Snape next time in Potions, of course, makes a comment about James to Harry when walking by.
Harry who gasps as he thinks he has figured it all out: “Oh my goodness! Why didn’t you tell me you and my dad dated? I mean if you told me you were exes I never would have pushed for you to tell me about him!”
the battle of hogwarts, except draco malfoy stands up to voldemort in the courtyard scene. (draco x reader) beware: big angst
trigger warning: violence, gore, major character death
‘And now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us.’
A pause. Two words, spat out with venom into the cold morning air.
‘Or die.’
Draco fixes his gaze on the rubble before him as Voldemort’s serpent eyes pan the crowd. His body swims with the exhaustion of sleepless nights, while his mind is forced to stay alert to the danger that he is once again in. He doesn’t want to fight anymore.
‘Draco.’ His father’s rasp breaks the heavy silence. Heads turn to stare accusingly at him, and Draco feels a small flutter of hope that is replaced by a heavy weight in his chest as he realises the head he most longs to see is not there.
What if you’re dead?
He doesn’t want to think about it.
He would never forgive himself.
‘Draco.’ His father, again, this time more desperate. More heads turn to look, none of them yours.
Draco finally dares look up, his sight travelling past the cloaked figure that has haunted him for the past few years and landing on his father. Lucius Malfoy, with his bloodshot eyes, dishevelled robes and straggly blonde hair, is a sad imitation of his former self.
Draco hates him.
He hates Voldemort too, and his stupid movement. He doesn’t want to go.
But he is terrified, afraid of what he knows Voldemort is capable of, afraid of what he has seen in those long grisly days at Malfoy Manor. He sees the green light hitting Professor Snape’s colleague square in the chest and her falling with a sullen thud onto the wood. He sees the snake sliding up the table too, past his trembling hands, and opening its fanged mouth and devouring her whole, blood and bones and guts covering where he used to eat his dinners as a child. He sees his aunt’s blade opening up Hermione Granger’s arm.
When his mother - his mother, who he still loves, even after everything - speaks his name, softly like she had done when he was younger and less scarred, Draco’s resolve disappears. Everything else blurs until all he can see is her platinum blonde head, and he lifts one foot and takes a step onto the rubble in front of him, and then another, until a hand reaches out from behind him and grabs him by the wrist.
And there you are, weak from the night’s fighting, tears staining your cheeks, but with eyes as bright as stars because you are alive, wonderously, gloriously alive.
‘Draco.’
For the third time, someone speaks his name, and Draco takes in the sight of you, who he’s loved since fourth year, who he’s continued to love despite your ending it due to his involvement with Voldemort. Evidently you must still have some feeling left towards him, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing this.
He’d looked for you in the battle, before and after the fire in the Room of Requirement, heart leaping when he caught sight of people who could’ve been you, but weren’t. This went on for the rest of night, and in the heat and terror and waves of dead bodies that were too many to count, Draco had slowly given up hope.
'I thought you were dead.’
'Draco, don’t do this.’
Your hand continues to grip his wrist tightly, nails digging into soft skin. People are staring, and Narcissa Malfoy calls once again for her son, the sharp edge of fear creeping into her tone.
'I don’t want to,’ he chokes.
'Then don’t,’ you whisper. 'You’re better than this.’ You indicate with a shaking hand towards Voldemort and his followers. 'You’re better than him, than them -’
'I’m not.’
'You are. And - and you wanna know why?’
Draco stands still. The only part of him that moves are his grey eyes, stormy with turmoil and guilt. Then he begins to turn his head to look back at his parents. You reach out and place a trembling hand on his cheek, and gently guide his eyes to stare back into yours.
'Because they’ve made their choices,’ you say. 'They chose, some longer ago than others, to hurt people because of who they were. They chose to inflict pain. They chose to ruin lives. They’ve already chosen the path they want to take, and have covered a lot already. Most of them even seem to enjoy it.’
Grey eyes, stormy eyes, eyes beginning to fill with tears -
'I don’t think you would enjoy it.’
'Draco!’ Narcissa and Lucius, together this time.
'My parents,’ he whimpers, sounding like a little boy again.
You keep your hand pressed to his cheek. You can feel his blood pumping under his skin: warm, hot, pureblood, blood which isn’t at all different from anyone else’s.
'This is your choice. Your parents cannot make it for you.’
A grey sky above a grey castle covered in grey rubble, Harry lying dead in Hagrid’s arms -
'They made theirs a long time ago. Don’t suffer for them anymore. God knows you’ve suffered enough.’
You take your palm off his cheek; you’ve said all you can say. Draco is free now.
'Draco.’ A fourth speaker sounds his name in a soft snarl, and this time it is Voldemort himself. He is growing impatient - he is not making a request. It is a command, for Draco to decide. For Draco to choose.
