Second Post-war drabble

So, the Draco wouldn't get out of my head. I have the feeling that he only appears to be functioning, underneath he's just as broken.

This is a semi-sequel/continuation of Distance Learns to Grow.

Title: And Then
Author: fryadvocate

Draco lives in the room adjoining Harry's. They share a bathroom, so when Harry doesn't wake up or take a shower, Draco pulls him out of bed and drops him into the shower, his nightclothes still on.

Remus is in and out, trying to piece the ministry back together and send out search parties for the ones they still can't find. Some of the ones who have been out longer, he eventually has to declare "Presumed Dead."

When he has to sign those, he does it at the kitchen table, late at night when Draco will make them both tea and pull out the store bought sweets. Lupin doesn't carry chocolate around in his pockets anymore.

This is what he does carry: one of the muggle pens that everyone started using during the war, a watch that tells time precisely, a lock of Nymphandora's hair sealed with a charm, and a handkerchief.

At one time, Draco would have glared and spit instead of letting Lupin in doors. That was before the second, third, fourth times that Lupin saved his life. The sneer that Snape had used whenever he came into contact with Lupin had been Draco's through the seventh, but the eighth, when both his mother and Snape were dead, he had whimpered and cried all the way to the mediwitch.

History would not record that incident in the war, and as far as Draco could tell, no one else even knew about it.

The war was full of stories about comrades rescuing each other, and this was not even a footnote in the chapters of bravery. There would, Draco imagined, be at least a chapter on how he and Snape had been the most consistent, reliable information that the Order had. He and Snape, deceivers, victims, destroyers, liars, and in the end, expendables.

Draco moves into Harry's house in increments, first he puts his things in the rooms, then he begins cooking his favorite foods instead of doing take away, and finally, he starts reading the books. He is shocked at the amount of muggle literature in the Black Library and sometimes he talks at Harry about it.

"Austen," Draco says one day at dinner, and spills the buildup of opinion across the table.

Lupin rarely joins them for dinner, but it's really not too much trouble to put a heating spell on the leftovers, so most days Draco does.

On Tuesday, Draco cleans what used to be the master bedroom. He does it mostly by burning things. The bed, for one, the dressers next, and when he sets fire to them, the mirrors crack and his fractured reflection screams.

At dinner, Harry eats with one eye on the clock, tracking the seconds with a tap of his foot.

"Have an appointment, Potter?" Draco finally snaps.

The next second Harry's fork adds to the beat.

Draco stands and raises his plate before bringing it down hard against the edge of the table. It shatters and he's left holding an edge.

end