AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was my 2013 Hogwarts365 (hogwarts365 . livejournal . com) entry for WEEK TWO (23-28 September, 2013). The challenge was to write a 365 word drabble (exactly) using at least one of three prompts the Mods supply:

Prompts used were: "Payback's a bitch!" and "Room of Requirement".

Thank you to the Mods for putting on this drabble challenge. I really had fun with it!

Please review!

DISCLAIMER: "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

TIMELINE: Hogwarts Era – 7th year A/U (no Voldemort resurrection, no war).

MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name): Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott

SUMMARY: Revenge isn't always sweet - sometimes, it's bitter and hollow, and it leaves you heartbroken, too.

RATING: PG-15

WARNINGS: Implied infidelity (off-screen), confrontation, explicit profanity, saying good-bye (break-up), sad ending.

NOTES: Theodore Nott is Head Boy.

THE HARDEST LESSON

By: RZZMG

"Leave me alone."

Theo stood his ground, refusing to budge before Draco's anger. "Not until you know why I did it."

His lover barked a cynical laugh. "Oh, I know why, Theo. Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" He stared down at his expensive leather shoes and frowned. "It's no more then I deserve, though, right? How long have you known?"

Saddened that it had taken something this extreme to get the truth out of Draco at last, Theo sighed. "Do you want an exact count of months, or will it suffice to say I've known about every one of your affairs?"

Draco nodded, accepting the answer. "Why use the Room of Requirement and not the Head Boy's dorm, though?"

"Because we lost our virginities to each other in there. I even conjured the same bed."

Angry, Theo's lover rounded on him. "You fucked Potter in the same bed we used to fuck the first time?" he snarled. "Why would you do that? Why him?"

Clenching his sweaty fists at his side, Theo forced the truth out between thin, white lips. "Because I wanted you to know how it felt to watch the person you love loving someone else."

Draco stumbled back and his face drained of all colour as the truth hit him between the eyes with all the force of a twenty-pound sledgehammer.

"Look, tomorrow, we graduate out of here," Theo forced himself to continue with the speech he'd prepared in advance. "I'm leaving for Canada to begin my apprenticeship program on Monday. I won't be coming back to England for years, maybe ever. I think it's best if we just end things here. Make a clean break of it."

His former lover was silent in the face of that pronouncement, staring at the floor with such pitiable despair that it hurt to look at him.

It was time to go.

Theo headed for the door, as heartbroken and wretched a man as the one he was leaving behind. He'd obtained his revenge, but to his dismay, there was no vindication to be found in it. He wasn't sure there ever would be.

Some endings didn't come with peace, even if they achieved closure.

~FIN~

Author's Notes:

Because I've been asked by others, yes, the implication in this tale is that Theo loved Draco, but Draco never loved him. Instead, Draco secretly loved Harry Potter from afar. Draco didn't think Theo knew about his feelings for Harry, though. Obviously, Theo did... which is why Theo seduced Harry and arranged for Draco to find out. How very twisted and Slytherin of Theo, yeah?

Please review!