Bones ⋆ Draco Malfoy (3)

| TWENTY: To Forget the Future

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TWENTY TO FORGET THE FUTURE

     THEY HAD KISSED, you know.

     It wasn't the romantic sort. Livvy doesn't think this, at least. It was just a way for Livvy to distract him whilst his non-Slytherin friends snuck off into an empty classroom. It made an impact, Livvy thinks, even now. But, to be fair, all of the other times had been in their company. No one else has seen them kiss, no one except each other and their reflections. But people did. And Livvy regrets it, just a little.

     Look, he should've thought it through more, he knows this, don't bother pointing this out. Livvy knows, he's aware. But in that situation, when Draco and Pansy were after his friends and his sister because Umbridge told them to get them, his best idea was that.

     Dragging them away would've made both Draco and Pansy suspicious. They would've humoured his attempt for a second, and then they would've darted back in the direction they saw Briar and Harry and the others go. Knocking them out (yes, this was an option) would've caused more problems than it was worth. But, kissing one of them? That would work. That did work.

     Livvy's got the brain of a serpent. Yes, at times, his panic causes him to think things through less than usual, but for the most part, his brain's hard-wired to be cunning. He lives with the phrase fight or flight rattling through his bones. He knows when to run (believe him, he fucking knows) and he knows when to fight (but, really, he doesn't know this as well.)

     So, to set the scene, Umbridge's demise was right around the corner, and so were his friends escaping her to save (save!) Sirius. Livvy grabs Draco's shirt, and he kisses him. And Draco full-on freezes. So does Pansy, only in a more "since when was this a thing?" kind of way.

     And they forget why they're in the hallway in the first place. And Livvy says he's going to the library to meet Poppy, and he walks off, and that's it. It's not until ten minutes later that both Draco and Pansy snap out of their confused shock and realise that they need to find Livvy to find Harry.

     Then that leads to a lot of things — the Inquisitorial Squad finds them, the DA members almost get tortured or something by Umbridge, Briar calls Snape Snivellus in true marauder fashion, Briar then manages to fight Millicent Bulstroge (and win?), their group heads on to the Ministry, Livvy stays behind because of the whole Death Eater thing, Briar apparently tackles Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius is killed, the Ministry realises Voldemort's back (a motherfucking surprise, really!), and Lucius Malfoy gets sent to Azkaban. See? A lot.

     But, that isn't what matters. What matters is that first phrase. They had kissed, you know. It's a phrase Livvy wasn't thinking he'd hear — at least, not in the context it had been said in, nor the person it had been said by. But they said it.

     He looks down at the mark on his arm. He wants to cry. He wants to cut the damned thing out of his skin. He doesn't want this. He doesn't get it — he doesn't get how his sister gets a nice happy job back at school, or how she gets a nice little flat with her two best friends on Diagon Alley, or how she's managed to get a nice position in the Order where she's gained some sort of respect. And he's here: regretting everything he didn't do to resist and wishing the mermaids drowned him in the second task.

     Livvy looks at Bellatrix Lestrange. She said it. They had kissed, you know. She had said it with disgust, like it was horrendous yet hilarious. She had said it to Narcissa Malfoy, whom had looked at her son.

     "You shouldn't believe everything a teenager tells you," says Draco. Livvy nods in agreement. The two don't dare exchange a look. Exchanging a look would mean unity in keeping the promise alive. And that's not what they want. "We haven't, it's just someone in a younger year trying to make a joke."