Until the End ~ A Dransy Fic

I - The Prologue

"Mum, where's Father?" a young boy with blond hair asked as he pulled on his mother's arm. "You said he'd be here to see me off on my first day!" he said, his pale face looking up at her.

The woman's silver eyes scanned Platform 9¾, but Lucius Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry Draco, he said he'd meet us here... " Narcissa frowned, growing impatient with her husband. "He must've gotten caught up in his work again."

Draco leaned on his trolley, disappointed.

"It's okay, I suppose Father just doesn't care about seeing me off," he said sadly, staring at the ground.

"You mustn't say that, you know he cares deeply for you," she sighed. "He just... has a funny way of showing it, that's all."

"Yeah, like forgetting my birthday," Draco mumbled, just quiet enough for her to miss. "Twice."

He heaved his trunk off of the trolley, along with his eagle owl, one of the many gifts he'd received from his father. Although the gifts were numerous, they were just meaningless objects, for they contained no love. Just like their relationship.

For example, Lucius criticized or dismissed any crayon drawing or popsicle stick craft that Draco showed him. There were no family game nights, no father-son bonding time. And there were certainly no hugs that didn't feel like you were being swallowed by a glacier. Just constant verbal put-downs and purple bruises from the snake-shaped walking stick Lucius always seemed to carry. Yet, Draco spent years loving his father and trying to please him.

Choo choo! 

The Hogwarts Express sounded its horn, and Draco and Narcissa sighed in unison, both thinking the same thing; Lucius isn't coming. A quick hug and a forehead kiss from his mother sent Draco off to his first year at Hogwarts with a heavy heart. He hauled his trunk onto the train and found an empty compartment.

As the train began to move, Draco pressed his face to the window to wave at his mother, only to see a red-faced Narcissa practically screaming at the top of her lungs at an equally red-faced Lucius.

"Pack your shit and go. Get the fuck out of my sight!" she shouted.

"I wouldn't miss you, nobody would!" he retorted. Everyone on the platform had their eyes on the fighting Malfoys, but they kept going.

"Keep talking, and I'll break your jaw!"

Draco winced when he saw his mother swing at his father, but he sharply inhaled so quickly he choked a bit when he saw his father hit back, just before the Hogwarts Express rounded the corner out of King's Cross Station. 

Horrified at what he'd just witnessed, he pulled his knees close to his body and his eyes began to sting. You're a big boy now, you can't cry, he thought to himself as tears beaded themselves onto his eyelashes. Father says real men don't cry- Draco buried his face in his hands and wished he could become invisible.

Miles unfolded themselves in front of the train, and minutes passed like kidney stones. Draco still had his face hidden when he heard a knock on his compartment door. He glanced up with blurry eyes to see a pug-faced girl who looked to be about his age with short jet-black hair standing in the doorway.

"How... how long have you been standing there?" he asked quietly.

"Longer than you'd like," she replied in a flat voice. "Is this seat taken? The other girls kicked me out of their compartment. They say I talk too much,"

"No, you can sit here if you want to," Draco sniffed and shook his head, wiping his face on the sleeve of his robe.

The girl with the pug-like face pulled her trunk into the compartment and plopped herself down on the seat across from him. "My name is Pansy. Pansy Parkinson." she said, still situating herself. "What's yours?"

"Malfoy," he mumbled. "Draco Malfoy."

"That's a pretty cool name, Draco Malfoy." she commented.

Draco didn't smile or thank her. It seemed to suddenly dawn on her that he'd been upset, and her face dropped a bit.

"You've been crying... Why?" she asked, leaning forward.

He fidgeted with a thread coming loose on the seat, not looking up at her. "No, I haven't," he sniffed, still looking down. "I'm fine."

The girl shook her head. "It's alright to cry, you know." she stated plainly. "What's wrong?"

Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but didn't answer right away. "I dunno." he mumbled.

"Yes, you do." Pansy pressed. "Please talk to me about it, I promise I won't judge you."

He knew that she'd stay rooted to that spot until he answered, so he figured he may as well answer honestly. "Er, remember those two grownups that were fighting on the platform before the train left?" he began quietly.

"Yeah," she frowned.

"Those are my parents," he said, his voice cracking on the word parents. "I saw my father hit my mum, and I'm worried."

Pansy looked directly into his sad eyes.

"You, me, blanket fort." she whispered, bringing a shadow of a smile to his face.

Within two minutes, trunks were opened up and blankets were flung over the seats. When inside, Draco proceeded to inform Pansy about his father and the way his parents fought.

"It kind of scares me, I think they're going to get a divorce soon." he told her.

"Aw man, that sucks," she replied.

"My mom's pretty nice, so I think it's mostly my dad's fault. He's mean to me sometimes." he pondered.

"Mean like how?" she asked.

"Well, I just try so hard to please him, but all he does is call me names and use his stupid walking stick on me," he explained, and Pansy raised her eyebrows.

"He hits you?" she asked, mildly horrified.

"Er... Yeah. I suppose it sounds kinda bad when you put it like that, but it's okay because he buys me stuff, like my owl. And he's my dad," Draco explained. "I can't hate him."

"Yes you can," Pansy countered. "Just because someone is related to you by blood doesn't mean you have to love them!"

Draco gave her a doubting look. "Pansy, you don't understand-"

"Your dad? He's been in your life for a long time, but he's not gonna be there for you when you need him. Me? I've been in your life for less than an hour, but I can promise you that I'll be with you until the end." She flung her arms around him and held on tight. After a few moments, Pansy could feel Draco relax into her arms.

"Thank you," he said softly into her shoulder.