Chapter Text
As the weeks passed, he became certain that he wasn’t going to be hearing from the Ministry. He wondered if the man had decided against it, once he figured out who he would be fighting. Either way, he was glad he didn’t have to deal with it, even if he was sure he would have won. Draco didn’t need to deal with the uncertainty.
He brought his attention back to him, as he was struggling to write out the word submarine. “The M goes like this, remember?” Grabbing the blue crayon, he slowly drew the letter M next to Draco’s red markings.
Draco pursed his lips, trying to copy what he had done. The lines were uneven, as the crayon kept trying to slip out of his fingers. Once he’d finished, he looked back up at him. “Did… Did it right?”
“Yes. That’s much better.” He set the blue crayon down, running his fingers through Draco’s hair. “You’re so clever.”
A shy smile perked up his lips, as he continued to write out the word. “Subma–rine.” Draco declared, as he finished.
He leaned forwards, looking at the uneven letters. “That’s very good. Much better.”
Draco set the red crayon down, reaching for the green. He would always change colors in between words. “What…
What’s
next?”
“Good job remembering.” He grabbed the next card, which had the word sunshine written across it in large, blocky letters. “Can you read this?”
Taking it in his hands, Draco brought it closer to his face, his nose wrinkling, as he concentrated. “Sss…” He took a deep breath. “Un… Sun. Sss… Ine. Sun-sine?”
“Almost. The S and H make the Sh sound. But you did very well sounding it out.”
“Sun…” He glared at the card, his fingers bending it. “Sun… Sh… Shine? Sun-shine?”
“Yes, that’s it. Good job. Do you think you could write it?”
Draco dropped the card back onto the platform, as he started to copy the letters onto the wall of the tank, his tongue poking out from behind his lips. Once he finished, he leaned back. “Done.”
“That’s very good. You’re great at copying now, aren’t you?”
His head bobbed up and down. “Very great. Want…
Do you
want me to write… without copy…
copying
?”
He smiled, feeling accomplished with how far Draco had come with his speech. “Not right now. We can practice more later. I have something else I want to do with you.”
Draco placed the crayon down. “What? Play?” He wrinkled his nose. “
Are we… playing?
”
“Sort of. I wanted to bring you somewhere. You remember when I first brought you here?”
“Dark and tight.”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s going to feel like that again. Okay?”
“Okay.” Draco offered his hand without hesitation.
He curled his fingers within his, taking his wand out and picturing where he wanted to go. Everything became black, before they both dropped onto the sand, hearing it crunch beneath them.
Draco looked around, his eyes wide and full of wonder. He could hear the waves lapping against the shore, as they rose and fell, dragging stray bits of sand along with them. There were broken sea shells littered along the bank providing small pops of color. A lone seagull shrieked in the distance, drifting among the inky blue sky. Draco tried to drag himself towards the water, his belly scraping against the ground.
“Wait.” He knelt down beside him. “I’ll help you in just a moment. You don’t want to burn.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a tube of sunscreen and started to lather it onto his skin, making sure it was fully rubbed in. Once his back was coated, he dotted it onto his face, receiving a grimace from Draco.
“I know. I’m almost done.” He helped him to roll over, so he could rub some onto his belly and chest. “Alright. If you start to burn, let me know.”
Draco nodded and turned his head towards the water. “Okay.”
Looping his arms beneath Draco’s, he started to pull him towards the sea, feeling water soak into his shoes and drench his trousers. Once it was deep enough, he released him, letting him swim off.
Draco resurfaced a few meters out, leaping out of the waves, before he crashed back into them with a loud splash. He made his way back to the sand, sitting down beside a broken scallop shell. It was snapped in half, the edges sharp and serrated. He picked it up, tracing his finger over the back of it, while he watched Draco weave in and out of the tide.
He seemed happy and free, being where he belonged. The shell tumbled out of his hand, burying itself in the sand. Draco leapt out of the water again, laughing, his face full of joy. He watched him play, growing more and more certain that this was the right thing. The sun poked out from behind the clouds, beaming down on him mercilessly. He crossed his arms over his knees, staring at his shoes and the tiny crab that was attempting to climb them.
