kayen
in
hd_flashfic
Break Me, Stake Me by Andreas (kayen)
Title: Break Me, Stake Me
Author: Andreas (kayen)
Words: 965
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Harry finally catches up with Draco, and a shocking truth finally catches up with Harry.
Notes: Story as corny as summary. The usual strange mix of humour and drama. Needed to stretch my writing muscles. Hope I haven't completely lost it. ;)
Break Me, Stake Me
‘There’s a lot at stake here, Malfoy!’ growled Harry, wand held steady despite his post-chase fatigue. ‘Your miserable life, just to pick a random example.’
‘As long as it’s not my heart, I’m fine,’ muttered Malfoy, staring into the darkness between the flame-lit trees. He wore a scowl that, in a break with tradition, wasn’t a sneer at anyone so much as a general display of disapproval of all things great and small. It made him look like a petulant child heading for early retirement. And he spoke in riddles. Harry frowned. Then it dawned on him.
‘You’re . . . a vampire?’
The contrast of Malfoy’s eyes-white and widened pupils-startled Harry enough to make his wand wobble as Malfoy spun around to stare at him. Malfoy’s eyes paled, slowly. He raised an eyebrow. ‘Yes. Yes, I am,’ he said.
‘Stay back!’ Harry exclaimed before he could stop himself.
The other eyebrow rose. Malfoy gestured at the dark forest behind him. ‘How far back do you want me? I’d be up for the next county. Just name the number of miles and I’ll get off. Be! Be off.’ Malfoy’s jaw set. His face darkened as his scowl deepened. Harry took a step backwards. Malfoy inclined his head and glanced pointedly at Harry’s feet. ‘That works too,’ he said. ‘But it’s probably better if you turn around first.’
‘Shut up!’
‘Why?’
‘I’ll kill you!’
‘Go ahead.’
‘A wand’s made of wood, you know!’
‘No really? I never knew.’
‘And stake-shaped!’
‘It’s shaped like a lot of things if you’re not particular.’
‘Don’t think I won’t do it, you creep!’
‘Or what? You’ll kill me? I don’t think you will so therefore you will? Spiteful, aren’t you?’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘No. Why didn’t you kill him?’
‘Because I felt you watching.’
Harry’s wand slipped. He quickly tightened his grip, fingernails digging into the palm of his hand. ‘You what? How? You weren’t a vampire then! Were you?’
Malfoy slammed Harry’s well-gripped but now horribly aimed wand beyond the edge of the firelight. His breath was hot on Harry face. There was a predatory edge to his permanent scowl. ‘I’m not a vampire now,’ he hissed.
‘But- but-,’ Harry stuttered, backing away.
‘My father would kill me for Americanizing, but then he’d kill me for lots of things, so, yes, you’ve got a great one.’
And suddenly there were Malfoy hands where Harry would never in his wildest dreams have imagined them. Or at least not at any time other than in his wildest dreams. ‘Get off!’ he shouted, shoving Malfoy backwards and stumbling further from the flame.
Malfoy turned into a dark, trembling shadow against the flickering, bright light. ‘That’s just what I bloody can’t do, isn’t it, you horrid little half-breed hero!’
‘You- you-,’ Harry wanted to pinch himself but didn’t want to look even more of a fool in front of Malfoy, ‘fancy me? You fancy me?’
‘Sure, go ahead, belittle my feelings! Now go back to threatening my life!’ Malfoy moved closer, his shadowed, pained face appearing like a pale ghost from the darkness of his haloed outline. ‘I can handle that being . . . in you hands. But not my heart. Not my heart.’
Harry’s mind spun. He needed to return to a safer topic. ‘But how could you feel me watching?’
‘You were there then. I figured as much, but I never knew. I always feel you watching. You’re my constant curse.’ Malfoy turned aside. Harry traced Malfoy’s profile with his eyes, and found himself mesmerized. ‘I realised in that moment that I’d done it all not just for my family, but to spite you. Because I wanted to hurt you more than you hurt me. But then I found that this one hurt would hurt both me and you, and me through you, and I’d only end up hurting twice as much. And then I hated you even more, but I couldn’t do it.’ He turned back, and suddenly his grey face was naked and scarred and terrifying and beautiful. ‘Because I’m a coward, and I don’t like to hurt. So I try to make sure I know where the hurt is by inflicting it. But I found that the greatest hurt is that which reflects back on me through your eyes. And so I hate you, because I think I love you, somehow.’
Harry brushed away a tear, and was surprised to find it wasn’t his own. But he let his hand remain on Malfoy’s cheek. He just didn’t know what else to do.
Malfoy placed his hands on Harry’s cheeks. ‘I could break your neck and my heart in an instant,’ he murmured. ‘You can kiss me or kill me, but this vampire’s after your heart, metaphorical or otherwise, so you’d better do it fast.’
Harry did.
Malfoy sighed. ‘I really wish you’d picked the second option.’
‘Coward.’
‘You’ll just use me.’
‘But not abuse, if you behave.’
‘I don’t sympathise with your cause.’
‘I won’t kiss a Death Eater. That’s where the second option comes in.’
‘I don’t sympathise with causes just in general. I’m one of the lost ones, so why should I care.’
‘I’m good at finding things.’
‘Really? Well, good luck with your wand.’
And when the remains of the fire had grown colder than the grass under a pleased pureblood’s bottom, Harry Potter proved himself pretty much crap at finding things. But Draco Malfoy wasn’t a wand. Or, at least, Harry told himself, he was more than one.
Really.
But perhaps he should check again, just to make sure.
‘That’s not the wand you’re looking for, Potter.’
‘Oh, stake it, Malfoy!’
‘Witty, Potter, witty.’
‘You suck.’
