Iris [D.M]

A u r o r a

Draco was standing next to my hospital bed smiling down at me with our hands intertwined. I was exhausted but so completely and utterly elated. In a small cot at the end of the bed lay our new born son Elijah Octavius Malfoy and he was perfect. His little finger stretched towards the ceiling as his fascination with his new world grew. Eli had inherited my hair and Draco's eyes.

Those beautiful incandescent eyes that were as bright as the moon and stars would now live on in our son as well. They shone with an innocent wonder that was so beautiful.

I turned to look at my husband hoping to share this moment of bliss with him but instead I saw him pinned to the floor by Lucius who was repeatedly stabbing him. I screamed. How was Lucius here? He should be dead; I killed him!

Frantically I woke up in bed sweat dripping down my forehead as I shivered with terror. I turned to the side of the bed where Draco slept in search of comfort from him, only he wasn't there.

I rose from the bed, worry making me feel sick to my stomach. Shouting his name over and over again I wandered round the house in search of my love. It was only when I circled back to my bedroom with the intention of calling him did I realise.

Draco had been dead for 5 years.

The black dress hung ominously in a the corner as a painful reminder of what today was. Finally today he would be given the funeral he deserves. The ministry officials had torn me away from his body and they took it away. I found out from my friend at the ministry that they had unceremoniously incinerated his body and no remainder was left.

For five years I fought with the ministry of magic trying to make them see that he was against the death eaters. He had never wanted to be a part of any of that! Their verdict had remained strong. Draco Malfoy would never be acknowledged as a war hero; to them he was nothing more than a disgusting death eater. Because of the law Draco could not be buried or even have a tombstone to acknowledge his death. Instead he was burnt and his name written in a book with war criminals and sadists alike.

It was only when Harry Potter, a good friend of mine from Hogwarts, became minister for magic that Draco was pardoned. Harry knew of Draco's sacrifice and hated that he has been so disrespected through life and in death. He made sure that Draco's name was removed from the book so now Draco Malfoy could be acknowledged for the hero he was.

Hermione had helped me plan everything for today. We had spent hours ensuring he had only the best choices. I wanted him to have a coffin so that he could be buried along side the other innocent casualties of the war. Because there was no body however, we could only fill it with things of his. In the coffin I placed my letters to him, his wand, a photograph of Narcissa and him before she died and the postcard we bought in Brighton.

The service was beautiful and so many people turned up to pay there respects. The majority didn't even know Draco and yet when they heard of what he had done they wanted to honour him. I sat on the front row with Harry, Hermione and Ron. Hermione held my hand as I cried through Harry's speech and Ron rubbed my back reassuringly through Hermione's.

Finally it was my turn. Step by step I made it up to the podium. I wiped my eyes, cleared my throat and held back the tears.

"Draco Malfoy. Many of you knew him as the arrogant boy who walked the halls of Hogwarts with his held held high. I knew that boy too but I was lucky enough to see through the layers. He let me under his skin and I saw the uncertain broken boy who was so caring and understanding. I loved him."
Everyone was crying at this point and I had to keep my eyes fixed on my shoes because if I looked up to the coffin without a body I knew I'd brake. In that moment I felt as though he was stood next to me. Somehow he was still acting as my rock even though he was gone.
"Today we honour a man abused through youth, beaten in adolescence but valiant in death. It only saddens me that his heroics were so disregarded at first. Draco Malfoy was a good man. Draco Malfoy was an angel, my poor fallen angel." My voice began to brake and a tear slipped from my eye. I sniffled and pulled my shoulders up composing myself before looking up. The coffin seemed to radiate, filling the cemetery with an eerie glow. It was moonlight, his beautiful moonlight that had shone through his eyes through the darkest of times. Comfort flooded my body and I was able to smile a little. No not smile, smirk. That infamous smirk that had rubbed off on me after all those times spent together.
"I'll keep it short because I know he'd be mad if I babbled on for ages. He once told me that "when I die I'll say 'at least I bloody well tried' and that's the only eulogy I'll need". So ladies and gentlemen I send Draco Lucius Malfoy off with his own words and I pray may we all bloody well try"

F I N I