Intro To 2020 Challenge - Blog Posts

Cup of Revenge | Draco Malfoy

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x reader

Genre: Uhhhh fluff, maybe slight angst and yeah

Summary: He wasn’t well, even I could tell that. I knew something was up with him, now I just needed to find out what. This could really go one of two ways, incredibly good or horrifically bad.

Word Count: 6.7k

Warnings: Some swearing. It’s written in first person so be warned. It’s also kind of long but oh well. Your last name in this is Ambry just in case you get confused. Be warned about any grammar mistakes and what not. 

This is my submission for @locke-writes​  Intro to 2020 challenge

Masterlist

Also requests are open. Thanks!

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Draco was acting differently, it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. We may not have been as good friends as we once were but I could still pick up on his feelings.

I raised an eyebrow, staring at the tall man in front of me as he tried to lie to me about how he was feeling.

“I’m just tired, that’s all.” He said, turning to make his way back into the Slytherin common room before I grabbed him. The sunken features of his face were even more prominent in the dingy light of the castle dungeon. Even now, I could fit my hand around his wrist, something which I was never normally able to do (I have small hands).

“I don’t know when you thought lying to my face would be a good idea, but let me remind you, it’s really not.” He gulped once again, furthering my suspicion that something was really wrong.

“Since when do you care Ambry, we haven’t talked in years.” Draco was trying to change the subject and get me riled up, but it wasn’t going to work at all.

“Who’s fault is that anyway? Besides, trying to distract me is going to get you nowhere.” I growled. “You better tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing. Just drop it okay?” He hissed, finally becoming angry with me, glaring down, his eyes turning to a stormy grey. I just needed to push a couple more buttons and then he would spill whatever it is that he was hiding from me.

Draco, whilst he was incredibly clever, could be pretty dense at other times and never picked up on the fact that I knew all of his little quirks and what to say to get him to tell me his secrets. We had known each other since we were in nappies, our parents having been best friends when they went to school and were hoping for us to be the same. This lead to a lot of play dates and sleep overs and I was now able to read him like a book. 

Unfortunately, our parents also shared the same views on half-bloods, muggle borns and blood traitors so you can imagine the uproar from my family when I was sorted into Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin like everyone else.

My parents then promptly forbid me from coming home during any of the holidays that weren’t the summer, seeing Draco and his family (who probably wanted nothing to do with me) and from calling them mum and dad.

They kept me around until I could fend for myself and then chucked me out into the big wide world. I was lucky enough to find a job and an apartment that I was able to rent for a cheap enough price during the summer holidays.  

I thought that maybe, even if I had been sorted into Hufflepuff, Draco and my relationship would last at school. Except that was a far off dream, Draco had blanked me out for most of our years at Hogwarts and I had learnt to do the same with him.

The foundations of our friendship rocked even more when he found out that I was involved with Dumbledore’s Army last year. He had been the one to drag me to where Umbridge was rounding us up, glaring at me the entire way. 

Whilst Harry and a couple of others made their way down to London that night, a few of us stayed at the castle to stop any of the Inquisitorial Squad reporting us to Fudge.

Draco duelled with me that day, the first and only time it had happened. The battle between the two of us had only been stopped as I had shot an curse to keep him immobile, before moving him away from the letter that he was going to write to his father about what had happened. I wasn’t entirely sure whether or not he had forgiven me for that one.

Even if our relationship had failed, I was still worried about him. Especially due to the fact that, ever since the start of our sixth year, he had become even paler and more sickly looking, his cheek bones protruding from his thin face as he stared unseeingly past me.

I had managed to swap prefect duty with the person that Draco was normally with, and thus I was here, confronting him and trying to get an answer out of the stubborn man.

“I’m not going to drop it Draco. You look like death. What’s going on?” He ran a hand through his hair before making his way off in the direction of our prefect route. Running to keep up with his long legs, I continued to pester him with questions.

