A/N: Welcome to "Dangerous Journeys". I was totally unhappy with the ending of the Harry Potter series, as were many other people. I felt there were too many loose ends to tie up, and that there had to be a story covering the "missing" 19 years between "The Flaw In The Plan" and the "Epilogue". In fact, of course, there have been many written, and a group of us have started collecting them in a Community called "To The Epilogue and Beyond" which is stored on this web site.
I started writing "Dangerous Journeys" on December 10, 2007. I am writing this author's note on May 18, 2008, the day after the story achieved 10,550 reads on Harry Potter Fan Fiction. I am not particularly fond of that site, and the version of the story posted here is the better version by far.
My main reason for posting this note before Chapter 1, "Sunrise", is that this is a VERY long novel, and like many long stories, it takes awhile to get going. The real plot doesn't even begin until Chapter 5 because I feel there were so many loose ends in "Deathly Hallows" I've tried to get most of those out of the way in the first four chapters before launching off into the story of the Ron/Draco/Hermione love triangle and it's effect on the second generation children.
I have spent a lot of time revising the early chapters because, frankly, I did not have enough experience writing fiction when I began this tale. Therefore, I ask, beg, plead with anyone starting this to read at least the first six chapters, and to know that the pivotal chapter in the story is Chapter 10,"The New World".
Finally, as we all know, the characters and many of the settings in the Harry Potter Universe are the creation of J.K. Rowling. I don't own them, nor do I make any money from this writing exercise. Any character or setting not found in her seven original Harry Potter books was created by me, but I don't pretend to claim a copyright on anything in this story.
Now, please enjoy "Dangerous Journeys"!
BOOK 1, CHAPTER 1: SUNRISE
They sat huddled close together in the Great Hall, three platinum blonds with thin, patrician faces and lean bodies. Overhead, the enchanted ceiling was turning into a bright and cloudless sky, in marked contrast to the ugly gray yesterday. All around them was a cacophonic mix of grief and celebration as families discovered that loved ones had lived or died, and the bodies of the dead were removed to await arrangements.
The body of the Dark Lord had been set aside, now just the shell of a former Hogwarts student named Tom Riddle, killed by his own failure to understand the dark magic he thought that he controlled. Another fifty-four students, teachers and family members had met their deaths at the hands of his followers in the great war between light and dark, but the light had won and the room was filled with sunlight. The house elves and teachers, under the direction of acting Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, had begun the process of cleaning and repair, and members of the Order of the Phoenix were working to restore the government of the Ministry of Magic under Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"They will be coming for me soon," said Lucius Malfoy, still imperial in both posture and speech. "There is no way, at least for the present, that I can escape being returned to Azkaban. But at least, they have driven away the dementors and will no longer use them to guard the prison." He looked away from his wife and son. It was difficult to tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
"No!" cried Narcissa Malfoy, tears streaming down her face. "We have earned the right to more consideration than that. In the end, we did not support Voldemort. I even turned against my own sister. I saved the life of Harry Potter!"
Narcissa Malfoy had indeed saved Harry Potter's life. When he had first been struck down by Riddle, it was Narcissa who told the former "Dark Lord" that Potter was dead. It was a lie. She had only been interested in getting into Hogwarts Castle to see if she could find their son, Draco.
"And I refused to identify Potter, Weasley and Granger for the Dark Lord at our house," added Draco Malfoy. Draco had spent nearly two years in fear for his own life, and that of his mother. Even now, he held onto her hand as though she might evaporate.
"In the end, it will not matter," Lucius said, sounding more like a deposed king resigned to his fate than the survivor of a terrible war. "We have come to the light too late, I believe…at least too late for me. The dark magic, the racial hatred of muggles and those who were not pureblood…those things are in the genes of the House of Malfoy and the House of Black. We have done terrible things in their name, and we will be punished."
"It all sounded so grand, didn't it?" he asked his wife. "Surely those of us born of witches and wizards must be superior to those born of Muggles! How can it be otherwise? How can such people deserve magical ability? Weren't we born to rule the world?"
"How wrong! How wrong!" Lucius actually pounded on the table in frustration as he realized for the hundredth time since the fight in the Ministry what a terrible mistake he had made.
"What we must do now is make amends as best we can. We must take whatever punishments may come. We must change the way we think and the way we act. We cannot do it all at once. It will take a tremendous amount of time for each of us, and I do not know if it is possible to change one's very nature. But we must try."
Lucius Malfoy and his family had undergone a serious change of heart in the spring of 1996. After an aborted attempt to use Harry Potter to retrieve a prophesy from the Ministry of Magic, the Malfoy family had fallen out of favor with Riddle. Once one of the top Death Eater lieutenants, Lucius had been reduced to little more than lap dog status. The family home had been seized and used as a headquarters by the dark army, and all three had been physically and mentally abused.
