(no subject)
Title: Star Light, Star Bright
Author: If_in_solitude
Pairing: H/D
Rating: Eventual NC-17
Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to J. K. Rowling and her associated publishers and film studios. I’m just playing around.
Summary: Draco made a mistake, but maybe it isn’t too late for a second chance.
AN: A long overdue story for the lovely anya_malfoy. Prompt is the song “Somewhere I Belong” sung by Linkin Park. Hopefully, I can finish before Deathly Hallows makes this hopelessly AU. Special thanks to softly_sweetly for her help.
I want to heal; I want to feel like I’m close to something real.
I want to find something I’ve wanted all along,
Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 1/10
Once, when Draco had been very young, his father had taken him down to the dungeons of the manor. Lucius had shown him a small window high in the wall from which one could see a sliver of sky. Chained to the wall, a prisoner had just a glimpse of the world outside, of freedom.
Draco had asked him why it was there. Why give a prisoner any hope at all? Wasn’t the point of imprisonment to break a man?
Lucius had turned to his young son, his expression inscrutable. “Only a man with hope can truly be broken.”
Now Draco sat on the rough stone floor, a prisoner in his own home. The cold seeped through the thick wool of his cloak down to his bones. He drew his legs up to his chest and looped his arms as far around them as the chains would let him reach. It didn’t make him any warmer.
He let his head drop back onto the chill stone, welcoming the numbing cold that crept over his mind and fogged over his memories. He had been so heartbreakingly stupid. All he had wanted was to protect his family. He had been willing to do anything for that.
Now all he could see in his mind’s eye was a series of faces: the compassion of Dumbledore, for once without a twinkle in his eye; the almost concealed pain of Snape, as he set loose a bolt of green light; the fear and anger of Potter, and, surprisingly, the pity; and the calm face of Draco’s mother as she stood before the Dark Lord.
“Your husssband and ssson have been sssuch a disssapointment,” he had hissed, red eyes burning into Draco. “Ssstill, he did get my Death Eatersss into the ssschool. Ssso, I sshall sshow mercy.
“Throw him in the dungeonsss.” He waved towards Draco before turning to Narcissa. “And, you, pray that you take more after your sssissster than the men you call family.”
His mother’s eyes had been the last thing Draco had seen as he had been dragged out of the room. They had been calm and strong. Draco shivered. He would never see his mother again.
Through the window, the piece of sky he could see was pitch-black. But as he watched, a single star blinked into existence. It flickered uncertainly for a moment before brightening to a steady light. Draco thought of a Muggle rhyme Pansy had taught him when they were both eleven, whispered between them at dusk, both thinking they were so naughty. As he whispered it into the dark night, he prayed that his father had been wrong.
“Starlight, Starbright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”
Maybe it was less a wish than an unformed hope, but Draco had never meant anything so desperately.
Chapter 2/10
Author: If_in_solitude
Pairing: H/D
Rating: Eventual NC-17
Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to J. K. Rowling and her associated publishers and film studios. I’m just playing around.
Summary: Draco made a mistake, but maybe it isn’t too late for a second chance.
AN: A long overdue story for the lovely anya_malfoy. Prompt is the song “Somewhere I Belong” sung by Linkin Park. Hopefully, I can finish before Deathly Hallows makes this hopelessly AU. Special thanks to softly_sweetly for her help.
I want to heal; I want to feel like I’m close to something real.
I want to find something I’ve wanted all along,
Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 1/10
Once, when Draco had been very young, his father had taken him down to the dungeons of the manor. Lucius had shown him a small window high in the wall from which one could see a sliver of sky. Chained to the wall, a prisoner had just a glimpse of the world outside, of freedom.
Draco had asked him why it was there. Why give a prisoner any hope at all? Wasn’t the point of imprisonment to break a man?
Lucius had turned to his young son, his expression inscrutable. “Only a man with hope can truly be broken.”
Now Draco sat on the rough stone floor, a prisoner in his own home. The cold seeped through the thick wool of his cloak down to his bones. He drew his legs up to his chest and looped his arms as far around them as the chains would let him reach. It didn’t make him any warmer.
He let his head drop back onto the chill stone, welcoming the numbing cold that crept over his mind and fogged over his memories. He had been so heartbreakingly stupid. All he had wanted was to protect his family. He had been willing to do anything for that.
Now all he could see in his mind’s eye was a series of faces: the compassion of Dumbledore, for once without a twinkle in his eye; the almost concealed pain of Snape, as he set loose a bolt of green light; the fear and anger of Potter, and, surprisingly, the pity; and the calm face of Draco’s mother as she stood before the Dark Lord.
“Your husssband and ssson have been sssuch a disssapointment,” he had hissed, red eyes burning into Draco. “Ssstill, he did get my Death Eatersss into the ssschool. Ssso, I sshall sshow mercy.
“Throw him in the dungeonsss.” He waved towards Draco before turning to Narcissa. “And, you, pray that you take more after your sssissster than the men you call family.”
His mother’s eyes had been the last thing Draco had seen as he had been dragged out of the room. They had been calm and strong. Draco shivered. He would never see his mother again.
Through the window, the piece of sky he could see was pitch-black. But as he watched, a single star blinked into existence. It flickered uncertainly for a moment before brightening to a steady light. Draco thought of a Muggle rhyme Pansy had taught him when they were both eleven, whispered between them at dusk, both thinking they were so naughty. As he whispered it into the dark night, he prayed that his father had been wrong.
“Starlight, Starbright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”
Maybe it was less a wish than an unformed hope, but Draco had never meant anything so desperately.
Chapter 2/10