the girl with all of the choices

f o r t y - s e v e n

4128 words

july twenty-third-the question of banishment

~ Draco ~

It had been almost three weeks since Father's trial.

Mum had started to become her old self again, adjusting to the new normal we were now all subjected to.

She would even joke with Aunt Bella from time to time.

I had visited Addison quite a bit. Usually three times a week. She had forgiven me, and we were now somewhat back to our old selves.

Well, as much as we could be.

Or rather, as much as I could be.

I still had the promise of my future hanging over my head. I was just waiting for the axe to drop at that point.

Every day I would tread on needles around Aunt Bella, afraid that one day she might just say "Hey, Draco. There's this fun meeting happening tomorrow where we all collectively torture a person for something that they can't control. And you're invited!"

More like, "And if you don't go, you and your family are dead!"

Yeah, that was definitely more like it.

So, I had been spending almost all of my time in my room. I would read and look through pictures of Addie and me.

It sounded boring.

It was, but only to a degree.

Looking through our pictures, I would imagine all of the things we would do after the war. We would spend every single Christmas together. I could bring her here and play hide and seek in the thousands of rooms in between decorating stints. She could properly teach me how to bake all of the sweets her Mum made. I'd show her the gardens. I could also teach her how to fly properly, so we could have our own bad Quidditch matches out back. We could go see the world. Paris, Rome, Berlin, Sydney, New York... the possibilities were endless.

And maybe someday we could talk about our future. What we wanted from each other.

I didn't usually plan for the future when it came to other people. Nobody ever stayed around long enough for me to care.

But I wanted to plan for her.

It all seemed futile, thinking about my future with a girl in the midst of a war. We weren't even guaranteed to both survive. The odds were not in our favour. Even if we did survive, I would probably be disowned if my parents found out about us.

And yet here I was, daydreaming about our future.

I didn't want to live in the Manor. It was too stuffy. She probably wouldn't like it here either. It was all very intimidating, especially to someone who didn't grow up in a similar space.

I wanted a nice house, preferably in a wizarding community so I could use magic whenever I wanted. Three stories. Four or five bedrooms. Small enough to still feel like a home. But, big enough to have guests, with enough rooms so each kid could have their own space.