Disclaimer:I don't own Harry Potter.

Word Count:397

Notes:

The 5 Drabbles Competition Round 4: Prompt Used—fear

Draco stared at the menacing grey smoke swirling upward in the distance, smoke that he knew marked the now-quiet ruins of the school. His parents clung to one another silently behind him, marveling in the fact that their small family had made it through this ordeal alive. Beside him, Pansy clutched his elbow, her face a mixture of shock and pain. She'd found him as he and his parents had quietly slipped away while the defenders of Hogwarts celebrated, and no words had been necessary for her to explain her intentions; Draco had extended a hand wordlessly, and she had equally wordlessly accepted, grasping his hand tightly and falling into step beside him as they hurried into the steadily brightening dawn.

Now, with the sun bearing down on their backs, the four of them had paused in sudden mutual agreement for one last look back at the world they'd known burning behind them. A quiet, pregnant moment passed in which the four came to their own individual realizations that the nightmare of the past few months was over—and a new one was just beginning; for there were no comfortable days of lounging at Malfoy Manor in their future. The wizarding world had united against them, and they had fallen—and until the dust settled, there was no way of knowing how far. Draco didn't need to ask his parents to know that they would want to go into hiding, to put as much distance between themselves, the Order, and Azkaban as possible until matters calmed.

He didn't need to ask Pansy if she was coming with them, either; her decision had been made from the moment she reached back for his hand. But he glanced down at her anyway, expecting to see the top of her dark hair and surprised to find that her pale face was tilted up to look at him, her eyes searching as they locked onto his own.

"What now, Draco?" she asked, a touch of fear coloring her voice. "What do we do now?" All at once, the uncertainty of their future came crashing down on him, the knowledge that they would be hiding in the shadows, glancing fearfully over their shoulders for Aurors or Order members or anyone who'd had a family member killed by a Death Eater washing over him with terrifying clarity.

"I dunno, Pansy," he finally answered.