[Fic] fall, fall, fall (Harry Potter)
- Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
- Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
- Tags: Canon Divergence
- Word-Count: 414
- Status: Complete
- First Published: 2022-09-14
- Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling and make no profit from this—it is solely a hobby for fun, with no financial compensation.
Summary:
he doesn't know what's at stake, never really has, but he knows better than to bend before voldemort.
Work Text:
draco falls, and falls, and falls.
the ground rises up below him like a gaping maw, swallowing him into drowning darkness before his magic even has the time to react, and his hands stretch out, desperately, but he can't catch a thing. the sky is soon missing from his sight, replaced by an avenue of stars and and then not even that. there is a moment, here, where draco does not know which way is up, which is down.
there is only the darkness, and the rising tide of magic swelling inside him.
and then—an explosion. the fall stops, the magic recedes, the sky is sunny and bright and when draco blinks next, he's met by a red gaze searing into him.
he stumbles on nothing. "my lord," he says, like that can protect him from his own thoughts. "i—" he pauses, licking his lips. "did you find what you're looking for?"
lord voldemort's movements are slow, unhurried things, and has been ever sense he turned up at the manor one morning and proceeded to change everything. even now, as he searched draco's mind for something draco doesn't know, voldemort didn't hurry. didn't rush.
(draco will admit, if only in his own mind, that he doesn't recognize this voldemort. there's a patience there, a sanity, that is anathema to everything voldemort first was when he was resurrected.)
(draco doesn't understand it. but he also doesn't need to.)
"i did," voldemort confirms at last, gaze pinning him in place. draco doesn't dare move, his hands clasped behind his back and pressing nails pressing into skin. he merely nods, a single sharp bob of the head. voldemort's gaze stays still on him, never shifting.
draco can vaguely feel his parents worried looks on his back, can vaguely hear the chattering of the other death eaters. but he can't look away from those red, shining eyes. can not breath that gaze, or allow himself to tremble beneath it. he doesn't know what's at stake, never really has, but he knows better than to bend before voldemort.
"after this meeting is over, you and i will have a proper conversation, draco," voldemort says, then, and draco gulps. nods sharply again. very much does not think about the anxiety brewing under his skin.
he says, "yes, my lord."
voldemort's red gaze stays with draco during the rest of the meeting, and his mother grips his hand tightly. draco breathes, and forces himself to trust in voldemort's new sanity.
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