Author's Note: Thanks to my amazing team for their support and nudging :)
Written for…
Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. Team/Position: Holyhead Harpies, Seeker. Task: Write about a character winning the lottery and changing their identity because of it.
(Writing Club) Bex's Basement. Prompt: Write about someone breaking the law for a moral reason.
The Hunger Games Fanfic Style III. Prompts: haven, guilt, a bar, Voldemort wins!AU, Regulus
(Seasonal) Days of the Year. Prompt: Write about someone who chooses not to do something
Hogwarts Assignment #5. Lesson: Arithmancy, task 1. Task: Write about Good and Evil
(Writing Club) Angel's Arcade. Prompt: Draco, dark, walking, "I'll protect you."
(Writing Club) Lyric Alley. Prompt: Dropping like flies, who woke you up?
(Writing Club) Character Appreciation. Prompt: saving someone's life
(Writing Club) Ami's Audio Admirations. Prompt: (setting) at night
(Writing Club) Book Club. Prompts: sundown, numbness, fear
(Writing Club) Dark Lady's Diabolical Lair. Prompt: Secret
(Writing Club) Lo's Lowdown. Prompt: Good vs. Evil
(Writing Club) Film Festival. Prompt: nightclub/bar
(Seasonal) Star Chart. Prompt: (theme) Murder
(Writing Club) Showtime. Prompt: Frightened
Leaf Pile Challenge. Prompt: Malfoy Manor
(Seasonal) Autumn. Prompt: cold night
(Seasonal) Elemental. Prompt: coat
(Seasonal) Colors. Prompt: maroon
The Lottery Winners
1,442 words
"You're listening to the Ministry Lottery Show. I'm Dolores Umbridge, and it's time for the December draw!"
Charlie glared at the radio, his body tensing at the overly cheerful sound of Dolores' voice. She only brought bad news, as he'd learned over the years.
Across from him, sitting on the sofa, Charlie's parents clasped hands. His mother closed her eyes, praying, he thought, that she wouldn't have to hear another familiar name called.
"Our first winner is … Mabel Mathers, of London!" Charlie glanced at his parents and breathed a sigh of relief as they both shook their heads. Mabel wasn't familiar to any of them.
"Secondly, Wade Helser, of Cardiff!"
Charlie felt himself relax a little more. Maybe this would be a painless draw. Maybe he wouldn't have to mourn anyone else before New Years.
"Thirdly, Charlie Weasley, of Ottery St. Catchpole!"
Before he could even register his name being called, his parents were pulling him up from the chair and pushing him towards the kitchen.
"You need to run, son," his father said. "Get as far away from here as you can."
It wasn't a big ask. Charlie was set to leave for Romania after Christmas - it wouldn't be too hard to get into the program a few weeks earlier. But that didn't help the fact that he'd be a wanted man in Britain if he ran, and there was no telling what would be done to his family if he didn't comply. Ginny was upstairs in her room; he couldn't risk her life.
He shook his head, holding his mother back as she nudged him with the pot of floo powder. "It's no use," he said.
Even over the sound of Umbridge's voices, still cheerfully calling names, the Weasleys could hear the sound of Death Eaters apparating outside, surrounding the house.
"There we have our five lucky winners of this month's lottery. Thank you for your service to the Ministry. Good night!"
The Wireless went silent and Charlie sighed, resigning himself to his fate. His mother's sobs filling his ears, he shrugged on his coat and met his executioners unarmed.
:-:
If he were not facing his imminent death, Charlie might have found the scene beautiful: a field of glistening, freshly-fallen snow under a setting sun. The five masked executioners surrounding him ruined the mood.
There was no point in asking them why he had been chosen, what he'd done to insult the Dark Lord. The executioners neither knew nor cared. It might well have been a tactic to scare his parents into submission.
He might have had a better chance of surviving if the other 'winners' were with him, but he was alone, standing the middle of the masked men and women, eying each one in turn as they raised their wands toward him. He could only hope the others had better chances of fighting off their attackers, wherever they'd been taken for their executions. He felt fear bubbling up inside of him and tamped it down as best he could, refusing to give in to what his killers wanted. He wouldn't fight, but he wouldn't cower either. He was still a Gryffindor at heart.
