House : Slytherin
Position : Year 2
Category : Drabble
Prompt : [Setting] Malfoy Manor
Word Count : 367
.oOo.
Draco Malfoy stood in front of Malfoy Manor's grand oak doors hesitantly, hand hovering over the worn handle. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open. Inside, everything felt foreign. The contours of his childhood home loomed menacingly in the penumbra, and he hastened to whisper a quiet Lumos.
Even with the light, the cold entrance hall was far from comforting, and Draco quickly made his way to the neighboring dining room. The room, which had hosted many of Narcissa's famed dinner parties and had always been alight with life was now still as death, every surface covered in a thick layer of dust. It was clear that no one had ventured inside since his parents' death a few months back. He would have come sooner, but the pain was too much. He had managed to live here when Dark Lord had taken up residence in the guest wing, but without his parents, it could never truly feel like home again.
Shaking his head as if to wring it of his memories, he pressed onwards, venturing ever further into the increasingly hostile house. Before long, he found himself in the portrait gallery. Looking up at his ancestors, he felt lonelier than ever. With his parents gone, he had no one left. It was at times like these that he almost missed his aunt Bella and her husband's deranged antics.
A few years ago now, he had heard of Andromeda's death, and had felt an inexplicable sorrow. He had never so much as spoken to the woman, and the regret ate at him to that day. To know that her daughter and son-in-law had been killed at the hand of his own - leaving their infant son an orphan - was even worse.
But the worst was losing his Astoria. She was his rock, the love of his life, his everything, and the mere thought of her was a dagger through his heart. She had succumbed to a hereditary blood curse while carrying their son. The miscarriage killed them both, taking away the two people he loved most dearly in the world. He never even got the privilege of meeting little Scorpius, but his heart was shattered all the same.