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All his life, Draco had been told by his parents that soulmarks were “merely suggestions” and that they were “mostly wrong” so he didn’t have to put too much thought into his, since all that mattered was to marry a nice pureblood to keep the family name going, and nothing else.
For this reason, Draco never paid a lot of attention to the words tattooed on his wrist, sure that even if he’d ever met his actual soulmate, he wouldn’t have been able to be with them unless they were up to his family’s standards.
***
It was only when he started his first year at Hogwarts that he really started to learn useful information about soulmarks and soulmates from the other Slytherins, and that made his interest peak up a little bit.
-You know,- Blaise Zabini, one of his roommates, told them all the first day at dinner -families like ours usually fake soulmates. The parents read the words on each of the kids' bodies, arrange a first meeting and make sure their beloved heirs greet the partner they chose for them with the right words. So that, officially, no one can say that they are not soulmates, because the phrases match, but actually it’s all bullshit.-
Pansy Parkinson, another girl their age, looked skeptical.
-And how do you know that? You are still a kid. What would be the point in telling you if they plan to do…that, to you?-
Blaise smirked.
-Because they already did. Only, they were too late. By the time they introduced me to the perfect little slytherin girl they had chosen for me, I had already met my soulmate.-
The table went quiet for a moment before everyone started asking him who his soulmate was, and how did he felt upon meeting her so that they would have been sure to avoid being tricked by their parents and even though Blaise gladly answered that last part, he didn’t tell them who his soulmate was.
Draco wasn’t listening, though. He was done listening the moment he explained how things among purebloods worked.
He wasn’t worried about the whole affair, he would have gladly done whatever his parents wanted him to, but he was curious about something though: how were they going to fake that sentence and make it look natural?
***
That summer, when he went back to spend the holidays at Malfoy Manor, he found out.
At first, when his father explained to him that they were going to a public outing and many other important pureblood people would have been there, he didn’t realize what that actually meant.
It was only when, once they reached your destination and started to greet everyone, his mother gave him those instructions that he understood what was going on.
“Draco, dear, why don’t you go say hi to that girl over there, near the fire? She looks so bored. That would be a great conversation starter, don’t you think? ‘Hi, you look bored.’ Just like that. Go. Make me proud.”
Those words kept playing in his head, as he tried not to laugh at how ridiculously obvious his parents were being. The whole conversation starter thing. The fact that witnesses were present. The whole thing about the fireplace being on in the middle of summer, for Merlin’s sake.
But Draco never disobeyed, he couldn’t. So, he went to that girl and told her exactly what his mother told him to.
She didn’t look surprised, nor did she give him any sign of having heard him.
-Sorry. You can go back to your parents. That boy just told me those same words, so he is my soulmate.-
Draco was perplexed. He looked at the boy she mentioned, another pureblood, who was…smiling of genuine happiness.
He looked as if nobody prompted him to approach that girl, he just…did.
It seemed like there were soulmates even among purebloods, after all.
He hid his confusion after his usual facade and then went back to his parents to tell them what happened.
They were just as surprised, and very very annoyed, but there wasn’t much they could do.
They stayed at the party, pretending nothing happened, fake smiles of politeness on their face all night.
Then they brought him home, and Draco really hoped they wouldn’t have tried this again at least for another couple of years.
***
It had been exactly two years since his “failed engagement”-even if he doubted that his parents would have defined him “engaged” at eleven years old- and Draco had come a long way
First, that episode had proven to him that his soulmate could have actually been a pureblood girl like his parents desired so much.
Secondly, that was never going to happen because he was very gay.
It hadn’t been long since he had realized - he had just finished his third year at Hogwarts, after all- and it wasn’t going to matter either way: his parents wanted him to marry a pureblood girl, so he simply would have.
His feelings didn’t matter.
But he wished. Oh, he wished. Sometimes he stared at Blaise and Theo curled up in the bed next to his, knowing they were going to spend the night whispering about nothing and everything to each other, their young friendship blossoming into something new and he wished.
He wished that someday he would have been able to have something like that too, to have a soulmate too, to be loved too.
But those were nothing but a child’s fantasy.
