all the wrong choices // drarry

separate

Draco arrived at his parents' manor house with an awful sense of foreboding in his chest. He was greeted at the front door by his mother, who nearly knocked him over with the force of her hug. Draco found this extremely odd, as she was usually much more composed and hardly ever hugged her son.

"Hello, Mother," said Draco. "How are you?"

"Fine," Narcissa replied in a strained voice.

Draco looked at her anxiously. "Is Father treating you well?"

Narcissa nodded quickly and ushered her son inside. Draco waved his wand and his trunk followed him into the house. He held his mother's hand as she guided him through the living room into the dining room, where Draco's father was sitting at the head of an impressive mahogany table.

"Ah, Draco," he said in a low, hoarse voice. Draco pulled a seat out for his mother at the opposite end of the table and sat down beside her.

"What's the meaning of this, Father?" Draco asked, his own voice cold and drawling. Something told him he would not be smiling until he returned to Hogwarts; until he saw Harry again.

"Your mother and I wanted to speak with you," Lucius explained, pressing the tips of his fingers together. "In regards to you, your well-being, and your future."

Draco looked to his mother for support, but she was staring resolutely at the table.

"My well-being?" Draco snorted, staring coldly at his father. "You've never given a damn about my well-being before, why should you start now?"

"Do not speak to me like that," said Lucius harshly. "Don't speak as though you can read my mind-"

"I don't need to read your mind, Father, I know you well enough. You've never cared about me before and I see no reason for you to care about me now."

"That is not true!" Lucius hissed, getting to his feet angrily. "I care about you more than anything in this world! If I didn't care about you, Draco, I wouldn't bother with you. I would ignore you and let you do as you please. Don't speak of what you do not know, boy."

"See!" Draco exclaimed, pointing at Lucius. "That! Calling me 'boy'! That is why, as far as I'm concerned, you don't care about me! That's why I've spent most of my life under the impression that my own father does not love me!"

Lucius settled back into his chair, sighing deeply. "I am sorry for that, my son, but everything I do is for you! For your mother! You two are my reason for living! Do you have any idea what it was like in Azkaban? Do you know how awful it was? Do you know how painful and difficultit was to cling onto life? Do you know what got me through it? The thought of you and your mother, safe and well!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Forgive me if I spare you my sympathy."

Narcissa spoke up suddenly. "Stop arguing! Lucius, if you love your son, show him!"

Lucius sighed again. "Very well. Draco, how has your term back at Hogwarts been?"

"Incredible," Draco replied sarcastically. "I've been having the time of my life! It's been fantastic having to deal with PTSD and depression and the scathing looks from most of the other students! It's been amazing trying to apologise to people and get them to see that I am not just some bullying schoolboy any more! That I am capable of change and looking to redeem myself!"

He was shaking with fury as he spat the words at his father. His neat blond hair had fallen in front of his face as he half-shouted down the table. Lucius and Narcissa exchanged worried glances but said nothing. Draco looked from his mother to his father and let out an exasperated roar of anguish.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T HAVE TO FACE THEM! YOU CAN SIT IN HERE ALL DAY EVERYDAY AND PRETEND YOU DON'T EXIST! I'M THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY HAS TO GO AND FACE PEOPLE AFTER EVERYTHING!"

"Draco, we have to see them too-" Lucius began, but Draco interrupted him.

"I am eighteen years old! I shouldn't have to deal with this! I understand that I could have been a better person and that I didn't have to bully everyone in my time at Hogwarts, but it didn't help that you two were personal servants of Voldemort! You have no idea what it was like- no, what it is like to hear people whispering about me; to have to deal with the entire school knowing who I am and who my parents are and what our family has done."

"I know it's hard-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" Draco bellowed. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"

"You don't think this has been hard for us too?" Narcissa snapped suddenly. Draco turned to look at her, his face contorted with anger and surprise.

"You don't think it's been difficult for your father and I to go about our lives and try to move on from the past?" Narcissa went on. "It's not just you who has suffered, my love, and I know that you are young but people whisper about us too! I know it's hard to deal with, at your age, and I am sorry that you do have to deal with it, darling, but you must realise that your father and I were running out of options! We either rejoined the Death Eaters when the Dark Lord resurfaced, or we died! And if - by some miracle - he didn't kill us, he would surely kill you instead! I don't know what I would do myself if any harm ever came to you..."

Draco scoffed. "You say it like you didn't believe in everything Voldemort stood for; like you didn't feel the same way about non-Purebloods! You were quite comfortable in his ranks, and you know it!"

"Do not speak to your mother as though you disagreed! You felt just the same way about Muggle-borns and Pureblood superiority! It doesn't matter if you've changed your mind about it, because that's what you believed at the time in question!"

Draco did not respond to this, as he knew it was true. He had, on multiple occasions, called people Mudbloods, and he could not undo this. He stared at his father, whose face was white as his hair and shining with sweat. Draco looked at his mother, who eyed him back with an expression of sadness.

"Fine," said Draco at last. "I accept that."

Lucius looked triumphant for a second, and then remembered that his son had just screamed down the table at him. "Draco-"

"I don't want to be here," said Draco quietly. "I want to go back to Hogwarts."

Lucius laughed humourlessly. "Don't be ridiculous, this is your home."

"Unfortunately," Draco grumbled. "But I have no desire for it to be so any longer."

"Listen to us, Draco, hear us out!" Lucius pleaded. Draco shook his head. "I am your father!" Lucius added angrily.

"I don't care," said Draco simply. He looked to his mother. "Mother is the only person who has ever made me truly feel like I am loved. Although I doubt it will happen, as I know how much you care for each other, know that if you ever hurt her, I will kill you."

Narcissa stared at her son, unsure of how to react. Draco left the room and returned a moment later, his trunk levitating in the air behind him.

"By the way," he said, a small smirk creeping at his lips. "I'm gay."

Lucius let out a noise that made him sound very much like a disgruntled Hippogriff. Draco grinned triumphantly, avoiding his mother's eye. "And," he continued. "I'm in love."

"In love?" Narcissa spluttered, unable to disguise the excitement in her voice. "With who?"

Draco grinned wider still, staring right at his father; looking him in the eyes. "Harry Potter," he said, and with that, he Disapparated, leaving his parents gaping at the spot where he had just stood.