I Shall Believe
Draco sat back and crushed out his cigarette as he watched Harry slow dancing with Luna to some American country western shite on the radio. Well, they were in America now, and he supposed that if circumstances had been different, he would have had to get used to it. However, the world as they knew it was ending right at that very moment, so he doubted that it would ever come to that.
"Coffee, dear?"
Draco glanced up at the waitress and shook his head mutely. She was a short, plump, motherly looking woman with a bad perm and an even worse dye job. She reminded him uncomfortably of Molly Weasley.
"And what about you two gentlemen?" she asked Crabbe and Goyle, her cheery smile not faltering for an instant at the irritated looks they both gave her.
"Tea, I suppose," Vince said. He glanced at Draco and shrugged. If someone didn't order something, the happy little waitress might throw them out for loitering.
As the waitress left to get Vince's tea, Draco tilted his head back and stared up that the ceiling. There were dark water spots on the tiles. Plaster tiles that may once have been white but were now a sickly yellow colour from the smoke of a million cigarettes.
He laughed softly and closed his eyes. "What a place to spend the rest of our lives," he murmured to no one in particular. "Granted, the rest of our lives may be no longer than a few more hours, but still…"
"We're spending them in a shitty little café in Phoenix, Arizona," Greg said wryly.
Draco's lips twitched in a reluctant smile. He wasn't even sure if 'café' was the right word for this kind of place, shitty or not. "Yeah."
Luna plopped down next to Greg and Vince with a giggling sigh. "I can't anymore, Harry," she said. She nudged Vince to scoot over, then sat with her head resting on his shoulder and her eyes closed.
Vincent looked a little startled by this, but he tried to relax.
"Oh come on, Luna," Harry said, pouting. "The world's falling down around our ears right this second. You can't want to sleep through it."
"Yes, I can," Luna said, her eyes still closed and a small smile playing on her lips. "Dance with Draco if you want someone to dance with."
Draco opened his eyes and looked at her sharply. "I will not," he said.
Luna shrugged.
The waitress brought Vince's tea. She made a funny face when he asked for milk, but she brought it to him, then stood there looking funny while he stirred it into his tea and sipped.
"We're English," Greg told her with an amused smile.
The waitress nodded like that explained it and then went back to whatever it is waitresses do in the back of shitty little dives in Phoenix, Arizona at three in the morning.
"Draco," Harry said, drawing his attention away from the grimy ceiling once again.
"Hmmm?"
"Dance with me?"
Draco looked at him. "You have got to be kidding me, Potter."
Harry laughed a little and suggestively moved his hips, swaying sinuously to the music of a new song. Nothing country western this time. Something slow and sweet and sad.
Harry smiled at him knowingly and turned away from him, moving his body in a way that had Draco instantly thinking of something far and away from dancing. When Harry turned back around and crooked his finger at him, Draco slid from the booth and walked over to him.
"What do you think you're doing, Potter?" Draco whispered, staring right into his eyes. "Shouldn't you be mourning your friends? The weasel's sister would warrant a tear or two at the very least, I should think—"
Harry closed his eyes briefly, then slipped an arm around Draco's waist and pressed his lithe body against him. "Shut up and dance with me, Draco," he murmured. To emphasize his point, he rolled his hips forward, then moved them from side to side in a gentle little shimmy that made Draco catch his breath.
Draco bent his head forward and pressed his mouth to Harry's ear and said, "If you're not careful, Potter, I'll push you up against that bar and have a lot more than a dance out of you." He caught Harry's earlobe between his teeth and nibbled it before letting it go and leaning back.
Harry's green eyes were a lazy half-mast as he backed away from Draco, moving to the rhythm of the music. It was amazing really, how he managed to look sinfully like a harem dancer even in tattered blue jeans and a faded t-shirt.
"How the bloody hell can the two of you be flirting at a time like this?" Gregory said, sounding gruff and exhausted.
Harry laughed a little, and it sounded so careless that Draco lifted a brow at him—which he chose to ignore. "No time like the present, Greg," Harry said.
Gregory grunted in a non-committal way and went back to staring out the diner window through the nicotine stained Venetian blinds.
On the radio, the song changed again. Something pulsing and rhythmic with a gentle, thrumming, repetitive beat.
Come to me now…and lay your hands over me… even if it's a lie, say it will be alright, and I shall believe…
Draco and Harry's eyes met and Harry once again lifted his hand and made that come-hither gesture with his finger. Draco remained where he was and watched Harry cross to him with lifted brows.
