A Moment in Time

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter enterprise, nor do I have anything to do with JK Rowling.

Draco's Story
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Why? That's the one question I ask myself now. It's the only question that comes into my mind. I can't even ask how many sugars someone takes in their coffee... but why? Why is the question why? I *should* be happy. I left Hogwarts with equal top honors. I perfected a curse almost unknown by the entire wizarding population. I helped to rid the world of many Muggles and Mudbloods... I took over the 'family business' when I left school; my father is now in Azkaban, I narrowly escaped. The Dark Lord is finally defeated, and about time too - he was starting to get on my nerves. I know what you're thinking; I don't need to ask you. "Why would Draco Malfoy, once second in command to the Dark Lord, now the most powerful wizard in the wizarding world, only be able to ask why?" And there's that word again - why.

I'll tell you why, and then perhaps you can answer *my* question.

I left Hogwarts equal top of our year. Granger was the other party of the pair. My father was about to be 'demoted' by Voldemort, and I just so happened to take his place. Things went well - more Muggles and Mudbloods died this time round then ever before. But still Potty managed to elude us. It got to the point where Voldemort was letting other matters slip, diverting all his attention towards destroying Potter. He nearly managed it this time - he drove him almost to insanity.

The first thing he did was take out the Weasel, Potter's best friend. That sent Potter a bit crazy for a while; Voldemort almost managed to destroy him. But he didn't get the chance. It took a while, a few years in fact, for me to convince Voldemort to get rid of a few others in Potter's life - his girlfriend, Weasel's sister; the Longbottom dope; the giant in love with the Magical animals; Dumbledore; and even his Muggle relations. They were all dealt with, and the whole plan to get rid of Potter would have worked if the Ministry's new Auror hadn't stepped in... Granger.

Of all the professions to take up, she had to take up the role left open by Mad Eye Moody when he died five years after our graduation... or was killed, I should say. I dealt with that one personally... always wondered what good his eye was; it makes a good mantelpiece conversation topic.

I'm not ashamed of killing so many people - the world is a much better place without the lot of them - but I often wonder what would have happened had my life been different. Voldemort, when he realised he'd been beaten for the second time, gave me full control of the operations. Though he thought himself invincible, immortal, he wasn't. There were spells that even *he* didn't know about... ones more powerful than Avada Kedava... Evadi Madoni for example... it brought about the downfall of Salazaar Slytherin, Merlin, and countless other famous, and infamous, wizards and witches.

Voldemort didn't have enough immortality to withstand the Evadi charm (it is a curse, but far more deadly, so it is called a charm)... I made sure of that.

When he was good and dead, or maybe it should be bad and dead? Whatever. When I knew for certain that he would not return, I set about creating my own force... when Voldemort gave me control of the operations, I don't think he expected to be out of the picture altogether. My father, by this time locked away in Azkaban, would have killed - again - to be a part of my empire. The Dementors were gone - Dumbledore had seen to that before we finished him - and so too were many of the wizards part of my army. Granger had taken them from me....

At this point, if I'd thought about Granger, I'd have seen the not-entirely-gargoyle-looking girl from school - hair a touch too fluffy, head always in a book. But seeing is believing... the Auror look didn't seem to be her somehow. The black school robes replaced by leather armor, the witches hat replaced by a helmet, the long hair gone, the girly look as though it never existed. She reminded me of Mad Eye Moody in some ways... I suppose that was expectable, seeing as he was the one who trained her. I think she ended up knowing more than Moody... how else would she have been able to anticipate our movements? No one has ever been able to do that - not even the mighty Potter. He kept to hiding in places like Australia, and Egypt. I had never really hunted Potter like Voldemort had, so I didn't go out of my way to find and kill him. I had no reason to.

I remember seeing her again at our school reunion, ten years after we'd left Hogwarts. I didn't recognise her. Of course, some people weren't there - Weasel for one, Longbottom for another - but others were. I remember seeing Pansy - growing older didn't take with her - she looked like she was related to a hag. But others, like Blaise Zabini, had mellowed out as they'd grown, leaving them looking far from the gangly teenagers they'd been. Blaise was one who hadn't joined my side when I'd requested... he wasn't around for long after that.

I thought, originally, that Granger was the Chang girl from Ravenclaw - she'd gone into the business of dragon keeping, a job which required head-to-toe leather - but when I thought back, I realised the Chang girl was the year above us. It took me a while to find out who the leather-clad warrior (as I heard people call her) actually was, and why they were dressed like that.

I saw her face to face before I left. She remembered me; I hadn't actually changed much besides getting older. She had. Her face... it was never pretty, but there was something... her face was scarred a little, not enough for to catch attention, but her arm... one entire arm, from shoulder to hand, looked as though someone had poured wax into the mould of an arm, and twisted it before it was properly hardened. It was mangled, a pale red in colour, and something that caught my eye. I don't blame her for what she said. "Move it, Malfoy. Quit staring, your eyes might pop out of your head and roll around on the floor. And if that doesn't happen naturally, I'll make it happen."

