The year is 1999. Nearly sixteen months have passed since the Battle of Hogwarts, and still the wizarding world is dealing with the aftershock of Lord Voldemort's war.
Aurors scramble to capture any and all remaining Death Eaters, making sure, this...
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"NO."
What was left of the house was nothing but a shell, so fragile that even the slightest breeze may cause it to crumble. It was a horrifically sad thing to see, even for someone who has already seen countless unspeakable horrors, someone who has already been through a war. All was silent on that tauntingly beautiful night.
For a while, nothing at all seemed to stir the man who stood outside the cottage. He was much too in shock, as he imagined all his world would be in the morning when they heard the news. He stood for far too long in bitter consternation, pondering what this all could possibly mean.
It was the distance light of an oncoming car that finally spurred his movement. With the silent wave of his wand, the man cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm, and began his hesitant walk into the broken and damaged house. He pushed past the halfway-opened gate, and with an intense feeling of unease, took the final steps up to the door, which stood wide open. His breath was shaky, and he felt it, each inhale hitting the bottom of his lungs with a chill that spread throughout his veins like ice, each exhale emptying his entire chest as if the air was poison.
He tried his best to step around the glass, but the task was utterly impossible, broken windows and picture frames scattering the carpet. The moving photographs were sprawled out around the room, depicting the couple and their loved ones in a state so opposite of this one. The man thought for a moment of cleaning the mess with a wave of his wand, but he stopped himself, thinking he would be putting himself and others in danger if anyone knew he was here.
The stairs were not much better than the living room, and it wasn't until he had reached the top that he knew that it was much, much worse. The man was immersed in an unbearable silence, something catching in his throat as he looked down at the body. He hesitated only for a moment, before rushing to the man's side. "Potter!" he called out, shaking the man. When he did not stir, the man pressed his ear to Potter's chest, listening for a heartbeat, watching for a rise and fall.
Fear steadily grew as nothing seemed to be happening, but a sigh of relief escaped him when he saw Potter's chest slowly begin to rise. He was alive. Draco Malfoy smiled, before realizing there was still another not accounted for.
Knowing Harry was alive, Draco stood once more. He ducked into one room, and then another, until all areas of the house had been searched, and he began to fear for the worst. He stopped to consider what might have happened, and with a startling thought, fear visibly washed over his face.
"No," he uttered, quickly running into the bedroom, pulling on the loose floorboard in front of the window. All that could be heard were his quiet pleas as he reached his arm into the opening he had just created, and he let his forehead touch the floor as his hand found nothing at all. "No," he called again in a broken voice, tears springing to his eyes.
A quiet crack from outside was all it took for him to freeze, eyes wide, his breathing labored. Quietly yet quickly, he stood, glancing out into the dark. Upon seeing a familiar figure, and the figure seeing him as well, Draco ran back to Harry Potter, collapsing down beside him. By that time, the figure was at the bottom of the stairs.
"Malfoy!" he called out. The man lifted his wand at the two, but by the time the killing curse incantation left his mouth, the pair had disappeared.
