The Execrated

I

"You've got to be joking." my father complained as our car broke down. We were on our way back from a business trip abroad and although it was one of the best cars money could buy, frankly it had been a bit unreliable lately. And, of course, it had chosen to die just before we reached the security of the city, right in the middle of a muggle town.

"Here of all places, Draco. That's the problem with cars now, they're all self-driving so we've got no chauffeur to fix the problem. Back in the good old days when I was a boy we used to have servants for this. Well, we shall just have to wait for our mechanics to reach us."

As father used his iPhone 108X to send a hologram to our private garage, I looked discontentedly out of the window. I had been through muggle towns before, but I had never really bothered to look at them properly. Everyone knew muggles weren't worth our while, they were inferior to us so why bother?

The street we were currently on was barely more than a dirt track and was riddled with potholes. There were overflowing rubbish bins at the side of the street and I paled considerably when I noticed the abundance of rats crawling all over the place. The air was thick with smoke and the few  buildings that I could see, if indeed you could even call them buildings, looked to be made out of old bits of wood and sheets of corrugated iron. I was surprised that any of them were still standing.

All in all the place disgusted me. I couldn't imagine even stepping foot into such a horrific place, let alone living here for my entire life. Still, muggles are the dregs of society so I supposed that perhaps they quite liked it, and besides, it wasn't like any of them could afford anything better than tumbledown shacks. They should be grateful that they're even allowed to live outside of our cities as they are quite a site for sore eyes.

I sighed a disgruntled sigh and turned to face my travelling companion. "How long will we be stranded here, Father?" I asked. "This town is starting to make me feel sick."

"How am I supposed to know, Draco? It'll be at least another half an hour until they get here and then they actually have to fix the problem."

"Oh, right then." I responded gloomily. I returned to looking out the window.

For the next fifteen minutes my father and I sat in silence. Neither knew what to say to the other so there was no point in voicing empty thoughts, intended to invoke meaningless conversation. After another fifteen minutes I was extremely bored and hoping that the mechanics would get here soon. It was then that my father's phone vibrated and a hologram of the head mechanic appeared.

"Um, extremely sorry Sir, but they've closed off the city to all traffic entering and exiting until tomorrow morning. We're unable to reach you at the moment but we'll be with you as soon as humanly possible."

"What!" My father hollered. "You mean we're stuck in the middle of a muggle town for the night! Tell the border guards to let you through immediately by order of Lucius Malfoy."

"Sorry, Sir but that's impossible. An hour ago five muggles escaped from the city prison and are currently still at large. No one allowed in or out until they've been apprehended."

"Consider yourself fired!" Father hissed and then ended the connection. His face was filled with fury and for a moment I was scared that he would take it out on me, but he merely turned his steely gaze towards me and told me to move to one of the front seats so that he could lie down on the spacious and bed-like backseat. I did as I was told.

After what felt like hours the sun started to dip below the horizon and the sky was tinted a vibrant orange, yellow and bright red hue. Tendrils of darkness began to creep across the town and it was not long before the light was dim and my vision became weaker and weaker. My father had long since fallen asleep, I could hear his heavy breathing, but try as I might I could not get comfortable in the cramped seat. Deciding that I would get some 'fresh' air, I quietly opened the car door and stepped outside, grimacing as my Italian loafers hit the dirty floor.

Quickly, I lit one of the cigarettes in my blazer pocket and inhaled deeply. As I blew the smoke rings into the still night air, I realised that I had not been this content for a while. I admit the setting could be nicer but it felt freeing not to have a schedule to stick to and something to do at all hours of the day.

"You know that smoking kills, right?", came a voice from the darkness. I jumped and swung my head in the direction of the noise. I could faintly make out the outline of a man but little else due to the light conditions.

"Not me it doesn't." I replied, trying to keep my voice from shaking with fear. "I'm immune to all the side effects. It's just a way to pass the time."

"I knew you were one of those bastards.", the man said as he took several steps towards me. "No one else around here can afford those death sticks, not to mention the car, which probably costs more than any of us could ever dream of owning in a lifetime."

I gulped. The man kept advancing until he was only ten metres away. He stood there and crossed his arms. I could now see that he was about a head shorter than me and seemed to have extremely messy hair, I supposed he hadn't washed it in a while. I still couldn't tell what his facial features looked like but according to father, all muggles were incredibly ugly compared to those who lived in the city, so I figured that I wasn't missing out on much.

"What's your name?" He said curtly.

"Why should I tell you?" I retorted angrily. Who was he to talk to me anyway?

"Because," he said slyly, "I am currently in possession of a rather big knife, and you don't have anywhere to run."

"It's Draco. Draco Malfoy."

"Well, Malfoy," he said in a mocking tone, "My name is Harry Potter and I'm afraid you'll have to come with me."

"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered for the first time.

He paused, and I was sure that if I could see his face he would be looking at me as if I was an idiot. "I mean Malfoy, that I am kidnapping you and then I am going to kill you. Is that clear enough for you?"

"B-but w-why?" I was terrified by now and even more scared that I was about to be stabbed.

"Why? Why the fuck do you think! I've lived in this hellhole for 23 years while you superhuman bastards lord it over us, telling us what we can and can't do and preventing us from actually finding jobs because you think we're inferior. Do you have any idea just how many people die from starvation every year? Do you know how quickly people get struck down by disease because we can't afford healthcare? Do you know that we don't have electricity or running water? No, you don't, because you're a privileged brat whose biggest concern has never been to survive till the next day. Well, you can start worrying about that now. I don't care if I get arrested, at least they feed people in prison, and if they give me the death penalty, it's not like I've got anything to live for anyway. So start saying your prayers Malfoy, because you're not getting out of this one so easily."

As he finished his furious rant I felt extremely guilty. I had never really considered muggles as real humans, let alone ones that had proper feelings. I wished that there was something I could do, but there wasn't, so I just complied when Harry grabbed both my arms and twisted them behind my back, shoving me forwards into the unknown.