Chapter 8

All characters belong to JK Rowling.

Sometimes Kingsley Shacklebolt missed his days as an Auror. Being an Auror was easy, strategize and execute it properly. If he could minimize the damage, it was a bonus. Being a Ministry of Magic though, he could strategize with his team but executing it was a different story. Someone else would do it and the chance of it went wrong was a wildcard. A great example would be the mess of tonight's dinner.

"Kingsley, I do not appreciate being used by the Ministry to subtly jab the Death Eaters!" said Harry, looking upset that his event was ruined by Phyllida. Kingsley closed his eyes, massaging his temple. Phyllida Jorkins was recommended by someone from his inner circle. She was a relative of the late Bertha Jorkins and was good at public relations, or so he was told. She joined his team earlier this year. Kingsley was a fair employer, he let Phyllida did her things without much interference. He trusted her to do her job and she did a good job so far. The Ministry's image had improved greatly, especially with how often the Golden Trio helped out in endorsing them.

Kingsley knew the trio's tolerance was running thin at how often Phyllida made them showed up at Ministry organised events. They agreed initially to show support for him, but it had become a job for them recently. He asked Phyllida previously if she could scale back their public appearances and finally let them enjoy a quiet life. Phyllida instead prepared a proposal to engage other Dumbledore's Army members to attend the events. Kingsley gave tentative approval, provided they agreed on their own accords. As usual, Phyllida followed his words.

Looking back, he should have more meetings with Phyllida about tonight's dinner. He should have checked the guest lists; he should have asked her what she wanted to say at her speech. But he trusted her. She organised the Battle of Hogwarts Anniversary with no hitch. All the smaller events that she organised were always perfect. Although, she never had to give a speech. Until tonight. Kingsley thought it was time she got some acknowledgement and asked her to give a brief speech at the end of the dinner.

"I thought we were trying to create a better world! You were the one who acquitted him! What message are we sending by inviting him to this dinner and shaming him in public? We are better than that!" said Hermione as she continued to flare up.

He never liked the Malfoys. Narcissa managed to escape Azkaban because of Harry. Lucius was in Azkaban but his imprisonment was kept a secret. Spare his son who had to return to school. Spare the boy who still had a future. He acquitted the young Malfoy because he was underage then and Dumbledore submitted a secret letter to him, absolving the boy of any guilt. Katie Bell and Ron Weasley did not report him for the attempted murders. They wanted to initially but due to the impending war that was coming then, his crimes seemed petty in comparison. By the time his hearing was set after the war, neither Katie nor Ron was interested in testifying against him. Both had moved on from that incident, not forgive or forget, just moved on.

To a certain extent, he could see why Draco Malfoy did what he did. Not everyone was as brave as Harry to accept death. The young Malfoy just wanted to survive, with Voldemort's praise as an added glory. That was why he agreed to let the boy free, asking him to complete his education instead. From the reports he received, he had shown promising changes

"I hate to show any compassion towards that prat, but, yeah, I don't wish for my past brush against death to be highlighted in public, especially not on my best friend's birthday! Tonight, I attended this because I wanted to show my support to Harry, Hermione, Neville, Teddy, the war orphans! Phyllida has successfully taken the attention away," Kingsley stared at the irate Ron.

"Listen, I was in the dark of what Phyllida did. I let her handle tonight's dinner as usual, and I agree, Draco Malfoy should not be treated that way. Her aim was to show acceptance, moving on from the past, granted it was poorly executed," he tried to defend his staff. Hermione was still shaking her head in disapproval. He noted, Hermione had become a friend of Draco since they were part of the eight-year.

"Phyllida wanted Draco and Theodore to appear tonight because she said your birthday, Harry, is the perfect time to show the new unity. They are proof that some of the Death Eaters were just misguided youth and we should welcome them again in our society."

"Is Nott even a Death Eater? Wait, is the empty seat at our table belong to Nott?" asked Harry. Kingsley gave him a nod. Harry looked even more upset at Kingsley's confirmation that Phyllida used his charitable effort to further the Ministry's agenda

"He is not but his father was. All the Death Eaters are in Azkaban, Harry. Draco, Theodore and Gregory are the closest we have to show that we are moving on, that they are repenting. However, as you know, Gregory Goyle left the country with his mother the moment they are cleared to do so. That left Draco and Theodore. I will talk to Phyllida about her methods."

