A Parting
He knew it was going to happen one day.
Dumbledore made it very clear that his hands would eventually be dirty, his father couldn’t fathom a world without bloodied nails. Even Severus, cool, collected, caring Severus had known.
If the war starts, there’s no telling how it will go, Draco. You have to be prepared to face the consequences of every action. That is the path you will take if you’re serious about this.
He doesn’t hesitate, he can’t.
Draco hears screaming and it sends his body into auto-piolet. Harry is in that room, Harry is screaming. Some bastard is hurting Harry.
He throws open the door and for a second he can’t breathe.
Harry’s alive, of course he’s alive, but he’s withering in his holds, the gash on his arm bleeding all over the place and-is that a fucking black eye?
His rage overtakes him, but it’s not like normal. It’s not all consuming, it doesn’t shove his vision back, it doesn’t make him lose control. He can see everything. The torn skin on his boyfriend’s arm, the veins carrying into a bruising patch of skin, eyelashes with tears clinging to them, dust mingling with pained gasps of air, the widening of a brown eye that’s supposed to be blue.
It happens in slow motion almost. Moody turns his wand on Draco, killing curse on the tip of his tongue but Draco is quicker. He watches, waiting for the right millisecond of Moody’s turn, right when his obliques reach 67 degrees Draco raises his wand. One swift diffiendo is all it takes to slice open Moody’s jugular furrow. Blood gushes out, some splashes on his cheek, he has half a mind to clean it off so his mum won’t freak out, but he has to get to Harry.
He shoves Moody to the side so he can bleed out and rushes towards his boyfriend, wand already cutting through the ties that hold him down.
“Hey…” He whispers, but Harry just blinks a few times. Not good. “Harry.”
Harry moves his head a little too quickly, but it’s okay because Draco is there to cradle it. “Woah. Like a star...a shiny, very beautiful, warm and bright star.” Harry smiles dopily at him, and Draco’s completely lost to the situation until Harry tugs at his hair. “Pretty…”
Draco laughs, because if Harry is flirting then he’ll be fine. He’ll need a few hours of sleep but he’ll be fine.
“Harry!” “Draco?” There are the twins, trust them to beat everyone else here.
But how the hell did they beat his mum- “Draco Malfoy!” Oh fuck he’s gonna get it later.
They burst into the room all at once, the twins, Narcissa, Dumbledore, Fudge, Percy and that lady with the weird hair.
Fudge immediately loses his shit, and Percy’s right there with him, albeit a little more understanding.
Harry shifts in his arms, turning away from the noise and burying himself closer. He’s a little cold, a sure sign of blood loss that Draco intends to deal with in the next five seconds. “I made it back. I told you I would.”
Draco tucks dark curly hair behind an ear, checking Harry’s temperature and sneaking a peek at that bruise on his eye, “I don’t think this counts, I had to come find you.”
Harry smiles a bit, sighing out some tension that was lingering in his body. Across the room Dumbledore opens a chest to reveal the real Moody, chained up and very grossly naked. That’s a lot of bare old man flesh. Draco frowns, turning his head back to those approaching instead of watching Poppy beat around a fifty year old bare ass.
“I’m sorry that you’re gonna have to deal with this.” Harry slurs, and if it weren’t for the many nights they fell asleep with the Gang while studying Draco would have no clue what he’s saying.
The twins look a little white in the face, and he could be wrong but Percy is looking at Harry like he might start crying on the spot. And yeah, it probably isn’t a good idea to do this but Draco doesn’t give a flying fuck.
He leans down and kisses Harry’s moppy head, “Don’t worry, it’s no big deal-”
“Holy fuck we need to get him back to the medical ward!” The purple hair lady says, eyeing the scene before her.
“Not yet.” Draco eases Harry back into his chair, casting a quick diagnostic. He summons Winky, tells her to go and get blood replenishing potions while he heals the most concerning wound. He’s exhausted, all he wants is to crawl into bed and sleep, but he can’t do that until Harry is okay, and keeping the Weasleys at bay when one of their own is hurt sucks, but Poppy insists.
Five hours and a pepper-up potion later he gets to kiss his boyfriend.
“Don’t you ever do that again.”
“I would like to go on a limb and say I didn’t really have control over it this time.”
“This time?! Are you implying there’s going to be a next time?!”
Narcissa and Lucius both badly hide their amused snorts. Poppy placed them next together, something about ‘making your visits easier, Draco’ but he can’t be sure. Bill and Percy both don’t seem to mind, though their hovering is beginning to get annoying.
