"All was well," everyone seemed to say.
Well, that was what the victors always said. However, when it came to war, there were also losers.
The Purebloods had managed to keep the majority of their power and influence after the Dark Lord's original fall, as many of them had claimed to be under the Imperius Curse. The second time around, however, they weren't as lucky.
The Ministry greatly changed after the Dark Lord's second and final fall, especially since people like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione were now the ones holding the power and the influence.
Still, though, many Purebloods were surprised that Kingsley Shacklebolt allowed for so many changes that took so many rights away from Purebloods, especially considering that Shacklebolt was a well-breed Pureblood himself.
"I guess he's nothing more than another glorified Blood-Traitor," some Purebloods said from the safety of their houses.
They dared not speak openly against him, however, as they feared that such talk would convince the Ministry that they deserved to be sent to Azkaban for "being a danger to Muggles and Muggle-borns."
It was unwise to speak against the current authority. The only way to survive was to learn how to adapt.
Not all Purebloods, however, found it easy to adapt.
It also didn't help that there were some Muggle-borns that made adapting extremely hard for Purebloods.
One night, Theodore Nott found himself surrounded by a group of Mud-, correction, Muggle-born wizards. He could only imagine what would have happened to him if Lucius Malfoy had not showed up.
It didn't seem to matter to anyone that Theodore was just the son of a Death Eater and that he himself had never taken the Dark Mark. As far as the new society was concerned, he was nothing more than an "evil Pureblood" that was looking to murder every Muggle and Muggle-born in sight.
Now, Theodore was proud of his heritage and he didn't really care much for Muggles, but that didn't mean he was all of a sudden going to start killing them. He had never been a violent person, and he had never found any interest in "Muggle hunting."
Theodore just wanted to be left alone, and he just wanted to be respected for who he was. He didn't want to have to be someone he wasn't just to be accepted.
Pansy Parkinson was scorned by almost everyone, especially after it had become widely-known that she had been willing to hand Harry Potter over to the Dark Lord during the Battle of Hogwarts. She clearly was another "evil Pureblood." It didn't seem to matter to anyone that she had just been a scared young woman who had not wanted a battle to come her way.
Okay, so Pansy didn't really care much for Potter and she would not have shed any tears if he had died and stayed dead. But was it truly wrong that she had just wanted to do whatever it took to keep herself safe? At the time, the Dark Lord had been the one in power; and if you wanted to stay alive, you obeyed the one who was in power.
Blaise Zabini, who had never wanted much to do with anyone besides himself, kept mostly to himself. He got so tired of having to stay at home (for fear that he would be attacked for being a Pureblood) that he eventually decided to leave Britain for a period of time.
Blaise was very fortunate, though, that he had never been connected either directly or indirectly to any Death Eater.
It was slightly easier for the Purebloods that had not been involved in the Dark Lord's activities. The Muggle-borns didn't seem to care as much about attacking these Purebloods. No, the Muggle-borns only seemed to care about taking away many Pureblood rights, even from those Purebloods that had not been involved in either of the two wars.
None of this seemed to bother Astoria Greengrass, however. She openly embraced tolerance of Muggles, Muggle-borns, Blood-Traitors, and all other formerly "undesirables."
Her sister, Daphne Greengrass, was not quite as tolerant. But then again, Daphne was in a relationship with Theodore Nott.
Astoria also had always had a cheerful, bright personality, while Daphne had always been shyer and more reserved (just like Theodore). It was safe to say, therefore, that the two were perfect for each other.
Astoria, meanwhile, proved to be perfect for Draco Malfoy. He had been a witness to so many horrors in the quest for Pureblood superiority, and he had wanted nothing more than to once again have peace and happiness in his life.
Astoria was able to give Draco the ability to smile and to laugh, an ability which the Dark Lord had taken away from him.
In more ways than one, the Dark Lord did not achieve any real victories.
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had also suffered greatly for their beliefs. Lucius had endured unspeakable abuse and torture from both his father and the Dark Lord, and Narcissa had watched as her family had been ripped apart by the actions of both her sister Andromeda and her cousin Sirius.
Yet, Lucius and Narcissa refused to waver from their beliefs. They believed that the Dark Lord had been wrong in his approach, but they did not believe that the cause itself was wrong. Besides, they didn't see why they should have to embrace Muggles and Muggle-borns just because it was a part of the new "popular culture." They have had enough of people telling them what to think, thank you very much. And besides, both felt like they were much too strong to be so easily swayed to completely new ideas and beliefs.
Lucius and Narcissa felt like they had to right to believe in whatever they wanted. Didn't Muggle-borns, after all, have the right to believe that they were equals to Purebloods? For equality to truly be equality, it had to go both ways.
Besides, it wasn't as if Lucius and Narcissa were out "Muggle hunting." They were more than happy to stay away from the Muggle World. Lucius had spent way too much time in the Muggle World while he had been in service to the Dark Lord, and he was more than happy to now be his own person at long last.
These differences in opinions caused some tension between the more traditional Lucius and Narcissa with the more "New World" Draco and Astoria, but that didn't affect how Scorpius Malfoy was treated. He was adored by both his parents and his grandparents. His parents taught him to be accepting of Muggles, while his grandparents taught him to always be cautious of everyone.
Many Purebloods quickly learned that it was wise to be cautious. They had to be careful about what they said. They had to be careful about where they went. Purebloods quickly learned where Muggle-borns tended to frequent, so that they would be able to avoid those areas.
Even Draco and Astoria followed the practice of staying in Pureblood areas, even though they didn't really talk about it out loud (not even when they were in the safety of their home). They were so good at acting as if all was well that they came to truly believe that indeed all was well.
Most Purebloods, however, did not give in to the illusion that all was well. Perhaps for some, all was well.
But not for them. Their world had completely changed, and they were expected to just accept that without any problem.