“Harry!”
Looking up, he found Draco waving at him, floating on the surface with a large conch shell in his hand, water still dripping out of it. It was a gorgeous pink color, with long spikes protruding from the back of it. He attempted to bring it to him, getting thrown onto the shore by the waves.
“Harry, look!” Draco wiggled, his tail flopping against the sand.
He got up, heading over to him. “That’s a very pretty shell. Where did you find it?” He thought his voice sounded rather hollow.
“By some rocks.” The shell was passed to him.
It was surprisingly smooth, as he traced his fingers over it. “Thank you for showing me.” He handed it back.
Draco tapped it gently. “Can… Can I keep it?”
His lips twitched, as he forced them to remain even. He wanted to take Draco home with him, but he couldn’t. Not without offering him his freedom, and why would he want to stay with him, when he could have all of this? “Of course. This could all be yours. If you wanted.”
“What? What mean…
What do you mean
?” Draco tilted his head to the side, as he set the shell down.
He took a breath to steady himself. “This is… This is where you belong, Draco. You could stay here. You could be free. You could have all of this.” He glanced at the shell, unable to look at him anymore. “You… You deserve to be free.”
Draco was silent for a long time, all he could hear was the sound of his breathing and the roar of the sea behind him. “You… You don’t want me?”
When he looked back up, Draco’s eyes were full of tears. “Of course, I want you. But don’t you want to be free?”
“Don’t… Don’t m-make stay.” His lower lip wobbled, as he hiccupped and started to cry. “Don’t want stay. W-Want go home.”
“Oh. I…” His voice broke, as he reached out for him. “I’m sorry. I thought… I thought you’d be happier here. I won’t make you stay. It’s okay.”
Draco collapsed against him and buried his face against his shirt, sobbing hysterically and letting out nonsensical whimpers.
“You’re alright. It’s okay.” He hugged him tightly, feeling him shudder. “I didn’t want to leave you here. I didn’t. We can go home. We can go.”
His fingers clenched around his shirt, tugging on it, as he looked up at him with frightened and panicked eyes. “Want… Want you.”
“Okay. I’m not going anywhere.” His eyes burned, as he watched Draco bawl against him. He’d never wanted to upset him. He’d just wanted to give him a nice memory and a chance to be free, but he’d messed everything up. “I’m sorry.”
He held him, until he eventually quieted down, his sobs turning into quiet sniffles. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Draco looked up at him, his eyes still watery. “Don’t want… Don’t want you to go.”
“I won’t.” He ran his fingers over his back. “I won’t go anywhere without you. I promise. I wouldn’t leave you, if you didn’t want me to.”
“Do… Do you still want m-me?”
He felt as if he’d been punched in the gut, as all of the air left him. “I do. I love having you with me. I really didn’t want you to go, but I thought you would want to be here.”
His head slowly fell forwards, until it was resting against him again. “Go… Go home?”
“We can go home. I’m so sorry.” He drifted his fingers through his hair. “Do you want to take your shell?”
Draco nodded, so he grabbed the conch, passing it to him.
“You hold your shell. I’ll bring us home.”
The shell was cradled against his chest, as he tightened his grip on his shirt.
He pulled his wand out, bringing them back to Draco’s room. They both landed on the platform. Draco set his shell down, flopping back into the water and finding all of his toys. He tapped every single one, making sure they were all there.
“I’m… I’m really sorry, Draco.”
Draco was holding his beach ball, his face pressed against it. “Like… Like tank. Like toys. Like friend.”
“I… I know. I’m… I was stupid.”
Reluctantly, the beach ball was released, as Draco swam up to him. “Try… Trying to help.”
He reached a hand out, setting it on his shoulder, as he nodded. “I just… I wanted to make you happy. That’s all.”
Draco leaned closer, pressing against him. “I… understand. But… I want to stay here.”
“I know. I know that now.” He wrapped him in a tight hug. “You can stay here. You can stay here as long as you want to.”
“Forever.”
He smiled. “Forever.”