Chapter 10- The Tale of a Slytherin
Anger surged through Harry; pushing him on, farther away from his home, forcing him to continue to walk away from Draco. Anger so harsh, so strong that it felt as if his blood was boiling, his veins being ripped at, a furious monster inside of him wanting to tear his body apart and attack everything he could. And Harry wanted to let this monster erupt, or rather he had let the monster erupt. That was why he was outside, walking steadily closer to a Muggle-bar whilst Draco was back in their home, no his home, alone and forgotten. Well no, Draco, or Malfoy rather, was not forgotten. He was fresh in Harry's mind, feeding the anger thriving within Harry's body.
How dare he, Harry thought. How dare he go and do things and not tell me about them? I thought we shared something special. I thought that our relationship meant something. Obviously not. Obviously I am just a stupid sex toy.
At this last thought, Harry lashed out and kicked a nearby fence so hard that it clanked and shook, expressing Harry's anger for him. But then, there was another voice inside Harry's head. A small voice telling him he was being irrational. Harry had admitted to himself before that he knew only about half the things Malfoy had been up to in school and could easily imagine the rest. Draco probably would have told Harry eventually not wanting to ruin the perfect moment they were having. And it wasn't really Draco's fault anyway. They had both hated each other back then so it really shouldn't make a difference…
Shut up! Harry commanded the rational voice. At the moment, he didn't want to think rationally. He didn't want this to be some mistake he had made. Yes, he had stormed out and no, it probably had not been the smartest thing to do, but it was Draco's fault! Draco had caused this! And Harry was going to let Draco take the blame. No, Harry was going to make Draco take the blame. Who cared if Harry left Draco alone? Draco could go kill himself for all he cared…
With this thought, his stomach sunk bitterly, but he ignored it as he had now reached the entrance to the Muggle-bar. Harry knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to make Draco pay for hurting him, no matter what it took.
Draco on the other hand was still sitting in the dark bedroom. He was curled up under the bed covers, tears pouring down his face, his hands clenched tightly together. He had messed things up, it was his fault. Harry didn't love him anymore; he had no reason to live. Slowly, Draco stood up, getting out of bed and taking Harry's shirt off the ground. Harry had stormed out in nothing but jeans and his shirt was lying there, ready for Draco to put it on. Tears slipped silently to the floor as Draco picked up the shirt. It smelled like the man he loved so much.
Slowly, Draco left the bedroom. He wandered the house a while, pacing up and down through its rooms, remembering his short-lived life here. He then proceeded to the kitchen where he went to the cutlery drawer. He opened it, more tears blurring his vision as he clasped his hand tightly around the wooden handle of a sharp knife. He couldn't see what he was doing, but he didn't care. He was going to try until the task was accomplished. It was something he should have accomplished months ago, had Harry not interfered.
Draco closed his eyes for a moment, and forced his tears to stop falling. When he opened his eyes, things were clear again even though he was engulfed by darkness. The moon was shining through the windows glinting off the knife. He held his shaking hand up, about to slice the knife across his wrist. All he needed was one swift movement, then the pain would end, it would all be over.
But the swift movement never came. An image; a photograph caught his eye just before he had brought the knife across his wrist. He heard the knife clatter to the ground; banging loudly and echoing through the silence as he approached the image. It was a picture of Teddy, looking like a mix between Draco and Harry. Teddy was smiling and waving from the picture, looking as if this was the happiest he had been in his life; when he was with Draco and Harry. And then Draco realized what he had to do. Harry might have left him, but Draco couldn't be selfish enough to leave the world. Not yet at least. He had a son to take care of.
She was blonde; she was flaunting her skinny body and overly-large breasts. She was giggling in a high pitched annoying giggle as Harry walked into the bar, shirtless. A group of boys were standing around her, but even though Harry was modest, he knew that he wasn't all that bad looking. And he knew he had caught her eye.
Harry hadn't really been interested in girls since Cho. He hadn't really thought about them much. In fact, after Cho, he had begun to think about others. Secretly lusting over his enemy, Draco Malfoy, was the first sign that Cho would be the last girl he was interested in. But this was different. It wasn't like Harry was interested in her, no. His anger was though. His craving to make Draco hurt knew she was exactly the specimen he needed.
"Hey," he said gruffly, walking over to her. Glares from her surrounding party, guys backing away, knowing she had chosen someone that wasn't them. Girls surrounding them giggled. She giggled.
"Hi," she said in a sickly-sweet voice. She was twirling her long blond hair around one finger, giggling and biting her lip.
"Are you gunna buy me a drink?" she asked after Harry said nothing, her voice annoyingly high pitched and girly.
"Yeah, sure," Harry replied. But then he realized he had no money. No big deal though, she was easy, he'd just tell her he had better drinks back at his place, she would come and the plan would be in action.
"I've got better drinks back home…if you know what I mean," Harry said in a false-manly voice, one so unlike his own.
