Life was going pretty badly, if Draco dared to complain. His overbearing parents made the atmosphere at home almost unbearable. Everything he did was simply not up to their standards; bad grades, bad attitude—it was either this or that, and if nothing was wrong, then they would find something new to nitpick. It was already annoying that the standard they held for him was sky high. In the first place, what was the difference between a 93 and a 98 score? Also, he couldn’t be nice to everyone he met if they were being assholes to him in the first place. That was just not how it worked, even that person was the richest in school.
Their form of punishment wasn’t straight-forward. It felt like he’d been given the silent treatment his whole life, actually, and they only spoke to him to reprimand. To scold and remind him of what they have given him his whole life. Of course, he knew his parents loved him. If anyone looked at their home, they would see their love for him in full blast… in the form of worldly possessions, that was. Everything he wanted, he got, except acceptance. Some would say it was a fair trade. He, too, tried to be grateful for it all, yet sometimes…
As he walked the road home, he thought, yet sometimes, he wished to know what it was like, to be loved just as he was.
He knew these worries of his weren’t worthwhile. Not only were they such a trivial problem that others would probably think him less were he to ramble to them about this, but there was also the fact that he was powerless to change it anyway. His parents were unyielding as stone; never-changing til’ the end. When they believed one thing to be right, they wouldn’t move from that belief. It would be admirable if not for the fact that they believed silent treatment to be a good method to raise their son.
It wasn’t like he was allowed to leave home either. “Only for study group purposes,” was the stupid rule they decided on. As if Draco was about to get out and start snorting drugs.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden wetness on his nose. His luck only managed to land him a spot under the bus stop before the rain poured. He let out a loud sigh and sat down, already hearing the scoldings he would receive when he arrived home late and with dirty shoes. What a waste of time this was, he complained. He couldn’t do his homework out here, or even some minor reading for the windy rain would ruin his books.
In the middle of falling water, it was only Draco and his thoughts eating him alive.
It was only Draco and his thoughts… until someone else jogged to the bus stop and sat next to him. The boy panted and drank from his bottle in large gulps. Draco couldn’t help but look out of curiosity. It wasn’t like he had any sort of intentions, but there was nothing more interesting and he would rather have an awkward conversation than sit silently in the rain. Anything to run from the horrors of reality occupying his mind.
The boy, however, didn’t seem very interested in him. Draco could see how he wore a high school uniform, although not as the same as his. His raven hair was messy and all over the place, wet from the rain. Clumsily, he wiped his round glasses on his shirt and used them again. This boy was a messy person, he thought. Draco wondered what type of person he was. What types of sorrows he’d had.
Draco couldn’t help but clear his throat. “The rain… is pretty bad today.”
The boy seemed surprised as he looked at him. It might be that he didn’t expect a stranger to start up a conversation out of nowhere, but to Draco, he looked like he hadn’t even noticed a stranger was there, sitting next to him prior. However, he wiped the surprise out of his face quite quickly. “Yes, the news didn’t even mention it was going to rain today…”
Weather was really the lamest topic Draco could have started with, but the boy continued speaking after a pause. “To be frank, I wasn’t expecting you to speak. Actually, uh… Do you need some tissues?”
Draco’s mind blanked out for a second.
“Tissues? What for?”
He made a gesture to his own face. “You’re kind of… crying.”
His hand reached for his face without thinking, and when he made contact with the wetness there, he immediately looked away. “It— it was the rain,” he grumbled as he wiped his face free of tears.
Stupid, Draco reprimanded himself while praying to whichever lord was above that this boy didn’t recognize him and wasn’t in contact with any of his friends. Stupid, how deep was he in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize he started crying? It wasn’t the act itself that he considered weak or feminine, but to do that in front of a stranger he greeted himself… How embarrassing. The boy probably noticed him before, but decided to keep quiet because he saw him crying and somehow Draco managed to ruin his act of kindness and embarrass himself in the process.
Expectedly, he chuckled at the lame excuse, but Draco was surprised to find that it wasn’t nefarious. “It was the rain,” the boy agreed easily. “Is your house far from here? Mine’s just a few blocks away.” He pointed to where his house supposedly was.
“Around that same length, the other way… I could probably make it if I run, but I’d hate for the rain to seep through my bag and ruin my books.”
It was odd how they could hear each other despite the pouring rain.
“Then, would you like to borrow my umbrella?”
“What?” It didn’t make sense. “Why’d you sit here if you have an umbrella?”
“I saw a cute boy crying and I couldn’t help myself,” he said shamelessly with a grin. Draco felt his face heat up at the brave admission.
“I— that’s absurd. I can’t just take your umbrella. It’s fine for me to wait here.”
“Then, I’d like to wait with you, if that’s alright.” He grinned.
“I mean, I wouldn’t mind,” Draco agreed petulantly, looking away to hide his blush. A moment of weakness was all it was.
“I’m Harry, and you?”
And that was all it was. His escape from reality came in the form of a boy in a bus stop, in the middle of a pouring rain. With small, useless conversations that didn’t have to do with grades or socializing to climb a figurative ladder. It was mindless and natural, and he didn’t have to say anything he was uncomfortable with saying. He could cry and smile, and everything was alright.
If anything was to go badly at home, that would be a problem for later. Right now, he was okay.
Part of the Void Gift Exchange 2022
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