Drarry One Shots

A Special Kind of Bravery

A/N The story is set two years after the Battle of Hogwarts in 2000 (when Harry and Draco are 19yo). Warning: Contains swearing, nudity, and scenes of a sexual nature.

As Draco saw it, three things of significance had happened in his life after the war, all of which seemed to have led, in one way or another, to this exact point in time and the current predicament that he was facing.

First, his father was executed for his part in Tom Riddle's war. Fairly grim in itself but somethings were almost inevitable. Draco and Narcissa lost a lot because of the war and Lucius's beliefs. But with Lucius's death, Draco and his mother gained a new life too. They were granted a new life away from the manor; a freedom in which they could embrace certain aspects of the world which Lucius had wholeheartedly disapproved of or had outright forbidden. For example, Narcissa re-united with her sister and they lived together with young Teddy. And Draco was able to turn away from a career in Ministry politics, which he never wanted in the first place. And Draco's happiest gain was that he and his mother could visit the muggle theatres of London together and watch anything from opera to musicals, from the Royal Ballet to contemporary dance, from works by Shakespeare to modern playwrights, from the traditional to modernist to the damn-right surreal and bizarre. Theatre visits were a bi-monthly occurrence that he and his mother partook in; it became a special time when the two of them met up, caught up on news over a pre-theatre dinner, and then enjoyed a show together.

Which related to his current predicament as he sat in the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue in London.

Second, he was accepted on the Healership training programme at St Mungo's alongside Hermione Granger after he finished his N.E.W.T.s at Hogwarts. Part of this second and significant aspect of his life was that an unlikely friendship had grown between him and Hermione at Hogwarts and their friendship had flourished as they continued to gain their qualifications together and lived in shared student accommodation on the outskirts of Wizarding London. That, in itself, had nothing to do with his current predicament beyond the fact that it was Hermione who mentioned she'd been to see this particular play. She'd not said much, if anything, about it beyond it being a critically-acclaimed revival of a 1970s psychopathic thriller and one of the two leads was being played by award-winning and BAFTA-nominated Richard Griffiths, a well-known muggle actor. That had piqued Draco's interest enough for him to buy two tickets but, unfortunately, he hadn't read up anything about the play beforehand.

He was going to be having serious words with Hermione in the morning. He had a distinct feeling that she knew precisely what he was facing at this exact moment and was probably laughing maniacally about it with the Weasley...

The third occurrence of significance was that he had come out, publicly, as gay. Perhaps not momentous to others; being a homosexual wizard wasn't particularly unusual. But, to him, it was marker of how far he'd moved away from his father's beliefs and the ludicrous faith that nothing beyond his family name mattered. Strangely enough, despite his austere front, his break with the pureblood traditions of arranged marriages and his rejection of furthering the Malfoy name in favour of his own preferences had bolstered public opinion of him considerably. Almost more than Harry Potter speaking up for him and his mother at their trials. He still wore his mask; a last bastion of protection against the vulnerability of exposing his truest emotions. Especially since the war. But perhaps that was a reaction to those first six years at Hogwarts when he'd let his heart rule his head and it had nearly ruined him. Everything was more considered now, more controlled.

Which also related to his current predicament, in more than one way.

Harry bloody Potter, he sighed silently. Bane of my life and everywhere I turn.