"A Winter's Tale" | Harry/Draco | PG
Title: A Winter's Tale
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: PG
Summary: Harry and Draco come to an understanding in the snow.
Warnings: Mild violence, ambiguous ending.
Words: 809
The silence hung in the air like ice crystals, wands aimed, bodies poised, breath rising up in billowing clouds of mist before their eyes. The snow fell heavily from the blackened night sky, coating the ground in a thick layer of glittering white and clung to Harry’s lashes as the bitter cold whipped about them and blew harshly into his already near frost bitten face.
Neither boy spoke. Neither boy moved. No curses were fired and no advances were made. The wind whistled loudly through the trees and branches creaked under the weight bearing down upon them. Somewhere off in the distance a wolf howled and Harry noticed that the moon behind Malfoy’s head was bright and pale and full.
It seemed like a lifetime they were standing there, never moving, never backing down. Harry could feel the tips of his fingers going numb and holding onto his wand was becoming painful. He’d already lost most of the feeling in his toes and his eyes kept threatening to freeze over. His glasses lay somewhere to his left, but he made no attempt to retrieve them. Malfoy’s skin almost faded into the white backdrop and it was only when he squinted that he could make out the grey of his narrowed eyes or the pinkish blue of his pursed lips.
“Do something!” Harry finally snapped, his voice hoarse from cold and his hand now shaking with it, too. He could feel his body giving in already and he’d be damned if he let it all end this way. Out in the cold, with nothing but the frozen corpse of an old school rival by his side. That was not the death he had planned.
Another icy silence carried on the wind and it hit Harry like a blow to the gut. With as much strength as he could muster, he launched himself from his place in the cold and dived at his unmoving opponent. Malfoy’s curse was not uttered in time and both boys fell into the snow, numbing hands connecting with numbing noses as they rolled around and ruined the pure white snow with droplets of crimson and rose.
Neither boy was sure when it all just stopped, but the cold made Harry’s hands ache and he couldn’t curl his fingers to make a fist. He pushed himself off of Malfoy and fell back into the snow. He could see the tears glistening on Malfoy’s cheeks and feel them freeze on his own. Everything hurt. The cold burned his skin and made him want to dig. Dig and dig until he was somewhere warm, but his hands wouldn’t do what he wanted and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to get up again.
“Do something!” Harry said again, his voice hushed now, and desperate. “Anything. Please.” He wasn’t sure he could take much more of the silence. It stung far greater than the snow melting on his skin.
“I’m sorry…” were the words that finally made it past Malfoy’s deathly pale lips.
Harry felt something in his chest tighten and he wasn’t sure if it was his lungs finally giving out, or something else. With all the strength he had left in his body, he pushed himself forward and crawled over to where Malfoy lay in the snow. He reached out and lay a hand on the other boy’s chest, feeling the sluggish heartbeat through the thin black material of his robes, before collapsing beside him in a boneless heap. His breath, still rising in foggy clouds, ghosted over Malfoy’s neck as he exhaled and he felt Malfoy flinch just a bit at the heat permeating the frost.
“If we… stay close together… we can keep in some of the heat,” Harry informed, shivering violently as he shuffled painfully in closer to Malfoy’s side. “Somebody might find us…”
Malfoy let out a sob and raised his arm to grip loosely at Harry’s hand. Harry could feel the fingers resting atop his own, but they were not warm, they felt no different than his own. He closed his eyes to protect them from the wind and buried his face in Malfoy’s neck.
“I don’t want to die…” Malfoy whispered and Harry shuddered next to him.
“We’re all going to die, Malfoy… it’s the one thing in life we can be sure of…”
There was another silence, disturbed only by the far off sounds of night.
“Potter…?”
Harry swallowed thickly through the lump in his throat and opened his eyes. “Yes?”
“If I have to die, I’m glad I’m going to die with you… not against.”
Harry sighed and laced his fingers stiffly through Malfoy’s in a gesture of acceptance and understanding. If they made it out of this alive, he’d remember those words and recount them. And if they didn’t, then at least he’d have saved someone tonight.
