antebellum
"Malice toward none with charity for all."
-Abraham Lincoln
dead man walking
The victors, they claimed benevolence. They cried equality, peace and forgiveness for all: no revenge, no retribution. The ministry assured none of it would take place and that those who had been on the other side (the losers) had nothing to fear; everything would be done fairly and justly. "Let's rebuild everything together- let's restore the wizarding world to it's former glory."
But Draco Malfoy, he thinks (knows, feels) that the whole thing is bullshit. The Minister of Magic, yeah, he might be saying this. But the Minister isn't on the streets everyday, is he? Because these claims of kindness are just their way of shoving it down his throat, showing how angelic they are. It's a mask to the world, showing the crack of war and how quickly the mask is being patched up.
Some people find his pieces too scathing, too whiny, too ungrateful. These people know who he was and what he's done. Perhaps even, they've seen the mark and flinched or spat or were angered. Some of these people, they think it serves him right and his father deserves a stay in Azkaban (and that he's damn lucky he isn't there too)
Yes, Draco Malfoy knows the victors think they are just so benevolent and angelic and just. fucking. perfect.
And if they want benevolence, he'll show them it.
He'll show them what it's like to constantly look over your shoulder. To wake up somewhere unfamiliar when you don't; somewhere a hundred miles from home and broke as all get out.
He'll show them the missing family and the missing friends (and he promises, they had been there yesterday)
He'll show them the screaming and the clanging cells. The nightmares and broken homes (and all the broken people).
He'll show them the staring and whispering and all the rude gestures. The shoves, nudges, trips and a single word.
"Traitor"
And no matter what the ministry claims, or what 'progress' fills the papers, life for the losers is hell. And the one thing that everyone seems to forget is that they were just as affected by the damn war as the victors.
And after all of it, he's lost any excitement for life. Now he's just a dead man walking with no destination.
...
Astoria's a gift. Or an angel, Draco really isn't sure.
He meets her two years after the war, although it's more of a re-acquaintance because they were both Slytherins when he was still in school and he knows her sister well enough.
And she's nothing like Daphne.
She forcibly drags him back to the land of the living, makes him feel happy for the first time in forever. She never looks the mark, nor does she despise him as a Death Eater.
"You did it to protect your family, Draco. It's what anyone would have done."
Yet, as reassuring as it was meant to sound, it makes Draco cringe. For all he saved his mother and father (and he still isn't so sure about the last one), he can't help but think he's screwed his to be family over. After all who wants a husband or father who was a death eater? They'll be dragged through the gutter for it.
Because even if the ministry is benevolent, schoolchildren sure as hell won't be.
...
Lucius is released from Azkaban seven years later, coming home looking horribly aged and thin and shell of the proud man he used to be. The dark mark on his arm is rippled with scars; seven years of scratching still hadn't removed it.
He's missed a lot of things. His son's marriage, the birth of his grandson.
And as he holds a newborn Scorpius, he wonders for the 64,782 time whether everything was worth it.
...
Draco holds his son's shoulder tightly at Platform 9 and 3/4 as they wait for the Hogwarts express to arrive. He still was unsure whether it was a good idea to send him here and as he watched the multitude of Weasley's and Potter's farther down on the platform, his anxiety's increased. Potter looks up at him and he gives a brief nod. He can't help but hate him.
And it's no longer petty, schoolchild hatred or hatred because of the pain he's caused his family. Now he can only hate him and his children, along with Weasley's. Because Draco is sure they will make Scorpius' life a living hell.
(And he supposes he deserves this, at least. After all, he did the same thing to them during their time at Hogwarts)
So when he later finds out that Scorpius is becoming fast friends with the middle Potter child, Albus, and the eldest Weasley, Rose, he grins.
It's taken nearly twenty years but finally Draco sees all the talk blossoming into something like the truth.
a/n: I just came home from a trip to Washington (DC) and New York and was dismayed while there to be without my computer to jot stuff down. So now I'm going to be sorting through various notes written on napkins and the like to form some of my upcoming one-shots. However, the trip was very exciting !