, considering. "I'll
go with you."
Draco looked at him intently, trying to read the expression on
Harry's face, but couldn't. "How far?"
"All the way. If that's all right."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I think it's time."
END
Author: Sofie K Werkers
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings: None. Harry&Draco.
Rating: PG
Summary: Years later.
Status: New, finished.
Date: 13 September 2002 - 21 October 2002
Archive: Yes to Silverlake. All others, please ask.
Email: minerva@femgeeks.net
Feedback: If you like this story, please let me know. If you don't,
please let me know why not.
Web Page:
Disclaimer: JKR owns everything, quite possibly including my soul.
Profit? I see no profit here.
Dedication: This story could not have been written had my twelve-year
old self not have been fascinated with World War 2 books. So this is
for me, ten years later.
Thanks to unlit for help with the Spanish, and to Zarah and
GlitterWhore for beta and read-through. :)
Thank you also to everyone who's been encouraging this on LJ: Rose,
Kym, Dine, Kristine, Sarah, and of course Elfie, my partner in
Marcus/Lee, who admires my crafty Martha Stewart brain and who
understands the beauty of older!Draco. ^_^
Author's Notes: I'm not quite sure what possessed me of all people to
write gen, especially about Harry and Draco. Nevertheless, here it
is.
Cover can be found here:
Evitar
======
by Sofie K Werkers
(Cuba, 2011)
He made it to Cuba by May, and by then Harry's trail was only seven
years old. "I'm gaining on him," he thought, and spent the next three
weeks cursing Harry as he tracked him over dusty roads, from village
to even tinier village.
"¿Dónde puedo encontrar un lugar para dormir?" The reaction of the
old man didn't give Draco much hope that he'd be spending the night
anywhere but outside. Again.
He was startled by a voice coming from behind him. "I didn't know you
spoke Spanish."
He whirled around. "What the hell are you doing here?" Which, really,
was the stupidest thing he could've said.
"I live here. What are *you* doing here?" Looking disturbingly calm
for someone who'd vanished off the face of the earth over ten years
ago, and was now found again.
"I was ..." He pauses, and thinks. "Following you."
"Any particular reason?" And he was still showing no emotion aside
from a faint trace of amusement, and Draco really wanted to kick him
in the shins just to get a reaction out of him. 'Just like old
times,' he mused.
"Not really. Because I wanted to see if I could find you, I guess."
"And now you found me."
"So I have."
Harry was quiet for a moment, and then, amused, "I think my line is
'You realise I can never let you go back, now,' isn't it?"
Draco smiled despite himself. "I think that's the traditional way,
yes. Will you, though?"
"Will I what?"
"Let me go?"
Harry shrugged. "You're a free man, Draco."
"Yes, and you're a man who disappeared off the face of the earth for
well over ten years. One would expect you to not be thrilled about
your whereabouts being reported back to the civilised world."
"You of all people, Draco, should remember I rarely do what's
expected of me."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Hogwarts, 1997)
He expected the first thing out of Harry's mouth to be "Why?" Why are
you suddenly on our side? Why are *you* the one doing this, and not
Snape, or anyone else? Why you? Why me? Why?
Of course, Harry never did what was expected of him, and instead just
asked "How do you want to do this?"
"How on earth should *I* know, Potter? I've no experience in teaching
someone the Dark Arts."
"Really? I thought you'd be jumping at a chance to corrupt someone.
Especially me."
"I hate to burst your bubble, Potter, but 'Corrupting the Boy Who
Lived' is not on my list of life-long ambitions."
"I'm so disappointed. What is on your list, then?"
"None of your business," he snapped, and instantly regretted it,
because it really didn't do to show any kind of emotion, let alone in
front of Harry bloody Potter. "Let's just get on with it."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
"Are we there yet? Fuck, how far from civilisation can you get?
Please tell me you at least have a decent bathroom installed."
