Frantically Draco Malfoy glanced about his gigantic room at Malfoy Manor. When his father found out what had happened, Draco was in deep deep shit. Walking over to his bed, the pale blonde teen sat upon his bed, not caring that he was denting his perfectly tight Slytherin blankets. He tried to calm his breathing but it was not working. As footsteps sounded outside his doorway, his heart did a wild pounding in his chest. The door creaked open and Lucius Malfoy strode in, looking perfectly in control, save all but his face. Draco's father's eyes were tinted red, rimmed with black bags under his eyes, a stark contrast to the paler-than-usual complexion. This could only mean one thing. He knew.
"Draco. Headmaster Snape has expelled you in the eyes of the Wizarding World," Lucius stated dryly.
"Father, I -" Draco began but was cut off by Lucius.
"I am aware of the charge. But you must know that it a false accusation, made on your behalf," Lucius said.
Draco looked up from his knees, meeting his fathers for the first time since he had entered the seventeen year old Slytherin's room. What did his father mean? An accusation made upon his behalf . . . What in Merlin's beard was that supposed to mean?! Did it really imply that what he thought it meant? That Draco did not commit the crime for which he was charged? Of course he had not commmitted the murder of an unknown Gryffindor first year. But then why would Snape expell him for it? The Slytherin buried his head in his hands, trying to puzzle out all that had happened in the last 24 hours only to be inturrupeted
"Feel grateful, you brat! Severus lied to protect you from the Dark Lord! With the expulsion, your mother and I can send you into the Muggle world, safe from harm until the war is over. We are sending you to America; hopefully it is far enough away from the Dark Lord," Lucius snapped, irritated by his son's cluelessness.
Stunned, poor Draco tried to process what was happening. Lucius was shipping him off to bloody America?! How would Draco even survive? What about his money? What about a place to live?! Would this even work? Millions of questions raced through his mind yet he remained silent; his father hardly ever answered his questions.
"Start packing. Now," Lucius barked at his son.
"Yes Father," Draco sighed, not daring to ask any questions.
"You have 30 minutes; by then you must be well away from here for I shall summon the Dark Lord to inform him that you have run away," Lucius explained as he left the room.
"And Draco? Should anyone ask, this conversation never took place," Lucius whispered over his shoulder.
Hurriedly, Draco threw everything into his Hogwarts trunk, not knowing where he was even supposed to go. Get out of the country as quickly as possible and go to America his father had said. In an answer to his question, the teenage wizard spotted a piece of parchment laying innocently on his gleaming black chest of drawers. Upon closer inspection, it proved to be a map. His father had randomly circled Evanston Illinois as Draco's final destination. A single written comment answered only one question. Draco was to attend North Shore Highschool.