Time to Kill

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Time to Kill Ch. 9

By Johnny Doggspitt

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A week went by. Draco had not spoken to, nor seen, Harry since the night he had...well, since it had ended. But from the way he saw Ron and Hermione acting, he could only assume that his ex wasn't taking it well. He had to admit he wasn't taking it well either. He had been finding it hard to sleep lately. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Harry and wondered how he was doing. He had taken to wandering around aimlessly in the corridors, half-hoping Harry would stop him and confront him about...well, anything, really.

It was on one of these wanderings that he found himself in an unfamiliar, deserted corridor somewhere on the seventh floor of the school. It was late, past curfew, and Draco was certain he was the only student around. Suddenly, as he was about to turn a corner, he was thrown up against the wall and a wand was thrust viciously in his face. Looking up the length of the wand, he found that the arm holding it was attached to Ron Weasley. Standing directly behind him was a very irate-looking Hermione.

"What did you do to him?" Ron asked angrily, poking Draco's nose threateningly with his wand.

"To who?" Draco asked, shoving the wand aside.

Hermione rolled her eyes in a very Malfoy-like manner. "To Santa Claus. Who do you think?"

"Harry's been moping around, not talking to anyone, and skipping his classes," Ron said, shoving the wand back in his face.

"And you just assume I had something to do with it," Draco said with an exasperated sigh.

"Of course that's what we assume," Hermione said mockingly. "You're his boyfriend and the only other person who knows he's alive," Hermione reasoned.

"If you have to know, I'm his ex-boyfriend, Granger," Draco replied with a sneer.

"What?" Ron exclaimed. "That's why he's been moping around? It's all about you?"

"I can't believe you broke up with him, Malfoy," Hermione scolded.

"Oh, and so you just assume I broke up with him." When Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed. "Well, alright, I did. But why do you care? It's not like he's bothering you! I would think you'd be glad to be rid of his incessant whining!"

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "How can you be such a prick? He loves you, and you treat him like this?"

"He doesn't love me, Granger," Draco grumbled, dropping his eyes.

"He does, Malfoy. And you know it."

"Just back off, Mudblood!" Draco practically screamed at her. "You need to learn your place! How dare you detain me here? And how dare you presume to tell me what I know? Now call off your little Weasel boyfriend and let me go!"

"Why you little rat, I'll kill you!" Ron started, but Hermione clamped her hand over his mouth and moved dangerously close to Draco, eyes narrowed in the scariest expression the boy had ever seen.

"I refuse to let you go anywhere until you tell us why you did this to him." There was no room for argument in her tone.

Draco shifted his weight. He really wished Granger wouldn't be so territorial. Couldn't he and Harry just get along with their (separate) lives? "You wouldn't understand, Granger. It's...complicated," he said, looking her challengingly in the eyes.

"Try me," she said, raising an eyebrow in a manner that would have made Snape proud. "Why would you ask him out and get him to fall in love with you, only to break his heart? He's sacrificed so much for your sake! Why - "

"Because I love him!" Draco roared suddenly. It took him a moment to realize that he had indeed been the person who said it. He sighed, resolving himself to tell them everything. Why stop now that he had started? "Because I love him, alright?" he said softer. "You're right, Granger, he has sacrificed a lot for me; he's sacrificed too much for me. He's going to get himself killed one of these days, and I will not be the cause!" He breathed deeply and sighed again. "Fine, you know. Can I go now?' he asked, hating the pathetic sound of his voice.

Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly and released her hand from Ron's mouth. "Yeah, ok. Ron, let him go." Ron dazedly dropped his arm and Draco quickly rushed around the corner.

Running past two empty corridors and around more corners than he could remember, he slumped to the floor, his back against the wall and his head in his hands. Old, dusty portraits of professors long forgotten gazed down on him sadly as a sob wracked his graceful body. For the first time in a long time, Draco let himself cry freely.

It felt so good to finally let his feelings out. He'd been bottling them up for so long, he'd almost forgotten how to cry. After the first few tears, however, his body instantly remembered, and the tears cascaded down his cheeks.

He was doing this all for Harry, he reminded himself. All this pain was only for Harry. His heart could never hurt for anyone else.

After he'd cried for over an hour and a half, he stood, wiped his eyes, and put a glamour on his face. Harry could be anywhere, and it would not do to have Harry see that he'd been crying.

~*~

"Draco Lucius Malfoy!"

Draco cringed. Just a few more feet and he would have been in his common room. Unfortunately, Snape's harsh voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Yes, Severus?" Draco asked in a voice that clearly suggested he wasn't going to give any of the respect his godfather both deserved and commanded. "Please make it quick. I was planning on taking a nap."

"Don't give me your tongue, you brat!" Snape hissed, dragging his godson down the corridor. "Where have you been?" he demanded, throwing the boy up against the wall.

"Oh, here, there...anywhere...nowhere. Why do you ask?"

"Did I not instruct you to hold the foul edge of your tongue? I specifically commanded you to inform me whenever you felt like running off! The headmaster and I have been out of our minds with worry!" Snape looked more concerned than Draco had ever seen him - almost distressed. "You know the Death Eaters are after us! What if your father had kidnapped you? Did everything I warned you about go in one ear and out the other? All the spells and wards Dumbledore and I've been using to protect you could have been for nothing!"

