The Art of Betrayal by katehathaway

The Rules are Different

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @katehathaway ON A03!!

24 December 1924

BELOVED BACHELOR MISSING: A REFLECTION OF HIS LIFE AND LEGACY

By Rita Skeeter

Among his many admirable traits, it should be specifically noted that Mr. Malfoy was distinguished war veteran, serving his country and his people honorably and gallantly in the World War. At the start of the war, he was simply a sergeant, but by the end of the war, he had risen all the way to major. This enormous leap in leadership was unsurprising to those who served alongside Mr. Malfoy. During his service, Mr. Malfoy was awarded first the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, then the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and finally the Victoria Cross.

It was to receive the last award, the highest and most prestigious, that delivered Mr. Malfoy to Buckingham Palace on January 11, 1919 to which the public caught their first glimpse of Mr. Malfoy. After that first public appearance, the young man would go on to make many more over the course of the year and skyrocket in news and media coverage. It was his new role as leader of the family company and not only his determination, but also his deliverance to the success of several charities that held the public's adoration and attention.

Young and ambitious, he made quite the impression on not only the King, but the rest of Britain as well.

Well... Ok, then.

I hardly want to belittle or even question his acts of service while defending the country and fighting in the horrendous World War, so I'm not even going to touch on that (the Victoria Cross, by the way, is an extremely high award. It's given to those who displayed bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy). I'll let it slide, Rita, just this once.

Instead, I'll focus on the latter portion – You know, the part where she so casually mentions his philanthropic endeavors? Draco really did labor tirelessly over the needs of the children he regularly paid homage to and gave an unspeakable amount to charity with a beatific smile on his face knowing that every hard-earned pound he donated was going toward a good cause.

Kidding.

Obviously, Draco did donate an obscene amount to various charities, however, he definitely did not do so from the bottom of his rainbow-filled, unicorn-loving heart.

What a fucking joke.

31 July 1920

Hermione had stopped asking where they were going any time that she was granted leave from the stuff manor. Firstly, because it was never fruitful and secondly, because it tipped Draco and Theo's moods toward the dangerous end of their violence spectrum.

For the past several months she had worked tirelessly to accumulate any information that may be valuable in proving their illegal pastimes. At first it had been difficult to gather little more than the names of members of their gang largely because after they realized that she was staying on, they spoke in codes or in hushed monosyllables around her. They didn't trust her. That was to be expected.

Draco Malfoy was the meticulous type; he personally overlooked every detail of any projects his evil empire took on as well as cross-referenced any illegal activities his Death Eater's partook in to coincide with his public appearances so that he – and often Theo – always had an alibi.

It was infuriating.

Hermione knew she needed to prove her value to them over and over again in order not to get her execution rescheduled, but mostly to be able to produce viable evidence for Shacklebolt and the case he was forming on Draco. She kept her head down, mouth shut, and did what was asked of her no matter where the command originated from.