Dark Marks [01] for Circumpolar

[coreofaphoenix]

This was not the way Harry Potter had imagined his life to be when he was a first year back at Hogwarts and just learning about this world.

Of course, after that first year and the years following, he thought himself lucky if he made it past Hogwarts in the first place.

It had been five years since the end of the war. The wizarding community was continuing to be rebuilt as the days, months and years went by. He had friends that had been a invaluable support to him during and after the war. Not only that, but he had a strong and beautiful woman who had been by his side since that final battle.

A woman that would be his wife in less than 48 hours.

It wasn't who he had expected by any stretch of the imagination but she had been there and they had grown closer than he ever imagined he would after Draco.

Draco, the boy Harry had considered his best friend for a number of years had ran off at some point during that final battle and he hadn't heard from him since. It had been infuriating but most of all, he had been... upset when he hadn't heard a peep from him the years since.

Harry shook his head and gave himself a look over in the mirror. It didn't do to dwell.

He had never been a vain man but he wanted to make sure the fit and color was just right. It was. He had learned some things over the years being best friends with a boy who made sure he looked impeccable.

He thanked the shop keeper after changing back into his every day robes, hung the dress robes over his arm and left the shop. It was mere minutes later that he returned to the flat he was renting and banished the robes to his closet. Harry took a moment to look around the front room and allowed himself a little smile. It was a far cry from where he started.

He wasn't needed anywhere for another few hours. It was just plenty of time to have some tea and catch up on some communication with friends.

Comments

[coreofaphoenix]

He felt a smile tug on his mouth as Draco pulled him in close and wrapped his arms around the other wizard. "I know - you kept telling me," he couldn't help but tease him before becoming serious. "It's okay. I'm okay, promise," he said and looked at Draco with a serious expression.

He knew there was a lot he would have to do but he was almost happier now that it was done. Maybe that had something more to do with Draco than being separated from Ginny, he didn't know.

"All I want right now is you and this scotch." Mostly it was Draco though. Simply being here with his best friend, whose cock he had in his mouth a couple of hours ago, was all he wanted.

[circumpolar]

Harry seemed to be doing a lot better than Draco was. Draco was still trying to cope with it, to make it all make sense. He was a rogue wizard, on the run, and wanted by both sides, and he knew that he could die in the end. He had come here to see Harry, accepting it would be the last thing he did before Harry married a Weasley and Draco did his best to disappear and live out his life.

One thing had changed. How much more could change.

"We still hav tonight," he murmured softly. "At least there's that."

[coreofaphoenix]

He was sure that part of it was shock. First Draco contacts him, they meet and reconnect and then Ginny decides she wants to call off the wedding. A lot had happened over the last twelve hours. Still, he was glad he wouldn't have to hide this.

Harry wasn't bound to let Draco go, not without a fight and even then, if the wizard insists on leaving, he'd make sure he would do everything he could to keep him safe. Even after all these years with Draco MIA, he counted him as his best friend.

"We have tonight," he agreed then looked at him squarely in the eye. "If you think for one minute I'm letting you leave again Draco Malfoy, you have another thing coming."

[circumpolar]

Leaving Harry was the hardest thing Draco had ever done. Yet when Potter left that evening, he had faced that he was going to die in that room when Ginny sent someone to kill the remaining Malfoy. So it was still hard to cope with this, to know he was alive, and Potter was single and this was not the end.

'But you have..." A life. Friends. So much more. "Potter, I'm still wanted by both sides. You can't take that chance." Could he?

[coreofaphoenix]

Harry arched an eyebrow and blinked at him. "You forgot about something - I'm the Chosen One. As far as I see it, I've done more than my share. I can take the chances I want to take."

He never used that 'title'. He loathed it, in fact. However, he was a Slytherin and it wasn't below him to use it to his advantage when he wanted to.

Which include Draco Malfoy.

Beautiful, snarky and intelligent Draco Malfoy.

"If, in the morning, you decide you want to leave, I can't stop you. There are ways to keep you safe."

[circumpolar]

It was exactly that reason that he wasn't sure that Potter could. People would look for him, they would notice his behavior. Especially when the announcement was made that he and Ginny were no longer engaged.

"You and I both know that's why you can't," he said, giving him a look. "You live in a spotlight, Harry, and they won't forgive even you for me." he didn't think. Was it at all possible?

