Fan Fiction ❯ Desperado ❯ Desperado ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Desperado by the Eagles.
Warning: This fic contains slash.
Notes: Inspired by some of the lyrics in Desperado by the Eagles. More notes in my Livejournal.

Desperado
By Jaded Rose

Draco stands at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Snow falls steadily around him. The flakes stick to his hair and attach themselves to this thick winter cloak, but he refuses to take notice of the white crystals.

Draco's feet sink deeply into the foot of snow that blankets the ground, and the bottoms of his pants legs stick wetly to his ankles. His cloak is heavy against him. He does not shiver. Draco stands impossibly still, his eyes watching the fresh snow settle on the ground.

It is Draco's seventh year of school, and Voldemort is gone forever. Harry Potter killed him with great flourish and grace . . . or so the story went. Draco witnessed the Last Battle, and it really wasn't as great as everyone made it sound.

Harry Potter cast a spell that Draco could not hear from where he stood at that time. It was not the Killing Curse, because there was no green light. Draco does not care what it might have been. After casting the spell, Harry passed out when Voldemort collapsed, writhing, from the strength of the spell. Potter had not been awake to see Voldemort die, despite what the gossip version of the story says. In the gossip version, Harry whooped and hollered and dragged Voldemort's body around a bit. Draco privately smirked when he first heard this part of the gossip, because the thought of gangly Harry Potter dragging anything behind him was incredibly funny to him.

Draco does not bother to tell people the true version of the story. They would not have cared, or called him a liar and a Death Eater, and that is not what he was in the mood to hear these days. Because that is exactly what Draco is not: a Death Eater.

The reason that Draco was at the Final Battle was because Lucius had dragged him along. Lucius wanted him to experience what the battles were like, since the man thought that Draco wanted to be a Death Eater. Lucius would have forced him to become one after the fight, but no one knew that the specific battle they were at was going to be the Final Battle.

Draco had seen Lucius being captured by the Aurors, and, to his surprise, hadn't done a thing. He found himself more interested in Harry, who, at the time of Lucius' arrest, was still unconscious. A crowd surrounded him, so Draco could not see Harry at all. Then he was taken, along with his father, to Azkaban.

Draco, having not accepted the Dark Mark, nor been involved in any of the battles, was released quite quickly. Lucius, though, was found guilty, and was sentenced to receive the Dementor's Kiss. In fact, that specific Kiss would happen the next day. And Draco wonders why he hasn't left Hogwarts or thought of a plan to save his father.

Instead, he stands in the cold snow. He does not feel the frigid temperature, despite the fact that the snow melts on his clothes. And his clothes, in turn, stuck to skin wetly.

Draco simply cannot figure out why he is so unemotional toward his father.

A person approaches Draco, who is lost in his thoughts. Draco does not bother looking up once he realizes that he is not alone. He knows who it is. Neither of them speaks for a few moments.

"Hello, Potter," Is what Draco finally says. Harry Potter nods in response, though Draco does not look up to see the motion. Potter has been nodding in reply to all of Draco's greetings lately.

Since the Final Battle, Draco has stopped quarreling with Potter. He simply does not have the energy to, nor does he want to. Potter did something very impressive, and even Draco was affected by it. He would not have believed it if he hadn't been at the Battle, though.

Then there was the thinking he had been doing about his father and his feelings about him. He wants to know why he feels so . . . unfaithful. Yes. That is the word. Unfaithful. Because, just a few years ago, when his father was sent to Azkaban because of Harry Potter, all he could do was think about how to break his father out. Lucius escaped on his own, of course, being the sneaky bastard that he is. But, now . . .

Maybe it is the way that Lucius was captured, and that he allowed Draco to be captured as well. All Lucius ever thought of was himself, and he simply did not care that Draco taken by the Aurors. It was all about him, and Draco did not figure that out until just a few days before.

"Potter," Draco blurts suddenly, "what time is it? Is it day or night?" Draco's eyes travel up the length of the trees the comprise the Forbidden Forest to the cloudy sky that still spits snow down on everything. The sky is slightly dark, but also somewhat bright. The light from the snow reflects the sky and vice versa, so Draco could not tell whether it was night or day.

Potter blinks behind his snowflake covered glasses. "It's midnight, Malfoy," He responds. "That's why I came out here. To see if you . . . " Potter's voice starts off strong, but slowly becomes enveloped by the soft, heavy flakes of snow surrounding the two boys. Draco tears his gaze from the sky to look at Potter, who is shifting uncomfortably.

"To see if I what?" Draco murmurs in reply. Harry stuffs his hands into the pockets of his robe and stares at the ground. Both Harry and Draco are silent for a few moments. Draco allows his eyes to turn back to the gray clouds that reflect the color of his irises.

Then, finally, Harry blurts, "To see if you're OK." And the blush the graces Potter's face is not seen by Malfoy, inasmuch as he is still regarding the sky. "Umm," Potter mutters after a moment, "are you?"

"It doesn't look like it's night," Draco says vaguely, ignoring Harry's inquiry. Harry looks up from the ground at Draco's face, and notices the red spots on his cheeks. Potter frowns and watches Draco for a few moments, studying him: the way he is slouching, how his eyes look so lost, how his pale hands look whiter than usual.

"Are you cold?" Harry says suddenly. Draco blinks slowly, clenching his eyelids together tightly for a moment before opening his eyes again. He lets out a sigh, as if considering Harry's question, then slowly swings his gaze around to Harry.

"I don't know," He replies reluctantly. He lifts his hands to his face and stares at them, then stares at Harry through his fingers. "Am I?" He asks vaguely.

Potter and Malfoy look at each other for a few long minutes. Harry then shrugs carefully, flakes of snow falling off of his shoulders.

Draco Malfoy shivers after Harry Potter shrugs. It is a short convulsion, but some of the confusion in his eyes slips away. Before he knows what he is doing, he has launched himself at Harry, who catches him in his arms.

The boys slide to the ground together; Malfoy tucking himself into Potter's arms, pressing his face into Potter's right shoulder; Potter wrapping his arms tightly around Malfoy's cold, shaking form.

Potter and Malfoy continue clutching each other until the snow fall thins around them, and finally stops. Then Potter reluctantly stands, Malfoy still in his arms, and they walk back to Hogwarts entwined, though with some difficulty.

And when Lucius is struggling against the bonds that hold him to the wall of Azkaban, eyes glaring at everything around him, searching for the rescuer that does not come, Draco is lying next to Harry in his bed, the crimson curtains shut. His wet clothes are strewn on the floor, forgotten, and he is wrapped in the warmth of Harry's sheets.

He sleep peacefully and does not stir when his father receives the Kiss. As his father's soul is sucked from his body, all Draco knows is that the warmth next to him is Harry, and he sighs softly against Harry's shoulder. When his father's soul is completely pulled from, Draco awakens suddenly, sitting up in Harry's bed. Harry opens a sleepy eye and murmurs something. Draco looks down at him and shakes his head in reply to Harry's question.

When Lucius struggling finally stops, his soul fully pulled from his body, Harry reaches up and grasps Draco's shoulder. Harry draws him closer, and kisses him lightly before they curl up again and both fall back to sleep, unaware of the almost-dead Lucius Malfoy, who is sagging exanimate against his chains in Azkaban.