"With you attending Cambridge, Hermione, we need a new plan. Harry and Ron can't always attend the events once they become a full-fledged Auror. Which is why, we are planning to ask members, only if they agree, to start attending Ministry events in your stead. We will also be asking Draco, Theodore and on conditional basis, Daphne, Blaise and Pansy, to attend together. No force, only if they accept the invitation. We are showing the world that we are moving on, that Slytherin is not related to evil!" Ron choked hearing Kingsley's game plan.

"You must be mental, Kingsley. Asking the to actually attend events with Slytherins?" snorted Ron. Harry seemed to agree with Ron. Hermione's expression showed great skepticism. Sure, Ginny was friends with Daphne and friendly enough with Blaise and Theo. But the same could not be said with the rest of the D.A.

"Kingsley, honestly, you better hope Phyllida knows what she is doing. If she continues to veer the agenda following tonight's path, you will not be getting unity. You might get a rebellion instead," said Hermione, and stormed away towards the door. Harry and Ron followed her, both shaking in disappointment in their Minister.

Draco was sleeping when he heard his mother started to unlock his door. He groaned, wishing to be left alone after last night's disaster.

"Son, you said it was a disaster but look, Daily Prophet said otherwise!" Narcissa excitedly nudged her son, forcing him to wake up. He groggily opened his eyes and started reading the front page. Rita Skeeter wrote about the huge donation that he made. The article was mainly talking about him, his Death Eater history, his family and also the donation. As he read the article, he realized Hermione was right. There was only a brief mention of Harry's event. The cause about the war orphans was glazed in a sentence or two. His speech was summarized only as "Harry Potter gave a moving opening speech".

Draco sighed; Hermione was right. He took all the attention away and while in the past he would have enjoyed it, this time round he hated it. It seemed like he was drifting further with Hermione for every action he did.

His mother, on the other hand, was very excited. When he reached home last night, he did not tell her anything about the event. All he said was attending this was a mistake. And it was. His mother thought the worst, she thought he was shunned away, ridiculed the entire night. He was, except the Daily Prophet did not mention that part of the evening.

"Draco, why did you say the night was a mistake? Looking at this article, it seems like it was a great success! How did you manage to sit at the same table with Granger and Weasley? Did you bribe someone?"

"Mother, the Ministry put me in the same table because Weasley and Bell, that girl beside him, were the people that I almost killed in sixth-year. The Ministry thought it would be entertaining to see a Death Eater sat with his victims, showing how magnanimous those Gryffindors are, not retching to be near me," explained Draco, anger and shame started to rise again when he remembered what Phyllida Jorkins talked in her speech.

Narcissa's face hardened when she realised her son was made of a fool during the dinner. She expected the distasteful looks but to be made fun of in front of everyone, that was harsh. However, she shook her head and glanced at the newspaper again. Draco was made fun of in the room but to whoever was reading this, anyone else who was not in that event, saw her son as a redeemed and forgiven former Death Eater and that was a good start. That was enough, for now.

"Draco, steel yourself. Your mother lied to You-Know-Who, your father accepted Azkaban. Being the joke of the Ministry seemed so tame, don't you think?" Draco looked up to see his mother's focused expression, eyes burning with fury and passion. There was no way he could argue his way out when his mother put it that way.

The sun was starting its descent when Draco finally floo-ed into Nott Manor. He spent the whole day thinking if he should talk to Theo about the dinner. Phyllida mentioned that Theo was invited however declined to attend. He needed to talk to someone else other than his mother about how the Ministry treated him.

When he stepped out of the fireplace, Draco was shocked at what had become Nott Manor. His last visit was sometime in fifth-year and the Manor was full of extravagance then, but now it was a shell of what it used to be. While the Manor was not filthy, Draco could see a layer of dust in some areas. Most of the art pieces that used to decorate every inch of the house were either missing or neglected. The same with the furniture, most of it showed that it had been untouched for some years. Draco frowned, did Theo move house without telling anyone?

