potter rolls his eyes. there’s a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes, like a promise of something fun. “no, malfoy.”
&ands up, rosses the room, and sits on the free spae above drao’s head. he rummages i one more and produes an old piee of folded parhment, whih he ys on the bed in front of drao’s fae. “e on, tap your wand here and say i solemnly s to no good.”
&ely igane from him (or the utter k res at the parhment. “are you fibbing with me?”
“no, i am not fibbing. y diffiult o you?”
still suspiiets his wand from his ow’s a in a quik trip to ollivahe st day of august, on the very same day that kingsley owled him to say that his magi ban was over. he had been nervous, ao meet the old man agaihe death eaters did to him in their very ow garrik ollivaake him, disappeared within his shelves of boxes, ah a wand and fiveness.
“10 inhes, rowan wood and uni drao malfoy. no matter how dark the road, the value is ieo fi.”
it’s not the same as his old one, of ourse, but he doesn’t k is (potter? the ministry?) aoo sared to ask.
holdih, drao taps the parhment with his wand and says, “i solemnly s to no good.”
& unfolds, ahe middle, towards the sides and the four oro form…
“hogwarts,” he says, breathless. he props himself up on one elbow, eyes wide. he looks bak at potter with his mouth ope.
prins at him iaps the lht orherin dht where their names are ped beside eah other.
it’s definitely weird. seeing their hey don’t math, after all.
“you weren’t at dier says, ontinuing their oiohe map and didn’t see you anywhere.”
drao looks at the area belled great hall. it’s empty, as expeted. he doesn’t know what time it is, but it’s probably already after urfew. he thinks about the absurdity dihat he’s noing out of his way to hek this ridiulous map of his just to look for him.
he bliop himself from feeling happy about it. “other people might all this stalking,” he says instead.
potter’s heeks are pink. “shut up, i was worried.”
he’s definitely happy. damn potter. “worried that poor little drao went bonkers ao the lake?”
“yes, malfoy, is it that weird of me to worry about you? n to piss me off, i’m trying to have a ivil oion here.”
drao lears his throat loudly. he hopes the dark is doing its job his burning fae. “alright, so you didhe map, a i was i?”
&’s o isn’t shown on the map, so i took a hunh.”
drao looks at him disbelievingly. “you went to the forbidde on a hunh?”
ps. “it’s ime i’ve bee. and you did very far.”
& mad. potter’s mad. he thinks of all the things that ould have happehe ways that this day ould have gone h. “merlin, potter, you mean to tell me i almost got the saviour of the wizarding world ripped apart by wolves beause he id enough to ome after aer on a hunh?”
pain. “stop alliop alli.”
&h true, potter. don’t be so se.”
“so,” potter irritably uts off, probably beause if they oalking about this, they are goiher argument. “that’s how i found you.”
drao huffs in reply. he shakes his head, still inredulous, but that movement reminds him that he still has a headahe and so he lies bak dowress. it’s ludirous, that’s what this whole thing is.
p here, being so meddlesome with him and his life, and him enjoying it. enjoyiention, his time, his ohose godawful smiles that he sends drao’s way when drao’s said something partiurly funny.
&s potter to stop. he does.
the dark mark burns, hot and heavy on his forearm, under his sleeve. he throws it over his eyes, and takes a deep, shuddery breath. he thanks his luky stars and whatever higher beihe sky that nothiher of them today, beause he doesn’t think he an five himself if something had happeer all beause he was razy enough to wa supposed to id enough to fall in love.
“ time, don’t do it. my life’s not worth yours.”
there is a pause, os long enough for the tears to prik his eyes, before potter murmurs, “that’s for me to deide.”
drao ughs, loty. “you an’t save everyoime.”
“i know. but i wao save you.”
“it got easier, the more i did it,” drao finds himself expinier.
&ill lyiially ouro his side, wathing the ribbons of names glide over the map. po bak to the other bed anymore aled f down horizontally, just below the pillows. his thigh is just above drao’s head.
drao had just sified his lothes and his bed, ua a anymore, when potter asked if he k was the forbidde he was walking to, whih evolved ihey are having now.
“i had always been good at olumeny. my aunt said i had a natural talent for it.” he loses his eyes, smiling grimly as he remembers beltrix lestrange a