Drarry - It Was All Just A Game (REWRITE - CLEAN VERSION)

CHAPTER 42 - THE THREAT

Draco left the hospital three days early out of the compulsion to. And on his way there, limping, he realized that it wasn't because he wanted to succeed. He needed rapture from what his life had become. A few months ago, the worst thing he could do was work on the device that was going to help him get Death Eaters into the castle. But now, it was just a cabinet and all he had to do was repeat spells. He didn't have to hurt Harry or torture him.

He didn't care about anything or anyone. He meant it when he said it, Snape and Harry should have let him die. And frankly, he'd take death from Harry than from any Death Eater any day.

Maybe he could strike up a deal with him to do it again one day. Harry did a good job the first time around.

When he looked down, there were two red, hot angry, swollen scars askew across his chest.

"Will these stay here," Draco asked Snape the following morning.

"Yes. It's Dark Magic. They'll never go away."

"So every time I look in the mirror, I'll be reminded of him?" Tears formed in his eyes, and that was the last time he let himself cry about it.

And though sore, Draco snuck out and made his way to the Room of Requirement. He got to work.

Meanwhile, Harry was conflicted. Because Malfoy kind of deserved it, but he also felt horrible for saying that. It should have felt good, but it was like something inside of him snapped. It was like he saw him as the love of his life again. Like nothing he did mattered because all he did was feel love for him.

The logic in him knew it was pathetic.

Draco Malfoy lied to him, manipulated him, sold him, damaged him, stole milestones from him, and owned him.

Even standing in the Hospital Wing with him, his stomach dropped, like his body was warning him how much of a danger he was.

But after he cast the Sectumsempra, it was like all of that disappeared. It didn't matter. And maybe it was because a good person, and if so, Harry really wasn't liking the fact he was a good person anymore. Because every time he was a good person, he ended up being exploited.

When he told Hermione the story, she hugged him. "If you don't feel bad, don't force yourself to feel bad."

"I do feel bad. That's the problem."

"It's only natural to still care for him—"

"After everything he's done to me?"

"Your body is used to caring for him. For two years. You're not going to get over him in a little over a month. Most psychologists say that to recover from a relationship, it takes half the time you were with them."

"So a year? It's going to feel like this for a year?"

"Probably. Maybe longer because of how horrible it's been."

Harry put his head in his hands. "I'm never dating anyone ever again."

"You shouldn't have to worry about that. It was just because it was Malfoy. It was a bad situation."

"You mean it was a bad choice," Harry bit. "Call it what it is. It was a horrible choice."

"It wasn't your fault," she said. "You didn't know. But maybe you should... I don't want to rush you, but maybe accepting others into your life would be a good thing. I don't want you to fear everyone you meet. To move past this, you're going to have to push through it."

"That's your advice? You want me to date someone after my heart has been ripped to shreds?"

"No. Absolutely not. I just mean if someone comes along in the future, don't think that they're going to do what Malfoy did to you. There's no one else like Malfoy. Most people are normal. Me. The Weasley's. They won't hurt you. One day this will all be behind you and you'll be able to open your heart again and find peace."