betrothed ( ✓ )

chapter eight

While the rest of the family decided to see what else their town had to offer, Draco and Harry were taken home and forced to stay there.

"If you dare leave the house, you'll be in even bigger trouble than you already are." James had threatened his son, and then snatched Harry's phone from his hands. He took Draco's as well, demanding that he remain in the house too. Draco remained silent.

The two boys sat at the table, watching the family pull back out of the driveway, and then turn down the road. Once the van rolled out of sight, Draco stood and Harry looked at him in confusion.

"What're you doing?" He asked, and the blond only stared at him before walking down the hallway. He stood quickly and followed him, and soon found himself in the backyard where Draco had stopped, peering over the white fence. "Draco?"

"Shut up." The blond snapped, watching as a gecko scurried across the fence.

"What are you doing?" Harry repeated, and the blond turned to him.

"I'm seeing if I can hop the fence. Gotta check for neighbors first." He explained eventually, and just as Draco stepped forward and latched onto the fence, Harry grabbed his shoulder and pulled him backwards.

"Your parents will kill you." He stated fearfully.

"Maybe that's a better deal than being forced to marry someone I could never even love." Draco seethed, and Harry felt his heart clench.

"Y'know, what makes you think I want to marry you anymore than you want to marry me? You're an arrogant, self-obsessed asshole that can't even take into consideration anyone's feelings but your own. You'd rather run away than face what we can't stop. They've seen through our lies, and there's nothing we can do about that. You don't know this town, you don't know this state, and you certainly don't know this country, Draco Malfoy. Stop acting like such a bitch for one goddamn minute, and talk to me." Harry was furious, and had yet to let go of Draco's shoulder. The blond pushed away from him sharply, and made his way back into the house.

Harry followed him and found him sitting on the couch, staring down at the glass table before him.

"Malfoy, I-"

"Shut up, Potter. Just, just shut up! You talk far too much."

"Maybe, but we don't talk enough." The dark haired boy stated, taking a seat behind the shaking blond.

"That's 'cause I have nothing to say to you."

"You used to have everything to say to me. We used to be best friends."

"I used to want to marry you, back even before our parents announced that we were betrothed. I used to love you."

"What made you stop?" Harry tried to ignore the tears in his eyes, but found it near impossible when Draco clenched his fists and stuck them against his sides, elbows digging into his ribs. He feared that the blond would break something.

"You did."

"What do you mean?" The green eyed boy found himself confused.

"When we were eleven, and our parents announced our fate. I was so happy. I still have that photograph of us that day beside my bed in my dorm. I was happy that I'd get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend, and you seemed happy at first too, and I was ecstatic. And then, you just stopped. You went to sports, and Ron, and you left me." Draco spoke coldly, flinching away from Harry then.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"

"Don't you dare make excuses for yourself. Excuses mean nothing to the time we lost. I'm almost eighteen, and that's an important age, and I'm supposed to be excited for it, but all I feel is dread. Dread knowing that, as soon as you hit eighteen too, I'm yours, but you don't want to be mine." He stood then, and made a move towards the door.

Harry watched him walk out, and then remembered his father's angry words, and ran after them. By the time he'd caught up, Draco was at the fence that separated them from the swimming pool. And then, he was stepping through the dark green bushes and climbing over the side. Quickly, Harry followed after him.

"Malfoy, you can't play the victim here! You were just as cold to me as I was to you!" He called after him, finding him seated with his bare feet dangling in the blue water. He stepped forward and seized him by the shoulder again, pulling him to his feet.

"And why do you suppose I was so cold to you, Potter? Give it a go, why don't you." He seethed, grey eyes stormy with tears.

"Because you never actually wanted me. You never went after me. Instead, you went to Blaise."

"I shouldn't have had to come after you! You were supposed to be mine, and instead you chose Ron Weasley to befriend, and to cherish. So naturally, I shouldn't have had to be alone. Of course I went to Blaise, because he actually cared about me."

"You don't think I cared about you?"

"You still don't." Draco snapped, shoving him. Once Harry recovered, he growled and shoved the blond backwards, and soon he was stumbling into the pool, pulling Harry with him.

When their heads emerged, they continued to wrestle, shoving each other and trying to push each other's heads under the water. All the while, they screamed obscenities at each other. Soon, it seemed that the pool contained nothing but venom between the two boys, and they swam in it like the monsters that they'd become.

Draco spit the chlorinated liquid from his lungs after one forceful shove from the dark-haired lad. Harry nursed the headache he'd received after the blond had pushed him into the cement surrounding the pool.

Eventually, the two boys stood on either side of the pool, glaring at the other. They were weary, and their clothes were heavy with water.

It had begun to grow dark, and Harry figured their parents would be home any moment. And so, he climbed up the ladder and made his way towards the gate. Draco followed not long after, falling silent again. The boys walked a good distance apart, squishing their soaked shoes against the asphalt.

Once they'd returned home, Harry tried the doorknob, only to find it was locked.

"Fuck." He breathed, and Draco looked at him in confusion. "Door's locked."

He took a seat at the plastic table, slipping his shoes from his feet and placing them where they would dry come the following morning. It felt like hours before the family returned home, and upon James stepping onto the porch, he stared at the boys suspiciously.

"You're soaked." He stated, pointing out the obvious.

"We went for a swim." Harry explained, and Draco rolled his eyes.

"If that's what you'd like to call it." He muttered, and then stepped inside as soon as James had unlocked the door. The older man looked at the blond in confusion, and then towards his son.

"Whatever happened, I don't want to know. I did give you orders to remain in this house, and you did not obey them. You are to go immediately to a shower and then bed, am I understood?" He demanded, and his son nodded.

"Yes sir." And then he stepped into the house, finding that Draco had already taken the main bathroom, and walked towards his parents room to use the other bathroom.

~~~

Later that night, Harry lied on his couch, dressed in boxers and a t-shirt. He stared up at the dark ceiling, listening to the fan whirring above him. Neville had gone to bed long ago, and Harry found his quiet snores relieving.

Once Draco finally stepped into the room slowly, head bowed, Harry sat up and stared at him through the dim light.

"Malfoy?" He asked, and the boy froze, still faced away from him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you are." The grey eyed boy said bitterly, sitting on his own bed.

"I really am. I'm sorry for hurting you."

"I'll believe it when I see it." And then the boy turned towards him briefly, and Harry caught sight of just how damaged Draco looked in the pale moonlight, both physically and emotionally. He had a black eye, and his lips were swollen. Bruises littered his shoulders, and it led Harry to wonder just how he looked.

"I'm so sorry." But Draco wasn't listening anymore. He never wanted to listen to anything Harry had to say ever again.