Empty Spaces

Chapter 4

- Draco -

Everything about his "escape" was turning out to be far easier than he'd initially thought it would be. He'd stop at Diagon Alley on September 1st, empty his bank account and pick up his supplies before apparating directly into Hogsmede, drop his stuff at his flat, then show up at school by 6pm. Easy. By the time his parents figured out what he'd done, the rest of the world would know too. Public appearance was, after all, Lucius' greatest weakness, and Draco only needed to stay one step ahead of him for now.

The most difficult thing, it turns out, was finding a flat in Hogsmede. He wrote to a handful of landlords, and received equally disappointing responses from all of them ranging from passably plausible excuses to downright discrimination: Nobody wanted to house a convicted criminal, even one who had received The Chosen One's blessing and a full pardon from the court. Draco didn't blame them. He wouldn't want to house him either. And he would still have to report to a Ministry official every Saturday. Another complication.

September 1st drew nearer, and eventually Draco conceded that he would simply show up in Hogsmeade and figure out his housing situation when he got to the village. He was, after all, generally much more convincing face-to-face than he was over letters. He had enough money in his own personal account to fund pretty much anything this year, although the fact that Lucius had the power to cut off any future financing loomed ominously in his mind. But with every doubt and setback, Draco always found himself revisiting his final conversation with his father.

Tend your own damn trees, Lucius.

And it was that spark of defiance that fueled him. September 1st rolled around and he snuck downstairs early in the morning, finally telling the Ministry worker that he was returning to school. Just for good measure, he slipped a few galleons into the worker's hand and said there was no need for Narcissa to know before tonight. With a sad smile of understanding that had Draco wishing for any other reaction, the ministry worker nodded his agreement and said he'd do the best he could, and good luck with everything.

Draco made for Diagon Alley and emptied his personal Gringotts account– he'd initially considered creating a whole new account, one his father couldn't access, but ended up deciding he would rather risk being robbed. He divided the stash up among several small bags, each armed with an undetectable extension charm, and hoped for the best. Even if Lucius never gave him another galleon again, this would be enough to get through the school year and into whatever came next.

What comes next? Who knows. But whatever it is, it doesn't involve Lucius.

The prospect was dangerously exhilarating.

He picked up his books and supplies next, moving as quickly as possible through the opening shops. He couldn't resist a new broom, although he begrudgingly settled for another Nimbus rather than the latest model– he had money now, but there was a very real chance that there would be no more in the foreseeable future. All in all, he decided it was a generally successful venture and apparated into Hogsmede just before lunch with all afternoon to find a flat in the village. Armed with enough gold for even the most ridiculous of deposits, he hoped his luck would hold out.

The village, like everything else it seemed, was still the same except that it wasn't. There was an air of darkness hovering in the streets, as if the empty spaces between buildings still remembered all that had happened here only mere months ago. Or maybe it was just Draco. He brought out his trunk, figuring that the more he looked like a Hogwarts student, the better his chances were at being treated like one rather than like a war criminal. At least he was indisputably of age, which meant he could levitate his trunk rather than dragging it through the cobblestone streets.