"It's right behind that hill. Very far. And I'm afraid you'll have to
settle for a bucket of water from the well."
Draco groaned. "I really fucking hate you, you know."
"Nobody forced you to come." Draco almost wished he could hear a
thread of bitterness in Harry's voice, something, *anything* other
than vague amusement. He no longer wanted to kick Harry; punching
sounded much more satisfying.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Maria?" Harry called, opening the front door to what looked to Draco
like the kind of house people would live in a century ago.
'Trust Harry to not give a damn about comfort,' he thought to
himself. "I bet this place doesn't even have proper beds."
A young girl appeared in the doorway. "Maria, ¿puedes preparar el
cuarto pequeño, por favor? Tenemos un invitado." The girl nodded and
disappeared into the next room again. He looked at Harry. Harry
looked back. "She's not, and I wouldn't try anything if I were you.
Her brothers are very protective. All four of them."
Draco snorted. "My days of seducing innocent maidens are over, I'm
afraid."
Harry looked at him silently for a while, until he couldn't take it
anymore and blurted out, "What?"
"You look old."
"I *am* old. We were eighteen, Harry. I'm thirty now." Harry didn't
answer.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(London, 1998)
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
"So you're going through with it, then?"
Harry sighed. "I have to. If I stay here much longer, I ..." He made
a vague gesture. "I don't know," sounding years older suddenly.
"Don't you ever want to just leave all of it behind for a while?"
Draco shrugged. "Sure. But I can't. Granger said the trails are
starting next week, and I haven't gotten anywhere yet with father's
plans."
Harry was silent for a moment. "It just never ends, does it? Even now
Voldemort's dead, we still have things to do."
"*We* have things to do. Granger and Weasley will handle the trails,
and I'll be Crown Witness for the Prosecution." He couldn't stop the
bitterness in his voice, hoping as soon as he said it that Harry
hadn't noticed. "And then we'll start dismantling the Death Eater
strongholds. But it's over for you. You killed him, you did your
part, your work is done."
"Is it?" Harry's voice was completely void of emotion, and Draco
looked at him, feeling as if he saw the other for the first time.
Harry continued, "People keep looking at me like they're expecting
something from me. I just don't know what they want me to do."
"They want you to be a hero. They want you to be the Boy Who Lived To
Defeat Voldemort, they want a myth, not a real live person. And most
of all, they want to get on with their lives, without a living,
breathing reminder of the past." He paused for a moment. "It'll
happen to us as well, I suppose. But Granger and Weasley will get
married, have children, and live a quiet life somewhere in the
country, I'll go back to the Manor, try and restore it, but you ..."
"... have nowhere to go and nothing to do." There was no bitterness
in Harry's voice, no anger. Then, after a pause, "It's not just that,
though. You of all people should know that."
"Me? Know what? Why?"
"Because we're two of the only ones outside of Azkaban who are
trained in the Dark Arts."
"Ah. Right." He fell silent. He did know, of course. People crossed
the street to avoid him, contempt and distrust clear in their eyes.
Seven days away from helping to sentence his parents, his friends,
his family to life in Azkaban, and people still expected him to turn
around and kill them all. Paranoia still lingered in the wizarding
world, and apparently even their Golden Boy wasn't safe from it.
"You don't seem surprised."
"I wasn't expecting people to suddenly love me, no. I'm the son of a
Death Eater, Harry." He shrugged. "I don't blame them, really." Harry
stayed silent. "Do you really think this vacation of yours is going
to help?"
"Something has to. And it's the best I can think of."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
Two hours later, bathed (of course there'd been a shower, and a bath,
and he'd taken advantage of both), clothed and fed, Draco leaned back
in his chair and looked at Harry. He wasn't the only one who looked
older than his years, he realised.
"Were you ever going to come back?"
"Hm?" Harry looked up from contemplating his Calvados. "Come back?"
He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, could you just pay attention to me for
a few bloody minutes?"