She giggled again and waved back at a few of her friends. Harry put his hand around her waist and led her to the door of the dim-lit bar. Soon enough they were outside, walking towards Harry's home.
"I don't even know your name yet," she giggled.
"Dylan," Harry said, speaking the first sexy-sounding name that popped into his head, one to match the gruff voice he was using.
More giggles. It reminded Harry greatly of his time back in his fourth year when he had to ask a girl to the ball. He had thought, giggling should be made illegal and he thought the same thing now. Only, back then he had thought it for a completely different reason. He had been embarrassed to ask someone to the ball. Now he just thought it was plain annoying.
"I'm Candi," said the girl. Harry eyed her suspiciously.
"Well, that's what my besties call me. Really I'm just Charlotte. But I'm not a normal, old boring Charlotte's-Web type Charlotte. Nah, I'm a dirty Charlotte."
Harry could hear the well-rehearsed tone of her voice; she had said this to other guys before. How many? Harry didn't want to know.
Draco stood outside Ron and Hermione's house feeling extremely nervous. He was properly dressed and in his best clothes, wanting to look formal and put together when he collected Teddy. He didn't want them to know anything unusual was going on. Yet, it was not exactly normal to pick up a four year old in the early hours of the morning… but… Draco definitely wasn't staying in their company, Harry was gone, and Teddy was really his only option, unless he wanted to be alone. Which he did not.
He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again, harder this time. He heard feet getting grumpily out of bed. Lighter feet springing to the ground. Grunts. Whispers. He knocked again. The lighter feet, without doubt Hermione's, were coming to the door. She opened it and her mouth dropped open but she quickly came to her senses and closed it again.
"Mal- Draco?" she asked, confusion dancing on her tired features.
"Harry asked me to come pick up young Teddy," Draco lied smoothly. Hermione's confusion subsided for a moment; she was too tired to properly comprehend what Draco had said, only knowing that he needed Teddy.
"Come in," Hermione mumbled. 'Is everything Oh- Oh – OK?" she asked, opening her mouth into a wide yawn.
"Yes," Draco said. "Everything is in perfect condition." Hermione missed the slight edge to his tone of voice.
Moments later, Teddy was in Draco's arms, tired, but awake and Draco was walking with him back towards Harry's house, just liking the feeling to have someone with him. When he was a good few meters away from Ron and Hermione's home, he decided he should probably get back and he hugged Teddy close to his body before apparating, appearing only a few seconds later in a still empty home. But even if Harry wasn't here, at least he was no longer completely alone.
Once they were home, Draco carried a sleepy Teddy to his nursery. He laid Teddy down softly in his little bed and ruffled his hair lovingly.
"There once was a boy," Draco sang softly. Teddy sat up a little bit, eager to hear this new song.
Draco's voice dropped into its normal tone. He was whispering slightly, but all the music had drained out of his voice.
"Teddy," Draco whispered, "tonight I am going to tell you a story instead of a singing, alright?"
Teddy's eyes lit up and he cuddled further under the covers and closer to Draco, ready for a long tale. "Teddaa would wuv to heawr Pappa tell a stowy," he said.
"Alright," Draco replied. "This is a story of a small boy. He was much like you Teddy. He was a good little boy, only with a mommy and a daddy."
"I fink I'm lucky," Teddy interrupted. "I fink some people have just a momma and a dadda but I have two daddas. A Dadda and a Pappa. And I fink that is better, rewlly. Now Teddaa just needs two mommas!"
Draco laughed softly. "This boys mommy loved him very much. She was very kind to him, and very protective of him. But his daddy was not. His daddy got mixed up with the wrong sort of people. His daddy was mean, and didn't care for the little boy much."
"Da boys dadda was a bad guy?" Teddy asked.
"Yes," Draco answered. "But the little boy didn't mind much. He went places with his mommy, he was very rich and could have any toys he wanted. One day, this little boy met another little boy. And that little boy he liked very much. But the little boy didn't like him. The little boy did not want to be his friend. But, he was alright with that. He found other friends. He did good at his wizarding school. He got sorted into Slytherin."
"I want to go to wizard school one day," Teddy said dreamily. "Pappa, you was a Slytherin too! Just like the wittle boy! But Dadda was a Gwffindor. I dunnwo what I want to be. Maybe a Slytherin like you Pappa…"
"Yes, well," Draco said, silently pleased that Teddy admired him so much. "The little boy grew up and the little boys daddy grew up too. He became meaner and more bad. He was friends with the worst bad guy of all. And the little boy became sad. The little boy started to make wrong decisions. One day, the baddest of all bad guys came to the little boy's father and said that the little boy was going to have to hurt another boy."
"But the wittle boy didn't do it, right? The wittle boy was a good guy and saved the day! Happily ever after!" Teddy concluded with pride in his voice.
"No…" Draco whispered. "The little boy didn't want to hurt the other one, but he had to. Or the evil bad guy would hurt his whole family. But then, a good guy came. A good guy came and hurt the other boy so the little boy wouldn't have to."
