Erised

Chapter 1 : Regret

Chapter 1 : Regret

Draco stared at his reflection in the mirror. It took him a while to absorb all that had happened in the past few hours. He was disgusted at what stared back at him. A tall, pale boy of about seventeen, face drained of blood, eyes tired with dark bags under them, hair matted. But what disgusted him the most was the hideous mark on his right hand. His Dark Mark.

He felt repulsed by it. The skull grinned back at him, like it was mocking him. He wanted to rip it out, but that would not rid him of it. The burden, the blame of its presence would always surround him.

A day had passed since Voldemort had been defeated. His followers had fled, and the unfortunate ones had been captured. Draco had fled too. His parents with him. He felt like a coward. He was a coward.

When Hagrid had walked in with what was assumed to be the lifeless body of Potter, Draco had an unexplainable emotion overcome him. One he could not comprehend immediately. It was a bad feeling. It was...regret.

In that single moment, he regretted everything he had done. Seeing the heartbroken faces of Potter's companions made him feel guilty. All his life, he had fought for the wrong side.

He tried to console his troubled mind by stating that all that he had done for Voldemort had been due to force. His parents, his Aunt, Voldemort himself, had pressured him into doing those things. He had never wanted to be a Death Eater. He knew he was hopeless, but he had never thought he would support someone in a deed so horrible.

But, now there was no hope of redeeming himself. He had failed everyone. His family had failed everyone. Both sides would label the Malfoys as traitors. Neither side would accept them back, not that Draco wanted to go back to the dark side again.

All was lost. Everything he ever stood up for, or thought he would stand up for was lost. But, most of all Draco was sure he had lost her. The one girl he knew truly loved. Hermione Granger.