And if you think I'm wrong,
Then this never meant nothing to ya.
My Chemical Romance - Disenchanted
-
They made their way quickly out of the school, marching proudly like they'd had nothing to do with the night's events. Down the long, winding road from Hogwarts to the gate, until they were off the grounds and could Disapparate away into the night.
-
With a series of faint pops, the three tall, thin shapes appeared side by side in the private sitting room at the Malfoy mansion. Now away from the disorder and chaos, Narcissa took a good long look at her son. He looked mostly the same as when she'd last seen him; he looked tired and on some of his exposed skin, burns had appeared. However familiar the boy standing in front of her was, though, he was also different.
Very different.
Older, somehow; like the pale son she'd always tried to coddle had grown, into the span of a few hours, into a man. He stood bu the window, nearly the height of his father already, and even in the dim light she could tell he was tense. Lucius, on the other hand, was absolutely livid. The moment they got into the room he began to rant about the night's happenings.
"How a little brat like that... the Dark Lord murdered by that...that bastard's hand! With his own wand! I can barely believe that the Dark Lord could suffer that indignity, had I not seen it with my own eyes I would refute-"
"Shut up." The words came so suddenly and in such a flat voice that Narcissa had to look to make sure it was Draco who'd said them.
Lucius turned slowly and looked at his son in disbelief. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me." Once again the voice was barely his. "I told you to shut up."
"How dare you-"
"Because after all we've seen tonight, you're still defending this 'Dark Lord' of yours," Draco spat. "My whole life you've supported him and his ideals. I was raised hearing about Potter the bastard and V-Voldemort, yes, I said it, Voldemort the hero who had all the right ideas."
"You dare speak his name and speak to your father in this manner?" If Lucius had been livid before, now he was absolutely furious. "I raised you in the best possible manner, you were high among the ranks of the Dark Lord's force even though you couldn't manage the one simple task he set you-"
"Not even V-Voldemort managed that 'one simple task' if you remember correctly. And Snape, who did do it, well he was in on it all along wasn't he? Snape who was your friend and supposedly like a part of the family, you heard Potter tonight, Snape was on Dumbledore's side."
"Snape was a traitor!" Lucius yelled. They were now standing face to face a few feet apart. "But never did I expect to find that I had been housing a traitor in my own family, the son that I have raised in the proper way for someone of his station!"
"Oh yes, the proper way." Draco's voice was suddenly quiet and flat and Narcissa looked away rather than see that lifeless voice coming from her son's mouth. "I was raised to act, live and think in precisely the way you told me to act, live and think. And you know what I've found out, father? The Dark Lord's offers of power were always backed by a death threat, or torture. When I was up on that rooftop with Dumbledore he offered all of us protection! Even you! He offered to hide us so that Voldemort would never find us. He wanted to help us, they all did, I realized that tonight! That 'bastard' Potter saved my life tonight, twice, and that is more than your Dark Lord ever did."
"The Dark Lord let you live, which I see now was a mistake! You want to go over to that side, go right ahead boy, I'll kill you along with all your new mudblood friends," Lucius sneered. "The Dark Lord himself may have been killed by the Potter boy but his ideals still live on-"
Crack.
Lucius now lay on the floor unconscious as Draco stood over him with a strange look in his eyes. He turned slowly to his mother.
"I meant what I said."
Narcissa nodded. Seeing Lucius' anger and determination to continue the Dark Lord's cause had scared her a little...and he was her husband.
"I think it would be best if I went away for a little while. You saw what he was like. I have things to think over and they'd be best thought over away from the influences that are here. Maybe overseas." He hesitated a moment, then continued. "I think he's gone a little...well, there's no way to put it kindly, a little insane over the past year. Being kept in the house most of the time listening to others prattle about their great doings and how Potter was going down, and then the shocks of tonight... He's not right, Mother, you know that don't you?" He looked her in the eyes and for an instant she saw the vulnerable side of her son that only came out around her, and that hadn't shown up at all since he was much younger. Once again she nodded, this time with tears in her eyes.
"I saved Potter tonight." Her admission didn't seem to surprise Draco. "The Dark Lord-" she shuddered- "used the Killing Curse on him and asked me to check on him...somehow he survived. He told me you were safe. I told...him...that the boy was safely dead. He probably has no reason to trust me or want to help me, but I can try to convince him to let your father stay at St. Mungo's for a length of time. Until he has to go to Azkaban." Even the name of the place seemed to frighten her a little, and the tears that had gathered in her eyes now started to overflow slowly. Draco closed the distance between them and hugged her gently, towering above her but once again letting the little boy's vulnerability show.
"I need to pack some things and I'll leave. Probably I will end up overseas for a while, America maybe, somewhere where I won't be known. I'll write."
"You should take some money, I'll get some from the stash your father always kept in the cellars. He always said it was 'just in case'... just in case his son decided to run off, however, I doubt he ever considered," she said with a bitter laugh. "What's going to become of us, Draco? How will the wizarding world overcome hurdles like this?"
-
Author's Note: I've always liked Draco and the fact that while he never did the Trio or any other of the Lights much good, he never did any serious harm to anyone. I like to think that he changed after what had happened; this is how I think that change occurred.
Like many people I'm sure, I felt that the epilogue left much to be desired in the matter of closure, though I liked the way the characters ended up. If I'm feeling ambitious I may well write a Long & Winding Road fic for each character, or at least each main couple, to track their '19 years'.
I hope you enjoy this story. Any constructive feedback is much welcomed and appreciated!