Day13, Harry Potterverse, DM/GL, "Party of Two" Title: Party of Two Author:littleblackbow Word Count: around 800 (wow) Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing: DM/GL Rating: PG
It was Christmas Eve night. Every year, the Malfoys had a tradition of dinner, then sitting around the fireplace talking, drinking, eating dessert, and opening one present before heading off to bed for the night. Sometimes they'd invite a friend of family member along, but the important thing was keeping the family together.
Which was rather difficult with Lucius still serving out the rest of his sentence, Andromeda and Teddy running about in various other parts of the house, doing whatever it was that they did when they were being loud and obnoxious, and Narcissa being generally distracted by the whole situation.
And Draco, apparently, with his mind off somewhere else entirely.
"What was that, mother?" he asked, feeling the long pause in the conversation.
"I said, if you've got someplace else to be, why don't you just go? That way we won't have to pretend that things are like they were, I can go off and have a glass of whiskey and beat the pants off my sister at Cribbage, and you can do something to release that tension before you crush that glass in your hand."
Draco looked down at the tumbler he was holding in a vice-like grip.
"Right." He really hadn't thought too much about it. If anything, it was more that he was curious what the man was doing on this night to be spent with family. Especially since he apparently had no other friends or family.
God, that was depressing.
"I'll just be a moment. I just have to check on something." He apparated away so that his mother wouldn't know where he was going.
- - - - - - - - -
The room was dark, save for the light coming from a single red candle. It was nestled inside a wreath on their tea table by the window, and Lockhart was just sitting there alone in the dark, looking out at the drizzling rain outside. When he heard the crack of apparation, he glanced over at the door to see who it was. With no more than a light smile, he turned back to looking out the window.
"Waiting for Father Christmas to come?"Draco asked in a sardonic tone.
"You're a little old to believe in that rot," Lockhart replied.
"True, but it's still fun to imagine that you might not be."
There was no reply. Draco approached the man, stood behind him and stared out to see what he was looking at.
"It's raining," Lockhart said, finally.
"Very observant of you."
"I was trying to turn it into snow. They say I was a great wizard - my books do, and the fan letters I used to receive. And yet, I keep staring out at the rain, and it just won't turn to snow."
Draco choked back a stinging comment. "Weather magic is extremely difficult."
"I can't make my laces tie themselves."
"Not everyone is gifted in those kinds of charms, Lockhart."
"I couldn't light the candle."
"Are you sure that's your wand? Sometimes other people's wands don't work you know, and--"
Gilderoy let out a long sigh, stopping Draco's defense of him. "I was a teacher, you know. I might have been your teacher, actually. There are notes - I had been writing another book when I had my accident. I think I enjoyed being a teacher very much."
Something about this mood and the silence grated on Draco's nerves. He'd just come from a family dinner of mayhem, madness, and yet, underlined with love. And now, he was here witnessing a lonely man sitting by himself, finally realizing that he wasn't everything he'd pretended to be in the past. A man with no family, no tradition for this day, only making the best of what he had at the moment.
And all of the fucking Mediwitches and Healers here just left him alone while they were out at their Christmas Eve Parties?!
It was enough to make Draco's blood boil. And that realization alone pissed him off even more.
"You were a brilliant teacher," if you're talking about blindingly brilliant glitter and glamour charms, "and I looked forward to every class." Granted, it was only to make fun of you with my mates afterward.
Gilderoy turned to look up at his visitor. "Thank you," he whispered.
Draco could hear the screaming inside his head. The screeching of banshees that he needed to banish before they possessed him. And yet, he just could not resist. Tucking his fingers beneath Lockhart's chin, he leaned down and gently pressed a kiss onto the man's lips. They were soft and moist, and tasted a little like apricot and chocolate. "Come with me," Draco whispered, pulling him up out of the chair, "You're too brilliant and energetic to do this to yourself. I think you need to be someplace with a little more mayhem. Tell me, do you play Cribbage?"