“Mate,” Fred complains, “That’s our little brother.”
George frowns, “I think it’s good that little Harry Hare has someone special.”
“I think,” Percy reaches over to flick Harry’s hand, “That Harry should be more careful! You could’ve died today!”
“But I didn’t! Bill even gave me Black Tourmaline, I’m fine!”
Bill glares, but it’s fond, “You’re in a hospital bed, Harry, please don’t say you’re fine.”
Harry opens his mouth to protest, but the doors to the hospital wing burst open. Draco hops off his boyfriend’s bed right as Ron and Hermione come running, they’re crying like no tomorrow, and no one dares to stop them from tackling Harry on his bed.
“You’re going to make me bald!” Hermione says hotly, “I thought you had-”
“Didn’t I say no dumb shit?!” Ron sobs, “Disappearing counts, you ass!”
“Out of my way!” Another familiar voice yells, “Get the bloody hell out of my way! Is he okay?! Harry?!” Mrs. Weasley comes into view, body sagging with relief when she sees Harry in one piece. She gathers him, Ron, and Hermione into a big hug. “You’re going to give me greys before the twins do!”
“Hey!”
Ginny, thank Merlin, is not on the verge of tears, but she is at a loss for words. No snarky comment or pun at the ready, just a tight smile and clenched fists. Arthur Weasley looks much like his parents, aged and tired.
“Mr and Mrs Malfoy,” He inclines his head, “It seems I owe your son another thank you.”
Draco shakes his head, waiting for his mother’s nod before he says “I’ll save him as many times as he needs me too.”
“Oh shut up,” Harry blushes, still captive in his friend’s arms, “I don’t get into that much trouble-”
“First year, darling, do you want to recount it or should I?”
Harry goes conveniently quiet.
It doesn’t take long for the news to spread around the whole school.
Since Draco’s outed himself as a goody-two-shoes, Pansy and Blaise storm the hospital wing to inspect Harry for themselves, and because they come, Theo and Millie naturally tag along, and since the Slytherins all came, the Gryffindors came too. Draco’s just happy Narcissa took his dad home before dinner.
The lot of them demand the full story right as the other champions, except Krum who’s still sleeping, join the party.
The full story is honestly more unbelievable than their normal bullshit.
Barty Crouch’s son, Junior, helped Riddle get his bearings and find a spell to revive him, snuck into Hogwarts and overtook Alastor Moody, who is surprisingly funny. Junior posed as Moody to get closer to Harry for blood purposes. After he realized Harry is harder to kill than most people, he entered the maze, cursed Krum, and set the cup as a portkey. He would’ve killed Harry if Draco hadn’t gotten there in time. Considering the scheme of things, and the visible proof from Snape’s arm, his murder was looked over as clear self defense, or that’s what Auror Tonks and Kingsley said. His mum still won’t tell him why she tears up looking at the weird auror, but he’ll have time to whittle her over summer.
Fudge was too angry to do much but sputter and try to make a scene, and Draco has to admit. He didn’t care for Percy Wealsey until this afternoon. He’s done his fair share of making important people look stupid, but the way Percy shut the minister’s rant down and silenced him was down right impressive. Though it doesn’t beat Kingsley kicking Fudge out after he tried to give Draco a trail for murder. He never knew Fleur could like an authoritative figure so much, but he also never pegged her as the sort to like red-heads.
“So, that’s it then?” Neville asks, “Riddle is back?”
Harry nods, his hands tightening in his sheets. “He’s back.”
A hush falls over the room, all of them taking in what this means. It’s going to get nasty….
“So what?” Pansy whispers. Hermione nods. “He’s just a man.”
“A powerful man,” Blaise supplies, “But he has to have some sort of weakness.”
“They always do…” Theo slings his arms over Blaise and Neville, “But we’re good with weaknesses, right?”
Ron nods, “Think about it. It’s not just us against him. It’s us, our families, the rest of the wizarding world....”
“And if we die,” Luna smiles, though Draco’s pretty sure this is not a smiling matter, “We’ll do it in the name of good and we’ll do it together.”
It leaves a bittersweet taste in all of their mouths.
Poppy comes to kick them all out, refusing to let Draco stay because apparently rest is important to him too.
He doesn’t think he’ll be getting much rest for the night, though. Blaise and Theo lead the way into the Slytherin common room, Draco bringing up the end of their little group and running smack into Pansy right as he wonders where the hell LuLu is.