“Why won’t you just tell me? Seriously Draco, I’m worried.” He stopped at those words before slamming me into the wall behind us.

“You’re worried about me! You betrayed me.” He pushed himself off the wall, continuing our round. I rolled my eyes at his dramatic statement before hurrying after him.

“I’ll find out somehow Malfoy, you know me.”

“Will you leave me alone, Ambry?” He growled, scratching his left arm absentmindedly and my brain started to connect the dots.

“Malfoy, don’t tell me…” I trailed off, watching as he stiffened, pausing the scratching on his arm as he stared at me in horror.

Draco looked like he was in the middle of a mental breakdown as he realised that I had managed to work out what he was doing. He knew that I was very sharp when it came to uncovering people’s secrets before they wanted me to.

“Go away!” He looked so upset with himself. I glanced at his left arm, hoping and praying to any god out there that he hadn’t done what I thought he had done. He saw me looking and began to back away, my fear only growing as he did so.

“Don’t even think about it.” He warned, backing away as I moved forward.

“Draco.” I pleaded, holding out my hand as he continued to back away. “If it’s not true, then you have nothing to fear, just show me your left arm.”

However, I knew almost for sure that I was right so I cast an immobulus charm on him and grabbed his wand before casting the counter curse so that he was standing opposite me. His resolve seemed to crumble as he let me grab his left arm, not even trying to protest. He looked down, blond hair falling in front of his eyes, that seemed fragmented in the light.

I pulled his sleeve up so that the dark mark was shown, marring his skin. It was visibly irritated, the skin around it red and there were scars covering the top of it as if he had tried to scratch it off. My heart broke for the boy in front of me, knowing that Draco wouldn’t have done that if there was any other choice.

“Draco…” I stared up at him, tracing around the dark mark as I did so, trying to soothe the agitated skin. Glancing up at him, I caught his eyes and pleaded with him to help me understand what was going on. “Why?”

“He was going to kill me, what do you think I was going to say?” He hissed back, his voice breaking as he did so. “He’s threatening me, my parents, you. He was going to kill everyone.”

“What’s he asked you to do?” I pressed as Draco rolled down his sleeves and straightened his blond hair again. He rolled his eyes at me. “And why am I involved in that list? As you said, we haven’t talked in years.” 

He gulped and sighed before answering.

“My happiness depends on you. You’ve always been my light, my best friend.” I smiled up at him sadly, the lines reminding me of our past memories together. “Why do you think he’s asked me to do something anyway?” 

“You forget, we grew up in the same types of households, I know how it goes.” He gulped, remembering that he and I were very alike. Both of us had been prepared to take over the family mantle and to take up the dark mark if our parents fell. However, I got out of that life but Draco was still stuck in it. “Tell me, I can help.”

“Kill Dumbledore…He’s asked me to kill Dumbledore.” He replied, rubbing his hand against his face in pain. He glanced back up at me and I saw unshed tears in his eyes. He was terrified.

Draco, who had been my knight in shining armour for years, was absolutely terrified of this. I gulped knowing that it was my turn to stand up and help him in any way that I could.

Shuffling over to his hunched figure, I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and kissed the top of his head, running my hands through his hair as he sighed.

“We can stop this you know.” I told him. “This doesn’t have to be a be all end all situation.”

“How are we going to stop this? Have you met that man, he’s too powerful for us to defeat. We’re students.” Draco moaned, running his hands through his hair again as he pulled away from me.

“No, he’s not. That man’s still scared of one person.” I told him, grabbing his hand and beginning to lead him back towards the gargoyle staircase. Draco was thinking, trying to work out the pros and cons of the situation as I slowly lead him towards the office.

It gave him enough time to try and stop me from talking to the old professor and bolt. But still, he continued to walk with me, staring at our intertwined hands.