Harry stopped in front of him, took one of Draco's hands in his, laced their fingers together, and lifted it to his mouth. Draco thought he was going to kiss the back of his hand, so when Harry grazed his teeth over the knuckles instead, Draco gasped and narrowed his eyes at him.
…And I do believe…that not everything is gonna be the way you think it ought to be…It seems like every time I try to make it right it all comes down on me…Please say honestly you won't give up on me…and I shall believe…
"Dance with me?" Harry murmured, his face so close to Draco's that he could feel the heat of his breath on his lips.
Draco put his free hand on Harry's hip and moved against him. He relished the soft sound of Harry's breath hitching just a little in surprise and did it again.
"They should be playing something apocalyptic on that muggle gadget," Draco said.
Harry smiled and put the hand that was not clasped in Draco's, against his shoulder. "They don't know that though. Besides, I like this. It's fitting."
Draco chuckled softly and swayed to the pounding beat of the music and the woman's sad voice. "'Not everything is going to be the way you think it ought to be,'" he repeated, and shook his head. "Yeah, I suppose it is fitting at that."
Harry made a sleepy contented sound in the back of his throat and rested his head on Draco's shoulder. They weren't really dancing so much as just standing in the middle of the diner swaying against each other.
Harry sighed and moved his fingers over the back of Draco's neck to toy with his hair. "Thank you for this," Harry whispered against Draco's skin.
Draco shivered a little at the heat of Harry's breath on his neck. "Sure, Potter. Like you said, there's no time like the present."
He heard the sharp sound of dishes clattering and looked up to see the dumpy old waitress gaping at them. He smiled lazily and gave her a saucy wink over Harry's shoulder. She flushed a bright red that clashed horribly with her dyed hair, then disappeared so fast, and if he hadn't known better, he would have said she had disapparated.
Draco grinned. Americans. They were just too cute.
Harry flicked his tongue out to taste the skin at the curve of his shoulder and Draco went very still. "Potter…"
"Hmm?"
Draco shifted a little and Harry lifted his head and looked at him. Draco cursed softly and sank his fingers into Harry's tousled black hair and kissed him. Harry yielded to the kiss easily, even eagerly, then kissed him back. Draco moaned and pulled his hand out of Harry's grasp to slide it under Harry's t-shirt and up his spine, pulling him closer as he licked and nipped and kissed him like he was trying to devour him or climb inside him.
"I hate to interrupt," Vince said, "really. But it looks like they've found us. You might want to get your wands."
"Shite," Draco said, pushing Harry away from him and running trembling fingers through his hair.
Harry pressed the back of his had to his mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. "Yeah," was all he said.
Draco glanced around and saw the mark that had suddenly blossomed in the predawn sky outside the café.
"Shite," he said again and pulled his wand out of his back pocket.
Luna slid out of the booth so that both Vince and Greg could get up and get to theirs. She took her own wand from its customary place behind her ear and held it in her hand at the ready. Gregory went over to the door and hit the lights, then stood there looking out through the glass for whatever was coming.
As if there was any doubt.
They were the last. The last of those brave or foolish enough to defy the Dark Lord, and this was the end.
Draco glanced one last time at Harry and felt a deep pang of regret. Harry met his eyes in the dark and nodded once. Acknowledgement? Perhaps. Or maybe something else altogether. It really didn't matter anymore.
"Here now. What's going on!"
Draco looked in the direction of that startled exclamation just in time to see the waitress get stunned by Vince.
"Here they come," Greg said from his place by the door.
"Fine," Harry said, like he had any control over it. "If I don't get the chance to say it later…I wanted to say thank you…for…for staying with me…for…everything."
Draco laughed humourlessly. "We love you too, Potter," he said. "Now shut the fuck up and draw your wand."
Lyrics for "I Shall Believe"
Come to me now
And lay your hands over me
Even if it's a lie
Say it will be alright
And I shall believe
I'm broken in two
And I know you're on to me
That I only come home
When I'm so all alone
But I do believe
That not everything is gonna be the way
You think it ought to be
It seems like every time I try to make it right
It all comes down on me
Please say honestly you won't give up on me
And I shall believe
And I shall believe
Open the door
And show me your face tonight
I know it's true
No one heals me like you
And you hold the key
Never again
would I turn away from you
I'm so heavy tonight
But your love is alright
And I do believe
That not everything is gonna be the way
You think it ought to be
It seems like every time I try to make it right
It all comes down on me
Please say honestly
You won't give up on me
And I shall believe
I shall believe
:Sheryl Crow: