Take a Stand - A Drarry One-Shot

Take a Stand

A/N: This is just a little something I had on my laptop for a while after I watched the Malec episode of Shadowhunters. I love that scene so much and Malec is definitely my second favourite ship (after Drarry of course). I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot.

Summary: Draco is forced into an arranged marriage when all along his heart had always belonged to Harry. What will he do when Harry unexpectedly shows up at his wedding?

Take a Stand – A Drarry one-shot

The garden was perfect. Not a single piece of grass was out of place, not a single flower was even the slightest wilted, and the trees swayed gently in the warm, summer breeze. But of course, that was to be expected; Malfoys will only take the very best. The sky was cheerfully blue, the sun was shining bright, and the entire scenery completely opposed to his mood today, in Draco's opinion. His dread and anxiety ate away at his stomach, and he fought hard not to empty everything out of it. He had a job to do. This was his responsibility as the heir to the Malfoy name. He couldn't disappoint his father.

"Do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, take Astoria Greengrass to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in marriage?" The priest's voice wasn't loud, but it rang as clear as a bell over the quiet, transfixed audience.

All was silent. Draco desperately looked around for reassurance that what he was doing was right, even if it didn't feel that way. He caught his father's eye and met his proud and expectant stare. He gazed at the media journalists behind the rows of chairs, cameras all pointed eagerly at him to catch the newest gossip. He turned back to look at the girl in front of her and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

He could do this. He had to. It was the only way to restore honour to his tainted family name after the Dark Lord had fallen. The Greengrass, a noble, pureblood family who had declared themselves on the Light side even before the end of Voldemort, would help him raise his name again. The Malfoys will once again be respected and held in high esteem. He had to do this, even if it was only for his parents. Even if he knew, deep down, this wasn't what he truly wanted.

Astoria smiled encouragingly at him. He opened his mouth to speak, to say what everyone was waiting for.

"I d—" Crash!

Suddenly, the gates to the garden were violently flung open. All eyes riveted to the entrance, where a single, dark haired man stood, visibly shaking. Whispers started in the audience, but Draco didn't seem to notice. Lucius stood up, trembling in obvious fury. He glowered at the newcomer and purposefully strode towards him.

"Mr Potter, I demand that you leave this wedding right now!" Lucius hissed, spit flying.

Harry seemed to steel himself and straightened to meet the blond man with an icy glare. "I'm not here for you; I'm here for your son. I will leave if he asks me to."

Lucius looked livid at being dismissed by an unwelcome guest, but as there were plenty of reporters around fascinatedly training their cameras on him, the most he could do was a scowl.

Draco was frozen, speechlessly gaping at his ex-lover, his mind registering nothing else. Although they were metres away, not touching, not even speaking, this was one of the most intimate moments they had shared. It was as if by simply standing there, green orbs locked into silver, Harry was somehow talking to him, telling him that there was still a chance for them. That even in this bleak and hopeless situation, he still hasn't given up.

He'd told Harry why he had to go through with this and had broken it off with him as soon as the wedding had been decided. And yet, he was here. Harry was here. He was giving him a second chance, a way to finally stand up for himself, to finally be who he wanted to be, do whatever made him happy, instead of always just fulfilling his father's wishes.

Suddenly, he seemed to register the people standing next to him at the altar, the crowds intently watching him to see what he would do next. Guiltily, he remembered the girl in front of him, whom he was just about to marry.

Astoria smiled at him sadly, reaching up to brush a hand against his face.

"It's okay. Do what you want to do. I'll be okay. You deserve to be happy," she whispered.

It was those words that startled him out of his reverie. She was right. Hadn't he suffered enough already? He deserved to be happy after all these years of being a pawn in an adult's war. All his life he'd done what he was told, no matter what he thought or felt. Did Voldemort care when he threatened Draco to take the Dark Mark and kill Dumbledore? He was sixteen, for Merlin's sake. He should have been getting lost in homework and detention, having fun in his last few years of school. Instead, he was forced to bow to the Dark Lord, attempted to murder his headmaster, and live in constant fear of him or his loved ones not surviving the next day. He'd always done what was expected of him, always the obedient heir. When his father ordered him to marry Astoria, he'd agreed, despite his secret relationship with Harry. No matter that it wasn't what he wanted, or that it made him unhappy. His life was just a tool to help build others up. It was about time he took a stand for himself and let go of expectations and responsibility. He will finally do something because he wants to, because it made him happy, and not because he has to.

He turned to look at Harry again, his time their eyes flashing intensely together and Draco walked decisively towards him, effectively closing the gap between them. Neither heard the gasp of the audience or the outraged cry of elder Malfoy. They were only focused on each other.

Their faces were close together now, and Draco could feel his breath mixed with Harry's as he reached to touch the other boy's cheek softly as if to check this was truly real. It had been so long since they last touched, and Harry could feel a tingle where the hands left him.

For the first time since their breakup, he directly addressed Draco, whispering the softest of whispers, as nothing more was needed with their close proximity.

"I'm yours, Draco, if you want me. But not as a secret, not if you're going to keep letting your father play out your life. I don't want to hide this. You have to promise me if you want this again, we're going to do this properly. We can't let them tell us what to do anymore. It's our life, and we finally have the chance to live it. Remember when we first met? We were so young back then, so free and real. We didn't have to play a part or be someone we were not. I loved you then, Draco, and I love you now. We can have all that again if you want. We—"

Warm lips crashed into his, hands wrapping around him tenderly. He pressed forwards, desperate to have more, to relive what they once had. Their tongues lapped furiously across each other's, heat rolling off in waves of passion as he greedily sucked on Harry's lips. They were completely unaware of their spectators sitting with their mouths dropped open in shock, or the cameras clicking profusely as the reporters scribbled frantically in their notepads, or even the angry scowl of the eldest Malfoy and the happy smile on the face of his ex-fiancée and his mother.

They didn't care that their relationship was now out in the open, or that soon their kiss would be displayed over all newspaper's front covers. Let them see, let them witness this love they'd created for themselves. They had nothing to be ashamed of, Draco realised now. It was nothing they'd done wrong. It was just the way the universe happened to be: the dark, evil prince falling in love with the light, good hero.

When they finally pulled away, breath gasping, eyes never leaving the other's, Draco spoke for the first time.

"I love you." His pale hand slipped into the darker one.

Harry grinned and lightly squeezed their intertwined fingers.

"I'm yours," he replied simply.

And even though neither has any idea what's going to happen next, or how they were going to get through the next few months with the whole world knowing their secret that they had kept in the dark for years, at least they were together again, and right now, that was all that mattered, really.

And maybe, just maybe, they could finally live their own lives and have that happy ending they'd only ever dreamed about.

-Finite-

A/N: Comment and vote if you enjoyed! Until next time, folks!

- Magikae