Title: Coward
Style: One Shot
Ship: Draco/Angelina
Summery: "I AM NOT A COWARD!" He shouts. . .
Rating: T+ (for safety)
A/N: I figured I don't do enough one shots. This one I guess is just to loosen my mind because I've been getting a terrible case of writers block lately. Draco/Angelina are new to me, so I figured I would experiment with the couple a little. I don't know what drew me to write this, I still feel a little weird about the ship, but I felt like I had to write something different, just to see how it would work out. There's a possibility that I might continue this sometime in the near future (:) ). I'll have to think about it.
C O W A R D
(By Aravis'sSilverQuill)
The match had been over half an hour ago now, yet Draco was still there, sat alone in the empty changing rooms, listening to the heavy silence. His heart had never beat so loudly, his blood had never felt so boiled. Why was he always the one to loose?
Draco sat with his head in his hands, a murky green towel hooked gratuitously around his long pale neck. His thoughts wondered to possible futures, he considered what his father would say, would he get it in the neck again, for loosing to Potter? Would he be punished? What more could they possibly inflicted on him that they hadn't already?
'Maybe I should just get up and run to somewhere really far from here' He found himself thinking, then scoffed at the thought and cursed himself for even considering of such a spineless escape "Coward." He muttered miserably.
A single tear streamed it's way down Draco's cheek, cutting through a dirt coated face to reveal what was really lurking behind it. He was ashamed for feeling so sorry for himself, humiliated at the fact that again he was the weak link, the bad egg. How many times had he been told he was useless, a piece of rubbish that his parents wished had never been born?
Draco was slim because of the neglect and muscled because of the training. In a years time he would meet the Dark Lord, and they would work night and day towards the day he finally killed Harry Potter. If he didn't get away with it, he would be placed on Wizards Most Wanted until they found him, sent him to Azkaban and threw away the key. Draco's future was set in stone.
"You must kill Potter!" Lucius would cry, and if he came home with bad news, he would be rewarded with a slap -that same peach hand print was always visible on his face for days. When the boys would ask him what that was on his face, he couldn't exactly say he fell onto his fathers hand now could he?
Draco let out a great sigh, and his long, aching body flopped languidly forwards. More tears began to fill under his lids, and he was about to give in and just let them fall when a scuffling clatter reached his ears from beyond the tent boundaries. Quickly he looked up, white blonde hair falling messily into a dirt smudged and bruise laden face. Instantly his eyes scanned the area, and soon fixed upon a lean silhouetted figure standing wistfully outside the tent, looking it seemed, to find its way in.
Draco watched carefully as the zip to the tent was undone and a girl stepped in, her gaze not settling on him before she closed back the flap to the tent and turned around, jumping slightly at her first sight of him. She hadn't realised he was there.
The scarlet and gold of her scarf clashed horribly with the green and silver decorations in the room, but she just stood there, oblivious to the fact that she didn't fit in. Her dark eyes fixed on him as if she could somehow read his mind, her raven coloured braids hung loose by her brown skin, ending in a thousand tiny golden beads, and her scarlet and gold gloved hands hugged protectively at her slim waist.
Draco didn't bother to get up, or rush himself to throw on a jumper over his naked torso, he didn't care -she had seen him worse off than this. "Get out." He scoffed, then quickly turned away, looking anywhere else but at the Gryffindor before him.
"You're not dressed." Says Angelina calmly, rocking back and forth on her heels. Draco figured she was attempting to make conversation.
"What does it matter?" He asks, frowning up at her. "You're not supposed to be in here."
Angelina took a little step forward and bit awkwardly on the cotton of her gloves. "I went looking for you after the match but, no one said they'd seen you so I figured you would still be in here."
Draco huffed, his eyes averted to anything in the room but Angelina. He found comfort in studying the green and silver tiled floors. "What do you want Angelina?" He questioned with a sigh. "I don't need your crap right now, you would never understand what I'm going through-"
Angelina sulked and her face formed into a frown. "How do you expect me to understand if you don't tell?" She asked, and Draco stiffened.