He was the only Malfoy heir. He couldn’t disappoint his parents. He couldn’t do what he wanted. He couldn’t be happy.
***
It happened in the summer between his third and fourth year. His parents made him and another girl meet, once again next to a fireplace. He wasn’t surprised, he wasn’t disappointed, he hadn’t truly felt anything.
He just stared at the girl after greeting her like his parents had instructed him, waiting for her to speak. He could read in her eyes that she knew exactly what was happening to them and that she was almost as miserable as he was.
-Be careful, you stupid brat. Are you trying to get yourself burned to a crisp?-
The words were exactly the ones he had been looking at on his wrist all his life, exactly the same, but that was it. Everything else was wrong. The tone for starters, Merlin. She sounded so…kind, almost afraid and completely crushed with her words. And Blaise told him, told him how the words on your wrist burns when your soulmate says them, and your heart stops and you feel everything-
Nothing. Draco felt nothing. It didn’t matter how a part of him had wanted so much for it to be real and for that girl to really be his soulmate.
She wasn’t.
And judging by her reaction, he wasn’t hers.
But it didn’t matter. It had been done. The witnesses saw them.
-I’m Astoria, by the way.-
-Draco.-
***
After that, things got… better, somehow. His parents were happy, so he was happy.
And after all, at Hogwarts he didn’t have to pretend. He and Astoria would just avoid each other, and that was more than fine to him.
She told him that she had a soulmate, a third year half-blood Hufflepuff boy, so it made perfect sense for them to be together most of the time. And at least there they could.
Draco envied her. She had found her person. And even if they really would have gotten married, he would have never held it against her.
He wanted her to be happy. That situation wasn’t their fault. He… he was happy for her, really. He just wanted that for himself too.
The fourth year had started, and many of his friends had found a soulmate by then. Some real ones, some arranged ones too, but yet for some reasons no one looked as lonely as he did and as he felt.
Were they just…better, at it or did they all have found their real soulmate, their secret lover to make up for the arranged marriage?
He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
-Ehy.-
Astoria’s voice brought him back to the real world and so did the friendly smile on her face.
-Found your soulmate yet?-
Draco sighed.
-If I did, you’d already know Greengrass. Can’t you see how miserable I look?-
Astoria smirked.
-Yeah, but you always do. That’s why I have something for you, to cheer you up.-
Draco looked at her, gray eyes full of sudden interest.
-What is it?-
-Dragons.-
Draco looked at her, eyes widened in disbelief. Everyone knew how much he loved dragons. He was basically obsessed with them. In another life, he would probably be a dragon tamer.
-You are not kidding, are you?-
-No, I am not. They are the first trial of the Triwizard Tournament. Cedric told James, who told me. You could probably sneak out to the forest tonight and see them.-
James was Astoria’s boyfriend, and after this, Draco liked the guy even more.
-Of course I will. Merlin, this is amazing. Thank you so much, Astoria.-
The girl just smiled.
-Don’t mention it Draco. You could use some happiness in your life right now.-
***
Draco knew that what he was doing could have resulted in him getting detention for the following month, but honestly, it was worth it.
He had realized that he could easily sneak out to the forbidden forest at night when he was in the first year and had followed Potter and his extremely annoying friends outside.
Of course, that first time they had all been punished, but in the last three years he had gotten better at it. He was basically a pro.
So, he reached his destination without any problem, not surprised about the fact that there wasn’t any professor around.
Also, it was ridiculously easy. He could see the flames thrown by those magnificent people from far away.
All he had to do was to follow them.
When he finally caught sight of the first dragon, he was quietly hidden behind a nearby tree: there were a couple of dragon tamers with the dragons, and he didn’t want to be sent back to the castle.
The closest one to him was a Welsh Green and it was in a cage.
The sight was breath-taking: that magnificent creature, that intelligent creature having his freedom taken and his wings trapped by something so…simple, as a cage.
The dragon could have gone anywhere, it could have ruled the world but….there it was. Stuck.
Draco could relate to that. In some ways he too was in a cage. The pressure for an heir, the wedding with Astoria… he didn’t have any freedom as well but was it because he lost it or was it because he never had any to start with?