"But…but…good guys don't hurt other good guys," Teddy said.
"No, usually they don't." Draco replied. "But this good guy did because he had to help the little boy. And the little boy was grateful. And sad, because after that his life changed a lot. Remember the little boy found a guy he wanted to be friends with? Well, that guy went on with life and the little boy was told he couldn't be a wizard anymore."
"Why not?" Teddy asked.
"Because he had to hurt the other boy, remember? And even though he didn't do it…he had done other bad things, made other bad choices. And the little boy was sent away. The little boys daddy was hurt. Very badly hurt so that he wouldn't get better again."
"Well, that is a good thing, right Pappa? Because the wittle boy had a bad dadda."
"But even though his daddy was bad, the little boy still loved him, right? So this made the little boy very sad. But one day, the little boy met up with the guy again. The one who didn't want to be friends with him. And they became friends. They became best friends and they watched over a little boy of their own. They lived wonderfully together."
"And happily ever after." Teddy said.
Draco was silent for a few moments, and was stroking Teddy's hair again. After a few moments he said, "I wish it were happily ever after Teddy."
But Teddy was asleep.
"But the little boy messed things up again. And the other boy stormed out. And the little boy was left alone. So alone." Tears were welling up in Draco's eyes. Teddy didn't hear a word of what he said; he was fast asleep and Draco didn't want to wake him. Silently, Draco got up and left. As he closed the door to Teddy's room, he thought he heard the front door open. He quickly cast a silencing charm over Teddy's door, blocking out all noises so that those outside the room wouldn't hear the noises inside the room and the inside of the room wouldn't hear what was happening outside of it. If Harry was home, Draco didn't want to wake the small boy with arguing and yelling, and if Harry was home, that was all that was going to happen. Harry would yell at Draco, blame Draco. And Draco would take the blame as if it were rightly deserved if it got him Harry back.
As Harry walked through the door, arm and arm with 'dirty Charlotte' he thought he heard the muttering of a silencing charm off in the neighboring hallway. Charlotte looked up at him questioningly as if she too had heard it and wondered if Harry, or Dylan as she knew him, was not the single man he put out to be. Harry quickly pretended he hadn't heard anything, and led her into the living room.
The couch that Harry and Draco had sat on together so often was now unoccupied. Charlotte glanced at Harry with a small smile on her face, and then, Harry leaned in and kissed her. It was not a pleasant feeling. He could feel her slippery lipstick all over his mouth and her tongue was moving rapidly, shoving itself down his throat as her overly large breasts uncomfortable rubbed against Harry's chest. Harry kissed her back however, almost in a passionate fashion, not really thinking, only thinking that this was the perfect thing to do to get back at Draco.
In a moment, they were on the couch. The next moment, the girls clothes had left her and Harry's pants had been unbuttoned. And then, it happened. Almost too fast to even realize.
Draco came bursting into the room. He had been waiting in the hall, waiting for Harry to come find him and then hearing that smacking noises and the groans and knowing Harry had not entered their home alone. Draco had had enough of hearing noises and had gone to see what was going on. He burst into the room exactly as Harry broke into Charlotte who was making the girly-est of girly noises as Harry pushed into her. Draco looked affronted. His mouth fell open in shock, his carefully built up wall of bundled emotions broke open as his mouth kept hanging there, his eyes not believing what he was seeing.
Harry. His Harry, doing...doing this?
Harry looked up from Charlotte, a look of repulsion on his face, but also a smug look of accomplishment as if now him and Draco were now even. And then, he saw Draco. And his world shattered.
He jumped off the couch. He scrambled over to where his pants were and pulled them on. His stomach sank. This was not how this was supposed to feel. Revenge was supposed to be sweet, he was supposed to have felt accomplished after having done this. But he did not. He felt terrible, utterly terrible. There were no words to describe the depths in which he hated himself for doing it. And no words to describe the sudden realization, the sudden understanding of how wrong it all was. He had, plainly, overreacted. Of course Draco had done other people before him! And of course Draco was not an innocent little child. How could Draco be at such an age and be such a, well, sex god and not have done things like this before? And Harry had cheated on him. Harry had overreacted…big time. And it felt horrible.
"Out," he barked at Charlotte, throwing her the clothes she had left on the floor. She looked scared for a moment and Harry almost felt bad. Almost.
"Out!" he snarled again and she left quickly, whimpering and pulling her clothes on as she did so.
Harry looked at Draco and opened his mouth to apologize, his eyes stinging with remorse, his stomach churning with guilt and regret. But before he could do anything, Draco grabbed at Harry's pocket and ripped out Harry's wand.
He held the wood, his hands visibly shaking, pointing the weapon straight at Harry, tears of fury and hatred shining in his cold grey eyes.
"Fiendfyre," he whispered as flames erupted from the wand in his hands.