Our Constellation--Dramione

Chapter Five

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, plotlines, characters, places, events (etc.) all belong to J.K. Rowling, she is the rightful owner. When a character is created by me, you'll know right away ;)

--

February 1998

There was a time when Draco wasn't a pawn for evil. Sure, his life had always been tainted by the darkness of his family's prejudices against muggleborns, but at least in that life, he was still exposed to good magic. The kind that was used to uplift people and not harm them. Any dash of hope for redemption had been squashed the moment he was taken under the Dark Lord's wing.

There were a few people that, despite their irritating joyfulness and constant venture for attention, like the Gryffindors, he thought, kept the beauty of good magic alive. People like Hermione Granger soaked in the kind of power existent throughout all of the Wizarding World and turned it into a product of magnificence and true vision.

Of course, Granger was only an example.

Right?

No. He cared too damn much!

He remembered in the fifth year when the Ministry had turned the famous Harry Potter into a great liar. Everyone had believed that whatever happened in the maze on the final night of the Triwizard Tournament couldn't have possibly been the work of the most feared wizard.

And that was interesting because even at the Quidditch World Cup, the dark mark was glistening like Aurora Borealis above the camping grounds--a haunting scene. The former Minister had seen the mark with his own eyes, yet he doubted Potter when he claimed the Dark Lord had returned.

It made Draco shake his head. Forget about the muggleborns, Fudge was living proof that some of the most powerful and good-intentioned wizards could be extremely thick and dull. Among other people as well, but that didn't matter as much.

Harry Potter was living proof--Cedric Diggory's death should've been proof enough that he'd been reborn.

Of course, Draco knew from the moment his fellow Hogwarts student laid lifeless on the maze grounds that his father's predictions had come true.

But it was his job to hush it up and frame Potter as a liar.

How much he regretted it.

If the Ministry had believed Potter, more precautions would've been set in place, henceforth Potter wouldn't have gone in search of his godfather in the Department of Mysteries--yes, he knew about Sirius Black's relationship to his school rival--and his father wouldn't have been arrested. If his father hadn't been arrested, he wouldn't have had to take the dark mark and swear an oath to the Dark Lord's loyalty.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Draco sat alone in his frigid room, painfully reminiscing better days. That was the only thing he could think of to take his mind off the emotional discomfort and hurt.

It was truly abhorrent of him, wasn't it? To fancy Granger in the fifth year and act like a complete arse to her. His excuse was that it was his only defense mechanism, but regardless, it didn't change that he'd managed to hurt her. More than he ever wanted to.

Well, even if he could go back and change those days, he still had her on his side. Just now... from a distance.

He prayed that Potter and Weasley were keeping her safe, even if he didn't necessarily trust them. They'd given him plenty of reasons to be cross with them, but they'd also kept her safe throughout the thin and thick of life at Hogwarts; more specifically as a close friend of Harry Potter. He was bound to come with a package deal of danger.