Draco Malfoy and The Aeternum Caput | Drarry

Prologue

Harry turned right, almost arriving in the Wizengamots chamber, but he halted when he heard altered voices.

- Draco, you cannot be serious about this! - The voice belonged to Narcissa Malfoy, and Harry instinctively hid behind a tall cornerstone. But he could still see part of the scene unfolding.

Narcissa Malfoy seemed very upset, her fists clenched at her sides, and her face contorted in fury. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her, but in his face there was only acceptance and tiredness. He was thin and so much more pale than usual, with his platinum hair so unkempt and dirty, Harry almost didn't recognise him. His clothes were hidden by a black cloak with silver and green adornments, the only thing in him that still looked like a Malfoy.

- Narcissa, please, this can wait. - Another woman, short, with dark curly hair and bright green eyes that Harry never saw before, was pleading. She was a bit younger than Narcissa, perhaps in her late twenties.

- No, Elena, this cannot wait. - Narcissa countered, still furious. - You will not take him from me. He is all I have left!

- Merlin, Narcissa, I'm not taking anyone! - The woman named Elena said.

- Mother. - Draco said, so low that Harry almost didn't hear. But it was enough for the two arguing women to shush. - I cannot go back to that house. Please, try to understand that.

- Draco, you are the Heir of Houses Malfoy and Black. The only one left alive. You have a duty to...

- A duty? - Malfoy echoed, raising his voice to what would be a normal volume. - You really have the audacity to say that word to me?

Narcissa shivered but did not back out.

- Yes, Draco. - Narcissa insisted. - You may not like it, but with your father in Azkaban, you are the one responsible for...

- I will take whatever responsibility you want me to take, Mother. - Draco raised his voice a little bit more. - But I WILL NOT SET FOOT IN THAT HOUSE EVER AGAIN.

Harry backed one step with the intensity in Malfoy's voice as he said the last sentence. He did not seem to have the strength needed to roar like that, and he was naturally panting when he finished the yelling. The black-haired woman stepped forward and put a comforting hand in his shoulder. Only then Harry saw two other figures in the background: a tall man, with dark blond hair and a beard, in his early thirties, with a small child, with black straight hair and pale face sleeping peacefully in his arms.

- Draco... - Narcissa was shaken by his words, but her face was still full of determination. - You cannot leave your family now. You father did the best he could to protect us, but he...

- Protect us? - Draco echoed again, with his disbelief even bigger. - You call opening the doors of his supposedly ancient and respected House to a half-dead, serpent looking lunatic, a murderous monster and his maniac followers, PROTECTION? - Draco was still panting, as if the effort of speaking was way beyond his capabilities at the moment. - We have very different conceptions of what protection means, Mother.

- Enough of this. - The black-haired woman said. - Draco needs medical attention and rest, Narcissa, so whatever it is that you two need to discuss, it will have to wait.

- Oh, now the noble Elena Carter seems to remember to care for my son. Where were you three months ago, when he was sent to AZKABAN? - Now it was Narcissa who was shouting and panting afterwards.

- Mother, we've discussed this already... - Draco said, in an almost whisper again, his voice so tired that it was heartbreaking.

- I left an agent behind, Narcissa, to back up Draco. But he was killed, and I was in a different corner of the world, fighting another battle. - Elena Carter said, in a low voice, that seemed full of guilt. - But I know that it doesn't justify leaving Draco to Azkaban for three months. I cannot go back in time now, but I will make sure this is compensated somehow!

- Elena, it is fine! - Draco said, still whispering. - I needed to pay for the things I did somehow. You still should have left me there another couple of months.

- You stop saying this Draco, or I swear I will... - Elena started to say, but Narcissa interrupted.

- You are clearly a threat to this family Miss Carter. - Narcissa said, putting an unnecessary emphasis on the woman's last name. - It would be a favor if you would just disappear!

- Enough! - The man said, and the little girl in his arms woke up, startled. - This is not the time, nor the place for this. - His voice was gentle, but firm. - We should get going.

Harry realized that he needed to interrupt soon, if he wanted to catch Malfoy before he left. He used the silence that emerged from the man's interruption of the discussion, and stepped out of the cornerstone, walking as if he had just made the turn.

- Malfoy! - Harry called, and Malfoy turned to face him.

- Potter... - Malfoy said in another whisper, his eyes widening when he saw Harry walking to them.

Harry didn't know what to say to him even before he heard that weird talk. Now, he knew even less. But Harry had many other worries, and no free time to dwell on Malfoy and his problems. He was only there to return Malfoy's wand. So that is what he did.

- Here. - Harry said, offering the 10 inches long, hawthorn, unicorn core wand back to the hands of his owner.

Draco stared at the hawthorn wand for a few seconds, then back at Harry, but he didn't move. His eyes seemed afraid of grabbing the wand again, but after a few seconds he took it.

- Why, in Merlin's name, did you keep it? - Draco asked, his voice only a whisper again.

Harry was definitely not expecting that reaction, nor did he know how to answer that question, so he blurted the truth without thinking.

- It just was... The one that worked best for me, after mine was broken. - Harry said, feeling all the eyes turn to him.

- It did? - Malfoy asked, his eyes unblinking and fixed in his wand.

- Yes. - Harry answered.

- Well, of course it did. - Malfoy said in such a low voice that Harry second guessed his ears. But he was not there to chat. So, after doing what he set about to do, and determined to solve his own problems, Harry turned and walked back to the corridors, trying to leave his obsession with Malfoy behind. The war was over, and Malfoy was free, and Harry did not want to think of Draco Malfoy ever again in his life if he could help it.

...

Hello my beautiful people!

I hope you all liked the prologue, it was short, but it was just to show the last time Draco and Harry met before the story actually starts! Let me know what you think, and if you like it, please leave a vote! <3 Thank you so much for reading!