Almost hypnotized, Draco took advantage of the fact that the handlers were further away now to start walking towards the cage, very slowly.
He was so close, a couple of steps more and he would have been able to just reach out and touch it. He was about to do so, when a sudden voice made him drop his hand immediately.
-Be careful, you stupid brat! Are you trying to get yourself burned to a crisp?!-
His heart stopped. He could feel his wrist burn so much, in a way that was so,so painful that for a second he really thought the dragon had burnt him.
He slowly turned his face in the direction the voice came from, his heart beating so hard that Draco was scared it would explode from his chest and he could swear that for a moment time completely froze.
In front of him was one of the two dragon handlers he had noticed a couple of minutes before, looking at him with an angry expression on his face, but also a concerned one - he was probably worried to lose his job over a boy getting killed by a dragon, and well, Draco couldn’t blame him.
The guy looked way older than him, he definitely was out of Hogwarts and he surely was very attractive, with all those muscles and that handsome face.
But…there was something off. He knew those piercing blue eyes, he knew all those freckles, he knew that bright red hair.
Fuck, he thought, he is a Weasley.
The Weasley looked like he was going to talk again, probably to yell at him to get the hell away from the dragon, but Draco couldn’t let him, so he ran away without a word.
It was too soon, he couldn’t meet his soulmate now, he simply couldn’t.
And by the way, the guy looked…something like ten years older than him, how would he have reacted if he found out that his soulmate was a fourteen years old boy??
It was too soon.
Draco would have met him again, once he would have been older, and once he would have been ready.
Then, and just then, he would have told him whatever he was supposed to tell him so that he would have been aware that Draco was his soulmate.
It was that simple, really.
***
-You met your soulmate??-
-Lower your voice, Astoria. I don't want the whole great hall to hear it.-
After a couple of days spent thinking about it, Draco had decided to tell Astoria what happened, knowing that she was the only one who really could understand what he was going through and, most importantly, help him out.
-Are you sure it was the right person and not another kind of trick of your parents?-
-Why would it be another trick of my parents? We are already promised to each other, no need to do anything of the sort again. And by the way, trust me: my parents would never choose someone like that as my soulmate. And he said the words. The exact words. It has to be him.-
He had told Astoria that he was gay a couple of months earlier, so he wasn’t surprised when she didn’t react at his choice of pronouns.
-So, you also said his words?-
Draco went quiet.
-Well.-
-Draco Malfoy, what have you done?-
Draco sighed, knowing he had to be honest with her.
-I didn’t say anything. I just ran away. But wait, don’t give me that look, Greengrass. He is older. Way older. So it made no sense for him to find out his soulmate is fourteen years old. When I’ll be ready, I’ll find him again and I will say anything it is I have to tell him.-
Astoria looked at him, her perplexed expression turning into a curious one.
-So you know his name? Is he someone we know?-
Draco sighed again.
-Well…-
-Bloody hell, Malfoy, you really make me want to kill you!-
-I know his last name, alright? He is definitely a Weasley. But there are so many of them, I have no idea which one it may be.-
Astoria couldn’t contain her laughter.
-A Weasley? Your soulmate is a Weasley?-
-Shut your bloody mouth, Greengrass, I know how bad that is. But at least it isn't that Weasley, so it could have been worse.-
Astoria nodded, the phantom of that laughter still on her lips.
-Oh, yes, definitely. He’s even a pureblood. When the soul link is among pureblood wizards, usually families like ours let it slide. There are other ways to have an heir, after all. Maybe your parents will accept it, exactly as Blaise’s and Theo’s did.-
Draco laughed, a joyless and sarcastic sound, and his whole expression turned as cold as ice.
The same happened to his tone.
-Oh, yes. My parents will be delighted. They don’t have a Galleon to their name and they are all bloody Gryffindors. I am sure Father will absolutely love him.-
Astoria sighed.
-Alright, you have a point. Then, let’s focus on finding out which Weasley is your lucky soulmate.-
Draco sighed.
-Alright. I guess we can exclude the Weasleys at Hogwarts right now and the one who finished last year, because they would all be too young.-
Astoria nodded, writing everything down.
