Author's Note: Ficlet written for the LiveJournal hp100 challenge. August 10's subject: use any of the twenty-seven sentences supplied. I give you:
23) Draco Malfoy was taught these words by his own father.
No Substitute
By Trisana McGraw
Clearly uncomfortable, the black-haired mother wrung her handkerchief while her blond boy glared around Azkaban distastefully. When Lucius spoke, Draco's attention was snared.
"Do what you're meant to. No one can stop you."
Draco Malfoy was taught these words by his own father. Not a simpering nanny or a bored professor, but the man who had helped create him and then stood by while his life went on. The message didn't come from a meaningless rhyme or a dusty text. The man before him had lived all that he claimed and had suffered for it.
No substitute for life lessons.