He pulls his eyes away from yours. You don’t know what he is going to do. You have never been able to read him, not really, not even when you look into his soul through grey windows.
’Draco…’
A final warning. A sharp intake of breath from the crowd, and strangled screams are ripped from both Lucius and Narcissa’s throats.
The man turns around, and looks deep into Lord Voldemort’s snake eyes.
Draco Malfoy is shaking with terror, but he somehow manages to keep his voice steady.
'No.’
A gasp from the crowd, an angry hiss from Voldemort, and Lucius Malfoy begins to plead.
'My lord, he is just a boy - he does not understand what he is saying - the gravity of his words -’
Voldemort ignores him. He continues to stare at Draco, who stands his ground despite wanting the earth to give out underneath him. He imagines the flash of green light again, the dull thud, the snake -
’What did you say?’
The Slytherin common room, the thrill of Quidditch matches, Butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks, laughter with you -
’No.’
Narcissa Malfoy speaks, her soft voice brave in the cold air. 'My lord - please.’
Voldemort raises the Elder Wand -
'My lord, please!’
I’m so sorry, mother. I had to do this. I had to do it
You grab Draco’s sweaty hand and quickly lace your fingers with his, because if he is going to die, surely you will too, and you want to go with him. You want to go with the man who made the right choice, if only at the very end.
Voldemort begins to say the spell and you grip Draco’s hand tighter, but just as you’ve prepared to die something in the Dark Lord’s face changes and he whips around.
The bolt of green light hits Narcissa Malfoy square in the chest, and she falls with a sullen thud onto the cold stone floor.
Someone screams. Draco lets go of your hand and runs to his mother, Voldemort’s inhuman laugh echoing in both your ears -
This will hurt him far more than him dying ever could.
You want to run to Draco but your legs have turned to jelly and you can’t breathe. All you can comprehend is the sound of him howling, and you’ve never heard anything like it in your life. You shove your hands over your ears to no avail. Raw, ragged, animal screams of pain sound out in the courtyard of Hogwarts.
Guilt and heartbreak descend upon you, and they’re heavy, so heavy that it hurts. You sink down under the gazes of the onlookers, the vision of three blonde heads, one of them lolling lifelessly on the stone - oh god - blocked from your view. Not even Harry jumping from Hagrid’s arms and the chaos that ensues cause you to rise from your sitting position.
Eventually you feel strong grips under your arms and Neville Longbottom pulls you into the Great Hall, putting the grey courtyard out of your sight.
“Evelyn, slow down. You’re going to wear out the carpet”, Abraxas grumbled as he tried to read the paper. However, Abraxas would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. Childbirth was definitely not an easy task. “I can’t help it!” Evelyn screeched, throwing her hands up in the air out of frustration. “I’m scared”, she admitted. Hearing his wife’s concerns, Abraxas knew she was scared, and rightfully so. He could sense it from how shaky her breath sounded. Folding the paper, Abraxas stood up and stopped his wife from further pacing by wrapping his arms around her, keeping her glued to the floor. Evelyn could hear how shaky her breathing sounded as she rested her head on his chest. Soothing his wife, Abraxas drew circles on her back to help calm her down. Lucius was already a nervous wreck. There was no need for Evelyn to follow suit. “They’ll be fine”, Abraxas muttered as he rested his chin on his wife’s head, kissing her head softly. “It’s taking too long”, Evelyn complained as she pushed away from her husband. Wringing her hands, Evelyn started to pace again before being stopped by Lucius’s footsteps as he came through the door.
Judging by the smile in his son’s eyes, Abraxas could tell all was well, even if his face wasn’t showing it. Seeing her son’s solemn expression, Evelyn could feel the tears spilling out at the thought of Narcissa having lost her baby. However, when she saw Lucius laugh, Evelyn realised that she had been played like a fool. “Both Narcissa and the baby are fine”, Lucius smiled. Turning around at the sound of her husband’s laughter, Evelyn swatted his arm before pushing back her son as she rushed towards Narcissa, still feeling scared. Rolling his eyes at his wife, Abraxas congratulated his son. “Congratulations, my boy. You’re a father. Now, before your mother has my head, shall we go and meet the newest addition?” Abraxas asked as he followed Lucius to the room where Narcissa was currently sitting, holding her newborn baby.
