Chapter 1: Draco is released
Author: Final Destination
Years after Hogwarts, Voldemort was dead, and the nightmare was over. Harry was living on his own in a basement flat in central London.
One morning in winter, as usual, the daily prophet was carried through his window by a tawny owl. He paid the bird and unfolded the paper, to read while he drank his steaming coffee. He scanned the front page, where there was a huge picture of Draco Malfoy, looking ravaged, and much thinner than when Harry had last seen him - certain phrases seemed to stand out in bold to Harry's shocked brain.
Draco Malfoy found innocent… Released from Azkaban after one year … Family name in ruins…
Harry's head started spinning, but then he found that he was too old to get worked up about Malfoy's release.
He was too weary to be angry that the seven years he had spent working to put Malfoy where he belonged were wasted, vanished like smoke, like dust in the wind. He remembered the hateful look in the former Slytherin's eyes as he had stood trial, and Harry had given evidence against him at the court of the Wizengamot, sealing his fate. When Malfoy had been sentenced, his eyes had become deadened, his whole posture flagging as he realised where he was going to spend the rest of his life.
Up until then, Harry had been certain that life imprisonment in Azkaban was no less than Malfoy deserved, for murder, unwavering misplaced loyalty to the dark side, but when he saw an indefinable emotion flit across Malfoy's delicate features, he wasn't so sure anymore.
The evidence had been… inconclusive, but Harry was passionate and determined, and he had made sure Malfoy was convicted at any cost, which included silencing anyone who disagreed. At the time, Harry had been savagely triumphant.
Now his life seemed empty. He had nothing to accomplish, focus on, no reason for living whatsoever. Most of his life since Malfoy had been taken had passed in a dark blur, without the sneering face of his rival grinning in the abyss.
Harry jerked suddenly. The door bell was ringing insistently, and somebody was banging on the door. He was definitely not in the mood for chat, so he cast a silencing spell to muffle the disturbance and pretended he wasn't home. All became blissfully quiet again.
Until quick footsteps sounded down his hallway, and the flaming red form of his friend Ron appeared in the kitchen with him.
"Ron," Harry said, torn between exasperation and pleasure. Ron had… changed. He wasn't obnoxious and stupid anymore.
"Harry, I'm sorry I broke your door, I'll pay for it," Ron lied. He had no more money now than he ever did, so Harry repaired the door with a wave of his wand. Ron continued. "But I see you saw the paper?" Harry nodded. "Malfoy got released…"
"Do you know why?"
"No," said Harry. "I was interrupted." Ron seized the paper and summarised a section for Harry's ears.
"Lucius Malfoy died, and in his will he left Draco nothing, which is cause for suspicion anyway. But he also made a confession before he died, and that was Malfoy never was a deatheater. His own father said he never was a deatheater, but an utter disappointment. You sent Malfoy to Azkaban, but he was innocent."
To be continued