“I’m sure that he’s the person who can help us. I have a plan and I think that maybe he’ll be able to help us execute it.” I said, gripping his hands a little tighter as we both ducked out of sight of Mrs Norris, who was prowling the corridors.

“What’s your plan o powerful one?” He said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow as I winked up at him, both of us pressed together in a tight nook on the fifth floor.

“You’ll find out when we get to Dumbledore’s office.”

“Ambry, just don’t. He can’t help me, you can’t help me. I have to carry this mission out alone.” He sighed, twisting his wrist so that I released his hand from my grasp.

It was at that moment that luck seemed to be on my side and Professor Dumbledore appeared from round the corner and approached the two of us.

“Ah. Mr Malfoy, Miss Ambry. This is a pleasant surprise. Why don’t you step into my office for a minute?” He asked, not leaving any room for arguments as Draco and I followed the old man towards the gargoyle staircase.

We must have looked like quite a trio as we walked past; Draco looked like he was being sent to the gallows, I looked worried and Dumbledore just had a knowing glint in his eyes as he watched the two of us closely.

We finally made it up into his office and sat opposite the large desk in two chairs, that he had transfigured from books. I had never been in his office before, and I looked around in awe at the room; the paintings on all the walls, the phoenix that watched the both of us carefully, and the large book cases that lined the room. Draco wasn’t as impressed as I was, and just sat staring at the desk, his hand still clutching mine as he waited for the old professor to speak.

“Now Mr Malfoy, would you like to tell me what’s bothering you?” The professor asked as he shot me a look over his half-moon glasses. Draco sighed and looked away from our joined hands, knowing that Dumbledore would be able to pick up on any bullshit that he tried.

“Draco. Would it be easier to show him?” I whispered, rubbing my thumb across his knuckles and squeezing his hand. It seemed that our relationship had picked up where we left off, and we were back to being (relatively) affectionate with one and other. That was always a good thing about our relationship, we were always able to reconcile after any argument no matter how big it was. As Draco said, we were one and others light to try and keep up sane in this harsh world.

It had always been that way around, me providing affection that both of us had been starved of, and him lapping it all up eagerly. He was a big softy under all his bad boy persona.

Draco, after a couple minutes of tense silence, began to roll up his left sleeve to show the scratched dark mark that had tainted his skin. He looked away, staring into my eyes, ashamed that he had to talk to a teacher about what to do. Dumbledore nodded at the sight and then commented;

“You were supposed to kill me, weren’t you?” Draco nodded, still not meeting the teachers eyes. “Well, this is a stroke of luck isn’t it?”

Draco snapped his head to Dumbledore’s as he glanced between me and the man, confused at the professor’s happy tone.

“How is this lucky?” He asked, looking at the mark, that was now hidden again underneath his shirt, with disgust.

“Well, now there’s someone on the inside isn’t there? I do believe that was your plan all along Miss Ambry.” I nodded at his statement, still confused at how he had worked out my plan before I told him. Draco sat a bit further upwards in his chair, clenching my hand tighter than before.

“Yes sir. I thought that maybe we could use the coins from Dumbledore’s Army and then have Draco be an informant in You-Know-Who’s ranks.” I said, looking at Draco, who had a furrowed brow. 

“Coins? What coins?” He questioned, though Dumbledore and I ignored him.

“Yes, but we should make it look realistic so maybe if Draco could keep up with the assassination attempts. It would mean that Voldemort wouldn’t have a reason to suspect him.”

“He would need to learn occlumency.” I told Dumbledore, becoming more certain with the idea that we created. It would need some more planning, but I thought that we could pull it off. Draco was still looking between the two of us, confused as to what we were talking about.

Dumbledore nodded and suggested Snape before chatting over some final details and letting us go back to our common rooms.

We began to make our way back down to the Great Hall level so that I could branch off to the Hufflepuff common room and he could continue down to the dungeons.

“What did he mean by coins?” Draco asked, pulling me to a stop in front of the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff common room. I pulled out the galleon that was my DA coin and showed it to him.

