Hiraeth // draco malfoy

EIGHT

what's past is prologue

8 months ago

"Christ, Zabini, could you pick up the pace?" Theo snapped at the solemn boy who hardly spoke much anymore. Pansy and Draco were just ahead of them, pulling their own weight in agony.

"Piss off." Blaise snapped back.

"So he speaks!" The banter was making Draco nauseous. He was so sick of the immaturity between his group, especially considering all that they were enduring in these dark times, yet they'd always be his friends. Even if they acted like they were in school still.

"You two boys done wanking each other, or what?" Pansy shouted in a somewhat hushed tone back at them.

"Well, if you'd like to join in-,"

"Will you all shut it?" Draco snapped, interrupting Theo and shutting them all up. A cold breeze whisked through the spring air around them, causing a chill to creep down Draco's spine. He would never admit it, but he was utterly terrified.

The Hogwarts castle used to be a welcoming home for all, and now it was a callous epiphany of what anyone could expect hell to be. Draco's own personal damnation to a lifelong torture. With a stench of death and blood filling his nostrils as they all walked in. You never could escape the rancid smell. It haunted Draco's dreams like a plague. How does one ever grow accustomed to it?

Their footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor which was once booming with shouts and excitement, but now held a persistent eery echo of cries from the dungeons and a still silence. Even after seven long years, it still felt so strange. No magic lived here anymore, at least not the good kind. Almost immediately they noticed the Dark Lord was not yet in attendance, but the other death eaters were. Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband and Draco's uncle, were staring over at the younger crowd with a distasteful look upon him. Nott Sr. just beside him. Their snickers were hard to miss.

As Theo, Blaise and Pansy stayed back, Draco approached the two with ease, feeling cocky and a little bit arrogant. "Something amusing, Rodo?" He asked. His ego was always shining through. He could never let these monsters intimidate him.

"Wondering why it is that you four think you run the place, actually, showing up half an hour late." Nott Sr. spoke up, drunkenly as the stench of booze filled the air around them whenever he opened his mouth.

"Why don't you go pour yourself another drink, pal." Draco pat his shoulder, mocking the man. Which only fueled Rodolphus's anger, agitating him more so by the second.

"Watch it boy." He sneered, stepping forward slightly in a failed attempt of being threatening.

"Boy? I may be young, dear uncle, but I've pulled far more ranks than the likes of you two combined." Draco scoffed. Him and Rodolphus have had a very complex and strained relationship since the great Lord Voldemort won the war and took power. Draco, a young prodigy who rose to the top rather quickly as Voldemort's right hand man. And Rodolphus, an aging old man who rapidly declined as the years continued. The two argued and competed on a daily, as Rodolphus envied the young Malfoy son. And Draco especially enjoyed making him miserable.

"You better watch your tongue, son." Rodolphus stepped forward once more, in a half-assed attempt at being intimidating.

"Not your son. And you should really have some more respect for your superior officers, old man." Draco smirked, not phased by his pompous ego.

"Superior?" Ridolphus practically choked on his own words. "Please, you're nothing more than a coward. But you are your fathers son, so that's no surprise." And that was the final straw that broke the camels back, as Draco quickly retrieved his wand from his jacket pocket and aimed it just under his chin.

"Draco-," a voice tried to stop him, and he quickly eyed his old professor, with a sharp glare to stay out of it.

"Now, you need to watch your tongue," he smirked wickedly, "before I take it." The words left his mouth fast as Rodolphus's anger rise in his body, heat burning in his cold pale cheeks. The hall fell eerily silent and a stiff chill ran through the atmosphere.

"Mister Malfoy," the unearthly voice spoke softly but powerful. Draco quickly lowered his wand and turned to face the snake-like man.

"My lord." He bowed his head, as all the others did just the same.

"Severus, would you please begin the meeting, I have something to discuss with Mister Malfoy." The cold man spoke to the professor, who nodded, leading the others to the table placed center of the Great Hall. "Come." He demanded, leading him down the corridor and into what was once Dumbledore's office, but now he had taken it upon himself to make it his own. Seating himself at the head chair behind the desk, Draco stood across easing his own nerves. "I have decided for you to take on a new task."

"Yes, of course, my lord." Draco nodded. Nagini came slithering in, just past Draco's feet and he did his best to avoid eye contact with it.

"Next week, you'll be heading to North America." Draco's mouth gaped.

"I-I don't understand, sir. Am I being punished?"

"Quite the contrary. It seems you and Lestrange aren't willing to play nice. And I do not trust him. He's weak, frail, ignorant. I need to keep an eye on him. But you, I trust will stay in line on this mission. You've shown great loyalty over the years. So think of it as a reward of sorts." Voldemort grinned wickedly. "There are rumors of Potter Alliance members and sympathizers fleeing there for safety. I request you find them and handle it accordingly."

"Yes, my lord." Draco bowed his head once more. This was the last assignment he could have ever have wanted.

"You are dismissed. Take Parkinson and the others with you on your way out. Their services are not needed here today." He insisted. And with that, Draco walked out of the office and headed to his friends.

* * *

"America?" Pansy exclaimed, disgusted, as the four of them walked down the path past where Hagrid's hut used to lie. "American's are so dirty." She groaned.

"Make sure you wear protection, mate. Heard that place is oozing with all sorts of diseases." Theo joked.

"Shut it, my second cousin went to Ilvermorny." Blaise snapped.

"Well that's not my fault." Theo laughed. Draco was simply unamused. He was angry. Even if this assignment wasn't a punishment, it sure as hell felt like one. Now Rodolphus would get to feel more powerful in Draco's absence. And this would surely not be good. The tensions between Rodolphus and him had been rising for a while now. Draco mostly didn't entertain the old man, but some days he enjoyed a little torment. And clearly, this had fucked him over in the end. Because now he had an assignment away from family, friends and his home. And who knows how long he'd be there. But he was fearful of what would happen in his absence. Even if he despised his role in the post-war apocalypse, he hated not knowing what was going on, more so. And if members of the Potter Alliance were caught while he was away, he wouldn't even know it and wouldn't be able to give them a fighting chance. This was the beginning of Draco Malfoy's fall from the top.