Author's note:
Hello and thanks to everyone who has stopped to read this! This is my first fanfiction, so please try not to be too harsh. I have always loved the Harry/Draco pairing, so I decided to have a go at writing some, and this is the result. I plan to write more intricate stories later. Please take the time to write a review, even if it's small, it would really make my day. Also feel free to PM me! I look forward to hearing from you! I did type this out on my phone, so please excuse any typos or mistakes I make.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters world, those belong to J.k. Rowling (one of my idols), and whoever else owns part of the Harry Potter world (as I wish I did). This story is for entertainment purposes only, and it is my invention, not to be believed to be part of J.k. Rowling's story cannon.
"Can I help you, Potter?" A sarcastic voice cut through my daydreaming. I turned away from the ring in the case and look towards the one face I would least like to see right then: Draco Malfoy.
I knew it was risky to enter his father's shop, but the ring had intrigued me too much to pass off the chance. It had a strange crest on it- a royal purple and red embellished pair of antlers with a heavily scripted "P" in the center. Other than that, it was plain silver, tarnished heavily along the inside. It looked strangely familiar. But that chance of figuring it out had been ruined by the blonde standing in front of me.
"I was just examining this ring, Malfoy," I said with as much venom laced into my voice as I could manage. Why did this prat always have to show up when I'm upset? It's like he was drawn towards my misery like a shark towards blood. This time my situation was worse than usual, however. Ron was away visiting Lavender in who-ever-knows-what fancy place she was this summer, Hermione wasn't answering my letters, and Ginny was mad at me for some abstract reason. I had gone out to Diagon Alley in hopes of escaping the stuffy room above the Leaky Cauldron.
"Are you going to just stand there and ignore me, Potter, or will you answer like a normal wizard? Oh wait, I forgot Harry 'Chosen One' Potter isn't a normal wizard," Malfoy drawled.
I felt a fury start to build up inside me. How dare Malfoy destroy my first free summer? It had taken me a whole year of persuading Dumbledore to let me move out from the Dursleys' house, but once it was no longer safe for me to remain there, he removed me immediately. I had just been looking forward to a few days of peace before Ginny came to visit. And now this snake eyed git staring in front of me has ruined it all.
"Sod off, Malfoy."
"Fat chance. So, is this one of your paid vacations from being old Dumbledore's pity project?"
"Malfoy. You've got 5 seconds to get out of my sight before I hex you into next week."
"Hold your horses, I'm sure a full medical team will be here soon to make sure you didn't overreact. After all, the Golden Child can't even get a paper cut, hmm?"
By this point I had had quite enough with all this pointless bickering. I pulled out my wand and pointed it strait at Malfoy.
"No, but I certainly can give you more than a paper cut."
He sneered in response, pulling out his own wand slowly. By this time, quite a few onlookers were gawking through the glass at us.
"Let's take this somewhere a bit more private, shall we, Potter?" Suddenly Malfoy grabbed my arm, and before I knew it, we were being Apparated away. I squirmed to try and get away, but apparently he wasn't as skinny as he looked, for his grip was unyielding.
Our surroundings soon materialized, but it was hard to get any information from this, for all I could see was fog and the faint outline of what could be a moon high in the sky. I could also hear the distant crashing of waves that seemed to be coming from directly underneath us.
"Where the bloody hell did you take me, Potter?"
"What do you mean? You apparated us here, shouldn't you know?"
"I wasn't trying to bring us to the top of a cliff!" By this time, what I could see of Malfoy's face looked almost hysterical. "I wanted to bring us to Malfoy Manor so we could finish our duel, nothing else!"
"Well I bloody hope you can apparate us back, because I lost my wand when you grabbed my arm!"
"I can't, I tried when you were talking! We're stuck here and I can't get us out!" He practically screamed at me. I took a breath.
"As much as I would like to push you off that cliff there Malfoy, I do have friends to get back to, so we are going to have to figure this out. What could have happened?"
"I don't know! My apparition is immaculate, only a very dark wizard could have redirected it!" I nearly rolled my eyes at this, but then what it implied set in. A very dark wizard.. who presumably wasn't my biggest fan.. and knew how to tap into the Malfoy magic easily..
I swore under my breath.
"Have you been home for the summer yet Malfoy?"
"No.. my father told me that he had a visitor.." Here he trailed off and paled quite a bit, if that is even possible. "You don't think.. he sent us here?"
"That's exactly what I fear, and if it is so, I need your word you will try to get us out of here. I know you're scared, Malfoy. You've never been the brave one." I couldn't help adding the last part. "But you have to stand up to Voldemort's followers, and that may well mean your father! He brought you to this wasteland as well!"
" I could let him kill you and get away while he was busy." Malfoy replied, perhaps thinking it clever. I sighed in exasperation.
