𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 | Draco Malfoy

ONE | birthdays and funerals

His hands are covered in thick, warm blood. When he opens his eyes— instead of just feeling it trickle down his fingers, he sees it, too. Crimson red, thick droplets dripping on to the stones tiles of his cellar. He loses the grip on the dagger he has been holding for half a minute now, the piece of silver dropping to the floor with a satisfying sound.

Is adrenaline supposed to rush through someone's veins after doing this?

The simple and short answer is no, of course.

But— the complicated and long answer is yes, if you'd ask Draco Malfoy, anyway. Because today he succeeds. He succeeds in something that others would see as the end of everything. Getting caught, going to jail, spending a lifetime there..

Draco doesn't worry much about that.

Today is actually the start of something for him.

He got rid of an obstacle.
He killed someone.

The body that was still moving a minute ago is now laying motionlessly on the floor, blood gushing out of his neck. There he is— Asher Belmore.

Draco did not kill him over some argument he had with the young man, or because he was defending himself. No, Draco killed him because.. well— why wouldn't he? It was quite obvious that Asher had a thing for Blair Nott, the girl Draco may have developed strong feelings for. She's his best friend's little sister, he has to be at least a little protective over her. Who else is going to do it?

A sigh of relief escapes through his lips as he steps back, pointing his wand at the body. "Incendio." He speaks, without hesitation. Asher bursts up in flames, the smell of burning flesh filling up the room. Draco's heart races as he holds his hand in front of his nose to fight the smell, walking through the door of the cellar and closing it shut.

As he cleans the blood from his hands upstairs, he replays the delightful scream of terror that left Asher's mouth before he could no longer make any sounds. Draco wonders for a moment whether the pleasure he found in taking someone's life may be concerning. Does it end here?

Does it end here, when all he's been his whole life is normal? Sure, he's never been perfect, but he's never taken someone's life before this, never even thought about murdering a living being. He knows falling in love is something new, something he's never felt before her, but he didn't expect all these extra feelings to come along with it. Is love ever just love? When does love start to make its own choices?

Draco makes sure to go upstairs after he's done cleaning his hands, getting himself ready to visit his neighbors. Today happens to be Blair Nott's birthday, and Draco will be there.

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"You finally got me a phone?!" Blair laughs at her brother, unboxing a brand new iPhone.

She's never really wanted a phone, until now. Growing up in her pure-blood family, muggle technology wasn't much of a big deal. Even when her parents and her brother got their own phones, she felt no desire to get her own. But Theo heard her talking to Emris about now wanting one.

"Ah, I didn't want you feeling left out. Term starts in less than a week and I don't want to go through the trouble of writing thousands of letters to you when I can just send a quick text," Theo grins, leaning forward and kissing his sister on her cheek. "Happy nineteenth birthday, Blair."