"Just tell Potter to watch his back." Draco muttered.
Angelina rolled her eyes and took a second cautious step closer to Draco before she spoke, her fingers twiddling nervously behind her back. "We need to have a little chat." She declared. "Boy to girl, Malfoy to Johnson, old friend to old friend, Slytherin to Gryffindor."
"We don't need to speak about anything Angelina." Draco concluded "We stopped speaking properly the moment you started here and got sorted into Gryffindor, me into Slytherin. Remember?"
Angelina rested her hands on her hips and for a moment looked away, as if trying to think of something sensible to say. "I remember alright," She agrees "and that's partly why I'm here."
Draco didn't want hear it. "Just get out Angelina-"
"I'm not leaving before we speak." Angelina raised her voice somewhat and Draco's back went slightly rigid.
"We finished all we had to say to each other years ago now. Stop digging up the damn past." He struggled to keep his temper and stared wide eyed at the floor while the back of his eyes began to burn.
"What does it matter if I dig up the past," Angelina questioned "you don't care either way right?"
"Nope." Draco mumbled.
"Then why wont you look up at me?"
This threw him off slightly. "Maybe because I don't want to look at you." He said, lifting his head to stare her directly in the eye. "Maybe because, every time I do look at you you make me sick." He spits boorishly onto the floor. "Or maybe it's because you're a Gryffindor, and my kind and your kind just don't mix."
Angelina looked down at him and her eyes seemed to wobble, her mouth sets into a miserable thin line and her brows knit together angrily. "Get up Draco." she demanded, but Draco stubbornly stayed seated. "I said stand up Draco, now!"
"You're not my mother Johnson." Draco seethed.
"Far from it," Angelina smirked, though humour was etched no where in her tone "but we've got to talk."
"About what exactly miss Weasley?" Draco taunts. "You know you're degrading yourself by dating that looser. More like riches to rags than rags to riches." He sniggered slightly at his own intolerance.
Angelina folded her arms and looked as though she was telling herself to ignore his remark. "I don't dominate in my conversations Draco. On a level, get up." She gestured for him to stand in front of her but Draco only raised a silver blonde eyebrow.
"No." He answered, and oddly Angelina started to cackle.
"What, are you afraid of me now Draco?" She held onto her stomach to try and control her titters. "Scared I'm gonna push you off you of your broom and catch the snitch before you?" She teased, and Draco began to feel himself bubble.
"Shut it Angelina." He warned, his voice lowered to a distant and angry growl.
"Ooh, shut it Angel-lina" She gimmicked, throwing crazy hand gestures in order to taunt, menace and get under his skin. "I'm big bad Draco and if you don't do what I say I'll get my daddy on you."
"I said shut UP!" Draco shouts furiously, his body beginning to shake far from his control.
"Coward!" Angelina yells, and a wide grin spreads its way across her face.
This gets a reaction out of him. Draco bolts up from his seat so quickly she almost jumps. "I AM NOT A COWARD!" He shouts, his face so close to hers she could feel the air escaping from his widened nostrils, the heat radiating from his grimaced face. Draco's eyes blazed an intense green, and his body shook so drastically she could almost feel him against her.
There was a moment when Draco thought he might strangle her to death, his fathers ugly personality radiating from his long, stiff fingers. She was after all, asking for him to kill her wasn't she?
Angelina smirked, her eyes cheekily skimming over the body of the boy in front of her. "Thank you," she said calmly, and gestured to the empty seat behind him "for obliging."
"Angelina," Draco hissed, his voice deep and his words carefully assembled "you are really staring getting to get on my damn nerves, what the hell is it you want!"
"To talk." She states coolly.
Draco's eyebrows knit into an enquiring frown. "And what exactly was so important that you needed to speak to me about?" An evil smirk settles on his lips and Draco chortled wickedly "Weasley getting fed up of you already?"