“It can show a message on it and it used to let us know when to come to the room of requirements to practice.” He picked the coin up from my palm, flipping it over in his hands before giving it back to me.

“Are you going to make a couple?” I nodded at his statement.

“I’ll ask Hermione what the charm is and then I can make one for me, you and Dumbledore so that we can communicate with each other about the plan.” I told Draco who nodded, looking slightly confused about all the information that was being thrown at him in such a short space of time.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Draco replied, wrapping me in a hug as he pressed his lips to my head. “Thank you, for doing this...and, I’m sorry, for these past few years. I let my fathers teachings get in the way of our friendship. I know that’s not a proper excuse but I’ll do anything to try and save our relationship.”

“It’s not a problem Draco. You know that I’d do anything to help you.” I made my way out of his arms and back into the Hufflepuff common room as he trotted off downstairs to sleep. It was an interesting night, that was for sure.

 ************************

 I had managed to get the charm off of Hermione relatively easily, and had made the coins for Draco, Dumbledore and I. Luckily the charm was still relatively simple, and I managed to make three galleons and deliver them to the other two (it also made meeting up to discuss secret plans a lot easier).

Draco and I had then sat down, a couple of weeks before Christmas, and had brainstormed a couple of ideas for what was going to happen after the holidays, in terms of assassination attempts, and how his occlumency lessons were going with Snape.

Dumbledore had also suggested that we think of something that could be used to assassinate him before Christmas.

Thus, I was brewing a poison in the dungeons, under Snape’s supervision, whilst Draco had his occlumency lesson. It would have been a strange sight if anyone came into the room, me (a Hufflepuff) brewing a poison and Draco (a Slytherin) having occlumency lessons.

Slughorn had vacated the room after hearing that Snape wanted to use it so that Draco and I could complete an extra-credit project.

After two hours of slaving away at the cauldron, I finished the poison and began to watch the occlumency lesson, smiling as Draco managed to keep Snape out of his head for the third time that night. When they had finished practicing, I gave Draco a glass of water and waited for him to catch his breath as I told him all about the potion. Snape had tested it and deemed it above average (so in other words, it could be used).

I’d already sent Dumbledore a message over the galleons, who had then sent a bottle of mead to us and we had tipped the poison in, before giving it to Professor Slughorn. 

Draco had used the imperious curse, so that Slughorn thought it was his idea, which I wasn’t impressed with. I was not a fan of the Unforgivable curses, having seen the damage that they could cause a person.

That night was a good one, as the plan was working a lot better than we hoped. It was all coming together quite nicely.

The next morning, I walked into the Great Hall behind Draco, who still looked tired and pale from the occlumency lesson last night, though less like death. I almost walked straight into his back as he stopped still, staring at a Gryffindor seventh year who was standing at the other end of the hall talking to Harry Potter. I also froze, just like Draco as I realised that everything we worked for could go down the drain if Potter decided to stick his nose into our business.

That was Katie Bell, the girl who was cursed by the necklace that Draco forced her to take. She was also, unfortunately, a friend of Potter’s, which meant that he was bound to go meddling. Bell would probably further confirm his suspicions about Draco and them clashing would not be pleasant.

Draco almost ran out of the room, pushing past others coming in, and I quickly followed him, making sure that I kept him in my eye sight as he moved into Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.

I rushed in after him, my heart breaking for my best friend who was struggling to come to terms with the fact that he had ended up hurting someone, even if he was trying to protect himself and his family.

He had taken his jumper off and loosened his tie, the top button of his shirt open, taking in big gulps of air as he clutched the bathroom sink, heaving sobs echoing in the small room. Moving up behind him, I touched his back gently to let him know I was there, before wrapping my arms around his waist. He turned around and wrapped me in a hug, burying his head into my shoulder as I ran my hand through his hair, holding me as tightly as I was holding him.

