Better Off
I am glad, I suppose that he did reject my friendship when I offered it to him. If he had accepted we might not have survived the war. I mean, he would have thought the Death Eaters had the right philosophy.
Imagine the headlines it would have made: "Savior of Wizarding World Turns to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for Guidance." There wouldn't have been much resistance left after that. The Order of the Phoenix would have collapsed and none of the muggleborns would be here.
It is quite a shame that it took so much turmoil before he could get back to a semi-normal life. The reporters still torment him every year on the anniversary of "The Battle of Hogwarts" and the Death Eaters are all interviewed again from Azkaban. My mother and I escaped that, his testimony saved our lives in the way my mother's saved his.
Even now as Malfoy Manor is being sold to pay off my father's debts, we are planning as moving far away. Not that any of this actually touches us anymore, but because of the guilt that we had. My father does not know any of our plans. He will come home tonight to an empty house that is not his anymore. He does not even have a conscience to tell him that he was wrong. I wonder how we are related.
Today is the start of a new life for my mother and I, this time we will not mess it up.