‘…’
‘…’
‘How flexible do you think I am?’
So, you like? :)
Author: Andreas (kayen)
Words: 965
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Harry finally catches up with Draco, and a shocking truth finally catches up with Harry.
Notes: Story as corny as summary. The usual strange mix of humour and drama. Needed to stretch my writing muscles. Hope I haven't completely lost it. ;)
Break Me, Stake Me
‘There’s a lot at stake here, Malfoy!’ growled Harry, wand held steady despite his post-chase fatigue. ‘Your miserable life, just to pick a random example.’
‘As long as it’s not my heart, I’m fine,’ muttered Malfoy, staring into the darkness between the flame-lit trees. He wore a scowl that, in a break with tradition, wasn’t a sneer at anyone so much as a general display of disapproval of all things great and small. It made him look like a petulant child heading for early retirement. And he spoke in riddles. Harry frowned. Then it dawned on him.
‘You’re . . . a vampire?’
The contrast of Malfoy’s eyes-white and widened pupils-startled Harry enough to make his wand wobble as Malfoy spun around to stare at him. Malfoy’s eyes paled, slowly. He raised an eyebrow. ‘Yes. Yes, I am,’ he said.
‘Stay back!’ Harry exclaimed before he could stop himself.
The other eyebrow rose. Malfoy gestured at the dark forest behind him. ‘How far back do you want me? I’d be up for the next county. Just name the number of miles and I’ll get off. Be! Be off.’ Malfoy’s jaw set. His face darkened as his scowl deepened. Harry took a step backwards. Malfoy inclined his head and glanced pointedly at Harry’s feet. ‘That works too,’ he said. ‘But it’s probably better if you turn around first.’
‘Shut up!’
‘Why?’
‘I’ll kill you!’
‘Go ahead.’
‘A wand’s made of wood, you know!’
‘No really? I never knew.’
‘And stake-shaped!’
‘It’s shaped like a lot of things if you’re not particular.’
‘Don’t think I won’t do it, you creep!’
‘Or what? You’ll kill me? I don’t think you will so therefore you will? Spiteful, aren’t you?’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘No. Why didn’t you kill him?’
‘Because I felt you watching.’
Harry’s wand slipped. He quickly tightened his grip, fingernails digging into the palm of his hand. ‘You what? How? You weren’t a vampire then! Were you?’
Malfoy slammed Harry’s well-gripped but now horribly aimed wand beyond the edge of the firelight. His breath was hot on Harry face. There was a predatory edge to his permanent scowl. ‘I’m not a vampire now,’ he hissed.
‘But- but-,’ Harry stuttered, backing away.
‘My father would kill me for Americanizing, but then he’d kill me for lots of things, so, yes, you’ve got a great one.’
And suddenly there were Malfoy hands where Harry would never in his wildest dreams have imagined them. Or at least not at any time other than in his wildest dreams. ‘Get off!’ he shouted, shoving Malfoy backwards and stumbling further from the flame.
Malfoy turned into a dark, trembling shadow against the flickering, bright light. ‘That’s just what I bloody can’t do, isn’t it, you horrid little half-breed hero!’
‘You- you-,’ Harry wanted to pinch himself but didn’t want to look even more of a fool in front of Malfoy, ‘fancy me? You fancy me?’
‘Sure, go ahead, belittle my feelings! Now go back to threatening my life!’ Malfoy moved closer, his shadowed, pained face appearing like a pale ghost from the darkness of his haloed outline. ‘I can handle that being . . . in you hands. But not my heart. Not my heart.’
Harry’s mind spun. He needed to return to a safer topic. ‘But how could you feel me watching?’
‘You were there then. I figured as much, but I never knew. I always feel you watching. You’re my constant curse.’ Malfoy turned aside. Harry traced Malfoy’s profile with his eyes, and found himself mesmerized. ‘I realised in that moment that I’d done it all not just for my family, but to spite you. Because I wanted to hurt you more than you hurt me. But then I found that this one hurt would hurt both me and you, and me through you, and I’d only end up hurting twice as much. And then I hated you even more, but I couldn’t do it.’ He turned back, and suddenly his grey face was naked and scarred and terrifying and beautiful. ‘Because I’m a coward, and I don’t like to hurt. So I try to make sure I know where the hurt is by inflicting it. But I found that the greatest hurt is that which reflects back on me through your eyes. And so I hate you, because I think I love you, somehow.’
Harry brushed away a tear, and was surprised to find it wasn’t his own. But he let his hand remain on Malfoy’s cheek. He just didn’t know what else to do.
Malfoy placed his hands on Harry’s cheeks. ‘I could break your neck and my heart in an instant,’ he murmured. ‘You can kiss me or kill me, but this vampire’s after your heart, metaphorical or otherwise, so you’d better do it fast.’
Harry did.
Malfoy sighed. ‘I really wish you’d picked the second option.’
‘Coward.’
‘You’ll just use me.’
‘But not abuse, if you behave.’
‘I don’t sympathise with your cause.’
‘I won’t kiss a Death Eater. That’s where the second option comes in.’
‘I don’t sympathise with causes just in general. I’m one of the lost ones, so why should I care.’
‘I’m good at finding things.’
‘Really? Well, good luck with your wand.’
And when the remains of the fire had grown colder than the grass under a pleased pureblood’s bottom, Harry Potter proved himself pretty much crap at finding things. But Draco Malfoy wasn’t a wand. Or, at least, Harry told himself, he was more than one.
Really.
But perhaps he should check again, just to make sure.
‘That’s not the wand you’re looking for, Potter.’
‘Oh, stake it, Malfoy!’
‘Witty, Potter, witty.’
‘You suck.’
‘…’
‘…’
‘How flexible do you think I am?’
So, you like? :)