“She’s alive, no one was seriously harmed.” I whispered, keeping an eye on the door in the reflection of the mirror. I glared at Potter as he walked into the room, a book in one hand and his wand in the other. I drew my own wand, staring Potter down.

Potter and I may be on familiar terms but Draco was still my best friend and I would protect him against anyone, even if the other person was a friend of mine as well.

“Piss off Potter.” I hissed at the man. Draco stiffened under my touch, before he too turned around and drew his wand, neither of us pleased with the outcome. “We’re not looking for a fight.”

“You were the one who gave her that necklace, weren’t you?” Potter spat, ignoring my words as Draco and I bristled.

Potter threw the first spell, which I deflected, and then Draco sent one towards him. Potter sent another spell which bounced off my shield and hit the faucet, causing water to start to spray. Draco began to lead Potter away from me, as I tried to control the water that was spurting out of the broken tap. The ground beneath us began to flood with water as I worked to get it repaired.

I could hear the fight coming back towards me again and quickly made my way over to stand back to back with Draco, not sure where the next spell from Potter would come from. I sent a quick glance at Draco, who squeezed my hand lightly in reassurance.

Unfortunately, the spell came in my direction and it wasn’t one that I had ever heard before or knew of.

“Sectumsempra.” Potter shouted and all of a sudden, I felt a searing amount of pain through my chest and back, as if someone was cutting me open with a knife. I let out a shout, before stumbling and dropping my wand.

Draco caught me as I fell down, trying to be careful as he swore loudly. I could see the water around us start to turn red with my blood and I could feel myself getting tired. Potter began to run towards us, skidding to a stop when he saw that there were cuts on my torso and back, not Draco’s.

“I didn’t…I didn’t mean to…” He couldn’t finish his sentence as Snape brushed past him and began to say a spell that lessened the pain slightly as my wounds sealed back together. At that point, I blacked out, the pain becoming too much for me to handle.

I woke up later that night, lying on a bed in the hospital wing, with Draco clutching my hand tightly as he waited for me. I squeezed his hand, smiling widely at the boy as he jumped out of his skin. Giggling, I watched as he sighed in relief and smiled down at me.

“Hi.” I whispered as Draco tried to calm down, before handing me a glass of water.

“Hey.”

“You okay?” I asked, looking at the tall man in front of me.

“I think I should be asking you that.”

“I’m fine. Wasn’t your fault. What happened to Potter?”

“Detention and he lost 100 points for Gryffindor.” He smirked at that statement and I could bet that he was very pleased about that considering the house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Madame Pomfrey came round moments later and shooed Draco out so that she could look at the slashes.

“They might leave some marks Miss Ambry, but otherwise you’re good to go.” I thanked the healer and sat up to put my uniform back on as she closed the curtains around my bed. I managed to get everything back onto my body, bar my tie, as I was struggling to do it up.

“Draco.” I called, hoping that he was near the bed. He appeared inside the curtains moments later and I showed him the tie which he tied for me. Smoothing it out, he helped me into the over robes, that all the students wore, before offering me his arm and leading me towards the common room.  

“Ambry.” Someone called from behind me and I turned to see Potter, Granger and Weasley moving towards us in a hurry. Draco glared at Harry, wrapping his arms protectively around my waist as he did so. “I wanted to apologise to you. I’m really sorry, I had no idea that the spell did that.”

“Why use a spell when you didn’t know what it caused?” Draco spat, glaring harshly at the man. I slapped him on the shoulder and smiled at the distraught boy in front of me. Potter was a good soul really, he just was a bit clueless sometimes.

“It’s fine Harry, it could have been worse. I’ll see you later.” I sent a warm smile their way, as Draco glared over the top of my head, before turning back towards the common room.

Draco lead me to the barrels that were the entrance for the room, and gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head before disappearing back to the dungeons.