-Brilliant. I know for sure that the Weasley have seven children, six sons and a daughter so that leaves us with… two sons. See? That was easy.-
Draco slightly nodded, lost in thought.
-Yes. I don’t know their names though, do you?-
Astoria simply shook his head.
-That’s bad. Another information I got is that he was her to handle the dragons. So that must be his job. This will at least give us a chance to find out which one of the two remaining Weasley is, once we will find out something more about them.-
Astoria wrote that down as well and then looked at him expectantly.
-And how will we do that?-
Draco looked down at the words tattooed on his wrist.
-I have two options. Either ask my family, or ask Weasley.-
Astoria’s eyes widened.
-Wow. Those are both awful ideas.-
-I know, Greengrass, thank you.-
Astoria sighed.
-If you talked with Ronald, he may find out why you are asking and tell his brother. I understand that it’s not what you want so I think you don’t have much choice.-
Draco knew she was right. He couldn’t risk talking with his soulmate’s brother, so he simply had no other choice than to talk to his parents.
-I’ll do it. I will talk to Mother, I know how to handle her.-
Astoria sighed.
-Let’s hope you know what you are doing, Malfoy.-
***
Draco waited until he was home during the summer to ask his mother. It was something that had to be done in person, and even with his parents focused on the return of the dark lord and their whole mission as his servants, Draco simply couldn’t wait any longer.
It wasn’t easy, but Draco managed to find a moment alone with her in their library, taking full advantage of the soft spot his mother had for him. He knew she wouldn’t have been happy about what she was going to find out, but she was the only one in that house who could try to understand, and she would have helped him anyway.
Especially because he was still going to do exactly what his parents wanted him to.
-Draco, what was so urgent to distract me from our duties with the Dark Lord? This better be quick, we have business to attend.-
Draco looked at his mother in the eyes, taking a deep breath before giving her his answer.
-I met my soulmate.-
Narcissa looked at him, clearly taken by surprise. Draco could read on her face that she knew that he wasn’t referring to Astoria and that little escamotage his parents had organized to make sure he had a proper partner. A proper wife.
-This is….unexpected. Who is it? Someone your father would approve of?-
Draco shook his head no.
-He’s a Weasley. - he said, pretending to not notice the horrified expression on his mother's face when she heard his choice of pronouns -But worry not, mother. He has no idea I’m his soulmate because I didn’t say anything to him. And I intend to keep it that way, and to follow through with my wedding with Astoria.-
His mother looked relieved, and rather pleased, but Draco was not done.
-But… I don’t even know his name. I know that with your knowledge of pureblood families, if I gave you the information I possess you could at least tell me something about him. It’s not an unreasonable request. I just want to know his name and what he does, and then I will never mention this topic to you ever again.-
Draco wasn’t being completely honest. One day, when he and Astoria would have been married, and paradoxically more free, he planned to find his soulmate and tell him the truth.
But his mother did not need to know that.
Narcissa stayed silent for a while, simply looking at him. Her face was an unreadable mask, but Draco knew she was pondering her options.
-Very well. I don’t want you to risk to alert the counterpart by looking for information about him on your own. What do you know?-
Draco couldn’t hold back a relieved breath, trying his best to hide it from his mother, before simply nodding and starting to speak once again.
-He must be one of the two eldest sons and I know that he works with dragons.-
Narcissa looked at him, maybe starting to put the pieces together, since she knew the words written on his wrist as well. Luckily, she didn’t ask him any questions.
-That would be Charles Weasley, then. I know that he left for Romania right after Hogwarts to work at the Dragon Reserve there.-
Draco realized he had been holding his breath that whole sentence. Charles. It was nice to put a name to his face. And Charles was such a beautiful name. Draco liked it.
-Draco- his mother called him, bringing his attention back to their conversation. -remember that what you do in the privacy of your own home is nobody’s business. But what you do in public, at Hogwarts or even here, that could be a scandal. If Astoria doesn’t make you happy, no one forbids you from looking for that happiness elsewhere. But no one can know.-
Draco nodded, still trying to process everything that just happened.
