A/N This fic was inspired by Ari Munami's wonderful Lightning Letters. It was the idea of a textbook-style fic that got me really interested, and I decided to write a (Sort of) essay on Draco Malfoy and his Death Eater upbringing. I did a helluvalotta research for this fic, so I'm hoping it'll be good. It's set a long way in the future, far enough that they have rebuilt themselves completely, but not so far that the heroism of those killed is forgotten. It's mainly about the second rising of Voldemort, in which supporters of the Light were few, until finally Voldemort was defeated around 2010.

~*~*~ MORE THAN WE ARE WORTH ~*~*~

Harry Potter, the long-dead hero of the Wizarding World. Many books have been written about the Boy-Who-Lived and his Light contemporaries, but little has been said about those on the other side of the fence, the Deatheaters, minions of Lord Voldemort.

It is widely known that the Dark Lord's henchmen were, in all reality, pure evil. Thousands of muggles, muggle borns, and even those who simply opposed his ideas were murdered by the white masked terrorists. They pillaged, raped, and murdered indiscreetly, and at the height of their power had completely eradicated some parts of the Wizarding World. Most notably, they destroyed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, killing many teachers and even young students.

But who were these Deatheaters? Madmen plucked from the streets? No, of course not. Someone as idealistic as Voldemort would never stoop to such levels. These men and women were hand picked from among wizarding society's finest. Many of these young, rich socialites were eager for the power and money Voldemort offered, and those more moralistic ones were placed under the Imperious Curse, a mind controlling spell.

Those accepted into the ranks were branded with the Dark Mark (See Open Eyes and Shining Skies by E. Macmillan for a picture). If you had been accepted willingly, then you were forced to make sure that your offspring followed in your footsteps. These Deatheaters-in-Practice were subjected to a strict up-bringing, and were taught Dark Arts (See Effects of Evil, N. MacDonald) from an early age. Their 'morals', which would be extremely important in later life, were ingrained into their mind from birth.

A classic example of these harsh methods of childcare is Draco Thomas Malfoy, son to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, extremely rich and influential Deatheaters. Despite being born to Inner Circle Deatheaters, Draco would play a key role in the Downfall of Voldemort. Yet where is his name in the History Books?

Finding little work on this lost soldier, I have taken it upon myself to write an accurate account of the life of Draco Malfoy, the forgotten Hero.

~*~*~

On September 1st, 1980, Draco Thomas Malfoy was born at home to Lucius and Narcissa. His birth was, even in his own household, over shadowed by the recent fall of the Dark Lord. Despite being blessed with a son, the next few days were extremely traumatic for Lucius and Narcissa, both waiting for their inevitable arrest. Narcissa was never actually charged, though Lucius was arrested. He was later released after claiming to have been under the influence of the Imperious Curse, and a lack of evidence to prove other wise.

Despite these courtroom lies, Lucius remained internally loyal to Voldemort, and Draco was brought up in true Deatheater fashion. He was not allowed to communicate with anyone but those Lucius deemed fit, which was a select few former Deatheater's children. Those visiting the Manor have written accounts of meeting "That charming Malfoy child,". He is also mentioned in the totally intact Diary of A Deatheater, the complete diary of Mrs Lestrange, and famed Deatheater. On July 5th, 1987, she writes:

"Today, I visited Malfoy Manor. I have never before seen their young son, Draco, and it was a pleasant surprise to be greeted by him. He looks very like his Father, but has none of Lucius' arrogance. I am sure, though, that Lucius will make sure he has arrogance by the time he is a young man. Lucius will spoil that boy. Draco is quite charming now, and very shy. He offered to take my coat for me, and was completely lost in the fur for a good two minutes until a house-elf helped him out. He then disappeared until later that night, when he came down holding on to Narcissa as if for dear life. This seemed to displease Lucius, and the boy was sent out again soon after. It was a shame, ad I greatly desired to talk to him a little more..."

She then proceeds to describe what happened after Draco left, but it is of little interest to the tale I am telling. As you can see from this small passage, Lucius Malfoy was never completely satisfied with his son, and Draco was never deemed fit to be his son. If Draco ever displeased his father in public, he was punished severely. The scars he received were still evident in later life, both mentally and physically.

Although he was brought up to hate muggles and muggle borns, Draco was never wholeheartedly a deatheater, despite his public façade. The view he was 'evil' only circulated when he began Hogwarts, at age 11. He was in the same year as Harry Potter, and reportedly a bitter rival. It is rumoured that they met before Hogwarts, but where or when is unknown, and there is no evidence to support this.