 *******************

 Months later, our plan was finally ready, all the careful planning that Draco, Snape, Dumbledore and I put into this would finally pay off. Of course the only downside was that Dumbledore was going to die, but he had assured us multiple times that he was “going to die anyway” and “why wait for the inevitable?” which were morbid thoughts.

Dumbledore notified us, over the coins, that he was taking Potter with him to find the horcrux and that tonight should be the night that he dies. Neither of us were very pleased with the upcoming plan but it was supposedly for the greater good.

The last dinner before the proper war started was tense, well at least it was for me. Draco and I kept catching each other’s eyes from across the hall and giving each other reassuring looks. He motioned for me to follow him out at the end. I nodded slightly, knowing that he wanted to say goodbye before shit hit the fan.

Draco walked out and, moments later, I followed him towards the room of requirements. He pulled me into the room as he quickly closed the door.

“If I don’t see you after this, please make sure you keep safe Ambry.” I smiled up at him, nodding slightly.

“I’ll be fine Draco. You know how to contact me if you need anything, right?” He nodded, showing me the coin that was kept in his pockets. I smiled, pressing my lips against his cheeks before I moved away from him.

“When this happens, don’t come out from hiding. You’ll be pretty high up on the hit list considering you’re a blood traitor and all. I’ll see you soon.” He said.

I began to walk out, waving over my shoulder before I heard him curse behind me. I turned around to ask him what was wrong, when I found myself pushed into yet another wall as his lips met mine in a kiss so passionate that I lost myself in it.

Pulling away, he kissed me again. Everything that he couldn’t say translated into that one kiss.

“Stay safe Draco, I’m expecting a date when this blows over.” I whispered against his lips as he rubbed my arms.

“Don’t die.” I winked at him and finally left the room of requirements, knowing that I wouldn’t see him until next summer at least.

 ***************************

 I didn’t return to Hogwarts the next year, scared for my life as a blood traitor and someone who was supposedly high on the hit list. I had my parents to blame for that one.

Instead, I went on the run and tried to hide out in the muggle world. Of course, I would have gone to a different country altogether, but Draco needed me here and I would stay to finish the plan.

Every night, since I first went on the run, I had begun to listen to Potterwatch (a corny name I know) to try and work out what was going on whilst I was away from it all. They had sent out a couple of messages already asking about my whereabouts and Dean Thomas’. Occasionally, they would send a message that involved some of the information that Draco had procured.

When Draco found any new information, he would tell me over the galleon, in a code we had made up, and then I would send it down the DA galleon that Hermione had given me two years ago, making sure that someone had got it.

It was in June that I finally went back as a call had gone out over Potterwatch to tell us that we needed to make our way into Hogsmeade and then Hogwarts immediately. I had apparated over to Hogsmeade, landing in the Hogs Head pub, before making my way into the castle, through a secret tunnel which came out inside the room of requirements.

The room had become a base for the DA members; hammocks lining the walls and a bathroom and kitchen set up for the students to make sure that they could be self-sufficient.

“Where did the information come from? About the attack tonight?” I heard Harry ask as he looked round the room, his eyes brushing over me as he did so.

“Got it over the DA galleon, thought it was one of you lot.” Lee Jordan, Potterwatch’s host, stated as he showed the coin which had my latest message on it.

“Then who sent it to you? How do we know that we can trust this information?” Harry asked.

“Harry.” I called, stepping past people to see him.

“Ambry, you’re okay.” Hermione said, pulling me into a hug. I nodded. I turned back to Harry before he could ask the same question.

“I’ve been the one sending the information.” Everyone’s eyebrows raised as they turned to me. I pulled the two galleon’s out of my pocket, showing him the DA one and my own.

“What?” Ron asked, his mouth open in shock.

“There was a plan, to help us win the war quicker. Only four people were in on it, one being me, another being Draco and Dumbledore. The last ones still working at the moment.” Everyone’s mouths hung open in shock as they stared at me. “Draco’s been sending me information from the inner circle of death eaters and then I’ve been sending it onto you guys.” Harry began to splutter at the new information.