He had his name. It was a great starting point. He honestly couldn’t wait to be back in Hogwarts to look for Charles Weasley in the school records.
He really wanted to know what he was like when he was his age.
***
Finding information about Charles Weasley’s stay in Hogwarts had been…complex.
The records were all there, in the library but they were in the Gryffindor aisle, for obvious reasons.
Draco and Astoria were getting all kinds of weird looks while they spent their afternoon there, but Draco didn’t care at the moment, too interested in finding out anything he could about his soulmate.
-Here it is.- he told Astoria, finally finding the book regarding the seven years they were interested in.
-He is eight years older than me, he was Gryffindor’s quidditch captain and he played as a Seeker, just like me. He was very good, too. He could have become a professional player, but he decided to leave for Romania, to care for the dragons. And apparently he goes by “Charlie”.-
His heart was beating so loud in his chest. It was dumb, because the guy was a bloody Gryffindor and a Weasley- but Draco liked him already.
They were both so focused on the book that they didn’t notice the three people who had approached their table minutes earlier, looking quite pissed.
-What are you up to, Malfoy?-
Draco froze. His worst nightmare was starting to become a little too real.
-Piss off, Potter.-
-Answer him! What are you doing on our side of the library? And why were you talking about my brother?-
He raised his eyes to look at Weasley, not knowing what to say. He was definitely panicking inside, but there was no way he would have ever let them know.
-None of your bloody business.-
He simply replied, before getting ready to leave, Astoria by his side.
-What are your Death Eaters friends up to, Malfoy? There’s no way you’ll ever get him.-
Draco wasn’t reactive enough to hide his surprise when he heard these words from Potter, realizing too late his mistake.
They thought Astoria was his soulmate, so they also thought that his only reason to look up random Gryffindor was to…harm them.
-Forget it, Potter. And leave me alone.-
They didn’t manage to stop him and, just a few seconds later, he was safely out of the library.
Meeting Ronald just reminded him how terrible it was that his soulmate was a Weasley.
He thought back to his short encounter with Charlie in the forest, trying to remember if he was, or looked, anything like his brother.
Draco shook his head. No, he thought, he was nothing like this. My Weasley is going to be different.
***
Luckily, he managed to avoid those three idiots’ questions for the rest of the school year, but his troubles didn’t end there. with Summer also came chaos.
With the war approaching, his father started pressing about him getting the mark.
It didn’t matter that his mother insisted that he was still too young, the decision was taken.
The war was close, and Draco would have fought.
He just wished the dark mark wasn’t so close to his soul mark. It was way more difficult to read, now.
***
Draco never wished to run harder. He was a Death Eater now. He had the Dark Lord’s trust. And he had to help to kill Dumbledore in order to do so.
Draco was a terrible person. He was so busy trying to be the perfect son to his parents, helping with the war, that he had barely time to sleep, or eat.
He still thought about Charlie multiple times a day, though. He was sixteen now, so Charlie must have been twenty-four. If only he could meet him now. He would have actually talked to him this time, he would have told him that he was his soulmate.
He wondered if a Gryffindor like him would have ever accepted someone whose hands were so dirty as his soulmate.
***
Another year went by. Voldemort lost the war, but that was more than alright. Draco and his mother switched sides last minute, helping out Potter and his friends.
Lucius had been brought to Azkaban. Draco felt sorry for his father, but he was too tired to truly care.
Honestly, he was exhausted. He was done pretending to be something he was not. He was done with all those purebloods bullshits. He just wanted to move on with his life, maybe get a job and…. and look for Charlie, maybe.
But instead, he felt like a prisoner in his own home.
He was sitting by the window in Malfoy’s Manor, chin on his hands and eyes fixed on the garden outside.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear his mother approaching.
-Hi, Draco.
-Hello, Mother.-
After Lucius’s arrest, his mother hadn’t been quite the same: she almost looked like a ghost haunting her own home, always miserable and never leaving that place.
Draco was almost scared to end up like her.
-You are seventeen, now. Almost eighteen, even. You are of age.-
Draco nodded, not really knowing why she was telling him that. His birthday had been sometime during the war, but they were all too busy to remember, or to care.
