Draco Malfoy's Perspective

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Neville looked high and low. He'd just seen something impossible, and he had to tell someone. Someone he never thought he'd ever look for.

He'd already killed Nagini; actually, if it wasn't for Violet he wouldn't have. She'd protected him from a killing curse seconds before he'd sliced the head off the snake.

"Draco!" Neville grabbed the ash-covered Slytherin's shoulder. He turned impatiently.

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you right now."

"Just spit it out, Longbottom. Everyone's busy, if you hadn't noticed." Draco's voice was cold like ice, making Neville's already dumb mouth clam up. "What?" he said again.

"Vi–she just–I didn't ask her–she saved me, but–she was so stupid—"

"Where is she?" Draco grabbed his robes and yanked him down. "What happened to her?"

"She's dead."

Suddenly free from Draco's iron grip, Neville tried to do something to help. But at that exact second a terrified hush gripped the entirety of Hogwarts. Then someone screamed.

"Ginny," Neville breathed, and ran off, fearing for her life and what her family would do to him if he let her die.

"Harry Potter," the Dark Lord shouted, "is dead!"

The words barely registered with Draco. He didn't listen to a word of Neville's speech, nor did he care about it. He lifted her ring out of his pocket and determined to leave them all here and find her body before it was shoved in a pile with all the others. She deserved a proper funeral, with her family and friends present for her, not her and a hundred others.

"Draco." A soft, familiar voice made him lift his head and push the ring out of sight. His mother. "Draco, come here." They thought he'd been inside. He'd just been pushed and jostled to the Hogwarts group. He was being given a chance. To get out? Or to prove he was loyal to them?

He didn't have the heart to consider it. Violet had died because she'd gone with her old friends. She'd been killed by someone in a black hood and a white mask. Why would he go with them? 

"Draco," said his father. "Come."

Of course. That's why he would stay with his promised's killer. Because of his parents. He couldn't leave them. His father was incapable, his mother would become so.

Slowly he stepped out. His steps got quicker, only so he could go. He needed to be alone. The Dark Lord embraced him, which felt like embracing death itself. Cold, empty, and horrifying.

A commotion made him look back, just as his mother put her arms around his shoulders. It was a kind touch, but he couldn't feel it. The only thing he felt was the lingering touch of his master. As everyone behind him rejoiced, he felt the dark abyss swallowing him. He was gone. He had died with Violet.

The fight reignited. Death Eaters against Hogwarts and the Order. Draco fell behind. He didn't take part in any of it. He sat back. Waited. Until his mother tugged on his arm and his father's hand fell to his shoulder to steer him away. He went with them. They were the only people left for him in this life.

This life. As he walked, he let his mind wander. What was the next life like? Was Violet finally smiling, or was her heart still here with him? As soon as he'd thought it, he cursed himself. There was no next life. And Violet would have been glad to be rid of him.

He would remain here until his death. He would care for his mother and father. He would keep up appearances. But in private he would be as a corpse on a coroner's table. Frozen in time. Eyes unmoving. Heart unfeeling.