Series: The Music Box
Part 1: Skinned Knees Are Easier To Fix Than Broken Hearts
Author: Lady B
Character(s): Draco, implied Draco/OMC
Rating: PG
Warning: broken heart
Summary: The last time he could remember being this nervous was the night he stood before Voldemort and had his mark branded into his arm. This was ten times worse.
Challenge: IJ/LJ AWDT Valentine's Quickies #1: Dinner for one
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: I thought I'd try and make an effort to free my muse from my brain and participate in the Quickies fest for Valentine's Day. I'm going to try and make each one a continuation of the previous one, and each title will be some kind of quote about Valentine's Day taken from http://quotegarden.com. This will be a Harry/Draco by the end.


Sometimes I wish I were a little kid again, skinned knees are easier to fix than broken hearts.
~Author Unknown
The moment Draco set eyes on Vasili, he had fancied himself in love. He had been on a business trip to Greece to check on one of his many Malfoy holdings, and had taken a late evening walk down to the beach. There were still a few people enjoying the sun of the remaining day and Draco had just turned to head back to his hotel when something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned in time to see a dark head of hair emerging from the surf. He turned to watch and he could have sworn he felt his heart stop when the face appeared. The man's face looked as if it could have been carved from stone, all sharp angles and planes, making him look like a Greek God of Myth. It took all he had in him not to drool.

And then the rest of the man came into view.

Broad shouldered and muscular, bronzed dark from being in the constant sunshine, Draco watched the man shake the water from his hair and allowing it to blow free in the summer breeze. Draco felt a tightness in his groin as his eyes boldly raked the body before him. If he tried hard enough, Draco could almost imagine the man to be someone familiar...someone he hadn't thought about in years.

He derailed that train of thought before it could develop steam. Best not to dwell on 'what ifs', as his father liked to tell him.

The man turned then and their eyes met, startling blue to swirling gray. And Draco was lost.

They met frequently while Draco was there, and he always went back when he could get away from his work.

And now, here he was again, two years later...sitting in one of their favorite restaurants, awaiting Vasili's arrival. Draco had planned this dinner for weeks, making many Floo calls and setting everything up. He had decided he wanted to ask Vasili to marry him, making their commitment to one another a life-long thing. He was so confident that Vasili would say yes that he had blocked out anything that would likely to occur if Vasili said no.

He took the black velvet ring box from his pocket and opened it. The plain platinum band winked back at him and he slowly withdrew it. He flipped it sideways to read the inscription he had engraved inside: My Whole Heart For My Whole Life

Draco smiled wistfully, placing the ring back into its velvet cage before returning it to his pocket. He glanced at his watch, noting it was near the time he had requested Vasili to meet him.

He would bide his time.

- - -

Draco stared at the note in his hand for what seemed like the thousandth time, hardly daring to believe the waiter had brought it to him. He felt hollowed out and numb, like someone had taken a blunt spoon and carved a hole in his chest where his heart used to be. Horrified, tears began to blur his vision and it became hard to breathe. Inhaling deeply, determined not to fall apart in a public setting, he got to his feet, tossing a bunch of money blindly at the table. In his haste to leave, he didn't remember leaving the crumpled note behind, but he would remember the words for as long as he was alive.

Draco

I wish I could love you as I know you love me, but that is something I am unable to do. I am sorry. But I've had this sense that there are too many things unresolved in your past that make me believe we have a future. Resolve them, and if then, you still feel for me this love you have then I will be waiting with open arms.

Yours,
Vasili



To be continued...