On The Tightrope 11/48
Title: On The Tightrope ~ To Be Forgotten (11/48)
Author: Lire lire_casander
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: PG this chapter. NC-17 overall.
Word Count: 1361
Beta: Lovely gurliemoviegeek. Any mistakes left are my own fault.
Disclaimer: I do not own in any form or shape these characters, JK Rowling does. Just playing with them for my own amusement and yours.
Summary: Harry Potter has saved the world, and now the world has left him out. When desperation becomes too much to bear, he finds solace in an unexpected act of salvation committed by an unexpected hero.
Warnings (overall): Angst. Intents of suicide. Dark themes. Fluff. DH-compliant, including epilogue. Takes place between the final chapter and the epilogue.
Warnings of this chapter: Angst.
Author's Note: Written for 100quills's prompt table using prompt 07. Smile.
Debating between reading the letter and getting ready for the Quidditch session he was supposed to lead in less than an hour, Harry stalked down the stairs towards the Quidditch pitch. He had spent the whole day thinking about what was the best course of action, and yet he had not come upon a decision.
His broom in his hand, Harry opened the box of the balls and allowed the Snitch to start flying around the pitch, thoughts flooding his mind. Gritting his teeth, he checked on the loops and flexed his fingers around the slick winged ball when it came near him. He sat down against one of the loops, his back resting on the firm material, taking out the letter from his pocket. Just when he was about to open it, an excited squeak distracted him.
"You win, you win!"
Looking around his surroundings, he saw a First Year Ravenclaw laughing at some of her friends while they all ran around the gardens. Understanding that he would not have any peace whilst sitting at the Quidditch pitch, Harry put the letter again in his pocket, then stood up and walked back the castle. He knew where he would find a solitary place to read the letter at ease. The Room of Requirement destroyed after the Fiendfyre that devastated so many beautiful things in its wake, his only option was the Astronomy Tower.
The stairs seemed steeper with each second, and he wished he were already upstairs. When he reached the top, he found the room empty, light filtering through the glassless windows; he decided to sit down near one of the big windows. He took the letter out of his pocket once again and this time he got ready to read it.
Dear Draco,
It is hard for me to write this letter to you, my love. And it is dangerous, since your father has banned everyone in this family to even think of you, and you know that Lucius, as the head of the family, is to be obeyed.
The fight you had with him about taking up again your studies at Hogwarts instead of at Durmstrang where the rest of your House will be from this next October... Draco, that fight was final. You had no right to defy your father's orders, but I cannot say I wasn't proud of my little boy standing up for what he thought was right. Yet I have to support your father, I married him and therefore I am bound to obey him for ours was an arranged marriage in the Wizarding World. You already know the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of agreement.
I am missing you already, Draco, and you have been gone for only a day. I don't know where you are, and I'm trusting your favorite owl in the Owlery to find you and deliver my missive. I have been suffering since the second you left your father's study and announced your intention of never coming back home. I am torn between the love I feel for you and the obligation to be by your father's side. You already know which one of you I decided to stand by.
Your father has already started the process of disinheriting you. He will not rest until your name is washed off the family tree, as he swore to you yesterday. Your father's words are not to be taken lightly, Draco, you should know it by now.
The passwords to our Floo have been changed, and a powerful spell prevents me from telling you the new ones. Your father was sure I would try to contact you, and he was right, as always. The wards at the Manor would not recognize you anymore if you tried to trespass them - they would act upon you as though you were a stranger. Your father has cast a spell upon everyone here, including me, so in twenty-four hours since your leaving we would not be able to contact you - Draco, your father has cast a modified Obliviate. After I sign this letter, my love, I will not remember you.
It is hard for me to do this, Draco, knowing that by the time you'll read this I won't know who you are anymore. I'll have a vague notion, because there are memories so difficult to erase, but that will be all. I don't know your reasons to go against your father's will, and even if I did I would never understand them. I was raised differently, Draco, but I tried to bring you up in the knowledge of being human before being a wizard. Sometimes I thought I had failed, but now I know it was all a success.
Don't ever change, Draco, and be brave, for you'll be alone from now on.
Even if I can't remember it, know I will always love you.
Narcissa
"Oh my God," Harry whispered, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "What a horrible fate to face."
"Now you know," said a quivering voice at his left. "Now you can start pitying me."
Harry shook his head, not averting his gaze from the letter for fear Draco would know how he felt with just looking at him. "I would never pity you, Malfoy. Pity doesn't suit you."