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." Harry set his glass down and made a big
production of placing his elbows on the table, chin resting on
entwined hands. "There, you have my undivided attention now. Better?"
He rolled his eyes. "As I was saying. When you left, did you actually
believe it was just going to be a vacation? Did you really intend to
come back?"
Harry considered the question. "I did. Still do, I guess." He leaned
back in his chair, taking the glass again.
"Thirteen years is a damn long time for a vacation, Harry."
"Mm-hm," Harry hummed non-comittedly around a convenient mouthful of
liquid.
"Prat."
Harry looked at him quizzically. "What? I didn't do anything."
"Exactly. You disappear for more than a bloody *decade* and you don't
even have the decency to ask me what's been going on back home."
"Would you believe me if I said I simply didn't know where to start
asking?"
Bluntly, "No."
"Damn." A pause. "All right, then, here's a question. Why did you
join our side?"
'Bastard.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Azkaban, 1999)
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ron, fretting, and if you'd have
told either of them three years before that Ron Weasley was going to
stand outside Azkaban worrying about Draco Malfoy going in to visit
his parents, both of them would have agreed wholeheartedly that you
were crazy.
"I'm quite sure I *don't* want to do this, actually. But he *is* my
father, and if I don't go now, I never will."
"All right. Just ... be careful. I'll wait for you out here."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There were no Dementors in this part of Azkaban, and the cells didn't
have walls, just bars, so the guards could monitor the prisoners and
abort any suicide attempts. No Death Eater was going to escape their
just desserts.
"Traitor!" The word echoed off the walls like a whiplash, and he
clenched his jaw. It took him a few seconds to identify the voice,
even though he'd heard it countless times in the common room and on
the Quidditch field. Flint.
"Traitor!" Higgs, just that little bit more vicious than Flint,
because of course Flint hadn't been thrown off the house team because
Draco's father had the money to buy seven state-of-the-art brooms.
"Traitor!" Bole, who'd broken Draco's arm once, calmly and
deliberately, for no other reason than that Draco had missed the
snitch, again.
"Traitor!" Crabbe Senior, who blamed him for the death of his son,
even though Vince had died at the hands of an Auror, and Draco hadn't
even heard of it until two weeks after the facts.
His father said nothing, just stood, looking him in the eyes.
"Draco."
"Father. You wanted to talk to me?"
"I did. I would ask you to sit down, but ..."
Part of him felt as if he were twelve again. Just a boy, believing
every word his father said, infinite trust, unshakeable faith that
Lucius Malfoy was, or soon would be, the most powerful man in the
world.
"You're still calling yourself Malfoy, I hear?"
"It *is* my name."
"It *was* your name. I raised you to be worthy of it. Why, Draco? You
could have been the most powerful Death Eater--"
"And I still would have had to kneel and grovel before Lord
Voldemort. I wasn't raised to kneel."
"And yet you kneel for that Potter boy."
"*He* never demanded I kneel for him, father."
There was no answer.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
The next morning, during breakfast, Draco looked around the small,
almost Spartan house, and asked, "What do you *do* around here all
day?"
Harry shrugged. "Fixing things, working the field, reading if I have
time."
"Not writing your memoirs?"
Harry quirked a small grin. "Do you think people would be interested
in my memoirs? 'Harry Potter: The Man Behind the Legend'?"
"Why not?"
"A very wise man once told me that people don't want a real live
person; they want a myth."
Draco didn't have anything to say about that, so he didn't, just
thought, 'I should owl Ron and Hermione' before realising there
probably weren't any owleries close by. "Is there a post office in
the town? Or anywhere nearby?"
Harry blinked a little at the sudden subject change, and Draco
suppressed a grin. "There is, but I don't know how reliable it is.
Since when do you use Muggle mail?"
"Since I ended up in the middle of nowhere, with no owlery nearby."
He paused. "I have to let them know I'm alive." Draco said. "I don't
have to tell them about you."
