Century #52
Prompt: Corner
Words: 400
When Draco was little, he liked to imagine the world was not round so much as flat. He knew better, of course - it was just his imagination, something he dreamed up because even at age seven he knew it was strategically unwise to leave your back wide open to the enemy. If the world was round there was no way to avoid doing just that, but if it was flat and square, like maps, then he could just pick a corner and sit down all cozy and that would be his. No one would be able to touch him, because Draco would have his back to the wall and his eyes open, and his corner of the world would be a wonderful kingdom all his own.
He's seventeen now, really too old to be playing these sorts of games. But if he doesn't, then he's going to have to admit that he's completely vulnerable on all sides, and while he's standing here with Ginny Weasley, any one of his enemies could sneak up behind him and stab him in the back. Any one of her friends, and she could smile over his shoulder at them while he fell.
That cannot happen. Draco will not allow that, so he regresses ten years and tells her he loves her. He takes her hand and leads her there, ignoring the way she tries to squirm out of his grip.
In this case the wall is made of lies laid on brick by brick and it's hot behind his back, humming like someone's trying to bore through. The world in front of his eyes is covered in dust and still shaking from the bombs of dark magic, and he's pressed as far back as he can go. In sharp contrast to the wall where the world ends, Ginny is cold and shivering in his arms, and he has to soothe her with quiet whispers of it'll be okay and they can't get us here.
He's got one hand curled tight around his wand, ready to defend them if anyone dares to come close. Draco knows this will be over eventually; he's just got to outlast it and then he can steal the broken pieces of everyone else to build his kingdom. He's never wanted much. It will be fine here, just a little corner with a king and queen, fine just like that.
Words: 400
When Draco was little, he liked to imagine the world was not round so much as flat. He knew better, of course - it was just his imagination, something he dreamed up because even at age seven he knew it was strategically unwise to leave your back wide open to the enemy. If the world was round there was no way to avoid doing just that, but if it was flat and square, like maps, then he could just pick a corner and sit down all cozy and that would be his. No one would be able to touch him, because Draco would have his back to the wall and his eyes open, and his corner of the world would be a wonderful kingdom all his own.
He's seventeen now, really too old to be playing these sorts of games. But if he doesn't, then he's going to have to admit that he's completely vulnerable on all sides, and while he's standing here with Ginny Weasley, any one of his enemies could sneak up behind him and stab him in the back. Any one of her friends, and she could smile over his shoulder at them while he fell.
That cannot happen. Draco will not allow that, so he regresses ten years and tells her he loves her. He takes her hand and leads her there, ignoring the way she tries to squirm out of his grip.
In this case the wall is made of lies laid on brick by brick and it's hot behind his back, humming like someone's trying to bore through. The world in front of his eyes is covered in dust and still shaking from the bombs of dark magic, and he's pressed as far back as he can go. In sharp contrast to the wall where the world ends, Ginny is cold and shivering in his arms, and he has to soothe her with quiet whispers of it'll be okay and they can't get us here.
He's got one hand curled tight around his wand, ready to defend them if anyone dares to come close. Draco knows this will be over eventually; he's just got to outlast it and then he can steal the broken pieces of everyone else to build his kingdom. He's never wanted much. It will be fine here, just a little corner with a king and queen, fine just like that.