Angelina shot him a daring look. "Fred has nothing to do with this." She warned, then separated one of her braids from the rest and begins to idly twirl it around her finger.
"Yeah right." Draco muttered, the look on his face said he was slightly disappointed. Angelina ignores him and continues with what she had to say.
"Despite the fact that I should be wringing my fingers around your scrawny little neck for almost killing Harry out there, getting the twins a lifetime detention and nearly giving poor Oliver a heart attack, I'm not here to grill you."
Draco rolled his eyes and was about to sit himself down again when Angelina grabbed onto one of his arms, her fingers digging tight into his skin. Staggered by her actions he glanced down at her hand then back at her, staring her right in the eye. 'Was she serious?' He thought, girl or not, if she didn't take her hands off him in the next five seconds he wouldn't be responsible for his actions.
"Get your filthy hands off of me Angelina." He cautioned, but Angelina stayed put, infact her grip got tighter.
"You can't intimidate me Draco." She said, not once blinking, not once averting her gaze. She was calculating his every move, just like she did to everyone.
"Yeah, maybe not five years ago." Draco admitted. "But I'm taller and broader now Johnson. Twice the man. I'm not taking anyone's crap anymore. Are you going to try and test me? I wont hesitate to fight back." She cast her gaze to the ground and Draco gave a triumphant lopsided grin. "I didn't think so."
"Do you remember when we were younger," Said Angelina, turning to look back up at him "and I could always tell when something big was bothering you because your face would do this funny thing and you'd for a moment turn into your father?" It was Draco who turned away this time, he looked momentarily distant.
"Well I saw that again today." Angelina continued "And I know something's going on because you're doing it again. The 'look'. Draco you're doing it right now." She sighed. "What's going on?"
Draco took a while to answer, and when he did his voice was barely audible. "Nothing." He muttered, but Angelina wasn't buying it. She desperately shook his arm in order to gain his attention.
"You're lying!" She moaned and rolled her eyes, her voice sounded almost desperate to hear the truth. "I'm not stupid-"
"Well I figure you are for asking." Draco cut bitterly "This thing I'm in, it's big business and I'm obviously not going to tell you Angelina. Do you think I'd be so stupid? It's not like that anymore."
Angelina looked half upset, but the expression on her face told him she was trying to tell herself not to be so. "You used to tell me everything." She said quietly, and Draco moaned aloud.
"That was then."
Angelina nodded then looked up at him, her eyebrows drawn thoughtfully "It's got something to do with the-"
Draco winced and placed pale finger over her lips. "Ssh," He hushed "don't say it. The less I hear about that the better." he laughed slightly, but all jokes were suddenly thrown aside. Things had gotten serious.
Angelina gave him a small smile. "It's ok," She said. "I think I understand."
There was a long silence in which they both looked anywhere else but at one another and the clock on the wall to their left was the only source of noise in the room. Angelina still held onto Draco's arm, and her gloved fingers felt slightly itchy beneath the wool. She took her hand away from Draco and slowly pulled away the glove, placing it in her pocket she reached out for Draco's cheek and stroked slowly -almost motherly- over his skin with the back of her fingers. Her slightly warm hands tracing over his chilled skin, feeling under it his Quidditch bruised and dirt stained face.
Draco flinched and looked down at Angelina through confuse wide eyes, his heart suddenly aiming to escape from his chest. On the contrary Angelina hadn't even bothered to look at him, her gaze was completely focused on the movement of her hand. When her eyes did finally settle on his, she gave him a weak smile, her eyes bathing in the diffracted sunlight. Then courageously, she leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips.
Draco jerked back slightly, a little confused as to what was happening. He looked down at Angelina and her eyes were closed, her lips pressed hard against his. The scene was almost like two children who were only now sharing their first kiss, the first child waiting for the other to respond to their indulgence.
