Unforgivable, a Harry Potter + Angel Crossover fanfic

Unforgivable ~ Draco's Tale

I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Harry Potter or the song Invisible. The first two belong to Joss Whedon. The third to Joanne Rowling. The last to Clay Aiken. This ficlet and all those that follow and precede are responses to the Andy Hallett Memorial Challenge. Each fic will feature a different fandom and a different song (in addition to the Angel & Buffy fandoms) which will be featured in a disclaimer above the chapter. All of these tales will be told by Lorne in the first person...

And now, back to the show.

Back already are you? Well welcome back to Caritas. It's good to see you back here so soon. I suppose you're hoping to hear about another of my success stories. Well, I'm here to warn you, not all of my works have been successes. Some people just insist on being self-destructive in the end. Still would prefer one with a happy ending huh? I can't say as I blame ya. I love a good fairy tale as much as anyone. Now let's see… Oh yeah ! This one happened before I ever met Angel food. Wow, it was just before that blonde slayer chica was moved to Sunnydale and changed everything about the rules. Come to think about it, the kid in question was a blond too…

It was fairly early in the night for Caritas. None of the L.A. vamp population was in yet but a vengeance demon was singing away. I still, to this day, don't know how Elmer Fudd's own Kill the Wabbit wound out on my jukebox, but I am utterly certain that Anyanka had some serious issues back then. Anyway, as expected, Anyanka wanted to know what her future look like. I readily informed her that a scorned cheerleader would be her downfall and her redemption together. Anyanka, of course, thought I was a quack and stormed out of Caritas in a huff. There is just no pleasing some people. How can you explain to a vengeance demon that the loss of her powers will lead her to find love and happiness? Especially when the person she will find loved was one of her ex-victims? Ah well, I call them like I see 'em, you know?

It was just as Anyanka stormed out that little ball of sunshine walked in my door. The boy was incredibly nervous, but not uninitiated. Oh no. He was far too spooked to possibly lack knowledge on what kind of patrons we get in these parts. It was kind of sad to me how he would sneer half-convincingly at my clientele about the bar. Granted not all of my clients are saints, but still, I could smell the elitism just as surely as I could smell the boy's doubts. I couldn't wait to get that kid on my stage. He just reeked of an interesting tale.

"Can I help you there, Lemon tart?"

I nearly chuckled at the cringe the boy gave at my comment. Human boys are such fun. They take such offence at my little nicknames. One might think I had offended his manhood or something. "Butterbeer?" he spoke in a soft British lilt that I would later come to associate with Wesley.

The accent and drink choice were a big tip off to me as I had Ramone find the drink for the boy. It explained the painfully obvious pole the kid had up his ass… excuse me… arse. The boy was one of those 'pureblood' bigots, probably programmed from birth to believe that my kind and every other kind were inferior to his own. Still, if he had made it to Caritas in L.A., I had some hope that the boy might be fighting his programming. "Care to sing us a tune, Stud muffin?"

The boy, he couldn't have been older then sixteen, nodded uncertainly. I mentally gave myself a point as the boy reread a slip of paper before going over to the jukebox to make a selection. The boy had known exactly what he was doing when he came to my door. I can only hope that this experience might further loosen the pole. The boy took a while, obviously uncertain with the technology, but most of my clientele weren't in yet. When he started I was shocked by his sweet voice. Boy obviously had taken some singing lessons. Maybe those bigots aren't all bad after all…

"What, is with all this light?
I wish I could hear, the Death Eater call
Is, it really so bad
To hate Muggleborns
Why can't I bring myself to do it?
What would it take to turn me from the light?

"If it was forgivable
I could kill you with just two words
If it was forgivable
I could torture blood traitors
If it was forgivable
I could just curse you where you stand
You would be at my command
If it was forgivable
(But, it's unforgivable)

"See, my face in your dreams
I call out your name
You're not what you seem
I control all your moves
Each step that you take
With but a word, I control the contours of your mind
With that same word, I change the way you live your life

"I stab out
With my wand so ready
Even when I cry out
Crucio, I know it isn't me
Am I really this way
Or am I too under someone's sway?

"If it was forgivable...
If it was forgivable...
If it was forgivable...
If it was forgivable...
But it's unforgivable...
And I'm unforgivable..."

I swear to you, that was one of the first truly sad readings I've ever done. Don't get me wrong, I've predicted some terrible things even before that, but this kid wasn't inherently bad really. He was just preprogrammed by that horrible father of his…

I slapped the butterbeer that Ramone handed me down next to the boy, smiling encouragingly. The boy seemed to take this as a good sign and took a long draw of his bottle. "So, what can you tell me?"

I sighed heavily. "If you take the mark that the Dark Lord offers to you Draco, you will live out almost exactly the fantasy that you have dreamed of since you were six. You will marry another pureblood, have a single son with her before your wife moves into a second bedroom to let you live the rest of your life sleeping with a succession of mistresses. You will survive the war between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord. You will be a person of significant political influence…"

The boy nodded happily, taking up his drink and starting to leave.

"… and you will never truly be happy with any of it. The taste of your victory will turn to ashes in your throat. Your father will remain in prison for life. Your Lord will die at the hands of Harry Potter. Your line will die out shortly after you. The Black family will die out completely with the deaths of your Aunt Bellatrix and Cousin Nymphadora. You will die ignominiously in your sleep by the hand of your own son."

The boy stood with his back to me, desperately wanting to walk out that door. I can't blame him even now. "And what would you have me do, Demon? Abandon everything I am in the hopes that I might somehow be happy? I can't be happy with Dumbledore's way, Demon. It is worse then the Dark Lord's."

"Dumbledore's destiny is sealed Sugar pie. He is an irrelevance. His time is ended. He will die soon, without a doubt. The only question is how he will die… at your hand, at your indifference, or without your involvement. Trust me when I say that if you choose the first or second you doom yourself as surely as you doom countless others. The difference is that your torture will be slow and subtle. Do not choose that path, Draco. Prove to the world that Slytherin is not synonymous with evil."

"And if I do this? What is my fate then, Demon?"

I shook my head. "I can't be sure of that, Honey bunch. I can tell you one thing for sure of one thing Little dragon. If you refuse the mark and stand for the light, you will become such a hero that you will eclipse the Dark Lord…"

"And Potter."

"No. Potter is destined to end the Dark Lord, Sugar cane. It can't be denied."

The blond nodded thoughtfully. "Will I die?"

I sighed. This was the bad one. "Uncertain… but if you do… then you will die free. If you accept the mark then even after the Dark Lord's death, you will remain his slave."

"I don't know that I can do this…"

I smiled softly at that. "No one knows until they try, Sweet pea. But better to die a hero then to live and see yourself become the villain…"

The boy nodded and left, flipping a pair of sickles on to the bar.

I wouldn't find out what happened to the boy until three years later. He lived, contrary to my wildest hopes. But what's more, he lived well. He refused the mark and went to Potter, unable to trust Dumbledore. It had taken some convincing, but Potter had accepted Draco's aid. Draco had even been instrumental in the discovery and destruction of the cup horcrux. I am very proud of him.

Not entirely sure if I like the way I ended this, but I hope you all like it...

Oh... and I am fully aware that Invisible wasn't written until later. Let's just say that, for the sake of argument that Clay Aiken sang that song on the WWN long before he ever brought it to the muggle world...

Jasper