In Love & Hatred - Dramione

CHAPTER ONE- NIGHTMARES

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the characters featured. This is my own interpretation of life after in Hogwarts.

Draco

Droplets of chilling sweat drenched his nerves, rousing him from a disquieted sleep. Nights therein have been laborious since the remnants of malevolence had taken place. How tormented he was.. horrid, residual vibrations seemed to bounce off of the castle walls, mocking his mental anguish. The Dark Lord had bestowed upon him for what seemed at the time a most righteous task, an access point into the most well-protected school and a job to slay one of the most famed wizards that had ever lived. Sheer cruelty had been the Dark Lord's sole interest, this had been clear to him for quite some time. Draco retained the mental capacity for a plethora of skills, murder however, was not in his repertoire. This ill-fated ploy guaranteed embarrassment to the Malfoy name and forced humiliation to those who abandoned him when The Boy Who Lived showed the Dark Lord's true vulnerability.

Draco swung his legs over the side of his four-poster bed. His seventh and final year here carried a much different aura than the previous he spent imprisoned in his damned fate. Professors and students alike radiated peace and admiration in attempts to heal the lingering trauma. Perhaps now, his first solitary night in his dormitory would give him some semblance of tranquility. The ritualistic sorting ceremony and welcoming feast was as mundane as it had always been. Never would he admit it before, but, the surplus of the exquisite food and cordial atmosphere gave him a sense of home he never felt in the manor. Although, the Slytherin table was quite barren due to a surfeit amount of his familiars never returning from war. Many families of which he knew contained at least one patriarch in association with the Death Eaters and the undesirable. Curling his fingers into the emerald sheets, his mind took momentary solace in the memory of hospitable school formalities.

Desperately, his body craved one serene night of sleep although he never felt it justified. His eyes meandered about the obscure dormitory. The frigid stone floor nicked his bare feet as moonlight beamed through the nearby window. Draco rose and moved to leaned against the cool panes of the glass. Waves of the Black Lake kissed the shore, soaking the flecked sands. Traces of lunar light shone on the pristine, obsidian surface of the water. 

Such a beautiful sight..

Turning to cross to his bed, he vaguely punched his pillow to form a shape he deemed comfortable enough to dream upon. Capturing sleep suggested enduring pained efforts for, in the morning, lessons would resume again. Beginning anew seemed unattainable, but, inspiring. He had longingly envisioned casting away the blackened reputation shrouding the Malfoy name. Notions on how to obtain such a dubious endeavor were far beyond him, but, he was certain that his ambitions would be granted.

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Morning light drizzled through the onyx velvet curtains that draped around the four-poster bed. Draco pried open his eyes and focused his vision on the golden rays cast onto his sheets. Flecks of dust danced through the beams like feathers in an arid breeze. Drawing back the weighted fabric, he began to yawn and stretch. Familiar aromas of old tapestries that hung in the dormitories for decades awakened his senses. Dungeon-like conditions of the Slytherin dorm rooms appeared many degrees colder than the rest of the castle. 

 Draco's focus soon turned to see his robes patiently awaiting him atop his trunk. Tossing his night clothes carelessly aside, he began to dress into his school uniform. The freshly laundered smell gave him a sense of comfort and familiarity. The rhythmic ticking of his watch reminded him he had only ten minutes until the morning's wares are served. Soft clicks of his shoes echoed as he descended the stairs and through the Slytherin common room.