WARNINGS: Slash, not lemony though. OOCness.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own it. I never did, and never will. Smile!
SUMMARY: The war is over and Draco's now free to be who he wants, but only one person is willing to accept that. HD, slash. Angsty fluff.
"Harry, he's evil. His parents were evil, his grandparents were evil. You know what Sirius always says about his family, and Draco is part of that family. How can you be on his side now, after everything, after you've finally defeated Voldemort? How can you betray everyone like that?"
"I'm not betraying anyone Hermione. I'm not saying that I've decided, now that Voldemort is gone, to be evil. I am saying I have realized that he is NOT evil. There's a difference. I'm going out. Have fun at the party." Hermione, Ron, Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore all watched him leave with varying emotions on their faces. Dumbledore looked, as usual, mildly amused. Madame Pomfrey looked a bit shocked at the slanging match that had been taking place in her infirmary, especially since it was the first time Harry had seemed remotely normal since he had been brought in after defeating Voldemort. Ron and Hermione wore identical expressions of anger.
Harry reached his destination with a few minutes before his 'date' was supposed to begin. He knew he would be here already anyway, and as he got to the top of the hill where the beech tree overlooked the lake, he saw he was right. There was the platinum blond hair he loved to run his fingers through, and the beautiful body he loved to caress and worship.
"you're early, love." He said.
"So are you."
"Bad day?"
"Yes. You?"
"Yes." That was all that was needed. Draco turned and pulled Harry into his arms. Harry curled up in his embrace, finally able to relax. They understood eachother, they understood how the other felt. Draco had lost both his parents to the war. Wherever he walked in Hogwarts, rumors followed. The other three, Crabb, Goyle and Nott, who's parents were also Death Eaters, had been removed by their parents and were under ministry watch as they had all joined the Death Eaters. Draco had refused, and was allowed to remain in Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he now bore the full weight of the hatred of every student and most teachers in Hogwarts. Strangely, he had found comfort in the one man who should have hated him the most.
"I keep reminding myself, only another year in this place then I can get away. Then I look at you and I realize that neither of us are ever going to escape this, are we? And we can never be open about our relationship, can we? We would be hated, the son of the most atrocious and the worst Death Eater in love with Harry Potter, Golden Boy, and savior of the Wizarding World. That's like suggesting God marry Satan. Harry, I'm so sorry that I've gotten you into a relationship like this."
"You shouldn't be. I love you, and you love me. And from now on, I refuse to hide. In fact, how do you fancy a party?"
"Harry, I cannot go in there. Everybody from Hogwarts, and some that aren't, are in there. They all hate me. I was only allowed to stay in Hogwarts because they couldn't actually find a reason to expel me."
"Draco, you can. No one has said you are not invited. Besides, I am expected to make a speech, there's press waiting and everything, and I can't go in there without a date. I don't think I can face them without you, anyway. Please?"
"Fine. But only because I love you. And the first snide comment or nasty look and I swear, I'm out of there."
"Okay. Thank you. I love you too." Harry kissed him softly, then, gripping his hand, pushed the doors to the great Hall open. He strode in purposefully. Draco trailed along behind him. The second they had walked in, heads turned. As per usual, where Draco went, crowds parted, whispers and rude comments followed him. One or two people aimed hexes at him or tried to trip him. Harry kept a hold on him, and he didn't fall. He deflected curses and hexes easily, and by the time they were halfway through the room, people were so scared of upsetting him that they stopped. Harry got to the top, where there was a podium. The Minister, Fudge, was just finishing his speech. He spotted Harry out of the corner of his eye.
"So, thank you all. Ah, and here's Harry, who I am certain will wish to thank you all for your support as well. So, ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Harry Potter!" He began clapping, and everyone soon joined in. Harry walked up onto the podium, pulling Draco with him. The applause died of quickly when they all saw him.
"Well, Minister, I am certain that your sentiments
were... sentimental. But I did not come here to thank any of you. Frankly, I am sickened by all of you. I just almost died to defeat Voldemort, and I return to school to find that, rather than innocent muggles and mugggle-borns that are hated and prejudiced against, it is equally innocent people who take all your hate.
People like Draco. I want to tell you something about Draco. His father was a Death Eater. That is no secret. He tortured and murdered innocent people. He took perverted, almost sexual, pleasure out of it. I know this from personal experience, as he tortured me. For hour after hour for almost three days. He died for Voldemort, and his wife, who was equally involved with Voldemort, is now serving a life sentence in Azkaban, because she also tortured and killed innocent people. So I ask you, if a man an a woman who both get a lot of sick and twisted pleasure out of torturing, sexually abusing, killing and breaking innocent people have a son, what do you think they would do to him? Do you think that, if he pisses them off, they will not beat him? Do you think that if they have him behind closed doors, where no one will find out or care what they are doing to him, that they will not rape and brutally torture him? Mentally as well as physically? I am here to tell you that they did. Sickening, brutal. I have seen the scars myself, I have traced each one and I know each one's history.
Now, he is finally free from his parents, he's free to make his own decisions about who he chooses to be friend's with, who he likes, respects, loves... to find that, for what his parents did to others, you hate him. He has no one that will be willing to be his friend, no one who accepts his love. You all treat him with the same prejudice and malice and spite that Voldemort, and his followers treated all those muggles with.
I am here today, not to thank you, but to tell you all that I chose him, not you. I chose to be with a man whose parents were Death Eaters, rather than friend and, dare I say, idol, to people who try to mimic the Death Eaters in their treatment of him. I have found a better friend and confidante in Draco than I ever did in any of you. He loves you all, he would have been willing to be friends with any of you now he doesn't have to worry what his parents would do to him if they found out, and you cast him off. So I ask you, who is the monster here and who is the man? Thank you for listening, if nothing else."
He turned to Draco, who looked scared at all the people around him. So many people hadn't surrounded him since before his parents died.
"I love you, baby." He told him, his arm slipping comfortably around his waist. He then kissed him, deeply and passionately, there on the podium, in front of a crowd of all his classmates and teachers, his godparents, several ministry members, including the Weasleys, and a lot of press.
"C'mon, let's blow this joint!" Draco said, making Harry smile brightly and comfortably. It was a beautiful smile that lit up the room. The smile held all the love and personality that Harry had before Voldemort came along and drained him, all wrapped around this one man.
Suddenly, someone clapped, the clap caught on like wildfire, and everybody in the great Hall was soon clapping, a lot harder than they did for when he first got up there. Hand in hand, they walked down and out of the room, down an aisle that the people split to form for them, clapping and whistling for him. They made their way to the Slytherin dorms, where Draco was the only 6th year left. They stayed there all night, relaxing together before the onslaught they knew they would face tomorrow. Harry knew only one other thing, that as long as Draco was there beside him, he could handle any of it.
A/N Well, do you like it? I thought it was sweet, f nothing else. Please review and tell me what you think!