"Fine." Harry could hear the rustling of robes and looked up just in time to watch Draco cross the room towards the door.
"Malfoy, wait!" he said, standing up and forgetting about the tears that threatened to swim down his cheeks. "Don't go."
"What do you want now, Potter? You can keep the letter, I don't need it anymore." The blonde had stopped but hadn't turned around.
"I don't want the letter, Malfoy. Please look at me."
Draco shook his head no.
"Malfoy, I can help you. You don't have to live through this alone."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Draco exploded. "You don't know what it is to have a dream, to have a family, and then to be left with nothing, not even the memory of how it used to be! He has destroyed everything!" He started trembling, his eyes shut to prevent tears from falling down. Harry just stood there, waiting until Malfoy 's crisis passed.
"You're right, I cannot understand how you feel. But believe me when I say I can help you. All you have to do is ask. And then you could start anew, without worries."
"Nobody here wants me."
"That can be fixed. If you let them get to know you, then---"
"Then what, Potter?"
"You could even have friends among the rest of the school, now that not a single Slytherin is around."
"I don't want to be friends with you, Potter."
"Then don't be. I'm not asking for that. But we could teach the whole school a lesson about respect and forgiveness."
"Respect and forgiveness?" Malfoy arched a surprised brow. "I don't think this school is ready for that. They've shown me none of that."
"It will take time, Malfoy, but I'm offering you my protection once again. The first time you were offered protection you rejected it. Don't be a fool this time, Malfoy, let me help you. Let me show you that people deserve a second chance."
"Even the likes of me?" Malfoy whispered, his gaze low and ashamed.
"Just coming to Hogwarts was brave, Malfoy, and now that I know the reasons why you cannot go back home I am sure you deserve that second chance." Harry stretched out his hands in front of the blond for the second time that week, silently hoping the other wizard would accept it.
A small smile crept its way upon Draco's face, dancing in his lips and making Harry's heart flutter strangely. "This is the first time I’ve seen you smile for real, Malfoy," he commented. "You should smile more and smirk less."
"Maybe you're right, Potter. Maybe you're right." Draco's smile widened.
"Harry. Call me Harry."
"Even outside of the classroom?"
"Even then."
"I'm Draco Malfoy, but you may call me Draco," the blond introduced himself, his hand insinuating itself between Harry's fingers, shaking them firmly.
Back | Next
Author: Lire lire_casander
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: PG this chapter. NC-17 overall.
Word Count: 1361
Beta: Lovely gurliemoviegeek. Any mistakes left are my own fault.
Disclaimer: I do not own in any form or shape these characters, JK Rowling does. Just playing with them for my own amusement and yours.
Summary: Harry Potter has saved the world, and now the world has left him out. When desperation becomes too much to bear, he finds solace in an unexpected act of salvation committed by an unexpected hero.
Warnings (overall): Angst. Intents of suicide. Dark themes. Fluff. DH-compliant, including epilogue. Takes place between the final chapter and the epilogue.
Warnings of this chapter: Angst.
Author's Note: Written for 100quills's prompt table using prompt 07. Smile.
Debating between reading the letter and getting ready for the Quidditch session he was supposed to lead in less than an hour, Harry stalked down the stairs towards the Quidditch pitch. He had spent the whole day thinking about what was the best course of action, and yet he had not come upon a decision.
His broom in his hand, Harry opened the box of the balls and allowed the Snitch to start flying around the pitch, thoughts flooding his mind. Gritting his teeth, he checked on the loops and flexed his fingers around the slick winged ball when it came near him. He sat down against one of the loops, his back resting on the firm material, taking out the letter from his pocket. Just when he was about to open it, an excited squeak distracted him.
"You win, you win!"
Looking around his surroundings, he saw a First Year Ravenclaw laughing at some of her friends while they all ran around the gardens. Understanding that he would not have any peace whilst sitting at the Quidditch pitch, Harry put the letter again in his pocket, then stood up and walked back the castle. He knew where he would find a solitary place to read the letter at ease. The Room of Requirement destroyed after the Fiendfyre that devastated so many beautiful things in its wake, his only option was the Astronomy Tower.
The stairs seemed steeper with each second, and he wished he were already upstairs. When he reached the top, he found the room empty, light filtering through the glassless windows; he decided to sit down near one of the big windows. He took the letter out of his pocket once again and this time he got ready to read it.
Dear Draco,
It is hard for me to write this letter to you, my love. And it is dangerous, since your father has banned everyone in this family to even think of you, and you know that Lucius, as the head of the family, is to be obeyed.
