My Immortal: ReVamped

Chapter 22

 Alice ended up coming out of this whole thing alright. Jess was good on a broom, as it turned out, and got Alice to the medical wing just in time, although there were some scars that they'd never get to fade.

Guess some things will never be the same, no matter how hard you try fix them.

They tried Willow as an adult. Her trial was expedited and she was given a 50 year sentence. It was... Incredibly difficult to watch. And the guilt I felt was immeasurable. Maybe she did some awful things but, dammit, that was my best friend and... And I guess I made some promises I couldn't keep.

I tried to write to her, but I have no idea if any of my letters ever reached her. Maybe she didn't even get the opportunity to write back.

The Ministry Of Magic, under Rufus Scrimegour, managed to help Hogwarts to see the year through. Us seventh years graduated, and the rest moved on. The atmosphere at the school was one filled with anxiety, paranoia and fear.

But for the time being... We made it.

We knew that this time, it was different. Plenty of kids knew that next semester they weren't returning to Hogwarts. The one wizard who could stand up to The Dark Lord was dead.

And nowhere was safe any more.

So that was it. I graduated, and my best friend was in prison, and I was alone in the world. The house in Sheffield was still under my name. I was now 18, and legally, it was mine. Honestly, I just wanted to sell it as fast as possible.

Imagine. Me, alone in this big house. The house where my parents died. I can't imagine anything worse.

I'd returned there, but almost as soon as I put my bags down, I left. I just needed to go somewhere else. Anywhere else. It just didn't feel like home and I wasn't ready to go in.

Apparating somewhere, anywhere, I found myself in Diagon Alley.

It was a dark, hollow husk of itself. The sky above even seemed greyer.

I shoved my hands in my pockets, and began to walk down past the shops. There weren't any people this time of night, just the occasional straggler. Some clerks closing shop for the night.

I found myself going past Borgin and Burkes, and guess who was bumming around.

Draco Malfoy.

And here I thought that I might be lucky enough to be rid of him. Guess there were still a few surprises in store for me.

"Figures I'd find the likes of you skulking around." He said, but... Not in the arrogant teasing manner I'd grown accustomed to. There were dark rings under his eyes, there was a solemnity to his face. A hollow shell of a Malfoy stood in front of me, and I could barely manage the enthusiasm to retort.

"Could say the same about you." I half-heartedly laughed.

"I just didn't really feel like being in the house right now." A scowl grew on his face.

"Weirdly enough, I know exactly how you feel. It's like the house isn't home any more, you know?"

"Like it's not even the same place." He sighed.

"Heard some nasty rumours about you, Malfoy. That you'd gone over, joined them. That you helped them get into the castle." I prodded.

"Believe whatever you want, I don't really care. But know you'll have to pick a side. There's war coming. I don't plan on dying for Dumbledore's ideals. Look where that got him." Draco said.

"It does not seems particularly profitable to join either side. One group of people hate me, the other wants to use me. Doing the right thing seems like a quick way to get myself staked, and doing the wrong thing... Well, it's the wrong thing, you know? End up like Dumbledore or become another Death Eater under Voldemort's thumb."