The entire house is sitting there, staring at them. Some are in tears, some look angry, some hopeful. On the plus side, LuLu is there too. She hops off the fireplace to twirl around his legs, like the air in the room doesn’t bother her one bit.
“Is it true?” One of the first years whispers, the tiny one who’s named E-something, “Is he back?”
Draco’s silence is the only answer they need.
Someone sobs, others curse, Flint actually sinks to the floor.
Draco’s about to reassure them, but then the tiny first year who dared to speak catches his robes. She can’t be taller than five-feet, eyes big and brown and innocent, clad in nothing but an oversized butterfly nightgown. “Is it true that we don’t have to follow him? That we can be like you?”
That sparks something around the room. They look to him, crying dies down, everyone seems to hold their breath, and Draco knows it’s not that simple, because it never is.
“Look,” He begins, “There’s no way to hide it. He is back, things are going to get shitty, we are going to have another war. But you have to remember that no one, not even your family, can make you do something you don’t want to. I was lucky. You all know mine and my family’s stance by now, but for some of you it’s going to be awful.” Great, now the first year looks close to tears.
“So all the friends I’ve made this year...they don’t matter anymore?”
“Of course they matter.” Draco says, a little impulsive, “Friends can become family, and-” Fuck they all look so hopeless. If he were in their shoes what would he want to hear?
Slytherins don’t like sugar coated things, they like the truth, whatever they think that is. They enjoy being the only ones with a clue, and he knows this is going to bite him in the ass, but his vision is starting to blur and he’s really spent too much energy and magic today, LuLu is very unhappy with him. “I’ll tell you all a secret. Hermione Granger may have come from nothing but she will be the best witch of our age. Millie here has a muggle mother, and none of you doubt her ability. Slytherin isn’t synonymous with Pure-Blood. We’re cunning, we’re smart, we’re resourceful, we’re ambitious, and there is nothing our house cannot do once we’ve united. Blood isn’t everything, it doesn't have to be and it won’t be here.”
“Draco?” Pansy whispers, but her and Blaise stand firm at his side, sizing up their house just in case.
“It won’t. We’re here to learn,” Draco smiles at the little first year, “To make friends, to hone our magic. Hogwarts is not a place for fighting, it is no place for war. Outside, things are going to be different, but we’re Slytherins first. Slytherins who hate losing Quidditch games, who hide friendships with other houses, who call Hogwarts our second home. Anything else comes after.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Draco doesn’t jump, but it’s only because he’s so used to Severus surprising him. His godfather stands tall, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“If you need to speak with your parents, you may follow me to my floo. Those of you who remain should go to bed, we all have a tiring journey before us. And as my godson said, within these walls we are united as Slytherins first and foremost.”
A handful of people break off to follow Snape, who hugs him briefly before departing. That should be it for the night, but he still has a lot of people blocking the way to his bedroom.
The little first year smiles up at him, “You’re a brave one.”
“And you’re a rude one.” Draco smirks back. He ruffles her hair like he’s seen the twins do to Ron and Harry, “Go to bed like Snape said, you’ll feel better in the morning.”
“He’s right, Emilia,” Pansy mummers, hugging the girl and handing her off to Daphne. The younger Greengrass sister pauses to smile at them, grabbing Millie’s and Pansy’s hands to squeeze.
“Goodnight!” Emilia waves. Draco waves back, kissing Pansy and Millie on the cheek so they can retire too. Theo and Blaise flank him on the way to his room, nearly everyone stays out of their way.
Nearly everyone.
“You’ve made a big mistake, Malfoy.”
Draco grits his teeth, but he won’t be intimidated by goons who abandoned him. LuLu hisses at Crabbe and Goyle both, he’s never loved her more.
“That’s funny, I seem to be on a bit of a lucky streak.”
“You call this luck?” Goyle snorts, “You ‘n Potter are fools.”
“Me and Harry are smart. We won’t be threatened by a rabid, noseless freak with a god complex and neither should you. Every Death Eater in your line is a disgrace to your family name.”
A circle breaches for them, which is fair because Draco’s a hundred percent sure he’s about to be punched in the face. Crabbe swings first, but Draco catches him in a body bind, throwing one on Goyle for good measure.
“If that’s all, I’ll be going to bed now.” He looks around the room with a raised eyebrow, “Unless anyone wants to join them?”
Suddenly all the eyes watching him look away. Good.