“But what about Dumbledore?” Hermione prompted, staring at me.

“We had to make it look realistic. It was Dumbledore’s idea really, Draco and I just followed instructions.” I smiled weakly, before showing my own coin to Harry, with a message from Draco on it. “You’re not the only one who wants revenge Harry, a lot of us pure bloods have parents that have been forced into taking the dark mark, or tried to force us. We have people of our own to avenge. Just tell me where you want the Slytherins who are going to fight and I’ll make sure that everyone’s ready.”

 **************************

 There was a scream from outside the Great Hall and all of our heads shot up in an instant. I pulled the cloth over the young girls head before making my way over to Pansy as both of us began to head outside. Most of us who were from Slytherin, or pure blood families, stayed at the back so that our parents wouldn’t be able to see us. Sure we were betraying them, but we didn’t really want it publicly known.

Reaching Draco, who I hadn’t seen in over a year, I pushed my hand into his and both of us held onto one and other tightly. I didn’t want to look at Harry’s body, the sight too haunting as I watched the last hope lie there, dead.

Looking back out towards the Death Eaters, I saw my parents faces of complete and utter betrayal as they glared at me. I took in a sharp breath as I stared at them, clutching onto Draco’s hand even tighter than before. Whilst my parents might have disowned me, they still raised me for a large part of my life and I still hated to disappoint them, even after not being a part of their family for seven years.

Voldemort was talking, calling for people to come over and join him as the war was lost. He was already celebrating and we hadn’t even surrendered yet. His snake light eyes flickered dangerously, watching to see if any of us stepped forward. I saw, from the corner of my eyes, Narcissa step forward, her hand outstretched towards her son.

“Draco.” His mother called, motioning for Draco to walk towards them, and accept being a death eater. He stood his ground, wrapping his arms around me and keeping his eyes on the top of my head. I squeezed his waist in support as I looked at his chest.

They called again, this time louder, pleading with him to come to them. But still he refused, both of his hands holding onto my waist tightly. 

I knew this was hard for him, betraying his family and pushing all of his beliefs away as he stayed as still as a statue. I could feel his shaky breath brushing against my ears as we stood there for what seemed like hours.

Removing my head from Draco’s chest, I looked around, taking in the faces of the other students who stared at us. They all seemed shocked that Draco was standing with them and against his own flesh and blood. He had finally made his own choice on the matter.

His parents stopped calling, betrayal clear on their faces as they stared at their only son. Voldemort was visibly frustrated with the fact that Draco hadn’t re-joined them.

 *********************

 The battle had ended shortly after that, Voldemort being defeated by Harry and Bellatrix by Molly Weasley. My parents had been brought into custody and were going to be held on trial at a later date that I needed to attend. Draco’s parents, along with many of his friends parents were also dragged in to be held accountable for what they had done.

Draco and I were sitting on a large piece of stone, that had come off of one of the towers, clutching onto one and other as we stared out at the castle that once held our home. Draco placed a kiss to my head, as Molly Weasley walked up to us.

“Do you two have a place to go?” She asked kindly staring down at the two of us.

“Yeah, my apartment’s still intact. We’re going to stay there for a bit.” I replied, smiling up at the woman.

“I wanted to thank you.” She said, directly addressing Draco as she did so. Draco looked up, surprised that she was talking to him. After everything that he had said about their family in his younger years, he never expected the matriarch to even look at him. “For saving my son.”

I glanced over at the Weasley clan seeing that, sure enough, all of the children were still there, in one piece more or less. Draco began to shake his head, protesting that he didn’t need thanks. In his mind, he believed that saving Fred’s life was how he repaid them for all of the trouble that he had caused.

“Draco.” I looked at him, elbowing him in the ribs as I did so, to try and make him accept their thanks. He sighed, glancing down at me and then back at the kind face of Molly Weasley.

