Time to Kill

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Time to Kill: Chapter 12

Johnny Doggspitt

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Monday night was Harry's first detention with Snape, and he had been ranting about it all weekend. The healing magic had made him able to leave the Hospital Wing on Saturday evening, but he had been insisting that he was still too wounded to go through the stress of an evening with Snape. In the end, though, he had gone, grumbling all the way.

It hadn't been so long ago that Harry had left, and Draco was lounging on his bed, reading a book and eating apple slices. He had just bitten into a particularly tasty morsel when an equally tasty morsel in the form of Harry Potter burst through his door. At least, he could only assume it was Harry, as there was no other reasonable explanation for his door suddenly throwing itself open and shut.

The boy tore off his invisibility cloak, flopped onto the bed, and clung desperately to Draco's chest. "Oh...my...god!"

It took Draco's brain a few seconds to process what was going on, and he slowly looked down on his boyfriend quizzically. "How do you keep getting in here?"

Harry shook his head furiously. "Ahh..." he moaned, his eyes shut tight.

"What's your problem?" Draco asked, placing a hand on Harry's head.

"Went...I-I went..."

"Shh, slow down, Harry," Draco instructed, pushing Harry into a sitting position and then sitting up himself. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

Following his boyfriend's directions, Harry took a few deep breaths. When he seemed more composed, he started. "I went...down to the dungeons to...for detention, and I saw..." he gulped loudly. "I saw Lupin."

Draco waited for more of an explanation. When it didn't come, he said, "Is that it?" He laughed. "Come on, Harry, what's wrong with that?"

Harry took another deep breath. "And Snape was there."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "...And?"

"And they were..." Harry closed his eyes as though in pain, "kissing."

Draco visibly perked up, this new development catching his attention. "What was that again?"

Harry covered his face with his hands. "Draco Malfoy, do not make me repeat that!"

Draco laughed deliciously. "Oh, it's about time!"

Harry peeked between his fingers. "Run that by me one more time?"

"Oh, come on! They've been giving each other The Eye for...years!"

The...The Eye?" Harry almost retched. "Draco, please! I'm trying to get the snogging image out of my mind! I don't need that one, thank you very much!"

Draco chuckled. "Ah, poor baby," he said teasingly. Harry groaned and Draco kissed his forehead. "Just don't worry about it, love. Wait a few minutes, then go down, get through detention, and when you're done..." he softly nibbled on Harry's earlobe, "you can come back up here and I'll take your mind off it."

Harry shook his head violently. "Uh, uh! Not going back down there! But...you can take my mind off it now, if you want to..."

Draco laughed. "No way, Potter. You're not getting anything until you get back down there." Harry whimpered, and Draco laughed again. "Look, if you want, I'll go down with you." He waited for his boyfriend to answer. "Would you be ok with that?"

Harry sighed. "Sure. Why not?"

Draco smiled at him and took his hand. "Let's go then." He pulled Harry's invisibility cloak back over his boyfriend and strode down the stairs to the Slytherin common room. He felt Harry link their arms in a way so that no one could tell that Draco was carrying his arm oddly. Draco smiled for a second before realizing that he would look stupid if he just walked into the common room smiling like a loon. He quickly corrected his expression, but not soon enough.

"Draco Malfoy, what are you smiling about?" Pansy demanded, striding up to him angrily. "You shouldn't be happy! I'm supposed to be the only thing that makes you happy, and you've been avoiding me for the past three days! I'm your girlfriend, in case you've forgotten."

Harry's grip tightened on Draco's arm, and Draco decided to dispose of the problem as quickly as possible. "I haven't been avoiding you, darling. I've just been...busy."

Pansy looked at him suspiciously. "Fine. Well, you don't look busy right now. Let's go do something."

Draco resisted the urge to groan and roll his eyes. "I'm sorry, Pansy, but I am busy at the moment. Can we do something later?"

The piggish girl frowned. "Alright then. How about tomorrow at seven, we take a walk?"

"You're scheduling a walk?"

Pansy sighed exasperatedly and stormed away.

Once they had gotten out of the common room, Harry immediately pulled Draco to a stop. "You're still going out with her?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, Potter, and it is completely voluntary. Really, Harry."

"But...that means you're cheating on me!"

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," Draco said, smiling. "I broke up with you, started going out with her, and then started up our relationship again; thus, I am cheating on her with you, not vice versa."

"Oh..." Harry seemed to process the information. "Well, that's ok then."

Draco laughed. "You've got impeccable morals, Harry."

"You know, I really don't care. You love me, not her, which makes you cheating on me. So there!" Harry pushed back the hood on this cloak and playfully licked Draco's nose. Even though the other boy's brain was warning him that Harry's hood being off was a very bad idea, he couldn't help but latch on to his boyfriend's mouth. It was nice for him to realize that he had gotten rather good at estimating where Harry's mouth was.

Suddenly, he heard voices approaching from around a corner, and he detached his mouth from his boyfriend's and slammed the hood back on his head. Draco quickly made his face a blank and strode down the hallway just as Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle rounded the corner. Draco looked sadly at his two old cronies. Certainly they knew about Draco's betrayal, as they had stopped following Draco and had recently latched onto the Zabini boy.