"Can you wait? For now? I don't think I'm ready yet."
Draco nodded, understanding, but wondering if Harry would ever be
ready.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He wrote the letter that evening, and it took him three hours to
compose three paragraphs.
~
Ron, Hermione,
I'm in Cuba. I'm fine, if sunburnt like hell. I really miss English
weather, believe it or not.
I'll be staying here for a while, so you can send a reply to the post
office, and I'll get it. Hopefully, anyway -- Cuban post isn't all
that reliable.
Give Gwennie my love, and tell her I'll be back to see her off to
Hogwarts.
Draco
~
"Gwennie?" Harry asked when Draco let him read the letter.
"Their daughter. My goddaughter."
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment, and Draco thought he could see
a trace of hurt and regret. "Never thought I'd see the day."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The Burrow, 2000)
"So what I want to know," Ron said, looking at Draco over a stack of
Lucius Malfoy's maps, "Is whether you knew."
"Knew what?" Slightly distracted, because fuck, his father had the
worst handwriting in history.
"That he wasn't going to come back."
"Hm? Oh, Harry?" Draco looked up.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Yes, Harry. Who else?"
"I didn't know, as such, no. I don't think he knew himself, when he
left. But I suspected it, yes."
"Why?"
"Because if I'd have had the chance, I'd have done exactly the same
thing."
Ron nodded. You were closer to him than we were, after the war. I
used to hate you for that."
He snorted. "You mean all the effort I put into annoying you was just
a waste of time?"
Ron grinned. "Very funny." Then, after a pause, "Hermione's
pregnant."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
The response came late June, just a few short paragraphs in
Hermione's neat handwriting, and a P.S. from Gwennie telling him to
get back before September, or else.
He folded the letter and went outside, where Harry was fixing the
roof. "Are there actually any other wizards in this country?"
"I think so. There's a wizard community in Havana, I believe."
"How long would it take me to get there?"
"Best case scenario, two weeks. Three weeks if you're out of luck.
Why?"
"Would I be able to get a Portkey there?"
"Probably."
"But you don't know for sure?"
"I don't really like being around a lot of wizards anymore, I'm
afraid."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(London, 1998)
"We have to tell him."
Ron glared at him. "He's in the fucking hospital, Malfoy. He's just
woke up, he's only barely survived killing You-Know-Who."
"I *know*. Look, I know you don't believe me, but I do care for him.
I'm simply not too blind to see that this has to be done. He has to
know, and he has to go out there and talk to them."
"Do you really think they're going to listen to him? You've *seen*
what they're doing; they're not going to stop because he asks them
to!"
"They might. And this isn't about them, this is about him."
"Malfoy--" Ron started, but Hermione interrupted him.
"Ron. He's right."
"You're on *his* side, now?"
"I'm on *Harry's* side. And Harry's going to find out about this
sooner rather than later, and when he does, he'll be more upset if he
finds out we didn't give him a chance to do something."
Ron clenched his jaw.
"I'll tell him," Draco said, giving Hermione a look that stopped an
protests she might have had.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you well enough to make a speech?"
Harry looked at him. "I take it this wouldn't exactly be a victory
speech, right?"
"Not quite." He paused. "People are ... rioting isn't the right word,
really. Going mad. They're going after everyone suspected of having
Death Eaters sympathies, any girl suspected of having slept with a
Death Eater. There haven't been any deaths yet, but it's a matter of
time, I'm afraid. Nobody's been able to calm them down. Maybe you
can."
Harry nodded. "I'll try."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Cuba, 2011)
"So you're leaving, then?"
"Not yet. In a month or so. Can you tell me how to get to Havana?"
Harry didn't say anything, seemed to be thinking, considering. "I'll
go with you."
Draco looked at him intently, trying to read the expression on
Harry's face, but couldn't. "How far?"
"All the way. If that's all right."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I think it's time."
END