“That’s okay. But really, you don’t need to thank me.” He said, looking down at the ground as a hint of colour raised in his cheeks. He wasn’t used to getting thanks, neither of us were as it really wasn’t in our parents manners to do so.

“If there’s anything we can do for you, let us know.” Molly squeezed my arm, before moving back to her own family who hugged her tightly.

“Ready to go home Draco?” I asked the tall man, who was still unmoving besides me. His head snapped up, registering that I was talking to him. He squeezed my hand, smiling before bending down to kiss me softly.

“Whenever you are, darling.” I beamed up at him as we made our way out, towards one of the apparition points in Hogsmeade.

“I like that nickname.” He chuckled quietly as I giggled.

 **********************

 19 Years Later

 Kings Cross seemed to never become less chaotic. It was the first of September and all of the Hogwarts students were making their way to Platform 9 ¾ to board the train. Pushing past some muggle commuters who were trying to barge past my son and I, I lead Scorpius in the direction of the station wall.

Scorpius was practically bouncing with excitement as he looked at the station in awe. I chuckled lightly, placing my hands on his shoulders as we got closer to the platform entrance.

“Malfoy.” Someone called from behind me and I turned to see the Potter’s making their way towards me. I waved, bringing Scorpius to a stop as I did so. Harry and Ginny finally reached me, their children trailing behind them, staring at me in confusion.

“It’s good to see you again Potter. How have you been?” He nodded at my statement, smiling at Scorpius.

“I’ve been good, busy with work and all. How about you?” He replied, motioning to the baby bump that was showing underneath my flowery dress. I laughed, stroking the top of the bump.

“Yeah, good. Just sending this one off to Hogwarts for his first year.” I pulled Scorpius closer to me as he smiled widely.

“Really?” Ginny asked. “Well, we’re sending Albus off for his first year as well.” I waved to Albus, who was looking slightly nervous.

“Darling!” A voice called, followed by a chuckle as I felt my husband’s arms slip around my waist. “Potter, good to see you again.”

Our pair of twins, Lucy and Mickey, also collided into the two of us before running off with their older brother.

All of our children had inherited the Malfoy blonde hair and grey eyes, with only a hint of me in their looks. I was, however, holding out hopes for the next child to look like me instead of Draco.

“Malfoy.” Potter replied, shaking his hand as we all walked in the direction of the platform, chattering amongst ourselves as we did so. We went through the barrier first, before waving to the Potter’s and making our way a bit further down to where Pansy and Blaise were also standing with their own kids. We said hello to them before helping Scorpius put his stuff onto the train.

“Remember to write at some point please.” I reminded my oldest as I pressed a kiss to his head. Draco wrapped him into a hug as well, before I handed him a bag of sweets for the train. “Make some friends whilst your at it.” I winked at Scorpius as he laughed, before giving me one last hug and boarding the train.

I heard a grunt from behind me, and watched as the six-year-old twins, who had tried to run after their brother, were restrained by Draco. Taking Lucy out of Draco’s arms, I held her against my waist as our little family waved at Scorpius.

We wouldn’t see him again until the Christmas holidays, if he even wanted to come back. The train left the station and disappeared around the bend in the tracks and we waited until we couldn’t see it anymore. 

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Draco asked, worried due to his own experience at school, and what others may think about him due to his family name.

“He’s a Malfoy and an Ambry, he’ll give them hell.” I said, beginning to lead Draco out of the station by the arm, and back towards the car. He had become a bit more worried after becoming a father, but I was pretty sure that Scorpius was going to have a lot of fun and make a lot of friends.

“I’m sure you’re right Mrs Malfoy.” Draco said as he buckled the twins into their car seats and opened the door for me. 

“I’m always right Draco.” I pressed a quick kiss to his lips before he shut the car door. I knew in my heart that everything was going to be okay.