"I don't want to use you to regain my place in society," he said softly. "You know that, right? That I wouldn't do that?"

[coreofaphoenix]

Harry understood what Draco was saying. He knew very well how the very fickle public was and how they were bound to react. Despite what people may think, he was certainly not blind to it.

Truth was, he wasn't as uptight about what people may think as Draco seemed to be. It was years now since the end of the war and he had stepped in many times during those initial months speaking at trials for those he felt deserved it.

Those who may not have had any other choice.

"Draco, they didn't forgive me for years when they found out I was sorted in Slytherin. Or that I speak Parseltongue. Or when I was selected as the fourth champion - insisting that I did it myself." His voice wasn't raising nor was he getting agitated. He was simply stating a fact - or many. He knew Draco's concerns but he had long since given up trying to make everyone else happy.

"I know you wouldn't, Draco." He took a drink from his glass then sat it down. "Do you know I spoke at many of our friends' trials? Getting them pardoned?"

It meant, he could do the same for Draco.

[circumpolar]

"They are not Malfoys."

And in his mind, that said a lot. There were names that were so ingrained in the darker side of the wizarding world that they may never change. Then there was the fact that Draco bore the dark mark, and actions that could well be held against him.

"And you ..." He sighed, pulling Harry closer to him, kissing his cheek tenderly. "All I've wanted was to come back and find you. And that is why i've stayed away," he admitted, clinging to the other man. "I don't want to drag you down, Harry. Tonight though... I needed to see you again, but I never thought this could happen.

"Do you know how much I wish we could just disappear," he sighed.

[coreofaphoenix]

A soft exhale escaped his mouth as Draco drew him close and wrapped his arms around him, simply holding onto him for that moment. Harry had tried to move on with Ginny and with life. He felt accomplished in how far he'd come since the end of the war. But, there had always been something missing.

Although he had been upset and hurt after Draco left, Harry had still missed him despite everything he said otherwise. He'd tell Blaise he was fine - that he didn't miss the ponce but he did. Draco had been his first best friend.

"All I've wanted is for you to come back, you prat," he muttered. There was no heat to his tone, just a certain fondness and honesty. "You don't drag me down," he added, perhaps needlessly.

Harry leaned in and nuzzled at the other man's neck, simply wanting some sort of comfort. "Do you know how much I would love to disappear with you?"

[circumpolar]

It felt so good, memories, and so right, and all that Draco had wanted for so long. Just to even have this, to have his best friend back and. Even a remotely normal life. Just this was enough though. Holding him as he was.

"You are a damn hero," he pointed out. "So of course you think it's fine, even though I would." They had hunted him down. Hunted down his mother. The others that bore the mark. All of them. Harry would be included if they weren't careful. That connection and hero worship so many had for Harry wouldn't last forever.

He blinked, considering that. He knew he shouldn't say it but then the words were there. "What would happen if we did?"

He was crazy to ask it, and he knew it, but Draco couldn't help himself.

[coreofaphoenix]

Harry didn't even know who he himself was until he entered the wizarding world. Afterward, he disliked being this famed 'boy who lived' nonsense and the golden figure head of 'peace' in the world. However, like any natural Slytherin, he had used that to his advantage when it came to the media and press.

He felt a smile curl on his mouth at Draco's question and hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, I imagine we would need to run by my flat so I could grab a few things. I'll send off an owl or two so important people don't start a massive search. I think we should start with our tattoos though. And perhaps finish what we started before we were interrupted..."

He could almost taste just how much he wanted to disappear with Draco.

[circumpolar]

It felt like this was all suddenly a dream. Maybe they had come through that door and killed him, and this was his afterlife. If that was the case, he was willing to embrace it. All to keep this, and Harry.

"You're not ... You're serious." He wasn't sure he believed it, even if he didn't entirely question it. "Potter, you know what you're offering, right?"

Of course for Draco, at that point, vanishing didn't matter. He was dead one way or another, so he would never be part of wizarding society again. He didn't care about that. He cared about one thing. Harry Potter.

"I want this, Harry. I want you." He had never, in their life, said it so clearly.

[coreofaphoenix]

He was not going to crack a joke at this time. He was not. Especially when it was this serious.