He didn't see the sixth person emerge from the line of pine trees that surrounded the field. He heard the two Death Eaters behind him fall and turned in time to see the mystery man, his face covered in a hood rather than a mask, take out the remaining three executioners in quick succession.
"What are you doing?" Charlie asked dumbly, as if he was not relieved for the short reprieve.
"I'm saving your life. Come on, they're only stunned."
Charlie allowed the man to grab ahold of him, and he tensed in preparation for the side-along Apparation.
:-:
"You'll be safe here," the man said, removing his hood as Charlie caught his breath.
The young redhead took in the small storeroom he had appeared in. Crates of beer and whiskey lined the shelves. Charlie stared at his rescuer dubiously.
"Are we in a bar?"
"The Scattered Badger, yes. It's a safe haven for people like us." He fixed his dark hair where the hood had tousled it, and motioned for Charlie to open the door.
The storeroom opened into an office where a middle-aged blond man sat a desk. He looked up when the pair emerged from the closet, his eyes lingering on Charlie before moving on to the dark-haired man.
"A gift?" he asked, smirking.
"A project. Charlie, this is Edgar, the proprietor of the Badger. He's going to help you get settled. A new identity, a place to stay."
"What about you?" Charlie asked.
"You won't see me often, unless I have a job for you to do."
"Regulus is our best spy in the Dark Lord's ranks," Edgar explained. "It's rare he gets to come out and play with the rest of us."
Charlie stared between the men. "You keep saying 'us', what is this? Why did you save me?"
"This is the resistance, boy. The Order of the Phoenix, or what's left of it. Our aim is to do whatever it takes to annoy the Dark Lord as much as possible."
"And save anyone we think could be of use to us," Regulus added.
Charlie nodded, processing everything quickly. "What about my family? Won't the Death Eaters go after my parents? My sister? I have four brothers at Hogwarts. Can you do anything to protect them?"
"That's a lot of people to make disappear under the Dark Lord's nose…" Regulus started, earning glares from both Charlie and Edgar. "I'll see what I can do."
:-:
It was difficult starting a new life, but Edgar did what he could to make things easier on Charlie, providing him with new identification - he was now Chase Wilkinson - and a job at the bar. Adapting to Muggle life wasn't even a struggle compared to learning to answer to a new name.
True to his word, Regulus made plans for getting the rest of Charlie's family to safety, smuggling one or two away at a time. Another Order member, Marlene, set them up with a cottage in Wales and promised to help them in homeschooling all of Charlie's younger siblings.
He made the decision to stay in London, to continue working at the Badger by day and for the Order by night. Doing what he could to bring the Dark Lord down helped to ease the restlessness he felt, living someone else's life.
:-:
The Manor was always unspeakably cold, even in the dead of summer as it was now. Draco felt the prisoner shiver in her maroon summer dress as he walked her through the corridors toward the garden. He felt the guilt crawling on his skin as he thought about what he was about to do to her. She wasn't much younger than him, after all. And yet she barely made a sound, not the least bit frightened as she was led to her death.
In the garden, standing across from her, staring in her crystal blue eyes while his fingers went numb from grasping his wand too tightly, Draco prayed for the strength to utter the curse. Even after fifteen minutes, he couldn't form the words.
He dropped his wand, sinking to his knees on the hard cobblestone. His father would kill him, he knew. The Dark Lord would demand it for not being able to prove his loyalty. And did Draco care? Not at all. The disgust he felt at his father's business had been his dark secret for as long as he could remember, and now it was past the point of pretending.
"Go," he told the girl. He didn't even know her name. She stayed rooted to the spot, eying him curiously. "Go! Run!"
She smiled at him, nodding. "Thank you, sir," she said, and wandered off toward the gate. He prayed she would make it out okay.
He lowered his head, trying to come up with his next move. He wouldn't have the same chance as the girl. He wouldn't be able to run away. Did he even have the courage to run from his father? He might as well stay and take the punishment when it came…
A rustling of leaves alerted him to someone's presence, and he turned to find a hooded figure emerging from a nearby shrub, but he didn't reach for his wand.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The figure lowered his hood, showing off a handsome face and a mane of red hair.
"I was here to save the girl, but I think I'll save you instead. Come on, I'll protect you."