Chapter 1
Our story begins five years after the defeat of the Dark Lord. The wizards had rejoiced, splendidly, and were now backing to the usual, everyday routine. The witches and the wizards who fought against Voldemort were still remembered fondly, and were looked upon as the heroes of their time.
Obviously, who could forget Harry Potter? His victory had won him all a man of 21 could ever hope for. He had a beautiful lover, a fortune in his account, kind friends, his dream job, as an auror, and a whole generation of kids and adults who considered him their savior.
But this is not the story of Harry.
No, this is the story of Draco Malfoy. What happened to him? Who became his wife? And most importantly, was the wizarding community ever able to forgive him, and his parents?
The truth was, they did. They did it not because they believed Draco when he said he was forced to work with the Dark Lord, and the fact that Draco's family was of a pure bloodline didn't help.
But they did forgive, and forgot the crimes of him, and his family, because of a statement by Harry Potter.
Harry, in a press conference, told the wizarding world how Narcissa, Draco's mother, tricked Voldemort into believing that Harry was dead. How she listened to his beating heart, and heard as he breathed, and yet told the Dark Lord of his death. It was her who flipped the coin.
He also told them about when he was taken as a prisoner in the Malfoy Manor, and how Draco refused to recognize him and admit that it was him, Harry Potter.
And how could the wizarding world ignore the beseeching words of their savior? They demanded that the Malfoy family must be given an official pardon, and must be allowed to live their lives like a respectable family.
Harry had an influence over the community, and the Ministry could not ignore the demands of it. So, even though some ministers didn't like it, the Malfoy family was given an official pardon.
And so the family lived a normal, no, a luxurious life, given that they had enough wealth to last them for seven generations. They were given the Malfoy Manor back, though Lucius and Narcissa weren't willing to move back in. The horrifying incidents: the murders, the tortures which were done during the reign of the Dark Lord in the Manor had convinced Lucius that he must sell the Manor, and he would have done it, if not for the interference of his son, Draco.
To Draco, the Manor was the symbol of his pride, of his position as a pure blood. He wasn't willing to sell it, despite Lucius's and Narcissa's earnest requests.
At last, it was arranged that Draco would live alone in the Malfoy Manor, with three house elves to attend to him, while his parent's would live in a Bungalow some distance away. Nothing could convince them to live in the Malfoy Manor.
In short, things were going on pleasantly, if not happily, for the Malfoy's.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the other wizards and their families who sided with Voldemort.
Most of the wizards who were with Voldemort in the war were killed in the battle. Those who were not were publicly executed.
But not with avada kedavra. No, the death from the unforgivable curse was considered too easy, too painless. The wizards were eager to let the Death eaters have a taste of their own drink. Obviously, the ministry didn't allowed torture.
At least, not in public.
But the Death Eaters were killed. Some were hanged, others beheaded. Some wizard objected to this method of public execution. They said that it was too mundane, that it was the method of muggles.
But the ministry pacified them. They said that the Death Eaters had sunken far low to have any other method optional. That the death as a muggle was perfect for them, because only a muggle would do what the Death Eaters had done.
And the handful of wizards who objected were pacified, convinced by this argument. After all, a wizard's position was, in every way, higher than that of a muggle.
And the families of these Death Eaters? They suffered a fate worse than death. Most of them were in Azkaban, since they were related to the Death Eaters. Being related to a death eater was enough to be shunned by the society.
Those who weren't in Azkaban were sold in the wizard slave market.
But I suppose I must explain this slave market, for most of the readers wouldn't know about it.
You see, even though wealth can't buy happiness, it can buy pretty much all other things. Even humans.
In wealthy wizarding families, it was normal to have at least one human slave. The slave was trained to serve his/her master in any way his/her master wished. The slave could be muggle, but wizards/witches were preferred.
But it was illegal.
And even thought it was illegal, all wizards knew about this practice. And this practice was frowned upon in the wizarding society. According to the wizards, keeping house elves was alright. After all, they were produced for this sole purpose. But keeping humans as slaves?
However, this taboo was uplifted after the fall of Voldemort. The society was convinced that some wizards were no better than to be slaves. And of course, muggles were not good at all.
So after the Dark Lord's fall, the ministry gave slave trading legal sanction. Almost overnight, there were slave markets, everywhere. One had to be surprised at the efficiency of the traders, how fast they were. There were slaves of every type, to do every work.
And most of them were wizards/witches. There were too many of them to be sure that all of them were related to the Death Eaters. So it is safe to assume that once, they were free.
But who hears to slaves? No one has time, or interest to heed them. They are only required to do their work, and keep mum about their pains.
Because it is the bee that loses its hive to give us honey.