"Even if you did let him kill me, you'd never get away in time."
Malfoy sighed. "It's not like I would have the guts anyway."
Surprised, I asked "What do you mean?" He wasn't usually willing to criticize himself.
"You know, I was scared. I tried not to. I ran away- I RAN AWAY, POTTER. And he will never, never forgive me for that crime." He turned away, breathing heavily. I was confused at this point.
"W-what?" I stammered.
When he responded, his voice was deep and gravely. "I ran, Potter. I ran from the Mark. From the Death Eaters. I ran from my future. From the future. But it still caught up with me." At this, he pulled up his sleeve, and as I had suspected, there it was. The Dark Mark. The black scull and snake took up most of his forearm, but I noticed something I hadn't seen before. Scars. Long, jagged ones, not the kind a curse would leave.
"Bellatrix. She was outraged by my failure to her master, so she decided to teach me a lesson, her way. Those scars will last my life. And yet, when the time came, I ran again. I didn't answer the call. And believe me when I say, it Potter, I was punished. So believe me when I say it again, I always run. But never fast enough." By this time, I heard muffled sobs coming from him. That was so uncharacteristic of the Slytherin Prince that I didn't know what to do. So I asked another question.
"But.. what does that all have to do with me?"
It was hard to tell what he was saying, but if I could believe my ears, I heard this:
"Potter. The Golden Child. The Chosen One. You represented something I could never be; a hero. I had been born into the dark role, wether I You had everything I didn't have; you were brave, lucky, and had friends." At this point, in pretty sure my ears failed me, but I could have sworn I heard him mumble, ".. and pretty damn fit, as well."
Draco Lucius Malfoy thought I was a hero? And brave? And he though I was fit? My mind couldn't handle anymore, so I just stood there gawking. I though of something to say, but all that came out was an incoherent stutter..
"W-what d'you mean, you thought-"
Suddenly, the air around us hummed, and there was a pop of Apparation as someone appeared through the wards.
Tension filled my body as Malfoy and I both scrambled backwards.
The hooded figure that appeared towered above us, looming into the foreboding dark sky as if a monster on the hunt for its victims. It reached a point maybe 5 meters away from us, then stopped.
As if in slow motion, it slowly lowered its hood. Revealing long, blonde hair and a very familiar smirk.
"Well, well, what have we here? A blood traitor and a certain wanted child." Lucius Malfoy drawled.
"W-what do you mean, a blood traitor? He's never been kind to a muggle born! Not even close!" I wasn't defending him, just very confused.
"Perhaps I'm not talking about mudbloods, Potter. Half bloods are still dirty. Proof that some wizards and witches make very bad choices.. perhaps my son made his mistake with a certain half blood, Potter. Ever considered that?" At this, Lucius's eyes seemed to bore into his son's, burning what he was saying into his mind. "Mr. Potter, do you remember a day on the train, your and Draco's first day of school? He offered you his friendship, as I had ordered him to do, but you refused. He was then to ignore you, like the filth you are. Instead he searched for revenge. I think he was hoping for something more than power on that day. He became obsessed with you. When he came home for the holidays it was always 'Potter did this, Potter did that.' Did I want to hear that? No. Was he punished for it? Yes." At this, he glanced at his son's chest, who winced. "But my wife always had an uncalled soft spot for our son. I think she saw what we could never have: freedom." At this, his voice bittered. "Narcissa and I were betrothed from birth. We never got to find love. We had to carry out our pureblood names, of course. For her birthing-wish, she insisted that our son was not betrothed right then. So it was. But I insisted that he must be brought up properly, of course. I guided him in the right directions. He was punished when he stepped out of line. She always tried to stop that. Which is why I sent her away, of course. But apparently not soon enough, because she encouraged Draco in his fantasies. She always listened to him talk about you. I eventually just made sure that there would be no way for him to tell you, to get to know you better. I had him surrounded by friends' sons and daughters who would keep him in line, make sure that he could never speak to you but for insults. It became a habit to him, as I had planned. So now you know, Potter." His cruel eyes glistened. "And now both you traitors will die."
The boy next to me had been silent through out this whole speech, but now he let out a whimper as he fully understood the grave he had dug for himself. For his worth, he did draw himself up at this point. He even raised his wand. But however much Malfoy had advanced in magic, I knew he couldn't stop his father. Lucius was too powerful, and without my wand I didn't stand a chance. So we just stood, and waited for the inevitable.
As if in slow motion, Lucius Malfoy raised his wand, and leveled it at my face. I heard him say the words. Avada Kedavra. I didn't do anything. I don't think I even realized what was happening, until it was too late. There was a flash, a yelled countercurse, and a cry. Of pain. Of love.