The fight you had with him about taking up again your studies at Hogwarts instead of at Durmstrang where the rest of your House will be from this next October... Draco, that fight was final. You had no right to defy your father's orders, but I cannot say I wasn't proud of my little boy standing up for what he thought was right. Yet I have to support your father, I married him and therefore I am bound to obey him for ours was an arranged marriage in the Wizarding World. You already know the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of agreement.
I am missing you already, Draco, and you have been gone for only a day. I don't know where you are, and I'm trusting your favorite owl in the Owlery to find you and deliver my missive. I have been suffering since the second you left your father's study and announced your intention of never coming back home. I am torn between the love I feel for you and the obligation to be by your father's side. You already know which one of you I decided to stand by.
Your father has already started the process of disinheriting you. He will not rest until your name is washed off the family tree, as he swore to you yesterday. Your father's words are not to be taken lightly, Draco, you should know it by now.
The passwords to our Floo have been changed, and a powerful spell prevents me from telling you the new ones. Your father was sure I would try to contact you, and he was right, as always. The wards at the Manor would not recognize you anymore if you tried to trespass them - they would act upon you as though you were a stranger. Your father has cast a spell upon everyone here, including me, so in twenty-four hours since your leaving we would not be able to contact you - Draco, your father has cast a modified Obliviate. After I sign this letter, my love, I will not remember you.
It is hard for me to do this, Draco, knowing that by the time you'll read this I won't know who you are anymore. I'll have a vague notion, because there are memories so difficult to erase, but that will be all. I don't know your reasons to go against your father's will, and even if I did I would never understand them. I was raised differently, Draco, but I tried to bring you up in the knowledge of being human before being a wizard. Sometimes I thought I had failed, but now I know it was all a success.
Don't ever change, Draco, and be brave, for you'll be alone from now on.
Even if I can't remember it, know I will always love you.
Narcissa
"Oh my God," Harry whispered, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "What a horrible fate to face."
"Now you know," said a quivering voice at his left. "Now you can start pitying me."
Harry shook his head, not averting his gaze from the letter for fear Draco would know how he felt with just looking at him. "I would never pity you, Malfoy. Pity doesn't suit you."
"Fine." Harry could hear the rustling of robes and looked up just in time to watch Draco cross the room towards the door.
"Malfoy, wait!" he said, standing up and forgetting about the tears that threatened to swim down his cheeks. "Don't go."
"What do you want now, Potter? You can keep the letter, I don't need it anymore." The blonde had stopped but hadn't turned around.
"I don't want the letter, Malfoy. Please look at me."
Draco shook his head no.
"Malfoy, I can help you. You don't have to live through this alone."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Draco exploded. "You don't know what it is to have a dream, to have a family, and then to be left with nothing, not even the memory of how it used to be! He has destroyed everything!" He started trembling, his eyes shut to prevent tears from falling down. Harry just stood there, waiting until Malfoy 's crisis passed.
"You're right, I cannot understand how you feel. But believe me when I say I can help you. All you have to do is ask. And then you could start anew, without worries."
"Nobody here wants me."
"That can be fixed. If you let them get to know you, then---"
"Then what, Potter?"
"You could even have friends among the rest of the school, now that not a single Slytherin is around."
"I don't want to be friends with you, Potter."
"Then don't be. I'm not asking for that. But we could teach the whole school a lesson about respect and forgiveness."
"Respect and forgiveness?" Malfoy arched a surprised brow. "I don't think this school is ready for that. They've shown me none of that."
"It will take time, Malfoy, but I'm offering you my protection once again. The first time you were offered protection you rejected it. Don't be a fool this time, Malfoy, let me help you. Let me show you that people deserve a second chance."
"Even the likes of me?" Malfoy whispered, his gaze low and ashamed.
"Just coming to Hogwarts was brave, Malfoy, and now that I know the reasons why you cannot go back home I am sure you deserve that second chance." Harry stretched out his hands in front of the blond for the second time that week, silently hoping the other wizard would accept it.
A small smile crept its way upon Draco's face, dancing in his lips and making Harry's heart flutter strangely. "This is the first time I’ve seen you smile for real, Malfoy," he commented. "You should smile more and smirk less."
"Maybe you're right, Potter. Maybe you're right." Draco's smile widened.
"Harry. Call me Harry."
"Even outside of the classroom?"
"Even then."
"I'm Draco Malfoy, but you may call me Draco," the blond introduced himself, his hand insinuating itself between Harry's fingers, shaking them firmly.
Back | Next