Introduction

All right, here I am, trying to prove my case, so please, just hear me out. There is a method behind the madness. The Draco and Ginny pairing was appealing to me because to me, Draco is a lot like a Snape person. Keep reading! The problem with Snape was that he never felt like rising above all the anger and resentment he felt.He never had a reason to do so. He had this screwed up family who didn't give a care about him. He was unpopular with friends who didn't give a care about him. And because he was so messed up, he didn't have a girlfriend. So, he stayed bitter turned evil, and then became the bad sort of good. I want things to be different with Draco. I want him to be redeemed, so sue me. Is it wrong that I want him to change before he gets too screwed up? They say that kids learn by example, so I think it's about time that he had someone other than Lucius Malfoy to look up to. Why Ginny? Because it kind of works. You never actually see Draco target Ginny in particular. He just makes fun of the family to get to Ron and Harry. There was one part in Chamber of Secrets where he says "I don't think he liked your Valentine much" to her, but really, that isn't enough evidence to pass any judgment. He could've have said that to her to get to Harry and make him feel bad out of spite, or he could be a little jealous of the attention. So maybe he did do it to hurt her feelings, but why? And why in that particular way? That's food for thought. Now that you know that, I can give you one more detail. A lot of this fan fiction is based on, not only the Harry Potter books, but a song. The Reason by Hoobastank. If you listen to the lyrics, and read the story, you'll know why. (That's how old I've been sitting on this little fanfic)

Okay then, I'll start the story.

Chapter One
Misery

Draco sat in the pub slowly drinking his glass of sherry. His grip on the glass tightened when he thought of what his day had become. He angrily drained his glass when he thought of what his life had come to. He came very bloody close to hurling his glass at the wall when he thought of his father.

The man who shaped my life, he thought bitterly. As if this is what I wanted, as if I ever had a chance to figure out what I wanted.

It was thanks to his father that he was caught up in this whole forsaken Death Eater business. The Dark Lord might be the biggest bully on the playground, but that didn't make Draco any happier about having to take orders from someone. What's worse was that Lucius was his superior. Orders went from the Dark Lord, to Lucius, to Draco. He scowled. All his life . . . all his bloody life, all he ever tried to do was prove to his father . . . prove ANYTHING, something to the senior Mr. Malfoy. After twenty-three years, he was almost fed up.

Draco thought about his day again. He had been sent to murder a family, his father watching over what he did. One split second of hesitation earned him an hour's worth of Cruciatus Curse torture. This time, Draco did hurl his glass against the wall of the pub. The bartender looked at him with fearful eyes. Draco left enough money on the counter to pay for the glass and his drink, grabbed his coat and stormed out of the building.

Draco Dissaparated to his flat. As he changed, he thought of how inferior he felt when he was a Death Eater. He was talked down to as if he were a dog. A dog that was being house broken. Maybe even a house elf. He threw himself down on the bed thinking of how he might feel when the war finally ended.

There were two possibilities. On one hand, if Harry Potter and Dumbledore won the war, everyone he rubbed shoulders with was basically condemned to Azkaban. Maybe not an Azkaban presided over by Dementors, but prison nonetheless. The world would be ordered. But there would still be Mudbloods, Muggles, and Blood Traitors roaming about. Then again, that would make Draco's father furious. Option number two, the Dark Lord kills Harry Potter and defeats Dumbledore. For one thing, Draco wouldn't go to prison. Chaos, destruction, murder, fear, panic, and no more muggles. The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters would rule the whole of the wizarding world. But in this world, a world where the Dark Lord ruled, Draco would still never be free. He would be bound to serve one wizard for the rest of his days. That was still prison.

Let's face it, he thought to himself, I'm in a lose-lose situation, and there's no way out. If I could find a way out . . .

But that wasn't right, and he knew it. There was a way out – quit being a Death Eater. Point blank. But there was too much at stake in that plan. It might bally well work, but there wasn't a legitimate reason for Draco to take that risk. He was uncomfortable and unhappy for sure, but he'd be even more so if he quit.

"Bollocks, I'm fucked!" Draco said quietly to the night. His eyes slowly blinked shut and he drifted off to a dreamless sleep.