Especially Our Enemies

“You should have killed me in my sleep,” Malfoy muttered. I sat down on the bed and lay back, feeling the weight of the last two days sink onto me. He continued pacing

“Actually, that was discussed. Not everyone supported the idea of letting you live.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Listen, could you sit down?” I asked. “Just watching you is making me dizzy.”

He sat.

“I almost got you and your son killed today,” he said. “You should have let them execute me.”

“Sorry.”

“How can you trust me again?” he asked.

“I didn’t really trust you in the first place,” I said.

“I see.”

“I think I could now, though.”

Malfoy stared at me, unblinking, and I could see through his eyes again to spot the little glimmer of hope. I was unprepared for him to grab me and kiss me, his fingers digging desperately into the back of my neck. When he pulled back I saw that his eyes had been closed, and they finally flickered open again.

“I wasn’t afraid to die today,” he said.

“Nor I.”

“I was afraid you would die.”

I digested that for a moment and realized I had also been afraid for him. Chaz had been at the front of my mind since I learned he was taken, but all along there had been a nagging fear about Malfoy. He kissed me again.

“What will I do with you?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Neville told me what you did to him,” I said softly. Malfoy’s grip on my arm tightened spasmodically.

“He defied all my efforts. I did what I had to do.”

“Right.”

He swallowed.

“If I hadn’t gotten what I needed from him, the Dark Lord would have killed me. I’m a coward at heart, Weasley. I did what I felt I had to do in order to live.”

We sat silent. Both of us knew it was true. I could not say that I would have done the same thing, but I knew that I had done many things during the war that I was not proud of. Like screwing up Malfoy’s head. At least he had the decency to remember what he had done.

“If I could go back and do differently, I wouldn’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.”

He looked at me then and I felt ashamed.

“Malfoy, have they told you anything?” I asked. “About what happened?”

“I was there,” he said snidely.

“No, I mean what happened to you.”

His eyes betrayed him.

“It doesn’t matter what happened to me. The Dark Lord took me over. He’s dead. It’s in the past.”

“And you don’t remember what I told you, about Percy and the others?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

“I do remember.”

“Many of the terrible things you think you’ve done…”

“I never did. I know.” He sighed. “But just as many of them I did do. Stop trying to make me a victim, Weasley.”

I couldn’t say anything to that. I lay back on the bunk and allowed the exhaustion and pain to overwhelm me again, teetering on the edge of consciousness.

“I just want to go home,” he said.

“You have no home,” I murmured.

“I know.” He laughed. “It makes things difficult.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at his hands.

“You could come home with me,” I suggested. “I have a big empty house in Kent.”

Malfoy looked over his shoulder at me.

“Did you mean what you said, back at the museum?” he asked.

“Which part?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Weasley,” he growled.

“I think I did,” I said.

“Your certainty impresses me,” he sneered.

“You’re a real bastard, do you know that?” I closed my eyes. “Give a guy a break. I almost died today.”

Malfoy stood up and walked out. I knew he wouldn’t get far, so I let him go.

After a long while of staring at the ceiling, I pushed myself out of the bed and into the hallway.

“Do you need something, Mister Weasley?” There was a young wizard standing by the door, and he straightened as I opened the door.

“Where did Malfoy go?” I asked.

“Sir?”

“Blond guy, about so tall,” I said, gesturing. He blinked.

“How long have you been standing guard here?” I asked, feeling frustrated.

“Since you went in,” he said. “I walked with you, remember?”

Now he was looking at me as though I were the one confused.

“And you didn’t see Draco Malfoy come out of this room about twenty minutes ago?”

“Who?”

“Fuck,” I muttered. I was still feeling weak, but I walked as quickly as I could towards the common room.

“Malfoy’s gone,” I said. Several people looked up from books and sheets of parchment.

“What do you mean, gone?” Jordan asked.

“I mean he left the room and the guard doesn’t remember it.”

“Damn,” Jordan growled. “Come on, let’s get Percy.”

Percy was standing in the kitchen with Hermione and the girls, making peanut butter sandwiches. Chaz was sitting at one of the long tables nearby.

“Ron, you should be resting,” Hermione said.

“Malfoy has disappeared,” Jordan said. Percy dropped the knife.