arranged love // drarry

twenty four

"Harry?" 

His green eyes widened and he swooped in to cradle Draco in his arms. "Oh love," he kissed his forehead, "I am so glad you’re okay!" He mumbled against his skin. Draco lifted up his arms to wrap Harry in a hug only to find out that one of them was in a sling, "What happened?" He whispered, "Everything is fuzzy in my mind." 

Harry sat back and cupped his face, "I would tell you everything but you need to get some rest right now, the doctors told me not to let you strain yourself right now."

Harry's face was covered in small cuts that were healing slowly, forming scars that would fade over time. The bruise on his face was healed but there was a bandage wrapped around his torso. Draco's own body ached immensely but he ignored the small bursts of pain in his muscles.

Draco stared at him intently, "Please?" 

Harry's face crumbled and he looked torn, "Stop with the puppy dog looks, darling. I said no. You need to rest and get better." 

Draco sighed, "Okay. Are you alright?" 

Harry shrugged, "Been worse. You?" 

"Been better," He answered and Harry chuckled, "When you feel up to it, your mum, Pansy and Blaise are waiting to meet you. Tell me when you want to talk to them, yeah?" 

Draco nodded, "Can you stay please? I don't want to be alone."

Harry smiled, "Of course I'm staying." He gestured to the bed beside Draco's, just a feet away, "I've nowhere else to be."

The next hour was spent in silence. They lied down next to each other, Harry’s head on his chest, fingers drumming against his stomach in sync with his heartbeat. Draco stared at the white ceiling, mind filled with questions.

"Can you tell me now what happened? I can't stop thinking about it. Please, Harry." 

Harry's fingers stopped and he sat up. "Fine but if Pansy asks then you just say you remember everything. Okay? She'll kill me." 

Draco nodded.

"Ginny had called Riddle and your father and told them that we were planning on escaping. They were quite quick, honestly. They arrived soon and got ahold of your mum and my parents and locked them in a room after they shot you. Two of their guys caught me. I tried putting up a fight but they were much stronger than me.

"Your aunt dragged you to the living room and Riddle sat in one of the chairs instructing his men to encircle the house in case any police came. Your father tried to get you out but he wouldn't budge. When you finally woke up and Bellatrix tried to hurt you. I wanted to kill her, Draco. She was hurting you and I—" He took a deep breath and held Draco's hand, "I was so bloody mad. I tried so hard to get away from those men and when I did Riddle had pulled the trigger. But it wasn't you who got hurt, it was your father. Bellatrix put up a fight with me and pushed me to the ground and before Riddle could kill me, you killed him."

Draco gasped, "I killed him?"

"Yeah. The bullet sliced right through his heart. It was a perfect aim."

"I wasn't aiming for him. I— I had my eyes closed when I pulled the trigger." 

"Well then that makes it even more cool." 

"Yeah, I guess." He remembers the feeling of holding the gun. The ultimate power in his hands to end the life of anybody in that room. The cool metal under his fingertip when he pulled the trigger. 

Then there was the fear. The fear of hurting someone. The fear of murdering a man. A human. It was a crime. He would have to live with that guilt forever.