"I'm serious," he said and watched Draco's face for a long moment. "I know exactly what I'm offering, Malfoy. Question is if you're willing to take it."

Harry knew Draco enough to know that he would take it. They had been parted too long to not - especially not after tonight.

"Good because I want you too," he said, clearly as to make no mistake.

[circumpolar]

If he made the joke, he was likely to get punched for it. Apologies after, but definitely punched because Draco's emotions were running much too high. He had come there that night to say goodbye, not with the thought of a new life.

"Where do we go to fix the tattoo?" He asked. Like that. His family was gone. Everything he was raised on was gone. All he had left was Harry, and he'd just found out he had him. He had something left and he wasn't going to let that go.

"Let's go. Just in case." In case Ginny changed her mind. In case anyone followed Harry. Just in case.

[coreofaphoenix]

"I know the place. They should still be open, just down the street. Very discreet," he said and looked at Draco with a nod. This was creating a feeling in Harry he hadn't felt since he was in school. A sort of rebellion of not doing what people expect from him, despite being sorted in Slytherin.

"Afterward, we'll have to run by my place to grab my things," he said. Just a few important things that he couldn't leave without.

He fully planned to let key people know that he was off traveling, to get a moment away from London. Find who he was again. Which was, let's be honest, true to some degree. He was finding who he was again, with Draco Malfoy. He was excited, honestly.

[circumpolar]

"Discreet? Even when it's you and me walking in?" Because they were both infamous, and most would recognize them the moment they walked in. "I know I have faith in you, Potter but..." But he was not as willing to die now as he had been such a short time before.

"I don't have much left," he said, meaning that there wasn't much he would need to get. "Though, much of the Malfoy items, the things that are worth money like the silver and the family history, I know where Mother hid them all. For another time but I know where they are."

He had things they could convert to money, for one, especially in the muggle world where certain family crests would mean nothing.

[coreofaphoenix]

"You know as well as I do, Malfoy that money speaks. I have enough to ensure their silence. So long as neither of us act like complete arseholes," he said with a slight tilt of his head, watching him. Though, he was glad to hear that Draco, in not so many words, was more hesitant in going in guns blaring. Not that they were, exactly - they were getting tattoos.

He nodded. "Then once we grab what we can (which, for a wizard, was probably a lot), we'll leave."

Harry took a look around the hotel room Draco had rented before looking at him. "Let's get out of here?" There would be plenty of time to catch up on things and on each other.

[circumpolar]

"Is that a warning?" He sounded, for a brief moment, like himself. He sounded like the boy he had been, cocky and arrogant. It didn't last for long. Too many years on the run had taken that from him.

It still felt fake, like it wasn't even real. He wasn't sure how to make this real for him, not given all he had been through. Eventually, with time, he'll feel it was real. When he didn't wake up for a handful of mornings without finding himself alone.

"Of course. Let's be on our way." Leave this behind. Not just the room, but the life he had been living since the war ended. He wanted to leave it all behind.

[coreofaphoenix]

Harry's mouth curled up into an amused smirk hearing that posh cocky tone to Draco's voice. Too much had happened to either of them for that to remain the case for long but nonetheless, Harry liked hearing it. "Yes," he said, though his amused look said something different.

He was sure it wouldn't feel real until they were away from London together somewhere and they'd both slept and woken up together. It was how Harry was feeling too, having his best friend back after so long apart.

Harry nodded and shrunk the whiskey bottle down after closing it and placing it into his pocket before looking around. "Got everything?" They were out of the room and out of the pub before too long, Harry leading away to the magical tattoo parlor he had mentioned earlier that night. He was, admittedly, a little worried about how the tattoo artists would take it with the two of them walking in but they owed him a big favor so he was cashing in on it now.

[circumpolar]

Laughing at Harry making the whiskey a priority. It was something that he felt he needed. Not just the whiskey in the future, but in truth in the laugh. Having a sudden laugh, it felt good.

Nodding as he had a small satchel that held all he needed. All the rest was stored elsewhere, and he knew where it was and how to get to it when he needed it. Until then though, all he needed was in the satchel.

It would seem Draco was having the same concerns. "You're sure they won't say anything? I mean, I'm not entirely unrecognizable, and the mark..." The mark was definitely what he was worrying about. More likely, their reaction to the Mark.

