Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Draco's Quest
Smash.
Draco staggers back with a yell as a killing curse just misses him and hits a marble bust, shattering it into a cloud of white dust. Coughing violently, he turns and flees in the opposite direction.
The screams of pain and fury all around him bore holes into his mind. He runs and runs, dodging fiercely dueling pairs of wizards and witches.
Dead bodies lie sprawled on the ground, Hogwartians and Death Eaters alike. Draco prays to every deity he's heard of that his parents are not among them. Both sides would want them killed, one side for the Malfoys' past crimes and the other for abandoning the Cause.
He can see it…
His mother, fallen among the ruins, a ribbon of deep crimson unraveling away from her…
His father's lifeless body, blank grey eyes staring at him in a final apology…
Draco pushes away the images, the demons.
He painful throbbing in his nose feels distant. He knows he deserves Weasley's punch. He knows he is a coward.
But he doesn't care.
There are heroes, the brave, loyal warriors fighting for freedom, there are villains, the evil, malicious sinners fighting for power… and there is Draco Malfoy, a solitary terrified man lost among them, desperate to reach the two people he loved most in the world.
His feet stumble forward as he wildly scans the corridors. Feeling something trickling down the side of his face, he brushes his fingers across his cheek; they come off red. Stomach churning, he runs faster…
And there they are, his mother and father. They stop in their tracks when they see him, holding on to each other's hand as if to a lifeline. Their appearance is so abrupt, for a split second Draco wonders if he is dreaming.
But if it is a dream, they would be smiling, poised and happy, wouldn't they, not like they've been to hell and back? Their robes are singed, arms scratched and the tear tracks on their faces show up deathly white against blood and dust.
But all of this pale in comparison against the fact that they are alive, Merlin, they are alive.
As his father's lips press against his forehead and his mother's tears soak his shoulder, Draco decides that, as far as he is concerned, the war is bloody well over.
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