Merry Christmas Mr. Malfoy (Book 1)

Prologue: A Sigh

     A Sigh

All love stories begin with the smallest, most insignificant things. Cecilia and Robbie's story in Atonement began with a vase, a struggle witnessed by the innocent, youthful eyes of a young girl. Some stories, like that of Romeo and Juliet, began with a glance, a simple look that established a love so powerful that even death could not separate their hearts. Other stories began with a dance, a touch, a song, or even other insignificant objects, such as a slipper or an apple. But, while these items seemed to useless at the time, they always began something indescribably powerful that not even the strongest of forces would be able to pull it apart.

Love.

This story, like most others, began with something small and insignificant. It, like all others, began on a normal day, and it, like the others, began between two people who, while they knew of each other, barely knew each other.

This story began with a sigh.

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It was snowing outside. Large, thick, white flakes of snow fell from the gray skies and landed softly on the ground below. Despite the chill, various bodies rushed out, black dots against the glistening white blanket, every form enjoying the cool feel of the soft snow against their cheeks. They ignored the sudden breeze and the way the snow cooled their flesh; they were caught in the beauty of the world and the simple, childish love of playing in the snow.

Her eyes watched them, following their movement, trying to discern the faces of the students, wondering just which ones were her friends and which were not. However, she would have to admit that, in these days, there were very few people who were unfriendly.

Sitting in the refurbished and newly reconstructed tower, she let her thoughts drift back, the memories resurfacing as she reminded herself of just what had happened in the past two years.

The war had taken time to end, the final, massive battle taking place in the very building she was now sheltered in. It had been violent; the air had reeked of death and felt almost humid or moist with blood and tears. In that momentous battle, Neville had, in the name of Harry, destroyed the last Horcrux, inhibiting the death of the greatest threat to all mankind.

During this final standoff, the last fight between good and evil, a man showed his true colors and betrayed people who he once claimed to love and adore. With this betrayal came the death of evil.

Then, once the stench of evil and fear no longer permeated the air, the long recovery began its process. It took them two whole years to reconstruct the school, mourn for the dead, and round up the remaining threat. Now, while joy was slowly beginning to fill the air, the world was still having troubles repairing itself.

As she watched the joyful students below, playing happily in the snow, they knew that, beyond their smiles, there was an incessant amount of worry. Poverty had nearly consumed the land, pulling many rich families into debt and impoverished states of living, while helping poorer families surge up in the socioeconomic ranks.

She knew just why this had occurred; many of the richer families had either been Death Eaters or associated with Death Eaters, which caused them to lose all credibility, thus ended up with the parents losing their jobs and connections they used to heavily rely on.

For the poor families, however, the opposite happened. This only occurred if they were instrumental in the destruction of Voldemort and his minions, meaning that, if all they did was say "Go Harry" or show barely any support, they received barely any compensation from the Ministry. Those families that did, however, prove to be extremely useful during the Second Great War were given large compensations and higher positions in the Ministry.