Draco waited for the house-elf to appear, he never remembered his name, otherwise he would summon him right now. Few minutes passed but nobody was greeting him. He started his walk towards the grand staircase, knowing Theo's room was right by it on the second floor. As he ascended the stairs, he finally saw the house-elf. The elf was so shocked to see a visitor that he almost dropped the tray he was holding.

"Young Master Malfoy is here! Young Master Nott finally have a visitor!" He was jumping for joy now at the sight of his master's friend. Immediately, he opened Theo's room door and announced Draco's arrival.

"Merlin's beard, what are you doing in my house? Without owling me?" asked Theo, sounding rather embarrassed. He started to look at his surrounding, hoping it was decent enough without invoking any questions from Draco.

"I wanted to ask you about yesterday's dinner. Did you know that the Ministry was out to embarrass us? Hence your missing attendance?" asked Draco as he sat in one of the armchairs. Theo shrugged his shoulder, his eyes looking to today's Daily Prophet that was on the floor.

"I am not sure what embarrassment you are talking about. This article clearly showed you are hailed as one of the reformed war criminals."

"Phyllida Jorkins, that's the lady name," Draco pointed to the picture of the plump lady with a very immaculate French twist, "During the dinner closing speech, she was telling the entire room about my Death Eater history and how Weasley and Bell were so kind to be sitting with me, without hexing my balls off." Theo snorted at his friend's attempt at self-jabbing.

"She mentioned you were invited too but chose not to attend. I spent my whole day thinking if you had an inkling of what she was about to do. Not that I am holding it against you for not attending, I am just curious, I guess. My mother was so excited when she saw the Ministry invited me for an event. I figured you would be as well since we are basically cast out from the society."

Theo sighed deeply, "No, I am not aware about what Phyllida Jorkins wanted to do but I did figure out that my attendance would be used against me. The theme was war orphans, after all. With my mother dead and my father in Azkaban, I was afraid they were going to highlight about my family history. Besides, you heard my elf, nobody visits me anyway. I am fine living this way without any spotlight on me."

"Well there's that but why are you living this way? What happens to this house?" asked Draco as he looked around the room. The room was probably the only place in the house that still looked the same. Theo threw his body onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. Draco could see he was thinking if he should speak.

"I know about your father being in Azkaban," he said quietly. Draco felt his blood run cold. With a soft voice, he asked when did his friend find out about it.

"Pretty early. I visited my father when he was just imprisoned, the last time I saw him. He told me about Lucius being in Azkaban and asked me to reveal this to everyone. He hated the fact that Nott's name was tarnished but yours was somehow salvaged, with the idea of Lucius catching all the wayward Death Eaters."

"Why didn't you do it? As a rebellion to your father?" asked Draco, he knew Theo never reveal that information to anyone. Which was rather weird, they were never close previously but the trust was always there.

"Partially, but when he asked me to do it, I was angry. He was asking me to hurt you, one of my oldest friends, just for the family name that had already lost its value anyway. Besides, if I reveal that, our friends will cut me out of their lives. I told him that, by the way, and he scoffed at me. He said friends are useless, the Nott name carries more value than friends."

Draco now joined his friend, lying on the bed. They both stared at the ceilings together.

"But he was wrong, my eighth-year was bearable because of my friends. No, my life was bearable now because of friends. You have no idea how I felt when Granger and Weasley willing to offer their friendship to me… I never despise them but the fact there are two more people in this world, willing to befriend someone like me… It was something that keeps me going."

Draco thought about his friend's words. Theo's only crime was born to the wrong father, unlike himself.

"Anyway, to answer your question, my father treasures this house because it represented our family name. When I came back from Azkaban, I could see my father at every corner of the house. Slowly, I just refuse to leave my room. I ask my house-elf to clean every other day but I will just let this Manor wither. It is the greatest revenge I could think for him," said Theo, smirking at the thought of the slow revenge that he was enacting. Draco noted there was sadness in his eyes despite the harsh words he said.

"There are enough empty rooms in Malfoy Manor to house all the Weasleys. Maybe you can come and visit once in a while," Draco finally said after a long silence. Theo laughed. That was Draco's way of saying his gratitude for keeping Lucius' imprisonment a secret.

"Sure, we can have a sleepover party with Blaise too," Draco laughed. That was Theo's way of accepting his gratitude.