There's No Such Thing As Heaven
Title: There's No Such Thing As Heaven
Pairing: Ron/Draco (but not really).
Rating: PG-13 for suicide.
Summary: Draco Malfoy is saved; but his soul isn't.
It was late in March when Remus Lupin returned to the Order’s headquarters with the unconscious form of Draco Malfoy; during a raid on a notorious Death Eater’s home - Delta Daggot or something along those lines - Lupin had rendered the Slytherin stunned and had wrestled him from the fight, procuring one of Dumbledore’s last wishes by saving him. Whether or not Malfoy appreciated being “saved” was yet to be shown: Ron hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Malfoy since the day he had been dragged into Sirius’s place. Which had been moved by means of magic to somewhere in Wales; Ron wasn’t very certain on that, either, as he almost never left the house.
It was in the middle of April that Malfoy first began to appear at breakfasts - Molly cooked for over forty Order members every morning, twenty-six of which lived in Grimmauld Place on a regular basis; therefore Ron only saw brief glances of the sickly-pale Slytherin around the shoulders of well-known faces like Shacklebolt and Tonks, the blonde never so much as looking up from the small bites of food he managed to force down. Not that Ron was worried about Malfoy’s appetite - sick and scared-looking or not, Malfoy was still a prick.
In May Ron left Grimmauld Place for three weeks in order to accompany Harry and Hermione in locating Helga Hufflepuff’s cup; he returned with a thick scar twisted across his palm where the cup had burned through his flesh to find Malfoy perched on the edge of one of the dingy black couches in the sitting room, listening to Ginny and Tonks discuss England’s chances at winning the Quidditch World Cup that summer. Before Ron could join the conversation, his little sister spotted him and went shouting for their mum - several members of the Order poured into the room to congratulate him on returning successful from his secret “mission,” while his mum exclaimed over the ugly scar on his hand. Ron caught Malfoy slinking from the room and grabbed his fragile shoulder with his uninjured hand - the Slytherin looked at him with a blank look, mumbling “Good job in not getting yourself killed, Weasel” before brushing him off and disappearing up the stairs.
June yielded another Horcrux - this one gathered by Harry and Ron alone, Hermione having been preoccupied with setting the newspapers straight on several things involving the Order of the Phoenix - and ten less Order members at the table during breakfast, the war drastically tumbling into its bloodiest point; Ron was able to keep Malfoy company in the mornings, reading the newspaper out-loud despite the blonde never once saying anything or even glancing at him, Molly having given him the suggestion. Ron made a point to give his strongest (and most foolish) opinions on every subject, hoping to rouse Malfoy into an argument, but to no avail.
July was spent in the musty but extensive library of the ancient House of Black, researching alongside Hermione and attempting not to lose their souls to some of the nastier books on the lower shelves; Ron was tempted to invite Malfoy, who was bound to be smarter than he, but Hermione insisted that though Malfoy had yet to cause trouble, he couldn’t yet be trusted. The second half of the month gave way to Narcissa Malfoy’s death - Lupin bringing Malfoy aside during a dinner of Shepherd’s Pie to tell him his mother had been killed in one of the lesser battles in Wales, Malfoy returning red-eyed to his meal and eating all of his meal - including seconds and thirds - without a comment.
August was when Draco Malfoy killed himself. Ginny had been the one to find him, slumped in the corner of one of the dusty attic, his wrist magically slashed and the floor around him stained a nasty, dirty shade of red. Ron helped his mother scrub the blood away after Lupin disposed of the body, spending nearly a week trying to rub out the eerie message spelled out in blood across the wall on which Malfoy had leaned against: There’s no such thing as Heaven.
It was two days into September before Ron managed to wash the words away completely.
And two years later that he understood what Malfoy had meant.
Pairing: Ron/Draco (but not really).
Rating: PG-13 for suicide.
Summary: Draco Malfoy is saved; but his soul isn't.
It was late in March when Remus Lupin returned to the Order’s headquarters with the unconscious form of Draco Malfoy; during a raid on a notorious Death Eater’s home - Delta Daggot or something along those lines - Lupin had rendered the Slytherin stunned and had wrestled him from the fight, procuring one of Dumbledore’s last wishes by saving him. Whether or not Malfoy appreciated being “saved” was yet to be shown: Ron hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Malfoy since the day he had been dragged into Sirius’s place. Which had been moved by means of magic to somewhere in Wales; Ron wasn’t very certain on that, either, as he almost never left the house.
It was in the middle of April that Malfoy first began to appear at breakfasts - Molly cooked for over forty Order members every morning, twenty-six of which lived in Grimmauld Place on a regular basis; therefore Ron only saw brief glances of the sickly-pale Slytherin around the shoulders of well-known faces like Shacklebolt and Tonks, the blonde never so much as looking up from the small bites of food he managed to force down. Not that Ron was worried about Malfoy’s appetite - sick and scared-looking or not, Malfoy was still a prick.
In May Ron left Grimmauld Place for three weeks in order to accompany Harry and Hermione in locating Helga Hufflepuff’s cup; he returned with a thick scar twisted across his palm where the cup had burned through his flesh to find Malfoy perched on the edge of one of the dingy black couches in the sitting room, listening to Ginny and Tonks discuss England’s chances at winning the Quidditch World Cup that summer. Before Ron could join the conversation, his little sister spotted him and went shouting for their mum - several members of the Order poured into the room to congratulate him on returning successful from his secret “mission,” while his mum exclaimed over the ugly scar on his hand. Ron caught Malfoy slinking from the room and grabbed his fragile shoulder with his uninjured hand - the Slytherin looked at him with a blank look, mumbling “Good job in not getting yourself killed, Weasel” before brushing him off and disappearing up the stairs.
June yielded another Horcrux - this one gathered by Harry and Ron alone, Hermione having been preoccupied with setting the newspapers straight on several things involving the Order of the Phoenix - and ten less Order members at the table during breakfast, the war drastically tumbling into its bloodiest point; Ron was able to keep Malfoy company in the mornings, reading the newspaper out-loud despite the blonde never once saying anything or even glancing at him, Molly having given him the suggestion. Ron made a point to give his strongest (and most foolish) opinions on every subject, hoping to rouse Malfoy into an argument, but to no avail.
July was spent in the musty but extensive library of the ancient House of Black, researching alongside Hermione and attempting not to lose their souls to some of the nastier books on the lower shelves; Ron was tempted to invite Malfoy, who was bound to be smarter than he, but Hermione insisted that though Malfoy had yet to cause trouble, he couldn’t yet be trusted. The second half of the month gave way to Narcissa Malfoy’s death - Lupin bringing Malfoy aside during a dinner of Shepherd’s Pie to tell him his mother had been killed in one of the lesser battles in Wales, Malfoy returning red-eyed to his meal and eating all of his meal - including seconds and thirds - without a comment.
August was when Draco Malfoy killed himself. Ginny had been the one to find him, slumped in the corner of one of the dusty attic, his wrist magically slashed and the floor around him stained a nasty, dirty shade of red. Ron helped his mother scrub the blood away after Lupin disposed of the body, spending nearly a week trying to rub out the eerie message spelled out in blood across the wall on which Malfoy had leaned against: There’s no such thing as Heaven.
It was two days into September before Ron managed to wash the words away completely.
And two years later that he understood what Malfoy had meant.