I Hate You, I Love You - Drarry

Part 19: Captured

The inked writing on that letter traveled from the castle to the overcast plains to the rocky coasts, and to the misty moors. It traveled from student to parent, from wizard to wizard, from half-blood to pure-blood. The shocking news dug a path of surprise from person to person. The information contained in that tiny little envelope somehow squirmed its way into the heads of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.

Word of mouth, letters sent by owls, eavesdroppings and gossip, early morning golfing with his boss, late afternoon strolls with her cousin; the newfound (and highly controversial) relationship of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy became the news of the month. Every adult in the wizarding world seemed to know of this development, and many seemed to disapprove.

Harry was not aware of this fact yet, neither was Draco. It was only a matter of time until the bomb dropped and the bloody aftermath would not be easy to clean up.

"Harry?" Draco muttered as they strolled on the Hogwarts grounds, killing time before their History of Magic test.

"Yeah?" Harry replied unattentive.

"You're pretty," he said quietly.

Harry blushed furiously and shielded his face with his bangs. He whispered to no one, "says the literal angel."

"I heard that," he giggled and elbowed him, but stopped when he caught sight of something. 

"Woah, look," Draco said, pointing towards a mass of people gathered by the front entrance of Hogwarts.

"What's happening?" Harry asked, peering over Draco's tall shoulder. 

"I don't know," he said and they increased their paces.

Still trying to decipher the situation, they could now see the crowd parting as two tall figures made their way to the doors. Some of the students watching seemed to scurry away in fear of the two people, and the others were intrigued with shock.

"Oh my god," Draco's jaw dropped as they approached the nervous crowd. "It's my parents."

"Why are they here?" Harry asked, filled with questions and anxiety. He looked over at his boy and could see the fear glass over his eyes as they blinked rapidly.

"No, not today," he stated determined and turned to get away.

"Ah, Draco! My boy!" the familiar poisonous voices called from behind them.

"With... Mr. Potter," Narcissa Malfoy observed. "Oh dear."

"Hello," Draco said, emotionless, giving in to defeat and facing his parents. Harry stood next to him, refusing to leave him to battle this alone.

"Draco, I'm sorry, but you are coming with us," Lucius affirmed.

"Now," he asserted when Draco didn't budge.

"Why?" Draco asked loudly, forming a rare weapon of courage.

"You do not question us!" Narcissa scolded. "Now, get away from that boy and leave with us!"

"This is about him?!" Draco shouted astonished and pointed a thumb at Harry, who stood frozen with no thoughts to move.

"We all know what you've been doing with him, what your relationship is with him!" Narcissa screeched, causing the whole crowd to gasp and mumble their opinions to each other.

Draco's face drained of color. Harry could audibly hear the lurch in his stomach, the skip in his heartbeat, the flash behind his vision. Malfoy's eyes popped out and he tried to compose himself and his shaking lip to deny the accusation.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't lie to me boy!" Lucius shouted. Harry got the feeling that he would have physically hurt Draco if it weren't for the audience they had who were watching their every move. "I have a very credible source!"

Narcissa leaned into the gap between them just a little so they could hear her whisper across.

"You promised us that you would not act on that despicable," she paused searching for the right word, "condition."

Draco stood there, his life flipping upside down.

"How could you have known?" he wondered, his eyes red-rimmed and his voice cracking in pain. Before he let his parents answer, realization crept its way onto his face, and he slowly turned his neck toward Harry. Fear flooded his eyes and he accepted the fact he didn't want to believe. Harry stood there radiating regret and apology, but no words could escape his mouth. He was frozen, and could never have been prepared for the crashing tsunami of guilt that washed over him, gluing his feet to the ground. Standing deathly still, he watched as the hesitant fear in Draco's eyes turned to disappointment and anger.

"You told someone? Who'd you tell, Harry?! Who did you tell?!"

But Harry couldn't even manage a squeak. The nearby students all silenced, listening in to the new drama that was their fellow peers.

"I trusted you! Why did you break our promise? Do you see what you caused?!"

Harry's eyes welled, but his mouth wouldn't break its concrete lock.

"Draco!" his father yelled back at him. "If you don't come home with us, I will have to make you!"

Malfoy's breathing increased tenfold. He backed up, frantically glancing for an escape. He choked out a manic sob, his hands searching for a gap in the crowd, but he was trapped.

"I'm never going back to Malfoy Manor!" Draco shouted, showing defiance for the first time. Harry recalled the time Malfoy painfully repeated those words on the floor of the bathroom, like an endless mantra that would make them true.

"Do it, Lucius," Narcissa said to her husband. "It's the only option left."

His father slowly held out his wand in front of him, pointing the tip of it directly at his son.

"Crucio."

Red lightning zapped out of the stick and darted through the sky, aiming towards Malfoy's heart. The crowd shrieked and panicked, darting off in all directions.

Harry wasn't thinking; he just acted out of instinct. 

"Harry don't!" he heard Draco cry, as if he knew the action he would take.

Seconds before the burst of light could enter Draco's being, Harry leaped out in front of him, absorbing the curse.

"AGHHH!" he wailed in pain as it took effect. He collapsed to the dirt path.

"HARRY!" Draco bent down, his eyes wild. "Why- What're-"

Harry watched through blinding pain as Draco crashed onto the rocks beside him, shot down by another burst of red light.

Malfoy screamed and held his middle, rolling back and forth on his sides.

When the curse died down, the two boys laid limp on the ground, a heap of limbs.

"You are so stupid," Draco whispered difficultly.

"Stupidly in love," Harry whispered back, his eyes closing from exhaustion.

Draco's parents walked over then, closing the distance in a couple of full strides. They grabbed onto Draco's shirt with unneeded force and yanked on it, gesturing for him to stand up. He could not comply, for he was too weak. Lucius rolled his eyes and dragged his body away, down the stone path and out the gates.

Laying on the dirt, Harry watched them go through a squinted eye. The family exited the Hogwarts grounds, connected wrists, and apparated away.