Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

Position: Seeker

Prompt: Write about a character winning the lottery and changing their identity because of it.

It had originally been a joke between friends. A way of showing the others that watched them with an eagle eye that yes, they could get along with Muggles. He hadn't expected anything to happen because of it. He knew that the chances of choosing several numbers that aligned with other numbers were very low. And yet, a few weeks later, he went into the store where he had bought the small piece of paper, scanned said piece of paper and was told that he was now the holder of several million Muggle pounds.

Draco was speechless. Not because of how much money he now had. He was a Malfoy. He was used to money. But because it was all Muggle, it was weird to have. He still didn't know all that much about Muggles, although he had taken Muggle Studies in eighth year. He knew how to dress properly when he ventured out into the Muggle world, but what was he supposed to do with all the Muggle money he now possessed?

Gringotts, thankfully, was able to acquire the Muggle money that the Muggles had sent him on yet another little bit of paper and it was now sitting in his vault. Still Muggle and absolutely useless to him. He pondered the situation every day, trying to figure out what he was going to do with the stack of paper that was co-existing with his Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

A comment from Pansy sparked an idea in his mind. "Ugh," she moaned as she collapsed in one of the plush chairs in one of the many Malfoy sitting rooms. "I wish we didn't have to go out every day and pretend that everything's fine. Why can't we just live like normal people? Just because our parents followed the Dark Lord willingly, doesn't mean that we did!"

It was a normal topic to complain about in the small circle of Slytherins. They hadn't particularly wanted to join the Dark Lord but they hadn't had a choice. If they hadn't joined, either they or their families would be dead. Now they were being punished for protecting that which they cared about.

Draco's mind drifted to the Muggle money sitting in his vault. The Muggles didn't know anything about the wizarding war or about the Dark Lord. They wouldn't give him the evil eye purely because of a brand he had been forced to take. It had been freeing just for the few moments the group had wandered through the Muggle world already. What if he could stay there indefinitely?

After all, what was there left for him in the wizarding world? The Malfoy name was in the dust. Everyone hated him. He would have no chance at getting any type of job and no way would the Ministry allow him to walk through their halls without a subtle guard watching his every move. He glanced over at Pansy and thought about their friendship.

The two of them had been together since they were children, always by the other's side and ready to lend a hand. It was the same with Blaise and Theo. The four of them had been a group that looked after each other and always backed the others when they made a play in the Slytherin hierarchy system. All four of them were struggling in the new wizarding world. All four of them had been branded as Death Eater scum.

"What would you say if I thought I had a way of making us vanish?" He said slowly, watching Pansy's face for any tells that this was a bad idea.

Instead, Pansy sat up straight and looked directly into his eyes, "I would say that that would be brilliant. What are you thinking, Draco?"

"Well, as you know, I have a rather large amount of useless paper taking up space in my vault. It wouldn't be useless if we left the wizarding world and instead took up residence among the Muggles."

Pansy thought for a moment. "We would have to change our names. There aren't many Malfoys or Parkinsons around anymore."

"You're right. I was thinking of bringing along Blaise and Theo as well."

"They would certainly be happy to get away from all the idiots currently flocking around them. And Theo knows a lot more about Muggle life than the rest of us."

"What do you say, Pansy? Ready for an adventure into the realm of Muggles?"

"I think so, Draco. I think so."

"You think this will work?" Blaise asked as they got ready to leave the only home they had known.

"The alternative is to stay here and be hated for the rest of our lives," Theo pointed out and Blaise nodded in agreement. "It can't get any worse than that."

"I don't see why we can't stay in London," Pansy sulked from the chair in the corner and the three boys rolled their eyes.

"You know why, Pans. It's too close to Diagon Alley and you know we'd be tempted to return."

"I know that, but still. I know London. What even is the Lakes District?"

Blaise shrugged, "I assume it's a place that has rather a lot of lakes."

Pansy glared at her friend and threw a cushion at him, "Whatever, Blaise Zander. Why the Zander?"

"It's sounds cool. And it reminds me of Zabini, I may be changing but that doesn't mean I can't be proud of my family."

In fact, all four of them had kept their first names and the first letter of their last names. It was a way to honour the lives that their parents had given them even as they shed those lives. Draco had decided to become Draco Malloney, Pansy would now be known as Pansy Peterson and Theo had chosen Theodore Nestor.

It was their last night as the people they had been born as. They had decided to stay at Draco's and leave in the morning. Draco had used the last of the Malfoy's considerably lessened fortune to get them new identities via Gringotts that the Ministry could not use to track them down. His Muggle paper had been used to purchase a house in the Lakes District. That was where the four of them were headed the next day.

They would be free from the suspicious looks constantly directed towards them whenever they went outside. They would no longer feel shame for protecting their families and taking the Dark Mark. They would be free to pursue whatever they wanted and there was no one that could stop them. Never before had they been so grateful for a joke. It was that joke which allowed them to finally escape the hell their lives had become. Who knew Muggles could be so useful?