He drags Theo and Blaise into the room. Blaise can complain later, but Theo is the lightest sleeper in the dorm, so if someone breaks in at least they’ll have a fighting chance. If Theo hears them over Blaise’s snoring, of course.
All Harry plans to do is go to breakfast, not make a huge political statement the day before the other schools leave.
After a very intense coin toss competition that lasted all of five minutes Cedric had been declared winner of the Triwizard Tournament. He’d immediately split the winnings four ways, telling Harry to donate his to charity or something. Pansy and Theo think it’ll be great for his public image, but Blaise, ever the realist, reminded them that the last thing he needs are crazed fans.
They were supposed to leave it at that for the day, meet back up later that night, so when Draco takes him by the hand and leads him to the Great Hall, well, he isn’t going to say no and he doesn’t even panic that much.
Harry’s still a little fuzzy on the details, but apparently Narcissa is secure enough in Draco’s safety for him to stop lying to the general public, which makes sense because Harry will definitely vouch for Mr. Malfoy if anyone gives him shit, and it would be a little weird if Lucius and Narcissa stuck up for him and Draco didn’t.
Family ties and all that.
No one notices them walking in at first, just a normal breakfast for the year, but then Dean and Seamus spot them and everything goes to shit from there. Heads turn one by one, like little lights turning on. The silence is deafening.
Draco leads their group with his head held high, and since Harry knows how important image is to Draco and the rest of his Slytherins, who are kinda doing a big thing right now, Harry straightens his spine and tightens his grip on Draco’s hand. He can’t see it, but he can feel Pansy’s pride behind him.
They don’t go to the Slytherin or the Gryffindor table. Instead they march right up Fleur, who’s all but flagging them down, and bunch up at the center table by the front. It’s supposed to be the Beauxbatons table, but the visiting schools are spending the morning saying goodbye to their Hogwarts friends so it’s mostly empty.
Well, not anymore.
Because The Gang, the original six, Millie, and Theo sit together, the twins, Luna, and Ginny have to join. They naturally drag Neville into the mix, and because Harry and Fleur are sitting together, Cedric and Krum have to join, which means Cho joins their little group and Cedric drags Willie along too. For some reason he can’t really fathom, probably because they don’t want to be left out, Seamus and Dean sit across from Neville and Theo, even stranger than that is the Greengrass sisters who tentatively sit by Pansy and Hermione.
All in all, it’s not the most familiar group to eat breakfast with while the entire Great Hall stares at them, but his friends seem happy so Harry guesses it’s fine.
“I think you’re wrong,” Blaise is telling Neville to his left, “Soil compounds can easily be manipulated.”
“And I think you’re a blithering idiot.” Neville shoots back, saying something that Harry can’t begin to follow. Something about CO2 levels in dirt, but he’s not sure. He is sure that Seamus and Dean shouldn’t be smiling like they are at the two plant-freaks, he tries to listen to whatever they’re saying but he can only hear ‘remember when we were like that?’ so he gives up and turns to the right side of the table.
“-and that’s why I think the nargals have taken my rubber bands again, it’s a true travesty, you know.”
“The travesty is that I can’t see them,” Cho pouts, “I’ve been looking for research books about them and I’ve only found two.”
Luna nods, Harry has no fucking clue what they’re talking about, but Cedric and Willie seem just as confused.
“Is she bonkers-hey!”
Willie rubs the side of his arm, but it’s his own fault for insulting Luna in front of Ginny. “Watch your mouth, blue-eyes, she’s not crazy, she’s just much smarter than you.”
“Ohhh! Look and Gin-Gin being protective-”
“Like you two aren’t the same! You can’t be in a room without each other!” Ron is going to regret that when the twins prank him tonight.
Hermione tosses her hair back, rolling her eyes at the red-heads, “Anyways, Astoria, I rather think you’re right about acceptance rate, and Draco’s been explaining it to me all year, but I still don’t like the thought of forced labor on innocent creatures.”
“It’s less forced labor,” Daphne frowns, “I don’t believe they hate the work, though the rate of abuse isn’t as bad anymore, no one really likes to torture things that scream.”
“Morbid!” Pansy chimes in, stealing a bit of Millie’s egg. Millie, the poor soul, doesn’t even notice. Harry wonders if she’s made a book recommendation list for Hermione yet. “Let me tell you about my plan for Jasmine’s bridesmaids dresses!”
“You’re already making more dresses?! I thought you were working on an art portfolio!”
“You are the one who made Hermione’s dress?” Krum asks.