"I'm sorry, Severus," Draco said, sighing. "I just had to get...away for a bit."

Snape sighed exasperatedly and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "I know the feeling, Draco, believe me, I do. I know how overpowering it can be. But you must tell me when you're going to 'get away'. I need to be able to protect you."

Draco nodded ashamedly. "I'm sorry," he said again. He hesitated for a second. "Sev...if-if I needed to talk to someone, I could talk to you, right?"

Snape shifted his weight uncomfortably, but said, "Of course, Draco. I like to think I should be available for my godson."

Draco dropped his eyes and looked at Snape's knees. "Even if I wanted to talk about...Harry...?" he asked hopefully.

Snape grimaced. "I would prefer you didn't, but if you must, I will listen to the best of my abilities. You will forgive me my remarks, however, if they should get offensive to you."

Draco had halfway expected him to decline, and he wasn't entirely prepared for his godfather to act so caring. In his mind, he had put together the whole conversation he would have with Severus, but now that he had the chance, the words wouldn't come out. "Ok...if I...what if...can.... What I mean to say is -"

"Draco, if you have something to say, then say it!"

"Harry hasn't been going to his classes lately," Draco said, avoiding the subject that he really wanted to talk about.

Snape frowned. "Hmm...I thought you were paying more attention in my class than usual. And you know for certain he has not been attending? Has he told you this, or are you assuming, simply because he has not felt the need to feel you up whilst exploding your cauldron?"

Draco glared at him, but forced his voice to remain calm when he answered. "Actually, Weasley and Granger told me. They cornered me in an abandoned corridor, and told me that he hasn't been talking to them at all, and they automatically figured that it was my fault. Harry couldn't have told me himself because...he's not talking to me."

"And why might that be?"

Draco shifted his weight and once again avoided his godfather's obsidian eyes. "I...broke up with him."

Snape stared at him. "You what?" Draco cleared his throat as Snape continued, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"I didn't think it was any of your business what I do with my love life! And I only just found out two hours ago that he wasn't going to his classes, when Granger and Weasley molested me in the hallway! They say they haven't seen Harry for a week."

"And did you never stop to think that maybe he's not just avoiding you?" Snape demanded. "Use your head, boy! Something could have happened to him, and you'd never know!"

"No," Draco said assuredly. "Nothing could have happened to him."

"And why not, pray tell," Snape asked, rolling his eyes.

"Because I would know! I would just...know. I would feel it." But as the words came out of his mouth, they sounded stupid even to him.

"Oh, yes, of course you would," the ever-cynical Snape said skeptically. "Come. We shall discuss this further in the presence of the headmaster. I'm sure he'd like to know that his golden boy is skipping classes."

~*~

As they neared the top of the spiral staircase, Snape and his young ward could hear voices coming from behind the door. Before Snape could raise his hand to knock, Dumbledore called from within, "Come in, Severus."

Draco and Snape walked in to find Dumbledore sitting behind his desk and Harry, who was not invisible at the time, seated in a rather comfy-looking winged armchair across from the headmaster. Harry's eyes lit up at the sight of Draco, but all the acknowledgement he gave to his former boyfriend was a slight nod of the head, which Draco stoically returned.

"Ah, good," Snape sneered. "While Potter is here, we may discuss his considerable lack of attendance in his classes. Also, I'd like to further discuss why it is that we must know where he is at all times!"

"As enthusiastic as I know you are to speak with him about his past sins, Severus, I'm afraid I've already had a long, serious talk with Harry. He assures me that this will never happen again," Dumbledore said with a small smile.

"Forgive me, Headmaster, but I firmly doubt your 'serious talk' has registered at all in that hollow space that should be occupied by Potter's brain."

"I believe it has, Severus," Dumbledore said, completely ignoring the more insulting parts of Snape's comment. He looked at Draco. "I have instructed Mr. Potter to...ah, 'check in' with you once a week: every Friday. If he does not come to you by dinnertime on Fridays, Mr. Malfoy, you are to come to me immediately. Now, as it is way past curfew, and I am entirely sure that you both want to be wide awake for your Potions class tomorrow morning, you are dismissed," he instructed the two students.

Harry donned his invisibility cloak and he and Draco walked together down the spiral staircase.

"So...every Friday," Harry said conversationally. "We could almost translate that into...dates...right?"

Draco sighed. "No, Harry. We couldn't. You are to report to me every Friday and then you will go on your way."

Harry shifted. "Weren't you supposed to say something like, "I hope we can still be friends'?" he asked in a horribly pathetic voice that ripped Draco's soul out through his throat.

"No, Harry," he said, swallowing his feelings. "We can't be friends. We will just be people who are forced to come in contact with each other," Draco said, starting to walk away.

"You know, this break-up's been really hard on me!" Harry shouted angrily at his retreating back.

"Well it hasn't exactly been my favorite experience either, Harry!" Draco fumed back at him, turning around. "But we're both just going to have to get over it and move on with our lives! Separately."

Harry reached out and took Draco's hand in both of his. "I can't do that, Draco," he said gently.

Draco felt his resolve waver slightly but held firm to his decision. "You can and you will, Harry. It's for your own good." He pulled his hand away from Harry; not an easy task, as Harry had a death grip on Draco's fingers. "You may not understand right now, but you will someday."

"Draco, please - "

"Goodnight, Harry."