Title: Exile
Pairings: Neville Longbottom, Ex!Draco Malfoy x reader
Summary: Despite the happiness you found in Neville's arms after the war, the ghost of your past still haunts you in passing.
Word Count: 1.7k
The dainty crystals of a stately chandelier hung from the tall ceiling of the room you stood in packed with Ministry officials. The men wore pristine dark suits matching with impeccable bowties while the women wore sophisticated gowns with their hair styled gracefully. Everyone there held a wave a joy on this evening as the moonlight shone through to the room which battled with the candlelight warm light. The light of the candlelight won the darkness of the moonlight which was not unlike life after the war.
The war had left you feeling battered and bruised, but somehow you ended up where you were with a ring on your finger placed there by the person who healed you. The glimmering diamond caught the light of the hall you stood in with Neville's arm in yours. This ring was placed on your finger only a week ago by Neville in the promise of a better future in each other's arms. By his side and in his arms you could feel safe and cared for. In school before - and unfortunately during - the war the man you now loved was only a friend and nothing more. You were busy falling in love with someone else who left you shattered and furious to notice the kind, shy boy who would have laid his life on the line to bring you joy. It had shown in your youth when he saw you got a bad mark in Charms and picked your favorite flower from the black lake that he would leave in your books - a gift from him to you that left his heart swelling at your smile. It was only years later after your relationship with Draco fell apart at your discovery of the wicked black ink on his arm that you saw Neville in a different light. Neville was brave, kind, and he loved you. You were by each other's side in your seventh year when there was Death Eaters in charge that had a penchant for cruelty. You cleaned each other's wounds and found friendship in his heart. It was only natural for something to grow and blossom that surpassed friendship. You built one another up again after the war ended and were irrevocably in love. So much in love that neither of you could not bear to leave each other's side. Your love for Neville was so different than what you had before him with Draco. Neville healed you and grew with you while Draco had only burned you and left you shattered in broken pieces. The way his hand fit in yours reminded you of where you belonged - with him. Your friends that stood by the two of you in the Hall of the Ministry's Gala was only a further reminder of where your future was taking you and you held no energy to ponder of the person who broke you.
"Wedding planning, then?" Hermione said excitedly across from you where your right hand was wrapped around Neville's arm. Hermione shot a thrilled expression to Ron whose hand she was holding. Looking back at you a gleeful smile spread across her lips. "I can barely wait. This is all too exciting. Let me see it again, why don't you?" She grinned and brought your left hand forward without waiting for your response as she examined your engagement ring for what you were sure was the fifth time this evening.
As your friend gazed at the diamond on your finger you drew your bottom lip between your teeth not paying any mind to the way the action was bound to ruin your lipstick you had carefully put on earlier. With a glance to Neville, he gave you a small nod already reading your mind. "I had hoped to wait at dinner this Saturday." You said smiling fondly at Hermione.
"Wait for what?" She asked slightly perplexed as she pulled her gaze from your ring to your excited expression, her hand still holding her place on yours when she was gazing at the jewel on your finger.
"For me to ask you to be my maid of honor." You said hopefully with the hint of excitement that was reflected on your lips. "There's no time like the present, though, is there?"
Hermione gaped like a fish at your statement, which made Ron and Neville chuckle at your friend's behavior. "Are you serious, Y/N?" She asked as her shocked expression turned to a joyful one.
"Of course, Hermione." You grinned. "I'd be out of my bloody mind to ask anyone else." You laughed lightly as you basked in your friend's happiness at this moment.
At this, Hermione moved forward at once and encased you in a bone-crushing hug that couldn't help but remind you of Ron's mother's hugs - as painful as they were loving.
"Bloody hell, Hermione." Ron laughed at his girlfriend's actions with a fond smile on his lips and his eyes alight with pure love and adoration. "Let the girl breathe, will you?"
Hermione and you paid him no mind. Pulling back from you, at last, she still held your arms and smiled at you. "There is nothing I would want more in the world to be your maid of honor." She smiled with joy seeping through her features. "I don't know how I can ever repay you!" She laughed.
You smiled fondly at her as you gently rubbed her arm. Smiling cheekily you simply replied, "Return the favor one day, then."
The blush on her cheeks - as well as Ron's which you only noticed - was only momentarily as she released you at last and began spewing about countless wedding ideas she already had. A fond smile was permanently placed on your lips as your friend went on and on. Absentmindedly you felt your eyes trail off from your friends and glance around the room in curiosity who else was here you had yet to see.
In the abyss of elegance, your eyes reached the person who hadn't failed plague your thoughts in the pass. Dressed in a black tuxedo with polish shoes, Draco Malfoy didn't look much different from anyone else in the room. Perhaps the platinum blond hair could have made him stick out but the unsure expression that made him appear as if he wasn't sure if he belonged in the room and where his place was, would be enough to explain his temperament. It was a stark contrast to his previous attitude that had held an air of superiority no matter where he was. The Draco Malfoy that had always known his place in a room had been wiped out once he chose to bear the dark mark.
Despite his resilience of having people who fought against Voldemort testifying on his behalf, so that he would not have to spend the rest of his days in Azkaban, Draco found no solace in standing in this room. The elegant affair was one he had become used to in his life. It was only now at the sight of you in the arms of Neville Longbottom that made his skin crawl. It was illogical in all sincerity, but the sight of you in someone's arms - someone that wasn't him that irked him. His feet yearned to be moved from their place on the marble floor and his eyes begged to be torn from your face across the room which was now looking straight at him. His feet didn't move, however, and he couldn't bear to look away. Even across the room in the pale light of the night couldn't prevent that coldness in your eyes. The daggers your usually warm eyes shot at him was enough to allow his heart to freeze over. The glimmering diamond on your ring finger only added further insult injury at the realization of what you both had become - nothing at all. Your love had been a burning star, the reality of it dying out once he had left you burned for too long was inevitable. This love was never enough to have a diamond ring on your finger and swear to be each others eternally.
The pain he felt at your mere expression was excruciating enough but this diamond ring - this reminder that someone else had given you what he never did - was enough to become his final nail in the coffin he had put himself in. It was karma, that the very man you had found eternity with was the very person who Draco had decided he was better than the moment he met him all those years ago. The pain was insurmountable for Draco and he found no solace in the champagne in the glass he gripped onto for dear life as his knuckles turned white.
Across the room, you heard the buzzing of what you were sure was a meaningful conversation, but you ignored the voices only hoping they weren't aware of who had caught your eye. Your heart once warm and full to the brim of joy was now feeling cold as your eyes harden at the sight of Draco. His eyes were trained on you as you looked at him. You couldn't muster any facade as your eyes hardened instantaneously at his presence. After all, the memories with him were too haunting to forget. Despite the craving to completely forget your past, you couldn't. The memories came in shockwaves as the brutality of the truth you had been served only a few years ago hit you. Unbeknownst to you, the pain hit Draco the very time.
You pulled away from the foreign eyes of your past who had left your burned and hallow as you turned to the eyes of your future. Neville's warm eyes ignited the happiness your heart craved for and a smile was brought upon your lips without a word slipping past his lips. You slid your hand around his arm and smiled affectionately at him despite the coldness you felt mere seconds ago. Looking intently into Neville's eyes you saw your future and at that moment. It hadn't occurred to you that Draco stood planted on the spot across the room as he felt his heart being torn from his chest, finally feeling the heartbreak you had years ago when you discovered the dark mark he had hidden from you.
While your eyes were trained on your future, Draco's were stuck on his past too heartbroken to look away.