Harry tunes out of that one real quick, which means he gets to listen to Fleur and Draco talk in rapid fire French that he still hasn’t got around to learning.
He’d like to, because it’s something that’s important to Draco, and most of his friends know it. Hell, most of his friends know at least one other language, even Hermione in a way because he definitely can’t figure out half the stuff she says when she goes on one of her school rants. Maybe that can be his summer distractor, learning a new language. And writing to Sirius, and now that he’s thinking about it, it’s a little weird that he hasn’t spoken to Sirius in a week. Is there a letter waiting for him somewhere? What in Godric’s name could’ve happened-
“-ello? Harry? You there?”
Harry blinks up at his friends, all smiling at him in their own weird ways, well, everyone except for Willie who he doesn’t really know anyways.
Draco reaches down to grab his hand, “Eat your sausages, love, they’ll get cold.”
“You could always warm them up for me.”
Fleur’s eyes sparkle, “And cut them.”
“Oh shove it.”
Draco almost didn’t come.
He thought about it, afterall dipping out of a meeting with the most fearsome wizard in the world is a power move. But if he did that his mother would be annoyed. The more they know what Dumbledore’s planning the more they can try to keep it from falling apart.
When he last climbed these steps he’d been excited, he’d had information, he’d felt like he was doing something important.
Now he’s mildly annoyed that this old ass made him leave his bed before ten. Even Poppy is giving him a break! The only reason he bothered coming is because LuLu meowed at him until he followed her.
The password is no longer gumdrop, but something equally stupid in that weird endearing old man way. He mutters ‘bluebell’ under his breath and steps in.
If the conversation goes wrong at least he gets to see Fawkes.
Dumbledore offers him a seat, a lemon drop, and a tea that Draco doesn’t bother drinking.
“Can we get to the point, sir?” He asks five minutes into pointless pleasantries, “I find I’m quite busy these days.”
“Too busy for a conversation with an old benefactor? You’ve been avoiding it all year.”
“Nonsense, you’ve been a little preoccupied with your company is all.”
In his mind Draco can see a chess board, like the one he got Ron for Christmas. All the pieces have been placed, and the next words will be the orders that make the knights roll out.
“We have had interesting company, have we not?”
Draco crosses his ankles, “What do you want, Dumbledore? I saved the hero, we’ve got more supporters, I’d lay down my life for him at this point. What else do I have left to give?”
“I want to know how you are, Draco.”
So he’s looking for a weakness. Draco has plenty, but he doesn’t trust Dumbledore. Not anymore.
“I’m fine, sir.”
“You don’t act like it.”
Fuck. He’s gotta keep his temper under control.
“What can I say….I’ve grown.”
A stalemate. Someone’s going to have to break. And since Draco doesn’t have all morning to wait around and be cryptic, he brushes a hand across LuLu and meets Dumbledore’s annoyingly insightful gaze.
“He’s back. We both know it, we’ve been preparing for it, you and I both have people on our sides for this fight.”
Dumbledore raises an eyebrow, “Sides? I was under the impression that we worked together, on the same side…”
“No.” Draco doesn’t even blink, “No you lost that privilege when you betrayed Sirius. When you put Harry in danger, when you outed Remus in an attempt to control Sirius’s movements, your actions as of late have been nothing but insulting, and I will not bow to you if you insist on hurting the people I care for.”
Dumbledore nods thoughtfully, like he’s watching knights knocked down, but Draco knows. And Dumbledore knows.
His king has fallen, and now Dumbledore is faced with Draco’s king and queen.
“And Harry? Will you not protect him now that I have crossed you?”
Draco smiles, all soft and kind, the exact opposite of how he feels. “Allow me to make this clear, sir, I will protect Harry until my dying breath. Those who cross him will face my wrath, and I will not do it because I’m supposed to, I’ll do it because I want to. Because I know him better than you do, I care more for him than you ever have. Harry Potter’s safety may be the one thing we still agree on.”
“So you’ve reverted to your old ways?”
An insult, from Dumbledore himself. Merlin, he really is desperate to save face.
“No, sir. With all due respect, I’m talking about the way that I would never endanger children. I would never steal them out of bed to freeze them under a lake, never tell teachers not to help them, and that is the difference between you and I. I may be the Slytherin in the room, but I’ve been told you are the darker of us two.”
Draco gets up before Dumbledore can recover, and as nice as it is to see his headmaster annoyed and fuming, he really does want to get back in bed now.
“Are we finished here?”
“I believe we are.”