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: PG
Summary: Harry and Draco come to an understanding in the snow.
Warnings: Mild violence, ambiguous ending.
Words: 809
The silence hung in the air like ice crystals, wands aimed, bodies poised, breath rising up in billowing clouds of mist before their eyes. The snow fell heavily from the blackened night sky, coating the ground in a thick layer of glittering white and clung to Harry’s lashes as the bitter cold whipped about them and blew harshly into his already near frost bitten face.
Neither boy spoke. Neither boy moved. No curses were fired and no advances were made. The wind whistled loudly through the trees and branches creaked under the weight bearing down upon them. Somewhere off in the distance a wolf howled and Harry noticed that the moon behind Malfoy’s head was bright and pale and full.
It seemed like a lifetime they were standing there, never moving, never backing down. Harry could feel the tips of his fingers going numb and holding onto his wand was becoming painful. He’d already lost most of the feeling in his toes and his eyes kept threatening to freeze over. His glasses lay somewhere to his left, but he made no attempt to retrieve them. Malfoy’s skin almost faded into the white backdrop and it was only when he squinted that he could make out the grey of his narrowed eyes or the pinkish blue of his pursed lips.
“Do something!” Harry finally snapped, his voice hoarse from cold and his hand now shaking with it, too. He could feel his body giving in already and he’d be damned if he let it all end this way. Out in the cold, with nothing but the frozen corpse of an old school rival by his side. That was not the death he had planned.
Another icy silence carried on the wind and it hit Harry like a blow to the gut. With as much strength as he could muster, he launched himself from his place in the cold and dived at his unmoving opponent. Malfoy’s curse was not uttered in time and both boys fell into the snow, numbing hands connecting with numbing noses as they rolled around and ruined the pure white snow with droplets of crimson and rose.
Neither boy was sure when it all just stopped, but the cold made Harry’s hands ache and he couldn’t curl his fingers to make a fist. He pushed himself off of Malfoy and fell back into the snow. He could see the tears glistening on Malfoy’s cheeks and feel them freeze on his own. Everything hurt. The cold burned his skin and made him want to dig. Dig and dig until he was somewhere warm, but his hands wouldn’t do what he wanted and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to get up again.
“Do something!” Harry said again, his voice hushed now, and desperate. “Anything. Please.” He wasn’t sure he could take much more of the silence. It stung far greater than the snow melting on his skin.
“I’m sorry…” were the words that finally made it past Malfoy’s deathly pale lips.
Harry felt something in his chest tighten and he wasn’t sure if it was his lungs finally giving out, or something else. With all the strength he had left in his body, he pushed himself forward and crawled over to where Malfoy lay in the snow. He reached out and lay a hand on the other boy’s chest, feeling the sluggish heartbeat through the thin black material of his robes, before collapsing beside him in a boneless heap. His breath, still rising in foggy clouds, ghosted over Malfoy’s neck as he exhaled and he felt Malfoy flinch just a bit at the heat permeating the frost.
“If we… stay close together… we can keep in some of the heat,” Harry informed, shivering violently as he shuffled painfully in closer to Malfoy’s side. “Somebody might find us…”
Malfoy let out a sob and raised his arm to grip loosely at Harry’s hand. Harry could feel the fingers resting atop his own, but they were not warm, they felt no different than his own. He closed his eyes to protect them from the wind and buried his face in Malfoy’s neck.
“I don’t want to die…” Malfoy whispered and Harry shuddered next to him.
“We’re all going to die, Malfoy… it’s the one thing in life we can be sure of…”
There was another silence, disturbed only by the far off sounds of night.
“Potter…?”
Harry swallowed thickly through the lump in his throat and opened his eyes. “Yes?”
“If I have to die, I’m glad I’m going to die with you… not against.”
Harry sighed and laced his fingers stiffly through Malfoy’s in a gesture of acceptance and understanding. If they made it out of this alive, he’d remember those words and recount them. And if they didn’t, then at least he’d have saved someone tonight.