Narcissa sighed.
-Look, Draco. I think we both know that what happened with Astoria is evidence that, after everything that has happened, bloodline is…not the most important thing. What I really want right now is to see you happy. And you are not. You are as miserable as I am.-
Draco looked at her, his eyes empty. He didn’t want to hurt his mother, but he hadn’t been happy in a long time.
-I’m sorry, Mother. I will try harder.-
Narcissa shook her head and took his hands into hers. She hadn’t done that in a long time.
-What I think,- she said, eyes stuck on his own - is that you need to get away from here for a while. The wounds from the war are still fresh on the people around us. Not everyone is ready to forgive, so there is nothing for you here. Leave, Draco. At least for a while.-
Draco looked at her, shocked.
-But, Mother. The Manor is all we have left. Where else would I go?-
His mother gave him a little smile.
-I hear Romania is lovely this time of the year.-
***
A week later Draco was in a foreign country he knew absolutely nothing about, looking for his soulmate.
He had gone straight to the Reserve, of course, and he had announced his arrival with a letter, but still many things could go wrong.
He didn’t have a reasonable motive to be there, first of all, and they didn’t let anyone near dragons. Therefore, there was a real possibility that they would have just sent him away.
And what if Charlie wasn’t there anymore? What if he wouldn’t have found him? Or worse, what if he was there, but he didn’t want anything to do with Draco?
What Draco was doing was incredibly stupid, and if it failed he wouldn’t have had any chance to go back to his normal life. So really, it was a leap of faith.
He waited at the entrance of the Reserve, not knowing how to actually get in, or how to let anyone know he had arrived.
He was scared he would have waited for hours, but luckily a young witch greeted him.
-Mr Malfoy, we were waiting for you. Please, give me your arm so I can apparate us both back to the main cabin.-
Draco nodded, doing as he was told without any questions. If the girl was curious about his presence there she didn’t show it, simply escorting him to their destination.
He probably had to explain his presence there to whoever was in charge, or someone like that.
He still had no idea about what he would have said.
They apparated in some sort of hall, in a building that was clearly some sort of office and the witch immediately let go of his arm.
-Wait here. He will be with you shortly.-
He? Draco wondered, curious about that choice of words. Was she referring to the boss, or what? Did they somehow know the real reason for his visit? That was impossible, right?
He was proven wrong when, a couple of minutes later, a stunning redhead entered the room smiling…at him?
Draco could feel his breath stuck in his throat: Charlie didn’t look very different from when he had seen him the first - and last- time. He was still gorgeous, still very well built, but he had a couple more scars.
And Draco was now taller than him.
His brain clearly ceased to function for a second, because he forgot all about this being the first time he truly had a chance to talk to him, to make him realize he was his soulmate, that he was the one, because when he finally spoke, a single word left his mouth.
-Charlie.-
Charlie didn’t look very shocked though, as he brought a hand to his chest - probably where his soul mark was - and smiled at him.
-It took you a while.-
Draco looked at him, utterly confused. What was going on? Had Charlie know that he was his soulmate this whole time.
-I…don’t understand. You knew?-
Charlie smiled sweetly at him, and Draco felt a warm feeling hit his stomach. Everything he had been told about soulmates was definitely right.
-It’s a long story that requires a cup of tea. I think we both have a lot to say. But this is not the right place. Would you like to join me in my cabin?-
Draco simply nodded, following him outside.
They walked for a while, in silence, probably even studying each other a little bit, until they reached Charlie’s cabin and got in.
A couple of minutes later, Draco found himself on Charlie’s couch, a cup of tea in his hand and Charlie next to him.
It was such a weird feeling. Draco had no idea what to say to break the silence, but for some reason it wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward at all.
-Well, I think that a great starting point would be introducing ourselves. I know we both know each other’s name, but it’s not the same thing, is it?- Draco nodded, and Charlie smiled again. -Great. I’m Charlie, Charlie Weasley.-
Draco took the hand Charlie was offering and shook it. His hand wasn’t soft, marked from the hard work he did every day, so different from his own delicate skin. Draco loved it.He wanted Charlie’s hands all over his body, and to touch him as well. This was going to be difficult.
