𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐒 2008

You Can Run But You Can't Hide (1/2)

Author: sugareey
Title: You Can Run But You Can't Hide (Part 1 of 2)
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Draco keeps brooding over his life until he meets a new friend. Little does he know that it is someone he has met once before. It is not until his life is endangered that Draco realises he should reconsider things when his life is saved...again.
Warnings (if any): Besides being a bit silly and cute? Naw.
Total word count: 14,067

You Can Run But You Can't Hide Part 1 of 2

The first time Draco noticed it was when he was walking through the garden. Literally a week after his trial, as well as his parents’ trials, had passed before they were able to move back into the manor. Of course, there had been warranted searches in which a number of their possessions were confiscated, but that wasn’t exactly important. Draco was just glad to be alive, even if he was on probation. It was better than being thrown in Azkaban like some of the Death Eaters that had been rounded up. Not to say that he was one.

In fact, Draco wasn’t sure what part he had played in this whole bloody war. He had started it, surely, but other than that, he hadn’t done anything more. The Death Eaters were the ones who were responsible, the ones who hurt and killed Muggles and wizards endlessly until they couldn’t anymore. Draco was never a part of those acts, not when he himself had been held as a prisoner in his own home when he wasn’t being closely watched at Hogwarts.

It wasn’t a glorious life fighting for Voldemort, as many people might have thought. There was no pride or honour brought to his reputation or to the Malfoy name. It was just scary, for the most part. His sixth and seventh years were disasters. They were cruel enough to almost permanently traumatise Draco, but he had never mentioned it to anyone. And even if he did, it wouldn’t have really mattered. Even now, his word could easily affect his current verdict, despite having let Death Eaters into Hogwarts and attempting to murder Albus Dumbledore. He was free, but only under certain conditions. Being trapped within the family estate was not Draco’s idea of freedom though.

If they only knew, if they only knew what Draco had really gone through…people would only feel sorry for him. But he hated pity, so he kept silent. That was why he began visiting the garden every afternoon…just to have time to think over everything that had happened more clearly. He knew he couldn’t fix his mistakes, though Draco still wanted to find reasons to explain why he had done the things the way he had. He tried to reassure himself it was for the best. That he wasn’t given enough time to choose properly. Or to choose rationally, more like it.

While surveying the rose bushes, he couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching him. It started with an eerie silence, which was brought to Draco’s attention first. As soon as he heard the chirping of the birds dying away, he stood still and waited for a few minutes. Still nothing but the silence, which began ringing louder within his ears. Slowly, Draco turned around, only to find a pair of eyes staring right back at him through the birch trees.

He quickly fumbled for his wand, only to remember he didn’t have one. Draco cursed under his breath as he looked up again, the eyes still watching him closely. He took a few steps back, only to realise he was stepping into the rose bushes.

“Shite! Ow, ow, crap!”

Draco quickly jumped away from the bushes, scowling when he saw the rose thorns had not only ripped his robes, but that they had pierced right through his shoes as well. He could feel pain shooting up through his feet now, and really, why hadn’t he watched where he was going? Draco usually wasn’t this much of an idiot. And he was never clumsy. Never. And yet, here he was, with blood soaking through his woolen socks, and if he didn’t sit down to take care of it, he was sure to suffer the consequences. Or more so, Draco just hated dealing with blood. He had had enough of that for a lifetime, but since this incident involved his precious feet being impaled so that his blood began to stain them, he certainly wasn’t going to ignore the problem any longer.