"They haven't been following you lately," Harry whispered after the boys had passed out of earshot.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Draco grumbled unhappily.

Harry was silent a second. "I'm sorry, Draco," he finally said softly, entwining their fingers.

Draco smiled and rubbed his thumb over the back of Harry's hand. "You've got nothing to be sorry for, love. Now hurry up. At this rate, your detention will be over before we get there."

"Believe me, I'm fine with that," Harry muttered. "Come on, Draco, you're supposed to be on my side! You're not supposed to want me to have detention!"

"No, but I am supposed to want you to learn your lesson. This is the way the headmaster thought you would best learn your lesson, and so I am obligated to make sure you comply."

"Big-word-using git," Harry grumbled. "You just want me out of the way so you can go snog Pansy."

Draco stopped short and gaped in Harry's general direction. "Tell me you're joking, Harry. Please tell me you don't really think that." He heard Harry give a little laugh, and it dawned on him what Harry was trying to do. "You arse!" he said, whacking Harry on the arm. "You're just trying to stall! You're going to detention sometime, Harry!"

He dragged his boyfriend the rest of the way to the Potions Master's classroom. The door was closed, and while that didn't necessarily mean that Snape was...doing something...in there, Draco wasn't going to run the risk of walking in on him. He rapped hesitantly on the door and was thrown backwards as the door immediately flew open.

"Draco?" his godfather said incredulously, reaching down to help Draco to his feet. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm escorting Harry to his detention, but if you're going to attack me, I can just take him back!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Draco. Mr. Potter, get in here and take off the invisibility cloak."

"Do you mind if I stay, Severus?" Draco asked, smiling angelically.

Snape looked at him suspiciously. "So you can distract him? I think not!"

"I'm not going to distract him! I just want to hang out here." He started to say something else, stopped, and started again. "No...no one's really talking to me in Slytherin."

Snape looked down sympathetically at his godson, but a smile played in his eyes. "I'm sure Miss Parkinson would be only too willing to spend time with you."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Don't throw that at me, Severus. I can throw just as much back at you!"

"And what could you possibly have on me in the way of relationships?"

"Well, I don't have much, but I'm sure Lupin could have something to say in the matter," Draco said, a shark-like grin dancing on his lips.

Snape's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about!" Draco said, dropping his voice down to barely above a whisper. "Are you two really together?"

"Where would you get that idea?" Snape demanded furiously.

"Somebody, who shall remain nameless, saw you snogging him today." Snape's face paled and Draco continued, "So come on! Tell me!"

"I most certainly will not!" Snape said angrily. "You may stay here if you like, but you will keep your mouth shut, do you understand?"

"Absolutely." Draco started to walk through the door, but stopped halfway. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me about you and Lupin?"

"Draco!" Snape growled dangerously, and Draco decided to not push his luck.

Harry was lounging across three chairs, his cloak thrown carelessly on the table in front of him. "You two done with your little conference?" he asked irritably. "Because I'd like to get this over with."

Snape strode over to Harry and dropped the invisibility cloak unceremoniously on the floor . "Mr. Potter, this is not your sitting room, nor is it a garbage dump. However, since you delight in treating my room as such, you will be cleaning it from top to bottom, without magic, for as long as it takes to make this room sparkle."

Draco let out an annoyed sigh. "Merlin, Sev, we'll be here all night at that rate."

"Don't call me that, Draco. And as I recall, you were the one who begged to stay. You will either stop complaining or leave." His lips twitched into something that could almost be called a smile. "I'm sure Crabbe and Goyle would be only too happy to have their gang leader back."

Draco glared. "Why is everyone bringing that up?" he asked angrily. "Maybe I'll just go declare it in the middle of the Great Hall: ' yes, I have turned into a wanker, and I have betrayed the Dark Lord, so yes, my friends have traded up to better friends! And thank you so much for bringing that up!" He whirled around and stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him. He hesitated for a second outside the door and then headed toward the entrance hall. He just wanted to take a walk. At time like these, before he had fallen in love with Harry, he would have gone to the Slytherin common room, where he could force everyone to be sympathetic. With Harry, he was sure he could work up some kind of sweet feeling from the boy. But now, with no friends to speak of in Slytherin and his boyfriend in the clutches of Draco's godfather, the best thing he could think of to do was to get outside and let the air clear his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was think. Of course, it could be that the last thing he wanted to do was to go back to Slytherin and watch all his old friends leave him behind.

However, when he arrived in the entrance hall, he realized that there was a place he wanted to be even less than in Slytherin. Pansy lounged on the floor, leaning up against the wall and discreetly smoking a muggle cigarette. Draco rolled his eyes disgustedly. Her mouth was disgusting enough without having the smell and taste of smoke. How she thought any self-respecting wizard would want to put his tongue in her repulsive mouth was beyond him. He tried to turn around, but she spotted him.