Draco leant forward and allowed himself to fall into her kiss. Angelina bent backwards and her lips parted. Draco gave her his tongue and searched calmly in her mouth until he found hers, his teeth biting gently on her flushed lower lip. The hands that had hung loosely by his sides stiffened as he felt the blood curse through his fingers. Draco wrapped his arms around Angelina's waist and gently pulled her into him, his fingers caressing her back to feel her hair, he leaned forward a little in order to gain better access to her mouth. Angelina still held gently onto his face.
The kiss was slow, and Draco felt his heart pump hard against his chest the longer it went on. He wondered if she could feel it. He couldn't help his mind escaping to their past the longer they kissed, the longer she allowed him to explore her mouth. His mind went to their friendship past. Draco and Angelina had always been close, despite how farfetched that might seem. They were tied at the hip until Hogwarts had torn them apart. Her father and his had been quite close friends, and both children were almost always visiting each other, dressed in their noble suits and gowns for show until no one was watching and they could do whatever they liked. Draco remembered Angelina used to fancy running about in the mud bare footed while it rained, ruining her pretty pink petticoat with mud stains that would never have come off if your parents weren't from a magical background.
It had all been bliss until Angelina's father decided he didn't agree with Lucius's ways, and determined to move his family as far away from the pure-blood obsessive as possible. Angelina and Draco's relationship had suffered because of it, but they had kept together. Only a few weeks later had they found a secret hideaway, a place that they could meet without parental interference. Whenever they decided they would convene, that would be the place they could Floo to, just to be alone and to catch up on what they had missed. Many times they had stayed the night in their secret hideout, cuddled closely to one another for warmth, but nothing more than that.
Draco had always been more fond of Angelina than he had let on, she was two years older than him, and strong with a powerful mind. She was a determined character who always worked hard to achieve what she wanted, and if she didn't get it would usually become quite upset. She had been taller than him until recently, and always the one to lead them out of the worst possible situation. Draco had always liked Angelina because of the way she could use her mind to sway people, and he knew his father had liked her as well. It had always pondered on his mind whether Angelina's parents had moved their family away because they knew Lucius had had ideas about their daughter and his son. The Johnson's had always been about free will.
Draco knew she had had an inkling of his true feelings for her, but she'd never once brought it up, or made fun of him because of it. Angelina had never let Draco know she knew how he felt, which was why there friendship had lasted until Hogwarts. She had kept his secret between them both, but had never once made real his desires. Not once, Angelina had never kissed him.
Draco walked his fingers through her hair and Angelina curled her arms around his neck. They both kissed each other slowly, bit by bit, taking time to taste each others lips. He could feel her breath against his face and hungrily sucked onto her lips, her tongue. The odd groans she produced sent the blood cursing through his veins. He'd never wanted to taste a woman so badly in his life. Despite the fact that it was an awkward situation for them both, they kissed each other with an expertise that told you the thought had been hanging over their minds for a long time. All his life Draco had never wanted anything more, he had always had a hunger for her, a passion he just couldn't describe,and Angelina was finally granting him his wish, she was letting him have her.
"Angelina I can't believe-" Draco had began to say through haggard breaths, but Angelina hushed him and kissed him again, her gaze looked distant, but she stayed completely focused. It was obvious she was the more experienced of the two.
It went on for a while, and at times they broke for air, gave each other a single kiss then pressed against one another again, their eyes focused completely on one another's lips.
After a while Angelina pulled away, she kissed him on the corner of the mouth then pulled him down and hugged him tight around the neck, squeezing him against her. The look on Draco's face read that he was a little confused. Didn't kissing him mean she was ready to give herself to him, finally? He licked his reddened lips and hugged her back, falling into the warmth of her body, pressing himself into her chest. They stood their in each others arms for almost a minute before Draco felt Angelina hiccough against him, her body started to shake and he listened to her stiff. Angelina had started to cry.
