Kissing Booth (medium): Dean Thomas must kiss Draco Malfoy

Penny Slots: Draco Malfoy, marked, polite

Voldemort wins!AU

Word Count: 507


i.

No one trusts Draco Malfoy one bit. Dean can hardly blame them, of course. He is a marked man with a terrible past.

Everyone looks at the so-called reformed Death Eaters with narrowed eyes.

"He says he wants to help," Lee Jordan says, rolling his eyes at the last word.

Neville considers for a moment, and Dean can't help but hold his breath. Neville is nothing but good and kind, but there is so much history between the two of them. Will this be the day that Neville finally shows his dark side?

"He can stay," Neville decides, and Dean lets out a breath.

There is a protest from the crowd, but no one actually argues. With Harry dead and the Dark Lord reigning, they will have to trust Neville.

Dean prays they've made the right choice.

ii.

Dean hears the cry in the tent next to him. By now, it's commonplace. He can't remember the last time screams and sobs didn't pierce the quiet night air.

But he can't bring himself to just ignore it. He and Draco aren't exactly friends, but no one deserves to go through hell alone.

Draco's pale face is beaded in a cold sweat. His breathing is ragged, and his arms are wrapped tightly around himself like he's so afraid he's going to fall about.

"It'll be okay," Dean says, sitting across from him.

It's a lie. The world is a dark, miserable place, and he has forgotten what it's like to feel hopeful. But he keeps telling the lie, hoping that one day he will believe it.

Draco lunges at him. Dean tenses, prepared to push the blond away, but Draco doesn't hurt him. Instead, his lips find Dean's, and he kisses him desperately, his fingers curling to grip Dean's shoulders, like he doesn't want to let go.

"I'm scared," Draco whispers, his voice trembling.

"So am I," Dean admits.

"Stay with me?"

And Dean does. He tells himself it's just because he wants to be polite, but that isn't quite true. He's just as broken, just as scared as Draco is. Maybe he needs someone.

iii.

He doesn't love Draco, and Draco definitely doesn't love him. But that doesn't stop Dean from coming back night after night.

It isn't a romance or even a fling. They are little more than two lonely souls trying to keep the demons at bay.

iv.

"Do you think it will ever be over?" Draco whispers as they sit outside, watching the stars with sleepless eyes.

"I don't know," Dean says because it's easier than admitting the truth: he's so afraid that this war is endless, that the fighting will never stop.

Draco holds his hand, and it isn't enough to ease his mind, but it's a start.

v.

Draco Malfoy is a marked man. At night, though, Dean marks him in a different way, marks him out of lust rather than hatred and wickedness.

"We're gonna make it," he murmurs, nibbling Draco's neck and leaving behind another mark.

And he almost believes..