Sitting there, looking as perfect as ever, was Narcissa. And in her arms was you: the newest member of the Malfoy family. Evelyn had beaten both her son and husband as they found her sitting next to Narcissa on the bed whilst both women cooed at the infant. “Oh, Narcissa,” Evelyn sighed happily. “She has your eyes, my dear.” “She does, doesn’t she?” Narcissa smiled, feeling so happy that her baby looked so like her. “Would you like to hold her, Evelyn?” Narcissa asked. Looking as if she had won the moon, Evelyn eagerly extended her arms out for Narcissa to pass her the baby. Despite not having held a baby in such a long time, it was second nature to the elder Malfoy. “Oh, you are so beautiful”, Evelyn cooed as she admired her granddaughter. Granddaughter. The word felt so foreign, yet so familiar. Heaven knows how badly Evelyn wanted a daughter of her own, but unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards for her. So when Lucius brought Narcissa home, Evelyn very quickly latched onto the girl after taking a strong liking to her. She didn’t tell anyone, but Evelyn had a feeling that the newest addition was going to be a girl. Call it a mother’s instinct. Or a grandmother’s instinct, in this case.
Noticing her husband’s presence in the doorway, Evelyn smiled at him before looking back at you. She was so entranced by you. She could already tell that the two of you were going to be the best of friends. Evelyn was so excited to become a grandmother. “How are you, my love?” Lucius murmured as he sat on the opposite side of the bed from his wife, relishing the view while seeing his father leaning against the doorway. The view of his wife holding a newborn. It was a comforting sight, especially after Evelyn had Lucius when she was told the possibilities of her having another child were slim. “How are you, Narcissa dear?”, Abraxas asked the new mother. Narcissa just smiled at her father-in-law. “I’m tired. But I’m happy”, she sighed peacefully as she held Lucius’s hand. Nodding in approval to the new parents, Abraxas made his way to where his wife now stood rocking the baby gently. He couldn’t wait to hold his grandson. “Alright, Eve. You’ve had your fun now. Let me hold my grandson”, Abraxas teased.
“Grandson?”, Evelyn smiled, mocking her husband. Abraxas was surprised by his wife’s behaviour as he glanced back and forth between Narcissa and Evelyn before his eyes landed on Lucius’s. Looking at his son, he recognised that mischievous smirk, anywhere. “Wait? Do you mean-”, he started to ask. However, the look on his wife’s face revealed it all. Instead of a grandson, he had been blessed with a granddaughter. “Abraxas, meet your granddaughter”, Evelyn smiled as she gently passed you to your grandfather. Reaching out to hold you, Abraxas couldn’t help but smile. “Well, hello there little one. What a wonderful surprise?”, he teased, causing Evelyn to roll her eyes. She had been going on and on, nonstop about how certain she was that the new baby would be a girl. In fact, she was so certain that she had even gone out and bought a diamond tiara to celebrate the occasion. Girls were a rare breed in the Malfoy lineage. If you were to comb through the family history, you would find that the last girl born into the family was about three decades ago. Your birth was indeed very special. Worth thousands of tiaras.
Smiling at the sight of her husband holding his granddaughter for the first time, Evelyn felt complete. Here she was, praying and hoping that she would somehow have been blessed with a daughter of her own. But now, she was eternally grateful for what she could see right in front of her. Evelyn snuck out of the room as she watched her son and husband quarrel over whose turn it was to hold you next. She reappeared a minute later with a package wrapped in a nice little ribbon in her hands. Handing the box to her daughter-in-law, Narcissa looked at Evelyn with confusion painted all over her face. “Evelyn,” Narcissa tutted. “You shouldn’t have!”, she smiled, looking up at her mother-in-law. “Oh, don’t be silly, dear. This is a very special gift, for a very special little girl”, Evelyn smiled gleefully as she tried to weasel you out of your father’s arms and into her own.
Holding you in her arms, Evelyn passed you back to your mother when you started to cry. “Oh, no Y/N love. Don’t cry, baby”, Evelyn cooed only to start giggling when you stopped crying the minute you were in your mother’s arms. “Y/N?”, Abraxas asked. Looking toward his father for his opinion, Lucius smiled when he heard his daughter’s name. A name fit for a princess. “I like it”, Abraxas hummed before playfully messing up his son’s hair. “Thank you, Father”, Lucius grumbled as he sorted out his hair, before making his way to where all three of his favourite girls were. Lucius scoffed as he examined the box, noting that you were only three hours old and already the proud owner of one of the most gorgeous, beautifully crafted tiaras he had ever seen. Narcissa gasped in shock at how marvellous the design was. “Oh, my Merlin. Evelyn!” Narcissa squealed in excitement causing Evelyn to laugh.
“Good luck trying to beat that one,” Abraxas teased his son. “Oh no, Abraxas darling. This is only from me. Not you,” she teased, causing Abraxas to raise an eyebrow and pout. “Good one, Mother,” Lucius chuckled. As his gaze wandered to the tiara carefully stored in the box, Lucius knew that he would soon be faced with a toddler throwing tantrums about wanting to wear it.
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Please enjoy the Campy Lucius Christmas special, under the ‘keep reading’ cut. It is best viewed on a large screen. I hope it warms your heart. I wish you all a healthy and happy new year.