Draco held onto Angelina and tried to stop her from shaking. He himself was overwhelmed with confusion. Why was she crying? Did she regret kissing him? Was it something he did? Slowly he rubbed a hand over her back and attempted to hush her.
"Shh." Draco cooed, rocking gently from side to side. Tenderly he lifted her and she wrapped her long legs around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder she let herself sob, her braids falling out behind her. "Angelina," Draco managed to speak "what's the matter?"
She sniffed and had to stop hiccoughing before she could answer. Even when she did, her voice was muffled through her tears. "I've missed you." Was all she said, then attempted to wipe at her sodden cheeks.
"Oh." Draco was never the best shoulder to cry on in these situations, even when it was Angelina he held in his arms. He always choked on his words and couldn't find the right thing to say, Angelina knew it, but she bathed herself in the silence before speaking again.
"It's okay," She half giggled "you don't have to say anything. You've never been great when I suddenly burst into tears."
Draco almost laughed too. "Well you never really did it often."
There was a long pause before she spoke again. "I know."
They stood there for a moment, both their minds once again racing back to memories of their old friendship, and it was a long time before Angelina let herself drop from Draco's arms and embarrassedly wiped over her wet face before he could get a better look at her, but he did, and when he did Draco's heart sank.
Angelina took a deep breath. "I should go." She declared, and Draco looked slightly stung. What would happen to them now? "It's back to being tough old me as usual."
"Angelina, I. . .What-" Courageously Draco leant forward for another kiss, he was dying to feel her again, but Angelina turned her face and he caught her cheek instead. His curiosity at her actions slowly turned into a questioning anger. His lips formed a menacing thin line, shutting out any words that wished to escape from his mouth. Was she suddenly playing with him?
Angelina's reddened eyes flickered over Draco's expression and she could sense his hurt. She gave him a kiss on the cheek then slowly backed away, one free hand fiddling nervously with the scarlet and gold glove on the other. "Draco I came to say goodbye." She said slowly, her voice steady and her words cautiously collected. "Over the last few years, just thinking about you, thinking about us, I needed to get it off my chest. You seemed to hate me, and by all means I wanted to hate you too but I couldn't. . ." Her eyes watched him carefully. "I couldn't hate you."
Draco didn't budge. He didn't say a word. Nothing on his face twitched. He was completely still. His mind, his heart, his body couldn't believe what was happening.
"I'm ending this here, now, today because I couldn't just sit around and let this happen to us. I had to end it, otherwise I wouldn't feel right. I wouldn't feel proper. . ."
'She wouldn't feel right?' Draco found himself thinking. 'Her? After all she's just done to me she expects me to just understand?'
". . .I really hope you don't hate me for this." She looked him in the eye, and he could tell she was trying to read his expression. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
"You're a whore you know that?" He spat, and Angelina flinched. She had been expecting him to say something like that.
Angelina sighed. "And you're a bastard who used to be my best friend," She sighed "but the worlds full of people like me and you Draco, we've just got to learn to let them go." She didn't smile, she didn't blink, and her face expressed no emotion he felt he could read. She'd shut herself off to him, she was shutting him out. Slowly Angelina turned on her heal and walked out of the tent, she walked out of his life with the a thought in her mind that told her she was never going to return.
Draco stood and watched her back. Watched as her silhouette got so small it was no longer visible. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He had her one moment, then she'd slipped through his fingers the next. What had he let her do?
His nose flared in anger and his eyes glazed over, his hands clenched into fists by his sides. She was probably going off to her Weasley. The thought only angered him more. Draco had heard news that Angelina was to take over Oliver Woods space as Quidditch captain that year, and it was funny how quickly peoples minds tended to change but he suddenly he hated her. The rest of her life at Hogwarts he was going to make a living hell. She'd practically killed him, he was down and she'd practically dug him 6 foot deeper. Draco hated her, he hated Angelina Johnson, but couldn't have hated himself more, for loving her so much in the first place.
T H E E N D