Prologue
Draco Malfoy paused in his labor, wiping the sweat from his brow and shaking his head to remove the damp tendrils of hair from his vision. After a deep breath, he raised his new ebony wand, lifting another brick of the former Gryffindor tower back into place. Draco was coming to the end of his last week of court mandated community service rebuilding the castle after the Battle of Hogwarts between Harry Potter and Voldemort.
The former Death Eater had been pardoned after Harry had testified on his behalf in front of the Wizengamot that ultimately Draco had had a change of heart and saved members of the Order. While Lucius had received the Dementor's Kiss days after his trial, the youngest Malfoy was allowed his freedom under the conditions that he spend his summer on Hogwarts house arrest, rebuilding the castle. Professor McGonagall, now headmistress, volunteered to be his probation mentor at the encouragement of Potter. Draco's final task was to complete his seventh year of school alongside his peers. Should he graduate with Exceeds Expectations or better on all of his N.E.W.T.s, he would be a free man in June.
"Draco?" McGonagall's strong voice floated up the spiral staircase to where Draco was working. Draco couldn't remember when exactly he grew from "Mr. Malfoy" to "Draco" in the headmistress' eyes, but he'd grown to appreciate it, just as he grew to appreciate the severe Scotswoman.
"I'm up here, headmistress," Draco replied.
"I think you've done quite enough for today, Draco. Have some dinner and get a good night's rest. Tomorrow is a big day for you and your peers," Minerva advised.
"I don't think I could sleep if I tried, Professor," the Slytherin replied honestly.
"And yet you must try. Tomorrow I announce I'm making you and Miss Granger head boy and girl and I know it won't be easy for you,"
"You're what?"
"I'm making you head boy," McGonagall replied matter-of-factly.
"You- You can't! They'll eat me alive!" Draco protested
"I can and I will. It's the best course of action for the sake of the school. Not only will it promote house unity but it will give you a chance to prove once and for all that you have changed. I have seen you grow far more than I could have imagined this summer alone."
"I already have to live with all of them, you can't force me to police them too. I don't want to prove anything, I just want to pass my exams and get out of here."
"And do what, Draco? Become a recluse? Live out your days with your mother in Malfoy Manner, surviving on the good fortune of your ancestors, never amounting to something special?"
"I…"
"That is my final word, Draco. Go. Eat."
Draco walked out of Gryffindor tower. After a summer of repairing the castle with the professors, he knew he had scratched the surface of change. He knew in his heart he wasn't evil. But when he looked in the mirror he still saw a cowardly little boy unworthy of his father's love. He knew he didn't deserve to be forgiven, that no one would love him but his mother, but he resolved that he would never be the boy he was at Hogwarts ever again. If one forgiving Hufflepuff saw him for who he'd become maybe that'd be enough.
Opening the door to the Slytherin dungeons, Draco trudged through the dark, empty corridor leading to the boys' dormitory. He looked around the bedchamber that was the Seventh years' room. Last year, he had been a death eater, last year Severus was alive. Last year he pretended to torture first years to please the Carrows and his father. Thank Merlin for occulamency or he never would have been able to tell the younger students to fake their own torture at the other end of his wand. Thank the gods he wasn't able to cast the cruciatus curse without truly meaning it. He was sure no one would ever believe him, he was sure they'd never forgive him even if they knew the truth, but if nothing else it made his nightmares just slightly less horrifying.
Thinking of nightmares, he sunk back into the emerald green bedding. This was to be his last night in the Slytherin dungeons. McGonagall had asked him to stay in the dark common room while she and other professors finished the new eighth-year dormitory. She wanted Draco to have as much of a normal experience as possible given all that had happened, and seeing the dorm he helped rebuild for the first time with his peers was one of those moments.
Draco fell into a fitful sleep as usual, dreaming of snake eyes, flashes of green and the screams of those he saw tortured and murdered by the Dark Lord and his former friends and family.
