Drarry One Shots

By the Light of the Gibbous Moon

'BOY!'

Gods, not again... I had to wake up...

A knot of dread tightened in the pit of my stomach and tugged at the neck of my shirt as if it throttled me.

'BOY!' Vernon bellowed again. 'I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SAY IT TWICE. GET OUT HERE!'

Please...

I wanted to curl into myself and stay hidden and protected in my cupboard but I knew things would only get worse so I reached out, fingers trembling, the scars on the back of my hand visible as I pushed the small door open...

'My wife told me there was an incident at school today,' Vernon snarled. 'I have warned you. Get out here and turn around—'

I shuddered as I was drawn helplessly through the nightmare: as I was wrenched through the door by my dark messy hair and as Uncle Vernon loosened his belt.

The belt cracked through the air as it whipped across the back of my thighs, a flashback of pain ripping through the barrier of hand-me-down school shorts and catching bare skin on the back of my knees.

I whimpered as it cut across my flesh and I re-lived the old agony.

Gods, I had to wake up.

Beside me, I felt Draco Malfoy stiffen in horror but I couldn't deal with him for the moment because my legs threatened to give way. I could not fall... I could not crumble... that would only escalate matters. I knew exactly how this would play out. I just kept willing myself to wake up.

Instead the whip of the leather strap snapped down on me again, angry and unforgiving and as sharp as knives against my flesh.

The dreams had twisted into a new kind of curse and I wondered why my life couldn't just afford me some kind of peace. Surely I'd paid my dues? For fucks' sake, I'd actually sacrificed my own life for the fucking Greater Good of our world only five months previously. Why was there always something else to deal with? I had just wanted to come back to Hogwarts, retake my year seven, and enjoy a year at Hogwarts. Could I not just have a laugh with my friends without some madman trying to kill me? Or worse, as it turned out.

I didn't know what had happened.

Well, I did, to a degree. It had been a Hogsmeade Weekend. I'd been in the village square, just outside the Hogs Head with Mione, Pansy, Ron and Padma.

Malfoy was there too. We were arguing but what was new? Despite everything, despite Mione and Pansy getting closer by the day, he and I still couldn't find some middle ground to come together. Malfoy was still a stubborn git who maintained his overt negative opinion about me.

I wasn't even sure how the argument had started. I'd probably just breathed in the vague vicinity of him. Next thing I knew was Malfoy was yelling at me again; going on and on about how I would never understand what he'd been through, about the pressures his father had placed on his shoulders. How his life was all expectations and now he'd always be judged for his mistakes. He'd always be seen as Lucius Malfoy's son, a mini-me, a willing Death-Eater, a blood traitor, and every other bad name he could think of.

'For fucks' sake, Malfoy, do you really think my life is perfect?'

We were bolstering up to each other again, crowding into each other's space. Our noses were nearly touching as Malfoy snarled into my face, 'You can't even begin to equate your experiences to what I've been through. You're the bloody Golden Boy. A hero. Everyone thinks your wonderful and have been since practically the day you were born. Whereas everyone hates me. You will never understand what I have to face every day. You will never have to live with my regrets. You'll never understand the darkness, the torture, the hatred I live with every day—'