Life was good for Draco Malfoy, he was content.
He no longer had the unlimited wealth and power that had been his birth right before the war, but he had his freedom, his wand and his own apartment. It was a one room studio above a small pub in Knockturn Alley, there was barely room to swing a cat, but it was his. He'd spent some of his savings making it homely and he was happy there. The entire apartment was smaller than the bedroom he grew up in, but he felt more at home there than he had ever had at Malfoy Manor. It was short walk to Diagon Alley where he spent most Sundays running errands, the pub downstairs served a decent Firewhisky, and there was a quaint second hand bookshop across the street.
The flat was too small for a fireplace, but the pub below was connected to the Floo network, which came in handy travelling to the Ministry for work. Whilst the work he was doing was an obligation, not a choice, he had to admit, it was nice to go to sleep on his own bed, as opposed to a drafty cell in Azkaban next to his father. Following the war, he'd been put on five years' probation. The majority of his crimes had been committed whilst still underage, and remainder whilst under duress. The family's assets were seized and their home now belonged to the ministry, who had been trying to sell it since the day they took possession. Strangely, nobody had offered to purchase it, buyers looking to live in the Dark Lord's last abode were few and far between. The contents of their Gringotts' accounts had been taken as reparations. They were left with a minimal stipend to allow his mother to live in working-class comfort. She now resided in a shared accommodation with some other Pureblooded wives whose families had been stripped of their wealth. She lived in comfort, but the loss of her husband and home of two decades had hit her hard and there was a sadness in her eyes that Draco couldn't erase, regardless of how hard he tried.
Draco had been sentenced to 5 years of sponsored work at the Ministry. He didn't earn the equivalent of other employees on the same level, but was paid enough to live, and the Ministry paid a small amount into a savings account for him every month that he would receive once his five years was up. In every role, he was assigned a mentor to support him and guide his progress. The Court's thinking was that by being exposed to honest work, he would be transformed into an honest man whilst still being of use to society. There was a secondary hope that by experiencing various departments, he would find a career that he would focus his efforts on, as opposed to following the family footsteps of government manipulation and tax evasion.
Draco counted himself lucky in spite of it all. He kept his head down and got on with his work every day. He'd gained a reputation as something of a work horse. He could be found in the office until after 10pm most nights. It wasn't that he loved to work, it was simply that he had nothing better to do. The majority of his former friends had moved to the continent to start over without a black mark against their names. Every Sunday, he visited his mother for dinner and decent conversation, but Monday through to Saturday, he was at the Ministry. Most evenings, he was at his desk, pushing ahead projects he was working on. Sometimes, he was in the Ministry's library, simply enjoying reading for the sake of it. People were cordial to him, and he was invited to work functions but he didn't really have friends. He told himself that was okay, there more important things, but he did get lonely from time to time.
Working in the Ministry had been good for him, he was proud of what he had achieved and the work he had done. He'd spent a year in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He couldn't believe his luck that his first assignment involved Quidditch. Sure, it was mostly paper pushing, and getting coffee for people, but it was paper pushing and coffee with Quidditch in the background. Following that he'd spent 6 months working for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He'd found that department surprisingly interesting and had been disappointed to have had to move on, the role had had a more physical aspect and the manual labour had been a nice change of pace from a desk based job. He'd spent a further 2 years between Magical Accidents and Catastrophes; Magical Law Enforcement; and Magical Transportation. He now found himself with 9 months remaining until the end of his probation and he was free to do as he liked. He'd been in the Department of International Magical Cooperation for 3 months and it was by far his favourite: he got to travel; he got to practise other languages and above all else, he got to see Hermione Granger every day.
Life was good.