The Inspectorate for Elfish Labour Conditions [Dramione]

5 | Draco

Music: Another Story, Nicholas Hooper (Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix)

                          Draco lay sprawled on the downy duvet, eyes wide and staring at the elaborate silk canopy crowning his four-poster bed. In the darkness of night, the silk had adopted a vague muddy grey colour, but he knew that in broad daylight the canopy would return to its original navy blue. It wouldn't be long before that very daylight would actually appear, as it was already beginning to hesitantly peek through the brocade curtains. Sleep had never been further away from him, though.

After he had safely returned Granger to the Weasley family home, Draco had evaded his disgruntled mother who had wanted to waylay him outside the Apparition Room and had hastened to his room. He had barely been able to keep himself from running. Upon closing the double doors behind him, he had leaned against the panelled wood and squeezed his eyes shut. Raging emotions had completely overtaken his rigid composure. It had taken long minutes before he managed to straighten up, pull off his jacket, and throw it across the foot of his bed, violently shaking his head to get rid of the memory of holding Granger in his arms. But despite his efforts, his hand had still drifted towards his cheek, where her lips had touched him, as he sat down on his bed, staring into the distance.

                        Due to Potter's weighty intercession on their case, it took the Wizengamot only a couple of weeks to acquit Draco and his father of any charges. The day the Wizengamot passed judgment on the accused Death Eaters, Draco impassively underwent the public reading of the sentence. He even felt slightly disappointed with the outcome when the Minister of Magic's final delivering words sank in. He was free.

In the gallery behind him, his unemotional mother openly burst into tears, which vaguely surprised him. He avoided looking at his father's triumphant smile, while his ears registered the furious outcry from the audience behind them. Little did they know that their outrage only reflected his own conflicted feelings on the outcome of the trial. Draco left the dock knowing that his acquittal merely served to accommodate Potter's sense of justice. His own feelings of guilt about his previous support of the Dark Lord were inconsequential. Moreover, the favourable sentence burdened him with an obligation much heavier than any assignment the Dark Lord could ever have placed on him - to make good use of the chance offered to him by a society which had morally condemned him.

Three days later, Pansy Parkinson unexpectedly showed up at the manor, congratulating him with false enthusiasm. Draco was surprised to see her. He hadn't heard from her since his family had fallen out of favour with the Dark Lord. And he knew it was only his family's obvious wealth and standing which drove Pansy back to his doorstep. He reluctantly let her in.

His mother seemed glad enough to see Pansy again. Draco's parents were struggling with their part in the Dark Lord's demise and their isolated position in society because of it. But Draco only felt grateful that the three of them had survived the war and lived in relative peace. The last thing he needed was a visit from Pansy, with her rambling about the horrid treatment of her Pureblood family since Potter had defeated the Dark Lord. As he silently drank his tea, he formed his decision. When Pansy finally left, he politely but determinedly asked her not to visit again. She didn't take it well, but he was untouched by it.

It was halfway through the rainy August that followed a searing hot July that the letter from Hogwarts arrived, inviting Mr Draco Malfoy to return to school and complete his education. All of the previous year's seventh year students had received the same offer. Lucius was sceptical, even offended by the idea that his son was to return to 'that' school again. But Draco silently looked down on the familiar emerald green writing, signed by Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, and considered the possibility. Though he was surprised to receive the unexpected letter, he found the idea of returning to Hogwarts for one last year rather appealing.