Draco turns on his heel, LuLu trailing behind him. She doesn’t hiss, which means Dumbledore isn’t an enemy yet, and truthfully Draco doesn’t expect him to become one, but it’s nice to know he can be mouthy and honest without getting himself killed.
He has the sneaking suspicion that they’ll clash again, but for now he gets to say ‘checkmate’.
That is until Dumbledore calls out his name.
Draco looks behind him with no clue why his headmaster is smiling at him.
“For your bravery, loyalty, and general Slytherin attitude, I award Slytherin a hundred points.”
What the fuck.
On second thought, he has no fucking clue what Dumbledore is doing, but that’s nothing new, is it?
They all promise to write, of course. Fleur hugs every one of them goodbye, kissing Draco and Luna’s cheeks just for good measure. Harry hates that she has to leave, he’s going to miss her.
Krum has to wipe tears from Hermione’s eyes at the docks, they kiss slowly, like there aren’t hundreds of people around them, and Harry is very proud of Ron for not crying too. He instead hugs Fleur goodbye, making her promise to write, not to forget, and ‘yes I know you’re related to our prat, yes we’ll take care of him, shouldn’t you be saying this to his boyfriend?’
It’s a little heart-braking to watch the ship and the carriage disappear, a little saddening to know he’s another step closer to isolation.
Hogwarts students leave the next day, and since the cat is out of the bag, they don’t bother playing the hiding game. The original six of them cram into one compartment. Five minutes later and the door is sliding open again.
“You’re not reading, are you Blaise-Bear?” Theo chides, shoving Blaise over so he and Neville can sit down, “We’re here.”
“Yes, and you’re much more boring than my book.”
“You're a book about what, exactly?” Draco questions. Blaise never blushes, but he is giving Draco a rather murderous look. Roommates have no secrets, and Draco know the book may be charmed to say ‘murder’ but it’s really about Blaise’s favorite fictional couple, Rammond the Vampire and Edmund the Wizard. It’s only fair that Draco teases him about it, he’s never read the damn series and yet he knows the entire plot thanks to Blaise’s midnight gushes.
“Is it good?” Hermione asks, “I haven’t gotten any recommendations for summer reading.”
“You would enjoy summer reading-”
“Hey!” George and Fred pout, “No books! It’s summer!”
“No books?!”
Harry laughs, but he does duck so Hermione can cast an expansion charm for when the rest of them show up. It doesn't take long for their compartment to be filled and engrossed in a heated game of Wizard’s Go Fish. He can’t quite describe how much he’ll miss this.
The train stops far too soon.
Millie is the first to go, disappearing into the crowd with a wave and a smile.
Neville actually says ‘goodbye’ before sprinting off to the left.
Blaise kisses Hermione and Pansy’s cheeks, promising to floo over to Draco’s later. Pansy follows his lead after hugging everyone once.
Luna surprises them all by kissing Ginny, who goes darker than her hair as her girlfriend flounces off into the sun.
“Well,” Draco eyes the twins exchanging money, “I have to say it was expected at some point.”
Ginny glares at him, but quickly gathers herself as a shadow falls upon the group.
They turn to see Narcissa, dark hair in a beautiful bun, skin as clear and perfect as ever, white dress seamlessly smooth and flowing all at the same time.
“Good afternoon, it’s marvelous to see you all under better circumstances.”
Draco smiles at her, Harry for one, is overjoyed to see her. He doesn’t know why, but he really likes his boyfriend’s mum. She’s a badass.
“Harry,” Narcissa extends a hand so he takes it and kisses it like he’s seen on the TV. “You’re looking much better.”
“Yes, ma’am, Draco healed me up quite nicely.”
“It’s only my job.”
He has an overwhelming urge to stick his tongue out, but they have to go. Narcissa has plans for the evening, and no one likes to stand and wait, so Harry kisses them both goodbye, Draco on the lips and Narcissa on the hand.
Watching Draco’s back get smaller hurts a lot more than he cares to admit.
“You’ll be okay for a few months, won’t you?” Ron asks.
He has to say yes, to remind himself that it’s only a few months. Mrs. Weasley promises to get him early, she gives him a dozen kisses, Mr. Weasley even hugs him. Hermione makes sure he has his magical cellphone before they leave and Harry’s standing there looking at a car and a familiarly ugly and unhappy face.
It’s only a few months.
He fought Riddle and lived again.
He was tied to a gravestone.
He watched his boyfriend’s dad get his arm cut off.
How awful can this really be?