Just Breathe

Chapter One

JUNE
Draco Malfoy had been sitting in the Minister's office for nearly an hour and for the last twenty minutes, the man hadn't looked up from his papers. Draco was barely daring to even take a breath. The Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was reading all of the case notes he must have had on he and his parents because it was taking an obscenely long time. His foot was just itching to tap on the floor but he kept it still. His nerves were shot just sitting and waiting for the man to say something, anything. The last time he had seen the man he hadn't said much then, either. Though he hadn't been in the mood for talking then.

It had been about four or five days ago and he had come with a team of Aurors to take them all to Azkaban. After the Battle of Hogwarts he and his parents had been put under house arrest where they had sat for days and days, Aurors stationed at every entrance, just waiting for news of their fate.

Early one morning, the Minister came to speak with them. He had spoken first to his father, then his mother, but when his turn had come, the man had simply left. Neither of his parents had told him what they had spoken about and as much as he wanted to ask, he knew they would have told him if they had thought he needed to know. The next morning Aurors came and they were taken to Azkaban. Aside from a quick goodbye, no one had said a word to him. He had spent the night alone in the dark, cold Manor and had tried to clean it and put it away to the best of his abilities, not knowing when anyone would be returning, figuring he'd be the next to leave. But no one ever came. And now, here he was at the Ministry, not in some cold cell in the middle of nowhere.

He resisted the urge again to tap his foot. Instead, he rolled his shoulders and wrung his hands. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and he was finding it hard to breathe. The Minister was breathing fine though; he laid down his paper and sighed deeply. His eyes narrowed at him, scrutinizing and calculating. Draco held his breath.

"Do you know why you are here and not in Azkaban with your parents?" The mans voice was stern and Draco swallowed. His mouth was incredibly dry. He sat straighter in his seat.

"No sir, I don't." He shook his head and wrung his hands again. The Minister leaned on his forearms.

"I'm sure you know what I spoke with your parents about," he mused, but Draco shook his head.

"Uh, no. I didn't feel the need to ask them. I knew better than to ask them."

"They didn't tell you anything? They didn't discuss our talks?" His eyes narrowed deeper.

"No sir. Once you left they told me they were being taken away to Azkaban to await trial and that was it." The man sighed and looked through his papers again. He then leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Your parents took all of the blame. For everything. Everything they had done. And everything you had done. They told me that you had been forced, coerced, brainwashed, cursed... but I'm not so sure. I've heard quite a few things about you, Mr. Malfoy. And from what I know of your parents, I was shocked they bartered their lives for yours, and your freedom. But that isn't up to them. It's up to me."

"They..." he began, but he couldn't finish. He could wrap his head around it. They had given up everything. Lost everything. For him. He looked back up and saw the Minister watching him closely. Draco blinked hard against the moisture in his eyes. "I understand," he managed to get out at last, though he wasn't sure he did.

"What do you think I should do with you? Where do you think you deserve to be?"

"I... I really don't have an answer for you, sir," he stammered. He had been trying to answer those questions for a lot longer than the Minister could know. "I don't know what you've heard or what you know about me, and I'm ashamed to admit it's probably not incorrect. I'm not... I- I don't know what to tell you. I've done a lot of things, especially when I was younger. I was a real prick. But as I got older... I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I- I couldn't stop myself. I had to keep going, there was no other way. I was afraid... I feared for my life and the lives of my family." He shook his head and watched his hands as they turned over and over. When he looked back up, the Minister's face was softer than it had been.