Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments): Assignment 10
Demonology: Demoning 101
Task #5: Write about seduction. Alt: write about someone deciding their future
Word Count: 808 (Google Docs)
Beta love to ProudFangirl23 and S L Blake!
It's Never Too Late
Ever since I was born, my future was decided for me.
My parents decreed who I would marry before I was even a day old.
They decided that I would be the perfect pureblood scion of House Malfoy, one who knew who he was and embraced it.
I would grow up in pureblood society, surrounded by pureblood children my age. I would learn everything a pureblood heir needed to learn and do things that a pureblood heir would do.
I had accepted all of that until now, as I watched my parents - who might not have cared for me as much as they should have, but still protected me and loved me in their own way - being carried off by Aurors to await trial. I hid in the shadows, a place where I was most familiar.
No one noticed me.
Vaguely, I wondered what would have happened if I had had the chance to decide my own future. My family might not be in this trouble. Perhaps I could have been truly happy, maybe even be dating someone.
But I hadn't decided my future, and it came back to bite me.
Mother gave me one last sad smile as she was taken away, but I couldn't return it. I tried to, but smiling felt so wrong after everything I'd experienced.
"You know, it's never too late."
I spun around, my wand in hand. A crazy, brief fear crossed my mind - was it a Death Eater, saying that it was never too late to rejoin them? No, that was absurd. Death Eaters didn't forgive.
I didn't relax when I realised that it was Hermione Granger standing in front of me, her arms crossed, a strangely gentle look on her face. I was her childhood bully, who first introduced her to the word 'Mudblood', who ridiculed her through her entire time at Hogwarts. There was no reason for me to believe that she was actually talking to me normally, kindly even.
"What did you say?" I asked, in an unsuccessful attempt at my usual haughty and cold voice.
She didn't look deterred. "I said, it's never too late."
"For what?"
She shrugged. "A lot of things."
That wasn't helpful at all, and I was about to tell her that when she said, "To choose your future, for instance."
That made me pause, and for a brief moment, I lowered my wand in surprise. "What - what did you just say?" my voice sounded strangled.
"You know what I said."
I narrowed my eyes. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm quite sure I do."
"You don't." I insisted.
Granger made a sniffing sort of noise. "I do." She said it like the conversation was finished. Before she walked away, she said casually over her shoulder, "And you know what it means, Malfoy."
And the worst thing was? I did.
To choose your future… that was something that I had never done before. That was partially because my circumstances hadn't allowed me to, partially because… I was scared to admit it to myself, but it was also due to the fact that I was too afraid to do it. Too afraid of my family's reactions, too afraid of the consequences.
It's never too late.
I wondered whether I could really choose my own future, pave my own path.
It's never too late.
Could I?
I didn't know whether I could handle it.
It's never too late.
Could I really be more than just Draco Malfoy, stuffy pureblood heir of a disgraced but still rich ancient family?
It's never too late.
I stared into the crowd of happy survivors (or at least the Light-aligned ones), all smiling and cheering and reconnecting with friends, all with wonderful futures ahead of them, futures that they had chosen for themselves when they decided to support Potter and what he stood for.
If they could choose their own futures, why couldn't I?
Of course, I knew that there were numerous reasons for that. I was a pureblood heir, with expectations for everything. I'd supported the wrong side in the war.
But Mother had chosen her own future when she lied to the Dark Lord for Potter. It might have been late in life for her, but she'd done it anyway.
It's never too late.
At that moment, I realised that that was what I wanted to do.
I wanted to complete my education (preferably with high scores), get married to the girl of my dreams (who I still hadn't found yet) and maybe have a couple of cute children who wouldn't give me too much trouble. I wanted to do something good for the world, like perhaps donating some money to the war reparations.
I wanted to be Draco Malfoy, a man who chose his own future and didn't let anyone else deter him from it.