A/N: This drabble was inspired by a beautiful piece of fanart by UpTheHillArt (who can be found on tumblr) and can be seen on my own tumblr account ( dramione84). Thanks once again to my beautiful beta xxDustNight88 who has been awesome about beta'ing my stories over the Labor Day holiday even though she has sick. This is dedicated to her.
Title: Nowhere To Go
Rating: K
.
She sat in the window seat, tracing the little rivers that tracked down the pane of glass as the rain lashed down outside. Raised voices pulled her from thoughts, dark as the sky outside, and she turned hearing the heavy footsteps pounding hurriedly along the hallway, the heavy slam from the front door. The book in her lap fell to the floor with a thud as she rushed from the seat, darting across the room and hurrying down the stairs to follow him out the door. She pulled the cloak she had grabbed from the bannister around her, shivering as the rain soaked through the heavy fabric. Head bowed, his laborious breathing created a fog that drifted in front of him as he stood under the streetlamp. Her heart clenched in her chest as she witnessed him, the realisation of his situation overwhelming him: he had nowhere else to go.
Sensing her presence, he turned his head slightly. "I told you this wouldn't work."
Stepping forward, she splayed her hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense at her touch. "They just need time." Her voice felt coarse in her throat as she choked back her fears. Part of her worried that no amount of time would change the way they saw him. To them he would always be the boy who bullied them. Called her Mudblood. Wanted her dead.
He scoffed as he considered the same thing. "I have nowhere to go," he stated, a hint of ironic humour in his voice. "I cannot go back, and they don't want me here."
Clutching at his robe, she pulled herself against his back, melting into him as she felt his stance soften. "No one trusts me, save you." His voice was barely above a whisper, almost lost on the wind that whipped up around them, dragging a lone carrier bag down the street and knocking a dustbin lid off somewhere in the distance.
Her fingers felt numb as they curled tighter around his robe, her cheek pressed against the cold saturated fabric. "Why do you trust me?" he asked, the confusion and pain in his voice breaking her heart. "Because under all the obnoxious bravado, you are a good man, Draco."
He chuckled mirthlessly, vibrations rumbling through his chest, shaking her body as she stood holding onto him. "Am I?" he asked. "I've done things, things that would make you ashamed," he told her. "Things that make me ashamed," he added, his voice almost inaudible.
"We all have, Draco," she told him as she stood there shivering in the street. "We all have."
.