Her tone wasn't light, as though she were joking, but deadly serious. She surprised me - she'd never been like that at school. "What's wrong, Mudblood, here to be bodyguard to your little Potty friend?" I hadn't actually meant to say anything to her, but I couldn't help myself. She merely smirked. "In actual fact, yes I am. It is the job, Malfoy, to look after people, *good* people, when you're an Auror. Now, if you don't mind, or even if you do, get out of my way before I go through you!"

When she pushed past me, I wasn't sure if I felt angry, surprised, shocked, or even humiliated. In a way, I think I felt a bit of all. I watched her back walk away from me until she disappeared out the main doors. She didn't once look back. I don't think she really wanted to remember her school days - neither did I. But I think she wanted to see if it were true about half our class being dead. She got her proof - although I don't think it was quite half at that point. That was when the rumors of her being an Auror were proven... looking back, there was a point in time when I would have done anything for her... actually, I probably still would. If she'd let me.

She is, and was, my weakness, and someone cannot be completely in control when they have a weakness. I tried to get rid of her; time and time again I sent my best, my worst, anything... but she was too good for them all. She outsmarted them, destroyed them. But she never found out it was me behind it all and not Voldemort until several of my men finally succeeded in capturing her, a year later.

I didn't want her brought to me dead, like I said, she was my weakness, but a full strength Auror in my home was a recipe for trouble. So I had them torture her. Not much, just enough so she couldn't fight back. She still didn't realise it was me, she thought it was Voldemort. I couldn't bring myself to kill her then, just as I can't now. If I tried.

She unmasked me with a simple spell. Expellarius. Of all the things to use, it was the one I should have known. I remember the expression on her face when she saw it was me under the robes. I think it was something between shock, anger, and even disbelief. As though she expected me to start laughing and tell her it was a joke.

I think I wished, at that moment, that I could have done just that. For a while anyway. After her initial shock, she went back into Auror mode. Almost ended up catching me off-guard at one point, and I almost caught the Avada Kedava curse. She seemed to not care she'd be sent to Azkaban had it hit me full-force.

When I finally retaliated, and it took some doing before I defied my weakness, I knocked her out cold. The many minions that surged around me then weren't much to hold back. I took her, personally, back to a place where Wizards, from the Ministry, would find her. I felt defeated, even though I had sent the last blow.

That was the last time I saw her until just recently. When she'd recovered, she applied to be transferred to America, to work with the intelligence side of things. The Ministry didn't want to let her go - she was the best Auror they'd had since Moody. But she threatened to quit completely unless she went overseas. Needless to say, they let her.

When I ran into her recently, she didn't recognise me. Hell, even *I* didn't recognise me anymore. She looked at me suspiciously; many years of being an Auror led to her seeing threats in the shadows, as was once with Moody. She let me pass. I'm sure she recognised me after a while, but she didn't say anything.

I tailed her for a while, and she knew someone was behind her. Years of tailing Muggles and Mudbloods gave me the intuition to tell when someone knew. She even turned tail and tailed me for a stint... but she didn't catch me. If that was on purpose, I'll never know for sure. I never got a chance to ask her.

She went to a bar of some kind, and I saw her again. We talked, as strangers, telling each other nothing of what we already knew. Thirty-two is not old by any means, but for us it was a miracle to have lived for so long. She, an Auror hunted by every dark wizard in the known world, and I, hunted by every Auror and good-hearted wizard in the known world.

The night, which followed that evening, was magic. One I could never forget. Something we'd both been longing for since our school days, aching for, actually happened. And I left when she was still asleep - a peaceful, dreamless sleep. That's the memory of her I keep with me now, instead of the schoolgirl that plagued me for so long. Not the slightly scarred face, the mangled arm... but the deeper, stronger feelings that lay below the surface.

I will never see her again. That much I'm sure of. I'm only thirty-five, but I'm not going to be around for much longer. The empire I've built up has taken all of my energy. I left no legitimate heir, and the one heir I do have isn't going to be trained in my way. He'll be brought up on the side of good, I know that much, because his mother is my weakness, my enemy, my love....

It may be called weakness, but love can be strength. I'll never see my son, but I'm going to make sure he knows about me. I've written my story, my life, on parchment, which will be sent to him when he is accepted at Hogwarts - and I know he will be. My empire will crumble - no one will have the ability to continue the lead after my death - but I don't care.

If my life could be played out differently, maybe I would choose the side of good. Maybe not. But I would at least change one thing - I would try to win her love in return.

Now do you see why the question is why? Why did my life turn out like this? Why can't I control my feelings? A million things, why? I won't live 'til I'm forty, I know that. I won't even live until I'm thirty-six. All I can do is wait, and ask why....
*****

A/N: The next chap will be Hermione's story, then there's a few other characters after that. Sorry to all fans of Ron, Ginny, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Neville - but I had to take out the characters that meant something to Harry (besides Hermione).