-Draco Malfoy, nice to meet you…again.-
Charlie smiled, for like the fifth time in a row. He was going to kill Draco.
-The pleasure is mine, Draco.- He hated the way hearing his name from Charlie’s mouth made him feel. -I know this may be…bold, and you can always say no, but I was wondering if I could see it.-
It took Draco a moment to understand he was referring to the soul mark, and when he did, he felt his cheek burn. No. No way. Draco Malfoy was not blushing. He didn’t blush, for Salazar’s sake.
He nodded, and he started to roll up his sleeve, when he remembered about the other mark on his arm.
-You should probably know, they are… a little bit difficult to read.-
Charlie simply nodded, seeming to have understood what he meant immediately.
Draco sighed, and rolled up the sleeve of his robe, the dark mark on full display on his arm, with the soul mark basically under it, since they were so close.
Charlie grabbed his wrist gently and started reading those words, apparently effortlessly. It almost seemed like he didn’t see the dark mark at all, just reading his soul marks.
He then started to trace the words with one of his fingers, with so much care that got Draco breathless -and blushing - once again.
-They don’t match what you told me today. - he said, for no apparent reason since Charlie knew more than Draco thought. -Because four years ago, we met…-
-...in the forbidden forest, I know.-
Charlie said. He had a grin on his face, and his eyes were back on Draco’s.
-But…how?-
Charlie let go of his arm - for some reason that left Draco with a sense of loss - and looked at him, his expression more serious now, but still very kind.
-I wasn’t sure, at first. But when we met, when you first heard what I said, your first reaction was to look at your wrist. That made me think that maybe you were my soulmate. But I wasn’t sure until my brother sent me a letter saying that I needed to be careful because “Draco Malfoy, a dangerous kid, is doing research on you, Charlie!” I soon realized that Draco Malfoy and the kid I scolded that night were the same person. You may think the same about Weasleys, but you too have a very peculiar hair color, one usually associated with your family. That was the last proof. You didn’t have many other reason to do research about me.-
Draco didn’t know what to say. This was…way easier than he thought it would have been. But also, he had questions. So many questions.
-May I ask why you didn’t reach out first?-
Charlie nodded, eyes still in his.
-Many reasons. First of all, since you hadn’t talked at all that first time, I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure about you being my soulmate. Also, you ran. That made me think that maybe you didn’t want anything to do with me. And you were fourteen. And engaged, from what I heard.-
He looked at Draco, silently asking if that was still true.
-I…was. But during the war Astoria’s parents died. So, there was no reason for her to stay in an arranged engagement neither of us wanted. She is engaged to her soulmate now.-
Charlie smiled.
-I’m glad to hear so. I’m surprised your parents didn’t arrange you another wedding already.
Draco looked down, not wanting to show his weakness.
-Well, my father is in Azkaban so he doesn’t really have a saying. And actually, my mother was the one to send me here.-
Charlie looked impressed.
-Wow, I never thought I would have to thank Narcissa Malfoy, but here we are.-
Draco looked at him, still pretty confused. They had talked about the past but what about the present? What was going to happen now? Could Draco simply…stay there? He decided to ask.
-So, I don’t really know how any of this works…what do we have to do now?-
Charlie smiled and took one of Draco's hands into his.
-We don’t have to do anything. But I can tell you what I would like for us to do, and you can tell me if it’s something you are interested in.-
Draco just nodded.
-I would like for us to get to know each other, for a couple of weeks. I have a guest room you can use. Then, if you like the place and, of course, me, you could get a job at the Reserve. I know that you like dragons, and I hear you are great with potions. We could use one more healer. But we can think about this part later. For now, we should just focus on getting to know each other for a while, so you can
make your own decision. What do you think?-
Draco was speechless. Not only was it perfect, but also, Charlie was giving him a choice. He wasn’t used to people giving him one.
He just looked at him for a minute or two, trying to find the words. And when he did, he smiled.
-I think I’d like that.-
And the smile Charlie gave him made him realize that he would have never been able to leave.