Before I realized it, the elder Malfoy was dead. And the younger one at my feet could be as well.
I knelt down, as if in a stupor. I saw his face. This time, the eyes didn't seem like thunderclouds anymore. Now they seemed like a worn wool blanket. They darted down to his legs. I saw one of them mangled, the blood running in rivulets down to meet his fathers face. The pure blood staining the ground. I saw my tears mixing with his. I wasn't sure where those had come from. Then the lips moved.
"I won't be able to run away."
And he went limp. My senses returned.
Grabbing his wand, I jumped to my feet. I reached down, and swung him up over my shoulders. It seemed the wards had died with the the caster, so I was able to Apparate strait away.
Apparently, I had taken us right into St. Mungo's waiting room. I guess it must have been a sight, the Chosen One carrying his bloodied enemy. All eyes were on us, but no one moved.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Help me, for damned sake! He's dying!"
After that, it all was a blur. I remember someone taking the weight from me and helping me into a chair. Someone forcing potions down my throat. Then all the faces, talking at me, shouting at me, shaking me. Asking "Harry, are you alright?" "Blimey mate, what happened?" Couldn't they see I wanted to be left alone?
I guess at some point, I passed out and had to be taken home, because the next thing I could remember, it was morning and light was streaming into my face. I sat up to yawn, and yesterday's events came flooding back. And with them, a nagging concern.
"Malfoy!"
I quickly scrambled out of bed and rushed to get my wand, which someone must have found and placed in my beside table. I Apparated to St. Mungo's.
"Malfoy?" I asked the witch at the front desk.
"Who?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice.
"Malfoy.. D-Draco.. Draco Malfoy." She looked at me strangely, but consulted her list.
"Ah, yes. Spell damage. Fourth floor, ward 13. Lets see.. yes, he should be alright, but he's not cleared for visitors yet."
"I'll go up anyways," I said firmly. So I did. I got to the room, marked 'Draco Lucius Malfoy, deflected killing curse damage on left foreleg'. There was a chair across the corridor, so I sat down. I must have lost track of time, because next thing I knew, the door was opening.
Lit from the back, a figure stepped out. I leapt to my feet. And I can truthfully say, he might have been clothed in naught but his torn, black jeans, limping, with blood still covering his body and tears staining his face, but in that moment, Draco Malfoy looked like an angel.
And I told him this, right before I kissed my arch nemesis.
~~epilogue~~
Three years had passed since the incident. Soon after it had happened, the Golden Child's life fell apart.
His friends lost interest in him. His girlfriend dumped him. In his last year of school, he was scorned, ignored at best. Rita Skeeter broke her vow just to write one last story, entitled "Traitorous Love." After that, no longer was he the subject of newspaper headlines and magazine stories. But Harry could honestly say he was the happiest he had ever been. And the source of that happiness was laying on the bed next to him on this fair morning.
Harry looked over at his boyfriend.
"Draco, wake up," he said gently.
"Mmmm..I'm still asleep.." he mumbled. "Good dreams..." he sleepily opened one eye. "At least part of my dreams still here." Draco smiled at Harry.
"C'mon then, Dreamer. Let's get breakfast. But why don't you change first," Harry said with a grin.
Draco, looking around, saw that someone had laid out an outfit for him. Black pants and a dress shirt matched what harry was wearing already (who knew when he changed), except for the color; Harry's shirt was grey, his green.
This ought to be good, he thought to himself. He would never make such an effort otherwise.
And so the mid-morning saw them out for the first time in a while, sitting together on the bridge overlooking the canal.
"Venice is beautiful, no?" Draco asked. "And don't even try that line on me," he added.
Harry smiled, Draco seemed to know everything that was on his mind these days. He had even anticipated the breakfast out on the city they had had earlier. But hopefully he hadn't seen this coming. He stood up, holding out a hand to help Draco up too.
Then he dropped onto one knee. The expression on his soon-to-be-betrothed's face was worth it all. So he started.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, I only have two things to say." He paused, then smiled.
"That day on the train was a mistake. I should have realized it then, but I guess it takes some drastic measures to realize you have met the love of your life at 11. So, to make up for that lost time, I will ask you this now."
He took a deep breath, then drew from his pocket a certain purple and red family ring.
"Will you marry me?"
The moment hung I the air for a second, but of course the blonde's decision was already made.
"Like you have to ask, you prat. Of course!" Harry slid the ring onto Draco's finger, and in that moment, they knew this was it. The kiss between them represented a new time for both of them.
Where Harry Potter was only 'the Chosen One' to Draco.
And where Draco Malfoy's pure blood matched his heart, as the two of them sat back down on the bridge, and stared out over the water at their future.
Darkness can not drive out darkness;
Only light can do that,
Hate can not drive out hate;
Only love can do that.
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.