Needless to say, Draco was sorted in Slytherin, as his father had been. During his first year, Draco Malfoy did not particularly distinguish himself in any way, despite good marks and reasonable talent in Potions. He did, however, forge a friendship with his House Master, Severus Snape, that would last a lifetime, despite Lucius Malfoy's dislike of the man.

In his second year, Draco made the House Team. He played the position of seeker, and in a broken pensieve there is a slightly blurred image of him catching the snitch in a match against another house, Ravenclaw. Also, scrawled on the underside of a bed found in the wreckage of Hogwarts is: "Yr2, Will beat Potter, DM." believed to be written by him. Also, we discovered in a school log, he took part in a duelling club, and came very close to defeating Harry Potter in a duel, though this was overshadowed by Harry discovering he was a parseltongue, and commanding the snake Draco conjured to stop terrorising an unknown student.

Draco's third year was the most eventful yet, with him being attacked by a Hippogriff. Reportedly, his arm was hurt for at least three weeks, as the school nurse has painkiller prescription written down for him in her log. Also that year, he inadvertently brought out an uncommonly good patronus ablility in Harry, though it is unkown how, only that he received a month's detentions for doing so, along with a seventh year, and two other names, which are unreadable with age.

In the next year, there are no records of him, except him being quoted in a popular magazine of the time, Witch Weekly. He is merely badmouthing Harry, and there is nothing of real interest, though the article reportedly caused scandal back then.

Draco's fifth year, however, was his most eventful ever. Over the previous summer, his Deatheater initiation had taken place, a ceremony shrouded in secrecy, which nothing at all is known about, except that it was extremely painful. The ceremony changed Draco forever. He was extremely tormented, and withdrew into himself. His marks fell, and anti-depressants were issued from the Hospital Wing weekly. He quit quidditch, and often went missing for weeks at a time. Lucius was involved with several muggles massacres, and it is believed that Draco, either willingly or not, participated in at least two of these. It was Christmas Day when the school was destroyed, though Draco (And fortunately many others) were not there at the time. It was then, it is believed, that he became a spy for Dumbledore.

Becoming a spy cannot have been an easy decision, though it is believed he was heavily influenced by one Severus Snape. He gave much information to the Light, and was seemingly not suspected of any non-deatheater activity within the ranks. In the final battle, it was Draco Malfoy who took down all the protection charms surrounding the Deatheater HQ, at massive personal expense. He also found jobs within the headquarters for infiltrating spies, and eventually made sure that twenty trained aurors were Voldemort's personal guard.

However, on his thirtieth birthday (Incidentally the day of the final Deatheater's execution) Draco Thomas Malfoy was found dead in his home, with "LIVE AND YET DIE" scrawled upon the wall. Believed the work of vigilantes, the case was closed quickly, as none had the heart to look into the death of an ex deatheater, despite the fact he had been proved innocent with undeniable evidence.

Very few attended his funeral, though many war heroes were there. Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, most notably. In an interview soon after, one Ronald Weasley states:

"I know what Dumbledore says, I've seen the evidence, but once a Deatheater, always a Deatheater. Think of those he killed while 'helping' us!" causing a mass dislike for the deceased Draco.

He is, however, spoken favourably of in 'Memoirs of A Lost Soul' by the aforementioned H Granger. She says,

"I do agree with Ron, Draco Malfoy did many many terrible things, but he did so much for the Order, and it was such a great risk that I can feel nothing but admiration for the man...I remember in Hogwarts I used to hate him so... There was Public Draco, and Real Draco, and yet I loved them both..."

From this last sentence, it is assumed Draco and Hermione were lovers. However, on her 34th birthday, Hermione married one George Weasley, who we know little of. So soon? One believes that Draco formed a close friendship with Hermione, but they were not lovers. Draco was, however, romantically involved with someone, though we don't know who. All we have is a note, in beautiful flowing script, written a while before he died, saying:

"The sun has risen again. It looks like you, a burst of beauty and delight. Yet you exceed it forever. I will let them all know so soon, and yet first the sun must rise again. It shall look like you tomorrow I hope, and if not, I shall see you in my heart,"

I hate to end proving only Draco's slightly lacking attempts at romance, but the story of his life ends here, with a badly written love note, and a long unsolved mystery. I would hope to find who his mystery love was, or indeed who killed him, but there is no more evidence of his existence. When he died, he was gone. Gone, and forgotten. Now, at least, I have found him.

~*~*~

A/N End sucked... Oh well... Please review!