Pt. 1: Meander
Chapter 4: One Day
A spell fell across Draco's face like a slap, snapping his head back. Sometimes, this was the only way he knew he was still alive, let alone human, such emptiness filled him now.
Draco was almost seventeen, and once he was, he'd be allowed to join the Death Eaters. Whatever happened, life would never be the same again.
Draco sat in what used to be his favourite chair, staring at the wall. He ran a hand over the place where his father's curse had hit him. Sometimes, when he was sure the Dark Lord wasn't in mindshot, he wondered things. Things like, would it be better to leave? Was there a better place? Was he wrong about everything? Would he make it? Of all of these, he was only sure of the answer to the last: Yes.
Draco didn't know what inspired it, but this hope was something not his father, not the Death Eaters, not even the Dark Lord could touch. He was absolutely certain that he would someday be free. How, he didn't know. What he needed to do, well, sometimes he thought he knew and just didn't want to admit it. Perhaps the Dark Lord would rule, perhaps he would be dead. Perhaps he would walk away and the Death Eaters would gather and discuss what to do, or perhaps he was so unimportant that they would forget about him.
And, for the first time, Draco allowed himself to wonder, what did he gain by staying?