[coreofaphoenix]

It was nice to hear Draco's laugh again. One that was simple amusement and nothing else. He could feel his smile growing wider in response.

Harry glanced at him and hummed. "They owe me a favor," he said simply. "Besides, you're not the first former Death Eater looking to cover up his mark. That's why they're trusted... and so discrete," he said, glancing over at him. He was sure that Seamus and Dean hadn't originally anticipated (or even been pleased) by so many former Death Eaters coming for some sort of cover up to the dark mark but after the first couple... their tones had changed.

He felt himself smile. "You know, I can't remember if you said, do know what you're thinking of getting?"

They had quickly moved from tattoos to Draco teaching him a few things and Harry blowing him in his room.

[circumpolar]

It was an odd sound to Draco, truth be told. If he had been asked when the last time he had laughed was, he wasn't sure he could say. He couldn't have even sworn it was a sound he'd made before.

"Yeah well, I'm the most hunted." He had tried to kill Dumbledore. He had been part of that and people knew it. So many stories had gone on, made him to be so many things. Some of them he had been. Some of them he hadn't. Potter was the only one he expected to listen to him and listen to the truth.

"I trust you though, so I trust them." Even if he would be shocked when he saw just who it was. Being known, and knowing who they were, was not the same thing.

He was quiet for a time. "I had thought to get a dragon when I considered it. Something to show who I am, and stronger than the snake."

[coreofaphoenix]

"Draco, people know you're not the one who killed him," he said, stopping to look at Draco closely. "They know who really did it and even why he did it. They know it wasn't you who... pulled the trigger, so to speak." Draco Malfoy, was honestly from what he knew, was one of the last people the Ministry wanted to bring in. He had been there that night, after all.

His mouth curled up a little, hearing that Draco still trusted him. "I'm glad you trust me still," he admitted. Though, honestly, the fact that Draco had sent him that note and wanted to meet with him and then trusted him with leading him to this tattoo shop, he hadn't truly doubted that. "It's not misplaced."

"A dragon fits you," he said with a smile, looking over at him. They came to a stop in front of a lit tattoo shop and pulled open the door to allow Draco through first. Pansy would already be gone and for that, he was thankful. Seamus and Dean would be only easier to deal with right off than Pansy would be just now.

[circumpolar]

"I know that, but they also know I was one of them. They know what I went there to do," he pointed out. "I don't think it's just Death Eaters who were hunting Mother and I down," he admitted. "Though they were the ones that found her."

He didn't think the other side was trying to kill them, but they would have faced the rest of their lives in Azkaban.

"Of course I still trust you, Harry. Maybe not the rest of the world, but of course I trust you." That had not changed for him. Not in the least. He cared about the boy too much.

"Well, apparently my parents had something right," he said in dry tones, though his lips were twitching into a smile, even as it faded as they came to a stop.

He paused, taking a breath. "Okay, just open the door before I remember all I know anymore is running," he said softly.

[coreofaphoenix]

"They know but they also know that you weren't the one to actually do it," he said, looking at him. "There's been plenty of people who killed and died in this war. I worked on clearing Severus' name and I attempted to clear yours and Narcissa's... but without either of you present, it was hard." He had tried. He didn't do much for Lucius because as far as he was concerned, the man had earned his place wherever he ended up but now, he wished he had actually gotten him for something so Draco didn't have to look over his shoulder.

Of course that didn't mean all was good and well in the wizarding world. After five years, it was still a shit storm and no matter what he did or what he said at any of the bloody Ministry functions, it didn't change a person's prejudice against anyone who wasn't 100% 'light'. It was probably one of the things that bothered him the most if he was completely honest. It had also been Flag #1 that made Harry realize he didn't want to become an Auror. He had simply been going through the motions at that point, hoping that he could sway people's beliefs. But now... now, he had something else with Draco here. He could make his own life now.

It was bloody fucking exciting.

His mouth curled up a little and reached over to grab his hand, giving it a squeeze, glad he could touch him again and have his best friend back.

Harry nodded and opened the door to the shop and allowed Draco through first. "Finnigan? Thomas? You around?"

"Harry! What are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be having some sort of stag night," Seamus Finnigan asked, walking out of the backroom and stopping at the counter. It took him a moment to spot Draco Malfoy next to Harry before turning a questioning look at The Boy Who Saved Them From Destruction. "What's this then?"