Soon, it became clear to them that Riddle's true objective was to kill them. But, to make it seem justified to his other followers, his strategy had been to force them to accept almost impossible assignments. When they failed, as he was sure they would, then he would make examples of them. From that point on, their only goal had been to survive the war, and when they could, they had chosen paths that actually helped the resistance.
"Draco, my son, you will return to Hogwarts, if they will have you." Lucius continued. "You must complete your education, and finish your seventh year. I think you should concentrate on international relations and muggle studies. You might even consider studying in the muggle world after you graduate.
"My dear Narcissa. I will do all in my power to keep you out of prison. You must blame Bellatrix for everything. You must claim that she and I both had you under the imperious curse. We will tell them how you helped Potter by fooling Riddle in the Forbidden Forest, and everyone saw that we did not fight this time with the Death Eaters. There is plenty of wealth in our vault. You will have the Manor, and the resources to work for good causes. If you choose wisely, you can restore some honor to the Malfoy name. Do you understand? Do you agree?"
"Yes, Lucius," said the still beautiful and haughty woman, raising her head to look her husband in the eyes.
"Draco, in the long run, it will all be up to you, no matter what your mother and I can accomplish from here," Lucius continued. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father," replied the blond young man. He was obviously not as sure as his words.
"The House of Malfoy was a great House for hundreds of years," Lucius said. "I have brought dishonor on our house because I misunderstood the reasons for our greatness. I thought that blood was more important than good works. I thought that pride was more important than love. I thought that death could be defeated. I thought that dark magic, old magic, was more powerful than the light. In all those things, I was wrong, and I now charge you to undo the damage to our house. Will you try to do that for me, son?
"Yes," said Draco as tears began to stream down his face. He was shaking. It was impossible to tell if it was from remorse or fear.
"I have not been the best of fathers," Lucius said.
"Father, that's not true…" Draco began.
"No, Draco. Hear me out. I have spoiled you in too many ways; taught you that wealth can buy power and success; abused you when you did not do my bidding; exposed you to the greatest dangers imaginable, including the risk of your very soul. Your well-being and happiness were all I ever wanted. I went out of my way to make sure you had everything you ever wanted, but everything we wanted was tainted by our blood."
"I believed that by earning power, even if it was tainted with the dark side, I was earning you a place in history. Instead, I nearly cost you your life. Learn from this. Power is nothing without love. Find true love, and your happiness and power will come from that as it has for Harry Potter."
"Now it is up to you overcome both your nature and your nurture. You are going to be left on your own for some time to come. I am sure they will hold both your mother and me until I can convince them of her innocence. I think your first step must be to make amends with Potter, Weasley and Granger, and I think you must do that at once if you ever hope to achieve a normal life in our world." Lucius said.
Draco looked over in the direction of the large group of redheads. The Weasley family was always easy to spot in large gathering of people. As usual, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were among them. Draco's glance fixed on Granger. He could not believe how defeated she looked. She had been on the winning side, yet everything about her posture and the expression on her face would have passed for the sorriest loser in the war.
He had always thought of her as smart and brave, even when he treated her badly. Now she looked thin and wasted, with her arms wrapped supportively around Molly Weasley. For the first time, he began to see the difference between his family, and theirs.
He had no way of knowing how keenly she felt the loss of so many friends, and of Fred Weasley. All he knew was that suddenly he felt sorry for her. He felt sorry for Hermione Granger who he had tormented and called a Mudblood for six long years. He was not sure what it was, but he felt a silent tug at his heart. Then she looked up and locked eyes with him; he could not hold the glance; he looked quickly away as if caught in something dirty.
Two Aurors approached. The number of people in the Great Hall was thinning out as people were assigned duties, or sought to find privacy and rest. It was nearly mid-morning, and many people had not slept for almost two days.
"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," said the youngest one. "I'm Auror Dirk Truncheon. I'm sorry. We've been instructed to take you into custody. All over England, Death Eaters are being arrested while we investigate your roles in all these troubles, and decide what must be done. Will you come?"
The little family rose as one. "We are ready," said Lucius, still proud but resigned to whatever fate had in store for him. The Auror took Lucius' cane and wand. Malfoy stiffened and gave a small bow. Narcissa raised her head proudly. Father, mother and son embraced, and with tears streaming down all their faces, Lucius and Narcissa were led away. No bindings or spells were needed.
As the house elves and Ministry cleaning crews continued to repair the damage from the Battle of Hogwarts, magically removing the dust and debris, and setting the paintings and armor back where they belonged with waving wands and cleaning spells, Draco made his way down into the dungeon and the Slytherin quarters. He, like everyone else, was exhausted. In the green and silver common room, and in his bedroom, he found he was quite alone. Not another Slytherin had remained to fight on the side of Harry Potter.
A/N: Please feel free to leave reviews. It's easy...just click the little "Go" button to the left and start typing! I am writing this story to improve my use of dialogue (see my profile) so I am especially interested in comments about my writing style.