Work Text:
Two boys, abused.
One raised to be a martyr sacrificing himself for the greater good.
The other brought up as a sycophant to a tyrant whose rule led right into hell.
Antagonists from the start.
Two pawns released into the aftermath of a war with shattered souls and minds.
The first a celebrated hero, the second a former villain condemned to a life of penance. Both defeated and lost.
What if their paths crossed again?
Imagine a chance encounter at the first meeting of a group counselling.
(Attendance was a condition of their suspended sentence. You know, for all those minor offenses committed since the war.)
One enters the room. He spots the other immediately. That one looks up. They freeze. It’s too late to leave. Mindhealer Abebi has already started welcoming the group.
They decide to act like the adults they are, though, avoiding eye contact and bodies slightly turned away.
They don’t want to listen to the other either, and yet, their ears are pricked.
And isn’t it curious? What they hear, it makes sense. It’s…intriguing.
So despite everything they will come back.
They will learn and understand that both of them were used.
That they might be two sides of the same coin.
Moreover:
If one admits to being a victim, so can the other.
If one stops blaming himself for his lack of agency, so can the other.
Yes, there's a difference between them. I won’t deny that.
It does matter that one was on the wrong side.
But what if that one changed?
What if he already has?
What if the other forgave?
What if he already has?
They met when they were 10 and fell a decade later.
It’s no easy love. But its steady pulse thrums in their souls. It’s a bond for life.
“Oh no, Kate! Are you ‘abusing' Harry and Draco again?”
“Eh, well, no…it’s healing.”