"Draco?" she called, snuffing out her fag on the stone floor. "Are you free right now?"

Draco sighed exasperatedly. "Actually...well, yeah, I guess. Why?

Pansy's eyes lit up. "Ooh, can we go for a walk now?"

Rolling his eyes, he responded, "I suppose so. I need to talk to you anyway."

Pansy squealed. "Great! I've just got to run down to Slytherin and take care of something." She dashed out of the room, leaving Draco to pick up and dispose of her snuffed-out butt.

What on earth could Pansy need to take care of before a walk? She couldn't need to put on make-up; it was night! No one would see her. He shook his head. Girls baffled him. Sometimes it was nice to be gay.

Ten minutes later, he checked his watch and sighed. What could she be doing for ten minutes? Finally, she burst into the hall, tucking a parchment into a pocket in her robes. She jumped slightly when she noticed him looking at her, but quickly put on a smile and scurried over.

"Sorry I kept you waiting, darling!" she giggled breathlessly. "Shall we go?"

Draco shuddered a bit on the inside, but took her outstretched hand. "Absolutely." He led them out the front doors. Thinking the Quidditch pitch might be a nice place to break up, he started off towards it, but Pansy tugged on his arm.

"Let's...let's not go over there, ok? I want to walk around the lake. She shifted her weight anxiously, and Draco sighed. She probably thought he was going to have sex with her. He cringed at the thought.

"Fine, we'll go over to the lake," he conceded. The lake was as good a break-up spot as any, he thought as he steered them towards it. Besides, it would be sort of symbolic: he'd break up with her in the same place Harry had accepted Draco's love. He'd tell Harry about it later, and they could both laugh.

"You're awfully quiet today, Draco," Pansy observed. "Something wrong?"

"Wha- No, nothing's wrong," Draco replied, coming out of his trance to realize they had almost reached the lake. "Come on, let's go this way."

The small clearing in the grove of maple trees where Draco had stumbled upon Harry not so long ago was a fair distance around the lake. The water glistened in the moonlight, sending sparks up to the leaves all around them. Draco couldn't help wishing that it was Harry he was experiencing this with, and not Pansy. One didn't get moments like this back, and the fact that he wasn't spending it with the boy he loved was almost unbearable.

He and Pansy walked along the shore of the lake in silence. Pansy seemed to be thinking about something, a thing Draco had never seen her do. He almost felt bad for Pansy, in a way. She didn't have a single brain in her, and her looks were nothing to speak about. Would men always just use her, just as Draco had used her? It wasn't the poor girl's fault that she was...well, the way she was.

Finally, they arrived in the little clearing. Draco sighed. "Let's stop here."

Pansy smiled. "I was about to say the same thing."

"Pansy, I need to talk to you about something-"

"Wait, Draco, first, I have to talk to you about something." She hesitated. "I...I know about your betrayal of the Dark Lord."

Draco cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You...you do?"

Pansy looked at him sternly. "You shouldn't have done that, Draco. He's not happy with you."

"I don't know why he's mad at me!" Draco exploded. "I didn't betray him! I- I killed Harry Potter, for Merlin's sake! I just didn't want to kill my godfather!"

Pansy glared. "Your godfather betrayed the Dark Lord, Draco! He doesn't deserve to live!"

"Then Voldemort should have ordered someone else to kill him! I'm his godson!" Pansy's eyes were wide, and it spooked Draco a little. "What?"

"You said his name!" she whispered in a frightened tone. "No Death Eater would dare mention his name, Draco! First you defy his wishes, then you say his name? You're out of control!"

"What is it with you?" Draco demanded. "I killed Harry Potter! Doesn't that overshadow everything else?"

Pansy's eyes narrowed. "He says he still feels Potter's presence."

"What do you mean 'he says'?" Draco asked mockingly. "You're not a Death Eater."

"Aren't I?" she asked, rolling up her left sleeve. The Dark Mark writhed on her forearm. Draco stared at it incredulously. "I just got branded last week," she proclaimed proudly.

"And...your task?" Draco was beginning to get the feeling that he needed to get out of there very quickly.

Pansy's only response was a sly smirk and a low whistle. Masked Death Eaters slunk out of the trees and shadows all around them. Pansy stepped aside to let them have a clear run at Draco. "I'm sorry, Drake," she said softly.

"The fuck you are!" he exclaimed, two Death Eaters clutching at his arms. "What are you doing?"

A tall Death Eater stood in front of him. "The Dark Lord wishes to speak with you," Lucius Malfoy's unfeeling voice spoke from under the mask. "Unfortunately, you won't be here when your...boyfriend...gets out of his detention."

Draco's eyes grew wide and he twisted against his captors. "Boyfriend? Detention? Father, what are you talking about? I have a girlfriend! I'm going out with Pansy!"

"Do not lie to me, Draco!" Lucius roared, his wand at his son's throat. "The Dark Lord knows all about you and Potter!"

"Father-"

"My son is dead!" Lucius bellowed. He looked to the Death Eaters holding Draco. "Take him."

Suddenly, Draco's world went black.